The acting President of the Government of Spain, the socialist Pedro Sánchez, transferred this Tuesday to King Felipe VI his willingness to “assume responsibility” for submitting to the investiture debate and to try to form a government, under the conviction that it has the “parliamentary support” required.
After meeting with the head of state, Sánchez appeared before the media to communicate that he had conveyed his willingness to submit to the investiture and to articulate the “parliamentary majority” required to form a government.
Sánchez said that “whatever” the decision adopted by the king regarding the candidate, he will have the “respect and support” of his party, the PSOE.
In this regard, he stressed that only his party is in a position to achieve the necessary parliamentary support, as was seen last Thursday when he achieved the presidency of the Congress of Deputies, the lower house of the Spanish Parliament where the investiture is decided.
(Also read: The story of the boy genius Kim Ung-Yong who quit his job at NASA)
“There is only a possible parliamentary majority,” “there is no other alternative,” he stressed, faced with the possibility that the candidate is the leader of the conservative Popular Party (PP), Alberto Núñez Feijóo.
In that case, it will be “legitimate” for him to apply for the investiture, but “wasteful” because it would be “failed”, since the socialists have “a much higher ceiling” to achieve the necessary majority, manifested.
But the leader of the conservative Popular Party (PP), Alberto Núñez Feijóo, also communicated this Tuesday to King Felipe VI that he is willing to be a candidate to the investiture as President of the Spanish Government if the Head of State decides to propose it.
With this, for the first timethe monarch has two candidates on the table to submit to the investiture debate in Congress and be able to be elected head of the Spanish Executive.
(You can read: Why does irregular migration of Colombians to the United States continue to decline?)
At a press conference in Congress, after meeting with the monarch, Feijóo said that he is taking this step with the endorsements of having been the candidate with the most votes in the elections, having the support of 172 deputies from four parties who support him and because in his opinion it is his “duty” to attend the investiture.
“No party has an absolute majority,” acknowledged the PP leader, but considered that with the support of 172 deputies he is only four (176) away from an absolute majority in a chamber with 350 seats.
In the king’s consultations, the right-wing Vox party, which has 33 seats, plus two regionalist parties, each with one deputy, showed their willingness to support Feijóo.
In the last general elections on July 23, the PP won 137 seats, followed by the Socialist Party, with 121, in a highly fragmented Chamber, where eleven different parties are represented.
With the audience to Feijóo the monarch concludes the round of consultations with the different parties that began this Monday And now it remains to be seen who will commission the formation of the Government, although they can also choose to give more time for the two main parties to gather more support and carry out a second round of consultations later.
(Read on: Biden Reportedly Fell Asleep Meeting With Hawaii Fire Victims)
According to the Spanish Constitution, it corresponds to the king, after consultation with the parties with parliamentary representation, to propose a candidate for the investiture as president of the Government, who must be voted on by the Congress of Deputies.
The candidate proposed by the head of state needs an absolute majority in the first vote (176 yeses) or the simple one (more yeses than noes) in a second, to be held 48 hours later.
If, after both, it does not obtain sufficient support, new votes may be held, but if within two months from the first vote no candidate obtains it, there will be new elections in Spain.
*With EFE
#Sánchez #Feijóo #submit #investiture #debate #Spain