Spanish PM sees no alternative to Catalonia repeat elections

PanARMENIAN.Net - Spain's acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said on Tuesday, January 5 he saw no alternative to a repeat of elections in Catalonia after the region's pro-independence bloc fractured over who to name as the new government's leader, Reuters reports.

Catalonia, worth a fifth of Spain's economic output, has been unable to form a government since a regional election in September due to disagreements between the winning, pro-independence coalition parties.

If a new candidate is not chosen before Saturday, new regional elections will be called automatically.

The failure to form a Catalan government echoes a political stalemate gripping Spain at a national level following an inconclusive national election on Dec. 20 and increases the likelihood all Spaniards will return to the ballot box this year.

"I sincerely don't know what could possibly happen in the next five days, but I believe that the best that could happen is that (acting regional head Artur) Mas drops his independence drive and, as that doesn't seem possible, there's no alternative to elections," Rajoy said in a radio interview.

The protracted efforts to choose a Catalan leader has dampened a separatist movement that at its peak drew one million people onto the streets of Barcelona, and has highlighted divisions between supporters.