What is the conference table? How is it chosen and why is it so important?

This Thursday, July 17, the Cortes Generales will be formed after the July 23 elections, and they will do so with the election of their governing body: the Congress table. In fact, the parties have been preoccupied with the last week talk to gain control over what it is third setting most important in the state. Therefore, the Presidency is the third authority after the King and the President of the Spanish Government.

But what exactly is the Congress Table? How is it composed? His duties? Is it that important? We answer all these questions:

What is it?

The Council of the Congress of Deputies is, as explained in the regulations by which it is governed, “the governing body and collegiate representation of the chamber”. In other words, the one who manages the daily life of the Chamber, who coordinates the activities of the plenary session and the various committees and sets the calendar.

Who are the members and how are they chosen?

It is integrated by nine members: a presidency, four vice-presidencies and four secretaries. The composition is chosen on the same day of the composition of the Congress, by secret ballot.

The presidency is elected first. The deputies and the deputies indicate their candidate on a ballot paper. The person who obtains an absolute majority (176 votes) obtains the position. If this majority is not obtained, the two nominees with the highest number of votes will go to the second round, in which the one with the simple majority will be elected.

The vice presidencies are voted on in a similar system. The names are written on a ballot paper, although in this case the four persons with the highest number of votes are elected. The same happens with the secretariats.

The number of positions (odd) is not a coincidence as it is designed to prevent ties. Hence have a majority in this body takes care of its control. That is precisely one of the first battles fought in Congress: which blockthe progressive or the right-wing, are imposed.

What are its features and why is it crucial?

Table highlight the rhythms and content of plenary sessions and debates. This body decides on the admission to procedure of the laws and proposals submitted by the groups. so can slow down or speed up parliamentary initiatives. This happened, for example, with the PSOE’s explicit reforms of the offense of sedition or the law of “Only yes is yes”. In the other camp, a majority of the right (PP and Cs) succeeded in Rajoy’s last legislature in indefinitely postponing the processing of the PSOE and Unidas Podemos bills on historical memory or euthanasia.

This body determines how much parliamentary groups there will be (who have more assignment and speaking time) and how many committees. You can also set up a committee of inquiry.

It also decides the budget of the Chamber, as well as its approval and scrutiny. Controlling the budget also means controlling expenses. The board has the power to determine the salaries of the deputies and the deputies, as well as the rest of the staff.

In addition, it is for the Presidency to lead the debates, thus granting or canceling speaking time, and even expelling those representatives who have been warned three times.

How are the negotiations going?

It is normal for the group with the largest number of seats to hold the presidency, but it is also very common for this to be the result of negotiations and agreements. So if one of the majority groups (PSOE or PP) reaches an agreement on the presidency with other groups with less representation, they usually relinquish positions in the vice-presidencies or secretariats, although these negotiations do not always affect the composition of the table. .

The plan of progressive block under the leadership of the socialists, it is done 5 of the 9 positions on the table: the presidency (PSOE), two vice-presidencies (one for PSOE and one for Sumar), and two secretariats (PSOE and En Comú), according to parliamentary sources to Europa Press.

To secure the presidency, the socialists offer their partners committee chairmen and guarantees that their parliamentary groupsAlthough they do not meet all requirements, they are recognized.

This last case is ERC and Together, which, by not meeting all the regulatory conditions, run the risk of being interpreted by the Bureau. The Republicans have already said that the Round Table should be chaired by the PSOE, as they believe this is the way to advance the Catalan agenda. Republican deputy Teresa Jordà has specified that in return they are asking that the ERC be allowed to have its own parliamentary group. In addition, they would like to chair two or three committees and one of them to be important.

EH Bildu, with six representatives, has no special interest in being part of the congressional table and the last legislature has not even claimed a committee chairmanship. What he does want is for the next table to have a progressive majority and not be dominated by PP and Vox.

For him GDP (five alternates) It is also preferable to chair a committee than to hold a position in the Bureau.

What is still not clear is who the PSOE will nominate for the presidency, after Meritxel Batet has confirmed that she will not be seeking re-election.

In the rightHe PP says it almost agrees with the Canary Coalition (which, together with the votes of vox, would add 171). However, the far-right party has demanded that the people have at least one seat at the table and has warned it will not participate in “any comparison” in which there are pro-independence formations, referring in particular to Junts.

Those of Nuñez Feijoó assure that they are willing to negotiate with the PNV about the composition of the table, but they refuse to do so with Junts. “It’s one thing to talk to everyone and another to swallow everything,” insisted the PP’s general coordinator, Elías Bendodo.