Catalonia was plunged into further uncertainty yesterday as the region's parliamentary speaker postponed a crucial vote to reappoint ousted separatist president Carles Puigdemont but vowed to have him reinstated at a later date.

Roger Torrent announced he had delayed the parliamentary session to ensure it could later go ahead in an "effective" way after Spain's Constitutional Court ruled against it, drawing protests from Puigdemont's Together for Catalonia grouping but welcomed by Madrid.=

"I won't propose any other candidate," he said, putting paid to speculation that separatists might drop Puigdemont and pick another candidate.

Puigdemont, who left for Belgium shortly after he was sacked by Madrid after Catalonia's parliament declared independence in October, faces arrest if he returns to Spain for leading the secession bid in the deeply divided northeastern region.

Catalan lawmakers had been due to formally vote him into office yesterday afternoon. But the Constitutional Court ruled on Saturday -- in response to a lawsuit filed by the central government -- that Puigdemont must be present at the assembly to be chosen as the region's chief, causing uncertainty over whether the parliamentary session would go ahead.