BRUSSEL: Catalonia’s former leader, Carles Puigdemont, has urged Spain to reinstate the secessionist government that he headed but that was dismissed following an illegal independence referendum. Pro-independence parties, however, won 70 of the 135 seats in the Catalan parliament in those elections, giving secessionist lawmakers a slim majority over the pro-unity camp. “The ballot boxes have spoken; democracy has spoken; everyone has been able to express themselves. Rajoy, on Friday, called for the Catalan parliament to be formed on January 17. He said, however, that it was “absurd” that the dismissed Catalan leader wanted to govern Catalonia from exile.

Source: Pakistan Today December 31, 2017 08:48 UTC