Pro-independence parties win Catalan elections
Junts pel Sí and CUP have won an absolute majority in historical elections
With more than 90% of the votes counted, the main pro-independence
alliance Junts pel Sí and pro-independence and anticapitalist coalition
CUP won 72 seats in the 135-seat Catalan parliament. “Junts per Si”
(“Together for Yes”) won 62 seats, while the far-left CUP party is
expected to secure 10 mandates.
They jointly obtain 72 seats amid a record turnout, in what would be a big boost to the secession campaign.
“Junts pel Si” and CUP had said before the vote that such a result
would allow them to unilaterally declare independence within 18 months,
under a plan that would see the new Catalan authorities approving the
Constitution of the Catalan Republic.
More than five million people were eligible to vote.
The ruling Convergencia party of Mr Mas and the Esquerra Republicana
party put up a single list of candidates – under the “Together for Yes”
banner.
The anti-independence vote in Catalonia was split between a number of
groups, including Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s Popular Party.
