Alberto Feijóo, of the Popular Party, is the candidate proposed by King Felipe VI to preside over the Spanish Government. On Tuesday, August 22, the Royal House announced the result of the king’s first round of consultations with the political parties, a necessary constitutional process after the inconclusive general elections on July 23.
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The King of Spain chose to support the investiture of the party that won the most seats in the Congress of Deputies. The conservative Popular Party led by Feijóo was the most voted in the general elections on July 23, winning 137 of 150 seats.
In Spain, the absolute majority in Congress is achieved with 176 seats, no party reached it to govern alone, so since the elections negotiations to form alliances have advanced. The Popular Party has the support of the 33 seats of the far-right Vox, and two others from regionalist parties.
In a press conference after his meeting with the monarch, Feijóo considered that although “no party has an absolute majority”, with the support of 172 deputies, the Popular Party was very close.
The Spanish Constitution establishes that, in a parliamentary monarchy, the role of the king is to consult with the parties that have representation in Parliament, and to propose a candidate for the investiture as Prime Minister. Once the candidate is proposed by the head of state, the Congress of Deputies proceeds to vote to ratify it or not.
Now Feijóo would need an absolute majority (176 votes) of Congress in a first round, or if the vote is inconclusive, a simple majority (more yes than no) in a second round 48 hours later.
If within two months after the first vote no candidate manages to be invested as president by Congress, new elections will be called in Spain.
Some political formations, such as the Basque Nationalist Party, considered that the round of dialogues with the king it was convened in a “hasty” manner, given the lack of consensus: no party alliance has managed to gather the seats for an absolute majority.
Pedro Sánchez, from the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) and current president of the Government, has 152 seats to date. The PSOE is allied with the left-wing formation Sumar, led by Yolanda Díaz.
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