Exiled Catalan separatist Puigdemont reelected party chief

BARCELONA: Fugitive Catalan independence leader Carles Puigdemont on Sunday resumed the leadership of his separatist party despite still being wanted by Spanish justice over a botched secession attempt.

Puigdemont, who fled Spain after leading Catalonia´s failed 2017 independence bid, resumed his place at the helm of the Junts per Catalunya (Together for Catalonia) after winning more than 90 percent of the ballots cast by party activists.

Addressing a party congress in Calella near Barcelona via videolink, Puigdemont told his supporters that it was “now time to go out and play a new game”. “Let´s stop resisting and go on the offensive... Long live a free Catalonia,” the 61-year-old concluded to applause.