Appointment, Dismissal, and Functions of the Spanish Government

Posted on May 21, 2024 in Law & Jurisprudence

Appointment and Dismissal of the Government: The Caretaker Government

1. Appointment of the Government

Appointment of Prime Minister

+1. Standard Procedure:

This is done through the investiture vote by Congress. Applies in cases of renewal of the Congress, as a result of an election, the death or resignation of the Prime Minister, and loss of confidence. There are several stages:

• The King meets with representatives appointed by the political groups represented in Parliament. Any political group with at least one parliamentarian is included. The King also holds consultations to determine the position of groups and their representatives. Each group communicates the name of its representative to the Speaker of the House.
• The King proposes a candidate for the Presidency of the Government to Congress, through the President of Congress, and seeks endorsement. The only case in which the King would have some discretion to make the proposal would be if no group in Congress had a sufficient majority or a clear leader and had difficulties obtaining the support of other groups. In this case, the King should use their powers of moderation and arbitration to try to reach an agreement among the groups to nominate a candidate who will have the majority required to be inaugurated as President of the Government.
• The nominee submits the political agenda of the Government they intend to form to Congress and seeks the confidence of the House. This process has several phases:
  • Upon receipt of the notice of the proposed candidate, the Plenary is convened by the Chairman of the House.
  • The session begins with the reading of the proposal by one of the secretaries.
  • The candidate presents the political agenda of the Government they aim to form and requests the confidence of the House.
  • After a break decreed by the President, a representative of each parliamentary group that requests it may speak for thirty minutes.
  • The proposed candidate may speak as many times as they request.
• The government has no duty to include a list of future Government members in the presentation to the House.
• If Congress grants confidence to the candidate by an absolute majority vote, the King appoints them President of the Government.
• If this majority is not reached, the same proposal will be submitted to a fresh vote forty-eight hours after the previous one, and confidence will be deemed granted if it secures a simple majority.
• If confidence for the investiture has not been obtained in the early voting.

+2. Extraordinary Procedure:

This is done by the approval of the motion of censure. Congress may require the political responsibility of the government by adopting an absolute majority of the censure motion, proposed by at least a tenth of the members, and including a new candidate. If Congress supports it, the government presents its resignation to the King, proposing the candidate. The King shall appoint the candidate as Prime Minister with the endorsement of the President of Congress.

Appointment of Other Members of the Government

They are appointed by the King on the proposal of the Prime Minister and with their endorsement.

2. Dismissal of the Government

– End of Government as a Body. The Caretaker Government:

The Government shall resign after the general elections, in cases of loss of parliamentary confidence under the Constitution, or by resignation or death of the President. The termination would be decreed by the King with the endorsement of the Prime Minister or, in case of death, the Vice President or Minister who assumes the presidency in office.

In the case of the total cessation of government, the outgoing Government shall continue in office until the inauguration of the new government. The caretaker government should remain the body that directs national policy, but its work also depends on the reason for dismissal and the situation of political forces in Parliament, especially in Congress.

It is different if the government retains a majority or has lost it. In the first case, continuity of the Government is expected, having a greater scope of action. However, if this were not the case, presumably, there will be a government of another sign, and the caretaker government has to be careful to avoid making decisions with political, economic, etc., significance. This is to avoid conditioning or compromising the incoming government’s policy management, especially by a government that has lost the confidence of Congress resulting from the elections. The Government will provide the normal functions of the process of forming the new government and devolution of powers to it and limit its activities to managing regular public affairs without further action except for emergencies.

In particular, the acting Prime Minister shall not exercise the following powers:

• To propose to the King the dissolution of the Chambers.
• To raise the question of confidence.
• To propose to the King the call for a consultative referendum.

The legislative delegations granted by the courts are suspended the entire time that the government is in office following the general elections.

– Removal of Members of the Government in Particular:

The members of the government are dismissed by the King on the proposal of the Prime Minister with their endorsement. The dismissal of Deputy Prime Ministers without a portfolio will entail the extinction of these bodies.

The Government as an Organ of Government Function and Executive Function. Government Functions:

1. Political Functions:

– International Relations:

The government directs foreign policy, in some cases endorsing the actions of the King as High Representative. This includes the negotiation of treaties that do not require the approval of the Cortes, compliance with other treaties, and resolutions of international bodies to which Spain is attached.

– Initiative as a Function of Momentum and Political Orientation:

• Submitting the political agenda before Congress during the parliamentary investiture of the candidate for President or to request the confidence of the House.
• Initiating legislative bills before Congress or the Senate.
• Elaborating constitutional reforms.
• Elaborating the General State Budgets for consideration, amendment, and approval by Parliament.
• Elaborating economic planning projects for approval by law.

– Arbitration:

• Proposing consultative referendums on political decisions of special transcendence.
• Proposing the announcement of the dissolution of Congress, the Senate, or both Houses of Parliament.

Arbitration powers are exercised relatively independently and are not reflected as an endorsement of royal acts:

• The Prime Minister is responsible for informing the King of affairs of state and may ask to chair meetings of the Council of Ministers.
• The Government has the power to appeal the constitutionality of laws or provisions having the force of law.
• The Government can raise constitutional conflicts with Congress, the Senate, or the Supreme Judicial Council.
• The Government has arbitration functions in connection with the Autonomous Communities:
  • Appointment of a delegate to run the state administration in this territory.
  • Calling deputies and senators to constitute an assembly to draw up the Statute of Autonomy.
  • Controlling the exercise of delegated functions under art.150.2 after consulting the Council of Ministers.
  • Disputing before the Constitutional Court against provisions and resolutions adopted by organs of the Autonomous Communities, determining the suspension of the provision or resolution appealed.
  • Approaching conflicts of competence with rules, resolutions, and acts, or omissions.
  • Adopting the approval of an absolute majority in the Senate of the necessary measures to compel an Autonomous Community to comply with its constitutional or statutory obligations.

– Functions in Exceptional Situations:

• Declaration of a state of alarm and a state of emergency, authorized in the past by the Congress of Deputies.
• The power to issue decree-laws.

– Functions of Defense:

The Government’s role in addressing the State’s defense is related to the High Command of the Armed Forces, which is attributed to the King, and the declaration of war and peace, which is also within its jurisdiction, subject to authorization by Parliament.

2. Executive or Administrative Functions:

The Government is also the governing body of public administration and the State’s administrative activity, as outlined in art.97. It is linked with the political role and has statutory authority in accordance with the Constitution and laws and is controlled by the courts. The Government’s executive functions include:

• Approving lower-ranking legislative provisions to the Law.
• Adopting legislative decrees containing delegated legislation to consolidate various legal texts in a single document or set of decrees.
• Adopting Council of Ministers agreements to be issued by the King, now referred to as Royal Decrees.
• Approving Prime Ministerial decrees.
• Nominating Ministers.
• Nominating civil servants and conferring military ranks.
• Proposing the right of grace to the King, which is attributed to the King’s free exercise.
• Protecting rights and freedoms and ensuring public safety with the security and security forces.
• Managing public services.