Catalonia’s parliament will convene next Monday to vote on the region’s new leader, assembly speaker Roger Torrent said on Tuesday, though it is unclear whether the candidate put forward by secessionist parties will be elected or not. That would trigger a new round of consultations and a further vote in the following days or weeks. Catalonia’s independence figurehead, Carles Puigdemont, pulled back on March 1 from a bid for a second term as regional leader. Spain’s central government in Madrid has said it will keep Catalonia under direct rule if secessionist parties elected a candidate who was under judicial investigation. The number of Catalans in favour of independence from Spain has fallen to a four-year low, according to a survey published on Friday.

Source: Dhaka Tribune March 06, 2018 13:07 UTC