Moderate Catalan separatist Pere Aragones, set to be named regional president, on Thursday called on Madrid to organise an independence referendum after an abortive 2017 bid triggered a political crisis. "I'm standing for the presidency (of Catalonia) to make sure independence comes," Aragones told the regional parliament ahead of Friday's vote on his leadership, adding that Catalans' "exercise of their right to self-determination should be inevitable". Frozen since the coronavirus pandemic began, negotiations with Madrid on defusing Catalonia's impasse appear jammed, as separatists demand a referendum while Spain's central government rules one out. Unlike the Together for Catalonia (JxC) party of former regional president Carles Puigdemont, which favours unilateral moves like the 2017 poll, Aragones' leftist ERC party has bet on dialogue to secure a mutually agreed referendum -- in exchange for backing Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's Socialist government in the national parliament. ERC and JxC on Monday overcame their differences and struck a deal to renew the coalition that has governed the wealthy northern region since 2015. Aragones is expected to be confirmed as Catalan president on Friday, after a late March bid without JxC support failed. Including the far-left CUP, pro-independence parties control 74 of the 135 seats in the regional parliament after strengthening their showing in February elections. dbh/mg/tgb/kjl