Catalonia's pro-independence parties have secured an overall majority in
the regional parliament with more than 90 per cent of votes counted
Exiled leader Carles
Puigdemont said the Catalan people have 'sent a message to the world' as
he hailed victory for separatists in regional elections on Thursday
night Dec 21,2017
Pro-independence parties won an
outright majority with 99 per cent of votes counted setting up a fresh
showdown with Madrid and issuing a sharp rebuke to EU leaders who backed
the unionist cause.
Separatist parties look set to claim 70 sets in the parliament, while unionists will have 65 seats.
That means the secessionists will be returned to government, provided they can form a coalition.
Anti-secessionist centrist party Ciudadanos will be the biggest single party with 37 of the 135 seats in the parliament.
The vote was called by the Spanish
government in an attempt to end the political crisis that erupted in
October over a banned referendum on independence.
Voters queue in Barcelona to cast their votes in a regional election called after their last government was thrown from power
Opinion
polls before the vote had predicted a close race between the separatist
and unionist parties. Voters chose between parties who want Catalonia
to remain part of Spain and those who want to continue the push for
turning the northeastern region into an independent republic.
The
election was held under highly unusual circumstances, with several
pro-independence leaders either jailed or in exile for their roles in
staging the Oct. 1 independence vote that was declared illegal by
Spain's highest court
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