Aragonese regional election, 1995

Aragonese regional election, 1995

28 May 1995
All 67 seats in the Cortes of Aragon 34 seats needed for a majority
Registered	993,975 3.9%
Turnout	706,954 (71.1%) 6.5 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Santiago Lanzuela Marcelino Iglesias Emilio Eiroa Party PP PSOE PAR Leader since 24 September 1993 15 February 1995 12 July 1991 Leader's seat Zaragoza Huesca Zaragoza Last election 17 seats, 20.7% 30 seats, 40.3% 17 seats, 24.7% Seats won 27 19 14 Seat change 10 11 3 Popular vote 263,524 180,728 143,573 Percentage 37.5% 25.7% 20.4% Swing 16.8 pp 14.6 pp 4.3 pp   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Miguel Ángel Fustero Chesús Bernal Party IU CHA Leader since 1994 29 June 1986 Leader's seat Zaragoza Zaragoza Last election 3 seats, 6.7% 0 seats, 2.3% Seats won 5 2 Seat change 2 2 Popular vote 64,685 34,077 Percentage 9.2% 4.8% Swing 2.5 pp 2.5 pp
Constituency results map for the Cortes of Aragon
President before election Ramón Tejedor (ad interim) PSOE Elected President Santiago Lanzuela PP

The 1995 Aragonese regional election was held on Sunday, 28 May 1995, to elect the 4th Cortes of the Autonomous Community of Aragon. All 67 seats in the Cortes were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in 12 other autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain.

The election saw a marked increase for the People's Party (PP), which went on to win the election doubling its 1991 vote and gaining ten seats. Much of the increase came at the expense of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), at the moment beset by corruption scandals. The Aragonese Party (PAR) lost ground for the second consecutive election and was displaced to 3rd place. United Left (IU) improved its position while the left-wing regionalist Aragonese Union (CHA) won seats in the Courts for the first time.

The new legislature elected Santiago Lanzuela as the first PP President of Aragon by 41 votes to 26. The PP and PAR deputies backed Lanzuela while PSOE, CHA and IU voted against. Lanzuela headed a PP administration with the initial support of the PAR.

Electoral system

The electoral system for the Cortes of Aragon was regulated under the Autonomous Community of Aragon Electoral Law 2/1987 and, subsidiarily, under the general provisions of the General Electoral System Organic Law 5/1985 (LOREG). The Cortes was composed of 67 seats, allocated to constituencies corresponding to the provinces of Aragon. Each constituency was entitled to an initial minimum of 13 seats, with the remaining 28 allocated in proportion to the provincial populations on the condition that the inhabitants/seat ratio in the most populated province did not exceed 2.75 times that of the less populated one—otherwise, the size of most populated district would be limited to such a ratio—. Deputies were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with a threshold of 3% of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied in each constituency. Parties not reaching the threshold were not taken into consideration for seat distribution.^[1][2]

Under the LOREG and the Aragonese electoral law, elections were fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years.^[1][2] Additionally, the 1982 Statute of Autonomy of Aragon provided that the chamber was to be automatically dissolved and a snap election called if an investiture process failed to elect a regional President within a two-month period from the first ballot, with elected deputies merely serving out what remained of the previous four-year parliamentary term.^[3]

Background

The previous legislature had been tightly divided between the left and right blocs, with an independent, former PP deputy holding the balance of power. This had resulted in a coalition between the PP and PAR being replaced by a PSOE administration in 1993. However, legal difficulties had forced the resignation of the PSOE Aragonese President José Marco in January 1995, being replaced by party colleague Ramón Tejedor. The PSOE Federal Executive designated Marcelino Iglesias as candidate for President in the 1995 election, marginalizing Marco from the election of the regional candidates.^[4]

Results

Overall

← Summary of the 28 May 1995 Cortes of Aragon election results →

Parties and coalitions		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Won	+/−
	People's Party (PP)	263,524	37.50	+16.82	27	+10
	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)	180,728	25.72	–14.62	19	–11
	Aragonese Party (PAR)	143,573	20.43	–4.25	14	–3
	United Left of Aragon (IU)	64,685	9.20	+2.46	5	+2
	Aragonese Union (CHA)	34,077	4.85	+2.55	2	+2

Distribution by constituency

References

Elections in Aragon
Regional elections	1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 next
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European Parliament elections	1987 1989 1994 1999 2004 2009 2014 next