Catalonia's deposed leader Carles Puigdemont has urged the region's political forces to unite against Spain, as hours remained for him to agree to terms for an electoral pact with other pro-independence parties.
Puigdemont went into self-imposed exile in Belgium last month after Spain's central government fired his secessionist administration, dissolved the Catalan parliament and called an election in the region for December 21.
Madrid also issued an arrest warrant against him on charges including rebellion, but a Brussels court ruled on Monday he could remain at liberty in Belgium until it had decided whether he should be extradited.
The independence push has deeply divided the country, dragging it into its worst political crisis since its return to democracy four decades ago and fuelling anti-Spanish feelings in Catalonia and nationalist tendencies elsewhere.
Pro-independence parties want the December vote to become a de facto independence referendum, and Puigdemont's PDeCAT and the ERC party led by Oriol Junqueras said at the weekend they might contest it on a combined ticket.
But they must register any alliance by the end of Tuesday, and prospects of them bridging their differences in time look slim.
Puigdemont and other secessionist leaders face charges of rebellion, sedition, misuse of public funds, disobedience and breach of public trust for organising an illegal independence referendum on October 1 and later proclaiming a Catalan republic, something that goes against Spain's constitution.
In an interview with Catalunya Radio on Tuesday, Puigdemont said all parties standing in the region should unite against Madrid's actions.
"The Spanish state is committing a brutal repression ... If we don't battle repression together, the Spanish state may win this fight," he said.
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