Catalan president announces new elections once budget is passed

Quim Torra, the president of Catalonia whose MP status was withdrawn on Monday, has announced that he will call fresh elections in Catalonia as soon as the budget is approved. “This term has reached the end of the road” he said in a special statement. This followed his government ally party, Esquerra, accepting Spain’s judicial decision to strip the president of his MP seat, which caused a row in parliament on Monday.

Snap elections might arrive in May or June.

Torra, one of the leaders of JxCat, accused Esquerra of a “lack of loyalty” and called on the pro-independence camp to “return the path of unity.” Yet, although he said the current term “is over,” he added he is not going to call an immediate election because there are two issues to be sorted out beforehand. “This country and its people need a budget passed. It is a project of the country, it’s my responsibility, all of our responsibility,” he explained.

Torra also said he wants to “explore whether Spain’s government has a true will of dialogue and to put an end to repression.” He is due to meet Spain’s leader, Pedro Sánchez, on February 6 in Barcelona for the first time in over a year.