The Prosecutor's Office lawsuit leaves Pedro Bestard even more alone in Vox

PalmaThe complaint from the Balearic Islands Prosecutor's Office against the second vice-president of the Council of Mallorca, Pedro Bestard, has left him even more alone in his party. Vox has asked for the presumption of innocence of its leader to be respected, but sources close to the matter explain that there is "dissatisfaction" among a part of the internal ranks regarding the management he has carried out at the Council and they also criticize that he is "working for another party", in reference to the PP.

According to sources from the party, there are voices within the party that censure the events currently being investigated by the Prosecutor's Office: the alleged malpractice of Bestard, who during his mandate has used Council vehicles for private travel, with the expenses for fuel and other consumption that this entailed. "There are people who are internally upset with what has happened: a politician must be exemplary," these sources explain. However, they also highlight the fact that it is the PSIB that has filed the complaint, a situation that gives Vox arguments to defend Bestard: "It is shocking that the Prosecutor's Office has accepted it, bearing in mind that it has done nothing about enormous crimes committed by top-tier political figures of the Socialist party." This has been precisely the argument that the spokesperson for the parliamentary group, Manuela Cañadas, gave this morning when asked about the matter. "We already know who the Prosecutor's Office depends on," she said in reference to the Spanish government.

The main problem for Bestard with sectors of the party is not so much the events he is accused of as the fact that the lawsuit arrives at a time when he is distanced from the executive of the Islands. Furthermore, sources from the Council explain that he does not have a close relationship with the party's island councilors, nor with his team at the Ministry. The technical secretary of the Council who drafted the report that uncovered the vice president's irregularities with the official cars, Magdalena Ribot Font, has left the position to take over the management of the Blood and Tissue Bank Foundation. Sources from the party consider that his main advocate in Madrid, deputy Ángel López Maraver, has lost influence within the leadership to the benefit of Montse Lluís, national deputy secretary of government action and parliamentary coordination, who controls the territorial cadres.

"He has no defenders in Vox," assures a source close to the party: "As of now, he is politically dead, but perhaps, in the long run, he will remain, depending on the analysis of the situation made by Madrid." For example, for now, his presence at the party's events is still maintained. Is his situation similar to that of the President of the Parliament, Gabriel Le Senne, who is also facing an oral trial for having torn up a photograph of Aurora Picornell and the Roger sisters of El Molinar in the hemicycle? The sources consulted believe that in no case is it. "Le Senne has a more polite and refined attitude, he speaks well, and the image is very important," these voices assert. The fact that the crime he is charged with is hate and is related to democratic memory allows the party to make a political claim out of it. Le Senne questioned the narrative of the memorialist entities last week at the Palma Court, where he attended to learn the date of the trial, scheduled for October 25, 2027. When a group of citizens confronted the President of the Parliament, he said: "They accuse me of hatred, but it seems that those who have hatred are others." "They have made Le Senne a victim, but Bestard has sunk himself," these sources state.

The key role of the PP

In this context, the PP may be an unexpected ally for the second vice president. The president of the Council, Llorenç Galmés, owes him for having warned the national leadership of Vox that he would not leave the island government even if they ordered him to in July 2024. "The PP governs very comfortably with Bestard, who is much less confrontational than other options, such as the island councilor Toni Gili," point out knowledgeable sources. However, the doubt remains as to whether he will be able to keep him in the position for the remainder of the term and with increasing pressure: this Monday, the left-wing parties have once again demanded that he dismiss him. For now, Galmés has said that he will be firm if the ruling confirms malpractice.