In a surprise statement from the Palace of the Generalitat in Barcelona Wednesday, the president of the Spanish northeastern region of Catalonia announced he will call a snap election soon after the region’s 2020 budget is passed.

Quim Torra made the announcement two days after he was stripped of his status as a lawmaker in the region’s parliament by the republican left party of Catalonia, his coalition government ally. The ERC acted in compliance with a Spanish ban on Torra after he allegedly breached the country’s electoral campaign laws. He has been found guilty of disobedience by the high court of justice of Catalonia which banned him from office for 18 months.

Quim Torra did not fix a date for the new election, but he did confirm that he will meet for talks with Spain’s new prime minister Pedro Sanchez before he leaves office.

Torra was sworn in as president of Catalonia in May 2018. His departure is likely to further alienate his party together for Catalonia (JxCat) from its main pro-independence ally the Republican Left Party.

A new dilemma opens before Catalans as they prepare to go to the polls again: to follow the path of dialogue with Spain driven by Junqueras from jail or to maintain the unilateral approach advocated by the self-exiled ex-president Puigdemont.