The only deputy of Podemos in La Rioja, Raquel Romero.Alberto Ruiz Acimas
Podemos has decided to expel its only regional deputy and Minister of Equality in the Government of La Rioja, Raquel Romero, and five other people from her team, for not donating part of their salaries to the party.
Sources from the PSOE-Podemos coalition government have assured Efe that they do not enter "in the internal dynamics of the parties" and that "stability is guaranteed."
For their part, Romero's entourage states that the six expelled believe that this decision is due to their explicit support for the new political platform promoted and headed by the Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz, and their intention to work for her in The Rioja.
Sources from Podemos point out that the file was opened in October and that it could be made firm in 15 days.
According to the party, it was opened by the formation's Guarantees Commission "for breach of the Podemos Code of Ethics in terms of salary limitation."
"Raquel Romero and her entire team have not limited their salary and have not donated the excess, it is something that has been coming for a long time," they point out.
“This commitment to donate appears in the Code of Ethics of Podemos, voted by all in the Citizen Assemblies, and is voluntarily accepted by all those registered in Podemos, especially by those who run for public office.
It is one of our hallmarks”, they add.
The same sources specify that neither Raquel Romero nor anyone from her team have submitted allegations to the file.
After this expulsion not yet firm, Romero will remain as an independent in the regional government, which was formalized after a governance agreement signed by the PSOE, Podemos and IU, although the latter political formation decided not to be part of the Executive.
The coordinator of Podemos in La Rioja, Arancha Carrero, has insisted to Efe that this file of the National Committee of Guarantees of the party to these six people "only responds to the breach of the party's code of ethics in relation to the donation of part of your salary ” and “there is nothing else, no matter how much you want to divert attention”.
It has stressed that "no exceptions are made" regarding the measure of donating a percentage of the salary to the party, which, in the case of Romero, is about 73,000 euros per year as a counselor, plus the compensation she receives from the Parliament of La Rioja as a regional deputy.
According to the record, neither she nor the other five people who have been expelled from the party have made donations since the beginning of the current regional legislature, Carrero said.
Sources close to the expelled minister attribute her expulsion to other reasons and specifically point to her explicit support for the political platform that Vice President Yolanda Díaz wants to form (a platform that, however, Podemos also supports).
They have confirmed that they will not appeal the expulsion file against them considering that Podemos, in itself, is "an exhausted project", so they do not want "any battle" with this party, but rather "work for a broader and winning project ”.
They also point out that they believe that the party in La Rioja "should work to take care of the government coalition, instead of putting it in danger", a coalition in which Romero will continue as an independent.