Núñez Feijóo opens the first investiture session to try to be president of Spain

The leader of the conservative Popular Party (PP), Alberto Núñez Feijóo, opened the debate on his investiture this Tuesday in the Spanish Congress as future president of the Government, supported by the deputies and regional leaders of his party.

The rejection of a hypothetical amnesty law for Catalan independentists involved in the secessionist attempt in that Spanish region in 2017 was the starting point of Feijóo’s speech before Congress, where he presented his government plan.

Feijóo submits this Tuesday before the Spanish Lower House to the first investiture session to head the next Government of Spain after the general elections on July 23 without having obtained sufficient support, since it has 172 deputies of the 176 that make up the necessary majority.

The leader of the PP began his speech by criticizing the possible pacts with the Catalan independence movement that the current acting head of the Spanish Executive, the socialist Pedro Sánchez, would be negotiating to obtain his support for a possible investiture if that of the conservative politician fails.

In the first stages of the session, Feijoó made it clear that outside the (Spanish) Constitution “there is no democracy” and stressed that he feels represented by the vast majority of Spaniards who in the last general elections of July 23 did not protect a program that contemplated amnesty or self-determination, or an equivalent or analogous form.

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“I owe it to all of them to those who called for equality in the streets of Madrid, to the majority of Spaniards,” he reiterated in a speech in which he warned of the “crucial moment that the nation is experiencing” and in which he settled that “neither legal nor is the amnesty ethically acceptable” within the Spanish Constitution.

“No end, not even the Presidency of the Government, justifies the means, but that is where some have gone through and are willing to go through, I do not go through,” he stressed by stating that “I do not go through any hoops…or to betray the trust of the Spaniards who voted for me”.

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In the general elections on July 23, the PP obtained 137 deputies, that are not enough to form a government and Núñez Feijóo, in more than a month since receiving the order from King Felipe VI, has not obtained sufficient support.

Until today, in addition to the deputies from his party, he only has 33 from the right-wing Vox and another two from two regionalist parties, in total, 172 votes in favor, but it has 178 against, Therefore, unless there is a surprise, his investiture will not go ahead.

Núñez Feijóo (62 years old) is the third PP candidate to undergo an investiture, after José María Aznar and Mariano Rajoy, and both were sworn in as presidents.

The debate began this Tuesday with the speech of the PP leader, who will have to present his government program, without a time limit.

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Then the debate will begin with the different political groups, from highest to lowest representation, until the vote takes place this Wednesday, in which the candidate must obtain the absolute majority of the Chamber (176 votes in favor).

If the result is negative, On Friday the 29th there will be a new vote and if again the candidate does not obtain the necessary support, this time more yeses than noes, the investiture declines.

Feijóo’s foreseeable failure in the first vote on Wednesday will trigger a two-month countdown for new legislative elections to be called. During that period, Sánchez – who defied all the polls that show him defeated in the legislative elections of July 23 – will in turn try to obtain the confidence of Parliament to remain in power.

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A task of high political tension for Sánchez, who must find an amnesty formula that satisfies the separatists without provoking a rebellion within his Socialist Party, where the possibility of this measure has already provoked harsh criticism, such as from the former president. of the Felipe González government (1982-1996).

*With EFE and AFP