Unnatural pact in a village in the province of Cáceres. The councilors of Unidas por Montehermoso (coalition formed by Unidas Podemos and Izquierda Unida) have reached a governance agreement with Vox to ensure in this way the "stability" of the City Council throughout the legislature. At the head of the government since last May is the mayor, Rosa Isabel Garrido, who belongs to the United Left, and who governed in a minority. The bad relations with the PSOE in this town made him fear that it would be evicted from the municipal cane by means of a motion of censure, so he preferred to agree with the two representatives of Vox, who have become part of his government team.

The results of the last municipal elections in this town (about 5,600 inhabitants) left the Mayor's Office in the air because no party got an absolute majority and no agreement was reached. United by Montehermoso achieved five councilors (1,127 votes), four the PSOE (994) -one of them is already a non-attached mayor-, two were for PP (625) and two others for Vox (506). The uncertainty and bad relations of the municipal government with the previous mayor, of the PSOE, were the characteristics in these first months of the legislature.

So, fearing the departure of the government, last Monday the agreement was signed that crosses ideological borders, and that has been reflected in the last Municipal Plenary, where it has also been approved that the two councilors of Vox (Blanca Luz Retortillo and Víctor Manuel Martín) pass to have the condition of released part-time (they will charge about 900 euros per month in 14 payments). They will be integrated in this way into the government team of Unidas por Montehermoso, with the competences of Citizen Security and Forest and Road Management.

United by Montehermoso has argued that the "natural alliance" with the local PSOE for an agreement that would make governability possible this legislature "became unfeasible both by the practices in his previous term of the former mayor, Carlos Labrador, and by the practices of harassment and demolition that he has carried out in these first 100 days of current government, with the consequent lack of necessary trust, which joint governance needs." In a statement, this training stresses that

"Given the fierce opposition practices of the local PSOE, which even harm the interest of the neighbors, we decided to increase our support in the municipal plenary, to get our measures out democratically and not exclusively through mayoral decrees."

In addition, they point out that their decision to agree with Vox has come after "becoming clear the will of Carlos Labrador (he was a former mayor) and the Socialist Group to try to form a government with the PP, a scenario that would go against the majority will that the voters of Montehermoso gave us with 34.21% support. "

Positions against

The regional leaderships of Unidas Podemos, Izquierda Unida and also Vox have disavowed this governance agreement. Joaquín Macías, regional coordinator of IU, has warned that in local politics "sometimes gives surprises", since there are "personal factors" that influence, but there are "red lines" that "can not be crossed", he warned. In this sense, he explained that the situation in Montehermoso is "complicated", because "normal" would be a pact between PSOE and Unidas, but "there are problems" between both local groups for "a long time" and "there is no understanding", although in any case he has asked the councilors of his party to "rectify" because in case of "not attending" to the approach of the general direction they will have "no choice" but to take "sanctions", which could include expulsion from the political organization. Macías stressed that the councilors feared that the PSOE would launch a motion of censure that would evict the current government team from the City Council. This Wednesday the regional leadership of the party plans to meet to adopt disciplinary measures against its councilors of Montehermoso.

For its part, the secretary general of Unidas Podemos in Extremadura, Irene de Miguel, has called on the councilors of its formation to "reconsider and backtrack" in this agreement with Vox that is a party that "puts at risk" the "healthy coexistence in the municipalities" and with which they do not share many values "essential in politics". In this sense, he has stated that "it is not the way" and that this situation "leads them to a dead end, because "you have to make policies for the people" but having "very clear" who "accompany you on the road".

For its part, the Provincial Executive Committee of Vox has requested the Committee of Guarantees of the political organization at the national level to immediately initiate a file of expulsion of its two councilors and has ceased as local spokesperson Blanca Luz Retortillo for having reached an agreement with Unidas Podemos "unilaterally and also without the approval of the provincial leadership". The president of Vox Cáceres and spokesman for the Parliamentary Group in the Assembly of Extremadura, Óscar Fernández Calle, explained that they had no knowledge of what was going to happen until the local spokesperson contacted on Monday afternoon with the head of Interprovincial Vox, who transferred him that "they did not have the approval of the provincial leadership to enter the local government and that if they did this body I would take the necessary measures."

  • Vox
  • PSOE
  • United We Can
  • IU
  • Extremadura
  • PP
  • Cáceres