The struggle between the PP and Vox in the Balearic Islands for the free choice of language in education has ended, for now, with the first resignation in the far-right party. One of the deputies in the Parliament, José Francisco Cardona, announced this Thursday that he is leaving the parliamentary group but will continue in his seat.
Cardona does not resign, which means that Vox loses one of its eight deputies in the Balearic Islands, although it still has the key to the government in the Balearic Islands. The Balearic president, Marga Prohens, was four seats away from the absolute majority and won 26 of the 59 deputies in the Chamber.
The resignation comes due to the deputy’s disagreements with the harsh stance that his party maintains when demanding the immediate implementation of free choice of language in schools on the Islands. Vox maintains the blockade of the Balearic Budgets for next year until Prohens does not present an effective calendar for the implementation of this measure throughout this legislature.
The national leadership of Vox had initially given instructions not to block the approval of the Budget, but the Balearic deputies ignored this indication a few weeks ago and voted against the spending ceiling for 2024. After this internal clash between the Balearic leadership and that of Madrid, a delegation of the islands’ deputies met this Wednesday with Ignacio Garriga to try to close the crisis. The general secretary of Vox ended up supporting the decision made by the deputies of the Islands.
The deputy who has just announced his resignation from the group considers that this blockade is a breach of the investiture agreement signed between PP and Vox, which speaks of free choice of language throughout the entire legislature. The document also obliges Vox not to present an amendment to the entire Balearic budgets, but this agreement is currently up in the air.
In an appearance before the media, Cardona criticized the “coercion” and “blackmail” of his party to the PP to demand that it implement the free choice of language. “It is unacceptable to engage in coercion and blackmail against the PP. The latest interventions that have taken place in the Parliament have exceeded political fair play and, if it is legal, it is not elegant,” he said.
Vox has asked its deputies to return the minutes and has denied discrepancies in the formation, despite the fact that not all deputies share the veto of the budgets. For the general secretary of the formation in the Islands, Sergio Rodríguez, it is time for the PP to “make a move” and present a calendar for approving the free choice of language for the coming years. “The problem can be fixed tomorrow,” he said.
Marga Prohens governs alone with the external support of Vox and is the only autonomous community in which those from Abascal did not come to govern after the regional elections. Despite the discrepancies, Vox understands that the terms of the agreement to become part of the Balearic Government should not be modified.
