Separatist Catalan party calls for disobedience campaign after vote

A radical left-wing separatist party that could join the winning coalition following Catalan regional elections called on Sunday for a campaign of disobedience against “unjust laws” after the polls.

“Catalan sovereignty is clear,” said Antonio Banos, leader of the CUP party, during a speech to supporters in Barcelona.

“From tomorrow, the law can and should be disobeyed by Catalans,” he continued, saying residents of the region should not apply “unjust laws”.

“Today, the republic was born,” he said.

The CUP won 10 of the 135 seats in Catalonia’s regional assembly, but may ally with the Together For Yes alliance of regional president Artur Mas, which won 62.

Though that coalition would hold an absolute majority in the assembly, Mas’s alliance faces tough negotiations to strike an accord with CUP, an anti-capitalist citizens’ movement for social justice, which does not want him to lead the separatist movement.