Palma declares Pedro Sánchez 'persona non grata' and demands elections

PalmThe Palma City Council plenary session approved this Thursday a motion from Vox, supported by the PP, declaring that the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, persona non grata and demands his resignation and the calling of general elections. The far-right spokesman, Fulgencio Coll, described the Spanish president as "a 21st-century autocrat" who is "mired in corruption" and who was "incapable" of managing the COVID-19 pandemic and the Valencia storm. Coll criticized Sánchez for "giving in on everything to the separatist partners to remain in La Moncloa for one more day" and denounced his control over the media, the Constitutional Court, and the Bank of Spain. "It's time to remove this character from the government," Coll said. The statement as persona non grata It's a political demonstration and has no repercussions whatsoever.

PP councilor Llorenç Bauzá criticized the fact that "corruption cannot be normalized" and pointed out that, with a new election approaching, Spanish society must "turn the page" after the "succession of scandals" affecting Sánchez, the PSOE, and the Spanish government. "The president and secretary general of the Socialists has crossed all moral and, perhaps, legal boundaries," he added.

"Shameful" proposal

The PSOE spokesperson, Xisco Ducrós, described the proposal as "shameful" because "it represents a direct attack on democracy." "The PP and Vox have never been there to solve the problems of the citizens or to defend democracy," he reproached. Along these lines, the spokesperson for MÁS, Neus Truyol, stated that her group "will not follow the spectacle of Vox and the PP," and criticized the motion as having nothing to do with the problems of the citizens of Palma. For the councilor of Unides Podemos, Lucía Muñoz, the motion seeks to "inflame and generate a partisan dispute." In her opinion, when it is proposed that a person be declared persona non grata It should be for moral and human rights reasons.

Podemos abstained from the proposal and failed to include an amendment for the Cort plenary session to publicly condemn "the genocide" of the Palestinian people by the state of Israel and its president, Benjamin Netanyahu. According to their spokesperson, Lucía Muñoz, Vox's motion aims to "divert attention" from the "real problems" of the citizens.

The motion

The text of Vox's motion speaks of a "democratic pathology" and underlines that Spain "has been politically ill for years," referring to the government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero in 2004.