THE Spanish parliament’s speaker said the suspension of four Catalan politicians currently facing trial over their involvement in a 2017 regional independence bid would not affect the total number of seats in the house.

A parliamentary majority in the 350-seat house would continue to be 176 seats, Meritxell Batet said.

Spain’s acting prime minister Pedro Sanchez won a national election on April 28 but his Socialist party did not take enough seats to rule on its own, forcing him to rely on other parties to stay in power.

The removal of the four seats would have allowed Mr Sanchez to broker a majority position without relying on the Catalan separatists’ votes or abstention.

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