Hot Issue Nr. 312/313

IRE-Chairman Franz Schausberger on the outcome of the Scottish referendum:
45 percent in favour of independence is a major challenge for London
London as example for Madrid

45 percent in favour of the independence of Scotland means a high proportion of dissatisfaction with the central government in London, which represents a major challenge for the British Government, says the chairman of the Institute of the Regions of Europe and former President of Land Salzburg Franz Schausberger. Britain will never be the same after the result of the referendum. Now the promised commitments for more autonomy need to be implemented rapidly. Should the government in London delay its reforms, it can be assumed with certainty that a next vote on independence would bring a clear majority for secession.

How more autonomy for Scotland looks like in detail, must be negotiated in the next months and decided before the general election in GB in May 2015. It is all about the right to retain a larger share of own tax revenues and decide on its distribution itself. Should the British government agree with this renunciation of power, the Scots could govern largely on their own in future. The referendum for Scotland has paid off.
Schausberger stressed that the managment of the Scottish independence in the UK is a shining example. Above all, it was very clever on the part of the central government to allow the referendum. It can be assumed that, in case of a prohibition of the referendum, the mood in Scotland would have been much more radical for independence. This presents a guideline for the government in Spain, which deals with the independence movement in Catalonia. If the government in Madrid holds on to its refusal to talk and to the prohibition of the referendum, the number of those who argue in favour of independence will continue to grow rapidly. The Spanish government still has the possibility to change its course, allow a referendum and achieve that Catalonia stays part of Spain, declares Schausberger.

Result of the regional elections in Vorarlberg, Austria:
Black and blue or black and green?

According to the polls the conservative party (ÖVP), with party leader and governor Markus Wallner win 16 out of 36 seats in the new parliament. The right-wing party (FPÖ) gains 9, the Greens 6, the Social Democrats and the NEOS each win 3 seats.

FPÖ and Greens are ready to govern
Even before the elections, the party leader Dieter Egger (FPÖ) and Johannes Rauch (Green) had offered to cooperate with the ÖVP. Both, however, also made it clear that there will be no coalition at any cost. The ÖVP in return underlined that some of its programme points are non-negotiable.
The top candidate Johannes Rauch (Greens) interpreted the electoral success of his party as a "clear mandate" for black and green. The leader of the Freedom Party Dieter Egger is "very satisfied" with the Vorarlberg Landtag election, despite a slight loss of votes. On the one hand, the break of the absolute majority of the Conservatives was achieved, on the other hand, the FPÖ reached a stabil result despite the strong competition of the new party NEOS. He still hopes for a black-blue coalition as the ÖVP and FPÖ reach more than two-thirds of the votes. This signal must be taken seriously. Only with a stable government can the region guarnatee a good business location.
The turnout dropped from 68, 44% in 2009 to 63.83% this year.

Results of the regional elections (in%, compared to 2009)

ÖVP	SPÖ	FPÖ	Greens	NEOS
41,83	8,79	23,46	17,08	6,86
-8,96	-1,23	-1,66	+6,5	n.n.

source: red/APA