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Catalan parliament elects separatist speaker
By EUobserver
Roger Torrent, from the separatist Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) party, was elected speaker of the Catalan parliament on Wednesday, during the assembly's first session following the 21 December regional elections. The parliament is expected to elect the government's president on 31 January. ERC and the other separatist party, Junts per Catalunya (JxCat), have agreed to vote for former leader Carles Puigdemont, who is in exile in Belgium.