After one of the most heated debates of this legislature in the Balearic Parliament, the PP finally saved the president of the Chamber, Gabriel Le Senne (Vox), from impeachment, whose impeachment was pending until the last moment due to the efforts of the conservatives to reveal the meaning of their vote only this Tuesday. The proposal to impeach the ultra-parliamentarian was advocated by the opposition groups (PSIB-PSOE, Més for Mallorca, Més for Menorca and Podemos) after, on June 18, he tore down the portrait of the Republican in the chamber and those of Aurora Picornell. known as the “Red Molinar”, shot by the Francoists during the Twelfth Night in 1937. The events provoked a wave of indignation inside and outside the Balearic Islands.
During the extraordinary plenary session, chaired by the Vice-President of Parliament, Mauricio Rovira (PP), and while Le Senne occupied one of the seats reserved for members of the Table, the far-right president reaffirmed his attitude. in the presence also of several members of the association Memòria de Mallorca. During his speech, Le Senne accused the left-wing parties, on the basis of an act that he described as “accidental and involuntary”, of having “organized a circus that they extended for more than two months” and of having “mounted a campaign of harassment based on lies and the political use of justice.
“They talked about the attack as if it were a terrorist, they gathered their troops to shout ‘Gabriel Le Senne, fucking Nazi’ at the doors of Parliament. And I even received death threats,” he exclaimed, without ever apologizing for the acts committed, for which he is also accused of an alleged hate crime for which he is summoned to testify on September 27, at 9:30 a.m., at the Investigating Courts of Palma.
The session began after 10:50 with the intervention of the socialist parliamentary spokesman, Iago Negueruela, who once again offered the votes of his party so that the people vote in favor of the impeachment of Le Senne, thus committing to support the appointment of a new president of the Chamber from the PP. “Dignity and democracy are at stake,” he said.
“Taking a photo with the virulence with which he did it is not admissible in a democracy,” defended Negueruela, who assured that he would be “immensely proud” to be able to vote next week for a PP president. Let us recall that El Senne was elevated to the presidency of Parliament on June 20, 2023 thanks to the support of the PP, which in exchange for this transfer and others had the guarantee of being able to form alone, subordinate, a government of course, to the external support of Vox. Until the rupture of the governance pacts between PP and Vox by the national leader of the far-right party, Santiago Abascal, the conservatives needed the votes of their external partner to carry out their initiatives.
In their impeachment request, the left-wing groups demanded Le Senne’s resignation “for notorious and serious negligence” in the exercise of his functions, relying on the provisions of article 39.d) of the Parliament’s Rules of Procedure, the application of which have been requested “immediately” so far, without success.
During the plenary session, Més’ spokesman for Mallorca, Lluís Apesteguia, criticised the fact that during these months, Le Senne had acted “without consideration, as judge and jury” when deciding on his continuation in his functions: “Only “that would justify his dismissal.” The eco-sovereign parliamentarian also stated that the gesture made by the ultra president of the Chamber on 18 June “would never have been made by the right-wing people who have governed this institution.”
Més spokesman for Menorca, Josep Castells, expressed similar sentiments, lamenting that the Balearic Islands “suffered a terrible trauma during the war, when uncontrolled groups, under the cover of the de facto authorities of the time, were murdered and martyred for thousands of people whose symbol is currently Aurora Picornell. “Attacking their image causes immense pain,” he pointed out.
Podemos MP Cristina Gómez was harsher, complaining that El Senne continues to be president of the Balearic Parliament despite the investigation by the First Instruction Court of Palma. “You are accused in a criminal case and you are still president. Gentlemen of the PP, will you support me to continue presiding over the Chamber?” he said, addressing the popular voters.
The motion was presented by opposition groups last June after the incident of the photo of the “Roges del Molinar” during a plenary session, during which Le Senne had removed an image of Aurora Picornell.
Let us recall that in the middle of the drafting of the motion, the leader of Vox, Santiago Abascal, announced that his party was leaving the coalition governments with the PP in several autonomous communities and that it was withdrawing its parliamentary support from the Balearic Islands. The following day, the president of the government, Marga Prohens, stated in a press conference that “it would not be understood” that El Senne would remain in office since this results from the investiture agreement.
Likewise, the spokesman for the Executive, Antoni Costa, stressed last Friday that the government is not asking for the “cessation” of Le Senne as such, but maintains that, for “consistency”, it should itself resign when Vox broke the pact in the Balearic Islands.
NO INTENTION TO RESIGN
For his part, the President of the Chamber indicated, during the Permanent Deputation, that he did not intend to resign due to the episode of the photo of Aurora Picornell, showing himself to be “very calm” and willing to continue his work “as long as the plenary session wants.”
Regarding the agreement between PP and Vox, he said that “the parties can understand each other and be reasonable,” he said.
The one who has already advanced the meaning of his vote is the deputy Agustín Buades, who left the Vox parliamentary group last Friday in disagreement with the decision of the party leadership to unilaterally break the pact with the PP. Despite his departure, Buades maintains his support for Le Senne, considering that the removal of Picornell’s photo was “unfortunate.”
