Court rules in favour of errant Calvia councillor

A Palma court has dismissed the case brought by the Majorcan Unionist party (UM) against turncoat Calvia councillor Joan Thomas, who abandoned party discipline in a vote on a crucial planning matter. The party was claiming three million euros, for failure to comply with the terms of a fidelity agreement signed a week before the municipal elections in 2003. However, in her ruling, judge Sonia Vidal argued that the document signed by Thomas and five other UM candidates infringed the Spanish Constitution. The judge said that in the case of Thomas, his duty lay with the voters, and his contract was with the citizens and not the political party for which he was elected. While his action, she said, did infringe the agreement and may carry with it disciplinary sanctions such as expulsion, it should not mean his resignation as a councilor or the juridical obligation to vote according to party dictates. A party spokesman announced that an appeal would be lodged against the decision.
Isidro Cañellas, deputy Mayor of Calvia and now the only UM party member on the council, said that the sentence recognised that Thomas was a turncoat.
Thomas is now part of the Mixed Group on the Calvia council.