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
Registered	5,079,981 5.0%
Turnout	3,232,959 (63.6%) 8.7 pp
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   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 and the Catalan Statute of Autonomy, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a President of the Government.[1] Voting for the Parliament was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over eighteen, 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 a threshold of 3 percent 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, depending on the district magnitude.[2] Seats were allocated to constituencies, corresponding to the provinces of Barcelona, Girona, Lleida and Tarragona. Each constituency was allocated a fixed number of seats: 85 for Barcelona, 17 for Girona, 15 for Lleida and 18 for Tarragona.[1][3]

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 the signature of at least 1 percent of the electors registered in the constituency for which they sought 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 of the election being called.[4][5]

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 President of the Government 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 of the Government 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][6]

Parties and leaders

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

Parties and coalitions		Ideology	Candidate
	Convergence and Union (CiU)	Centrism, Catalan autonomism	Jordi Pujol
	Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC–PSOE)	Social democracy	Joaquim Nadal[7]
	Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC)	Left-wing nationalism, Catalan independentism	Àngel Colom
	Initiative for Catalonia–The Greens (IC–EV)	Eco-socialism	Rafael Ribó
	People's Party (PP)	Conservatism, Christian democracy	Alejo Vidal-Quadras

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

Color key:

  Exit poll

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Turnout				IC		Lead
1995 regional election	19 Nov 1995	N/A	63.6	40.9 60	24.9 34	9.5 13	9.7 11	13.1 17	16.0
Vox Pública/Antena 3[p 1]	19 Nov 1995	?	?	44.0 64/67	22.0 30/33	11.0 13/15	9.5 9/10	12.0 14/16	22.0
Eco Consulting/CCRTV[p 1]	19 Nov 1995	?	?	43.0 64/68	22.0 28/31	11.0 14/16	9.9 10/12	12.0 14/16	21.0
Sigma Dos/El Mundo[p 1]	12 Nov 1995	1,000	?	45.2 65/68	23.8 31/35	8.8 11/12	7.4 8/9	11.4 15/16	21.4
Demoscopia/El País[p 1][p 2]	12 Nov 1995	2,000	63	45.4 66/70	23.2 29/30	7.2 10/11	11.6 12/13	11.7 14/16	22.2
Vox Pública/El Periódico[p 1][p 3]	12 Nov 1995	1,200	?	46.5 68/72	23.2 31/35	8.3 10/12	9.4 11/12	8.4 11/12	23.3
Imagen & Opinión/ABC[p 4]	7–8 Nov 1995	1,260	?	44.7 62/65	24.3 33/34	9.2 12/13	7.8 11	10.4 13/15	20.4
Opina/La Vanguardia[p 5]	6–7 Nov 1995	2,000	?	46.0 69/71	21.0 28/30	10.0 11/14	10.0 9/13	11.0 11/14	25.0
EMB Yankelovich/Avui[p 1]	5 Nov 1995	1,223	?	46.7 68/69	22.1 30/31	9.3 11/12	9.3 11/12	12.6 13/14	24.6
Vox Pública/El Periódico[p 6]	25–26 Oct 1995	1,200	?	46.3 67/70	21.7 31/33	8.2 11/12	10.3 12	9.8 12/13	24.6
Imagen & Opinión/ABC[p 7]	22–24 Oct 1995	1,000	?	45.5 65/69	24.4 32/34	8.6 10/12	8.7 9/11	11.4 15/16	21.1
Opina/La Vanguardia[p 8]	16–17 Oct 1995	1,500	?	45.5 67/69	22.3 32/33	10.2 12/13	8.4 10	10.5 12/13	23.2
Demoscopia/El País[p 1][p 9]	9 Oct 1995	800	?	42.0 60/64	23.0 29/33	9.0 10/11	12.0 13/15	13.0 15/17	19.0
CIS[p 10][p 11][p 12]	22 Sep–4 Oct 1995	2,492	67.0	44.5 65/67	24.0 33/34	9.0 11/12	9.5 10/11	10.0 11/13	20.5
Sigma Dos/El Mundo[p 13]	20 Sep 1995	?	?	40.6 60/63	27.7 38/40	7.4 9/11	7.6 8/9	12.1 16/17	12.9
Imagen & Opinión/ABC[p 14]	14–20 Jul 1995	2,000	?	42.1 59/62	23.0 31/33	8.4 10/11	8.0 8/9	16.4 22/24	19.1
1995 local elections	28 May 1995	N/A	64.8	30.2	33.3	6.3	11.9	12.2	3.1
1994 EP election	12 Jun 1994	N/A	51.9	31.5 48	28.2 41	5.5 7	11.1 13	18.5 26	3.3
1993 general election	6 Jun 1993	N/A	75.4	31.8 49	34.9 48	5.1 6	7.5 8	17.0 24	3.1
1992 regional election	15 Mar 1992	N/A	54.9	46.2 70	27.5 40	8.0 11	6.5 7	6.0 7	18.7

Results

Overall

← Summary of the 19 November 1995 Parliament of Catalonia election results →

Parties and coalitions		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	Convergence and Union (CiU)	1,320,071	40.95	–5.24	60	–10
	Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC–PSOE)	802,252	24.89	–2.66	34	–6
	People's Party (PP)	421,752	13.08	+7.11	17	+10
	Initiative for Catalonia–The Greens (IC–EV)^1	313,092	9.71	+1.98	11	+4
	Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC)	305,867	9.49	+1.53	13	+2
	Ecologist Alternative of Catalonia (AEC)^2	14,651	0.45	–0.08	0	±0
	Ecologist Party of Catalonia–VERDE (PEC–VERDE)	5,639	0.17	–0.12	0	±0
	Revolutionary Workers' Party (POR)	3,886	0.12	+0.03	0	±0
	Workers' Revolutionary Party (PRT)^3	2,221	0.07	–0.32	0	±0
	Citizens of Catalonia–Platform of Independents of Spain (PICC–PIE)	1,580	0.05	New	0	±0
	Civic Platform–New Socialist Party (PC–NPS)^4	869	0.03	–0.05	0	±0
	Spanish Phalanx of the CNSO (FE–JONS)	327	0.01	New	0	±0
	Party of Self-employed of Spain (PAE)	194	0.01	New	0	±0
	Democratic Party of the People (PDEP)	134	0.00	New	0	±0
Blank ballots		31,417	0.97	–0.21
Total		3,223,952			135	±0
Valid votes		3,223,952	99.72	+0.14
Invalid votes		9,007	0.28	–0.14
Votes cast / turnout		3,232,959	63.64	+8.77
Abstentions		1,847,022	36.36	–8.77
Registered voters		5,079,981
Sources[8][9]

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[10][11][12][13][9]

Aftermath

Investiture Jordi Pujol (CDC)
Ballot →		14 December 1995	16 December 1995
Required majority →		68 out of 135	Simple
	Yes • CiU (60)	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[9]

Notes

1. Aggregated data for IC, PCC and AV–MEC 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. "Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 1979". Organic Law No. 4 of 18 December 1979. Official State Gazette (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 March 2017.
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. "Parliament, President and Executive Council of the Generalitat Law of 1982". Law No. 3 of 25 March 1982. Official Journal of the Generalitat of Catalonia (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 March 2017.
4. "General Electoral System Organic Law of 1985". Organic Law No. 5 of 19 June 1985. Official State Gazette (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 December 2016.
5. "Representation of the people Institutional Act". www.juntaelectoralcentral.es. Central Electoral Commission. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
6. "Parliament, President and Executive Council of the Generalitat Law Reform of 1985". Law No. 8 of 24 May 1985. Official Journal of the Generalitat of Catalonia (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 March 2017.
7. "Joaquim Nadal, alcalde de Girona, candidato socialista a la presidencia de la Generalitat". El País. 18 July 1995. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
8. "Electoral results. Parliament of Catalonia election 1995". resultats.dadeselectorals.gencat.cat (in Catalan). Government of Catalonia. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
9. "Eleccions al Parlament de Catalunya (1980 - 2017)". Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 September 2017.
10. "Election Results. Parliament of Catalonia Election 1995. Barcelona". gencat.cat (in Catalan). Generalitat of Catalonia. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
11. "Election Results. Parliament of Catalonia Election 1995. Girona". gencat.cat (in Catalan). Generalitat of Catalonia. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
12. "Election Results. Parliament of Catalonia Election 1995. Lleida". gencat.cat (in Catalan). Generalitat of Catalonia. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
13. "Election Results. Parliament of Catalonia Election 1995. Tarragona". gencat.cat (in Catalan). Generalitat of Catalonia. Retrieved 24 September 2017.