The Catalan and Kurdish votes for independence have had a twin impact on their respective regions.
Facing global rejection for strikingly similar reasons, organisers defiantly pressed on.
Both exercises were ruled illegal by the courts in the run-up and fell far short of normal polling conditions.
Ultimately these votes were about forcing the carve-up of states that had adopted democratic constitutions following a long dictatorship.
In a letter Antonio Tajani, the president of the European parliament, warned Catalans that the outcome of Sunday’s exercise would have no standing within Europe. “Respecting the rule of law and the limits it imposes on those in government is not a choice but an obligation,” he declared.
Contrast the referendum in 2014 when Scotland voted to remain part of the United Kingdom. The British parliament authorised the referendum and the national political class mobilised to defend the union. The decisive intervention was that of former British prime minister Gordon Brown who thundered his way around Scotland, campaigning for a No.
The No vote won but if it had been Yes there is no doubt that a negotiated break-up of the British state would have been completed over a number of years. And if the exercise was repeated, by the same process, in future there is no doubt a different result would mean that Scottish independence would happen.
Colm Toibin, the novelist who has lived in Barcelona for decades, observed this weekend that there was no national input to the Catalan vote. Why, he asked, did Mariano Rajoy, the Spanish prime minister, not campaign on the independence question in Catalonia? Why did Madrid offer coercion rather than argument?
One reason identified by Toibin was the language barrier. Yes, all Catalans speak Spanish but the national tongue has been systematically reduced to a secondary role in the region — a deliberate policy decision by officials in the autonomous government. “The success of the policy on language is the main reason why Spanish politicians have not been visiting towns and villages in Catalonia, and not speaking on radio or TV to make the case against the referendum,” he wrote. “Catalonia, for them, has become terra incognita.”
The same observation could be made of the Kurdish region in north-eastern Iraq, perhaps even more fundamentally. Politicians in Baghdad just do not have “reach” within the three northern provinces.
Yet the immediate scenes surrounding the two successive polls in the Middle East and Europe have perpetuated divisions. On Sunday riot police dressed in protective armour stormed schools and village halls across the Catalan territory as residents fought to exercise their vote. Kurdish voters held up ink stained fingers and there were plausible suggestions that - far from being barred - many had voted multiple times.
No one yet expects Barcelona’s El Prat airport to be shut down as the countries surrounding Catalonia seek to constrain the euphoria for independence. There are no tanks exercising on the Franco-Spanish border as a warning against going over the brink.
The outcome of the ballots is not sufficient to compensate for the flawed nature of the vote. Thus both exercises cast their regions into open-ended crisis. In the immediate aftermath it is unclear how the politicians will resolve their differences.
If independence truly is on the cards for either entity in the future, it is unlikely that this is a starting point.
RECORD BREAKER
Youngest debutant for Barcelona: 15 years and 290 days v Real Betis
Youngest La Liga starter in the 21st century: 16 years and 38 days v Cadiz
Youngest player to register an assist in La Liga in the 21st century: 16 years and 45 days v Villarreal
Youngest debutant for Spain: 16 years and 57 days v Georgia
Youngest goalscorer for Spain: 16 years and 57 days
Youngest player to score in a Euro qualifier: 16 years and 57 days
The biog
Favourite car: Ferrari
Likes the colour: Black
Best movie: Avatar
Academic qualifications: Bachelor’s degree in media production from the Higher Colleges of Technology and diploma in production from the New York Film Academy
Afghanistan squad
Gulbadin Naib (captain), Mohammad Shahzad (wicketkeeper), Noor Ali Zadran, Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmat Shah, Asghar Afghan, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Najibullah Zadran, Samiullah Shinwari, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Dawlat Zadran, Aftab Alam, Hamid Hassan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman.
Glossary of a stock market revolution
Reddit
A discussion website
Redditor
The users of Reddit
Robinhood
A smartphone app for buying and selling shares
Short seller
Selling a stock today in the belief its price will fall in the future
Short squeeze
Traders forced to buy a stock they are shorting
Naked short
An illegal practice
Salah in numbers
€39 million: Liverpool agreed a fee, including add-ons, in the region of €39m (nearly Dh176m) to sign Salah from Roma last year. The exchange rate at the time meant that cost the Reds £34.3m - a bargain given his performances since.
13: The 25-year-old player was not a complete stranger to the Premier League when he arrived at Liverpool this summer. However, during his previous stint at Chelsea, he made just 13 Premier League appearances, seven of which were off the bench, and scored only twice.
57: It was in the 57th minute of his Liverpool bow when Salah opened his account for the Reds in the 3-3 draw with Watford back in August. The Egyptian prodded the ball over the line from close range after latching onto Roberto Firmino's attempted lob.
7: Salah's best scoring streak of the season occurred between an FA Cup tie against West Brom on January 27 and a Premier League win over Newcastle on March 3. He scored for seven games running in all competitions and struck twice against Tottenham.
3: This season Salah became the first player in Premier League history to win the player of the month award three times during a term. He was voted as the division's best player in November, February and March.
40: Salah joined Roger Hunt and Ian Rush as the only players in Liverpool's history to have scored 40 times in a single season when he headed home against Bournemouth at Anfield earlier this month.
30: The goal against Bournemouth ensured the Egyptian achieved another milestone in becoming the first African player to score 30 times across one Premier League campaign.
8: As well as his fine form in England, Salah has also scored eight times in the tournament phase of this season's Champions League. Only Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo, with 15 to his credit, has found the net more often in the group stages and knockout rounds of Europe's premier club competition.
ALL THE RESULTS
Bantamweight
Siyovush Gulmomdov (TJK) bt Rey Nacionales (PHI) by decision.
Lightweight
Alexandru Chitoran (ROU) bt Hussein Fakhir Abed (SYR) by submission.
Catch 74kg
Omar Hussein (JOR) bt Tohir Zhuraev (TJK) by decision.
Strawweight (Female)
Seo Ye-dam (KOR) bt Weronika Zygmunt (POL) by decision.
Featherweight
Kaan Ofli (TUR) bt Walid Laidi (ALG) by TKO.
Lightweight
Abdulla Al Bousheiri (KUW) bt Leandro Martins (BRA) by TKO.
Welterweight
Ahmad Labban (LEB) bt Sofiane Benchohra (ALG) by TKO.
Bantamweight
Jaures Dea (CAM) v Nawras Abzakh (JOR) no contest.
Lightweight
Mohammed Yahya (UAE) bt Glen Ranillo (PHI) by TKO round 1.
Lightweight
Alan Omer (GER) bt Aidan Aguilera (AUS) by TKO round 1.
Welterweight
Mounir Lazzez (TUN) bt Sasha Palatkinov (HKG) by TKO round 1.
Featherweight title bout
Romando Dy (PHI) v Lee Do-gyeom (KOR) by KO round 1.
The view from The National
Dhadak
Director: Shashank Khaitan
Starring: Janhvi Kapoor, Ishaan Khattar, Ashutosh Rana
Stars: 3
Rooney's club record
At Everton Appearances: 77; Goals: 17
At Manchester United Appearances: 559; Goals: 253
Disturbing facts and figures
51% of parents in the UAE feel like they are failing within the first year of parenthood
57% vs 43% is the number of mothers versus the number of fathers who feel they’re failing
28% of parents believe social media adds to the pressure they feel to be perfect
55% of parents cannot relate to parenting images on social media
67% of parents wish there were more honest representations of parenting on social media
53% of parents admit they put on a brave face rather than being honest due to fear of judgment
Source: YouGov
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Klipit
Started: 2022
Founders: Venkat Reddy, Mohammed Al Bulooki, Bilal Merchant, Asif Ahmed, Ovais Merchant
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Digital receipts, finance, blockchain
Funding: $4 million
Investors: Privately/self-funded
The five pillars of Islam
Where to apply
Applicants should send their completed applications - CV, covering letter, sample(s) of your work, letter of recommendation - to Nick March, Assistant Editor in Chief at The National and UAE programme administrator for the Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism, by 5pm on April 30, 2020.
Please send applications to nmarch@thenational.ae and please mark the subject line as “Rosalynn Carter Fellowship for Mental Health Journalism (UAE programme application)”.
The local advisory board will consider all applications and will interview a short list of candidates in Abu Dhabi in June 2020. Successful candidates will be informed before July 30, 2020.
MATCH DETAILS
Liverpool 2
Wijnaldum (14), Oxlade-Chamberlain (52)
Genk 1
Samatta (40)
Wonka
Director: Paul King
Starring: Timothee Chalamet, Olivia Colman, Hugh Grant
Rating: 2/5
Like a Fading Shadow
Antonio Muñoz Molina
Translated from the Spanish by Camilo A. Ramirez
Tuskar Rock Press (pp. 310)