Madrilenian regional election, 1991

Madrilenian regional election, 1991

26 May 1991
All 101 seats in the Assembly of Madrid 51 seats needed for a majority
Registered	3,827,972 8.9%
Turnout	2,251,613 (58.8%) 11.1 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón Joaquín Leguina Isabel Villalonga Party PP PSOE IU Leader since 8 February 1987 14 December 1979 1987 Leader's seat Madrid Madrid Madrid Last election 32 seats, 31.8% 40 seats, 38.4% 7 seats, 7.5% Seats won 47 41 13 Seat change 15 1 6 Popular vote 956,865 820,510 270,558 Percentage 42.7% 36.6% 12.1% Swing 10.9 pp 1.8 pp 4.6 pp
President before election Joaquín Leguina PSOE Elected President Joaquín Leguina PSOE

The 1991 Madrilenian regional election was held on Sunday, 26 May 1991, to elect the 3rd Assembly of the Autonomous Community of Madrid. All 101 seats in the Assembly 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 the electoral collapse of the Democratic and Social Centre (CDS), which fell below the 5% threshold and lost all their 17 seats. Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón's People's Party (PP) emerged as the largest party in the community for the first time,^[1] but was unable to form a government due to the lack of allies as a result of CDS expulsion from the Assembly. Consequently, Joaquín Leguina from the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) was re-elected President for a third term in office thanks to the support of United Left (IU).

Background

The 1987 election had resulted in a parliamentary deadlock. The opposition bloc of the People's Alliance (AP) and the CDS held 49 seats against 47 for the PSOE and IU. The ruling PSOE was initially able to hold on to power and have Joaquín Leguina re-elected President thanks to CDS' abstention, but nonetheless the government's majority remained precarious.

In 1988, an AP deputy, Nicolás Piñeiro Cuesta, resigned from the party as a result of ideological differences with the Madrid AP leader, Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón. Piñeiro launched his own party, the Independent Madrilenian Regional Party (PRIM), shortly after. Thereafter, in January 1989, AP along with other parties merged into the newly-created People's Party (PP).

In the first half of 1989, the PP and the CDS reached an agreement of cooperation in the Madrid Assembly, resulting in a motion of no confidence against Leguina's government in June 1989, in an attempt to replace it with a PP-CDS administration headed by Ruiz-Gallardón as Madrid President. To succeed, the motion needed the support of a majority of members, meaning that 49 votes were needed. With the PP and CDS having 48 members, Piñeiro's support was necessary. However, he abstained, and the United Left members blocked the motion alongside PSOE, resulting in the vote failing.^[2]

Electoral system

The 101 members of the Assembly of Madrid were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with a threshold of 5 per 100 of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied regionally. Parties not reaching the threshold were not taken into consideration for seat distribution. The Assembly was entitled to one member per each 50,000 inhabitants or fraction greater than 25,000, according to the updated data of the population census.^[3][4] Voting was on the basis of universal suffrage, with all nationals over eighteen, registered in the Community of Madrid and in full enjoyment of all political rights entitled to vote.

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 0.5 per 100 of the electors entered in electoral register of the Community of Madrid. 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][5][6]

Legal amendments earlier in 1991 established that elections were to be fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years. Additionally, 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 their four-year terms.^[4][5]

Results

← Summary of the 26 May 1991 Assembly of Madrid election results →

Parties and coalitions		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Won	+/−
	People's Party (PP)1	956,865	42.67	+10.88	47	+15
	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)	820,510	36.59	–1.86	41	+1
	United Left (IU)	270,558	12.07	+4.59	13	+6
	Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)	75,081	3.35	–13.28	0	–17
	The Greens (LV)	35,095	1.57	+0.49	0	±0

Aftermath

Investiture

Investiture processes to elect the President of the Community of Madrid required for an absolute majority—more than half the votes cast—to be obtained in the first ballot. If unsuccessful, a new ballot would be held 48 hours later requiring only of a simple majority—more affirmative than negative votes—to succeed. If such majorities were not achieved, successive candidate proposals would be processed under the same procedure. In the event of the investiture process failing to elect a regional President within a two-month period from the first ballot, the Assembly would be automatically dissolved and a snap election called.^[4]

References