Press briefing by President of the Government following audience with the King

Moncloa Palace, Madrid

President of the Government.- Good evening, how are you? I apologise for the delay but, in short, the President of the European Council was here in Madrid, and it was also important to attend to him.

Anyway, I appear here before you, after completing today the round of consultations held by H.M. the King. As you know, the aim of this round is grounded in Article 99 our Constitution, and consists of the Head of State proposing a candidate to the Presidency of the Government of Spain.

I have conveyed to His Majesty the King my will to accept the commission he offers me, as a direct result of the mandate expressed by a majority of the Spanish people on 28 April in the general elections. This mandate was also reinforced, at least from a political perspective, in the elections held on 26 May, in which the Socialist Party once again came out as the leading force in the municipal and European elections, and also in most of the regional elections.

I accept this commission with honour, because it is indeed an honour to head up Spain, our great country. I also accept this commission with responsibility, and with tremendous gratitude for the confidence expressed by the Spanish people.

The Spanish people made it clear in the way they voted on 28 April, and also on 26 May - they want the Socialist Party to govern, and no other alternative is possible; either the Socialist Party governs or no-one does. This means that we must all act with a tremendous degree of responsibility. All of us, starting with me; and I will say that I will do this, as I have done in these last few months - governing from the progressive values that embody the Socialist Party and with the will to forge broad consensus, entering into dialogue with everyone, with all the political forces within the constitutional framework. That is what I intend to do over these next four years, should I receive the confidence of the majority of the Lower House.

Parliament has a clear mandate stemming from the votes cast by the Spanish people, which is that our country must make progress, and this progress must be combined with social justice. Spain must advance, rather than stand still, and to do that, we must all do our part to ensure that the new government is formed as soon as possible and that the legislature gets back underway to tackle the challenges facing our country.

Next week, I can announce to you, I will begin the round of formal contacts with the leaders of the three main parties, together with the Socialist Party. Because these are the three political leaders that can facilitate or block the investiture in the Lower House of Parliament. And during these talks - we will also hold them with the rest of the parliamentary groups, under another format - the four pillars of this progress with social justice that I will propose to the Lower House, and consequently to the Spanish people, for the next four years, will be as follows:

Firstly, the ecological transition, the mitigation of and adaptation to climate change in our country, which is a country that is clearly affected by the phenomenon of the global warming of the planet.

Secondly, boosting the digitalisation of our economy, of our education system.

Thirdly, the fight against inequality.

And fourthly, strengthening the common project that Europe represents for all of us: employment, dignified jobs and decent salaries, education, sustaining our pensions, competitiveness and the internationalisation of our companies. The fight against social exclusion and the uncompromising battle against male violence.

And the challenges that any of the Spanish people watching us have in mind will be reflected in these four main priorities that we will propose for this term of office to the Lower House: the ecological transition, boosting the digitalisation of our economy, fighting inequalities and Europe.

An agenda, in short, for the future of Spain, that of fathers, mothers, grandfathers and grandmothers, and also that of our children and grandchildren. Progress, transformation that will clearly involve forging great national pacts in such matters as socio-labour affairs, the economy, education, pensions and which will require, consequently, a consensus that transcends the limits of our own party projects.

Progress and transformation that I will address, as the Government of Spain of the Socialist Party has done over these last few months heading up the government, following the vote of no confidence. And we will do this from our progressive convictions and our constant will to enter into dialogue and reach agreements within the constitutional framework.

I will end as I started, with a tremendous sense of gratitude towards the Spanish people. And with a tremendous sense of responsibility as well, that anyone should feel to be worthy of governing no more and no less than our great country of Spain, which is something that precisely demands commitment and finding common ground. And with these two goals in mind - commitment and finding common ground - I will work over the next few days to try and facilitate this investiture as soon as possible that will allow a stable government to be formed for the next four years.

So thank you, good evening, and I will now take a few questions.

Q- Irene Castro, from Diario.es. You say that the investiture will take place as soon as possible; and I wanted to ask you when you feel that this may be, whether we are talking about the first week of July? All of the spokespeople that have appeared here today have said that you don't seem to be in a hurry. And then, you ask for responsibility and tolerance from all the parties. I wanted to know whether you will ask the PP and Cs to abstain, as they asked the Socialist Party to do in 2016. And then, Podemos demands to form part of your government to support your investiture. If this is a necessary condition, would you be prepared to have members of Podemos in your government, specifically, Pablo Iglesias? Thank you.

President of the Government.- That's more than one question, but anyway, I will answer them all. The first question, in relation to when the government should be formed. Obviously, the intention of the Government of Spain, of the Socialist Party in this case, is absolute. I believe that Spain, as I said before in my speech, must push on as soon as possible, the Government of Spain must be up and running and we need to get this legislature under way. We are facing many challenges. In short, we are going to begin with this round of contacts with the different political forces, the main political forces as from next week.

Secondly, in relation to the petitions that the different parliamentary groups make, that is logical and obvious. I understand that prior to talks that must begin next week, everyone adopts their own position. Some will say no, while others will want to form part of the government. I understand all the different positions that the parliamentary groups are adopting, all of them. But it is important and we must be aware that these talks must begin and that there is no majority alternative to what the Socialist Party is proposing because that is how the Spanish people wanted things. We must remember that we are twice the size of the next biggest parliamentary force in the Lower House of Parliament, and hence, there is no alternative majority. And consequently, the responsibility lies with all of us, particularly with the three other parliamentary forces, together with the Socialist Party: Unidas Podemos, that is clear, the People's Party and Ciudadanos. And I believe that the four parliamentary forces must find this point of balance and each one adopt its positions so as to facilitate the formation of this government, and consequently allow this legislature to commence.

Q.- Daniel Basteiro, from El Español. Pablo Casado and Albert Rivera have already announced that they will vote against your investiture, but they have also accepted that the two MPs from UPN - their partners in Navarre - will abstain in exchange for the coalition that the three share governing in the region. Will the PSOE [Spanish Socialist Workers' Party] facilitate the Regional Government of Navarre to Javier Esparza, taking into account that the PSC can only govern thanks to the abstention of Bildu? And secondly, the PSN [Socialist Party of Navarre] has said, contrary to the very explicit procedures established by José Luis Ábalos and Carmen Calvo, that if a government is sought to be formed via this channel, that they will never allow Javier Esparza to be regional president, because, I quote textually, "he has an honours degree in high treason". What will you do to ensure that the PSN heeds your call and does not continue negotiating the investiture? Will this be decided by the rank and file, as you promised during the primaries that made you party leader? Thank you.

President of the Government.- Well, not only did I promise them that, but moreover, it is regulated and governed in the party articles, and hence there is no argument on this matter. It is simply the way it is.

But, at any event, I can say to you, just look, the Socialist Party of Navarre and the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party are in the same position, which is that no deals will be done with Bildu. Aside from that, as regards Mr Esparza and the party of Navarra Suma, as I said before, we are going to start talks with all the political formations, with the main political parties, which is who I will directly address because they can facilitate or block the investiture, and hence, the formation of a government. And with the rest of the parliamentary formations, we will also meet under a different format, and that will be the right time to see exactly what the opinions of Mr Esparza and Navarra Suma are in relation to the investiture of the Government of Spain.

Q.- President of the Government, will the abstention of Bildu be necessary for María Chivite to govern in Navarre?

President of the Government.- Look, what I have already said is that we are not going to forge agreements with Bildu.

OK. Thank you.

(Transcript prepared by the State Secretariat for Communication)

Non official translation