Left-Wing Coalition Denies Supporting Catalonia's Unilateral Secession

The secretary general of the Communist Party of Catalonia says Catalonia Yes we Can left-wing coalition will not support unilateral secession of the region from Spain.

MADRID (Sputnik) — Catalonia Yes we Can left-wing coalition will not support unilateral secession of the region from Spain, the secretary general of the Communist Party of Catalonia said.

Joan Josep Nuet, a candidate from Catalonia Yes we Can, said in a Thursday interview with the EFE news agency that it was "absolutely impossible" for the coalition to support Catalonia's unilateral declaration of independence from Spain.

The coalition comprising Podem, a Catalan branch of the Spanish anti-austerity Podemos party, Initiative for Catalonia Greens (ICV) and United and Alternative Left (EUiA) may gain up to 33 seats from a total of 135 seats in the regional parliament and therefore influence the Catalan legislature over the independence issue.

Catalonia is set to hold regional elections on September 27. A coalition of pro-independence parties, comprising Republican Left of Catalonia and the Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC), has pledged the region's autonomy from Spain should it win the vote.

More than 80 percent of Catalans who participated in a November 2014 informal referendum on independence supported secession from Spain. Over two million people out of an estimated 5.4 million eligible voters participated in the ballot.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has repeatedly objected Catalonia’s right to secede.