Catalan MPs vote to pick regional leader

BARCELONA: Catalonia’s Parliament on Saturday voted on whether to appoint hardline independence supporter Quim Torra as regional president, after deposed leader Carles Puigdemont stepped aside from the running. Torra, 55, is an independence advocate cut from the same cloth as Puigdemont who picked him and has tasked him with continuing his fight with Spain’s central government to achieve independence. On Friday, Torra said his government would march on with its “process of construction of a republic” in a sign that the secession crisis is far from over even if Catalonia does finally get a regional government after months of political limbo. Still, he is not expected to get enough support during the trust vote, which requires an absolute majority. AFP