Javier Ortega Smith and Vox have definitively parted ways, in a divorce that has been far from amicable. The decision was officially made on February 12, after the National Executive Committee (CEN) of the party unanimously agreed to relieve him as municipal spokesperson and appoint Arantxa Cabello, also a councilor in Cibeles, in his place. Ortega’s disobedience in complying with the order precipitated his expulsion, both from the membership and from the institutional representation of Vox. Something that, since the game, They interpret it as a “self-expulsion.”
However, the disagreements between Ortega and the green party go back many months. The proximity of already exportsvoice with the marriage made up of Rocío Monasterio and Iván Espinosa de los Monteroscritical of the course taken by Santiago Abascalwas evident with his presence at the presentation of the latter’s “think tank”, Atenea, last October. Likewise, Ortega would have been critical of some decisions made within the party. The truth is that, in recent months, the Vox leadership had been stripping him of all his positions, including the deputy spokesperson in Congress and his position in the national Executive. “I cannot accept that lies and manipulation are used,” Ortega expressed in a letter addressed to management. And, in his opinion, they were seeking to “destroy the reputation of people considered uncomfortable.”
The final touch came last week, when Íñigo Henríquez de Lunadeputy in the Madrid Assembly, was appointed as the head of Vox’s municipal political action. A movement that buried any possibility of Ortega running in the 2027 municipal elections.
The shadow of internal division now hangs over the Vox municipal group, which has five councilors in the capital, and where Ortega would still have supporters, after what they consider unfair mistreatment of one of the founders of the group.
Although his political future, at least in Vox, is sealed, his present appears uncertain. Although the general secretary of the party, Ignacio Garrigapresented a letter to the General Secretariat of the Plenary communicating his precautionary withdrawal from militancy, Ortega went yesterday to the Board of Spokespersons, as usual. In addition, his name appears on the agenda of the Plenary Session to be held on Tuesday the 24th.
In accordance with the Organic Regulations of the Plenary Session, Ortega Smith will not be able to represent Vox. However, as long as he does not renounce his record, he could remain in the City Council, either within the Mixed Group or as a non-attached councilor.