Xelo Huertas following the meeting which confirmed her expulsion.

Xelo Huertas following the meeting which confirmed her expulsion. | Jaume Morey

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterPalma09/01/2017 00:00
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The president (speaker) of the Balearic parliament, Xelo Huertas, has been expelled from the Podemos parliamentary group. The vote to expel her was taken by members of the group this morning. There were seven in favour, two against (Huertas and Montse Seijas) and one abstention, said to be Salvador Aguilera.

Huertas and Seijas were expelled by the party's national committee of guarantees in December. This was because of breaches of the party's ethical code in respect of allegations that they sought to influence the 2017 budget in favour of funding for Daniel Bachiller's research laboratory (Bachiller was also expelled from the party).

Seijas did not attend the meeting at parliament today but contributed via videoconference from Galicia (she is originally from that region). Huertas did attend and afterwards said that she was "very calm" about the outcome. Unless she now voluntarily steps down, Podemos say that it will require a vote from a full session of parliament to remove her. There is no session planned until next month.

There are also calls for them to both give up their seats in parliament. They seem determined not to and may end up forming part of the Mixed Group, which currently consists of the two deputies from Ciudadanos and the one from the Gent per Formentera.