Riojan parliamentary election, 1987

Riojan parliamentary election, 1987
La Rioja (Spain)
10 June 1987

All 33 seats in the Parliament of La Rioja
17 seats needed for a majority
Registered 201,738 Increase3.5%
Turnout 146,258 (72.5%)
Increase2.3 pp
  First party Second party
 
Leader Alicia Izaguirre Joaquín Espert
Party PSOE AP
Leader since 1987 1983
Last election 18 seats, 47.2% 15 seats, 40.0%[lower-alpha 1]
Seats won 14 13
Seat change Decrease4 Decrease2
Popular vote 57,178 50,179
Percentage 39.6% 34.8%
Swing Decrease7.6 pp Decrease5.2 pp

  Third party Fourth party
 
Leader Manuel Fernández Ilarraza Luis Javier Rodríguez
Party CDS PRP
Leader since 1987 6 December 1982
Last election 0 seats, 2.4% 2 seats, 7.5%
Seats won 4 2
Seat change Increase4 ±0
Popular vote 15,640 9,212
Percentage 10.8% 6.4%
Swing Increase8.4 pp Decrease1.1 pp

President before election

José María de Miguel
PSOE

Elected President

Joaquín Espert
AP

The 1987 Riojan parliamentary election was held on Wednesday, 10 June 1987, to elect the 2nd Parliament of La Rioja, the regional legislature of the Spanish autonomous community of La Rioja. At stake were all seats in the Parliament, determining the President of La Rioja. The number of members decreased from 35 to 33 compared to the previous election.

The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) came first by winning the most votes and seats, but lost its absolute majority and suffered an important loss of support from 1983. As a result, a coalition government was formed between the second and fourth-most voted parties: the People's Alliance (AP), which lost votes and seats from the previous election as a result of the breakup of the People's Coalition, and the Progressive Riojan Party (PRP). Together, they had 15 seats, one more than the PSOE, and were able to get AP leader, Joaquín Espert, elected thanks to the decisive abstention of the Democratic and Social Centre (CDS), which became the third political force in the community with 4 seats and 10.8% of the share.

The AP-PRP coalition would only last until January 1989, however; from that date, the PRP would leave the coalition, resulting in a minority AP government until 1990, when a motion of censure against Espert would result in the PSOE returning to government, thanks to the vote of the PRP deputies and a CDS deserter.

Electoral system

The number of seats in the Parliament of La Rioja was set to a fixed-number of 33. All Parliament members were elected in a single multi-member district, consisting of the Community's territory (the province of La Rioja), using the D'Hondt method and a closed-list proportional representation system.

Voting was on the basis of universal suffrage in a secret ballot. Only lists polling above 5% of valid votes (which include blank ballotsfor none of the above) in all of the community were entitled to enter the seat distribution.[1]

Results

Summary of the 10 June 1987 La Rioja Parliament election results
Party Vote Seats
Votes % ±pp Won +/−
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) 57,178 39.64 Decrease7.53 14 Decrease4
People's Alliance (AP)[lower-alpha 1] 50,179 34.78 Decrease5.20 13 Decrease2
Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) 15,640 10.84 Increase8.43 4 Increase4
Progressive Riojan Party (PRP) 9,212 6.39 Decrease1.07 2 ±0
People's Democratic Party (PDP) 4,721 3.27 New 0 ±0
United Left (IU)[lower-alpha 2] 3,478 2.41 Increase0.24 0 ±0
Workers' Party of Spain–Communist Unity (PTE-UC) 1,400 0.97 New 0 ±0
Blank ballots 2,452 1.70 Increase0.89
Total 144,260 100.00 33 Decrease2
Valid votes 144,260 98.63 Decrease0.20
Invalid votes 1,998 1.37 Increase0.20
Votes cast / turnout 146,258 72.50 Increase2.26
Abstentions 55,480 27.50 Decrease2.26
Registered voters 201,738
Source: Argos Information Portal
Vote share
PSOE
 
39.64%
AP
 
34.78%
CDS
 
10.84%
PRP
 
6.39%
PDP
 
3.27%
IU
 
2.41%
PTE-UC
 
0.97%
Blank ballots
 
1.70%
Parliamentary seats
PSOE
 
42.42%
AP
 
39.39%
CDS
 
12.12%
PRP
 
6.06%

Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 People's Alliance results are compared to the People's Coalition totals in the 1983 election.
  2. United Left results are compared to the Communist Party of Spain totals in the 1983 election.

References