by Our Foreign Desk

LEFT-WING supporters of Catalan secession from Spain dealt a blow yesterday to efforts by nationalist leader Artur Mas to form a pro-independence regional government by reaffirming their opposition to his candidacy.

Mr Mas heads the Together for Yes alliance that won 62 seats in the 135-member regional parliament in September elections but, lacking a majority, he is seeking support from the left-wing CUP, which has 10 seats.

The CUP agreed to continue talks with the alliance but urged it to present another candidate.

Party leader Antonio Banos suggested yesterday that the CUP membership decision was not binding and that all options remained open.

The Catalan parliament has until January 10 to form a government or call a new election.

Pro-independence parties fear that the secession drive would lose momentum if fresh regional elections were held.

Madrid has declared that any attempt at separation would be unconstitutional.

The CUP and the alliance joined forces on November 9 to approve a parliamentary resolution announcing a road map to independence by 2017.

But Spain’s Constitutional Court ordered the resolution to be suspended temporarily following a legal challenge by the Spanish government.

It warned Mr Mas and his allies they could face criminal charges if they defy the ruling.

The Catalan parliament urged the court on Friday to dismiss the challenge, saying that the resolution was simply an expression of desire and had no legal standing.

The resolution authorised the incoming regional government to begin work on a Catalan constitution and to establish tax-collecting and security systems.