Discount time has started for Felipe VI. The Head of State finds himself in a situation never experienced in almost half a century of democracy in Spain. Two candidates say they want to be appointed by the King to form a government. The most voted, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, is based on the argument of being the leader of the first political force. And this was until now the obvious reason with which Don Felipe designated a candidate, since he pointed to the best positioned in Congress. However, after Vox yesterday broke the promised support for the PP candidate, Cuca Gamarra, after the party’s refusal to give them a seat on the table, Feijóo would not add enough support and would only be left with their representatives -137, plus the deputy of UPN and the representative of Coalición Canaria-. It remains pending what position Santiago Abascal takes and if the break is maintained.
Pedro Sanchez, socialist candidate and acting president, has been running since 23-J as the ideal person to form a government despite being the second force. However, the support of Junts yesterday during the vote of the members of the Table brought him closer to La Moncloa again. So the King has two politicians runningbut without a clear outlook to form a government.
Constitutionalists consulted by THE WORLD They stress that the very existence of the round of consultations implies an assessment of the situation. And based on that, he must gauge not only the votes obtained, but also the support that he can gather to be sworn in as president. In this sense, it stands Francis Carreras. «I see the procedure very clearly», he assures, invoking article 99 of the Constitution: «After each renewal of the Congress of Deputies, and in the other constitutional cases in which it proceeds, the King, after consulting with the representatives designated by political groups with parliamentary representation, and through the President of Congress, will propose a candidate for the Presidency of the Government».
Francina Armengol is the only clear name right now. The new president of Congress has as its first function to draw up a list with the spokespersons of each parliamentary group and send it to the King. Before each new constitution of the Table of Congress, the Head of State has always received the new president in audience. It will be the same with Armengol, who, after that first meeting, today, will send her the names of her spokespersons. Then, the Head of State will fix two days for inquiries, probably not before the middle of next week or at the beginning of the last week of August. The date is important. If it were already held in September, the chances of a hypothetical electoral repetition falling at Christmas would be full. Therefore, two options are considered for the investiture: either the end of August or the end of September, so that a new appointment with the polls would already be in January.
Don Felipe meets with the candidates by protocol order from highest to lowest parliamentary weight and listens to their proposals. Several of Sánchez’s potential partners, foreseeably, will not even attend the appointment in Zarzuela. Once the consultations have been carried out, the King must propose as a candidate whoever he believes he has the support to form a Government. “In a parliamentary system, the party with the most votes is not the one that can form a government,” recalls Carreras, who insists that in article 99 “what is implicit is that the King has to propose whoever has the best chances.” If he proposes the most voted knowing that he does not gather support, “the one who would lose would be the King, not the candidate,” he believes.