Vox reforms its statutes to sanction affiliates who "damage the public image of the party"

Vox has proposed to its affiliates a reform of its statutes that includes as a serious infraction any demonstration that “damages the public image” of the party, its organs or its affiliates. It also penalizes non-compliance with the “instructions” given by the training for public statements on social networks or the media.

The formation led by Santiago Abascal celebrates this Saturday its ordinary General Assembly, which includes the approval of the accounts for the year 2022, the report of the general secretary and a proposal to reform the statutes that will be submitted to the verdict of the affiliates.

The document, to which Europa Press has had access, Vox modifies its sanctioning regime to include as a serious infraction “verbal or written statements by any means that damage the public image of the party or any of its collegiate bodies, its members and affiliates “. All this, he points out, “without prejudice to the right of any affiliate to exercise criticism or issue an opinion on the policies and strategic lines adopted by the competent bodies.”

Vox will also sanction with the same seriousness “repeated non-compliance with the instructions given in relation to acts of public communication, on social networks or ordinary media.”

Failure to comply with these postulates may lead to the suspension of their rights for members in a period between six months and two years or the disqualification to perform a position or function within the formation; although incurring these serious sanctions repeatedly can end in the expulsion of the party, as contemplated in the statutes.

With the new wording, affiliates will also be required to keep the deliberations and agreements of the government bodies and institutional groups to which they belong secret.

The reform also includes a new section to regulate that affiliation with Vox is incompatible with affiliation with another party or group of voters, as long as there is no authorization from the territorially competent Executive Committee.

Create and delete organs

The statutory reform also affects the structure of the party, so that the National Executive Committee – the one headed by the president, Santiago Abascal, and made up of the vice-presidents and vice-secretaries – will have the power to create new bodies, modify them or even dissolve the existing ones. Of course, it points out that in no case can it create new bodies with sanctioning power.

Vox also supports the powers of the Political Action Committee, its hard core, made up of Abascal, the general secretary and those they designate themselves.. It is the one that meets weekly to analyze current political events and the one that its vice-president and MEP Jorge Buxadé usually acts as spokesperson for.

The reform of the statutes grants this body competence to, “when necessary, guide the political activity of all parliamentary and municipal groups, as well as public officials who exercise government or management responsibilities in any territorial or institutional entity of the Public administration”.

The new statutes also grant the president of the party direct jurisdiction over the National Electoral Office, which is in charge of the administrative organization of electoral campaigns and the body that deals with the relationship with the Electoral Boards.

Regulatory Compliance Committee

Vox also creates a new body called the Regulatory Compliance Committee which, according to the text that will be put to the vote, will have as its mission “the establishment of protocols for the prevention of illegal actions, risk control, and the development and supervision of the organization and management provided for in the Penal Code”.

Its function, as detailed, will be to ensure compliance with the law, supervise the operation and compliance with the organizational model, the effectiveness of the party's internal controls and train employees and public officials “on the prevention model and their responsibilities “, in order to avoid a situation of criminal risk.