Accession of new Catalan premier keeps secession plan alive

Nationalists in Catalonia appear to have kept alive a plan to break away from Spain by 2017 after reaching a last-ditch agreement on who should lead the region and its independence project.

After more than three months of negotiations, Artur Mas, who has been the figurehead of the independence movement, agreed on Saturday to step aside as Catalan premier and make way for Carles Puigdemont, mayor of Gerona. The accord came shortly before last night's deadline which, if not met, would have triggered fresh regional elections.

Mr Mas told fellow members of his Convergence party that he had become “more a part of the problem than the solution” but that the surprise 11th-hour accord was good news for his fellow separatists and bad news for unionists in Madrid.

“Those who had their cava ready to toast the poor health of Catalonia will have to put it back in the fridge, let’s hope for a long time,” he said.

The withdrawal of Mr Mas had been a long-standing demand of the Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP), an anti-capitalist party whose support he needed to be sworn in again for another term. Although his Junts pel Sí (Together for Yes) pro-independence coalition won a September regional election it fell just short of a majority of seats in the Catalan parliament.

Mr Mas was seen by many nationalists as the most effective possible leader of the independence drive, given his political experience, business background and media savvy. But CUP resisted his continuation as premier due to corruption scandals affecting several of his allies and his implementation of severe austerity policies.

After Junts pel Sí clinched CUP’s support in return for Mr Mas’s withdrawal, the Catalan parliament held an extraordinary session yesterday in order to swear in Mr Puigdemont.

With a new premier in place, a road map to independence, approved by nationalists in November, is now back on track. It envisages the creation of independent Catalan institutions over the coming 18 months, culminating in secession.

The profile of the new Catalan premier, who is from the Convergence party, will worry the central government in Madrid. A strident separatist, he is the president of the Catalan association of pro-independence towns. “This is not a time for cowards,” he told the Catalan parliament last night as his investiture got under way.

The central government responded to the latest developments with a statement that said: “No parliamentary majority can support or justify illegal acts, much less an attempt to violate the national sovereignty expressed in the constitution.”

The salvaging of the Catalan independence process is likely to add to pressure on Spain’s national parties to break their stalemate. After winning an inconclusive election last month, the governing Popular Party has so far failed to form a new administration.