Javier Ortega Smith retains his position as a councillor in the Madrid City Council and now has a specific regime that limits his activity: one initiative every two plenary sessions and no capacity to request appearances.
The Madrid City Council has approved an organisational regime for Javier Ortega Smith, the only independent councillor in the Council, which regulates his participation in plenary sessions. The measure, dictated by the president of the Plenary, Borja Fanjul, is based on a report from the General Secretariat of the Plenary and establishes clear limitations on his political work.
Ortega Smith, who left the Vox Municipal Group, will be able to present one initiative every two ordinary plenary sessions. The restriction has been set by applying a proportionality criterion, considering that the municipal Corporation is made up of 57 councillors.
What initiatives he can present and which he cannot
Among the initiatives he will be able to register are propositions, urgent motions, questions, and interpellations during ordinary sessions. However, the report specifies that he will not be able to request appearances, as this power is reserved for political groups or one-fifth of the councillors of the Corporation.
The resolution also regulates the participation of the independent councillor in plenary debates. The turns and speaking times cannot exceed those assigned to each municipal group nor be less than one minute. Regarding municipal commissions, it will be Ortega Smith himself who must request his incorporation.
The report establishes that, at the request of the interested party, he may be designated as a full member of the commission or commissions of the Plenary in which he requests to integrate.
However, as he does not belong to any municipal group, he cannot be replaced by another councillor in case of absence, as the regulations prevent him from having substitutes.
An unprecedented situation in the Council
Until now, the Organic Regulation of the Plenary (ROP) did not contemplate the figure of the independent councillor. Ortega Smith's departure from Vox has forced the Presidency of the Plenary to develop ad hoc regulations based on a legal report. This situation is unprecedented in the Madrid City Council, which has never had a councillor without a political group.
For the residents of Madrid, this regulation implies that Ortega Smith will have a more limited presence in the Plenary than when he belonged to Vox. His initiatives will be less frequent and he will not be able to force appearances of municipal officials, something he could previously do as part of a group.
The independent councillor retains his position and salary, but his capacity for political influence is reduced. Fanjul's decision has been supported by the legal services of the Council, which consider that the limitation is proportional to the number of councillors and guarantees balance among the groups.
Ortega Smith has not yet announced whether he will appeal this resolution or if he will request his incorporation into any commission. For now, the new regime is already in force and will be applied in the next ordinary plenary session.
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