Spain, Portugal, and Italy: what happens to the Parliament when elections are called and the Government remains in power

The constitution of the new Chambers must be distinguished from the holding of elections, the solemn opening of the legislature, and the investiture of the President of the Government: these are different acts. The Constitution establishes the framework and the parliamentary regulations specify the internal procedures. The detailed information in the consulted sources corresponds to the Congress; it does not allow offering a complete list of constitutional deadlines and the specific procedure of the Senate.

1. Convocation of the constitutive session

Article 1 of the Congress Regulations provides that, once the general elections have been held, the Chamber meets in a constitutive session on the day and time indicated in the royal decree of convocation. The provision expressly refers to article 68.6 of the Constitution.

Therefore, the date is not subject to a later decision by the parliamentary groups. However, the constitutional text and electoral legislation have not been cross-checked in the consulted material: I do not assign specific figures here to the intervals between dissolution, elections, and first meeting, nor to the scrutiny and proclamation procedures of elected members.

2. Actions of the constitutive session of the Congress

Articles 2 to 4 and 36 to 37 of the Regulations order this sequence:

• Provisional presidency: the session is initially chaired by the oldest elected deputy present, assisted by the two youngest as secretaries.
• Opening and readings: the royal decree of convocation, the list of elected members, and any electoral litigation appeals filed are read, indicating which deputies might be affected.
• Election of the Board: the Presidency, four Vice Presidencies, and four Secretariats are elected. An absolute majority is required for the Presidency in the first vote; if no one obtains it, the two candidates with the most votes compete, and the one who obtains more votes is elected.
• Oath or promise: once the Board is elected, its president takes the oath and requests the other deputies to swear or promise allegiance to the Constitution by alphabetical roll call.
• Declaration of constitution: the Presidency declares the Congress constituted, adjourns the session, and communicates the constitution to the Crown, the Senate, and the Government.

3. Individual requirements and subsequent organization

Article 20 requires, to fully acquire the status of deputy, to present the electoral credential, complete the declaration of activities, and take the oath or promise in the first plenary session attended.

The subsequent organization has these regulatory deadlines, which should not be confused with constitutional deadlines:

• Parliamentary groups: five days following the constitutive session to submit the written request addressed to the Board, according to article 24.
• Standing committees: must be constituted within the following ten days, according to article 46.
• Solemn opening: article 5 provides for its celebration within the following fifteen days.

As a general rule, these deadlines are counted in business days, with the specifications of article 90. Article 91 allows the Board to agree on extensions or reductions of regulatory deadlines.

4. Continuity between both Chambers

Dissolution does not eliminate all institutional continuity. In the Congress, the members of the Permanent Deputation maintain their functions until the constitution of the new Chamber. Afterwards, the Permanent Deputation must report to the new Plenary on the matters dealt with and decisions adopted. These rules are documented; the specific procedures of the Senate require separate verification and should not be automatically inferred from those of the Congress.

The Permanent Deputation guarantees the continuity of the Congress when the Chamber is not in session and assumes certain competencies when it is dissolved or its term ends. Its central regulation is in articles 56 to 59 of the Regulations: it does not establish a fixed number of members, but a minimum and a system of proportional representation.

Composition and appointment

• Presidency and members. According to article 56.1, it is chaired by whoever holds the Presidency of the Congress and has a minimum of twenty-one members, who represent the parliamentary groups in proportion to their numerical importance.
• Number and distribution. Article 56.2 refers to article 40.1: it corresponds to the Board of the Congress, after hearing the Board of Spokespersons, to determine the number corresponding to each group, respecting that proportionality. Therefore, twenty-one is the regulatory minimum, not a fixed composition for all legislatures.
• Principal and substitute members. Each group appoints the principal members corresponding to it and an equal number of substitutes — article 56.2 —.
• Governing bodies. The Permanent Deputation itself elects among its members two Vice Presidencies and two Secretariats, applying the election rules of the Congress Board, adapted to the number of positions — article 56.3 —.

Competencies: two different situations

Article 57 entrusts it, in general terms, with "overseeing the powers of the Chamber when it is not in session". It then distinguishes two cases that should not be confused:

• Between sessions. It may request extraordinary sessions of the Congress, according to article 57.2 and article 61. The request must include an agenda; the Presidency convenes the session and the Chamber remains in session until it is exhausted. Ordinary periods are from September to December and from February to June.
• After dissolution or expiration of the term. It assumes the powers of the Congress related to decree-laws and states of alarm, exception, and siege — article 57.1 —. It does not thereby become a Plenary with general competencies.

Regarding decree-laws, article 151 regulates the debate and vote on ratification or repeal: affirmative votes support maintaining them and negative votes repeal them. Its paragraph 5 allows, if applicable, urgent processing as bills of decree-laws issued during the periods between legislatures. The ratification or repeal agreement is published in the Official State Gazette (BOE).

Regarding exceptional states, article 165.2 confirms that it assumes the competencies of the Plenary when the Congress is dissolved or its term has expired. If it is only between sessions, it corresponds to convene the Plenary — article 165.1 —.

Additionally, article 200.1 contemplates that the Ombudsman may present, if applicable, a summary of their annual or extraordinary report before the Permanent Deputation, followed by interventions from the groups.

Convocation, agreements, and continuity

The Presidency convenes it on its own initiative or at the request of two parliamentary groups or one fifth of its members — article 56.4 —. Article 58 applies the rules of the Plenary to its sessions and functioning.

To adopt agreements, it must be properly convened and a majority of its members must attend — article 78 —. The general approval rule is a simple majority, without prejudice to special majorities; the vote is personal and non-delegable — article 79 —. If there is insufficient attendance, the vote is postponed up to two hours and, if it persists, it moves to the next session.

Principal and substitute members continue in office until the new Chamber is constituted — article 22.3 —. Afterwards, they must report to the new Plenary on the matters dealt with and decisions adopted — article 59 —.

Source: Congress Regulations.

Organic Law 5/1985, of June 19, of the General Electoral Regime (LOREG) prevents the Government from using acts or institutional resources to promote its achievements or favor a candidacy electorally. The main rule is in its article 50 and applies from the call of the elections until their holding, not only during the fifteen days of the electoral campaign.

1. From when the restrictions apply

It is important to distinguish between electoral period and electoral campaign. According to article 51, the campaign begins on the thirty-eighth day after the call, lasts fifteen days, and ends at midnight on the day immediately before the vote. However, prohibitions on promoting achievements and inaugurations start earlier: from the call itself and continue until the elections.

2. Prohibition of promoting institutional achievements

Article 50.2 prohibits any act organized or financed, directly or indirectly, by public authorities that contains "allusions to the achievements or accomplishments obtained". It also prohibits using images or expressions coinciding or similar to those used in campaigns by any of the political entities running in the elections.

Therefore, when evaluating a government announcement or presentation, the following must be examined:

• Organization and financing: the prohibition covers both direct and indirect public intervention.
• Content: it cannot become a promotional balance of government results or achievements.
• Presentation: it also cannot reproduce images or expressions from a partisan campaign.

It is not only about avoiding an explicit request for votes: the law also prohibits the described forms of institutional promotion, even if they do not include such a request.

3. Inaugurations: prohibited, even if renamed

Article 50.3 prohibits any inauguration act of public works or services, as well as projects of these, "whatever the denomination used". Changing the name of the act does not remove the prohibition if it materially constitutes an inauguration.

The law itself introduces a practical distinction: works or services can indeed start operating during that period. What is prohibited is the inaugural act, not that the public begins to use a finished infrastructure or service.

4. What electoral institutional advertising is allowed

Article 50.1 allows public authorities that have legally called the process to carry out an informative institutional campaign. Its conditions are specific:

• It must inform about the voting date, the voting procedure, and the requirements and procedures for postal voting.
• It cannot influence, in any case, the orientation of the vote.
• It must be broadcast on free spaces of publicly owned media of the corresponding territorial scope, sufficient to fulfill its informative purpose.

This authorization does not allow presenting a government management promotion campaign as electoral information.

5. Government and partisan campaign are not the same

Article 50.4 defines the electoral campaign as the lawful activities of candidates, parties, federations, coalitions, or groupings aimed at attracting votes. Paragraph 5 prevents other legal entities from campaigning from the call, except for the permitted institutional information and without prejudice to freedom of expression.

In summary, for Government acts and announcements, three elements must be checked: absence of promotion of achievements, absence of identification with partisan campaigns, and absence of inaugurations. Authorized electoral information must be strictly informative. These rules can be consulted in the text of the LOREG, especially articles 50 and 51.