King invites PP leader Feijóo to try to form a new government in Spain

King Felipe VI of Spain has played his part. After two days of consultations with the representatives of most of the political forces represented in Congress - with the exception of Esquerra, Junts, EH Bildu and BNG, who refused to participate in the constitutional process - Felipe VI appointed Alberto Núñez Feijóo as candidate for the Presidency of the Government on Tuesday.

There were no surprises, and despite the fact that both the leader of the PP and Pedro Sánchez (PSOE) attended the Zarzuela palace with the message that they were willing to take the lead, the head of state was faithful to his duties and entrusted the formation of the government to the candidate with the most votes at the recent general election polls. And after noting, as the King's Household reasoned in a statement, that there is not, as of today, "a sufficient majority for the investiture that, if necessary, would cause this custom to lapse".

Feijóo accepted the invitation despite the fact that he is doomed to failure as he does not have sufficient support to get through an investiture session. He has 172 votes, 137 from his party, 33 from Vox, the deputy from Unión del Pueblo Navarro and the deputy from Coalición Canaria, compared to 151 from his rival - 121 from the PSOE and 31 from Sumar. Although the Galician leader is only four votes away from an absolute majority, he has no more potential allies. Nationalists and pro-independence supporters have been categorical in ruling out his possible support.

Felipe VI's decision is an essential first step towards the formation of a new government. The president of Congress still has to set a date for the debate in which Feijóo will have to present his government programme and ask for the confidence of the House, something that in principle is his exclusive responsibility to decide, but which he will do taking into account the criteria of the PP leader.

Neither the Constitution nor the Rules of Procedure of Congress set any deadline for this key moment. In the last legislature, 33 days elapsed between the constitution of the House and Sánchez's first investiture vote, but in the previous one (which ended in a repeat election) it took 63 days. If the investiture does not take place next week, we would have to wait until the end of September so as not to make a possible repeat election coincide with the Christmas period.

In his appearance before the official announcement of the monarch's decision, the former president of the Xunta said that he would not be keen if the date was too soon, because he would need time to speak with all the parliamentary groups beforehand, and they are not even formed - and it will not be until Monday when the list with the groups will be confirmed. "It is now a question of facilitating negotiations between the different political forces", said Francina Armengol, who confirmed that she would contact Feijóo "immediately" to find out his opinion and then make the "most appropriate" decision. The call came shortly afterwards, but no dates were announced.

Before Felipe VI, the leader of the PP put forward three arguments to make him opt for him even at the risk of exposing himself to a new parliamentary defeat. First, because he won the elections. Second, because he has the support of four parties with a total of 172 seats. Thirdly, because to stand is to "fulfil" his "duty" and give "voice" to the more than eleven million Spaniards who voted for the PP, Vox, UPN and Coalición Canaria on 23 July. The desire to leave this page unturned," he stressed, "would be irresponsible".

If he manages to get through the door to the Moncloa, the conservative leader set out the basic pillars of what his government would be, among which are the defence of the Constitution, the promotion of the state of the regions, the preservation of the neutrality of the powers of the state, and having "scrupulous respect for court rulings". An implicit allusion to the possibility of the PSOE granting an amnesty for all those involved in the 'procés', as demanded by the Catalan pro-independence supporters in exchange for their support for Sánchez.

Feijóo acknowledged that he cannot present real options for his investiture to succeed despite the fact that his barrier to forming a government is four MPs. But he warned that the PSOE is at a distance "from an amnesty, from a referendum on independence and from making the inequality of Spaniards official".