PP appeals to Constitutional Court after Congress blocks vote on early elections, shifts debate to Senate

The veto and the appeal

On Tuesday, the Congress Board, controlled by PSOE and Sumar, blocked two amendments to a PP motion that would have urged Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to dissolve parliament and call early elections. The amendments, one from PP and one from Junts, were nearly identical. The Board argued that calling elections is a presidential prerogative and the motion invaded that competence. PP immediately filed a reconsideration request and, on Thursday, announced it would take the case to the Constitutional Court if the veto is not lifted. The party called the decision "a new abuse of power" by Congress President Francina Armengol and a "opportunistic change of criteria," noting that similar non-binding motions had been allowed in the past.

Political arithmetic

The vote would have been symbolic, but its political weight was clear. PP, Vox, and Junts together hold 177 seats in the 350-seat Congress, an absolute majority. Had the amendments been debated, they would likely have passed, demonstrating that a majority of deputies want elections. PP sources told EL MUNDO that the Board acted "arbitrarily" because Sánchez "was going to lose" the vote. Junts, a government ally, cannot appeal to the Constitutional Court on its own because it lacks the required 50 deputies.

Senate gambit

While the legal challenge proceeds, PP has moved the same text to the Senate, where it holds an absolute majority. The motion, which reproduces Junts's amendment verbatim, is scheduled for debate on Wednesday, 24 June. PP hopes to force Junts to vote in favour, marking what would be the first explicit rejection of the government by one of its parliamentary partners. Until now, Junts has abstained on similar PP initiatives in the upper house.

Reactions and accusations

PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo accused Sánchez of being "afraid of democracy" and of "muzzling" parliament. "You don't want us to vote at the ballot box and you don't want us to vote in Parliament. You are not a democrat," Feijóo said during Wednesday's government control session. PP spokesperson Ester Muñoz added,

“The day a Parliament is muzzled, democracy dies.”

PP denies coordinating with Junts, describing the simultaneous amendments as a coincidence, but acknowledges that the episode reflects Junts's growing distance from the government.