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Scottish Pro-Independence Parties Win Majority in Parliamentary Elections

© AFP 2023 / ANDY BUCHANANScotland's First Minister and leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), Nicola Sturgeon gestures on congratulating candidate Kaukab Stewart after she was elected MSP for Glasgow Kelvin in the Scottish Parliamentary Election, in Glasgow on May 8, 2021.
Scotland's First Minister and leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), Nicola Sturgeon gestures on congratulating candidate Kaukab Stewart after she was elected MSP for Glasgow Kelvin in the Scottish Parliamentary Election, in Glasgow on May 8, 2021. - Sputnik International, 1920, 08.05.2021
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Earlier in the day, the Scottish National Party said it was heading for its fourth consecutive victory in the region's legislative elections with 61 seats in the 129-strong parliament.

Pro-independence parties in Scotland have won a majority in the country's parliamentary elections, with the Scottish National Party and the Scottish Greens getting 65 of the 87 seats so far declared for the 129-seat parliament.

Scotland's First Minister and SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has called her party's election results "a historic achievement". She added that a referendum on independence is now "a matter of fundamental democratic principle".

"The SNP and Scottish Greens both stood on a clear commitment to an independence referendum within the next parliamentary term...And both of us said that the timing of a referendum should be decided by a simple majority of MSPs in the Scottish Parliament," Sturgeon said, as quoted by the BBC. 
© AFP 2023 / ANDY BUCHANANScotland's First Minister and leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), Nicola Sturgeon (L) congratulates SNP candidate Kaukab Stewart after she was elected MSP for Glasgow Kelvin in the Scottish Parliamentary Election, in Glasgow on May 8, 2021.
Scottish Pro-Independence Parties Win Majority in Parliamentary Elections - Sputnik International, 1920, 08.05.2021
Scotland's First Minister and leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), Nicola Sturgeon (L) congratulates SNP candidate Kaukab Stewart after she was elected MSP for Glasgow Kelvin in the Scottish Parliamentary Election, in Glasgow on May 8, 2021.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that he will not allow another independence referendum in Scotland, saying that Scots already backed remaining in the United Kingdom in a "once in a generation" poll held in 2014.

Sturgeon, for her part, insists that there is "no democratic justification whatsoever" for Johnson to block a referendum.

© AP Photo / CHRIS CLARKA Scottish Saltire flag blows in the wind near the statue of Scottish King Robert the Bruce, at Bannockburn, Scotland, Thursday, Jan. 12, 2012
Scottish Pro-Independence Parties Win Majority in Parliamentary Elections - Sputnik International, 1920, 08.05.2021
A Scottish Saltire flag blows in the wind near the statue of Scottish King Robert the Bruce, at Bannockburn, Scotland, Thursday, Jan. 12, 2012

The victory of pro-independence parties indicates that Edinburgh is in for a clash with London over Scotland's independence bid, with the standoff likely being settled in courts.

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