1987 Riojan regional election

The 1987 Riojan regional election was held on Wednesday, 10 June 1987, to elect the 2nd General Deputation of the autonomous community of La Rioja, Spain. All 33 seats in the General Deputation were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in twelve other autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain, as well as the 1987 European Parliament election.

1987 Riojan regional election
10 June 1987
All 33 seats in the General Deputation of La Rioja
17 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered201,738 3.5%
Turnout146,258 (72.5%)
2.3 pp
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Alicia Izaguirre Joaquín Espert Manuel Fernández Ilarraza
Party PSOE AP CDS
Leader since 21 February 1987 27 March 1987 1987
Last election 18 seats, 47.2% 15 seats, 40.0%[lower-alpha 1] 0 seats, 2.4%
Seats won 14 13 4
Seat change 4 2 4
Popular vote 57,178 50,179 15,640
Percentage 39.6% 34.8% 10.8%
Swing 7.6 pp 5.2 pp 8.4 pp
  Fourth party
 
Leader Luis J. Rodríguez Moroy
Party PR+
Leader since 6 December 1982
Last election 2 seats, 7.5%
Seats won 2
Seat change 0
Popular vote 9,212
Percentage 6.4%
Swing 1.1 pp
President before election

José María de Miguel
PSOE

 Elected President

Joaquín Espert
AP

Incumbent president José María de Miguel did not seek re-election out of political differences with his party, the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), which instead presented Alicia Izaguirre, former civil governor of Álava, as their candidate.[1] The party came out first by winning the most votes and seats, but lost its absolute majority and suffered an important loss of support compared to its 1983 result.[2] A minority government was formed with the support of the second and fourth-most voted parties: the People's Alliance (AP), which lost votes and seats from the previous election amid the breakup of the People's Coalition, and the Progressive Riojan Party (PRP). Together, they gathered 15 seats, one more than the PSOE, and were able to secure the election of AP leader, Joaquín Espert, through 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.[3][4]

The AP–PRP agreement would only last until December 1989.[5] The PRP and two former CDS deputies would go on to join a PSOE motion of no confidence against Espert, resulting in Socialist José Ignacio Pérez Sáenz becoming new regional president in January 1990 of a PSOE–PRP government.[6]

Overview

Electoral system

The General Deputation of La Rioja was the devolved, unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of La Rioja, having legislative power in regional matters as defined by the Spanish Constitution and the Riojan Statute of Autonomy, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a regional president.[7]

Voting for the General Deputation was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age, registered in La Rioja and in full enjoyment of their political rights. The 33 members of the General Deputation of La Rioja were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with an electoral threshold of five percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied regionally.[7][8]

Election date

The term of the General Deputation of La Rioja expired four years after the date of its previous election. 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 La Rioja, with election day taking place between the fifty-fourth and the sixtieth day from publication and set so as to make them coincide with other concurrent elections when possible. The previous election was held on 8 May 1983, which meant that the legislature's term would have expired on 8 May 1987. The election decree was required to be published no later than 14 April 1987, with the election taking place no later than the sixtieth day from publication, setting the latest possible election date for the General Deputation on Saturday, 13 June 1987.[7][8][9]

The General Deputation of La Rioja could not be dissolved before the date of expiry of parliament except in the event of an investiture process failing to elect a regional president within a two-month period from the first ballot. In such a case, the General Deputation was to be automatically dissolved and a snap election called, with elected deputies merely serving out what remained of their four-year terms.[7]

Parliamentary composition

The General Deputation of La Rioja was officially dissolved on 14 April 1987, after the publication of the dissolution decree in the Official Gazette of La Rioja.[10] The table below shows the composition of the parliamentary groups in the General Deputation at the time of dissolution.[11]

Parliamentary composition in April 1987[12]
Groups Parties Legislators
Seats Total
Socialist Parliamentary Group PSOE 18 18
People's Parliamentary Group AP 12 12
Mixed Parliamentary Group PDP 3 5
PRP 2

Parties and candidates

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 La Rioja, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list of candidates.[8][9]

Below is a list of the main parties and electoral alliances which contested the election:

Candidacy Parties and
alliances		 Leading candidate Ideology Previous result Gov. Ref.
Votes (%) Seats
PSOE
List
 Alicia Izaguirre Social democracy 47.17% 18 checkY [1]
[13]
[14]
AP
List
 Joaquín Espert Conservatism
National conservatism		 39.98%[lower-alpha 1] 15 ☒N [1]
[15]
PDP
List
 Domingo Álvarez Ruiz de Viñaspre Christian democracy ☒N [1]
PRP
List
 Luis Javier Rodríguez Moroy Regionalism
Progressivism		 7.46% 2 ☒N [1]
CDS
List
 Manuel Fernández Ilarraza Centrism
Liberalism		 2.41% 0 ☒N [1]

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 poll. When available, seat projections determined by the polling organisations are displayed below (or in place of) the percentages in a smaller font; 17 seats were required for an absolute majority in the General Deputation of La Rioja.

Results
← Summary of the 10 June 1987 General Deputation of La Rioja election results →
Parties and alliances Popular vote Seats
Votes  % ±pp Total +/−
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) 57,17839.64–7.53 14–4
People's Alliance (AP)1 50,17934.78–5.20 13–2
Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) 15,64010.84+8.43 4+4
Progressive Riojan Party (PRP) 9,2126.39–1.07 2±0
People's Democratic Party (PDP) 4,7213.27New 0±0
United Left (IU)2 3,4782.41+0.24 0±0
Workers' Party of Spain–Communist Unity (PTE–UC) 1,4000.97New 0±0
Blank ballots 2,4521.70+0.89
Total 144,260 33–2
Valid votes 144,26098.63–0.20
Invalid votes 1,9981.37+0.20
Votes cast / turnout 146,25872.50+2.26
Abstentions 55,48027.50–2.26
Registered voters 201,738
Sources[11][16][17]
Footnotes:
Popular vote
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%
Seats
PSOE
 
 42.42%
AP
 
 39.39%
CDS
 
 12.12%
PRP
 
 6.06%

Aftermath

Government formation

The PSOE candidate, Alicia Izaguirre, had been expected to become the new regional premier—and the first female president in a Spanish autonomous community—through an arrangement with the Democratic and Social Centre (CDS), under which the PSOE would support CDS's candidate to the presidency of the Parliament of La Rioja, Manuel Fernández Ilarraza, in exchange for the CDS allowing a PSOE minority government in the region.[18][19] However, a last-ditch agreement between the opposition People's Alliance (AP) and Progressive Riojan Party (PRP), combined with the CDS proclaiming a policy of abstention in order to allow the government of the "largest minority", resulted in the election of AP's candidate Joaquín Espert.[3]

Investiture
Joaquín Espert (AP)
Ballot → 22 July 1987 24 July 1987
Required majority → 17 out of 33 ☒N Simple checkY
Yes
  • • AP (13)
  • • PRP (2)
15 / 33
15 / 33
No
14 / 33
14 / 33
Abstentions
4 / 33
4 / 33
Absentees
0 / 33
0 / 33
Sources[4][11]

1990 motion of no confidence

The minority government resulting from the AP–PRP agreement with the abstention from the CDS was forced into a precarious position which remained for its entire duration. In July 1988, PSOE's Félix Palomo, which had held the presidency of the Parliament from 1983 to 1987, was returned to the post as a result of two CDS deputies splitting away from the party and a lack of agreement between the other parties to maintain Ilarraza in office.[20] In January 1989, a "pact for the governance of the autonomous community" was signed between the newly-refounded People's Party (PP), CDS and PRP, which would see the later entering into a coalition government with PP and the two remaining deputies from the CDS granting confidence and supply support from the outside.[21] This pact would last until the designation of PSOE senator Marlo Fraile in December 1989 fractured the PP–PRP government after PRP's deputies voted for Fraile,[22] which resulted in the PRP abandoning the government.[5]

By the end of December, the PSOE announced a motion of no confidence on Espert in order to put an end to the permanent situation of unstability within the regional government.[23] The announcement had the backing of one out of the two PRP deputies—with PRP member Damián Saez Angulo going into the Mixed Group over disagreements with his party's new strategy—and the two ex-CDS deputies, who would end up joining the PRP.[24][25] The motion succeeded after gathering the support of an absolute majority of deputies, with the two loyal CDS deputies leaving parliament before the vote in protest for what they dubbed as "transfuguism" of their two former members for joining the PRP.[26]

Motion of no confidence
José Ignacio Pérez Sáenz (PSOE)
Ballot → 8 January 1990
Required majority → 17 out of 33 checkY
Yes
17 / 33
No
  • • PP (13)
13 / 33
Abstentions
1 / 33
Absentees
2 / 33
Sources[6][11]

Notes
  1. Results for AP–PDP–UL in the 1983 election.
  2. Within CP.
  3. Result for PCE.

References
Opinion poll sources
  1. "Los hombres de Suárez pueden decidir el Gobierno" (PDF). El País (in Spanish). 4 June 1987.
  2. "Una encuesta de AP pronostica un fuerte descenso del PSOE en las municipales". ABC (in Spanish). 17 April 1987.
  3. "Notable descenso del PSOE en los próximos comicios, según una encuesta encargada por AP". ABC Sevilla (in Spanish). 17 April 1987.
Other
  1. "Alicia Izaguirre, ex gobernadora civil, cabeza de los socialistas". El País (in Spanish). 29 May 1987. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  2. "Los socialistas pierden el dominio". El País (in Spanish). 12 June 1987. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  3. "Alianza Popular, a punto de gobernar en La Rioja gracias a la abstención del CDS". El País (in Spanish). 14 July 1987. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  4. "Elegidos los presidentes autonómicos de La Rioja, Asturias y Cantabria". El País (in Spanish). 25 July 1987. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  5. "El Gobierno del PP en la Rioja queda en precario tras la marcha de los regionalistas". El País (in Spanish). 19 December 1989. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  6. "El PSOE recupera el Gobierno de La Rioja con el apoyo de tres regionalistas". El País (in Spanish). 9 January 1990. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  7. "Ley Orgánica 3/1982, de 9 de junio, de Estatuto de Autonomía de La Rioja". Organic Law No. 3 of 9 June 1982 (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 September 2017.
  8. "Ley 1/1987, de 23 de enero, de Elecciones a la Diputación General de La Rioja". Law No. 1 of 23 January 1987 (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 September 2017.
  9. "Ley Orgánica 5/1985, de 19 de junio, del Régimen Electoral General". Organic Law No. 5 of 19 June 1985 (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  10. "Decreto 1/1987, de 13 de abril, del Presidente de la Comunidad Autónoma de La Rioja, por el que se convocan elecciones a la Diputación General de La Rioja" (PDF). Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish) (89): 11165. 14 April 1987. ISSN 0212-033X.
  11. "Elecciones al Parlamento de La Rioja (1983 - 2019)". Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  12. "I Legislatura". Parliament of La Rioja (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  13. "Alicia Izaguirre". El País (in Spanish). 22 February 1987. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  14. "Alicia Izaguirre. Una gobernadora, candidata a presidenta de Logroño". El País (in Spanish). 13 April 1987. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  15. "El comité regional". El País (in Spanish). 28 March 1987. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  16. "General Deputation of La Rioja election results, 10 June 1987" (PDF). www.juntaelectoralcentral.es (in Spanish). Electoral Commission of La Rioja. 4 July 1987. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  17. "Number 75. Audit report on the regularity of electoral accounting derived from the elections held on June 10, 1987" (PDF). tcu.es (in Spanish). Court of Auditors. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  18. "PSOE y CDS pactan en La Rioja el Gobierno y el Parlamento". El País (in Spanish). 5 July 1987. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  19. "El CDS ocupa las presidencias de las Cortes de Aragón y del Parlamento riojano". El País (in Spanish). 7 July 1987. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  20. "La escisión del CDS pone de nuevo el Parlamento de La Rioja en manos de los socialistas". El País (in Spanish). 12 July 1988. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  21. "El pacto en La Rioja garantiza un gobierno estable para el resto de la legislatura". El País (in Spanish). 26 January 1989. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  22. "Peligra el Gobierno del PP en La Rioja tras romperse el pacto con los regionalistas". El País (in Spanish). 5 December 1989. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  23. "El PSOE presentará antes de fin de año una moción de censura en La Rioja". El País (in Spanish). 27 December 1989. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  24. "Censura en La Rioja". El País (in Spanish). 30 December 1989. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  25. "Los socialistas intentan hoy recuperar el Gobierno riojano". El País (in Spanish). 8 January 1990. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  26. "Tres de las ocho consejerías del Gobierno riojano estarán ocupadas por mujeres". El País (in Spanish). 10 January 1990. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
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