Every public office is subject to change. The executive branch does not escape this rule, especially in countries with parliamentary systems authorized to elect the president or prime minister of the government. Only in these cases is a motion of censure used to replace the president of the republic, but it is also used to replace the president of the republic. the legal recourse is used in presidential systems exclusively for the dismissal of ministers.
The motion of censure is a legal mechanism through which the parties represented in the parliament have the power to demand the removal of the representative of the Executive Branch, as the case may be. However, this procedure differs from the so-called impeachment trial, since the latter is the only legal process used in presidential systems to remove the president of the Republic from office.
The trigger for a motion of censure
In a motion of censure, the prime minister or president is removed from office due to the loss of parliamentary support for the government.In the case of impeachment, the reasons for impeachment are the proven occurrence of crimes or acts in violation of the Constitution and the laws on the part of the president. The impeachment process requires requirements and procedures that may be more cumbersome and take longer than in the motion of censure.
The motion of censure frequently occurs during a political crisis episode. that has undermined the majority parliamentary support for the government's action. Therefore, their approach and execution are always subject to the need for political stability.
In most systems, the motion requires the proposal of at least one-tenth of the deputies of the parliament and the approval of the absolute majority. Likewise, it must be constructive, i.e., it must include an alternative candidate.
The debate of the motion in the full parliament opens with the defense of The candidate and his or her presentation of his or her reasons for the election and the respective candidate. Subsequently, the voting will take place, which will have to wait at least five days to be carried out.
How censure motions work in Spain
On June 1, 2018, the Spanish Congress debated the fourth motion of censure presented in its history. The result was the removal of Mariano Rajoy from the office of president, as a result of the events following the corruption case known as Gürtel.
In the European country, the motion of censure is triggered by Article 113 of the Spanish Constitution. As established by law, Rajoy was notified by the president of the Congress of the approval of the motion of censure by absolute majority. The removed president must present his resignation before the King of Spain.
In 1980 the first motion of censure was introduced in the Spanish parliament. On that occasion he presented himself as an alternative candidate to Felipe González of the PSOE against President Adolfo Suárez. The motion was rejected, as were the motions presented in 1987 and 2017. Only the fourth motion, presented against the Rajoy government, was approved by the absolute majority of the Spanish parliament.
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