1990 Basque regional election

The 1990 Basque regional election was held on Sunday, 28 October 1990, to elect the 4th Parliament of the Basque Autonomous Community. All 75 seats in the Parliament were up for election.

1990 Basque regional election

← 1986 28 October 1990 1994 →

All 75 seats in the Basque Parliament
38 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered1,687,936 Green arrow up1.7%
Turnout1,029,457 (61.0%)
Red arrow down8.6 pp
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader José Antonio Ardanza Ramón Jáuregui Iñaki Esnaola
Party EAJ/PNV PSE–PSOE HB
Leader since 2 March 1985 16 June 1988 1986
Leader's seat Guipúzcoa Guipúzcoa Guipúzcoa
Last election 17 seats, 23.6% 19 seats, 22.0% 13 seats, 17.4%
Seats won 22 16 13
Seat change Green arrow up5 Red arrow down3 Blue arrow right0
Popular vote 289,701 202,736 186,410
Percentage 28.3% 19.8% 18.2%
Swing Green arrow up4.7 pp Red arrow down2.2 pp Green arrow up0.8 pp

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Leader Carlos Garaikoetxea Jaime Mayor Oreja Kepa Aulestia
Party EA PP EE
Leader since 4 September 1986 20 January 1989 1987
Leader's seat Guipúzcoa Álava Biscay
Last election 13 seats, 15.8% 2 seats, 4.8%[a] 9 seats, 10.8%
Seats won 9 6 6
Seat change Red arrow down4 Green arrow up4 Red arrow down3
Popular vote 115,703 83,719 79,105
Percentage 11.3% 8.2% 7.7%
Swing Red arrow down4.5 pp Green arrow up3.4 pp Red arrow down3.1 pp


Lehendakari before election

José Antonio Ardanza
EAJ/PNV

Elected Lehendakari

José Antonio Ardanza
EAJ/PNV

The Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ/PNV) won 22 seats, the Socialist Party of the Basque Country (PSE–PSOE) came second with 16 seats, Popular Unity (HB) came third with 13 seats and Basque Solidarity (EA) won 9 seats. The People's Party (PP) and Basque Country Left (EE) each won 6 seats.

Overview

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Electoral system

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The Basque Parliament was the devolved, unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of the Basque Country, having legislative power in regional matters as defined by the Spanish Constitution and the Basque Statute of Autonomy, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a lehendakari.[1] Voting for the Parliament was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age, registered in the Basque Country and in full enjoyment of their political rights.

The 75 members of the Basque Parliament were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with an electoral threshold of five percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots[b]—being applied in each constituency. Seats were allocated to constituencies, corresponding to the provinces of Álava, Biscay and Guipúzcoa, with each being allocated a fixed number of 25 seats in order to provide for an equal parliamentary representation of the three provinces, as required under the regional statute of autonomy.[1][2]

The electoral law allowed for parties and federations registered in the interior ministry, coalitions and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates. Parties and federations intending to form a coalition ahead of an election were required to inform the relevant Electoral Commission within ten days of the election call, whereas groupings of electors needed to secure the signature of at least one percent of the electorate in the constituencies for which they sought election, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list of candidates.[2][3]

Election date

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The term of the Basque Parliament expired four years after the date of its previous election, unless it was dissolved earlier. The election decree was required to be issued no later than the twenty-fifth day prior to the date of expiry of parliament and published on the following day in the Official Gazette of the Basque Country (BOPV), with election day taking place between the fifty-fourth and the sixtieth day from publication. The previous election was held on 30 November 1986, which meant that the legislature's term would have expired on 30 November 1990. The election decree was required to be published in the BOPV no later than 23 November 1993, with the election taking place up to the sixtieth day from publication, setting the latest possible election date for the Parliament on Saturday, 5 January 1991.[1][2]

The lehendakari had the prerogative to dissolve the Basque Parliament at any given time and call a snap election, provided that no motion of no confidence was in process. In the event of an investiture process failing to elect a lehendakari within a sixty-day period from the Parliament re-assembly, the Parliament was to be dissolved and a fresh election called.[4]

Opinion polls

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The table below lists voting intention estimates in reverse chronological order, showing the most recent first and using the dates when the survey fieldwork was done, as opposed to the date of publication. Where the fieldwork dates are unknown, the date of publication is given instead. The highest percentage figure in each polling survey is displayed with its background shaded in the leading party's colour. If a tie ensues, this is applied to the figures with the highest percentages. The "Lead" column on the right shows the percentage-point difference between the parties with the highest percentages in a poll. When available, seat projections determined by the polling organisations are displayed below (or in place of) the percentages in a smaller font; 38 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Basque Parliament.

Results

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Overall

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Summary of the 28 October 1990 Basque Parliament election results
 
Parties and alliances Popular vote Seats
Votes % ±pp Total +/−
Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ/PNV) 289,701 28.28 +4.68 22 +5
Socialist Party of the Basque Country (PSE–PSOE) 202,736 19.79 –2.16 16 –3
Popular Unity (HB) 186,410 18.20 +0.80 13 ±0
Basque Solidarity (EA) 115,703 11.30 –4.47 9 –4
People's Party (PP)1 83,719 8.17 +3.33 6 +4
Basque Country Left (EE) 79,105 7.72 –3.11 6 –3
United Left (IU/EB) 14,440 1.41 +0.82 0 ±0
Alavese Unity (UA) 14,351 1.40 New 3 +3
Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) 6,680 0.65 –2.87 0 –2
Socialist Democracy (DS) 5,023 0.49 New 0 ±0
The Ecologist Greens (LVE) 4,304 0.42 New 0 ±0
Ruiz-Mateos GroupEuropean Democratic Alliance (ARM–ADE) 4,303 0.42 New 0 ±0
Basque Country Greens (EHB) 4,199 0.41 New 0 ±0
Workers' Socialist Party (PST) 3,010 0.29 +0.04 0 ±0
Humanist Party (PH) 825 0.08 –0.04 0 ±0
Revolutionary Communist LeagueCommunist Movement (LKI–EMK) 670 0.07 New 0 ±0
Alliance for the Republic (AxR)2 669 0.07 –0.03 0 ±0
Communist Party of the Basque Country People (PCPE/EHAC) 599 0.06 New 0 ±0
Communist Party of Spain (Marxist–Leninist) (PCE (m–l))3 272 0.03 –0.07 0 ±0
Blank ballots 7,580 0.74 +0.30
Total 1,024,299 75 ±0
Valid votes 1,024,299 99.50 +0.09
Invalid votes 5,158 0.50 –0.09
Votes cast / turnout 1,029,457 60.99 –8.63
Abstentions 658,479 39.01 +8.63
Registered voters 1,687,936
Sources[5][6]
Footnotes:
Popular vote
EAJ/PNV
28.28%
PSE–PSOE
19.79%
HB
18.20%
EA
11.30%
PP
8.17%
EE
7.72%
IU/EB
1.41%
UA
1.40%
Others
2.98%
Blank ballots
0.74%
Seats
EAJ/PNV
29.33%
PSE–PSOE
21.33%
HB
17.33%
EA
12.00%
PP
8.00%
EE
8.00%
UA
4.00%

Distribution by constituency

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Constituency PNV PSE HB EA PP EE UA
% S % S % S % S % S % S % S
Álava 22.3 6 21.2 6 12.7 3 8.1 2 10.8 3 6.7 2 11.1 3
Biscay 34.4 10 19.9 5 16.2 4 8.0 2 8.6 2 7.3 2 0.0
Guipúzcoa 20.4 6 19.0 5 23.6 6 18.0 5 6.4 1 8.8 2 0.0
Total 28.2 22 19.8 16 18.2 13 11.3 9 8.2 6 7.7 6 1.4 3
Sources[5][6]

Aftermath

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Investiture
Ballot → 31 January 1991 1 February 1991
Required majority → 38 out of 75 Simple
  • PNV (22)
  • EA (9)
  • EE (6)
37 / 75
 N
37 / 75
 Y
Blank ballots
  • PSE (16)
  • PP (6)
  • UA (3)
25 / 75
25 / 75
Absentees
  • HB (13)
13 / 75
13 / 75
Sources[5]

Notes

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  1. ^ Results for APPL in the 1986 election.
  2. ^ Amendment from previous legislation introduced as per the 1990 electoral law

References

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Opinion poll sources
  1. ^ "Elecciones de 28 de octubre de 1990 al Parlamento Vasco". Revista de Derecho Político (in Spanish). 1991.
  2. ^ "El PNV es el partido que más se beneficia de los logros de la coalición con el PSOE". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 21 October 1990.
  3. ^ a b c "Los sondeos pronostican una fuerte subida del PP y la victoria del PNV". ABC (in Spanish). 14 October 1990.
  4. ^ a b c "Los sondeos pronostican una fuerte subida del PP y la victoria del PNV". ABC Sevilla (in Spanish). 15 October 1990.
  5. ^ "El PNV ganará las elecciones vascas y el PP triplicará sus escaños". El País (in Spanish). 7 October 1990.
  6. ^ "PNV se consolida como ganador, el PP experimenta un gran avance y el PSOE desciende ligeramente". El País (in Spanish). 7 October 1990.
  7. ^ "Ficha técnica del sondeo". El País (in Spanish). 7 October 1990.
  8. ^ "Encuestas sobre los comicios vascos pronostican incrementos del PNV y PP". ABC (in Spanish). 1 October 1990.
  9. ^ "Encuestas sobre los comicios vascos pronostican incrementos del PNV y PP". ABC Sevilla (in Spanish). 1 October 1990.
  10. ^ "Una encuesta del Gobierno vasco da al PNV y al PSE la mayoría". ABC Sevilla (in Spanish). 3 February 1990.
Other
  1. ^ a b c Ley Orgánica 3/1979, de 18 de diciembre, de Estatuto de Autonomía para el País Vasco (Organic Law 3) (in Spanish). 18 December 1979. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  2. ^ a b c Basque Parliament Elections Law of 1990 (Law 5) (in Spanish). 15 June 1990. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  3. ^ Ley Orgánica 5/1985, de 19 de junio, del Régimen Electoral General (Organic Law 5) (in Spanish). 19 June 1985. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  4. ^ Government Law of 1981 (Law 7) (in Spanish). 30 June 1981. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  5. ^ a b c "Elecciones al Parlamento Vasco / Eusko Legebilitzarra (1980 - 2020)". Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  6. ^ a b "Election Results Archive". euskadi.eus (in Spanish). Basque Government. Retrieved 24 September 2017.