The decision that the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, may announce tomorrow, Monday, of abandon or remain in the leadership of the Executivewill mark the most immediate political life in the country and opens an uncertain scenario with many questions that, for the most part, have answers in the Constitution, the electoral law and the Regulations of Congress.
What if Pedro Sánchez resigns?
The Spanish Constitution provides for the possibility of the President of the Government resigning from office. Article 101 provides for the scenario of a resignation or death of the Chief Executive or a loss of parliamentary confidence, as could arise from a successful motion of censure or the failure of a question of confidence presented in Congress.
In this case, Sánchez’s resignation would mean that the entire cabinet, including the president himself and his ministers, would continue in office. until a new president of the Government is appointed.
This means that during that period the Government would be limited in its powers, without the capacity to legislate or call elections.
Who would name the new president?
As happens after a general election, Congress would be in charge of choosing Sánchez’s successor. The process, established in article 99 of the Constitution, It would be identical to that of the investitures that are held after elections to the Congress and the Senate.
The first thing that the Socialist Party (PSOE) would have to do is designate a candidate for the investiture, if Sánchez himself has not previously proposed it in his resignation message.
Due to a mere matter of hierarchy in the cabinet, it is natural that among those successors would be the first vice president, María Jesús Montero; the Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños; or the Government spokesperson, Pilar Alegría.
Nevertheless, It is not necessary for Sánchez’s replacement to be a member of the Government, not even a deputy, nor a member of the PSOE.
Once that mystery was cleared up, King Felipe VI would hold a round of consultations with the spokespersons of the parties represented in Congress from lowest to highest and, after listening to their opinions, he would designate a candidate.
In this hypothesis, the candidate designated by the monarch to succeed Sánchez would undergo the investiture debate and to be elected he would have to receive the support of the absolute majority of Congress (176 deputies out of 350) in the first vote or more yeses than noes, in second.
If the candidate fails to be invested, a two-month period would begin in which new candidates proposed by the king could run for the Presidency.
If after these two months no candidate gains the confidence of Congress, the Cortes will They would be automatically dissolved and new elections would be called.
Can elections be called?
The answer is no, for now. In the event that Pedro Sánchez decides to continue in office, he should wait until the end of May to call a new appointment with the polls.
The law establishes that early elections cannot be called until one year after the previous dissolution of the Cortes, which became effective with its publication in the Official State Gazette on May 30, 2023.
To convene them, the President of the Government cannot be in office, so either Sánchez remains in office, or his successor should be the one to convene them. but not before that deadline.
Only since then could the decree of dissolution and calling of elections be approved, which would be held after 54 days.
This would take the elections, at the earliest, to the last week of July. The law does not establish that they must be held on a Sunday, but if so, the closest date would be July 28.
What if Sánchez continues but submits to a question of trust?
One possibility being considered is that the president decide to stay in office but present a question of trust, which is included in the Constitution.
The question of trust is a validation of the investiture to which the President of the Government himself voluntarily submits in moments of weakness in front of the Parliament that elected him and through which he expressly requests support for his continuity.
As established by the Congress Regulations, the debate takes place with the same format as the investiture sessions. Confidence is understood to be granted when the vote of the simple majority of the Deputies is obtained.that is, saying more yeses than noes.
If Sánchez did not obtain the confidence of Congress, the same thing would happen as if he had resigned and the process to invest a new president would begin, with consultations from the king and a new investiture debate.
