The investiture of Alberto Núñez Feijóo begins this Tuesday at 12 noon in the Congress of Deputies. It will be the first time that the leader of the PP addresses the plenary session, since until the last general elections he could not do so because he was not a deputy, but a senator. After his speech before the Lower House and the debate with the groups, the first vote that the candidate will undergo will be held on Wednesday, with which the two-month period will begin to run for Congress to elect a new head of Government; If this is not achieved, there will be new elections after that period, on January 14, 2024.
This Tuesday’s plenary session will begin with the reading of the candidate proposal by one of the four secretaries of the Congress Board. Then, the PP candidate for the investiture will go up to the lectern to deliver his speech, without a time limit. Feijóo has already announced that his intention is to explain his government program and also address the issue of amnesty, which will surely focus on a plenary session that will last until Friday.
After his speech, there is the possibility that the presidency of Congress will establish a recess of the session, after which it would be the turn of the parliamentary groups to intervene. An order is established from highest to lowest parliamentary representation, and each spokesperson will have a limited presentation time: 30 minutes.
Thus, the first to intervene will be the PSOE, predictably through the mouth of the current acting President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez; Then Vox, Sumar, ERC, JxCat, EH Bildu, PNV and the mixed group will intervene, with BNG, Canarian Coalition and UPN.
The candidate for the investiture has the possibility of responding individually to each group or jointly, after which the groups will speak again for a 10-minute response turn. This Tuesday afternoon is reserved for all these interventions and, if necessary, they could continue early Wednesday morning. Everything will depend on the recess that the president of Congress, Francina Armengol, can set and the use of Feijóo’s time and the parliamentary groups.
In any case, the first of the two votes that the law provides for, if necessary, for the investiture process is scheduled to take place on Wednesday. This vote will be public by call, that is, the deputies are called in alphabetical order, based on a letter chosen at random, so that they respond yes, no or ‘abstention’ depending on their position.
If Feijóo does not obtain an absolute majority, as expected, the second vote will take place on Friday. In this plenary session, the candidate has the possibility of addressing the Chamber again for ten minutes to reiterate his position, while each parliamentary group will have five minutes to reply. The second vote will then begin, for which this time the candidate will need a simple majority to be invested, that is, more votes in favor of his investiture than against. If he doesn’t get it, it will be a failed investiture.
If the candidate achieves one of the two thresholds of support in the investiture session, the Presidency of Congress would communicate in plenary session the election of the new president, a communication that would later be conveyed to the King. But, if the candidate does not obtain the necessary support, as expected, the countdown will be activated to avoid the blockage of the institutions.
The King may consider it appropriate to initiate a new round of contacts with the parliamentary groups in order to explore the possibility of another candidate for the investiture gaining the necessary support to be invested. This round will not occur automatically after Feijóo’s failed investiture, so the times will depend on the political negotiations that the current President of the Government and leader of the PSOE establishes with the Chamber groups essential to achieve the investiture of Feijóo. he.
Although Sánchez and the PSOE have time to try to reach an agreement with the pro-independence parties, the president has already indicated his desire that this process not take too long. In any case, two months have elapsed since the first vote to which Feijóo is submitted, and if no candidate obtains the confidence of the Lower House, the head of State will dissolve the Cortes and new general elections will be called.
