ELECTIONS HELD IN 1989
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| Chamber: | |
| Senado | |
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| 29 October 1989 | |
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| Elections were held for all the elective seats in Parliament following premature dissolution of this body on 1 September 1989. General elections had previously been held in June 1986. | |
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| On 1 September 1989, Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez Marquez (Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party – PSOE) announced the dissolution of the Cortes and the date of the general elections, which were not normally due until June 1990. In doing so, he cited the need to prepare the country for the unified European market coming into effect in 1992.
The main challenge to the ruling PSOE came from the conservative Popular Party (PP) , whose candidate for Prime Minister was Mr. José Maria Aznar. Another right-wing party, the Democratic and Social Centre (CDS), was led by former Prime Minister Adolfo Suarez. The campaign officially opened on 10 October and was generally regarded as dull. Debate centered on economic issues, military service and, by the opposition, on the character of Mr. Gonzalez and government use of State-run television. Altogether more than 70 parties and coalitions fielded candidates, but only four of them throughout the nation. Polling results left PSOE with a slim majority in the Congress of Deputies, as its share of the popular vote dropped by some 5%; the Socialists also incurred losses in the Senate. Due to its lack of unity, the right-wing opposition failed to capitalize on the congressional seats. The United Left (IU) coalition, however, raised its total from seven to 18. The PSOE’s edge was lost in December, when regional courts invalidated results in three constituencies and rescheduled the polling. Nevertheless, on 5 December, the Congress of Deputies confirmed Mr. Gonzalez as Prime Minister for a third successive term, as the Socialists had the backing of independents and minor parties represented in the Cortes. Mr. Gonzalez and his unchanged Council of Ministers were sworn in two days later. |
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STATISTICS
| Round no 1 (29 October 1989): Elections results | |
| Number of registered electors | 29,460,150 |
| Voters | 20,597,629 (69.9%) |
| Blank or invalid ballot papers | 284,160 |
| Valid votes | 20,313,469 |
| Round no 1: Distribution of votes | |||
| Political Group | Votes* | %* | |
| Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) | 8,088,072 | 39.55 | |
| Popular Party (PP) | 5,282,877 | 25.83 | |
| United Left (IU) | 1,851,080 | 9.05 | |
| Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) | 1,617,104 | 7.91 | |
| Convergence and Union (CiU) | 1,030,476 | 5.04 | |
| National Basque Party (PNV) | 253,769 | 1.24 | |
| Herri Batasuna | 216,822 | 1.06 | |
| Andalusian Party | 212,807 | 1.04 | |
| Valencian Union | 144,655 | 0.71 | |
| Basque Solidarity | 136,595 | 0.67 | |
| Basque Left | 105,217 | 0.51 | |
| Aragonese Regional Party | 71,628 | 0.35 | |
| Canaries Independent Group | 64,989 | 0.33 | |
| Comments: | |
| * These results refer to both chambers together | |
| Round no 1: Distribution of seats | |||
| Political Group | Total | ||
| Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) | 128 | ||
| Popular Party (PP) | 89 | ||
| United Left (IU) | 1 | ||
| Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) | 8 | ||
| Convergence and Union (CiU) | 11 | ||
| National Basque Party (PNV) | 6 | ||
| Herri Batasuna | 3 | ||
| Andalusian Party | 0 | ||
| Valencian Union | 0 | ||
| Basque Solidarity | 1 | ||
| Basque Left | 0 | ||
| Aragonese Regional Party | 1 | ||
| Canaries Independent Group | 1 | ||
| Others | 2 | ||
| Distribution of seats according to sex: | |
| Men: | 223 |
| Women: | 28 |
Copyright © 1989 Inter-Parliamentary Union