Leader of the Opposition (Spain)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Template:Short description Script error: No such module "For". Script error: No such module "infobox".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". The leader of the opposition (Template:Langx) is an unofficial, mostly conventional and honorary title frequently (but not exclusively) held by the leader of the largest party in the Congress of Deputies—the lower house of the Spanish parliament, the Cortes Generales—not within the government. They are usually the person who is expected to lead that party into the next general election.

From 31 October 2016 to 18 June 2017, the title was disputed between the two largest parties in the left, the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and Podemos. The position was left nominally vacant after Mariano Rajoy's government was ousted in a motion of no confidence on 2 June 2018, until the election of Pablo Casado as new PP leader. From 23 February 2022, the position was again left vacant following the ousting of Casado by most of the leading members of his party, led by Galician and Madrilenian presidents Alberto Núñez Feijóo and Isabel Díaz Ayuso.

Role

Not specifically provided legally, the workings of the post are mostly based on custom, protocol and convention. The term "leader of the opposition" is only legally recognized in a Royal Decree passed in 1983 establishing the order of preference of public authorities in general official acts organized by the Crown, Government or the State Administration, acknowledging the figure of Opposition Leader but only to put it in fifteenth place in the list of precedences.[1][2]

By agreement of the Congress Bureau of 28 December 1982, Manuel Fraga was acknowledged as leader of the opposition by the PSOE government of Felipe González—himself having unofficially led opposition from 1977 to 1982.[3] Such an agreement, further expanded on 8 February 1983, established a series of conditions for the role and awarded some prerogatives for the officeholder:

  1. Determination of the person fulfilling the role of leader of the opposition must meet criteria of effective parliamentary number preeminence.
  2. There must not be a formal appointment.
  3. There is no need to raise compatibility issues for the role.
  4. Must lack a full-blown salary, even if it may have a right to representation expenses, vehicle availability as well as the care provided for bureau members.

The leader of the opposition is entitled a special office in the Congress of Deputies if he or she is a member of the chamber.[4][5][6][7][8] In addition, the officeholder usually receives much more attention from the media in parliamentary sessions and activities, such as in the yearly-held State of the Nation Debate.[9] Established precedent has also led for the leader of the opposition usually sitting directly across from the prime minister in the Congress seating plan, so long as he or she has a seat in the Congress of Deputies. While it is not required for a leader of the opposition to have a seat in Congress, there have been only three occasions where the recognized officeholder did not have such a seat:

Even with the absence of a law defining the role of the opposition leader, it is customary to conduct update meetings between the prime minister and the chairman of the largest party not within the government. However, such meetings are carried out mostly at the prime minister's leisure.

History

Before 1983, the figure served only as an informal reference to the "Leader of the Main Opposition Party", who at the time was Felipe González as leader of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, the main opposition party in Spain during the country's transition to democracy until 1982.[13] The first recognized leader of the opposition was Manuel Fraga,[14] who in February 1983 was granted such a formal status by the Congress of Deputies Bureau,[15][16] despite the rejection of several parties.[17]

On 1 December 1986,[18] Manuel Fraga resigned as People's Alliance chairman and was replaced in the interim by Miguel Herrero de Miñón. While Herrero de Miñón served as interim AP leader until a party congress was held in February 1987, he was acknowledged as Opposition Leader on his own right.[19][20][21] This lasted until he was defeated by Antonio Hernández Mancha in the 1987 AP congress, which prompted his resignation as the party's parliamentary speaker and leader on 8 February 1987.[22] Hernández Mancha became leader of the opposition,[23] but was hampered by the fact of him not being a deputy at the time.[24]

In 1998, with the People's Party in government, Josep Borrell beat PSOE Secretary General Joaquín Almunia in a party primary to elect the party's candidate to prime minister in the subsequent general election.[25] Almunia maintained his post as party leader whereas Borrell was named the party's spokesperson in Congress and was awarded leadership over the parliamentary party, with the later being officially referred to as the leader of the opposition.[26][27][28] However, both Almunia and Borrell kept clashing on leadership issues for months—in a situation referred to as 'bicephaly'[29][30]—until an agreement between the two parts definitely recognized Borrell the condition of opposition leader in November 1998.[31] He would eventually resign as candidate in May 1999, awarding Almunia the sole and undisputed leadership over the party and opposition.[32]

The office came again under dispute in 2016, days after a caretaker committee under Javier Fernández had taken control over PSOE as a result of a leadership crisis in October. Podemos' Pablo Iglesias subsequently self-proclaimed himself as new opposition leader on the basis of his party's strength in Congress being close to PSOE's—67 seats to 84.[33][34] During Mariano Rajoy's second investiture debate on 27 October, Spanish media and parliamentarians informally acknowledged Iglesias the role of opposition leader by virtue of Rajoy addressing him as his main rival during a heated dialectical exchange,[35][36][37] coupled with PSOE's perceived inability to exercise as opposition after choosing to allow Rajoy's election.[38][39] The chaos ensuing from the vacancy in the PSOE leadership led to other parties not recognizing a formal opposition leader.[5][40]

Pedro Sánchez nominally re-assumed the title once he was reelected as PSOE leader in June 2017, although he did not have a seat in parliament as a result of him resigning in protest to his party tolerating Rajoy's second government in October 2016.[41] The position was left vacant after Mariano Rajoy was ousted as prime minister in a motion of no confidence on 2 June 2018—with Rajoy himself rejecting to assume the title again—, until the election of Pablo Casado as new PP leader.[42] From 23 February 2022, the position was again left vacant following an internal PP rebellion, led by Galician and Madrilenian presidents Alberto Núñez Feijóo and Isabel Díaz Ayuso, that resulted in the downfall of Casado as party leader following his abandonment by most of his party's colleagues and other leading members.[43][44]

List of opposition leaders

Portrait Name
(Birth–Death)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 		Tenure Party Opposition to
government 		Election Prime Minister
(Tenure)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
StartScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". EndScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". DurationScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
File:Manuel Fraga 1983 (cropped).jpg Manuel Fraga
(1922Template:Ndash2012)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 		28 DecemberScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1982 		24 JulyScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1986 		Template:Age in years and days rowspan="2" width="1" style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color;"| AP González I 1982 rowspan="8" width="1" style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color;"| Felipe González
File:Felipe González 1991 (cropped).jpg
(1982Template:Ndash1996)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
24 JulyScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1986 		1 DecemberScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1986 		González II 1986
Post vacant during this interval.Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
File:Miguel Herrero de Miñón 1980 (cropped).jpg Miguel Herrero de Miñón
(born 1940)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 		23 DecemberScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1986 		8 FebruaryScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1987 		Template:Age in years and days style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color;"| AP
File:Portrait placeholder.svg Antonio Hernández Mancha
(born 1951)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 		8 FebruaryScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1987 		20 JanuaryScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1989Template:Refn 		Template:Age in years and days style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color;"| AP
File:Manuel Fraga 1983 (cropped).jpg Manuel Fraga
(1922Template:Ndash2012)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 		20 JanuaryScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1989 		21 NovemberScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1989Template:Refn 		Template:Age in years and days style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color;"| PP
File:José María Aznar 1996 (cropped).jpg José María Aznar
(born 1953)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 		21 NovemberScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1989Template:Refn 		13 JulyScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1993 		Template:Age in years and days rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color;"| PP González III 1989
13 JulyScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1993 		5 MayScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1996 		González IV 1993
File:Felipe González 1996 (cropped).jpg Felipe González
(born 1942)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 		5 MayScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1996 		21 JuneScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1997 		Template:Age in years and days style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color;"| PSOE Aznar I 1996 rowspan="6" style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color;"| José María Aznar
File:José María Aznar 2003d (cropped).jpg
(1996Template:Ndash2004)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
File:Joaquin Almunia 2002 (cropped).jpg Joaquín Almunia
(born 1948)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 		21 JuneScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1997 		26 MayScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1998 		Template:Age in years and days style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color;"| PSOE
File:Josep Borrell 2004 (cropped).jpg Josep Borrell
(born 1947)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 		26 MayScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1998Template:Refn 		14 MayScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1999 		Template:Age in years and days style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color;"| PSOE
File:Joaquin Almunia 2002 (cropped).jpg Joaquín Almunia
(born 1948)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 		14 MayScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1999 		12 MarchScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
2000 		Template:Age in years and days style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color;"| PSOE
Post vacant during this interval.Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Aznar II 2000
File:José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero 2004 (cropped).jpg José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
(born 1960)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 		22 JulyScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
2000 		17 AprilScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
2004 		Template:Age in years and days style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color;"| PSOE
File:Mariano Rajoy in 2008 (cropped).jpg Mariano Rajoy
(born 1955)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 		17 AprilScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
2004Template:Refn 		12 AprilScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
2008 		Template:Age in years and days rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color;"| PP Zapatero I 2004 rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color;"| José Luis
Rodríguez Zapatero
File:José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero 2011c (cropped).jpg
(2004Template:Ndash2011)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
12 AprilScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
2008 		21 DecemberScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
2011 		Zapatero II 2008
File:Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba 2012b (cropped).jpg Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba
(1951Template:Ndash2019)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 		21 DecemberScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
2011Template:Refn 		26 JulyScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
2014 		Template:Age in years and days style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color;"| PSOE Rajoy I 2011 rowspan="5" style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color;"| Mariano Rajoy
File:Mariano Rajoy 2018b (cropped).jpg
(2011Template:Ndash2018)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
File:Pedro Sánchez 2015h (cropped).jpg Pedro Sánchez
(born 1972)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 		26 JulyScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
2014 		1 OctoberScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
2016 		Template:Age in years and days rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color;"| PSOE
2015
Post vacant during this interval.Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Rajoy II 2016
File:Pedro Sánchez 2018b (cropped).jpg Pedro Sánchez
(born 1972)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 		18 JuneScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
2017 		2 JuneScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
2018 		Template:Age in years and days style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color;"| PSOE
File:Mariano Rajoy 2018b (cropped).jpg Mariano Rajoy
(born 1955)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 		2 JuneScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
2018 		21 JulyScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
2018Template:Refn 		Template:Age in years and days style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color;"| PP Sánchez I rowspan="6" style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color;"| Pedro Sánchez
File:Pedro Sánchez 2024 (cropped).jpg
(2018Template:Ndashpresent)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
File:Pablo Casado 2021 (cropped).jpg Pablo Casado
(born 1981)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 		21 JulyScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
2018 		8 JanuaryScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
2020 		Template:Age in years and days rowspan="3" style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color;"| PP
Apr.Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 2019
8 JanuaryScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
2020 		2 AprilScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
2022Template:Refn 		Sánchez II Nov.Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 2019
File:Alberto Núñez Feijóo 2025 (cropped).jpg Alberto Núñez Feijóo
(born 1961)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". 		2 AprilScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
2022 		17 NovemberScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
2023 		Template:Age in years and days rowspan="2" style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color;"| PP
17 NovemberScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
2023 		Incumbent Sánchez III 2023

Timeline

<timeline> ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:17 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:80 right:130 left:20 AlignBars = late

Colors = 

 id:AP     value:rgb(0.957,0.694,0.000)  legend:AP
 id:PP     value:rgb(0.094,0.525,0.808)  legend:PP
 id:PSOE   value:rgb(0.937,0.094,0.129)  legend:PSOE
 id:gray1  value:gray(0.85)
 id:gray2  value:gray(0.95)
 id:grid   value:gray(0.5)

DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1982 till:15/05/2026 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = gridcolor:gray1 unit:year increment:5 start:1985 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:gray2 unit:year increment:1 start:1982

Legend = columns:1 left:205 top:35 columnwidth:75

TextData = 

 pos:(20,27) textcolor:black fontsize:M
 text:"Political parties:"

BarData = 

 barset:PM
 bar:Fraga
 bar:HMiñón
 bar:HMancha
 bar:Aznar
 bar:González
 bar:Almunia
 bar:Borrell
 bar:Zapatero
 bar:Rajoy
 bar:Rubalcaba
 bar:Sánchez
 bar:Casado
 bar:Feijóo

PlotData= 

 width:5 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5,-4) anchor:till
 barset:PM

 bar:Fraga
 from: 28/12/1982 till: 01/12/1986 color:AP
 from: 20/01/1989 till: 21/11/1989 color:PP text:"Fraga" fontsize:10
 bar:HMiñón
 from: 23/12/1986 till: 08/02/1987 color:AP text:"Herrero" fontsize:10
 bar:HMancha
 from: 08/02/1987 till: 20/01/1989 color:AP text:"Hdez. Mancha" fontsize:10
 bar:Aznar
 from: 21/11/1989 till: 04/05/1996 color:PP text:"Aznar" fontsize:10
 bar:González
 from: 05/05/1996 till: 21/06/1997 color:PSOE text:"González" fontsize:10
 bar:Almunia
 from: 21/06/1997 till: 26/05/1998 color:PSOE
 from: 14/05/1999 till: 12/03/2000 color:PSOE text:"Almunia" fontsize:10
 bar:Borrell
 from: 26/05/1998 till: 14/05/1999 color:PSOE text:"Borrell" fontsize:10
 bar:Zapatero
 from: 22/07/2000 till: 16/04/2004 color:PSOE text:"Zapatero" fontsize:10
 bar:Rajoy
 from: 17/04/2004 till: 20/12/2011 color:PP
 from: 02/06/2018 till: 21/07/2018 color:PP text:"Rajoy" fontsize:10
 bar:Rubalcaba
 from: 21/12/2011 till: 26/07/2014 color:PSOE text:"Rubalcaba" fontsize:10
 bar:Sánchez
 from: 26/07/2014 till: 01/10/2016 color:PSOE
 from: 18/06/2017 till: 02/06/2018 color:PSOE text:"Sánchez" fontsize:10
 bar:Casado
 from: 21/07/2018 till: 02/04/2022 color:PP text:"Casado" fontsize:10
 bar:Feijóo
 from: 02/04/2022 till: 15/05/2026 color:PP text:"Feijóo" fontsize:10

</timeline>

Notes

<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />

Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".

References

<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />

  1. ↑ Template:Cite act
  2. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  3. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  4. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  5. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  6. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  7. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  8. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  9. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  10. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  11. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  12. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  13. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  14. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  15. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  16. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  17. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  18. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  19. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  20. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  21. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  22. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  23. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  24. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  25. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  26. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  27. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  28. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  29. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  30. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  31. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  32. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  33. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  34. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  35. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  36. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  37. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  38. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  39. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  40. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  41. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  42. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  43. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  44. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".

See also

Template:Leaders of the Opposition (Spain)

Retrieved from "http://debianws.lexgopc.com/wiki143/index.php?title=Leader_of_the_Opposition_(Spain)&oldid=4720945"