The statutes of the PP punish with expulsion the insults of the mayor of Villar de Cañas against Irene Montero

“Irene Montero has sores in her mouth from sucking her pigtails,” said José María Saiz in an interview before the interviewer’s passivity. A few words that violate, from the outset, some precepts of the party’s Code of Ethics. The document (here, in PDF) establishes as “General Ethical Principles” acting “at all times with respect for the dignity of people”. “The Party will not tolerate any type of violence, harassment, abuse or any other conduct tending to infringe the personal rights of its members or third parties. The organization will promote measures to prevent these behaviors and guarantee at all times an environment of respect and equality”, concludes point 2F of the text.

The code continues later, in point 2J: “They will maintain an attitude of respect, sincerity, transparency and collaboration with public authorities within the framework of their powers.” And it concludes, before leaving page 4 of the document, that the militants “will refrain from promoting or carrying out conduct that promotes hatred, hostility, discrimination or violence or the glorification of criminal conduct.”

However, the ethical code of the PP hides a safeguard that could imply that it was not applicable to the mayor of Cuenca. “This Code is not applicable to the actions carried out by those members of the Popular Party in the exercise of public functions or positions, since these activities are subject to control by the corresponding Public Institutions”, says the text on its own scope of application.

But if the code does not apply to Paco Núñez’s man in Villar de Cañas, the PP statutes do. The internal regulations, whose last revision is from 2017, dedicate an entire chapter to the disciplinary regime. And the first point, dedicated to “very serious infractions”, begins in its point 1A that “commit a very serious infraction who” attempt “against any of the fundamental rights or duties of the people recognized in the Constitution”. The fundamental law recognizes in its article 10 “the dignity of the person” as one of those superior values ​​to preserve.

The sanctions for this type of behavior range from “membership suspension for a period of between four and six years” to final expulsion, through temporary disqualification from representing the PP in bodies or institutions.

Information file… and wait

The leaders of the PP came out in a rush on Thursday to criticize their mayor in Villar de Cañas. From Alberto Núñez Feijóo to the regional leader, Paco Núñez, there were many spokesmen who censored Saiz’s words. Feijóo and Núñez also showed the Cuenca alderman the exit door.

“This attitude has no place in the PP of Castilla-La Mancha,” said Núñez, who has one of his main handicaps in the province of Cuenca to dethrone Emiliano García Page as head of the Junta on May 28. “We will act immediately,” Feijóo wrote on Twitter.

At first, that “act immediately” did not crystallize into anything. “We will talk to him,” said sources from the national leadership. But a few minutes later the crisis escalated and the Cuenca PP issued a statement announcing the opening of an information file against Saiz. And it added: “José María Saiz’s candidacy for Mayor of Villar de Cañas in the face of the upcoming May elections will be assessed by the Provincial Electoral Committee, the competent body for this matter, based on the conclusion of the information file.”

The matter is now in the provincial Guarantees Committee and, in any case, it could rise in the form of internal resources until the national committee chaired by José Antonio Monago makes a decision.

The PP tries to turn the page on the words of the mayor, who on Thursday night still had time to shake off the guilt in a Facebook post that you have deleted. This Friday, Feijóo has not made a single comment on the matter in a public act that he has shared with his candidate in Aragon, Jorge Azcón. And the informative file has not advanced, for the moment, as confirmed to elDiario.es from the Castilian-Manchego PP.