The president of the Congress of Deputies, Francina Armengol, has set the investiture debate of the candidate of the Popular Party, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, for September 26 and 27. After talking with the popular president, who asked him to extend the times so as not to undergo an express investiture next week, Argmenol gives a margin of one month, a time similar to previous calls.
It has not even taken 24 hours for the third authority of the State, which is the one who has the power to call the investiture plenary sessions after consulting with the candidate, to set the date on which the president of the Popular Party goes to Congress to try to be sworn in as president of Congress, despite the fact that —for the moment— it does not have the support that will guarantee its success. The conservative leader has 172 guaranteed votes after the support “with conditions” from the extreme right.
On Tuesday, September 26, as planned, the investiture session will begin with the intervention of the leader of the Popular Party, who will present his government program before the Chamber. The session will continue with the interventions of the leaders of the parliamentary groups, usually, from greater to lesser representation.
The first vote should be held on September 27. In this, Núñez Feijóo would need an absolute majority to leave Congress invested as President of the Government. An impossible equation for the popular. If that first vote fails, the two-month countdown set out in the Constitution to elect the head of the Executive will automatically be activated.
During that period, Felipe VI can resume the round of consultations with the political leaders to re-propose another candidate for the presidency. But first, on Friday, September 29, 48 hours after the first attempt, Núñez Feijóo would submit to a new vote in which a simple majority would suffice: get more yeses than noes.
And this is precisely the path that the president of the Popular Party will try to explore during these 35 days remaining before the investiture session. The popular candidate already warned yesterday —after meeting Felipe VI in Zarzuela— that on Monday he will begin talks with the parliamentary groups with a view to his investiture. The intention, as La Vanguardia has advanced, is to achieve an abstention from PNV and Junts.
This Wednesday the general coordinator of the PP, Elías Bendodo, has indicated that he does not see “nothing impossible” when asked about possible support from the PNV for this investiture of Feijóo, although the Basque formation already rejected this possibility. Likewise, Bendodo has spoken about Junts, of which he has said that he “sees it difficult” to dialogue with them for this investiture, placing Carles Puigdemont’s party “outside” of the Constitution by “promoting independence”.
If within two months, from the first vote scheduled for September 27, no one is invested, the King will dissolve the Cortes to call new elections. As established, the general elections should be held 47 days later: on January 14, 2024. As it is an electoral repetition, the campaign would only last one week, so it would start on January 5.
