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The Guardian said:
The Catalan president leading the region's most determined bid for independence in decades has emerged much weaker from elections he called to press for a referendum on breaking away from Spain.
The final count gave Artur Mas's Convergència i Unió (CiU) 50 seats, down from the 62 it won when elections were last held, two years ago, and far fewer than the 68 needed to win approval for a referendum in the 135-member Catalan parliament without settling differences with smaller parties.
CiU now needs an alliance with the separatist Esquerra party, which surged into second place with 21 seats, from fourth spot in 2010. Although Esquerra has often criticised Mas's minority government, it has not ruled out an agreement.
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Well, well... looks like independence is not what the constituents want, is it?
