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Convergència i Unió
Convergència i Unió
President	Artur Mas
Founded	September 1978 (coalition); December 2001 (federation)
Headquarters	C/Còrsega, 331-333; 08037 Barcelona
Ideology	Catalan nationalism,; Conservatism,; Centrism,; Christian democracy,; Liberalism
International affiliation	Liberal International; (Convergència); Centrist Democrat International; (Unió)
European affiliation	European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party; (Convergència); European People's Party; (Unió)
European Parliament Group	Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe; (Convergència); European People's Party-European Democrats; (Unió)
Official colours	Blue, Orange
Website
	www.ciu.cat
	Politics of Catalonia; Political parties; Elections

Convergence and Union (Catalan: Convergència i Unió, CiU) is a political party in Catalonia, Spain.

CiU is a federated political party consisting of two constituent parties, the bigger Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya (Democratic Convergence of Catalonia) and its smaller counterpart, Unió Democràtica de Catalunya (Democratic Union of Catalonia).

CiU is a Catalan nationalist party. Depending on the observer it is regarded as either conservative^[1] or centrist. Still, some social democratic leanings may be found in its Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya branch, while Unió is a christian democrat party. As for its position in the nationalist debate, it is deliberately ambiguous so as to appeal to the broadest spectrum possible, from voters who seek full independence from Spain to those who are generally satisfied with the present self-government status.

The party won 10 seats in the Spanish national Congress of Deputies at the March 2008 elections.

At the Catalan level, CiU ruled the autonomous Catalan government during the 1980s until 2003 for 23 consecutive years led by Jordi Pujol (Convergència). Pujol was succeeded in the party leadership by Artur Mas (Convergència), while Unió's leader (second at the CiU level) is Josep Antoni Duran.

CiU supported changes to the Catalan Statute of Autonomy to further increase Catalonia's autonomy. It is currently the most voted party at regional elections in Catalonia, but in 2003 lost its absolute majority and is the main opposition party at the Catalan autonomous level, having been replaced in the government by a left-wing tripartite coalition formed in 2003 and re-formed after the 2006 Catalan regional elections, which were called due to divisions in the coalition.

[edit] See also

[edit] References and External links

^ Catalan conundrum | World news | guardian.co.uk

Convergència i Unió web site (Catalan)

[0] Catalan conundrum | World news | guardian.co.uk

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