Newly elected Catalonia regional president, Quim Torra, is applauded by pro-indpendence parties during an investiture debate at the regional parliament in Barcelona, Spain, May 14, 2018. REUTERS/Albert Gea

MADRID (Reuters) - The Catalan parliament elected hard-line separatist Quim Torra as regional leader on Monday, heralding an end to seven months of direct rule from Madrid but also more political uncertainty in a region that retains a mandate to seek a split from Spain.

The deeply-divided parliament voted 66 in favor, 65 against and 4 abstentions for the election of Torra, handpicked by the region’s exiled former leader Carles Puigdemont.</s>Image copyright Reuters Image caption Mr Torra - a staunch Catalan separatist - is a relative newcomer to politics

Catalonia's parliament has sworn in a new separatist leader who has pledged to continue the region's battle for independence from Spain.

Catalan MPs elected Quim Torra, 55, as president by the narrowest of margins - 66 votes to 65.

The vote had been blocked for nearly five months - yet it remains unclear when Spain will lift its direct rule over Catalonia.

Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has offered talks with Mr Torra.

The prosperous region has been under Madrid's direct rule since the Catalan separatists held a referendum in October and declared independence unilaterally - moves declared illegal by Spain.

Separatist leader Carles Puigdemont and five of his allies fled Spain during the crackdown and remain in self-imposed exile. Four others are in pre-trial detention, and 25 in total face charges of rebellion, sedition and corruption.

Read more on the Catalan crisis:

Addressing the parliament on Monday, Mr Torra said "Carles Puigdemont is our president".

He said he would "implement the mandate from the October referendum". He said his new government would "build an independent state in the form of a republic".

Unionist leader Ines Arrimadas of the anti-independence Ciudadanos party called Mr Torra a mere "puppet for Puigdemont".

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Mr Puigdemont is in a legal fight against extradition from Germany

Mr Puigdemont nominated Quim Torra on Thursday as a candidate for Catalan president, in a video from his self-imposed exile in Berlin.

Mr Torra has been criticised by opponents for writing what some have called an inflammatory article in 2012, in which he said some Catalans from Spanish-speaking backgrounds were "animals in human form who spew out hate".

Mr Torra worked as an executive for a multi-national insurance company, before he entered politics by joining the pro-independence civil society pressure group Òmnium Cultural.

He also ran a publishing company, dedicated to publishing works of Catalan literature and journalism.</s>Separatist Quim Torra is expected to become president of Catalonia on Monday, ending months of political stalemate and greatly reducing the chances of a new regional election.

Torra, a close ally of former president Carles Puigdemont, failed to win an absolute majority in the Catalan parliament on Saturday but will require only a simple majority in the next round of voting. The way seemed clear for him to reach that threshold after the radical leftist Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP) said on Sunday it would abstain rather than vote against Torra.

The party said in a tweet that while it will “not block the formation of a new government” it intends to be “an active opposition.”

Torra’s election and the formation of a new government would close the latest chapter in the Catalan crisis, which reached its height last year when regional leaders held a disputed referendum on breaking away from Spain and then declared independence.

A failure to elect a president and form a government would have left Catalonia facing another regional election, just months after Madrid imposed one in December to try to end the crisis. In the event, pro-independence parties retained their slim majority in the Catalan parliament and a new government will have to decide whether to pursue another collision course with Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.

Puigdemont fled Spain last fall after the declaration of independence, which went unrecognized internationally. The Spanish legal system has charged Puigdemont and other separatist leaders with a range of offenses over their roles in the independence push.

Puigdemont is currently in Berlin, awaiting a decision from a German court on whether he will be extradited to Spain.</s>Catalan politicians cleared the way Sunday for a pro-independence candidate to be elected regional president and end the emergency direct rule imposed by Madrid in last year’s political crisis.

The far-left radical pro-independence CUP party said in a statement that it would abstain from an investiture vote in the regional parliament on Monday.

“The CUP will not block the formation of a new government,” the party said.

The absence of its votes will leave pro-independence candidate Quim Torra with the simple majority needed to be elected regional president.

Analysts warned the road ahead would be a rocky one, however, with politicians and voters split on the merits of trying to leave Spain.

The formation of a new regional government is required for Spain to lift the state of direct rule.

The Catalan regional assembly had failed to elect Torra in an initial vote requiring an absolute majority on Saturday.

In the second round vote scheduled for Monday, only a simple majority will be required so Torra is expected to win the vote.

He was handpicked as a candidate by deposed leader Carles Puigdemont.

Puigdemont is in exile in Germany and faces jail on rebellion charges for last year’s secession bid if he returns to Spain.

In an interview Saturday with Italian daily La Stampa, Puigdemont said Torra, as his designated successor, “takes power in provisional conditions and he is aware of that. From October 27, he will be able to call new elections.”

He told parliament he was “working tirelessly for the Catalan republic”.

He signalled that the secession crisis is far from over, even if Catalonia does finally get a government.

That prompted Madrid to impose direct rule and led to months of political limbo.

Torra lambasted European institutions for their “unacceptable silence” over the Catalan crisis. He said he was ready to talk “without conditions” with the government of Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.

Rajoy’s government and the Spanish courts have declared secession illegal and vowed to block it.

Rajoy said that constitutional direct rule “could be used again if necessary,” if the next regional leadership did not respect the law.

Catalonia is Spain’s richest and most populous region, with 7.5 million people.

Calls have increased in recent years for it to have more control over its finances, with some demanding outright independence.

Separatist parties won regional elections in December. But every leadership candidate picked by the separatist camp since has fallen flat.

Torra faces divisions within the separatist camp, composed of the CUP, the leftwing ERC party and Puigdemont’s Together for Catalonia grouping, according to Antonio Barroso, deputy research director at Teneo Intelligence.

Barroso said the ERC wants a moderate approach to avoid a Madrid clampdown and to play a longer independence game.

“In contrast, Puigdemont’s strategy is to continue using every opportunity… to continue challenging the Spanish authorities and keep the secessionist momentum alive.”

For Oriol Bartomeus, political analyst at Barcelona Autonomous University, what is in sight is “a divided government — there could be fallout.”

Ines Arrimadas, leader of the centrist, unionist Ciudadanos party, told Torra on Saturday: “I don’t know if you will be president of the regional government, but you will never be the one of all Catalans.”</s>Catalonia's parliament has elected hard-line separatist Quim Torra as the Spanish region's new leader. The divided parliament voted 66 in favour, 65 against and 4 abstentions for the election of Torra, who was handpicked by the region's exiled former leader, Carles Puigdemont.</s>MADRID (Reuters) - The Catalan parliament elected hard-line separatist Quim Torra as regional leader on Monday, heralding an end to seven months of direct rule from Madrid but also more political uncertainty in a region that retains a mandate to seek a split from Spain.

The deeply-divided parliament voted 66 in favor, 65 against and 4 abstentions for the election of Torra, handpicked by the region’s exiled former leader Carles Puigdemont.</s>MADRID—Catalonia’s regional assembly elected a new leader Monday, likely clearing the way for the Rajoy administration in Madrid to end direct rule over the restive region.

Catalan lawmakers elected Quim Torra, a hard-line separatist, to lead the regional government in Barcelona, with 66 votes in favor and 65 votes opposed. Four lawmakers abstained.</s>Torra calls himself an interim head of the Catalan government, the Generalitat, since he believes that former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont, who is facing possible extradition to Spain where he is wanted on rebellion charges, remains the true head of the cabinet.

Torra’s candidacy was backed by 66 lawmakers from Junts per Catalunya and Republican Left of Catalonia parties, while 65 lawmakers from parties advocating Spain’s territorial integrity voted against his appointment. Four representatives of the pro-independence Popular Unity Candidacy abstained.

READ MORE: Catalan Parliament Allows Regional Government Head to Be Elected in Absence

Earlier in May, Catalan lawmakers voted in favor of an amendment that would allow the regional president to be elected without his or her presence in the parliament, in a move that could return former leader Carles Puigdemont, who is in self-imposed exile, to power.</s>The new elected Catalan regional president Quim Torra (C) is congratulated by members of his Junts per Catalonia. Photo: AFP

Quim Torra, a newcomer to politics who has campaigned fiercely for Catalonia's independence, was appointed regional president Monday vowing to keep fighting for a break from Spain.

Torra's election by the regional parliament paves the way for a new government in Catalonia after months of political limbo.

Analysts warn the road ahead will be rocky as he faces rifts within the separatist camp and Catalans remain deeply split over leaving Spain.

Torra, handpicked as presidential candidate by deposed, exiled leader Carles Puigdemont, scraped through the parliamentary vote -- 66 separatist lawmakers voted for him, 65 non-independence MPs against and four abstained.

"We will build a Catalan republic," he said after the vote, as lawmakers sang Catalonia's anthem "Els Segadors" ("The Reapers" in English).

The 55-year-old father of three pledged to respect the result of an independence referendum, which was held on October 1 despite a court ban and marred by police violence.

Catalan separatist authorities said 90 percent of the 2.2 million people who cast their ballot in the referendum -- out of 5.5 million eligible voters -- opted to break from Spain.

 

 Puigdemont's pick

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy called for "understanding and harmony" but warned that he would not tolerate any breaking of the law and Spain's constitution.

The formation of a new government will automatically lift direct rule imposed by Madrid on October 27 after separatist lawmakers made a short-lived unilateral declaration of independence.

In a bid to end the biggest political crisis to hit Spain in decades, Rajoy called snap regional elections for December which separatist parties won as the secessionist movement in Catalonia showed no sign of dying down.

But since then, the presidential candidates put forward by the separatist camp had all fallen flat as they were either in jail in Spain over their role in the secession bid or in self-exile.

Torra, who was elected to the Catalan parliament in December on Puigdemont's Together for Catalonia list, finally made it through as he has no legal woes.
• What next: Is a new Catalan government finally in sight?



 Yellow ribbons in support of jailed Catalan separatist leaders are displayed on seats at the Catalan parliament. Photo: AFP

Puigdemont, who was deposed by Madrid last October, was shown on Catalan television watching Torra's speech on a laptop from Germany where he awaits a court decision on whether to extradite him to Spain.

He faces jail on rebellion charges for last year's secession bid if he returns.

In an interview published Saturday by Italian daily La Stampa, Puigdemont said Torra, as his designated successor, "takes power in provisional conditions and he is aware of that. From October 27th, he will be able to call new elections".

Ines Arrimadas, leader in Catalonia of the centrist, anti-independence Ciudadanos party, has branded Torra a mere "puppet" for Puigdemont.

Torra tried -- and failed -- to be appointed on Saturday at an initial parliamentary vote that required an absolute majority.

During Monday's session, in which he only needed a simple majority, he outlined his new government's plans for education, health and employment.



 Mossos D'Esquadra officers (Catalan regional police) present arms as the new elected Catalan regional president Quim Torra (L) leaves the Catalan parliament after his election. Photo: AFP

On Saturday, he had focused entirely on independence.

During that speech, he lambasted European institutions for their "unacceptable silence" over the Catalan crisis.

He also said a "Republican council" would be created abroad in parallel, presided by Puigdemont, as well as an assembly composed of local officials.

Torra has received strong criticism for some of his past articles and tweets.

He once described Spain as "a country that exports misery" or slammed those who do not defend the Catalan language and culture as "scavengers, vipers and hyenas."

A tweet he posted in 2012 said: "Spaniards only know how to plunder."

He has since apologised.

Torra faces divisions within the separatist camp, composed of the small, radical CUP party, the leftwing ERC party and the Together for Catalonia grouping, according to Antonio Barroso, deputy research director at Teneo Intelligence.

Barroso said the ERC wants a moderate approach to avoid a clampdown by Madrid and to play a longer independence game.

"In contrast, Puigdemont's strategy is to continue using every opportunity... to continue challenging the Spanish authorities and keep the secessionist momentum alive."

For Oriol Bartomeus, politics professor at Barcelona Autonomous University, the region risks having "a divided government -- there could be fallout".</s>(AP) – Catalan lawmakers have ended a half-year power vacuum by electing in a close vote secessionist Quim Torra as the new regional chief.

Torra failed to be elected with an absolute majority in an earlier vote over the weekend. But on Monday, the 135-strong Catalan parliament voted 66-to-65 to support Torra, with the four lawmakers of the far-left anti-establishment CUP party abstaining.

Torra, 55, is a fervent nationalist hand-picked by former leader Carles Puigdemont, who is in Berlin fighting extradition to Spain after being charged for rebellion and misuse of public funds in connection to last year’s Catalan independence bid.

The Spanish government is expected to remove the special controls on the Catalan administration after Torra and his new ministers are sworn in later this week.
The Catalan parliament elects hard-line separatist Quim Torra to become the President of the Generalitat of Catalonia after obtaining 66 votes in favor, 65 against and four abstentions.