Pàgines

dijous, 20 d’octubre del 2011

On Government - Del Govern.

It has been already said here that Catalàunia is a republic and of course no monarch is its head of state. The government resides in the General Deputation, also known as the Generalitat. A Deputy Principal acts as head of state and another deputy, the Conseller Primer or Prime (or First) Councillor, as head of government. Both are elective. There are five deputies-councillors who act as ministers of Afers del País (country, internal affairs), Afers Diplomàtics (diplomacy, external affairs), Afers del Tresor (treasure, finances affairs), Afers de la Marina (naval affairs) and Afers de la Guerra (war affairs) and six deputies more who act as Oïdors (literally, listeners) and have an auditing capacity over their respective ministries (including the prime counselor). A fourteenth member of the government, with no adjunt Oïdor, is the Secretary of State, who acts as a supervisor to the whole government and assessor to the Deputy Principal and substitutes that position if necessary.

All these deputies are elected by the Corts (courts), an assembly of the three Braços (representatives from the nobility, clergy and municipal arms or branches) from which they come from, two deputies from each branch, with the actual government. This assembly has legislative capacity and the voting of laws take precedence over the concession of taxes and subsidies to the government. Of course the imposition of any tax has to be preceded by a convocation of Courts where subsidies can too be petitioned in form of (normally) low interest loans.

The Generalitat is the executive arm of the government and also nominates the members of the Audiència General (the old, reconverted Audiència Reial, the judicial arm). Then the members of the Audiència elect their own representatives and president.

The Veguers (sheriffs) are government representatives in charge of Vegueries, territorial divisions which follow ancient traditions but were streamlined after the War for Independence. The Batlles are the majors of towns, cities and smaller municipalities which congregate into Universitats (universities, an administrative unit).
Batlles and Veguers can call for the Sometent, the militia, which acts as a police force in rural areas and is made up by the local inhabitants. In urban centers, the Coronela or urban militia has that role, with a standing minimal force supplemented by the gremial insitutions.

In Barcinona, the Consell de Cent (a municipal corporation which rivals the Generalitat in the Catalan capital) rules the city, with its own assembly and government organs. It rules also the potentially huge Barcinonan Coronela, which had a crucial role in resisting the Bourbon siege and assaults in the War for Independence.

Ja s'ha dit aquí que Catalàunia és una república i, per descomptat, cap monarca n'és el cap d'Estat. El govern resideix a la Diputació del General, també coneguda com la Generalitat. Un Diputat Principal actua com a cap d'Estat i un altre diputat, el Conseller Primer, com a cap de govern. Tots dos són càrrecs electius. Hi ha cinc diputats-consellers que actuen com a ministres d'Afers del País (assumptes interns), Afers Diplomàtics (la diplomàcia, les relacions exteriors), Afers del Tresor (assumptes finances, economia i hisenda), Afers de la Marina (assumptes navals) i Afers de la Guerra (d'obvi significat) i sis diputats més que actuen com a Oïdors (literalment, els oients) i tenen una capacitat d'auditoria en els seus respectius ministeris (incloent el Conseller Primer). Un catorzè membre del govern és el Secretari d'Estat, que actua com a supervisor del govern sencer i assessor al Diputat Principal, a qui substitueix si és necessari.

Tots aquests diputats són escollits per les Corts, una assemblea dels tres Braços (representants dels braços o branques de la noblesa, el clergat i municipals) dels que ells mateixos provenen a raó de dos diputats de cada branca, amb el govern actual. Aquesta assemblea té capacitat legislativa i la votació de les lleis té prioritat sobre la concessió d'impostos i subsidis per al govern. Per descomptat, la imposició de qualsevol impost ha de ser precedida per una convocatòria de Corts, on els subsidis també es poden demanar en forma de préstecs (normalment) a baix interès.

La Generalitat és l'òrgan executiu del govern i també nomena els membres de l' Audiència General (la vella, reconvertida Reial Audiència, el poder judicial). A continuació, els membres de l'Audiència poden escollir els seus representants i el president.

El Veguers són els representants del govern a càrrec de les vegueries, divisions territorials que segueixen antigues tradicions, però que es van reorganitzar després de la Guerra de la Independència. El Batlles són a càrrec de pobles, ciutats i municipis més petits que es congreguen en Universitats (una unitat administrativa). Batlles i Veguers poden aixecar el Sometent, la milícia, que actua com una força policial a les zones rurals i està format pels habitants locals. En els centres urbans, la milícia urbana o Coronela té aquest paper, amb un peu de força mínim augmentat per les institucions gremials.

A Barcinona, el Consell de Cent (una corporació municipal que rivalitza amb la Generalitat a la capital) governa la ciutat, amb la seva pròpia assemblea i òrgans de govern. Regeix també la potencialment molt nombrosa Coronela de Barcinona, que tingué un rol crucial en resistir el setge i assalts borbònics a la Guerra d'Independència.

2 comentaris:

  1. A Republic, but not fully 'democratic' in the modern sense, since each of the 3 old 'Orders' (Orantes, Pugnantes, Laborantes: clergy / (warrior) nobility / '3rd state') has the name number of representative, regardless of the size of the population it represents? 'Normal', actually, for a 18th C. Republic. And I suppose that only males -and, for the '3rd state', only those with a sufficient wealth (sufragi censatari / restringit)- can vote?

    ResponElimina
  2. Quite right you are... In case of the "3rd" it's the representatives from the cities; of course they can be from guilds, or they may be from the patrician class, depending on who rules then...

    I guess that, if the Bourbons should have not won the WSS in Catalonia, a process alike that of Scotland regarding enlightenment could have carried on. There were seven universities before Philip d'Anjou closed them, opening a mediocre one far from the former centers, for example.Economically, the Catalans had developed a strong commerce with Northern Europe, the Netherlands and Britain, and were the most enterprising country in the Spanish monarchy...

    But on topic, yes. A restricted representative parliamentary republic, the exact form of which is still in development...

    ResponElimina