Catalonia's pro-independence movement suffered a setback on
Sunday when it failed to agree on a new leader, potentially forcing the region
into a new election.
Parties favouring a split between Spain and Catalonia won a
majority of seats in a September regional ballot, but divisions between the
groups undermined their prospects of pushing forward with an independence
drive.
Pro-independence parties struck a tentative deal last
Tuesday to form a government there.
But the agreement faltered on Sunday when the Catalan
anti-capitalist party CUP, the minority partner in the pro-independence
coalition, failed to reach a decision on its partner's candidate to lead the
regional government, Artur Mas, who has been in power there since 2010.
The divided vote - in which 1,515 CUP members voted for Mas
and the same number voted against him - raises the likelihood Catalonia will
need to hold new elections, which would be the fourth since 2010.
The CUP plans to meet again Jan. 2, but if the issue remains
undecided by a Jan. 9 deadline, a new election will be called automatically.
Credit: Pulse
The deadlock in Catalonia comes as Spain faces weeks of
uncertainty at a national level following an inconclusive general election.
Spain's acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who had
defended Spanish unity and sought to block the independence drive over the past
four years, lost his majority in the national election and could struggle to
form a government.
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