Spain's high-profile Industry Minister Jose Montilla is to quit the country's socialist government before Sept. 11 to concentrate on his campaign to lead the regional government of Catalonia, according to Reuters. Montilla who has been heavily involved in a takeover bid for Spain's biggest power company by its smaller Catalan rival, said he and Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero had already agreed who his replacement would be. "I can only anticipate that on Sept. 11, I won't be a minister. I believe the Catalan elections will have been called by then," he told a news conference on Monday. Elections for Catalonia's parliament are due to be held on Nov. 1, when current Catalan Prime Minister Pascual Maragall is due to stand down. Catalonia's Socialist party leads the region's coalition government, after seizing power for the first time from the conservative nationalist CiU in 2003. Montilla has overseen Spain's energy industry, and has been played a prominent role in a bid battle for Spain's biggest power producer Endesa, which still drags on. Spain's conservative opposition has accused Montilla of favouring a bid from Catalan-based Gas Natural over a higher counter bid from Germany's E.ON, which he has done his best to block it by introducing a controversial law change. The government insists it is being even handed. Montilla was chosen as the Socialist Party's candidate for the premiership of Catalonia in July. If we wins, he will be the first person to head its government who was not born in the region, although he grew up there.
