1990 Basque regional election

The 1990 Basque regional election was held on Sunday, 28 October 1990, to elect the 4th Parliament of the Basque Autonomous Community. All 75 seats in the Parliament were up for election.

1990 Basque regional election

28 October 1990
All 75 seats in the Basque Parliament 38 seats needed for a majority
Registered	1,687,936 1.7%
Turnout	1,029,457 (61.0%) 8.6 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader José Antonio Ardanza Ramón Jáuregui Iñaki Esnaola Party EAJ/PNV PSE–PSOE HB Leader since 2 March 1985 16 June 1988 1986 Leader's seat Guipúzcoa Guipúzcoa Guipúzcoa Last election 17 seats, 23.6% 19 seats, 22.0% 13 seats, 17.4% Seats won 22 16 13 Seat change 5 3 0 Popular vote 289,701 202,736 186,410 Percentage 28.3% 19.8% 18.2% Swing 4.7 pp 2.2 pp 0.8 pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Carlos Garaikoetxea Jaime Mayor Oreja Kepa Aulestia Party EA PP EE Leader since 4 September 1986 20 January 1989 1987 Leader's seat Guipúzcoa Álava Biscay Last election 13 seats, 15.8% 2 seats, 4.8%[lower-alpha 1] 9 seats, 10.8% Seats won 9 6 6 Seat change 4 4 3 Popular vote 115,703 83,719 79,105 Percentage 11.3% 8.2% 7.7% Swing 4.5 pp 3.4 pp 3.1 pp
Constituency results map for the Basque Parliament
Lehendakari before election José Antonio Ardanza EAJ/PNV Elected Lehendakari José Antonio Ardanza EAJ/PNV

The Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ/PNV) won 22 seats, the Socialist Party of the Basque Country (PSE–PSOE) came second with 16 seats, Popular Unity (HB) came third with 13 seats and Basque Solidarity (EA) won 9 seats. The People's Party (PP) and Basque Country Left (EE) each won 6 seats.

Overview

Electoral system

The Basque Parliament was the devolved, unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of the Basque Country, having legislative power in regional matters as defined by the Spanish Constitution of 1978 and the regional Statute of Autonomy, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a lehendakari.[1]

Voting for the Parliament was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over eighteen, registered in the Basque Country and in full enjoyment of their political rights. The 75 members of the Basque Parliament were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with a threshold of five percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots[lower-alpha 2]—being applied in each constituency. Parties not reaching the threshold were not taken into consideration for seat distribution. Seats were allocated to constituencies, corresponding to the provinces of Álava, Biscay and Guipúzcoa, being allocated a fixed number of 25 seats each to provide for an equal representation of the three provinces in parliament as required under the regional statute of autonomy.[1][2] This meant that Álava was allocated the same number of seats as Biscay and Gipuzkoa, despite their populations being, as of 1 July 1990: 272,282, 1,160,364 and 679,076, respectively.[3]

The electoral law allowed for parties and federations registered in the interior ministry, coalitions and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates. Parties and federations intending to form a coalition ahead of an election were required to inform the relevant Electoral Commission within ten days of the election call, whereas groupings of electors needed to secure the signature of at least one percent of the electorate in the constituencies for which they sought election, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list of candidates.[2][4]

Election date

The term of the Basque Parliament expired four years after the date of its previous election, unless it was dissolved earlier. The election decree was required to be issued no later than the twenty-fifth day prior to the date of expiry of parliament and published on the following day in the Official Gazette of the Basque Country (BOPV), with election day taking place between the fifty-fourth and the sixtieth day from publication. The previous election was held on 30 November 1986, which meant that the legislature's term would have expired on 30 November 1990. The election decree was required to be published in the BOPV no later than 23 November 1993, with the election taking place up to the sixtieth day from publication, setting the latest possible election date for the Parliament on Saturday, 5 January 1991.[1][2]

The lehendakari had the prerogative to dissolve the Basque Parliament at any given time and call a snap election, provided that no motion of no confidence was in process. In the event of an investiture process failing to elect a lehendakari within a sixty-day period from the Parliament re-assembly, the Parliament was to be dissolved and a fresh election called.[5]

Opinion polls

The table below lists voting intention estimates in reverse chronological order, showing the most recent first and using the dates when the survey fieldwork was done, as opposed to the date of publication. Where the fieldwork dates are unknown, the date of publication is given instead. The highest percentage figure in each polling survey is displayed with its background shaded in the leading party's colour. If a tie ensues, this is applied to the figures with the highest percentages. The "Lead" column on the right shows the percentage-point difference between the parties with the highest percentages in a given poll. When available, seat projections are also displayed below the voting estimates in a smaller font. 38 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Basque Parliament.

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Turnout	PNV				EE				Lead
1990 regional election	28 Oct 1990	N/A	61.0	28.3 22	19.8 16	18.2 13	11.3 9	7.7 6	8.2 6	0.7 0	1.4 3	8.5
Demoscopia/El País[p 1]	21 Oct 1990	?	?	27.6 21/23	20.8 17/20	17.4 12/14	10.6 7/9	8.2 7	9.7 6/8	2.8 0	0.3 0	6.8
Opina/La Vanguardia[p 2]	13–16 Oct 1990	2,500	?	28.5 23/25	18.5 15/17	18.0 14/15	11.5 8/9	11.5 8/10	5.5 3/5	1.0 0	? 0/1	10.0
Metra Seis/El Independiente[p 3][p 4]	14 Oct 1990	?	?	? 22/23	? 15/16	? 12/13	? 10/11	? 8/9	6.6 5/6	? 0	–	?
Bergareche/Vocento[p 3][p 4]	14 Oct 1990	?	?	? 20/21	? 15	? 13	? 9	? 8/9	? 8/9	? 0/1	–	?
Sigma Dos/El Mundo[p 3][p 4]	14 Oct 1990	?	?	26.0 19/22	? 17/19	? 13	? 9/10	? 8	? 6	? 0	–	?
Demoscopia/El País[p 5][p 6][p 7]	27 Sep–3 Oct 1990	1,800	65	26.0 19/21	20.0 18	18.0 13/14	12.0 9/10	10.0 7/9	8.0 6/7	? 0	–	6.0
Bergareche/Vocento[p 8][p 9]	1 Oct 1990	?	?	? 19/21	? 14/15	? 13	? 9	? 8	? 8/9	? 0/1	–	?
Basque Government[p 10]	13–16 Dec 1989	?	?	? 20	? 18	? 13	? 8	? 7	? 9	? 0	–	?
1989 general election	29 Oct 1989	N/A	66.9	22.8 17	21.1 18	16.9 13	11.2 9	8.8 7	9.4 9	3.5 2	–	1.7
1989 EP election	15 Jun 1989	N/A	58.5	21.0 16	18.2 17	19.1 16	13.0 11	9.8 8	7.6 6	2.7 1	–	1.9
1987 foral elections	10 Jun 1987	N/A	67.4	21.8 16	18.9 16	19.2 15	17.6 15	9.9 7	6.2 4	3.4 2	–	2.6
1987 local elections	10 Jun 1987	N/A	67.6	22.2	18.7	19.1	17.9	9.4	5.4	3.0	–	3.1
1987 EP election	10 Jun 1987	N/A	67.3	19.4 14	19.1 17	19.6 16	16.1 13	9.7 7	7.2 6	3.9 2	–	0.2
1986 regional election	30 Nov 1986	N/A	69.6	23.6 17	22.0 19	17.4 13	15.8 13	10.8 9	4.8 2	3.5 2	–	1.6

Results

Overall

← Summary of the 28 October 1990 Basque Parliament election results →

Parties and coalitions		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ/PNV)	289,701	28.28	+4.68	22	+5
	Socialist Party of the Basque Country (PSE–PSOE)	202,736	19.79	–2.16	16	–3
	Popular Unity (HB)	186,410	18.20	+0.80	13	±0
	Basque Solidarity (EA)	115,703	11.30	–4.47	9	–4
	People's Party (PP)^1	83,719	8.17	+3.33	6	+4
	Basque Country Left (EE)	79,105	7.72	–3.11	6	–3
	United Left (IU/EB)	14,440	1.41	+0.82	0	±0
	Alavese Unity (UA)	14,351	1.40	New	3	+3
	Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)	6,680	0.65	–2.87	0	–2
	Socialist Democracy (DS)	5,023	0.49	New	0	±0
	The Ecologist Greens (LVE)	4,304	0.42	New	0	±0
	Ruiz-Mateos Group–European Democratic Alliance (ARM–ADE)	4,303	0.42	New	0	±0
	Basque Country Greens (EHB)	4,199	0.41	New	0	±0
	Workers' Socialist Party (PST)	3,010	0.29	+0.04	0	±0
	Humanist Party (PH)	825	0.08	–0.04	0	±0
	Revolutionary Communist League–Communist Movement (LKI–EMK)	670	0.07	New	0	±0
	Alliance for the Republic (AxR)^2	669	0.07	–0.03	0	±0
	Communist Party of the Basque Country People (PCPE/EHAC)	599	0.06	New	0	±0
	Communist Party of Spain (Marxist–Leninist) (PCE (m–l))^3	272	0.03	–0.07	0	±0
Blank ballots		7,580	0.74	+0.30
Total		1,024,299			75	±0
Valid votes		1,024,299	99.50	+0.09
Invalid votes		5,158	0.50	–0.09
Votes cast / turnout		1,029,457	60.99	–8.63
Abstentions		658,479	39.01	+8.63
Registered voters		1,687,936
Sources[6][7]

Popular vote EAJ/PNV   28.28% PSE–PSOE   19.79% HB   18.20% EA   11.30% PP   8.17% EE   7.72% IU/EB   1.41% UA   1.40% Others   2.98% Blank ballots   0.74%

Seats EAJ/PNV   29.33% PSE–PSOE   21.33% HB   17.33% EA   12.00% PP   8.00% EE   8.00% UA   4.00%

Distribution by constituency

Constituency	PNV		PSE		HB		EA		PP		EE		UA
	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S
Álava	22.3	6	21.2	6	12.7	3	8.1	2	10.8	3	6.7	2	11.1	3
Biscay	34.4	10	19.9	5	16.2	4	8.0	2	8.6	2	7.3	2	0.0	–
Guipúzcoa	20.4	6	19.0	5	23.6	6	18.0	5	6.4	1	8.8	2	0.0	–
Total	28.2	22	19.8	16	18.2	13	11.3	9	8.2	6	7.7	6	1.4	3
Sources[6][7]

Aftermath

Investiture
Ballot →		31 January 1991		1 February 1991
Required majority →		38 out of 75		Simple
	José Antonio Ardanza (PNV) • PNV (22) • EA (9) • EE (6)	37 / 75	N	37 / 75	Y
	Blank ballots • PSE (16) • PP (6) • UA (3)	25 / 75		25 / 75
	Absentees • HB (13)	13 / 75		13 / 75
Sources[6]

Notes

1. Data for AP–PL in the 1986 election.
2. Amendment from previous legislation introduced as per the 1990 electoral law

References

Opinion poll sources

1. "Elecciones de 28 de octubre de 1990 al Parlamento Vasco". Revista de Derecho Político (in Spanish). 1991.
2. "El PNV es el partido que más se beneficia de los logros de la coalición con el PSOE". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 21 October 1990.
3. "Los sondeos pronostican una fuerte subida del PP y la victoria del PNV". ABC (in Spanish). 14 October 1990.
4. "Los sondeos pronostican una fuerte subida del PP y la victoria del PNV". ABC Sevilla (in Spanish). 15 October 1990.
5. "El PNV ganará las elecciones vascas y el PP triplicará sus escaños". El País (in Spanish). 7 October 1990.
6. "PNV se consolida como ganador, el PP experimenta un gran avance y el PSOE desciende ligeramente". El País (in Spanish). 7 October 1990.
7. "Ficha técnica del sondeo". El País (in Spanish). 7 October 1990.
8. "Encuestas sobre los comicios vascos pronostican incrementos del PNV y PP". ABC (in Spanish). 1 October 1990.
9. "Encuestas sobre los comicios vascos pronostican incrementos del PNV y PP". ABC Sevilla (in Spanish). 1 October 1990.
10. "Una encuesta del Gobierno vasco da al PNV y al PSE la mayoría". ABC Sevilla (in Spanish). 3 February 1990.

Other

1. "Ley Orgánica 3/1979, de 18 de diciembre, de Estatuto de Autonomía para el País Vasco". Organic Law No. 3 of 18 December 1979. Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 July 2017.
2. "Basque Parliament Elections Law of 1990". Law No. 5 of 15 June 1990. Official Gazette of the Basque Country (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 July 2017.
3. "Principales series desde 1971. Resultados por Provincias. Población residente por fecha, sexo y edad". ine.es (in Spanish). National Institute of Statistics. Archived from the original on 9 August 2017. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
4. "Ley Orgánica 5/1985, de 19 de junio, del Régimen Electoral General". Organic Law No. 5 of 19 June 1985. Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 December 2016.
5. "Government Law of 1981". Law No. 7 of 30 June 1981. Official Gazette of the Basque Country (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 July 2017.
6. "Basque Parliament elections since 1980". historiaelectoral.com (in Spanish). Electoral History. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
7. "Election Results Archive". euskadi.eus (in Spanish). Basque Government. Retrieved 24 September 2017.