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> 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> Separatist lawmaker Quim Torra, candidate for regional president, leaves the chamber at the end of the parliamentary session in Barcelona, Spain, Saturday, May 12, 2018. Catalonia's separatists have failed to elect a new leader for the restive Spanish region, likely leaving them with one more chance to form a government or face new elections. Candidate Quim Torra fell short on Saturday of the absolute majority of 68 votes needed to be elected on a first round. Torra, a fervent secessionist, will have a second opportunity on Monday when only a simple majority of more "Yes" than "No" votes is required. less </s> Quim Torra, a lawmaker from Junts per Catalunya party, was backed by 66 lawmakers, 65 were against, while four abstained.

The candidate was backed by his own party and the Republican Left of Catalonia. However, the parties that object to Catalonia's independence voted against him, while the four representatives of the pro-independence Popular Unity Candidacy abstained.

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

A new round of voting is scheduled for Monday. To win in the first round, Torra needed an absolute majority, or 68 votes. At Monday's second round, he can win with a simple majority.

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> 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> Catalonia’s separatists have failed to elect a new leader for the restive Spanish region, likely leaving them with one more chance to form a government before a new election is called.

Candidate Quim Torra fell short on Saturday of the absolute majority of 68 votes needed to be elected in the first round. Torra, a fervent secessionist, will have another chance during a second round on Monday, when only a simple majority of more “yes” than “no” votes is required.

In-fighting among separatist parties left Quim two votes short. Four members of the radical far-left CUP party abstained.

The party plans to decide Sunday how its lawmakers will vote during the second round.

Catalonia’s pro-independence parties risk an election being automatically triggered if they don’t form a government by May 22. </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> Catalonia's most radical separatists have said they will allow candidate Quim Torra to be elected as the restive Spanish region's new leader on Monday.

The far-left CUP party decided on Sunday that their four parliament members will abstain during Monday's investiture session, which should leave Torra with more "yes" than "no" votes.

Torra's election would bring an end to the Spanish central government's takeover of regional affairs as part of a crackdown after an illegal declaration of independence by Catalonia's regional parliament in October.

Separatist parties maintained a slim majority in regional elections in December, but Spanish courts have blocked efforts to elect two separatists in jail awaiting trial and fugitive ex-chief Carles Puigdemont.

They have until May 22 to form a new government or new elections will be triggered.
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.