Agustín Vargas, Rogelio Pascual, Gema Zotano and Juan Carlos Morejón begin a new political chapter after more than three years marked by their expulsion from Izquierda Unida following the governing pact with the PP that gave Jose Manuel Fernandez the mayoralty in 2023.
These four Con Andalucía-IU councillors at Manilva Town Hall, Agustín Vargas, Rogelio Pascual, Gema Zotano and Juan Carlos Morejón, now have the status of non-affiliated councillors following the latest ordinary council meeting held by the municipal corporation.
The decision marks a new chapter in a political story that began practically at the start of the current term and that has taken the four councillors from the ranks of Izquierda Unida to Con Andalucía and now to the preparation of a new independent political project ahead of the 2027 municipal elections.
A split that began in June 2023
To understand the current situation, we have to go back to 18 June 2023, barely a day after the formation of the Town Hall that emerged from the municipal elections.
Izquierda Unida then publicly announced the automatic removal from the party of its four elected councillors after they had voted in favour of the investiture of the Partido Popular candidate, José Manuel Fernández, as mayor of Manilva.
IU’s provincial leadership considered that the decision contravened the policy on post-election alliances and pacts approved by the organisation. The party even asked the Town Hall to treat Agustín Vargas, Rogelio Pascual, Gema Zotano and Juan Carlos Morejón as non-affiliated councillors, on the grounds that they had lost their link with the candidacy with which they had won their seats.
At that time, IU made it clear that it did not accept the governing agreement reached in Manilva with the Partido Popular.
The decision opened a political conflict between the four councillors and the leadership of Izquierda Unida that would end in their expulsion from the party, a matter that has subsequently gone to the courts.
From IU to municipal government
Despite that split, the four councillors continued their political work at the Town Hall and joined the governing team that emerged after the elections under the name Con Andalucía-Izquierda Unida.
Their presence was decisive in shaping the municipal government and, later, in the change of mayor that took place during the term.
Following the falling-out with José Manuel Fernández, the four councillors supported the vote of no confidence that brought Mario Jiménez, of Compromiso Manilva, to the mayoralty. The new political situation allowed these four councillors to keep their responsibilities within the governing team.
Now, more than three years after those elections, the situation is changing again.
No municipal group, but keeping their responsibilities
During the council meeting, the municipal Secretary’s Office confirmed that the four councillors will be considered non-affiliated and will not be able to form a municipal group for the remainder of the term, in accordance with current legislation.
However, this status does not mean that they automatically lose the responsibilities they currently hold or their pay as councillors, as that would be at the discretion of the mayor himself. The opposition asked him yesterday about the possibility of removing their delegated areas, and he said he has no intention of doing so.
«I do not intend to remove them from their duties because of the personal decision they have taken. On the contrary, I am very happy with the work they are doing,» said Jiménez during the council meeting.
A new party for 2027, «Manilva 100×100»
The move to non-affiliated status comes at a time when the four councillors are, presumably, working on building a new independent political project ahead of the 2027 municipal elections.
Although the new party has not yet been officially presented, this newsroom has had access to the register of political parties in the town, and last April a new party called Manilva 100×100 was registered under the chairmanship of Victoria Ríos Del Río, which could be the new home of these four councillors for the 2027 elections.
If confirmed, the four councillors would contest the next elections under new initials and after an especially eventful term: they arrived at the Town Hall in 2023 as IU representatives, supported the PP’s investiture alongside the abstention of Vox, later moved to Con Andalucía, backed the vote of no confidence that made Mario Jiménez mayor, and now definitively leave the municipal group structure to become non-affiliated councillors.
