Pollensa

Pollensa pact survives but UMP president resigns

José Antonio Hortas (second left); Miquel Àngel March (centre); Andrés Nevado (second right). | A. Pol

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterPollensa04/10/2017 00:00

The motion at last week's council session in Pollensa in support of the Catalonia referendum had threatened to break the governing pact at the town hall. Already shaky because it governs with a minority, the Unió Mollera Pollencina (UMP), which supplies one councillor to the six of the left-wing Junts Avançam grouping (nine are needed for a majority), were upset by the vote. The mayor, Miquel Àngel March, cast the deciding vote in favour of the motion which had been presented by the Alternativa per Pollença.

Junts stated that it had abided by an agreement with the UMP to allow councillors to have a free vote on motions of an ideological kind. The group were also keen to praise the efforts of the UMP councillor, Andrés Nevado. The UMP issued a statement on Monday saying that after various meetings which had considered different options, it was decided that it should maintain the pact with the Junts. This statement also referred to the confidence that had been shown in Nevado by the mayor.

However, the decision was not to the liking of the party's president, José Antonio Hortas, who has resigned with immediate effect. Annika Müller will assume the role of presidency on a temporary basis. Hortas had been in favour of breaking the pact. As it is, the minority administration will be able to continue. Had the UMP decided to walk away, the situation of the mayor and the Junts would have become more difficult than it already is. The group can generally count on the support of the two Alternativa councillors, but without the UMP, it would have been at the mercy of a potential opposition majority.