The Spanish King Felipe VI. has tasked conservative opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo with forming a new government. This was announced by Parliament President Francina Armengol after the head of state’s consultations with various party leaders. Feijóo had previously stated that he would accept such a proposal “with honor and loyalty to the nation”. The House of Commons must now set a date for the vote on the 61-year-old’s candidacy.
The royal family justified Feijóo’s nomination by saying that the Partido Popular (PP) received the most votes in the July 23 elections. Nevertheless, Feijóo should have little chance of being elected as the successor to the acting Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. In Congress, the PP currently only has 172 yes votes. In the first round, however, the candidate needs an absolute majority of at least 176 yes votes. In the second ballot, a simple majority would suffice.
Should Feijóo’s candidacy be rejected, Sánchez would probably try to form a government after a short time. The party leader of the socialist PSOE had already been given more chances than Feijóo in advance. In addition to support from multiple parties, Sánchez would also need Junts per Catalunya, the party of Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont. However, their demands could be too high for Sánchez: acquittal for Puigdemont and his co-defendants and a referendum on Catalan independence.
Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Díaz’s left-wing alliance Sumar has already announced that it will continue to work towards a government with the PSOE. People close to Sumar have said that Feijóo is leading the Spanish people to an inauguration “that everyone knows will fail.” The same sources claim, according to a report in the Spanish daily El Paísthat Feijóo “was defeated on July 23, was defeated at the constituent session of Parliament and will be defeated again next week”.
Sánchez had proven in the election of the speaker of the parliament that he can even achieve more than an absolute majority with 178 MPs. If no new head of government is elected within two months of the first vote, new elections must be called – and held within the next 47 days. In this case, the Spaniards would be asked to go to the polls again around the turn of the year.