Yahoo – AFP,
Denis Hiault, 14 Sep 2014
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Scotland's
First Minister Alex Salmond poses with children during a visit to a
housing
estate in Glasgow on September 13, 2014 (AFP Photo/Ben Stansall)
|
London
(AFP) - Scottish leader Alex Salmond has good reason to look forward to next
week's independence referendum -- he'll win either way.
A chubby-faced
former economist with Royal Bank of Scotland with a debonaire manner, the
59-year-old first minister and pro-independence leader is hoping to realise a
lifetime's dream.
"Scotland
is on the cusp of making history," Salmond told a packed press conference
for international media this week in Edinburgh, which would become Europe's
newest capital.
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Scotland's
First Minister Alex Salmond (R)
poses for a selfie with a woman during a visit
to a housing estate in Glasgow on Sep 13,
2014 (AFP Photo/Ben Stansall)
|
Even if he
loses the gamble, however, Salmond will still go down in history since British
party leaders have promised to give his regional government sweeping new powers
on tax-raising and spending -- possibly within months.
Salmond is
not shy about using emotive language in speeches about the future of his nation
of 5.3 million people in which he often talks about his historic plan for
"freedom" to "break the shackles" of a 307-year-old union
with England.
After
breaking away from "Westminster" -- the parliament in London -- the
new country he envisages would be social democrat, pro-European and
nuclear-free without Britain's nuclear submarine fleet.
"This
will be one of the world's richest small nations" -- thanks to North Sea
oil and gas and whisky, he has said.
Salmond's
supporters praise his unflagging determination and his political know-how. His
opponents have branded him arrogant and misogynistic with a penchant for
populism.
Many users
on the online forum Mumsnet criticised him as "patronising", although
British media regularly refer to him as "one of the most talented
politicians of his generation".
Made in
Scotland
Born on
December 31, 1954 to civil servants, Alexander Eliott Anderson Salmond is
Scottish born and bred, graduating in economics and mediaeval history from St
Andrews University.
Then a
lawmaker in the British parliament, in 1990 Salmond took over leadership of the
Scottish National Party (SNP) which had until then enjoyed only marginal
support.
He steered
the party towards the political centre and prepared to do battle -- four years
before Tony Blair did something similar with a battered Labour party to invent
"New Labour".
David
Torrance, author of "Salmond: Against the Odds", said Salmond and
Blair, who is also of Scottish origin, were similar in that they were more
pragmatic than dogmatic.
Torrance
said the slogan for both could be: "Whatever works".
In 2000,
the SNP suffered a setback in elections for Holyrood, the regional parliament
set up by Blair in Edinburgh as part of a series of reforms to decentralise the
United Kingdom.
Salmond
left the leadership of his party "forever", only to come back four
years later saying: "I changed my mind".
Elected
First Minister in 2007, Salmond has kept a tight grip on SNP. His style is
feisty and he likes to remind people that his father was a fan of Soviet
dictator Joseph Stalin.
In 2011,
the SNP took an absolute majority in Holyrood and Salmond won a promise from
London to hold a referendum.
He
recruited the Scottish actor Sean Connery to bolster his campaign and
cultivated sometimes controversial ties with US tycoons Donald Trump and Rupert
Murdoch.
Salmond's
aides say he has an "explosive temper" and he has a well-honed sense
for the scathing political put-down.
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Scotland's
First Minister Alex Salmond gestures as he leaves following a visit
to a
housing estate in Glasgow on September 13, 2014 (AFP Photo/Ben Stansall)
|
His
favourite quip these days? "There are more giant pandas in Edinburgh zoo
than there are Conservative MPs in Scotland" -- two to the one MP who
survived the crushing defeat in 2011.
Salmond
rails against the London establishment but defends himself against accusations
of being "anti-British".
Suspected
at one point of holding republican views, he has promised to keep Queen
Elizabeth II as head of state and wants an independent Scotland to be a
constitutional monarchy.
Sociable in
public, he is discreet about his private life.
His wife
Moira is 17 years older than him and is only rarely seen by his side. The
couple have no children.
His
passions are horse racing, good wine and Indian curry, along with football and
that Scottish invention -- golf.
Salmond
also likes a good singalong. His favourite tune is "Scots Wha Hae" --
an ode to an epic victory against the English at the Battle of Bannockburn 700
years ago.
 |
Catalans
holding Catalan independentist flags (Estelada) gather on Passeig de
Gracia
during celebrations of Catalonia National Day (Diada) in Barcelona on
September
11, 2014. (AFP Photo / Josep Lago)
|
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