Galician regional election, 1989

Galician regional election, 1989

17 December 1989
All 75 seats in the Parliament of Galicia 38 seats needed for a majority
Registered	2,246,455 0.9%
Turnout	1,336,578 (59.5%) 2.1 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Manuel Fraga Fernando González Laxe Xosé Manuel Beiras Party PP PSdG–PSOE BNG Leader since 1989 19 June 1985 1982 Leader's seat Lugo La Coruña La Coruña Last election 34 seats, 40.9% 22 seats, 28.7% 1 seat, 4.2% Seats won 38 28 5 Seat change 4 6 4 Popular vote 583,579 433,256 105,703 Percentage 44.0% 32.7% 8.0% Swing 3.1 pp 4.0 pp 3.8 pp   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Camilo Nogueira Xosé Luís Barreiro Party PSG–EG CG Leader since 1980 22 November 1987 Leader's seat Pontevedra Orense Last election 3 seats, 5.7% 11 seats, 12.9% Seats won 2 2 Seat change 1 9 Popular vote 50,047 48,208 Percentage 3.8% 3.6% Swing 1.9 pp 9.3 pp
Constituency results map for the Parliament of Galicia
President before election Fernando González Laxe PSdG–PSOE Elected President Manuel Fraga PP

The 1989 Galician regional election was held on Sunday, 17 December 1989, to elect the 3rd Parliament of the Autonomous Community of Galicia. All 75 seats in the Parliament were up for election.

Overview

Electoral system

The Parliament of Galicia was the devolved, unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Galicia, having legislative power in matters of regional competence as underlined by the Spanish Constitution and the Galician Statute of Autonomy, as well as the ability to grant or revoke confidence from a President of the Xunta.^[1] Voting for the Parliament was on the basis of universal suffrage, with all nationals over eighteen, registered in Galicia and in full enjoyment of all political rights entitled to vote.

The 75 members of the Parliament of Galicia were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with a threshold of 3 per 100 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. Additionally, the use of the D'Hondt method might result in an effective threshold over three percent, dependant on the district magnitude.^[2] Seats were allocated to constituencies, corresponding to the provinces of La Coruña, Lugo, Orense and Pontevedra. Each constituency was entitled to an initial minimum of 10 seats, with the remaining 35 allocated among the constituencies in proportion to their populations.^[3][1]

The electoral law provided that parties, federations, coalitions and groupings of electors were allowed to present lists of candidates. However, groupings of electors were required to secure at least the signature of 1 per 100 of the electors entered in electoral register of the constituency for which they were seeking election. Electors were barred from signing for more than one list of candidates. Concurrently, parties and federations intending to enter in coalition to take part jointly at an election were required to inform the relevant Electoral Commission within ten days from the election call.^[3][4][5]

Election date

Article 11 of the Statute of Autonomy for Galicia of 1981 established that the term of the Parliament expired four years from the date of its previous election, unless it was dissolved earlier. Article 12 of the Parliament of Galicia Elections Law of 1985 required for the election Decree to be issued no later than the twenty-fifth day prior to the date of expiry of the Parliament in the event that the President did not make use of his prerogative of early dissolution. The Decree was to be published on the following day in the Official Journal of Galicia, with election day taking place between the fifty-fourth and the sixtieth day from publication. The previous election was held on 24 November 1985, which meant that the legislature's term would expire on 24 November 1989. The election Decree was required to be published no later than 31 October 1989, with the election taking place on the sixtieth day from publication, setting the latest possible election date for the Parliament at Saturday, 30 December 1989.^[1][3]

After legal amendments in 1988, Article 24 of the Xunta and President Law of 1983 granted the President the prerogative to dissolve the Parliament at any given time and call a snap election, provided that it did not occur before one year had elapsed since a previous dissolution under this procedure. Additionally, under Article 17 of the Law the Parliament was to be dissolved and a new election called if an investiture process failed to elect a regional President within a two-month period from the first ballot.^[6]

Results

Overall

← Summary of the 17 December 1989 Parliament of Galicia election results →

Parties and coalitions		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Won	+/−
	People's Party (PP)1	583,579	44.02	+3.13	38	+4
	Socialists' Party of Galicia (PSdG–PSOE)	433,256	32.68	+4.01	28	+6
	Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG)	105,703	7.97	+3.77	5	+4
	Galician Socialist Party–Galician Left (PSG–EG)	50,047	3.78	–1.89	2	–1
	Galician Coalition (CG)	48,208	3.64	–9.30	2	–9
	Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)	38,214	2.88	–0.40	0	±0
	United Left (EU)2	19,774	1.49	+0.65	0	±0
	Galician Nationalist Party–Galicianist Party (PNG–PG)	18,036	1.36	New	0	±0

Distribution by constituency

Aftermath

Investiture vote

First round: 31 January 1990
Absolute majority (38/75) required

Candidate: Manuel Fraga
Choice		Vote
		Parties	Votes
	YYes	PP (38)	38 / 75
	No	PSdG–PSOE (28), BNG (5), CG (2), PSG–EG (2)	37 / 75
	Abstentions		0 / 75
Source: historiaelectoral.com

References

Elections and referendums in Galicia
Regional elections	1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2012 2016 next
General elections	1977 1979 1982 1986 1989 1993 1996 2000 2004 2008 2011 2015 2016 next
European Parliament elections	1987 1989 1994 1999 2004 2009 2014 next
Referendums	1936 1980