The Constitution grants the King a role in the election of the candidate for the investiture as President of the Government which, since the general elections of December 2015, which gave the blow to bipartisanship, has been shrouded in a certain complexity. For years, the polls have not left clear scenarios with more or less established majorities.
And the 23-J presents another uncertain situation with two candidates, Pedro Sánchez and Alberto Núñez Feijóo, who want to stand for the investiture, and a tie, now, at 171 seats between the blocs supported by one and the other.
But it is not a decision that the head of state has to make now. The first important date in the calendar leading up to the investiture is August 17, when the Congress and the Senate will be constituted, in simultaneous plenary sessions that will open the new legislature.
The two chambers will elect the members of the Bureau in a secret ballot with a ballot and ballot box. For these votes, the parties will have reached agreements, which may be the antechamber of future investiture pacts. A president, four vice-presidents – two in the case of the Senate – and four secretaries are elected, in separate votes.
The president of the Congress then goes to the Zarzuela and communicates it to the King, who will enter the scene from that moment. During the following days, Felipe VI will call a round of consultations with the representatives of the parliamentary groups to determine which candidate – Sánchez or Feijóo – has more options.
Since 2016, ERC and Bildu have not attended the Zarzuela consultations and in 2019 the BNG did not attend.
Article 99 of the Constitution, which regulates the consultations that must be carried out by the Head of State, does not set any criteria to be followed to designate a candidate, nor does it set a deadline for doing so, nor does it limit the consultations to the parties .
Neutrality, but not passivity. After the 2015 generals, Felipe VI held up to five rounds of consultations over ten months. In the first, Mariano Rajoy, then acting president and winner of the elections, created an unprecedented situation when he informed the King that he did not see himself able to gather support for the investiture.
On 23- J won Feijóo. Will it be an advantage for him? If he does not have a majority that guarantees him the election and neither does Sánchez, the King could find himself in a dilemma. But the situation may change in the coming weeks if Junts or Coalició Canària support one of the candidates. In this case, the investiture would be on track.
