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Article snippet: Catalans vote on Thursday for a new regional Parliament, an election that could decide whether the region persists in its drive for independence or instead seeks to negotiate a settlement with the Spanish central government after months of feuding. Here is what to watch for. The election was called by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy of Spain after he took extraordinary control of the region in late October to stop secessionism in its tracks. Mr. Rajoy used his emergency constitutional powers hours after separatist lawmakers declared independence from Spain. Mr. Rajoy is gambling that voters will punish the separatists who had propelled the nation’s worst constitutional crisis in decades — and then allow him to remove his emergency control and hand back power to a new regional administration that, Mr. Rajoy hopes, will be willing to remain within Spain. The last opinion polls showed a race too close to call. The main unionist and separatist parties were running neck-and-neck. Most polls give Ciudadanos, a center-right party fiercely opposed to independence, a slight lead over Esquerra Republicana, a left-wing separatist party. But no single party is expected to come close to a majority. The most important thing to look for is whether unionist or separatist parties, as a whole, come out on top. A fragmented result seems possible, in which as many as seven parties enter the 135-seat Parliament. That could mean a difficult round of negotiations to form another coalition... Link to the full article to read more