Spain will block Catalonia’s fugitive leader from becoming president again

The Spanish government moved Thursday to legally block former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont from resuming his role as president of the regional government.

Puigdemont’s party, Together for Catalonia, took the most seats in December’s snap election, a vote Madrid mistakenly hoped would stem the long-building secessionist tide of Catalonians wanting to break away from Spain’s economic woes.

The restive region’s parliamentary speaker Monday nominated Puigdemont to take up the office of president pending a vote in the chamber.

However, the 55-year-old former journalist is currently living in exile in Belgium to avoid arrest in Spain on charges of sedition.

Read more: Spain warns fugitive Catalan leader not to try to sneak back into the country

Referring to the arrest warrant, Spain’s Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria said Thursday “current circumstances do not permit his [Puigdemont] investiture,” Reuters reported.

She added that officials in Madrid are investigating whether a legal challenge could be presented to the Constitutional Court against the speaker’s nomination, which if successful would stop the vote to confirm Puigdemont.

Officials in Catalonia have until the end of January to elect a new leader.