Despite Ban, Protests Continue Before Spanish Vote

MADRID — Tens of thousands of demonstrators across Spain continued sit-ins and other protests against the established political parties on Saturday. They did so in defiance of a ban against such protests and ahead of regional and municipal elections on Sunday.

About 28,000 people, most of them young, spent Friday night in Puerta del Sol, a main square in downtown Madrid, the police said. They stayed even as the protest ban went into effect at midnight under rules that bring an official end to campaigning before the election in 13 of Spain’s 17 regions and in more than 8,000 municipalities.

Fueling the demonstrators’ anger is the perceived failure by politicians to alleviate the hardships imposed on a struggling population. The unemployment rate in Spain is 21 percent.

Beyond economic complaints, the protesters’ demands include improving the judiciary, ending political corruption and overhauling Spain’s electoral structure, notably by ending the system in which candidates are selected internally by the parties before an election rather than chosen directly by voters.

The protests, which started May 15, have spread gradually across Spain. Spaniards overseas have also held some protests in front of their embassies to show their support for an alternative campaign that has almost eclipsed that of the established parties.

Although some of the protest groups have called for people to vote for smaller and alternative parties, or to cast a blank ballot, the movement could lead to a decline in voter turnout on Sunday. In the elections four years ago, 63 percent of eligible voters cast ballots.

Sunday’s election is expected to result in a countrywide sweep by the Popular Party, the main center-right opposition, at the expense of the governing Socialists, whose popularity has plummeted because of the economic crisis. The most recent opinion polls suggest that the Socialist Party may lose in regions and municipalities where it has been in power since Spain’s return to democracy in the late 1970s, notably Castilla-La Mancha.

Whatever the outcome, Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero announced in April that he would not seek a third term, paving the way for the selection of a new Socialist leader before the general election, which is expected in March 2012.

As the campaign ban came into force at midnight, many of the Madrid protesters stuck tape across their mouths to signal that they would continue the demonstration, even if ordered to be silent. “The voice of the people can never be illegal,” read some of the banners, while others argued, “We are not against the system but the system is against us.”

Still, the government suggested that it would not order the police to use force to break up any protests and sit-ins in Madrid and elsewhere over the weekend, especially given that protests this week have not generated any violence. Interior Minister Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, speaking during a visit to the Murcia region, said that “the police are there to solve problems and not create new ones.”

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Justice Dept. to Continue Policy Against Same-Sex Marriage

After two instances in which deportations were suspended in immigration cases involving same-sex couples, the Justice Department has cautioned that it will continue to enforce a law that bars the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages.

A Justice Department official said Saturday that Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. had made no change in the administration’s approach to the law, the Defense of Marriage Act, suggesting that deportations could continue in other immigration cases involving married gay couples.

On Friday, an immigration judge in Newark suspended the deportation of Henry Velandia, a Venezuelan man who was legally married last year in Connecticut to an American citizen, Josh Vandiver. The judge cited an unusual action by Mr. Holder in a different case.

On Thursday, Mr. Holder postponed the deportation of an Irish immigrant involved in a same-sex union, sending the case back to the immigration appeals court. The Irish man, Paul Wilson Dorman, was joined in a civil union in 2009 with an American citizen in New Jersey.

The Board of Immigration Appeals had denied Mr. Dorman residency, citing the Defense of Marriage Act, known as DOMA. Among other issues, Mr. Holder asked the appeals court to consider whether the civil union might qualify Mr. Dorman as a spouse eligible for residency.

Tracy Schmaler, a spokeswoman for Mr. Holder, said he had interceded in Mr. Dorman’s case only because he wanted the immigration appeals court to decide issues he felt had been overlooked. “As we have made clear, we will continue to enforce DOMA,” Ms. Schmaler said.

In February, Mr. Holder announced that the administration viewed the marriage act as unconstitutional and would not defend it in the courts, although the administration would continue to enforce the law.

Gay rights advocates have asked the administration to postpone all deportations for same-sex married couples until the courts decide whether the marriage act is constitutional. Under immigration law, an American citizen can petition for legal residency for a spouse, if the spouse is not the same sex.

 

Protests Continue in Yemen After Saleh Accepts Exit Plan

 VOA News ?April 24, 2011

Yemeni army officers lifted by anti-government protestors gesture as they join a demonstration demanding the resignation of of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, in Sanaa, Yemen, April 24, 2011

Anti-government protesters in Yemen's capital continue to demand the president's immediate departure, a day after President Ali Abdullah Saleh agreed to a Gulf Arab initiative for him to transfer power and resign within 30 days of signing a formal agreement with the opposition.

A coalition of seven opposition parties has said it accepts the deal but refuses to join a proposed unity government while Saleh is still in office. Protesters in Sana'a on Sunday remained skeptical of the agreement, with some saying they do not feel represented by the opposition coalition.

Protesters also demanded that Saleh and his family face trial, while the deal brokered by the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council would grant the president and his family immunity from prosecution.

Yemen has been shaken by more than two months of widespread protests seeking the ouster of Saleh, who has been in power 32 years.

The United States on Saturday welcomed the announcements that Yemen's government and opposition had accepted the GCC-brokered deal.? A White House spokesman urged both sides to move swiftly to implement the terms of the agreement.

The GCC plan calls for President Saleh to transfer power to a deputy, who would then call presidential elections. It requires the opposition to stop demonstrations and would set up a power-sharing government in which ruling party members would control half the seats. The opposition coalition would hold 40 percent and unaffiliated parties would make up the rest.

GCC Secretary-General Abdullatif al-Zayani presented the plan to Saleh on Thursday.

In other unrest Sunday, police say fresh clashes between soldiers and tribesmen in the country's south killed five people, including four soldiers.

information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.