The still-serving president of the regional government (Generalitat) stated in a declaration in Barcelona with no right to questions that the ERC, which came in third place in today's Catalan autonomous elections, will now analyse the results and then assume any individual or collective responsibilities, without giving further details. Aragonès considered that the Catalans did not value "sufficiently well" the "negotiation path" with the Spanish Government, led by the socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, which the ERC has opted for in recent years. At the head of the Government of Spain since 2018, Sánchez granted pardons to the separatists convicted for the 2017 self-determination attempt, changed the penal code to do away with the crime of sedition of which others were accused and moved forward with an amnesty that is about to be definitively approved. All these measures were negotiated with the ERC, which made the successive Sánchez governments viable in the Spanish parliament. Catalan society "considers that it is now up to another [party] to lead a new stage", he stated. "The ERC will assume the will of the people and we will work to continue, which we will do from the opposition", added Aragonès. The ERC came behind the Socialist Party (PSC) and the also pro-independence Together for Catalonia (JxCat, right) in today's Catalan elections, having lost 13 members of parliament (it was left with 20) and having achieved less than 14% of the votes. Despite the defeat, the ERC could be decisive for the viability of a socialist regional government, led by Salvador Illa, who won the elections, but without an absolute majority. Illa said today that he intends to lead the new government, but did not reveal whether and with whom he intends to negotiate the viability of the executive, after having admitted an alliance with the ERC during the electoral campaign and with the Commons Sumar (left). For 14 consecutive years, Catalonia has had regional governments led by pro-independence members, made viable by successive absolute majorities of separatist members of parliament. However, today the pro-independence parties lost their absolute majority in the regional parliament that had existed for more than a decade. If the ERC now makes a PSC executive viable, it would break this 14-year "pro-independence bloc", which has united left-wing and right-wing parties. Despite there not being an absolute pro-independence majority in the new parliament, the leader of Together for Catalonia (JxCat), Carles Puigdemont, today declared that he is ready to form a "solid government" and challenged the Republican Left of Catalonia to reflect on "the effects of disunity". Read Also: Republican Left wants agreement for referendum in the next legislature (Portuguese version)