Spain: Parties in Catalonia agree on new leader

Catalonia’s pro-separation parties have reached an agreement to form a regional government and avoid new elections.

Prior to this announcement, the Spanish region had been unable to form a government due to disagreements between the pro-independence parties which won the majority in parliamentary polls last September.

The anti-capitalist CUP party and the Junts pel Si (Together for Yes) alliance are expected to elect Carles Puigdemont as regional president.

On January 5, Catalonia’s acting president, Artur Mas, told reporters in Barcelona that he had reluctantly accepted the call for fresh parliamentary elections. But the CUP (Popular Unity Candidacy), which holds 10 seats, has refused to support him.

The 53-year-old is head of the association of pro-independence municipalities as well as mayor of the city of Girona, around 100km north of Catalan capital Barcelona.

People’s Party (PP) Secretary-General Maria Dolores de Cospedal, Spain’s acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and PP Vice Secretary Fernando Martinez Maillo preside over their ruling People’s Party (PP) National Executive Committee a day after the most fragmented national election result in Spain’s history at the party’s headquarters in Madrid, Spain, December 21, 2015.

On Sunday evening, separatist members of the regional parliament will confirm the selection of Puigdemont, a Catalan-language journalist from Mas’s party.

Spain has been in political limbo since the December 20 election in which the PP, which had ruled Spain for the past four years, won most seats but lost its parliamentary majority.

In November, the separatists passed a motion in the Catalan parliament calling on the assembly to start drafting laws within 30 days to create a separate social security system and treasury, with a view to completing independence in 18 months.

So far the PP’s traditional Socialist rivals (PSOE), who came second in the elections, have refused to support him.

“We didn’t have perspective and our project was about to fail” admitted Mas “now the [pro-independence] process is saved and the stability of the Catalan government guaranteed”.

But it wants more independence from the Spanish state, particularly where taxation is concerned, complaining it pays more to Madrid than it gets back. However, the situation is complicated by the fact that the left-wing Podemos party has said it supports a referendum on Catalan independence, which the Socialists reject.