News / EU

Catalonia parties agree to form regional government

Saturday, 09 January 2016 6:58 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 09 January 2016 6:59 PM ]

Catalonia’s regional caretaker president, Artur Mas, speaks during a press conference where he announced that he will not seek new term, in Barcelona, January 9, 2016. (AFP photo)

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

“Together for Yes and CUP [Popular Unity Candidacy] have reached an agreement to form a government and not go to elections,” a source in the regional government said Saturday.

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 Junts pel Si (“Together for Yes”) party won 62 seats in the 135-seat regional parliament. However, it needed to secure the CUP’s ten seats to create a workable majority, and further push the independence effort.

January 11 is the legal deadline to form a new government. Failure in the formation of the government means regional elections would be called automatically.

On January 5, Catalonia’s acting president, Artur Mas, told reporters in Barcelona that he had reluctantly accepted the call for fresh parliamentary elections.

On Saturday, however, local media said that Mas, who has been in power since 2010, would step down as the pro-independence leader of the region in order to avoid new regional elections.

Local media said Mas would be replaced by Carles Puigdemont, the mayor of the Catalan region of Girona.

Polls show that most Catalans support a referendum on independence, but are divided over breaking from Spain.

This file photo shows some leaders of the Catalan independence coalition Junts pel Si (Together for Yes). Artur Mas is second from left. (AFP)

The Spanish government has ruled out the possibility of the region's independence.

Resource-rich Catalonia provides at least one-fifth of Spain’s gross domestic product (GDP) and many of its residents believe they are disproportionately taxed by the government in Madrid.

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