The announcement by the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, to anticipate the general elections for July 23 starts the countdown to D-Day. During the afternoon of this Monday, a Council of Ministers will be held and, later, Sánchez will dissolve the Cuts by Royal Decree, which will start the electoral calendar.
The decree calling for elections, based on what is established in the Organic Law of the General Electoral Regime (LOREG), will be published tomorrow in the Official State Gazette (BOE) and then its entry into force will be immediate. The clock will start ticking.
The calendar puts pressure on the space to the left of the PSOE. The Loreg establishes that in order to compete in a coalition of parties, the Electoral Board must be notified in advance ten days after the call for elections; that is, on June 8. Sumar and Podemos, therefore, see how time plays against them when it comes to reaching an agreement that allows them to attend the July elections as a single force. The deadline for submission of candidacies ends on June 18 and those proclaimed will be published on the 26th.
The electoral campaign will begin on Friday, July 7 at 00:00 and will last fifteen days. Political formations will be able to start asking for the vote directly. The campaign will end on Friday the 21st and Saturday the 22nd will be the day of reflection, before the elections are held on the 23rd.
From then on, the elected Congress, resulting from the elections, must be constituted within a period of 25 days, at which time the deputies will take office and elect the members of the Bureau, including the presidency. This will happen in mid-August.
In this context, the King will initiate a round of contacts with the political groups and will propose a candidate for Prime Minister, through the president of the Lower House. Said candidate will then explain his political program and it will be submitted to a vote in Congress with the need to reach an absolute majority (175 deputies). In case of not obtaining it, a plenary session will be held 48 hours later in which a simple majority will suffice to access Moncloa.
