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Catalan Separatists Set for Majority in Regional Vote, Poll Shows
Posted
February 14, 2021
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1:25Now PlayingCatalan separatist parties are set to claim a majority in the regional parliament after Sunday’s election, an exit poll showed.
The two leading parties in favor of secession are set to win between 66 and 71 seats in the 135-strong assembly, while a small left-wing group that also backs independence is on track to win seven, according to a survey by Gad3. The separatists need 68 seats for a majority.
Esquerra Republicana and Junts per Catalunya have jointly governed Catalonia since 2016 and in 2017 pushed through an illegal referendum on independence which created deep anger across the rest of Spain. The likely result may pose a headache for Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, as it will mean tough negotiations between the two separatist groups, with Junts looking to set limits to the relationship with the central government.
Sanchez's Socialist party was aiming to clinch the top position after he asked his Health Minister, Salvador Illa, to run for the regional presidency. Illa is set to finish second with 34 to 36 seats, the poll showed.
The outcome of the elections carry special significance for the premier because his fragile parliamentary majority relies heavily on support from Esquerra lawmakers to pass major legislation. Junts, on the other hand, is vocally opposed to Sanchez and any prospect of working with the central government, and is likely to demand assurances that ERC won’t cozy up with the premier once a regional coalition is in office.
Although Esquerra has repeatedly backed Sanchez in the national parliament, the relationship has at times also been difficult, with the Catalan group at times having turned its back on the premier when negotiations threatened to hurt the party’s popularity in Catalonia.
One big change given the projected results is that Esquerra could become the senior partner in a Catalan coalition. The party’s leader Oriol Junqueras is in prison for his role in the botched proclamation of independence in 2017 and has for several years tried to position itself as a pragmatic party willing to negotiate with the national government if it serves its purposes. Junts’s leader Carles Puigdemont is living in what he describes as exile in Brussels and has ruled out any cooperation with Sanchez.
Esquerra is set for 36 to 38 seats while Junts is heading for 30 to 33 seats.
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