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News, November 2003Catalan regional elections call for photo finish, with no clear winner16 November, 22.25. After a fast count, at 97% of the vote the governing Convergencia i Unió coalition drew ahead of the Socialist party, previously leading the polls and count. But neither party have an overall majority and the three minor parties hold the keys to power, particularly Esquerra Republicana, a left of centre nationalist party, which has doubled its representation. For a left of centre coalition to take power, the communist-greens group ICV will probably also be required to support or even join the government. Results are as follows: Josep Lluís Carod, leader of ERC has called for a national unity government, which would unite both the socialist and nationalist groups, with a remit to reform the Catalan Statute of Autonomy, the law governing the region's political life, to reach the greatest agreement on changes and developments to be made. This would certainly add authority to any reform made and put great pressure on the central government to accept the region's requests, something not contempleted in the Basque case, where the Basque Nationalist Party is attempting to go it alone in reforming their Statute and thereby dump the Spanish Contitution. |