The leader of Junts, Carles Puigdemont, announced that his party has registered a petition in the Congress of Deputies so that the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, submits to a question of confidence in the Lower House regarding his permanence in office. The former Catalan president has assured that the president is “breaching” his agreement with them, in a key moment to approve the General State Budgets.
The question of trust is a legal mechanism contemplated by the Constitution: unlike a motion of censurethe question of confidence must be presented by the president himself of the Government, in order to measure your support and submit his position and the continuity of his program to the vote of Parliament. What does it consist of? What happens if you lose it?
What is a question of trust?
The operation of the question of trust is covered by the articles 112 and 114 of the Constitution and the articles 173 and 174 of the congressional regulations of the Deputies: this process is presented by the Governmentafter deliberation in the Council of Ministers, before the Congress Board, which must inform the groups and convene the Plenary Session of the Lower House. He can appear to endorse support “for his program or as a matter of general policy.”
The debate on the question of trust follows the same rules as that of investiture: The President of the Government makes an initial intervention and the groups present their positionthe president being able to reply to them and intervene as many times as he wishes.
Once the debate is concluded, it is carried out at least 24 hours later. simple majority voting: If the president obtains more yeses than noes, he remains in office as he is considered granted the confidence of Congress to continue.
Only two precedents in constitutional Spain
Otherwise, and by not obtaining the confidence of Congress, The Constitution establishes that the president must present his resignation to the King, activating the constitutional process for the Congress of Deputies to elect a new president.
To date, Only two Spanish presidents have submitted to a question of confidence: Adolfo Suárez He did so in 1980, after approving the Transition laws, to approve an austerity program and develop the autonomous State: the president of UCD obtained the confidence of Congress by a simple majority (168 votes in favor, 164 against, 2 abstentions and 4 absences).
Ten years later, in 1990, he was the socialist Felipe González who requested a question of confidence about his political program to promote Spain’s economic integration in the EU, foreign policy and the autonomous State. The president obtained the support of Congress by an absolute majority with 176 votes in favor.
How is it different from the motion of censure?
While the question of confidence is proposed by the Government and losing it means the resignation of the president, the motion of censure is presented by the opposition and it must be presented with a candidate, who becomes president if the motion goes ahead, without the need for an investiture.
If the question of confidence is an instrument for the Government to measure its support, the motion of censure is an instrument for the opposition to dismiss the Government and automatically and immediately appoint a new president.
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