1997 Galician regional election

1997 Galician regional election

19 October 1997
All 75 seats in the Parliament of Galicia 38 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	2,565,369 11.9%
Turnout	1,603,731 (62.5%) 1.7 pp
First party Second party Third party   170x170px 170x170px 170x170px Leader Manuel Fraga Xosé Manuel Beiras Abel Caballero Party PP BNG PSdeG–PSOE/ EU–EG/OV Leader since 1989 1982 26 October 1996 Leader's seat Lugo La Coruña Pontevedra Last election 43 seats, 52.1% 13 seats, 18.4% 19 seats, 27.1% Seats won 42 18 15 Seat change 1 5 4 Popular vote 832,751 395,435 310,508 Percentage 52.2% 24.8% 19.5% Swing 0.1 pp 6.4 pp 7.6 pp
350px Constituency results map for the Parliament of Galicia
President before election Manuel Fraga PP Elected President Manuel Fraga PP

The 1997 Galician regional election was held on Sunday, 19 October 1997, to elect the 5th Parliament of the autonomous community of Galicia. All 75 seats in the Parliament were up for election.

Overview

Electoral system

The Parliament of Galicia was the devolved, unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Galicia, 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.

Voting for the Parliament was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age, registered in Galicia and in full enjoyment of their political rights. The 75 members of the Parliament of Galicia 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 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 La Coruña, Lugo, Orense and Pontevedra, with each being allocated an initial minimum of 10 seats and the remaining 35 being distributed in proportion to their populations.

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

Election date

The term of the Parliament of Galicia 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 Journal of Galicia (DOG), with election day taking place between the fifty-fourth and the sixtieth day from publication. The previous election was held on 17 October 1993, which meant that the legislature's term would have expired on 17 October 1997. The election decree was required to be published in the DOG no later than 23 September 1997, with the election taking place up to the sixtieth day from publication, setting the latest possible election date for the Parliament on Saturday, 22 November 1997.

The president had the prerogative to dissolve the Parliament of Galicia and call a snap election, provided that it did not occur before one year had elapsed since a previous dissolution 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.

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.

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
	PP	List People's Party (PP)	50px	Manuel Fraga	Conservatism Christian democracy	52.14%	43	Y
	PSdeG– PSOE/EU– EG/OV	List Socialists' Party of Galicia (PSdeG–PSOE) United Left–Galician Left (EU–EG) The Greens of Galicia (OVG)	50px	Abel Caballero	Social democracy	27.07%	19	N
	BNG	List Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG) – Galician People's Union (UPG) – Socialist Collective (CS) – Galician Nationalist Party–Galicianist Party (PNG–PG) – Nationalist Left (EN) – Inzar (Inzar) – Galician Unity (UG)	50px	Xosé Manuel Beiras	Galician nationalism Left-wing nationalism Socialism	18.38%	13	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; 38 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Parliament of Galicia.

Color key:

      Poll conducted after legal ban on opinion polls

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Turnout	PP	PSdeG–PSOE	BNG	IU	Lead
1997 regional election	19 Oct 1997	N/A	62.5	52.2 42	19.5 15	24.8 18	0.9 0	27.4
PP	17 Oct 1997	?	?	? 42/43	? 14/15	? 18	–	?
Sigma Dos/El Mundo	6–9 Oct 1997	1,000	?	50.0– 52.0 40/42	22.0– 24.0 16/19	20.0– 22.0 15/18	2.0– 3.0 0	28.0
Demoscopia/El País	3–8 Oct 1997	2,500	63–64	51.5 41/42	23.1 16/18	22.8 16/18	1.1 0	28.4
PP	7 Oct 1997	?	?	52.3 41/42	24.5 17/19	20.5 15/16	–	27.8
Opina/La Vanguardia	3–4 Oct 1997	1,000	65	50.7 39/40	25.1 21/22	21.5 14/15	1.2 0	25.6
PP	29 Sep 1997	?	?	? 40/41	? 18/19	? 16/17	–	?
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia	28 Sep 1997	?	?	? 39	? 19	? 17	–	?
DECO/PSOE	23–28 Sep 1997	2,265	?	46.1 37/38	31.6 23/25	19.3 13/14	–	14.5
CIS	19–26 Sep 1997	2,196	69.3	51.5 41/42	25.2 19/20	20.5 14	1.4 0	26.3
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia	26 Jul 1997	2,904	?	50.0 40	24.0 20	19.0 15	–	26.0
Infortécnica	20 Jun–8 Jul 1997	3,091	?	? 37/41	? 19/23	? 15/16	–	?
DECO/PSOE	10–20 Apr 1997	2,000	?	? 36/37	? 25/26	? 12/13	–	?
Obradoiro de Socioloxía/PP	1–4 Apr 1997	1,400	?	48.0 40	20.0 18	20.0 17	–	28.0
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia	22 Nov 1996	3,200	?	? 37	? 23	? 15	–	?
1996 general election	3 Mar 1996	N/A	71.4	48.3 (40)	33.5 (27)	12.9 (8)	3.6 (0)	14.8
1995 local elections	28 May 1995	N/A	67.9	47.9	26.7	13.1	2.8	21.2
1994 EP election	12 Jun 1994	N/A	50.3	54.6 (47)	24.8 (19)	11.4 (7)	5.1 (2)	29.8
1993 regional election	17 Oct 1993	N/A	64.2	52.1 43	23.7 19	18.4 13	3.0 0	28.4

Results

Overall

← Summary of the 19 October 1997 Parliament of Galicia election results →

350px
Parties and alliances		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	People's Party (PP)	832,751	52.19	+0.05	42	–1
	Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG)	395,435	24.78	+6.40	18	+5
	Socialists' Party–Galician Left–The Greens (PSdeG–PSOE/EU–EG/Os Verdes)1	310,508	19.46	–7.61	15	–4
	United Left (IU)	13,964	0.88	New	0	±0
	Galician Democracy (DG)	11,538	0.72	New	0	±0
	Galician People's Front (FPG)	3,395	0.21	New	0	±0
	Humanist Party (PH)	2,543	0.16	–0.01	0	±0
	Party of Self-employed and Professionals (AUTONOMO)	2,136	0.13	New	0	±0
	Social Democratic Party of Law (SDD)	1,129	0.07	New	0	±0
	The Move (Movida)	939	0.06	New	0	±0
	Galician Phalanx of the CNSO (FG–JONS)	392	0.02	New	0	±0
Blank ballots		20,937	1.31	+0.40
Total		1,595,667			75	±0
Valid votes		1,595,667	99.50	–0.02
Invalid votes		8,064	0.50	+0.02
Votes cast / turnout		1,603,731	62.51	–1.68
Abstentions		961,638	37.49	+1.68
Registered voters		2,565,369
Sources
Footnotes: 1 Socialists' Party–Galician Left–The Greens results are compared to the combined totals of the Socialists' Party of Galicia, United Left–Galician Unity and The Greens of Galicia in the 1993 election.

Popular vote
PP			52.19%
BNG			24.78%
PSdeG/EG/OV			19.46%
Others			2.26%
Blank ballots			1.31%

Seats
PP			56.00%
BNG			24.00%
PSdeG/EG/OV			20.00%

Distribution by constituency

Constituency	PP		BNG		PSdeG
	%	S	%	S	%	S
La Coruña	49.8	13	26.3	6	20.1	5
Lugo	57.7	9	19.8	3	18.9	3
Orense	56.7	8	21.3	3	19.6	3
Pontevedra	50.8	12	26.7	6	18.8	4
Total	52.2	42	24.8	18	19.5	15
Sources

Aftermath

Government formation

Investiture Manuel Fraga (PP)
Ballot →		3 December 1997
Required majority →		38 out of 75 Y
	Yes • PP (42)	42 / 75
	No • BNG (18) • PSdeG (13) • EU–EG (2)	33 / 75
	Abstentions	0 / 75
	Absentees	0 / 75
Sources

2001 motion of no confidence

Motion of no confidence Xosé Manuel Beiras (BNG)
Ballot →		29 January 2001
Required majority →		38 out of 75 N
	Yes • BNG (18)	18 / 75
	No • PP (41)	41 / 75
	Abstentions • PSdeG (13) • EU–EG (2)	15 / 75
	Absentees • PP (1)	0 / 75
Sources

References

Opinion poll sources

Other