The King of Spain, Felipe VI, on Tuesday appointed the leader of the right, Alberto Nuñez Feijoo, to try to be invested prime minister by the deputies, announced the president of the Assembly, although he did not not the majority required at the moment.
The king communicated “his decision to propose Mr. Alberto Nuñez Feijoo as candidate for the presidency of the government”, declared in a press conference the socialist Francina Armengol, new president of the Congress of Deputies, renewed in the elections of July 23.
The ruler’s decision was tricky, as neither Alberto Nuñez Feijoo nor his left-wing rival, outgoing Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, can currently claim the required majority due to the results of the July 23 snap elections.
The absolute majority of 176 votes required in the first round
In the first round, an absolute majority of 176 votes (out of a total of 350 deputies) is required, while a simple majority is sufficient in the second round. Mr. Feijoo reiterated that he claimed the right to submit to a nomination vote because the People’s Party (PP) won the most seats on July 23. “I am the candidate of the party that won the election,” Feijoo said at a press conference after meeting the king to explain why he is claiming the right to stand for a nomination vote.
But he can only have a maximum of 172 votes: those of the 137 deputies of the PP, plus the 33 of Vox and the deputies of two small regional parties. Based on this observation, Mr. Sanchez believes that Mr. Feijoo has no chance and has long considered that appointing him to appear before the deputies was a waste of time. However, he said on Tuesday, after his audience with the king, that he would have no objection if Felipe VI nominated Mr Feijoo.