Catalan secessionist parties declare beginning of independence process

The two separatist groups in the Catalan parliament have agreed on a document declaring “the beginning of the process to create an independent Catalan state.”

Junts pel Sí, the nationalist coalition that won the regional election last month, and CUP, a small far-left party whose support is necessary to drive the secessionist bid forward, will bring their text to the regional parliament for approval next week.

The nine-point document states that the future Catalan state will be a republic

The nine-point document states that the future Catalan state will be a republic.

It also declares that the independence process “will not depend on the decisions of Spanish institutions, most particularly the Constitutional Court,” a body that is described as “having lost its legitimacy.”

The first point of the text says that Catalan leaders obtained “a democratic mandate at the September 27 election” to carry on with plans for an independent state.

The ballot was won by Junts pel Sí, a coalition led by the Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC), the party of acting premier Artur Mas, who is seeking a new term in office but needs support from CUP, which has so far refused to provide it.

Junts pel Si also needs CUP’s support to achieve an absolute majority in the regional parliament after earning 62 seats, six short of the 68 needed. The second most-voted force in Catalonia was Ciudadanos, which opposes independence, and the third was the Catalan Socialist Party, which supports more power for the region but not secession.

English version by Susana Urra.