'Candidatura d'Unitat Popular' - CUP's (Popular Unity Candidacy) member of Catalan parliament Carles Riera gestures as he speaks at the session at the Catalan parliament in Barcelona on May 12, 2018. AFP / Pau Barrena
BARCELONA: A small Catalan separatist party said on Sunday it would abstain in a second vote to elect a regional leader paving the way for pro-independence candidate Quim Torra to secure a majority and form a government.
Torra, a close ally of former leader Carles Puigdemont, failed to win sufficient votes to become leader on Saturday
But if the far-left CUP party’s four parliamentarians abstain in the vote on Monday, he is expected to secure the simple majority needed to become leader, ending a political impasse that has lasted for months.
In his address to the regional parliament on Saturday, Torra said he would work towards the creation of a Catalan republic and respect the outcome of last year’s vote on secession, which was deemed illegal by Madrid.
Catalonia has been without an administration since December despite pro-independence parties winning most seats in a December election called by Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy after Puigdemont’s secession attempt.
(Reporting by Sam Edwards. Editing by Jane Merriman)
