This Tuesday, thanks to the votes of PSOE and Sumar, the Congress Executive Board approved the final distribution of deputies’ seats for the next legislative period. The Socialists will maintain the same place they have occupied for the last four years, while Yolanda Díaz’s formation will be stationed in the area previously used by Unidas Podemos and the minority parties will advance positions and move closer to the center of the chamber. The new distribution has led to complaints from the PP, which abstained from the vote after confirming that it would have to share part of the right-wing bench with ten Vox MPs.
The People’s Party argues that, as the largest faction in parliament, thanks to its 137 seats, it deserves to monopolize the entire third of the right, something that did not happen in the last electoral term, in which the 88 conservative deputies shared the seat with those of Abascal sei (52 seats) and citizens (10).
In a statement, Congress claimed that the new composition of the House of Commons followed “historical criteria” that the majority groups should be left and right; but the PP wanted to reproduce the distribution of the eleventh legislative period, in which Patxi López was acting president for a few months in 2016. Then the popular parties got the right third for themselves because they were the majority party, while Ciudadanos had 40 deputies moved to the middle.
The new distribution will allow PSOE and Sumar, who have maintained their majority, to offer a compact image to maintain their positions and improve those of their partners. The Socialists will share the left flank with the three MPs from the mixed group and the seven MPs from the Junts, on whom the consolidation of the new legislative period could depend.
The candidate for investiture, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, needs the support of the independentists in the vote on September 27th. The deal seems unlikely following Carles Puigdemont’s comments on Tuesday in which he set an amnesty law for those accused of the trial as a condition for negotiations with a candidate. Minutes later, the conservative leader gave up negotiations with the nationalist group in the face of the independence leader’s “impossible” claims.
What influences the most is what happens next. So you don’t miss anything, subscribe.
Subscribe for more information
The other nationalist parties retain their seats in the front rows of the central room and are therefore more visible. The five PNV MPs will be distributed as follows: three in the first row and two in the second, while ERC will continue to occupy the third and fourth rows. For his part, EH Bildu moves to the fourth and fifth rows.
Vox, which did not take part in the vote because it does not hold a position on the board, sees its positions diluted and mixed with different groups. Three of his 33 lawmakers will sit at the front, but most of his bench will be relegated to the back of the chamber’s center. The new situation means that several MPs from the far-right party have to share the seat with Sumar, ERC, Bildu or PNV.
Subscribe to continue reading
Read without limits