1983 Riojan regional election
8 May 1983
All 35 seats in the General Deputation of La Rioja
18 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered194,994
Turnout136,964 (70.2%)
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader José María de Miguel Joaquín Espert Luis J. Rodríguez Moroy
Party PSOE AP–PDP–PL PR+
Leader since 5 March 1983 1983 6 December 1982
Seats won 18 15 2
Popular vote 63,848 54,121 10,102
Percentage 47.2% 40.0% 7.5%
President before election

Antonio Rodríguez Basulto
PSOE

 Elected President

José María de Miguel
PSOE

The 1983 Riojan regional election was held on Sunday, 8 May 1983, to elect the 1st General Deputation of the autonomous community of La Rioja. All 35 seats in the General Deputation were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in twelve other autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain.

La Rioja became an autonomous community on July 1982 after the coming into force of its Statute of Autonomy.[1] Previous to the 1982 Spanish general election the new regional government was controlled by the Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) after most of its members had split up from the Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD).[2] After losing their parliamentary seats as a result of the general election, many members including the regional president Luis Javier Rodríguez Moroy were forced to stand down over compatibility issues.[3] Failure in negotiations for electing Rodríguez Moroy's successor until the 1983 local and regional elections delayed a new appointment until January 1983,[4][5][6] when an agreement between the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and Rodríguez Moroy's newly created Progressive Riojan Party (PRP) resulted in PSOE's Antonio Rodríguez Basulto being provisionally elected to the post.[7][8]

The PSOE secured an absolute majority of seats in the regional election, allowing their candidate José María de Miguel to be elected as president of a majority government,[9][10] the only time to date in which the party has achieved this in a Riojan regional election.[11] The People's Coalition, an electoral alliance led by the People's Alliance (AP) and including the People's Democratic Party (PDP) and the Liberal Union (UL) emerged as the second largest grouping in the General Deputation, while the PRP came third by securing 7.5% of the share and two seats. Neither the Communist Party of Spain (PCE) nor the Democratic and Social Centre (CDS), the only other parties standing in the election, were able to meet the electoral threshold for securing parliamentary representation.[12]

Overview

Electoral system

The General Deputation of La Rioja was the devolved, unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of La Rioja, having legislative power in regional matters as defined by the Spanish Constitution and the Riojan Statute of Autonomy, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a regional president.[13]

Transitory Provision Fifth of the Statute established a specific electoral procedure for the first election to the General Deputation of La Rioja, to be supplemented by the provisions within Royal Decree-Law 20/1977, of 18 March, and its related regulations. Voting for the General Deputation was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age, registered in La Rioja and in full enjoyment of their political rights. The 35 members of the General Deputation of La Rioja 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 regionally.[13][14]

Election date

The Provisional Deputation of La Rioja, in agreement with the Government of Spain, was required to call an election to the General Deputation of La Rioja within from 1 February to 31 May 1983. In the event of an investiture process failing to elect a regional President within a two-month period from the first ballot, the General Deputation was to be automatically dissolved and a snap election called, with elected deputies merely serving out what remained of their four-year terms.[13]

Parliamentary composition

The first election to the General Deputation of La Rioja was officially called on 10 March 1983, after the publication of the election decree in the Official State Gazette, with the mandate of the provisional Deputation ending on 8 May.[15] The table below shows the composition of the parliamentary groups in the Provisional Deputation at the time of its expiry.[4][5][16]

Parliamentary composition in May 1983
Groups Parties Legislators
Seats Total
Progressive Parliamentary Group PRP 10 10
People's Parliamentary Group AP 8 8
Socialist Parliamentary Group PSOE 8 8
Centrist Parliamentary Group UCD 6 6

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 fifteen days of the election call, whereas groupings of electors needed to secure the signature of at least one-thousandth of the electorate in the constituencies for which they sought election—with a compulsory minimum of 500 signatures—disallowing electors from signing for more than one list of candidates.[14]

Below is a list of the main parties and electoral alliances which contested the election:

Candidacy Parties and
alliances		 Leading candidate Ideology Gov. Ref.
PSOE José María de Miguel Social democracy check [17]
[18]
[19]
AP–PDP–UL Joaquín Espert Conservatism
Christian democracy		 ☒ [19]
PRP Luis Javier Rodríguez Moroy Regionalism
Progressivism		 ☒ [19]

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; 18 seats were required for an absolute majority in the General Deputation of La Rioja.

Results

Summary of the 8 May 1983 General Deputation of La Rioja election results →
Parties and alliances Popular vote Seats
Votes  % ±pp Total +/−
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) 63,84847.17n/a 18n/a
People's Coalition (AP–PDP–UL) 54,12139.98n/a 15n/a
Progressive Riojan Party (PRP) 10,1027.46n/a 2n/a
Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) 3,2642.41n/a 0n/a
Communist Party of Spain (PCE) 2,9342.17n/a 0n/a
Blank ballots 1,0900.81n/a
Total 135,359 35n/a
Valid votes 135,35998.83n/a
Invalid votes 1,6051.17n/a
Votes cast / turnout 136,96470.24n/a
Abstentions 58,03029.76n/a
Registered voters 194,994
Sources[20][21]
Popular vote
PSOE
 
 47.17%
AP–PDP–UL
 
 39.98%
PRP
 
 7.46%
CDS
 
 2.41%
PCE
 
 2.17%
Blank ballots
 
 0.81%
Seats
PSOE
 
 51.43%
AP–PDP–UL
 
 42.86%
PRP
 
 5.71%

Aftermath

Investiture
José María de Miguel (PSOE)
Ballot → 28 May 1983
Required majority → 18 out of 35 check
Yes
18 / 35
No
15 / 35
Abstentions
2 / 35
Absentees
0 / 35
Sources[9][21]

References

Opinion poll sources
  1. ↑ "El PSOE se despega del partido de Fraga, con el que empató en 1982". El País (in Spanish). 1 May 1983.
  2. ↑ "Ficha técnica de los sondeos". El País (in Spanish). 1 May 1983.
  3. ↑ Fernández Ferrero, Miguel Ángel (1997). Procesos electorales elecciones autonómicas y municipales en La Rioja, 1979-1995. Universidad de La Rioja. p. 64.
Other
  1. ↑ "Valencia, La Rioja y Murcia estrenaron ayer autonomía". El País (in Spanish). 11 July 1982. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  2. ↑ "El CDS controla totalmente el Gobierno autónomo de la Rioja". El País (in Spanish). 3 September 1982. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  3. ↑ "El presidente autonómico dimitirá después de las elecciones". El País (in Spanish). 28 October 1982. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  4. 1 2 "Negociaciones entre los partidos mayoritarios para elegir nuevo presidente regional". El País (in Spanish). 10 November 1982. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  5. 1 2 "Enfrentamiento entre los partidos de la Rioja sobre la sucesión de Rodríguez Moroy". El País (in Spanish). 4 December 1982. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  6. ↑ "Rodríguez Moroy no dimite por falta de acuerdo sobre su sustituto". El País (in Spanish). 13 December 1982. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  7. ↑ "El PSOE de la Rioja, dispuesto a ocupar la presidencia del Gobierno y parlamento autónomos". El País (in Spanish). 27 December 1982. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  8. ↑ "Rodríguez Basulto, nuevo presidente de la Rioja". El País (in Spanish). 25 January 1983. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  9. 1 2 "José María de Miguel, investido presidente autónomo de la Rioja". El País (in Spanish). 30 May 1983. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  10. ↑ "Seis socialistas y cuatro independientes forman el nuevo Gobierno de la Rioja". El País (in Spanish). 8 June 1983. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  11. ↑ ""La disciplina y la lealtad han sustituido en la política al mérito y la capacidad"". Rioja2 (in Spanish). 14 July 2010. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  12. ↑ "Superada la etapa de inestabilidad". El País (in Spanish). 10 May 1983. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  13. 1 2 3 "Ley Orgánica 3/1982, de 9 de junio, de Estatuto de Autonomía de La Rioja". Organic Law No. 3 of 9 June 1982 (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 September 2017.
  14. 1 2 "Real Decreto-ley 20/1977, de 18 de marzo, sobre Normas Electorales". Royal Decree-Law No. 20 of 18 March 1977 (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  15. ↑ "Real Decreto 452/1983, de 9 de marzo, por el que se convocan elecciones a la Diputación General de La Rioja y se fija fecha de celebración de las mismas" (PDF). Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish) (59): 7046–7047. 10 March 1983. ISSN 0212-033X.
  16. ↑ "Etapa provisional". www.parlamento-larioja.org. Parliament of La Rioja. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  17. ↑ "La mayoría del PSOE, contra la reelección del presidente autonómico socialista". El País (in Spanish). 27 February 1983. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  18. ↑ "EL PSOE retira de sus listas al actual presidente regional". El País (in Spanish). 27 March 1983. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  19. 1 2 3 "Marginados el presidente y sus consejeros". El País (in Spanish). 16 April 1983. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  20. ↑ "General Deputation of La Rioja election results, 8 May 1983" (PDF). www.juntaelectoralcentral.es (in Spanish). Electoral Commission of La Rioja. 28 October 1983. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  21. 1 2 "Elecciones al Parlamento de La Rioja (1983 - 2019)". Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 September 2017.
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