Wikipedia

2023 Andorran parliamentary election

In the parliamentary elections in Andorra on 2 April 2023,[1] the incumbent liberal-conservative coalition between Democrats for Andorra (DA) and Committed Citizens (CC) won an absolute majority led by Prime Minister Xavier Espot. This is the fourth legislature in a row in which DA governs the country. A new party, Concord, emerged in second place, taking the opposition leadership held by the Social Democratic Party since 2019, which fell to third place by losing four seats.

2023 Andorran parliamentary election
Andorra
← 2019 2 April 2023 2027 →
All 28 seats in the General Council
15 seats needed for a majority
Party Leader Vote % Seats +/–
DA+CC Xavier Espot Zamora 32.66 16 +3
Concord Cerni Escalé Cabré 21.43 5 New
PS+SDP Pere López i Agràs 21.05 3 −4
Endavant Carine Montaner Raynaud 16.00 3 New
Acció Judith Pallarés i Cortés 4.20 1 New
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
Results by Parish
Prime Minister before Prime Minister after
Xavier Espot Zamora
DA		 Xavier Espot Zamora
DA

Background

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Three parties eventually formed a governing coalition after the 2019 Andorran parliamentary election, composed of the Democrats, the Liberal Party and Committed Citizens with Xavier Espot as prime minister.[2]

On 14 June 2022, the minister of social affairs Judit Pallarés left the Liberal Party. However, the party assured that this internal crisis would not jeopardize the stability of the coalition.[3] Prime Minister Espot announced, the following day, that he had no intention of advancing the parliamentary elections.[4] Prime Minister Espot ordinarily dissolved the Consell General by decree on 6 February 2023. Campaigning started on 19 March at 3:00 pm. 1 April was the day of election silence and 2 April was the day of the election.[5]

Electoral system

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Twenty-eight general councillors (Catalan: consellers generals) are elected, based on closed party lists:[6][7]

The parish lists and the national list are independent of one another: the same person cannot appear on both the national list and on a parish list, and voters cast two separate ballots. There is no requirement to vote for the same party for both lists.[10]

The 1993 Constitution limits the number of full terms served by a prime minister to two.[11]

Parties and alliances

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The deadline for submitting candidacies ended on 13 February, so a total of six candidacies were defined, one less than in the 2019 parliamentary elections.[12][13]

Three new political parties were presented:

  • Concord: was constituted on 24 November 2022 and elected Cerni Escaldé as the national candidate.[14]
  • Andorra Forward: was formalized in November 2021 by Carine Montaner, a deputy who left the Third Way party in March that year but kept her seat.[15][16]
  • Action for Andorra: was founded by the minister of social affairs, Judith Pallarés and formalized as a party in October 2022.[17] On 14 June of that year, Pallarés and four other deputies left the Liberals of Andorra party, alleging loss of comfort with the new more conservative postulates represented by the new party leader Josep Maria Cabanes.[3]

The extraordinary congress of the Democrats for Andorra (DA) held on 15 November 2022 elected Xavier Espot to stand for re-election as prime minister.[18]

On 1 February 2023, the Social Democratic Party (PS) and the Social Democracy and Progress (SDP) presented their coalition "social-democratic alliance" to run together in the elections, since "the moment calls for it". They confirmed that the PS leader, Pere López, would be the leader of the candidacy.[19]

Political coalition Third Way and Lauredian Union (UL), who had two seats on the General Council, announced on 12 February 2023, that they would not run in the elections "based on the coherence and integrity of our political positions".[20]

Liberals of Andorra presented its candidacies on 12 February 2023 with its leader Josep Maria Cabanes as candidate for prime minister.[21]

National constituency

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The candidacies presented in the national constituency, in which 14 councilors are elected by proportional representation, are:[22]

List Parties Ideology[23] List leader 2019 result[24]
PR votes Const. votes Seats
DA+CC Democrats for Andorra Liberal conservatism
Euroscepticism 		Xavier Espot Zamora 35.13% 34.86%
11 / 28
Committed Citizens Social liberalism
Localism
Euroscepticism 		DNP 6.68%
2 / 28
PS+SDP Social Democratic Party Social democracy
Pro-Europeanism 		Pere López i Agràs 30.62%
7 / 28
Social Democracy and Progress Social democracy
Pro-Europeanism 		5.87%
0 / 28
Liberals of Andorra Conservative liberalism
Pro-Europeanism 		Josep Maria Cabanes 12.48% 38.05%
4 / 28
Concord Progressivism
Environmentalism 		Cerni Escalé Cabré New
Andorra Forward Right-wing populism
Euroscepticism 		Carine Montaner Raynaud New
Action for Andorra Social liberalism
Progressivism
Pro-Europeanism 		Judith Pallarés i Cortés New

Parish constituencies

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The parties or coalitions that are presented in the seven parish constituencies, in which the two candidates from the list with the most votes in each parish are elected, are:

Candidacy Candidates[25]
Canillo Encamp Ordino la Massana Andorra la Vella St. Julià de Lòria les Escaldes
Committed Citizens Carles Naudi
David Montané
Democrats for Andorra Guillem Casal
Jordi Jordana 		Jordi Torres
Maria Martisella 		Berna Coma
Alexandra Codina 		Conxita Marsol
Alain Cabanes 		Helena Mas
Eva París 		Trini Marín
Marc Magallón[a]
Liberals of Andorra
Action for Andorra Josep Fusté
Rebeca Roger 		Trini Marín
Marc Magallón[b]
PS+SDP Marta Pujol
Susagna Venable[c] 		Joan Miquel Armengol
Pere Mas 		Miquel Moliné
Francesc Lizama 		Joaquim Miró
Marian Sanchiz 		Gerard Alís
Josep Roig 		David Pérez
Elisabet Zoppetti
Concord Martí Alay
Miquel Clua 		Pol Bartolomé
Maria Àngela Aché 		Ramon Tena
Lara de Miguel
Andorra Forward Jordina Bringué
Eva Font 		Elisa Muxella
Dídac Tomàs 		Bianca Martínez
Marc Ferreiro

Campaign

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Prime Minister Xavier Espot dissolved the Consell General by decree on 6 February 2023, marking the start of campaigning on 19 March at 3:00 pm, 1 April as the day of election silence and 2 April as the election day.[5]

Between 17 and 18 February, a delegation from the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights visited the country to assess the electoral process, issuing a report in which they expressed confidence in the Andorran electoral process and the election administration, so that an election observation was not necessary on 2 April.[26]

Two days before the beginning of the electoral campaign, Democrats for Andorra presented their electoral program, an act that was criticized by PS+SDP as irregular.[27]

The campaign began on 19 March with the traditional pasting of electoral posters. The Liberals of Andorra were the only party that did not start it in Andorra la Vella; they started in Sant Julià de Lòria instead.[28]

The real estate boom, the association agreement with the European Union and the loss of purchasing power due to inflation were the key issues of the campaign.[29]

On 29 March, anonymous pamphlets were disseminated, both on paper and digitally, accusing Espot and his family of benefiting from the Andorran government's intervention in Banca Privada d'Andorra in 2015, a bank accused by the United States Department of the Treasury of money laundering. The pamphlets also accused Democrats for Andorra of wanting to destroy the natural heritage with real estate speculation, denounced Attorney General Alfonso Alberca and his position on abortion, among others. Espot, the following day, released a video in which he denied these accusations, announced that from 3 April he would take legal actions for slander and defended the "honorability" of the country.[30][31]

The debates between the national candidates took place on 20 March, organized by the Andorran Business Confederation (CEA); on 21 March, organized by Spanish Cadena SER and between Xavier Espot and opposition leader Pere López; and on 30 March, organized by Ràdio i Televisió d'Andorra.[32][33][34][35]

Party slogans

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Party or alliance Original slogan English translation Ref.
DA+CC Confiança Trust [36]
L'A #Cabanes2023
Primer, Andorra 		#Cabanes2023
First, Andorra 		[37]
Acció La clau de futur.
Passa a l'ACCIÓ. Vota'ns! 		The key to the future.
Go to ACTION. Vote for us! 		[38]
PS+SDP El canvi de la majoria The change of the majority [39]
Concord Batega x Andorra Beat for Andorra [40]
Andorra Forward El coratge del canvi The courage of change [41]

Opinion polls

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Polling firm Fieldwork date Sample
size 		DA CC PS SDP L'A TV– UL Endavant Concord Acció Others Lead
ARI 21 Feb – 9 Mar 2023 810 41.9 23.4 6.0 DNP 14.9 11.3 2.4 — 18.5
2019 election 7 Apr 2019 – 35.13 Const. 30.62 5.87 12.48 10.42 Did not exist 5.48 4.51

Conduct

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The eight electoral colleges were installed in the headquarters of the parishes, one for each parish added to the own polling station in the village of El Pas de la Casa. Election day began at 9:00 am without any incident and 29,958 people were called to vote, 9,010 of whom had already done so with a judicial vote (early voting that is done at the headquarters of the Andorran judiciary). Polls closed at 7:00 pm.[42]

Results

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On the evening of 2 April, the Andorran government announced the results: the ruling coalition of Democrats for Andorra (DA) and Committed Citizens (CC) won the elections with 16 seats, gaining 3 more seats and the absolute majority of Consell General's seats. It was followed by the new Concord party, which won 5 seats. The third place was won by the progressive coalition formed by the Social Democratic Party (PS) and Social Democracy and Progress (SDP), which lost 4 seats, remaining with 3. In last positions, the new parties Andorra Forward, which won 3 seats, and Action for Andorra (Acció), which won one. At a press conference, Xavier Espot, accompanied by the Minister of Finance and acting government spokesman Cesar Marquina, proclaimed these results.[43] Liberals of Andorra was left without parliamentary representation, losing the 4 seats it had.[44]

The turnout was 66.95%, 1.3% less than that recorded in the 2019 elections, despite being higher than in previous years.[43][45] Early voting rose to 30%, the highest figure ever recorded.[45]

5
3
2
1
14
3
Party or alliancePRConstituencyTotal
seats		+/–
Votes%SeatsVotes%Seats
Government allianceDemocrats for Andorra6,26232.6647,83543.631014+3
Committed Citizens112–
Liberals of Andorra8934.66000–4
Action for Andorra8054.20011New
Concord4,10921.4333,51619.5825New
Center-left allianceSocial Democratic Party4,03621.0535,23829.1703–4
Social Democracy and Progress000–
Andorra Forward3,06716.0031,3707.6303New
Total19,172100.001417,959100.0014280
Valid votes19,17295.6217,95989.60
Invalid votes3411.705572.78
Blank votes5372.681,5277.62
Total votes20,050100.0020,043100.00
Registered voters/turnout29,95866.9329,95866.90
Source: Eleccions.ad, Lists

By parish

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Summary

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Parish           AE Part.
Canillo 100 71,97
Encamp 53,07 46,93 64,52
Ordino 43,40 39,17 17,43 76,24
La Massana 47,72 24,73 27,55 71,40
Andorra la Vella 32,77 23,13 29,56 14,54 62,10
Sant Julià de Lòria 26,83 40,06 19,07 14,04 67,56
Escaldes-Engordany 40,42 33,69 25,90 68,59
Source: Eleccions d'Andorra

Andorra la Vella

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PartyVotes%
DA–Liberals of Andorra1,66532.77
PS–SDP1,50229.56
Concord1,17523.13
Andorra Forward73914.54
Total5,081100.00
Valid votes5,08194.18
Invalid votes891.65
Blank votes2254.17
Total votes5,395100.00
Registered voters/turnout8,69362.06
Source: Eleccions.ad

Canillo

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PartyVotes%
DA–Liberals of Andorra530100.00
Total530100.00
Valid votes53061.41
Invalid votes465.33
Blank votes28733.26
Total votes863100.00
Registered voters/turnout1,19971.98
Source: Eleccions.ad

Escaldes–Engordany

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PartyVotes%
DA–Liberals of Andorra1,45340.42
Concord1,21133.69
PS–SDP93125.90
Total3,595100.00
Valid votes3,59589.38
Invalid votes1343.33
Blank votes2937.28
Total votes4,022100.00
Registered voters/turnout5,86368.60
Source: Eleccions.ad

Encamp

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PartyVotes%
DA–Liberals of Andorra1,30453.07
PS–SDP1,15346.93
Total2,457100.00
Valid votes2,45787.72
Invalid votes1063.78
Blank votes2388.50
Total votes2,801100.00
Registered voters/turnout4,34164.52
Source: Eleccions.ad

La Massana

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PartyVotes%
Committed Citizens-DA1,01547.72
PS–SDP58627.55
Action for Andorra52624.73
Total2,127100.00
Valid votes2,12785.52
Invalid votes923.70
Blank votes26810.78
Total votes2,487100.00
Registered voters/turnout3,48371.40
Source: Eleccions.ad

Ordino

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PartyVotes%
Action for Andorra58543.40
PS–SDP52839.17
Andorra Forward23517.43
Total1,348100.00
Valid votes1,34892.90
Invalid votes241.65
Blank votes795.44
Total votes1,451100.00
Registered voters/turnout1,90376.25
Source: Eleccions.ad

Sant Julià de Lòria

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PartyVotes%
Concord1,13040.06
DA–Liberals of Andorra75726.83
PS–SDP53819.07
Andorra Forward39614.04
Total2,821100.00
Valid votes2,82193.29
Invalid votes662.18
Blank votes1374.53
Total votes3,024100.00
Registered voters/turnout4,47667.56
Source: Eleccions.ad

Reactions

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After winning the elections, Prime Minister Xavier Espot assured the citizens that "we will not fail you and during these 4 years; I will work tirelessly to be worthy of this trust and to bring Andorra to a good place". He also congratulated the two new political forces that obtained a good result, Concord and Andorra Forward, to whom he offered to work together to "work for the benefit of the citizens".[46]

The leader of Concord, Cerni Escalé, announced that they would carry out a "constructive opposition, but courageous and close to the citizens", and expressed his satisfaction with the result obtained, a better result than the polls predicted.[47]

The leader of the PS–SDP coalition, Pere López, acknowledged the poor results and announced that it is necessary to open a process of reflection within the formation and that, at that time, he did not intend to make a decision on his leadership at the head of the PS.[48] On 5 April, López announced that he was stepping down from his seat and the party presidency at the party congress on 20 May.[49]

Carine Montaner, the Andorra Forward candidate, was positive about the result that brought the party to fourth place, and stated that the party will now dedicate itself to "doing the work of counterpower, which is fundamental to fighting corruption and the cronyism that has predominated these past legislatures".[50] Montaner also stated that the numbers did not "add up", insinuating her suspicion that there was electoral fraud, which was criticized by Xavier Espot.[51][52]

Judith Pallarés, national candidate for Action for Andorra, admitted that she was "a bit sad" about the result obtained and, despite wanting to make a positive reading, expressed the need to reflect internally.[53]

Xavier Espot was sworn in for another term as prime minister on 17 May 2023.[54][55]

Notes

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  1. ^ In coalition with Action for Andorra
  2. ^ In coalition with DA
  3. ^ In coalition with Agrupament Encampadà

References

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  1. ^ "Modalitats de vot". eleccions.ad (in Catalan). Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  2. ^ "Xavier Espot jura el càrrec de cap de Govern". www.govern.ad (in Catalan). Retrieved 25 December 2022.
  3. ^ a b Prat, Meritxell (14 June 2022). "Liberals es trenca però es garanteix l'estabilitat del Govern de coalició". Bondia (in Catalan).
  4. ^ "Espot no avançarà les eleccions per la crisi de liberals". Diari d'Andorra (in Catalan). 15 June 2022.
  5. ^ a b "Les Eleccions Generals se celebraran el 2 d'abril". Government of Andorra. 6 February 2023.
  6. ^ Art. 42.2, Law 28/2007.
  7. ^ Electoral system IPU
  8. ^ Art. 57, Law 28/2007.
  9. ^ Art. 58, Law 28/2007. The electoral threshold is the natural quota, one fourteenth of the valid votes (~7.14%).
  10. ^ Arts. 19, 51 & 52, Law 28/2007.
  11. ^ Solano, Alexandre (13 February 2023). "Andorra es prepara per a unes eleccions crucials amb dues grans coalicions". VilaWeb.
  12. ^ "Sis candidatures nacionals concorreran a les eleccions d'Andorra del 2 d'abril". aldia.cat. 13 February 2023.
  13. ^ "Definides les llistes per a les eleccions generals d'Andorra". Ràdio Seu (in Catalan). 13 February 2023.
  14. ^ "Concòrdia escull Cerni Escalé per encapçalar la candidatura nacional". El Periòdic d'Andorra (in Catalan). 25 November 2022.
  15. ^ Solanelles, Toni (9 March 2021). "Carine Montaner deixa Terceravia, es queda al Consell com a no adscrita i planteja un nou partit". Altaveu (in Catalan).
  16. ^ "Formalitzat el partit Andorra Endavant de Carine Montaner". Diari d'Andorra (in Catalan). 19 November 2021.
  17. ^ "Acció, un nou partit a Andorra sorgit de la ruptura interna dels Liberals". VilaWeb (in Catalan). 27 October 2022.
  18. ^ "Xavier Espot optarà de nou a ser cap de Govern i afirma: "DA ha de seguir sent el referent en moments de dubte"". Ràdio i Televisió d'Andorra (in Catalan). 16 November 2022.
  19. ^ "El PS i SDP s'uneixen "perquè el moment ho demana"". Diari d'Andorra (in Catalan). 26 January 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  20. ^ "Terceravia no es presenta a les eleccions". Diari d'Andorra (in Catalan). 12 February 2023.
  21. ^ Noya, Bru (12 February 2023). "TLiberals presenta les candidatures amb el desig de ser l'onada blava". Altaveu (in Catalan).
  22. ^ "Llistes electorals". DiariAndorra (in Catalan). 12 February 2023. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  23. ^ "Andorra". Europe Elects. Retrieved 1 April 2023.
  24. ^ "Demòcrates obté 11 consellers i és la força més votada en les eleccions generals". Government of Andorra (in Catalan). 7 April 2019.
  25. ^ "Candidatures". Government of Andorra. General Elections of 2023.
  26. ^ "L'OSCE avalua positivament el procés electoral". Diari d'Andorra. 14 March 2023.
  27. ^ "SEl programa electoral presentat per Demòcrates abans que arrenqui la campanya genera malestar a PS Progressistes SDP +". Ràdio i Televisió d'Andorra. 17 March 2023.
  28. ^ "Comença la campanya electoral". Diari d'Andorra. 19 March 2023.
  29. ^ "Andorra va a les urnes amb Europa i l'habitatge com a protagonistes". Ara. 1 April 2023.
  30. ^ "Espot emprendrà accions per difamacions a partir del 3 d'abril". Altaveu. 30 March 2023.
  31. ^ Fuentes Pérez, Marisol (31 March 2023). "Xavier Espot anuncia accions legals pels atacs difamatoris durant la campanya". Cadena SER.
  32. ^ "La CEA organitza un debat amb els candidats a cap de Govern". Diari d'Andorra. 15 March 2023.
  33. ^ "La SER repeteix el cara a cara entre Espot i López". Cadena SER. 20 March 2023.
  34. ^ "El debat a candidats de cap de Govern serà el 30 de març". Diari d'Andorra. 3 March 2023.
  35. ^ "Debat nacional amb els caps de llista". Ràdio i Televisió d'Andorra. 30 March 2023.
  36. ^ "Election programme of DA+CC+ACO+UP" (PDF). democrates2023.com (in Catalan). Democrats for Andorra.
  37. ^ "Cabanes 2023". cabanes2023.com (in Catalan). Liberals of Andorra.
  38. ^ "Election programme of ACCIÓ" (PDF). somaccio.org (in Catalan). Democrats for Andorra.
  39. ^ "Election programme of PS+SDP" (PDF). psa.ad (in Catalan). Social Democratic Party (Andorra).
  40. ^ "Election programme of Concòrdia" (PDF). concordia.ad (in Catalan). Democrats for Andorra.
  41. ^ "Election programme of Andorra Endavant". andorraendavant.info (in Catalan). Andorra Endavant.
  42. ^ "Eleccions en marxa". Altaveu (in Catalan). 2 April 2023. Archived from the original on 6 April 2023.
  43. ^ a b "Les Eleccions Generals donen 16 consellers a Demòcrates + CC + ACO + UP, 3 a Concòrdia, 3 al Partit Socialdemòcrata Progressistes SDP+, 3 a Andorra Endavant i 1 a Acció". Government of Andorra. 2 April 2023.
  44. ^ Noya, Bru (2 April 2023). "Les urnes converteixen l'onada blava liberal en mar plana". Altaveu.
  45. ^ a b Ricou, Javier (2 April 2023). "Los Demòcrates de Xavier Espot gobernarán en solitario Andorra con mayoría absoluta". La Vanguardia.
  46. ^ "Espot celebra la majoria i assegura que "no us fallarem"". Diari d'Andorra. 3 April 2023.
  47. ^ Baiges, Joan Ramon (3 April 2023). "Concòrdia anuncia una oposició "constructiva, però valenta"". Diari d'Andorra.
  48. ^ Pons, Ester (2 April 2023). "La socialdemocràcia en crisi". Altaveu.
  49. ^ Raventós, Lídia (5 April 2023). "Pere López renuncia a l'escó". Diari d'Andorra.
  50. ^ Quesada, Lucía (3 April 2023). "Montaner diu que combatrà l'amiguisme". Diari d'Andorra.
  51. ^ Quesada, Lucía (4 April 2023). "Montaner posa en dubte els resultats i afirma que no li "quadren els números"". Diari d'Andorra.
  52. ^ "Espot suggereix a Carine Montaner 'que calli' si no té proves de frau en el procés electoral". Ràdio i Televisió d'Andorra. 4 April 2023.
  53. ^ González, Víctor (3 April 2023). "El partit menys votat tindrà un representant al Consell General". Diari d'Andorra.
  54. ^ "Xavier Espot Zamora ha pres possessió del càrrec de cap de Govern i ha anunciat la configuració de l'Executiu". www.govern.ad (in Catalan). 15 May 2023. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
  55. ^ "El nou equip de la novena legislatura del Govern pren possessió del càrrec". www.govern.ad (in Catalan). 17 May 2023. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
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