Catalonia’s parliament will start debating Saturday on whether to appoint pro-independence newcomer Quim Torra as regional president, after deposed leader Carles Puigdemont stepped aside from the running and picked him as candidate.
This will be the first major step forward in forming a regional government after months of political turmoil following a failed independence bid by Catalonia’s separatist leaders.
After holding talks with various parties, Catalan parliamentary speaker Roger Torrent officially proposed Torra as the presidential candidate and called a session on Saturday at midday, the regional assembly said in a statement.
Lawmakers will vote on his candidacy at the end of the debate.
Torra needs an absolute majority to get through, and if he doesn’t, he will get another opportunity in a second round where he will only need a simple majority, likely to take place on Monday.
There are currently 70 lawmakers in the regional parliament who are pro-independence, against 65 who aren’t.
But four of the 70 are from the radical anti-capitalist, separatist CUP party which has said it will vote for Puigdemont – and no one else.
If they decide to abstain, he will scrape through in the second round with a simple majority. But if they vote against, he won’t succeed