The state parliament consists of 100 deputies. Parliamentary republic: examples of countries

Law assignment .

Point out the errors in the situation and correct them.

Mikhail was partial to animals and considered them subjects of law, equal members of society. He even planned to register several cats and one dog in his apartment at his place of permanent residence. However, the injustice shown to animals bothered him so much that on October 4 - World Animal Day - he decided to organize a one-man march against discrimination against animals. Mikhail was confident that animals, like people, can have the same rights and freedoms. Having notified the city department of internal affairs about his initiative, Mikhail went to the central square of the city in which he lived with a poster in defense of animal rights. True, before he could start his journey from the central square, Mikhail was detained there by employees of a private security company as violating public order.

Political science assignment.

A first-year student wrote an essay about an outstanding politician who led the country of K. in conditions of a deep socio-economic and political crisis. Before his death, this politician was re-elected twice in elections with consistently high results; during his life, it was very popular to call boys by his middle name, and after his death, a portrait of this politician appeared on large banknotes of the national currency; an airport, a cosmodrome and a cosmodrome were named after him. military school, which this politician graduated from long before the start of his political career. Based on these facts, the first-year student concluded that this charismatic politician created in the country totalitarian regime. The teacher, after reading the essay, rated it unsatisfactory. How do you think the teacher justified his decision? What were the most important factors that the student might not have taken into account?

Sociology assignment.

A.B. Goffman, analyzing such a social phenomenon as a “queue,” makes an interesting remark: “Queues are divided primarily into “living” and “non-living.” In the “living,” individuals are physically located directly next to each other; in the “non-living”, the bodies of individuals are scattered in space, but mentally everyone imagines who he is behind and who is behind him. “Non-live” queues are accompanied by lists in which you need to check in from time to time, so they can also be called “list-based”. One of the laws of the functioning of queues is that a “non-living” queue exists longer than a “live” one. Conflicts may arise between these two types of queues due to differences in interests. For example, a months-long “listed” queue for children’s fur coats is joined on the day the goods arrive by a newly emerged “live” queue, trying to displace the first one. A confrontation unfolds between them, in which each side accuses the other of the illegality of its existence.” Analyze the given fragment from the point of view of various concepts and categories of sociology. With the help of what sociological theories can one explain the noted feature: the “non-living” queue lasts longer than the “live” one? How can a queue be viewed from a sociological point of view? Briefly justify your answer.

Philosophy assignment.

One sage died and found himself in front of the gates of the underworld, which are guarded by a vigilant guard. Behind one door is Heaven, behind another is Hell, behind the third is Purgatory. The guard will let the sage through one of three doors, but at the same time he strictly monitors compliance following rules: 1) The sage must clearly and clearly answer the question of which door the guard will let him through (you can say only one of three words: “Paradise”, “Hell” or “Purgatory”). 2) If the answer turns out to be false, the guard will send him to Hell. 3) If the answer turns out to be true, the guard will send him to Paradise or Purgatory (but where exactly is unknown). 4) If the answer turns out to be paradoxical (an answer that is guaranteed to be neither true nor false) is considered paradoxical, the guardian will send him to Heaven. The sage gave such an answer, after which the guard was forced to let him into Paradise. 1) What exactly did the sage say? Justify your answer. 2) If a sage wanted to be guaranteed to go to Hell, could he achieve this? Justify your answer. 3) If the sage wanted to go anywhere but to Purgatory, could he achieve this? Justify your answer.

Assignment by law.

Ivan decided to purchase an apartment for his one-year-old son Alexander, indicating him as the buyer in the apartment purchase and sale agreement. The realtor told Ivan that Alexander cannot be listed as a buyer, since due to his minor age he does not have the right to purchase property, and therefore state registration of the transfer of ownership will be denied. The realtor believed that Ivan should purchase the apartment as his own and then give it to his son. Indicate who made what mistakes. Justify your answer.

Assignment (for logic).

In the Parliament of the Thirtieth State there are three factions of equal size - Yellow (who always lie), Blue (who always tell the truth) and Purple (who sometimes tell the truth, sometimes lie). Last week, parliament approved a bill banning the wearing of yellow boots on weekends by a simple majority. However, the President is very fond of yellow shoes and therefore vetoed this bill. According to the constitution of the Thirtieth State, parliament can override a veto, but to do this, during a second vote, the bill must be supported by at least 2/3 of the deputies. At the preliminary discussion, all purples said they would support the bill. All yellow people said they would vote against it. And the blues said that among them, as many people would support the bill as the purples would actually vote against it.

Assignment by law.

When parents once again reprimanded their 15-year-old year old son Andrey, a 9th grade student, about the need to do homework instead of abusing time spent computer games, Andrei began to remember, in defense of his behavior, all the rights and freedoms of man and citizen, which were mentioned in the social studies lesson. He pointed out that fundamental human rights and freedoms are inalienable and belong to everyone from birth, and these include: the right to personal dignity; the right to liberty and security of person; right to integrity privacy; the right to privacy of correspondence, telephone conversations, postal, telegraph and other messages (Andrey played a multiplayer game that involved oral communication and the exchange of electronic messages with other players); the right to assemble peacefully without weapons (Andrei believed that since a multiplayer game is peaceful in nature, then he and other players have such a right); right of private property (Andrey’s parents gave him a computer for his birthday, which means he is its rightful owner and no one but him can use or dispose of it without his permission); the right to freely dispose of one’s ability to work (Andrei believed that since such a right exists and forced labor is prohibited, then homework in subjects school curriculum he can do it whenever he wants); the right to housing, which is inviolable, which means no one has the right to enter Andrei’s room without his permission. Evaluate from a legal point of view the actions of Andrei's parents and the arguments stated by Andrei.

Political science assignment.

An aspiring journalist for a quality newspaper wrote an article about the 2015 parliamentary elections in the country of V, with a long and recognized tradition of representative and democratic government, which was won by the party of S, which received about 37% of the votes of all voters who voted, but also received almost 51% of the seats in parliament and formed the government. Based on these results, the journalist concluded that Country B is not a democracy. The editor, after reading the article, rejected the novice journalist's conclusion as erroneous and provided a short explanation, with which the journalist agreed, admitting that he was wrong. How do you think the editor justified his decision? What factors might a novice journalist fail to take into account? What electoral system are we talking about? What classical concept of democracy was the aspiring journalist guided by?

Sociology assignment.

Often educated people argue that religion is disappearing in modern society, church services and holidays have become traditions followed by a small number of people and they do not have of great importance, including practical, for life modern people. The place of religion is being replaced by science and secular ideologies. However, it is obvious that current events indicate the opposite - Islam, Christianity, Judaism and other religions are experiencing a rise, revival in many regions, number millions of believers, and inspire different actions, including exploits and crimes. Sometimes you meet “interesting” people who, while doing science or being, for example, doctors, are believers, go to church, and raise their children accordingly. How can you characterize and explain this contradiction using sociological theories and concepts known to you? Briefly justify your answer.

Instructions

Countries where the parliament has the same name, Moldova, Italy, Greece, Canada, Armenia, New Zealand, Great Britain and others. In accordance with the constitution, some states have their own name for parliament.

The Riksdag is the parliament in Sweden. It is elected every four years and consists of one chamber. The most important task of the Riksdag is to carefully monitor the work of the government and enforce the laws. Thalman is the chairman of the Riksdag. He conducts meetings and is obliged to take a neutral position in relation to various political issues.

In Finland the parliament is called Eduskunta. Anyone can attend. The Finnish parliament consists of one chamber and is elected every four years. Any Finnish citizen who is over 18 years of age can be elected to parliament and have the right to vote.

The Russian parliament consists of two chambers and is called the Federal Assembly. The Federation Council is the highest house, and the State Duma is the lower house. Elections in State Duma take place every five years. Both chambers sit separately from each other. In the USA, Congress consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Each state has two senators in the Senate, regardless of population. Every two years, approximately one third of the Senate. Elections to the House of Representatives also occur every two years.

In Germany, the parliament is called the Bundestag and consists of one chamber. Members of the Bundestag are elected for a term of four years. The Bundestag can be dissolved only in emergency cases by the President of the Federal Republic of Germany. In Turkmenistan, the parliament, the Mejlis, consists of 125 deputies who are elected for a five-year term by single-member seats.

In Israel, the parliament is called the Knesset and is the governing body. The number of deputies is 120. They are elected according to party lists. Israel has a very low percentage threshold - only 2%, so there are almost always at least 10 parties represented in the Knesset. In Mongolia, the Great People's Khural consists of 76 deputies who are elected for a term of four years. Only citizens over 25 years old can run for Khural.

In Ukraine, the parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, consists of 450 deputies. This is the only government body in this country that is vested with legislative power. The Verkhovna Rada is where the formation and control of the country's Cabinet of Ministers takes place.

People's Assembly– this is the name of the parliament in Bulgaria. It consists of 240 deputies who are elected by popular vote for a term of four years. In the event of war or another state of emergency, the powers of deputies are extended until the end of these unforeseen circumstances.

In Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, the country's parliament is called the Sejm. In Switzerland, the United Federal Assembly consists of two chambers. The parliament of this country is structured in such a way that both chambers balance each other and are equal. They hold meetings separately from each other and both control the work of the government.

The Serbian Parliament, the Assembly, consists of 250 deputies and is unicameral. Deputies are elected by popular vote for a term of four years. In Estonia, the parliament is called the Riigikogu. In it, deputies elect the head of state and exercise control over the activities of the government.

DEMONSTRATION VARIANT OF THE 2nd ROUND TASK OF THE SOCIAL STUDY OLYMPIAD 2013, grade 11 Time to complete the task: 120 minutes There are two parts to the test. Part 1 - involves writing an essay on one of the topics in one of the disciplines: political science, sociology, philosophy. The maximum score for the essay is 60 points. Part 2 – includes 5 tasks that must be completed. The maximum score for each task is 8 points. In this demo version samples of all essay topics (3 topics) and all tasks (5 tasks) are presented. Write legibly. Apart from answers to questions, the work should not contain any notes (signatures, drawings, names, etc.). PART 1. WRITE AN ESSAY ON ONE OF THE TOPICS. Political Science 1) “Representative government is an instrument that only excellent musicians can play, it is so difficult and capricious” (Karl Metternich) Sociology 2) Why modern society characterized as individualistic? Give a detailed answer. Philosophy 3) Expand in essay form the meaning of the statement: “Time exists only because it tends to disappear” (Aurelius Augustine). Essay evaluation criteria When completing the task, you should demonstrate the following skills and abilities: 1) The ability to formulate and explain problems (which are explicitly or implicitly present in the essay topic you have chosen) taking into account the specifics of philosophy, sociology, political science (it is required to take into account the characteristics of each discipline, the ability to conduct analysis, justify your arguments, highlight various aspects, solutions to the problem). 2) The ability to build theoretical and empirical (with the help of examples) argumentation of one’s position, using for these purposes knowledge of classical and modern sociological, political science and philosophical concepts. 3) Demonstrate erudition in the field of social science, including knowledge of basic terms and concepts and the ability to use them correctly, knowledge of key theories, the names of their authors (use terms and concepts correctly, show knowledge of concepts, approaches, theories, and their names corresponding to the problems under consideration authors, key categories). 4) The skill of competent organization of written text (consistency of presentation, argumentation of basic provisions, logic of the answer, the presence of examples to illustrate one’s position, the absence of unreasonable deviations). 5) A creative approach to answering assignment questions, originality of thinking, examples, problem formulations. 6) Culture of thinking and writing (literacy, absence of stylistic errors, correct spelling of terms, names and other names). PART 2. 1. Economics assignment. Give a solution to the following problem. In country A, in the market for product X, the deficit function is given by the equation Def (P) 100 3P, and in country B, the deficit function in the market for the same product has the form Def (P) 60 P, where Def (P) Qd (P) Qs (P ) . In the absence of restrictions on international trade , find at what price the exporting country will sell product X. 2. Assignment by law. There are several theories of separation of powers. One theory distinguishes three types of power: legislative, executive and federal. A. Name the author of this theory. B. Indicate which type of power the author calls supreme. B. Indicate which types of power should not be shared and why. D. In what case, according to this theory, are the people given the right to use force in relation to the authorities? D. The author of the theory recognizes the right of the highest executive body to convene and dissolve the legislative body. How does he explain why such a power does not violate the principle of separation of powers? 3. Political science assignment. Fill in the missing words XXXXXXXXX differs significantly from all other forms of political oppression that we know as despotism, tyranny or dictatorship. Wherever XXXXXXXXX came to power, everywhere he brought with him completely new political institutions and destroyed all the social, legal and political traditions of a given country. Regardless of the specific national traditions or spiritual sources of the ideology of the XXXXXXXX reign, it always transformed classes into masses, supplanted the party system not with the dictatorship of one party but with a mass movement, transferred the central pillar of power from the army to the police, and pursued a foreign policy openly oriented towards world domination. NNNNNNN 1. XXXXXX - determine the type of regime (government) and briefly describe it without using the proposed passage directly (3+3 points) 2. NNNNNNN - determine the author of this statement, (2 points) 4. Sociology assignment. Give a detailed answer to the question: what is “ethnocentrism” as a social phenomenon? Give examples. 5. Philosophy assignment. “Parliament” In the parliament of the thirtieth state, consisting of 100 deputies, there are only three factions: truth-tellers, truth-phobes and moneyphiles. Truth-tellers always tell the truth, truth-phobes always lie, and moneyphiles sometimes tell the truth, sometimes they lie. To the question “Which faction is the most numerous?” 70 deputies answered that the majority were truth-phobes, 29 said that truth-tellers predominated, and one said that there were equal numbers of truth-tellers and truth-phobes. Determine how many truth-tellers, truth-phobes and moneyphiles there actually are in this parliament? Justify your answer. KEYS TO ASSIGNMENTS 1. Economics. To carry out trade between countries, it is necessary that one country, at an established price, have a surplus of goods, and the other a deficit of goods. If a deficit is the difference between the volume of demand and the volume of supply at a given price, then a surplus of a product is the difference between the volume of supply and the volume of demand at a given price. Therefore, the excess of a product is equal to the amount of the deficit with the opposite sign. To determine the price on the world market, you need to equate the deficit of one country with the surplus of another country. Or add up the deficits of two countries and equate them to zero. 100 3P (60 P) P = 40 Answer: 40. 2. Right. A. John Locke B. Legislative, with the reservation also the highest body of executive power. B. The executive and federal powers should not be separated, since “both of these powers require for their exercise the power of society, and it is almost impossible to concentrate the power of the state in the hands of different and not subordinate persons, or to create a situation in which the executive and federal powers will entrusted to persons who can act independently, with the consequence that the strength of society will be under different commands, and this may sooner or later lead to disorder and destruction." D. If the executive power does not convene the legislative body within the period established by the constitution, the author equates it to a state of war with the people and recognizes in this case the right of the people to counteract this force with force. D. “The power of convening and dissolving the legislature, a right vested in the executive power, does not give the executive power supremacy over the legislative power, but is merely a fiduciary power given to it in the interest of the safety of the people when the uncertainty and fickleness of human affairs cannot for it is impossible that the first founders of the state, by any foresight, could foresee future events to such a degree as to be able to fix the exact periods of convening and the duration of the work of legislative bodies at all times, and so that this would be accurate. met all the needs of the state. The best remedy against this shortcoming it was to entrust it to the prudence of those who will always be present and whose task it is to look after the public good." 3. Political science. XXXXX (Totalitarianism, totalitarian), HNNNNNN (Hannah Arendt) 4. Sociology. The answer should indicate that in Sociologists distinguish two positions in the study of culture: cultural relativism and ethnocentrism. Expand these concepts. In sociology, W. Sumner was one of the first to draw attention to ethnocentrism as a social phenomenon. social phenomenon and an attitude characteristic not only of representatives of different cultures and ethnic groups, but also of individual social groups. This should be demonstrated with specific examples. 5. Philosophy. An approximate sample solution (using the method of analyzing cases): 1. Let’s assume that 70 people who answered that the majority are truth-phobes told the truth. Then they are definitely not truthphobes, because truthphobes could not tell the truth. However, 70 people are a clear majority. We get a contradiction. Therefore, these 70 people lied, and contrary to their answer, truthphobes are not the majority at all. And given that these 70 are clearly in the majority, but are not truth-tellers, it can be argued that the majority in parliament are moneyphiles. 2. Let’s assume that 29 people who answered that truth-tellers predominate told the truth. But we already know for sure that the majority in parliament are moneyphiles (point 1). Consequently, these 29 people also lied - they are truthphobes or moneyphiles (perhaps some of them are truthphobes, and some are moneyphiles). 3. According to the condition, 3 parties are represented in the parliament of the thirtieth state. This means there must be truth-tellers. However, it is already known that 99 deputies lied. There was only one left who said that there are equal numbers of truth-tellers and truth-phobes in parliament. Since he is definitely a truth teller, his words are true. And since there is only one of him, then (according to his statement) we can conclude that there is only one truth-phobe in parliament. 4. So 100 – 1 – 1 = 98. Answer: In parliament there is 1 truth-teller, 1 truth-phobe and 98 moneyphiles.

There are several main forms of government in modern world, which were formed historically. In this article we'll talk about such a political system as a parliamentary republic. You can also find examples of countries in this article.

What it is?

A parliamentary republic (you will find examples of the form of government below) is a type government structure, in which all power belongs to a special legislative body - parliament. IN different countries it is called differently: Bundestag - in Germany, Landtag - in Austria, Diet - in Poland, etc.

The “parliamentary republic” form of government differs primarily in that it is the parliament that forms the government, which is fully accountable to it, and also elects the president of the country (in most cases). How does all this happen in practice? After the parliamentary popular elections the winning parties create a coalition majority, on the basis of which a new government is formed. In this case, each party receives a number of “portfolios” in accordance with its weight in this coalition. This is how, in a few sentences, we can describe the functioning of such an entity as a parliamentary republic.

Examples of countries - “pure” parliamentary republics - can be given as follows: Germany, Austria, Ireland, India (these are the most classic examples). Since 1976, Portugal has been added to their number, and since 1990, the African state of Cape Verde.

You should not confuse concepts such as parliamentary monarchy and parliamentary republic, although they are similar in many ways. The main similarity is that in both cases the main body of power is the parliament, and the president (or monarch) performs only representative functions, that is, he is only a kind of symbol of the country. But the main difference between these forms of government is that in a parliamentary republic the president is re-elected by parliament each time, while in a monarchy this position is inherited.

parliamentary, mixed

Today there are three types of republics. Depending on the size and breadth of powers of the president, presidential and parliamentary republics are distinguished. The classic example of a presidential republic is always the United States; traditional examples of a parliamentary republic are Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic and others.

There is also a third type of republic - the so-called mixed one. In such states, both are endowed with approximately equal powers and control each other. The most striking examples of such countries are France and Romania.

Main characteristics of a parliamentary republic

All states of a parliamentary republic have similar features, which should be listed:

• executive power belongs entirely to the head of government, this can be the prime minister or chancellor;
• the president is elected to office not by the people, but by parliament (or a special board);
• the head of government is appointed by the president, although the candidate is proposed from among the leaders of the formed coalition by a majority;
• the leader bears full responsibility for the actions of the government;
• All acts of the President are valid only if they are signed by the Prime Minister or the relevant minister.

Parliamentary republics: list of countries

The prevalence of this form of government in the world is quite large. Today there are about thirty parliamentary republics, but it is worth noting that there is no single figure on this matter. The fact is that some countries are very difficult to classify as one type or another. Examples of a parliamentary republic are given below (they are distributed according to parts of the world):

• in Europe - Austria, Albania, Greece, Bulgaria, Italy, Estonia, Ireland, Iceland, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Malta, Lithuania, Latvia, Serbia, Czech Republic, Croatia, Hungary, Finland, Slovenia and Slovakia;
• in Asia - Turkey, Israel, Nepal, Singapore, India, Bangladesh, Iraq;
• in Africa - Ethiopia;
• in America - Dominica;
• in Oceania - Vanuatu.

As we see, parliamentary republics, the list of which includes over 30 countries, predominate in the European region. Another feature that immediately catches the eye is that most of the listed countries (primarily, if we talk about Europe) belong to economically developed successful states with high level development of democracy.

If we take into account the ranking of countries in the world by level of democracy (by the Economist Intelligence Unit), we can see that out of 25 states that have been assigned the highest status of “full democracy,” 21 countries are parliamentary republics and monarchies. These countries are also leaders in the IMF ranking in terms of country volumes. Thus, we can safely say that the most effective and successful form of government (in this moment time) are precisely parliamentary republics.

The list of countries above can also be depicted in the form of the following map, on which parliamentary republics are marked in orange:

"Pros" and "cons" of this form of government

The main advantages of this political system include the following:

• the parliamentary system ensures the unity of the legislative and executive branches of government;
• all government initiatives, as a rule, receive the full support of parliament, which ensures the stable operation of the entire system of power;
• This management system fully allows for compliance with the principle of popular representation in power.

However, parliamentary republics also have their own shortcomings, which partly stem from the advantages of this political system. First of all, this is the instability of coalition alliances, which often leads to political crises (prominent examples are Ukraine or Italy). Also, very often the coalition government has to refuse actions that are useful for the country in order to adhere to the ideological line of the coalition agreement.

Another significant drawback of parliamentary republics is the danger of usurpation of power in the state by the government, when parliament, in fact, turns into an ordinary “stamping machine” for laws.

Federal Republic of Austria

The Austrian parliament is called the Landtag, and its deputies are elected for a four-year term. The country's central parliament - the Federal Assembly of Austria - consists of two chambers: the Nationalrat (183 deputies) and the Bundesrat (62 deputies). In addition, each of the nine federal states of Austria has its own Landtag.

There are only about 700 parties registered in Austria, but only five of them are currently represented in the Austrian parliament.

Federal Republic of Germany

The German parliament is also elected for four years. It consists of two chambers: the Bundestag, which includes 622 deputies, and the Bundesrat (69 deputies). Members of the Bundesrat are representatives of all 16 states of the country. Each of the federal states has from 3 to 6 representatives in the state parliament (depending on the size of the specific state).

The German parliament elects the Federal Chancellor, who heads the executive branch and, in fact, is the main person in the state. Since 2005, Germany has been occupied by Angela Merkel - the first woman to hold the position of Federal Chancellor in the entire history of the country.

Republic of Poland

The Polish parliament is called the Sejm and is also bicameral. consists of two parts: this is the Sejm itself, which consists of 460 deputies, and the Senate, consisting of 100 deputies. The Sejm is elected according to a proportional system, according to the D'Hondt method. At the same time, only those candidates who received at least 5% of the votes in the national vote can receive a deputy seat in the Sejm (with the exception of only representatives of ethnic minority parties).

Republic of India

India is also a parliamentary republic in which all power belongs to the parliament and the government it forms. includes the House of the People and the Council of States - a body that expresses the interests of individual states.

Members of the House of the People (Lok Sabha) are elected by universal popular vote. The total (maximum according to the Indian Constitution) number of members of the House of the People is 552 people. The term of work of one convocation of the Chamber is 5 years. However, the Lok Sabha can be dissolved by the president of the country ahead of schedule, and in some situations, Indian legislation provides for the extension of the work of the House by one year. The House of the People of India is led by the Speaker, who, after being elected to this position, is obliged to resign from his party.

The Council of States (Rajya Sabha) is formed through indirect elections and includes 245 deputies. Every two years, the composition of the Rajya Sabha is renewed by a third.

Finally...

Now you have an idea of ​​what a parliamentary republic is. We also provide examples of countries in this information article: these are Austria, Germany, Italy, Poland, India, Singapore, the Czech Republic and other countries (about 30 countries in total). In conclusion, we can say that this politic system government has both its advantages and disadvantages. However, today a parliamentary republic is the most optimal and effective form of government in the world.

BARCELONA, September 28 – RIA Novosti. Political forces advocating the separation of Catalonia from Spain receive an absolute majority in the local parliament, which will allow them to begin the “process of declaring independence,” while less than half of the voters voted for them (47.8% of the votes).

With more than 95% of the votes counted, the Junts pel Si coalition (which includes the party of Catalan government chairman Artur Mas's Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC) and the Republican Left of Catalonia) receives 62 seats. If we combine them with the 10 mandates that another pro-independence party, the Candidacy of Popular Unity (CUP), receives, they have 72 mandates out of 135 parliamentary seats.

This means that they can implement their plan and begin the “process of declaring independence” in the Catalan legislature.

Among preservationists territorial integrity In Spain, the Citizens party is in the lead with 25 seats. Socialist Party of Catalonia - 16 seats. The ruling People's Party in Spain receives 11 mandates. Catalunya Si que es Pot, which proposes holding a referendum (this coalition includes Podemos), will receive 11 seats.

The elections had a very high turnout - about 77% of voters took part in them, the highest result since 1980.

Hundreds of supporters of Catalonia's secession from Spain gathered outside the El Born cultural center to celebrate their victory. Mas himself, speaking to the crowd, declared: “We won!” he said in Catalan, Spanish, French and English.

“Today we have a double victory: “yes” and democracy won. As democrats, we demand that others recognize the victory in Catalonia, the victory of “yes”. We have a democratic mandate and we will not let you down. We won. And this gives us strength and legality. We will carry out this mandate with honor,” said the Catalan leader.

"We have worked for many years to obtain a mandate for the independence of Catalonia, and tonight we succeeded. In front of society and the world, the independence movement has won and we have the majority to continue this project," said the leader of the Republican Left of Catalonia. Oriol Junqueras.

Number one on the Junts pel Si list, Raul Romeva, said that “no one can now say that there are no legal grounds for doing what we are going to do.”

“There is no alternative. The dam has been broken. We are starting to work,” he said.

The Catalan government, led by Artur Mas, declared Sunday's elections "plebiscitary". That is, if there is an absolute majority in parliament of parties supporting independence, they will begin the “process of separation from Spain” - they will form a government, develop legislation, and adopt a constitution. According to their plan, independence could be declared in 18 months. The Spanish authorities do not recognize the “plebiscitary” nature of the elections and say that we are talking about ordinary elections to the parliament of an autonomous community.