ORIOL Junqueras, the leader of the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) has insisted that his and the other pro-independence parties should unite to form the new Catalan government after they jointly reached almost 51% of the vote in Sunday’s election.

He said he wanted to see a “broad majority” of all those who had called for a new independence referendum and an amnesty for the jailed political leaders and those forced into exile.

They should put aside their political interests, he said, and put “those of the country above them”. In an interview with RAC1 radio, Junqueras said: “I do not expect to repeat the elections in Catalonia because I expect the ... other parties [to] stop fighting.

“For once in a lifetime they must put the interests of the country first and create a useful, comprehensive and prepared government.”

ERC will begin negotiations with other pro-independence parties this week, starting with the Public Unity Candidacy (CUP), which has nine seats, followed by Together for Catalonia (JxCat), with 32, and In Common We Can (ECP) with eight.

CUP had backed the previous minority administration, led by JxCat, and were described by Junqueras as “an indispensable actor” in the parliament.

The message of unity from ERC was reinforced by their presidential candidate Pere Aragonés, who repeated his desire for a “broad” government. He told TV3: “Now is the time for everyone to take on commitment and responsibility.”

Sunday’s results were also discussed at a Catalan executive meeting, after which minister for the presidency, Meritxell Budó, said the citizens’ message had been made clear to the Spanish and European governments.

“Once again the option of resolving the political conflict has clearly been strengthened,” she said.

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“Parties betting on amnesty and self-determination have garnered more support than ever before, this time surpassing 50% in votes for the first time.

“All this must help Madrid and Brussels to see that the conflict is unresolved, that they must face it and that it must go through self-determination and amnesty.”

However, Spanish vice-president, Carmen Calvo, dismissed Budó’s remarks and a call by Aragonés for a new referendum. Speaking in Madrid, she said a self-determination poll had no place in the Spanish constitution: “The referendum is not provided for in our constitution for a matter such as territorial unity.

“The percentage is the same, because in our country it is not constitutional and it is not legal.

“It has no place because it cannot have it within the framework of our legality.”

Meanwhile, the Belgium-based Council for the Republic – the vehicle for promoting Catalan independence run by former president, now MEP Carles Puigdemont, has written to all the parties in the Barcelona parliament, except the far-right Vox, inviting them to talks in the coming days.

The council is pursuing an agreed road-map to independence, and calls on “all pro-independence parties to act accordingly and translate this result into an agenda to reactivate the independence process that the citizens urge to culminate”.