Yesterday it became official that the president of Vox, Santiago Abascal, retired from the position of spokesperson for the party in Congress of the Deputies to Javier Ortega Smith. This meant the end of the first representatives of the formation who have been disappearing as time has progressed (except Abascal).
One of Vox’s main missions has always been to try to ensure that the party maintains a large presence of young officials, which has been the ruling for the now former spokesperson. Therefore, Figures like Pepe Millán or José María Figaredo have not been very helpful to Ortega Smith either..
Down with Ortega Smith, up with Hernández Quero
Carlos Hernández Quero will now be the new deputy spokesperson for the parliamentary group in Congress.who until yesterday was the national spokesperson for Housing. For his part, Javier Ortega Smith has become spokesperson in the Justice Commission of the Lower House and of the municipal group in the Madrid City Council.
The party has explained that Hernández Quero will be of great help in addressing the problem of the housing emergency in Spain. In turn, They have accused the government that its “failed” proposals have not been up to par and that it will present new ones.
Leaving aside current information, it is worth mentioning some statements he made when he was a spokesperson. During a newspaper interview The Catalanspoke about his presence at the demonstration in Barcelona against the amnesty and the referendum on Sunday, October 8, 2023.
The first question asked had to do with the coup leaders who ended up in prison. Vox presenteda complaint against them when there were other parties that “they looked the other way”. In turn, “the left justified what was happening”but from the party led by Abascal it was very clear what the objective was.
“We were the only ones who stood up to the coup plotters”
“The reality is that our first great disappointment was the Supreme Court’s own ruling, which should have condemned for rebellion, and not for sedition”he explained. At that time, Patrícia Plaja was the spokesperson for the Generalitat (now Sílvia Paneque) and declared that the citizens who attended that demonstration against the amnesty would be “anti-Catalans and Catalanophones”.
Javier Ortega Smith’s response regarding this issue was very clear:
“The most anti-Catalan thing there is is separatism”
“The most anti-Catalan thing there is is separatism, which tries to rob Catalans of their origins and roots as part of a great Nation that is Spain. There is nothing that is more contrary to the love of Catalonia, and closer to the hatred of Catalonia that tries to deprive them of their roots and of their family and national ties that unite them throughout history”he answered when asked about his assessment of the work of the autonomous government.
Catalan constitutionalists were also a topic of interest during this conversation. “What would you say to the constitutionalist Catalans who feel totally abandoned by the Government of Spain for its constant concessions and pacts with the separatist parties?”they asked from the newspaper.
Being constitutionalists, what they should do is base themselves “on the foundations of the Constitution, which is the Spanish Nation.” Finally, the former secretary of Vox in Congress explained that all of Spain “it welcomes us all without distinction and is the only guarantee of our rights and obligations throughout history”. To read the rest of the interview you will have to access the newspaper article.