Former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont has declared victory for
the “Catalan Republic” over the Spanish government in Catalonia’s snap election,
with secessionist parties having held onto their majority in the region’s
parliament.
Catalonia’s parliament has 135 seats, requiring 68 seats for a
majority. Secessionist parties won 70 seats in Thursday’s election, meaning
they will hold a majority, according to the latest count of votes.
Puigdemont, speaking in the early hours of Friday morning from
self-imposed exile in Brussels, said the result was indisputable.
“Now, it is necessary to rectify, repair and restore. The recipe
that Rajoy sold in Europe has failed. Let them take note,” he said on Twitter.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy dismissed Puigdemont as
Catalan president two months ago after he declared Catalan independence from
Spain following a referendum on October 1, which Madrid considered illegal.
Puigdemont’s Together for Catalonia (JxCat) party won 34 seats,
the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) came third with 32 and the far-left,
anti-capitalist Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP) picked up four – a combined total
for separatist parties of 70.
The anti-independence Citizens party won the highest number of
seats, 37, becoming the biggest party in the new assembly.
Exit polls showed a five percent increase in voter participation
over the 2015 election that originally put pro-independence parties in power.
Rajoy, who called the snap election in October in an attempt to
end the political crisis in the wake of Catalonia’s referendum, is unlikely to
be pleased with the results.
His ruling Popular Party (PP) won three seats, down from 11 held
in the previous parliament.
The Spanish leader issued a warning before the vote, saying the
new government must comply with the law “or it knows what will happen”.
This was an apparent reference to Article 155 of the Spanish
Constitution, also known as the “nuclear option.
Rajoy used the measure to dismiss the regional government after
Catalonia declared independence following the referendum.
That vote saw 90 percent of Catalans choose independence, although
turnout was lower than 50 percent. Spanish police cracked down on the vote,
using what rights groups called excessive force.
Catalonia, in northeastern Spain, is one of the country’s
wealthiest regions. It is home to 7.5 million people, accounting for 15 percent
of Spain’s population and 20 percent of its economic output.
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