Spanish general election, 1993

On 6 June 1993, the elections were to the Spanish Parliament, the Cortes Generales, the two chambers of the Congreso de los Deputies ( House of Representatives) and Senado (Senate ) consists instead. The Legislative is the politically far more important of the two chambers. With the elections, the fifth legislative session began after the end of Franco's dictatorship.

• 3.1 Initial situation
• 3.2 negotiations

Congreso ( House of Representatives)

Against the current Prime Minister Felipe González of the social democratic PSOE sent the conservative PP as early as 1989, José María Aznar as the leading candidate in the race.

The Christian Democratic CDS lost all 14 seats, so in addition to the PSOE and the PP was only able to collect more than the total in Spain An incoming party in the Congreso, the left-wing socialist IU. Some of the regional parties that were already represented in the previous Parliament, in Congreso, the re-entry succeeded: from Catalonia civil CiU, from the Basque country of bourgeois PNV, the Social Democratic EA and Herri Batasuna (the " political arm " of ETA, whose deputies but as previously boycotted the meetings ), the PAR of Aragon and the Unio Valenciana ( UV) from the region of Valencia. The Catalan Left Party ERC was situated, she had lost in the elections in 1986 to recapture. The 1993 formed from different parties and groups Canarian Coalition Canaria (CC ) could represent four MPs from the start.

Also, due to the disappearance of the CDS reached the PP her best result to date. Strongest party was the fourth time in a row, the PSOE, but after the loss of 16 mandates could not as yet provide purely by its own force the Prime Minister (see below).

Results

• Eligible voters: 31,030,511
• Turnout: 76.44 % ( 6.7 % over 1989)

← Spanish parliamentary elections, June 6, 1993 →

Senado (Senate )

The Senate is composed of directly elected by the people, members and other senators of the parliaments of the individual regions (Spanish: Comunidades Autónomas) are determined together. The direct election is held simultaneously with the elections of the deputies of the Legislative. The number of indirectly elected senators depends on the population of each region (one plus another per 1 million inhabitants).

In the 5th Legislature, the Senate consisted of 256 members: 208 directly elected and 48 delegates of the regional parliaments.

The direct election takes place in constituencies that are consistent with the provinces (except for the Balearic and Canary Islands, where constituency the individual islands ). In the provincial constituencies respectively - regardless of the population - elected four senators, each voter votes awarded three people and each party may nominate three candidates. The supporters of a party will rule in its votes to three candidates, " his" party. This usually means that the three candidates of the strongest party in the province received more votes than the best-placed candidate of the second largest party. In the vast majority of cases, therefore, will provide one for the province's largest party three senators and the second largest party. In the elections in 1993 this was down to the province of Valencia ( where PSOE and PP two seats Senator achieved ) and Melilla ( PSOE and PP each one ) in all provinces of the case. Consequently, there is a form of majority voting.

The composition of the delegates of the regional parliaments senators may change during the legislative change ( if during the term of new regional parliaments are elected ), so only the composition of the Senate is played at the beginning of the legislature in June 1996 in the following:

← composition Senate, June 1993 →

Government formation

Starting position

For the formation of a government after the Spanish Constitution only the Congreso is relevant: it selects the Prime Minister (Article 99), but it is the government responsible ( Art. 108).

The PSOE had lost its absolute majority, however, it had become the largest party again. Before the elections, much greater losses of the PSOE had been expected. Choosing a Prime Minister against the votes of PSOE and IU ( together 177 seats of 350 ) was impossible after the election result. The support of a PP candidate for the post of head of government by these two parties but was unthinkable. Due to these circumstances was clear on election night that the task of forming a government of the PSOE and Felipe González would fall.

The PSOE bodies entrusted González for conducting negotiations with IU and the Catalan and Basque regional parties ( in the Spanish language, " nationalists " ) CiU and PNV. The primary objective should be the formation of a coalition government in order to create a stable majority. Power politics behind it was also the subject CiU and PNV ( which are closer than bourgeois parties on the traditional left-right axis of the PP) as closely as possible to tie in to an approach of the nationalists to this - with potential consequences for later legislatures - to prevent.

On the side of the nationalists, however, on the other hand, due to the policy traditionally applied rather at a distance to the central government in Madrid were considerable reservations. These were in the PNV, which already reigned at that time in the Basque country, together with the PSOE, less pronounced than with the CiU and her Catalan Jordi Pujol Prime Minister. In these parties, therefore, there was skepticism entry into a coalition government with the PSOE, but the toleration of a PSOE government alone has been advocated. For this attitude there were also tangible power-political motives: Because of the difficult economic situation and corruption affairs was to be feared that the new government would not get through the full term ( this assessment should in 1995 be confirmed). For this case, we did not want to be too closely linked to the PSOE on the part of nationalists.

Negotiations

The negotiations with the PSOE and IU the nationalists, who were taken on 16 June, were therefore marked the beginning of political content less than the question of the nature of the cooperation ( or parliamentary coalition toleration ).

They were accompanied by intra-party conflicts: in the PSOE between innovators ( " renovadores " ) and left traditionalists ( " guerristas " according to the Deputy Secretary-General Alfonso Guerra ), predominantly related manifested in the dispute over the post of Group Chairman; in the IU between traditionalists ( " oficialistas " ) and opening for the PSOE towards more open-minded Renew ( " renovadores "); in the CiU between the opponents of a coalition government with the PSOE to the President of the Generalitat Jordi Pujol and supporters around the group leaders in Madrid Miquel Roca.

The most difficult discussions with the IU, due to significant differences in the economic and European policy (especially rejection of the convergence criteria of the Maastricht Treaty by the IU ) designed. In addition to that the IU rejected a coalition with the conservative nationalists of CiU and PNV simultaneous participation. Then, when the PSOE, the IU by the Presidents of the last legislature, the guerrista Martín Toval written agreement of the transfer of an item in the newly elected Executive Committee of the Congreso after the election of the new Chairman, the renovador Carlos Solchaga, broke and instead a candidate of the PNV support, the negotiations were finally failed. On 5 July, the party committee of the IU decided ( in the absence of renovadores, who advocated abstention) that their 18 MPs should vote in the election of the Prime Minister against González.

In the CiU sat down on June 21 by the coalition opponents to Jordi Pujol, by the party decided by a clear majority to make entry into a guided by the PSOE government dependent on the assumption of their complete choice program, a demand that for the PSOE was unacceptable. Topics of further negotiations were the Economic and European Policy ( largely where there was agreement ) as well as the politics of autonomy and in particular the issue of financing the regions, for which the CiU called for a transfer of 15% of income tax on this volume. Without that it would be pre-empted the conclusion of a formal toleration Agreement, the Group Chairman Roca announced on July 2 at in the context of the measures envisaged by the constitution consultations between the king and the representatives of the political parties that the 17 deputies of the CiU would vote for Gonzalez. The reason for this " vote for no consideration " and without programmatic agreement, the CiU led to the co-responsibility for the stability and governability of Spain in a difficult economic situation, the entry into the government at a later date the Legislature has not been excluded from the Catalan nationalists.

At the broadest coalition negotiations the PSOE thrived with the PNV. Again, there was agreement in principle in the economic and European policy, but disagreement on the issue of autonomy policies. The PNV demanded the release of 54 after the Basque Statute of Autonomy of 1979 nor by the central government to the Basque country to be transferred competence matters ( " traspasos pendientes " ) to the Basque Autonomous Community, supported by a resolution adopted with the votes of the PSOE and the PP resolution of the Basque Parliament. Here, too, there was no agreement, however, the consent of the PNV deputies for González was not therefore in question and the PSOE offered the Basque nationalists, the Ministry of Industry (which was particularly attractive for this because of its interest in re-industrialization of the Basque Country ) to. Nevertheless, the Congress rejected the PNV on July 10 - one day after the election González as prime minister - the entry into a coalition government from because so far the lack of programmatic agreement with a large majority, without excluding any such at a later time the legislature.

Election of the Prime Minister

On 9 July 1993, Felipe González with 181 votes in favor (PSOE, CiU, PNV ) at 165 votes against (PP, IU, CC, UV, EA, ERC) and one abstention ( PAR) in the first round for the fourth time elected prime minister since 1982. In the previous debate on the government program González had overlooking CiU and PNV early reform of the financing of the regions towards their " fiscal responsibility " and a announced " common interpretation " of the Basque autonomous status " in the light of the Constitution ," without the actual main demands of the nationalists ( CiU: 15 % of income tax, PNV: 54 traspasos pendientes ) explicitly mention.

After 'No' to the PNV coalition on the following day, the PSOE formed the government alone. In the further course of the legislature there was no occurrence of the nationalists in the government.