1995 Catalan regional election

The 1995 Catalan regional election was held on Sunday, 19 November 1995, to elect the 5th Parliament of the autonomous community of Catalonia. All 135 seats in the Parliament were up for election.

1995 Catalan regional election
19 November 1995
All 135 seats in the Parliament of Catalonia
68 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered5,079,981 5.0%
Turnout3,232,959 (63.6%)
8.7 pp
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Jordi Pujol Joaquim Nadal Alejo Vidal-Quadras
Party CiU PSC–PSOE PP
Leader since 17 November 1974 22 July 1995 9 January 1991
Leader's seat Barcelona Barcelona Barcelona
Last election 70 seats, 46.2% 40 seats, 27.5% 7 seats, 6.0%
Seats won 60 34 17
Seat change 10 6 10
Popular vote 1,320,071 802,252 421,752
Percentage 40.9% 24.9% 13.1%
Swing 5.3 pp 2.6 pp 7.1 pp
  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Leader Àngel Colom Rafael Ribó
Party ERC IC–EV
Leader since 19 November 1989 23 February 1987
Leader's seat Barcelona Barcelona
Last election 11 seats, 8.0% 7 seats, 7.7%[lower-alpha 1]
Seats won 13 11
Seat change 2 4
Popular vote 305,867 313,092
Percentage 9.5% 9.7%
Swing 1.5 pp 2.0 pp
Constituency results map for the Parliament of Catalonia
President before election

Jordi Pujol
CDC (CiU)

 Elected President

Jordi Pujol
CDC (CiU)

Overview

Electoral system

The Parliament of Catalonia was the devolved, unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Catalonia, 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 regional president.[1]

Transitory Provision Fourth of the Statute established a specific electoral procedure for elections to the Parliament of Catalonia, of application for as long as a specific law regulating the procedures for regional elections was not approved, to be supplemented by the provisions within the Organic Law of General Electoral Regime. Voting for the Parliament was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age, registered in Catalonia and in full enjoyment of their political rights. The 135 members of the Parliament of Catalonia were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with an electoral threshold of three percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied in each constituency. Seats were allocated to constituencies, corresponding to the provinces of Barcelona, Girona, Lleida and Tarragona, with each being allocated a fixed number of seats.[1]

Constituency Seats
Barcelona 85
Girona 17
Lleida 15
Tarragona 18

The use of the D'Hondt method might result in a higher effective threshold, depending on the district magnitude.[2]

Election date

The term of the Parliament of Catalonia expired four years after the date of its previous election, unless it was dissolved earlier. The regional president was required to call an election fifteen days prior to the date of expiry of parliament, with election day taking place within sixty days after the call. The previous election was held on 15 March 1992, which meant that the legislature's term would have expired on 15 March 1996. The election was required to be called no later than 29 February 1996, with it taking place on the sixtieth day from the call, setting the latest possible election date for the Parliament on Monday, 29 April 1996.[1]

The president had the prerogative to dissolve the Parliament of Catalonia and call a snap election, provided that no motion of no confidence was in process and that dissolution did not occur before one year had elapsed since a previous one under this procedure. In the event of an investiture process failing to elect a regional president within a two-month period from the first ballot, the Parliament was to be automatically dissolved and a fresh election called.[3][4]

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 the constituencies for which they sought election, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list of candidates.[5]

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
CiU
List
 Jordi Pujol Catalan nationalism
Centrism		 46.19% 70 checkY
PSC–PSOE
List
 Joaquim Nadal Social democracy 27.55% 40 ☒N [6]
ERC
List
 Àngel Colom Catalan independence
Left-wing nationalism
Social democracy		 7.96% 11 ☒N
IC–EV
List
 Rafael Ribó Eco-socialism
Green politics		 7.73%[lower-alpha 1] 7 ☒N
PP
List
 Alejo Vidal-Quadras Conservatism
Christian democracy		 5.97% 7 ☒N

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; 68 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Parliament of Catalonia.

Color key:

  Exit poll

Results

Overall
← Summary of the 19 November 1995 Parliament of Catalonia election results →
Parties and alliances Popular vote Seats
Votes  % ±pp Total +/−
Convergence and Union (CiU) 1,320,07140.95–5.24 60–10
Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC–PSOE) 802,25224.89–2.66 34–6
People's Party (PP) 421,75213.08+7.11 17+10
Initiative for Catalonia–The Greens (IC–EV)1 313,0929.71+1.98 11+4
Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) 305,8679.49+1.53 13+2
Ecologist Alternative of Catalonia (AEC)2 14,6510.45–0.08 0±0
Ecologist Party of Catalonia–VERDE (PEC–VERDE) 5,6390.17–0.12 0±0
Revolutionary Workers' Party (POR) 3,8860.12+0.03 0±0
Workers' Revolutionary Party (PRT)3 2,2210.07–0.32 0±0
Citizens of Catalonia–Platform of Independents of Spain (PICC–PIE) 1,5800.05New 0±0
Civic Platform–New Socialist Party (PC–NPS)4 8690.03–0.05 0±0
Spanish Phalanx of the CNSO (FE–JONS) 3270.01New 0±0
Party of Self-employed of Spain (PAE) 1940.01New 0±0
Democratic Party of the People (PDEP) 1340.00New 0±0
Blank ballots 31,4170.97–0.21
Total 3,223,952 135±0
Valid votes 3,223,95299.72+0.14
Invalid votes 9,0070.28–0.14
Votes cast / turnout 3,232,95963.64+8.77
Abstentions 1,847,02236.36–8.77
Registered voters 5,079,981
Sources[7][8]
Footnotes:
Popular vote
CiU
 
 40.95%
PSC–PSOE
 
 24.89%
PP
 
 13.08%
IC–EV
 
 9.71%
ERC
 
 9.49%
Others
 
 0.92%
Blank ballots
 
 0.97%
Seats
CiU
 
 44.44%
PSC–PSOE
 
 25.19%
PP
 
 12.59%
ERC
 
 9.63%
IC–EV
 
 8.15%

Distribution by constituency
Constituency CiU PSC PP IC–EV ERC
 % S  % S  % S  % S  % S
Barcelona 39.1 34 25.4 22 13.6 12 11.2 10 8.7 7
Girona 48.6 9 25.7 5 7.9 1 4.0 − 12.3 2
Lleida 49.7 8 19.5 3 12.2 2 4.2 − 12.8 2
Tarragona 43.2 9 23.2 4 14.3 2 6.4 1 11.1 2
Total 40.9 60 24.9 34 13.1 17 9.7 11 9.5 13
Sources[9][10][11][12][8]

Aftermath
Investiture
Jordi Pujol (CDC)
Ballot → 14 December 1995 16 December 1995
Required majority → 68 out of 135 ☒N Simple checkY
Yes
60 / 135
60 / 135
No
  • • ERC (13) (on 14 Dec)
  • • IC (11)
24 / 135
11 / 135
Abstentions
  • • PSC (33) (31 on 14 Dec)
  • • PP (17)
  • • ERC (13) (on 16 Dec)
48 / 135
63 / 135
Absentees
  • • PSC (1) (3 on 14 Dec)
3 / 135
1 / 135
Sources[8]

Notes
  1. Results for IC (6.50%, 7 seats), PCC (0.84%, 0 seats) and AV–MEC (0.39%, 0 seats) in the 1992 election.

References
Opinion poll sources
  1. "Sondejos". Generalitat de Catalunya (in Catalan). Retrieved 5 July 2017.
  2. "Pujol, en el umbral de la mayoría absoluta". El País (in Spanish). 12 November 1995.
  3. "Pujol renovará la mayoría absoluta". El Periódico de Catalunya (in Spanish). 12 November 1995.
  4. "Descenso de Pujol, que puede fracasar en su empeño de gobernar con mayoría absoluta". ABC (in Spanish). 12 November 1995.
  5. "El PP no se despega de ERC e IC". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 12 November 1995.
  6. "Los socialistas seguirán siendo con diferencia la segunda fuerza". El Periódico de Catalunya (in Spanish). 29 October 1995.
  7. "La férrea estructura de poder de CiU en Cataluña permite que Pujol vuelva a rozar la mayoría absoluta". ABC (in Spanish). 29 October 1995.
  8. "Jordi Pujol roza la mayoría absoluta". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 22 October 1995.
  9. "Pujol cede la mayoría absoluta y el PP dobla escaños". El País (in Spanish). 9 October 1995.
  10. "Percepción de la realidad sociopolítica en Cataluña, Septiembre 1995 (Estudio nº 2192)". CIS (in Spanish). 18 October 1995.
  11. "Estudio CIS nº 2192. Ficha técnica" (PDF). CIS (in Spanish). 18 October 1995.
  12. "CiU roza la mayoría absoluta y el PSC pierde seis escaños, según un sondeo del CIS". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 19 October 1995.
  13. "Pujol, inquieto ante el peligro de desmovilización de su electorado". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 30 October 1995.
  14. "El apoyo de Pujol a González le hará perder la mayoría absoluta en el Parlamento catalán". ABC (in Spanish). 30 July 1995.
Other
  1. "Ley Orgánica 4/1979, de 18 de diciembre, de Estatuto de Autonomía de Cataluña". Organic Law No. 4 of 18 December 1979 (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  2. Gallagher, Michael (30 July 2012). "Effective threshold in electoral systems". Trinity College, Dublin. Archived from the original on 30 July 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  3. "Ley 3/1982, de 23 de marzo, del Parlamento, del Presidente y del Consejo Ejecutivo de la Generalidad". Law No. 3 of 23 March 1982 (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  4. "Ley 8/1985, de 24 de mayo, de modificación de la Ley 3/1982, de 25 de marzo, del Parlamento, del Presidente y del Consejo Ejecutivo de la Generalidad de Cataluña". Law No. 8 of 24 May 1985 (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  5. "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.
  6. "Joaquim Nadal, alcalde de Girona, candidato socialista a la presidencia de la Generalitat". El País (in Spanish). 18 July 1995. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  7. "Electoral results. Parliament of Catalonia election 1995". resultats.dadeselectorals.gencat.cat (in Catalan). Government of Catalonia. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  8. "Eleccions al Parlament de Catalunya (1980 - 2021)". Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  9. "Election Results. Parliament of Catalonia Election 1995. Barcelona". gencat.cat (in Catalan). Generalitat of Catalonia. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  10. "Election Results. Parliament of Catalonia Election 1995. Girona". gencat.cat (in Catalan). Generalitat of Catalonia. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  11. "Election Results. Parliament of Catalonia Election 1995. Lleida". gencat.cat (in Catalan). Generalitat of Catalonia. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  12. "Election Results. Parliament of Catalonia Election 1995. Tarragona". gencat.cat (in Catalan). Generalitat of Catalonia. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
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