Live, Feijóo appears after the electoral advance

The dissolution of the Cortes Generales and the calling of general elections in Spain follow two main paths provided for in the Constitution: the ordinary dissolution at the initiative of the president of the Government (art. 115 CE) and the automatic dissolution due to investiture failure (art. 99.5 CE). In both cases, the practical result is similar — the Congress and Senate are dissolved and elections are called — but the procedures and who initiates the process are different.

1. Ordinary dissolution at the initiative of the president of the Government (art. 115 CE)

This is the “normal” mechanism for early elections. It is not, strictly speaking, a parliamentary procedure, but an act of the Executive and the King conditioned by certain parliamentary circumstances:

• a) Initiative of the president of the Government
  Only the president of the Government can propose the dissolution of the Cortes. Neither the Congress, nor the Senate, nor the King can do so on their own initiative.
• b) Deliberation of the Council of Ministers
  The president's proposal must be previously submitted to deliberation by the Council of Ministers. It is a formal requirement: the Government, as a collegiate body, endorses the decision to call early elections.
• c) Constitutional limitations
  The president cannot propose dissolution:
  • While a motion of censure is underway (art. 115.2 CE).
  • During a state of siege (art. 116 CE).
  • Before one year has passed since the previous dissolution (art. 115.3 CE).
• d) Decree of dissolution and call
  Once the above requirements are met, the King issues the decree of dissolution of the Cortes and call for elections, which must be:
  • Adopted by the King,
  • Endorsed by the president of the Government (who assumes political responsibility),
  • And published in the Official State Gazette (BOE), the moment it takes effect.
• e) Electoral calendar
  The Constitution establishes that:
  • Elections must be held between 30 and 60 days from the dissolution (art. 68.6 and 69.7 CE).
  • The new Chambers must be convened for their constitutive session within 25 days following the elections.
• f) Situation of the Cortes and the Government
  Once the Chambers are dissolved:
  • The Congress and the Senate cease their ordinary activity, leaving only the Permanent Deputations (art. 78 CE) for urgent matters.
  • The Government continues in office until the new president takes office, with limited powers.

2. Automatic dissolution due to investiture failure (art. 99.5 CE)

The second path is triggered by a strictly parliamentary situation: the inability to invest a president of the Government within the deadline. Here the trigger is the result of the investiture votes in the Congress.

• a) Start of the two-month countdown
  A first investiture session is held in the Congress. If the candidate proposed by the King does not obtain confidence (absolute majority in the first vote, or simple majority 48 hours later), a two-month period begins from that first failed vote.
• b) Successive investiture attempts
  During those two months, new sessions may be held with the same or other candidates. All these debates and votes are fully parliamentary procedures, managed by the Presidency of the Congress.
• c) Passage of the deadline without investiture
  If after two months no candidate has obtained the confidence of the Congress, article 99.5 CE imposes the consequence: the King shall dissolve both Chambers and call new elections with the endorsement of the president of the Congress.
• d) Decree of dissolution and call
  Unlike the ordinary case:
  • The dissolution is automatic and mandatory; it does not depend on the Government's will.
  • The King's decree is endored by the president of the Congress, not by the president of the Government (who may be acting in a caretaker capacity).
  • Again, the decree is published in the BOE and sets the election date within the 30 to 60 days framework.

3. Real role of Parliament in the process

In summary, the “parliamentary procedures” as such are concentrated in:

• The investiture votes which, if repeatedly failed, trigger automatic dissolution.
• The possible existence of a motion of censure in progress, which blocks ordinary dissolution.
• The action of the Permanent Deputations during the dissolution period.

Everything else are acts of the King and the Government (or of the Presidency of the Congress in the case of art. 99.5) chained according to the Constitution and the electoral deadlines set therein.

The powers of the president of the Government in the Spanish Constitution are articulated in several provisions, but the core is found in articles 97, 98, and 99, and is complemented by scattered references (on dissolution of the Cortes, vote of confidence, states of alarm, exception and siege, etc.). Overall, the Constitution configures the president as the central piece of the executive power and the main political responsible before the Cortes Generales.

1. Direction of the Government's action

Article 97 of the Constitution provides that the Government directs domestic and foreign policy, the civil and military administration, and the defense of the State, and exercises executive function and regulatory power. Within this framework, the president of the Government is the one who directs the Government's own action and coordinates the functions of the other members (art. 98.2).

This implies, in practice:

• Setting the major orientations of government policy (political program, legislative priorities, economic, social, foreign strategy, etc.).
• Coordinating and arbitrating the actions of the different ministries, resolving conflicts of competence among them and ensuring a coherent line of action.
• Promoting the drafting of key bills and regulatory norms, as well as their processing before the Cortes Generales.

2. Organic relationship with the King and Government composition

The Constitution establishes a scheme in which the King formalizes appointments, but the political decision corresponds to the president or the Cortes:

• Appointment and dismissal of the president himself: article 99 regulates investiture: the King proposes a candidate after consulting parliamentary groups, and the Congress elects him by vote. The King's appointment is a due act once the candidate is elected.
• Appointment and dismissal of ministers: according to article 100, the other members of the Government are appointed and dismissed by the King at the president's proposal. The substantive political competence (deciding who enters and who leaves) lies with the president; the King merely formalizes it.
• Government restructuring: although the Constitution does not detail this faculty in depth, from the competence to propose appointments and dismissals and from directing government action derives the president's capacity to create, suppress, or reorganize ministerial departments through Government norms.

3. Relations with the Cortes Generales

The president of the Government is the main political responsible before the Congress of Deputies. Among his attributions stand out:

• Political responsibility before the Congress: the Government as a whole, and particularly its president, is politically accountable before the Congress (art. 108). This is concretized in investiture debates, control sessions, appearances, and questions.
• Vote of confidence: article 112 allows the president to raise a vote of confidence before the Congress on his program or on a general policy declaration. If he does not obtain a simple majority, he must present his resignation to the King.
• Participation in the motion of censure: although formally the motion of censure (art. 113) is an initiative of the Congress, its approval implies the dismissal of the sitting president and the appointment of the alternative candidate. The president's position regarding the motion is expressed in the parliamentary debate.

4. Dissolution of the Cortes and calling of elections

Article 115 grants the president the power to propose to the King the dissolution of the Congress, the Senate, or the Cortes Generales, which entails the calling of general elections. It is a very relevant power, subject to certain limits (for example, it cannot be proposed while a motion of censure is underway nor before one year has passed since the previous dissolution by this same mechanism).

The political decision to dissolve lies with the president; the King formalizes the dissolution and call by decree endorsed by him.

5. States of alarm, exception, and siege

Article 116 regulates the so-called “states of crisis”:

• State of alarm: declared by the Government by decree agreed in the Council of Ministers, reporting to the Congress. Political leadership and direction of measures correspond to the president.
• State of exception and siege: declared with prior authorization of the Congress (exception) or at the exclusive proposal of the Government (siege). In both cases, the president plays a central role in drafting the proposal and in the political direction of extraordinary measures.

6. Representation and other functions

Although the Constitution does not formulate it in a single phrase, from the set of provisions it follows that the president is the highest political authority of the State in the governmental sphere. Among his practical functions, also supported by infra-constitutional norms, are:

• Representing the Government domestically and abroad, including international summits, relations with other heads of Government, and with European Union institutions.
• Convening, presiding over, and setting the agenda of the Council of Ministers, ensuring the collegiate functioning of the Government.
• Ensuring compliance with the Government program and coordination between state and regional action, within the framework of the State of Autonomies.

In sum, the Constitution configures the president of the Government as the apex of executive power: he directs and coordinates the Government, determines its composition, is the main political interlocutor before the Congress and the King, decides on the opportunity to dissolve the Cortes, and leads the institutional response in crisis situations.

Before becoming the national president of the Popular Party in April 2022, Alberto Núñez Feijóo accumulated a long career in public administration and Galician politics, combining technical and management positions with organizational responsibilities within the PP, especially in Galicia.

Born in Ourense in 1961 and holding a Law degree from the University of Santiago de Compostela, he began his career in the public sector in 1985 by joining the Senior Corps of the General Administration of the Xunta de Galicia. During these early years, his profile was that of a senior official specialized in administrative management, rather than a frontline politician, but that technical work opened the door to clearly political responsibilities within the regional government.

The leap to institutional politics occurred in the early 1990s. In 1991 he was appointed technical secretary general of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Forests of the Xunta de Galicia. This was a key position, halfway between management and policy definition, placing him at the core of Galician agricultural administration. Shortly after, he moved to the Ministry of Health and Social Services, where he served as secretary general. There he began to specialize in the health and social field, one of the areas that would mark much of his later career.

With the arrival of the Popular Party to the Government of Spain in 1996, Feijóo made the jump to the central administration. In the environment of the Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs, he assumed high-level responsibilities: he served as secretary general of Health Care and later as president of the National Health Institute (Insalud). From these positions, he managed a substantial part of the public health system, which reinforced his image as a technical manager and gave him national projection.

His profile was further consolidated when he entered the public postal sector. Between 2000 and 2003 he directed the public postal services company: first as managing director of Correos y Telégrafos and later as president of the State Society Correos y Telégrafos. That stage leading a large public company, with thousands of workers and a network throughout the territory, helped present him as an experienced manager in large organizations.

In 2003 he returned to Galicia and rejoined the regional government led by Manuel Fraga. He was appointed councilor of Territorial Policy, Public Works and Housing, a significant portfolio handling infrastructure, urban planning, and housing. Shortly after, within the framework of the government's reorganization, he was promoted to first vice president of the Xunta de Galicia, that is, number two of the regional government. With these positions, Feijóo went from being a manager coming from Madrid to becoming one of the main figures of Galician political power.

At the same time, his role within the structure of the Popular Party in Galicia was consolidated. After the PP's defeat in the 2005 regional elections and Fraga's departure from the presidency of the Xunta, the party entered a phase of internal transition. In this context, in 2006 Núñez Feijóo was elected president of the Popular Party of Galicia (PPdeG). With this move, he ceased to be solely a government manager to become the organic leader of the main center-right party in the community, tasked with rebuilding the project after losing regional power.

From the presidency of the PPdeG, Feijóo led the party to the 2009 Galician elections. On March 1 of that year, the PP obtained an absolute majority and he was invested president of the Xunta de Galicia in April 2009. From then on, he chained three re-elections, maintaining the presidency of the Xunta until 2022 and achieving a total of four consecutive absolute majorities. During that period, he combined leadership of the regional government with the presidency of the Galician PP, consolidating Galicia as one of the territorial strongholds of the Popular Party.

In summary, when in April 2022 he made the leap to the national presidency of the PP, Feijóo arrived with a background that combined: an initial stage as a senior official of the Xunta; a second phase in the central administration as health official and president of public companies; a return to Galicia as councilor and vice president of the regional government; and finally, a long stage as president of the PP of Galicia and president of the Xunta. That trajectory, marked by management at various levels and electoral success in his community, is the political basis on which his election as national leader of the Popular Party was built.