INVESTITURE SCHEDULE FOR SPAIN'S NEW SOCIALIST

UNCLAS MADRID 001200 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL SP SUBJECT: INVESTITURE SCHEDULE FOR SPAIN'S NEW SOCIALIST GOVERNMENT REF: A. MADRID 1072 ¶B. MADRID 900 ¶1. Summary. Spain's Congress of Deputies is slated to begin the investiture sessions to install the new Socialist government on April 15. Depending on whether the Socialist leader, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, receives an absolute majority or not on the first vote, he could be sworn in as President of the Government as early as April 17. Zapatero's government likely will be sworn in and functioning on April 19, and he is expected to hold his first cabinet meeting a day or two thereafter. The formal opening session of the new Congress, presided over by the King, is then expected to take place on April 22. End summary. ¶2. The Congress of Deputies is scheduled to begin the investiture sessions to install the new President of the Government on April 15. The sessions will include statements from all parliamentary groups, with speeches slated to continue into April 16. At the conclusion of the group speeches on April 16, the Congress will vote on the proposed candidate, Socialist Party leader Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. If his candidacy wins with an absolute majority, Zapatero should be sworn in as President of the Government in front of the King on Saturday, April 17. At that time, he would officially inform the King of the members of his Cabinet. ¶3. If Zapatero does not receive an absolute majority on the April 16 vote, a second voting session would be held on April ¶18. For the second round of voting, Zapatero would only need a simple majority to be invested. His swearing in before the King would then be held late on April 18 or on Monday, April ¶19. ¶4. In either voting scenario, the King is expected to convene the Solemn Opening Session of the new Legislature on April 22, at which point the new Socialist majority will begin to govern. Between the swearing-in ceremony and the Solemn Opening Session of Congress, Zapatero's ministers will have their names published in the Official State Bulletin, swear allegiance to the Constitution, and take possession of their Ministries on April 19. ¶5. The Socialist Party's new Parliamentary spokesman, Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba, stated yesterday that he believed Zapatero would receive an absolute majority on the first round of voting. Although the Socialists only have firm commitments from the United Left party and the Aragon regional party, Rubalcaba expected to also receive first-round support from the ERC (leftist Catalan nationalists),the Canaries Coalition and the BNG (Galician nationalists). This would give the Socialists more than the 176 votes required for an absolute majority. MANZANARES