Spanish far-right leader set to stay party president until 2028, mutes dissenting voices

The leader of Spain’s far-right party Vox, Santiago Abascal, is set to stay in as party president until 2028 following an internal direct proclamation, which party sources described as an attempt to “silence dissenting voices”.

Abascal is the only candidate that has so far reached 10%, the threshold of party members’ support necessary to enter the internal election.

Although he could have submitted his candidacy to the vote of the party affiliates during Vox’s extraordinary assembly on 27 January, the Electoral Committee (CEL) of Vox, which organises the internal votes for the presidency of the National Executive Committee (CEN), has decided to directly proclaim Abascal as the future leader after consulting with him, El País reported.

According to Vox sources, the party had 66,000 members at the end of 2022, although other independent sources say the figure could be much higher.

Critical voices within the party quoted by El País claim that, with this unilateral decision, Abascal is trying to avoid the emergence of “internal dissidence” in the party with some of its leader’s decisions, which could translate into votes against him or abstentions.

This is not the first time that Abascal has avoided having to submit his leadership to his members’ scrutiny. In 2020, when the current leadership of Vox was elected, he also preferred a direct proclamation instead of giving the party’s affiliates the chance to express their opinion.

Abascal – who was appointed Vox president in 2014 – could be in office until 2028 without the party’s members having formally voted him for the post. Next September he will complete 10 years at the helm of the controversial far-right party.

Socialists sounding the alarm

With less than five months to go until the European Parliament elections in June, polls predict that the far-right ID will be the third political force followed by national-conservative ECR in fifth place in terms of seats, prompting many European leaders, including Spain’s Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez (PSOE/S&D), to sound the alarm.

At an election rally on Sunday in La Coruña (Galicia), Sánchez emphasised the danger of alliances between Vox and Partido Popular Party (PP/EPP) in several Spanish cities and regions, and called on the leader of the conservative formation, Alberto Ñúnez Feijóo, to backtrack on his pacts with the far-right.

“I ask Mr Feijóo to rectify his alliances with Abascal and to open up to big country agreements for the benefit of the Spanish social majority, our hand is outstretched,” the prime minister and socialist leader stressed.

In a strategic document approved on Sunday, the PSOE warns of the “worrying advance of reactionary forces” in Europe.

In the European Parliament, Vox is affiliated with the Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group and its three members are MEPs Jorge Buxadé, Herman Tertsch and Mazaly Aguilar.

Having been proclaimed as the leader of Vox by the Electoral Committee and with no direct opposition, Abascal is now set to stay in power until 2028.

[Edited by Nathalie Weatherald]