1999 Balearic regional election
Election in the Spanish region of the Balearic Islands
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A regional election was held in the Balearic Islands on 13 June 1999 to elect the 5th Parliament of the autonomous community. All 59 seats in the Parliament were up for election. It was held concurrently with regional elections in twelve other autonomous communities and local elections all across Spain, as well as the 1999 European Parliament election.
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7.5%
6.1 pp | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
13 June 1999
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All 59 seats in the Parliament of the Balearic Islands 30 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Opinion polls | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Registered | 639,398 7.5% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 367,683 (57.5%) 6.1 pp | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Constituency results map for the Parliament of the Balearic Islands | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The government resulting from the previous election proved unstable after Gabriel Cañellas, the regional president since 1983, was forced to resign—over the Sóller case an alleged illegal financing scheme of the regional People's Party (PP)—one month into his fourth term in July 1995,[1][2] being replaced in the post by party colleague Cristòfol Soler.[3] However, growing tensions between Soler and Cañellas prompted the former's resignation in May 1996,[4] resulting in the election of Jaume Matas as new president and in an internal crisis within the regional PP.[5][6]
Overview
Under the 1983 Statute of Autonomy, the Parliament of the Balearic Islands was the unicameral legislature of the homonymous autonomous community, having legislative power in devolved matters, as well as the ability to grant or withdraw confidence from a regional president.[7] The electoral and procedural rules were supplemented by national law provisions.[8]
Date
The term of the Parliament of the Balearic Islands expired four years after the date of its previous ordinary election, with election day being fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years, but a 1998 amendment allowed for regional elections held in May 1995 to be held concurrently with European Parliament elections, provided that they were scheduled for within a four month-timespan. The election decree was required to be issued no later than 54 days before the scheduled election date and published on the following day in the Official Gazette of the Balearic Islands (BOIB).[9] The previous election was held on 28 May 1995, setting the date for election day concurrently with that year's European Parliament election on 13 June 1999.
The Parliament of the Balearic Islands could not be dissolved before the expiration date of parliament, except in the event of an investiture process failing to elect a regional president within a 60-day period from the Parliament's reconvening. In such a case, the chamber was to be automatically dissolved and a snap election called, with elected lawmakers serving the remainder of its original four-year term.[10]
The election to the Parliament of the Balearic Islands was officially called on 20 April 1999 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the BOIB, setting election day for 13 June.[11]
Electoral system
Voting for the Parliament was based on universal suffrage, comprising all Spanish nationals over 18 years of age, registered in the Balearic Islands and with full political rights, provided that they had not been deprived of the right to vote by a final sentence, nor were legally incapacitated.[12]
The Parliament of the Balearic Islands had 59 seats. All were elected in four multi-member constituencies—corresponding to the islands of Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera, each of which was assigned a fixed number of seats—using the D'Hondt method and closed-list proportional voting, with a five percent-threshold of valid votes (including blank ballots) in each constituency.[13]
As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Parliament constituency was entitled the following seats:[14]
| Seats | Constituencies |
|---|---|
| 33 | Mallorca |
| 13 | Menorca |
| 12 | Ibiza |
| 1 | Formentera |
The law did not provide for by-elections to fill vacant seats; instead, any vacancies arising after the proclamation of candidates and during the legislative term were filled by the next candidates on the party lists or, when required, by designated substitutes.[15]
Outgoing parliament
The table below shows the composition of the parliamentary groups in the chamber at the time of the election call.[16]
| Groups | Parties | Legislators | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seats | Total | ||||
| People's Parliamentary Group | PP | 29 | 30 | ||
| AIPF | 1 | ||||
| Socialist Parliamentary Group | PSIB–PSOE | 16 | 16 | ||
| PSM–EN Parliamentary Group | PSM | 5 | 6 | ||
| PSMe | 1 | ||||
| United Left–The Greens Parliamentary Group | EUIB | 3 | 3 | ||
| Mixed Parliamentary Group | UM | 2 | 4 | ||
| EV | 1 | ||||
| INDEP | 1[e] | ||||
Parties and candidates
The electoral law allowed for parties and federations registered in the interior ministry, alliances and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates. Parties and federations intending to form an alliance were required to inform the relevant electoral commission within 10 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.[18]
Below is a list of the main parties and alliances which contested the election:
| Candidacy | Parties and alliances |
Leading candidate | Ideology | Previous result | Gov. | Ref. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vote % | Seats | ||||||||
| PP | List
|
|
Jaume Matas | Conservatism Christian democracy |
44.8% | 30 |  |
[19] [20] | |
| PSIB–PSOE | List
|
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Francesc Antich | Social democracy | 21.3% [a] |
12 |  |
[21] | |
| PSM–EN | List
|
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Pere Sampol | Left-wing nationalism Democratic socialism Environmentalism |
12.0% [c] |
6 | |
||
| Pacte+COP | List
|
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Pilar Costa | Progressivism | 4.1% [b] |
5 | |
[22] [23] | |
| EU–EV | List
|
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Eberhard Grosske | Socialism Communism |
8.6% [d] |
3 | |
||
| UM | List
|
 |
Maria Antònia Munar | Regionalism Liberalism |
5.3% | 2 | |
||
| AIPF | List |
|
José Mayans Serra | Conservatism | 0.3% | 1 | |
||
Campaign
Opinion polls
The tables below list opinion polling results 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.
Voting intention estimates
The table below lists weighted voting intention estimates. Refusals are generally excluded from the party vote percentages, while question wording and the treatment of "don't know" responses and those not intending to vote may vary between polling organisations. When available, seat projections determined by the polling organisations are displayed below (or in place of) the percentages in a smaller font; 30 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Parliament of the Balearic Islands.
| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | Turnout |  |
 |
PSM |  |
UM | EVIB | AIPF | Pacte | COP | Lead |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 regional election | 13 Jun 1999 | N/a | 57.5 | 44.0 28 |
22.0 13 |
11.7 5 |
5.4 3 |
7.3 3 |
[i] | 0.3 0 |
4.4 6 |
0.4 1 |
22.0 |
| Eco Consulting/ABC[p 1] | 24 May–2 Jun 1999 | ? | ? | 40.8 27/28 |
16.8 10/11 |
15.1 8 |
7.7 3/4 |
7.5 3 |
[i] | 0.3 0/1 |
5.0 5/6 |
– | 24.0 |
| Demoscopia/El País[p 2] | 26 May–1 Jun 1999 | ? | 60 | 46.8 29/30 |
23.6 14/15 |
9.5 5 |
6.5 2 |
5.8 2 |
[i] | [j] | 4.7 6 |
– | 23.2 |
| CIS[p 3][p 4][p 5] | 3–21 May 1999 | 799 | 63.3 | 46.4 29/30 |
17.7 11/12 |
14.5 6/7 |
7.3 3 |
7.1 2/3 |
[i] | [j] | 4.1 6 |
– | 28.7 |
| Sigma Dos/El Mundo[p 6][p 7] | 14–19 May 1999 | 1,200 | ? | 46.8 29/31 |
18.5 11/12 |
12.3 5/6 |
10.9 3/4 |
5.0 1/2 |
[i] | [j] | 5.0 6/7 |
– | 28.3 |
| 1996 general election | 3 Mar 1996 | N/a | 71.6 | 45.1 | 36.0 | 5.7 | 7.7 | 1.6 | 2.2 | – | – | – | 9.1 |
| 1995 regional election | 28 May 1995 | N/a | 63.6 | 44.8 30 |
24.0 16 |
12.2 6 |
6.6 3 |
5.3 2 |
3.1 1 |
0.3 1 |
– | – | 20.8 |
Results
Overall
 | ||||||
| Parties and alliances | Popular vote | Seats | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | ±pp | Total | +/− | ||
| People's Party (PP) | 160,545 | 44.01 | −0.76 | 28 | −2 | |
| Socialist Party of the Balearic Islands (PSIB–PSOE)1 | 80,327 | 22.02 | +0.77 | 13 | +1 | |
| PSM–Nationalist Agreement (PSM–EN) | 42,748 | 11.72 | −0.33 | 5 | −1 | |
| Socialist Party of Menorca–Nationalist Agreement (PSM–EN) | 3,239 | 0.89 | −0.18 | 1 | ±0 | |
| Majorcan Union (UM) | 26,682 | 7.31 | +1.99 | 3 | +1 | |
| United Left–The Greens (EU–EV) | 19,793 | 5.43 | −3.14 | 3 | ±0 | |
| Left of Menorca–United Left (EM–EU)3 | 2,390 | 0.66 | −0.12 | 1 | ±0 | |
| Progressive Pact+Coalition of Progressive Organizations (Pacte+COP) | 17,697 | 4.85 | +0.77 | 7 | +2 | |
| Coalition of Progressive Organizations (COP)5 | 1,536 | 0.42 | +0.11 | 1 | +1 | |
| Independent Social Group (ASI) | 2,368 | 0.65 | +0.27 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Balearic People's Coalition–Balearic People's Union (CPB–UPB) | 2,219 | 0.61 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Independent Popular Council of Formentera (AIPF) | 1,183 | 0.32 | ±0.00 | 0 | −1 | |
| Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) | 1,106 | 0.30 | −0.18 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Pityusic Civic Union (UCP) | 954 | 0.26 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Alternative Left of the Balearic Islands (EAIB) | 675 | 0.19 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| The Greens–Green Group (LV–GV) | 643 | 0.18 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Social Democrats for Progress (SDP) | 641 | 0.18 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Workers for Democracy Coalition (TD)6 | 473 | 0.13 | +0.04 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Blank ballots | 6,777 | 1.86 | +0.50 | |||
| Total | 364,831 | 59 | ±0 | |||
| Valid votes | 364,831 | 99.22 | −0.15 | |||
| Invalid votes | 2,852 | 0.78 | +0.15 | |||
| Votes cast / turnout | 367,683 | 57.50 | −6.06 | |||
| Abstentions | 271,715 | 42.50 | +6.06 | |||
| Registered voters | 639,398 | |||||
| Sources[16][26][27] | ||||||
Footnotes:
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Distribution by constituency
Aftermath
Notes
- In Ibiza and Formentera.
- In Ibiza.
- Denotes a main invitee attending the event.