Catalonia resolves deadlock, picks Carles Puigdemont as the new president

By FXStreet FXStreet (Mumbai) – The two secessionist parties in the parliament in the Spanish region of Catalonia finally managed to end a political deadloack on Sunday. Carles Puigdemont, the mayor of the Catalan city of Girona finally won the support of parliament and went to become Catalonia’s next president. The decision on a new president was reached few hours before hitting the deadline given to end the political deadlock which was looming over Catalonia ever since the regional election in September. Failure to meet the deadline would have led to new elections. Artur Mas, the outgoing Catalan President confirmed “The Parliament will begin to function immediately”.

The two pro-independence groups, the anti-capitalist leftist party Candidatura d’Unitat Popular (CUP) and Junts pel Sí (Together for the Yes, or JxSí) had won a majority of 72 out of 135 parliamentary seats with about 48% of the vote. However, the two parties could not decide on the next president causing a deadlock.

CUP were against to support Artur Mas for another term as he had pushed austerity policies during the economic crisis. Mas stayed adamant and refused to bow out. On Saturday, the parties finally reached an agreement. The two parties agreed that Carles Puigdemont …read more

Source:: FX Street