TOGETHER for Catalonia (JxCat), the political party of deposed president Carles Puigdemont in the Catalan Parliament has tabled a motion calling for him to be sworn in as president from Brussels, where he has been in exile for more than three months.

It was registered on their own behalf but they have to rely on other pro-independence groups – the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC), Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP) and the Catalan Democratic Party (PDeCAT) – to be able to form a government and as yet there it no agreement with the other parties.

JxCat wants to modify the law of the presidency to install Puigdemont. Under parliamentary rules it should be treated as an emergency motion and dealt with in a single reading. It has also called for a full meeting of the Catalan Parliament to vote on it.

The move came as parliamentary lawyers said the two-month deadline to choose a new presidential candidate had not yet started.

In a report yesterday, they said the deadline was “frozen”, at least until the heavily politicised Spanish Constitutional Court (TC) rules on the legality of Puigdemont’s bid for the presidency. He was the candidate selected by Speaker Roger Torrent, but faces arrest on charges of rebellion and sedition should he try to re-enter Spain.

Once the TC has issued its ruling, Torrent must decide if he should call a debate to swear in the new president.

Torrent has already postponed an earlier debate on January 30, which was preceded by speculation that Puigdemont would attend the parliament, despite Spain’s Guardia Civil stepping up patrols at Catalan airports, ports and land borders.

The lawyers said the postponement was not Torrent’s “deliberate choice,” but the consequence of “a decision made by an external body,” in this case the court, which acted on an appeal filed by Mariano Rajoy’s government and on which it has still to rule.

Meanwhile, speculation surrounding Elsa Artadi’s potential nomination for the presidency, was mounting yesterday after Rajoy’s executive said it had no legal objections and would turn a blind eye to her being put forward.

She is a respected professor of economics, campaign director for JxCat and one of Puigdemont’s closest allies, but the pro-independence lobby has failed to agree on her candidature. The sacked president’s camp wants to install Puigdemont from Brussels as a “legitimate” president, from where he would continue to heavily influence Catalan politics through an ad hoc “Council of the Republic”.

Artadi would then be tasked with taking care of presidential matters in Barcelona.

However, this scenario would likely trigger another legal challenge from Rajoy’s government.

JxCat and ERC maintain that Puigdemont remains their only candidate, but with the chaotic nature of the discussions becoming more farcical, they realise that they must find an alternative should his inauguration be confirmed as impossible.

ERC sources have said that while Artadi’s nomination would help restore some normality, they were not excited by it.

While not confirming her nomination, ERC spokesperson Sergi Sabria, left the door open to a change of president.

He said: “In case it is proposed to another candidate for the investiture sure it will not be a problem.”

Artadi herself tried yesterday stayed on script when asked in parliament yesterday about her potential nomination.

She said: “Puigdemont is our candidate but, above all, he is the candidate of the Parliament.”