ELECTIONS HELD IN 1994
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| Chamber: | |
| Cámara dos Deputados | |
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| 3 October 1994 | |
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| Elections were held for all the seats in the Chamber of Deputies on the normal expiry of the members’ term of office. | |
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| The 1994 congressional elections were held concurrently with those for President of the Republic, 27 state governors and more than 1,000 state legislators. Second-round runoffs were scheduled for 15 November in cases of no outright winner.
In the running to succeed incumbent President Itamar Franco, who was constitutionally barred form re-election, were eight candidates: Mr. Fernando Henrique Cardoso of the Brazilian Social Democratic Party (PSDB), also supported by a centre-right coalition of three parties; Mr. Luis Iñacio da Silva of the Workers’ Party (PT), also backed by the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB); Mr. Orestes Quercia of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB – the largest party in the outgoing Congress); and five others. Campaign issues focused primarily on the country’s economy, the ever-widening gap between Brazil’s rich and poor, urban violence/crime, and corruption in official circles. While Mr. da Silva led early opinion polls, Mr. Cardoso gained considerable ground with the introduction on 1 July of the “plan real” anti-inflationary measure of which he was the architect as Finance Minister. Formulated to stabilise the economy, the plan led to its prompt growth and a rapid decline in inflation. On a polling day marked by a relatively high abstention rate despite compulsory voting, Mr. Cardoso – a centrist who had been unofficially backed by the outgoing Franco administration – won an outright majority with 54.3% of the vote: twice the total of the left-of-centre Mr. da Silva. Conversely, the left-wing parties emerged victorious in Congress, capturing 16% of the seats in the expanded Chamber of Deputies and 8% in the Senate. In his victory speech on 6 October, President-elect Cardoso stressed above all the need for social development and justice. He was inaugurated on 1 January 1995 and the new Cabinet took office the next day. |
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STATISTICS
| Round no 1 (3 October 1994): Elections results | |
| Number of registered electors | 94,782,803 |
| Voters | 77,950,257 (82.24%) |
| Blank or invalid ballot papers | 14,636,452 |
| Valid votes | 63,313,805 |
| Round no 1: Distribution of seats | |||
| Political Group | Total | ||
| Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB) | 107 | ||
| Liberal Front Party (PFL) | 89 | ||
| Brazilian Social Democratic Party (PSDB) | 62 | ||
| Progressive Reform Party (PPR) | 52 | ||
| Workers’ Party (PT) | 52 | ||
| Progressive Party (PP) | 37 | ||
| Democratic Labour Party (PDT) | 34 | ||
| Brazilian Labour Party (PTB) | 28 | ||
| Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB) | 14 | ||
| Liberal Party (PL) | 13 | ||
| Communist Party (PC) | 10 | ||
| Others | 15 | ||
| Comments: | |
| 10 seats added since previous elections. | |
| Distribution of seats according to sex: | |
| Men: | 481 |
| Women: | 32 |
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| Businessmen | 166 | |
| Lawyers | 102 | |
| Doctors | 56 | |
| Engineers | 37 | |
| Economists | 24 | |
| Teachers | 23 | |
| Journalists | 14 | |
| Public servants | 13 | |
| Administrators | 10 | |
| Bankers | 8 | |
| Clergy | 7 | |
| Manual workers | 5 | |
| Broadcasters | 5 | |
| Dentists | 4 | |
| Accountants | 4 | |
| Sociologists | 4 | |
| Students | 4 | |
| Others | 40 | |
Copyright © 1994 Inter-Parliamentary Union