Ousted Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont called on Saturday for a united political front in the Dec. 21 election to continue the drive for independence from Spain and to protest against the imprisonment of former members of the regional government.

Puigdemont, who went to Belgium after his government was fired following a unilateral declaration of independence, said on Friday he was considering standing in the election from Brussels.

The ERC general secretary Marta Rovira said on Saturday the party may shun the elections if the politicians jailed pending trial over the independence bid were not freed before the vote.

Following the warrant, any extradition process could take 45 days, though this could be extended up to 90 days.

While anti-independence parties urged Catalans to go out and vote in the December election, the arrests helped fuel the antagonism felt by many in the region toward the central government in Madrid.

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