US embassy cable - 04MADRID900

UNCLAS MADRID 000900 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, SP, PSOE - Socialist Party, Spanish Election March 2004 
SUBJECT: FORMATION OF THE NEW SPANISH GOVERNMENT 
 
REF: MADRID 613 
 
1. (U) Summary.  Spain's parliamentary system is flexible on 
exact dates for installing governments after a general 
election, but given historical timeframes, Socialist leader 
Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero should be invested as President 
of the Government by the end of April or the beginning of 
May.  End summary. 
 
2. (U) In the aftermath of the March 14 elections, the 
process of installing the newly elected Socialist government 
will begin on April 2.  This is the date when the incoming 
members of the Congress of Deputies will choose the President 
of the Congress and the members of the "table" (committee), 
who will conduct the acts where the Deputies swear their 
allegiance to the Constitution.  Within 15 days, by April 17, 
the President of the Congress will convene the Congress of 
Deputies and hold its first session. 
 
3.  (U) When Congress is convened, the process of coalition 
building begins.  At the end of these inter-party 
negotiations, the President of the Congress and the King 
propose a candidate for the office of President of the 
Government.  That candidate, who will assuredly be Zapatero, 
will then address Congress detailing his political agenda, 
and the Congress will vote on his investiture.  Although 
Zapatero has stated that he will not seek a formal coalition 
with other parties, three parties (the United Left, the ERC 
(leftist Catalan nationalists), and the Canary Islands 
Coalition) have already signaled that they will vote for his 
investiture.  Their support would insure that Zapatero 
receives more than the 176 votes needed for an absolute 
majority.  There is no required date for an investiture vote. 
 If for any reason Zapatero would not receive the required 
176 votes for an absolute majority, he would return to the 
Congress within 48 hours for a second vote, in which he would 
only need a simple majority. 
 
4. (U) Once invested, Zapatero will present his government to 
the King the following day.  This presentation to the King 
will be the first official naming of his Ministers and 
advisors.  With historic timelines as a guide, the new 
Socialist government should be officially in power by late 
April or early May.  Reftel provides further information on 
this subject and other details of the Spanish electoral 
process. 
ARGYROS