2001 Basque regional election

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2001 Basque regional election
← 1998 13 May 2001 2005 →
All 75 seats in the Basque Parliament
38 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered 1,813,356 Red Arrow Down.svg0.5%
Turnout 1,431,996 (79.0%)
Green Arrow Up Darker.svg9.0 pp
  First party Second party Third party
  170x170px 170x170px 170x170px
Leader Juan José Ibarretxe Jaime Mayor Oreja Nicolás Redondo
Party PNV–EA People's Party of the Basque Country Socialist Party of the Basque Country–Basque Country Left
Leader since 31 January 1998 26 February 2001 20 October 1997
Leader's seat Álava Biscay Biscay
Last election 27 seats, 36.2%[lower-alpha 1] 18 seats, 21.1%[lower-alpha 2] 14 seats, 17.4%
Seats won 33 19 13
Seat change Green Arrow Up Darker.svg6 Green Arrow Up Darker.svg1 Red Arrow Down.svg1
Popular vote 604,222 326,933 253,195
Percentage 42.4% 22.9% 17.8%
Swing Green Arrow Up Darker.svg6.2 pp Green Arrow Up Darker.svg1.8 pp Green Arrow Up Darker.svg0.4 pp
  Fourth party Fifth party
  170x170px 170x170px
Leader Arnaldo Otegi Javier Madrazo
Party EH Ezker Batua
Leader since 14 February 1998 14 May 1994
Leader's seat Guipúzcoa Biscay
Last election 14 seats, 17.7% 2 seats, 5.6%
Seats won 7 3
Seat change Red Arrow Down.svg7 Green Arrow Up Darker.svg1
Popular vote 143,139 78,862
Percentage 10.0% 5.5%
Swing Red Arrow Down.svg7.7 pp Red Arrow Down.svg0.1 pp
325px
Constituency results map for the Basque Parliament
Lehendakari before election

Juan José Ibarretxe
EAJ-PNV

 Elected Lehendakari

Juan José Ibarretxe
EAJ-PNV

The 2001 Basque regional election was held on Sunday, 13 May 2001, to elect the 7th Parliament of the Basque Autonomous Community. All 75 seats in the Parliament were up for election.

The PNV–EA alliance, established by the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) and Basque Solidarity (EA) parties which had formed the Basque government since 1998, won a landslide victory with 33 seats and 42.4% of the share, which represented their best combined result in history as well as the best performance for the top voted list in a Basque regional election, outperforming the PNV's own record in 1984. The People's Party (PP), which for this election ran in coalition with Alavese Unity (UA), came second with 22.9% of the share and 19 seats, whereas the Socialist Party of the Basque Country–Basque Country Left (PSE–EE) came in third with 13 seats and 17.8% of the vote. Together, they fell well short of their intended aim of commanding an overall majority in parliament that was able to oust the ruling PNV from power, but also one seat behind the PNV–EA result. The abertzale left Basque Citizens (EH) coalition obtained 7 seats and 10.0% of the vote, in what was seen as a mix of both tactical voting in favour of the PNV–EA list as well as a punishment to the political force because of its leadership's alleged collaboration with the banned separatist group ETA.

Overview

Electoral system

The Basque Parliament was the devolved, unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of the Basque Country, having legislative power in regional matters as defined by the Spanish Constitution of 1978 and the regional Statute of Autonomy, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a lehendakari.[1]

Voting for the Parliament was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age, registered in the Basque Country and in full enjoyment of their political rights. The 75 members of the Basque Parliament were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with an electoral threshold of three percent of valid votes[lower-alpha 3]—which included blank ballots—being applied in each constituency. Seats were allocated to constituencies, corresponding to the provinces of Álava, Biscay and Guipúzcoa, being allocated a fixed number of 25 seats each to provide for an equal representation of the three provinces in parliament as required under the regional statute of autonomy.[1][2] This meant that Álava was allocated the same number of seats as Biscay and Gipuzkoa, despite their populations being, as of 1 January 2001: 285,198, 1,124,445 and 673,328, respectively.[3]

The use of the D'Hondt method might result in a higher effective threshold, depending on the district magnitude.[4]

Election date

The term of the Basque Parliament expired four years after the date of its previous election, unless it was dissolved earlier. The election Decree was required to be issued no later than the twenty-fifth day prior to the date of expiry of parliament and published on the following day in the Official Gazette of the Basque Country, with election day taking place on the fifty-fourth day from publication. The previous election was held on 25 October 1998, which meant that the legislature's term would have expired on 25 October 2002. The election decree was required to be published in the BOPV no later than 1 October 2002, with the election taking place on the fifty-fourth day from publication, setting the latest possible election date for the Parliament on Sunday, 24 November 2002.[1][2]

The lehendakari had the prerogative to dissolve the Basque Parliament at any given time and call a snap election, provided that no motion of no confidence was in process. In the event of an investiture process failing to elect a lehendakari within a sixty-day period from the Parliament re-assembly, the Parliament was to be dissolved and a fresh election called.[5]

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 ten 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 of candidates.[2][6]

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

Candidacy Parties and
alliances		 Leading candidate Ideology Previous result Gov. Ref.
Votes (%) Seats
PNV–EA
List
 50px Juan José Ibarretxe Basque nationalism
Christian democracy
Conservative liberalism		 36.19%[lower-alpha 1] 27 YesY
PP
List
 50px Jaime Mayor Oreja Conservatism
Christian democracy		 21.09%[lower-alpha 2] 18 N
EH
List
 50px Arnaldo Otegi Basque independence
Abertzale left
Revolutionary socialism		 17.66% 14 N
PSE–EE
(PSOE)
List
 50px Nicolás Redondo Social democracy 17.35% 14 N
IU/EB
List
 50px Javier Madrazo Socialism
Communism		 5.60% 2 N

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; 38 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Basque Parliament.

Color key:

      Exit poll

Results

Overall

← Summary of the 13 May 2001 Basque Parliament election results →
350px
Parties and alliances Popular vote Seats
Votes  % ±pp Total +/−
Basque Nationalist Party–Basque Solidarity (PNV–EA)1 604,222 42.38 +6.19 33 +6
People's Party (PP)2 326,933 22.93 +1.84 19 +1
Socialist Party of the Basque Country–Basque Country Left (PSE–EE (PSOE)) 253,195 17.76 +0.41 13 –1
Basque Citizens (EH) 143,139 10.04 –7.62 7 –7
United Left (IU/EB) 78,862 5.53 –0.07 3 +1
Humanist Party (PH) 3,708 0.26 ±0.00 0 ±0
Party of the Democratic Karma (PKD) 2,000 0.14 New 0 ±0
Workers for Democracy Coalition (TD) 1,017 0.07 New 0 ±0
Freedom (Askatasuna) 663 0.05 New 0 ±0
Carlist Party (EKA/PC) 530 0.04 New 0 ±0
Blank ballots 11,508 0.81 –0.58
Total 1,425,777 75 ±0
Valid votes 1,425,777 99.57 +0.10
Invalid votes 6,219 0.43 –0.10
Votes cast / turnout 1,431,996 78.97 +8.98
Abstentions 381,360 21.03 –8.98
Registered voters 1,813,356
Sources[7][8]
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Footnotes:
Popular vote
PNV–EA
  
 42.38%
PP
  
 22.93%
PSE–EE (PSOE)
  
 17.76%
EH
  
 10.04%
IU/EB
  
 5.53%
Others
  
 0.56%
Blank ballots
  
 0.81%
Seats
PNV–EA
  
 44.00%
PP
  
 25.33%
PSE–EE (PSOE)
  
 17.33%
EH
  
 9.33%
IU/EB
  
 4.00%

Distribution by constituency

Constituency PNV–EA PP PSE–EE EH IU/EB
 % S  % S  % S  % S  % S
Álava 33.6 9 32.5 9 20.4 5 6.1 1 5.9 1
Biscay 43.4 12 23.4 6 18.1 4 8.0 2 5.6 1
Guipúzcoa 44.3 12 18.0 4 16.1 4 15.1 4 5.2 1
Total 42.4 33 22.9 19 17.8 13 10.0 7 5.5 3
Sources[7][8]

Aftermath

Investiture
Ballot → 11 July 2001[lower-alpha 6] 12 July 2001[lower-alpha 6]
Required majority → 38 out of 75 Simple
  • • PNV (26)
  • • EA (7) (6 on 12 Jul)
  • • IU/EB (3) (on 12 Jul)
33 / 75
N
35 / 75
YesY
Blank ballots
35 / 75
32 / 75
Absentees
  • • EA (1) (on 12 Jul)
0 / 75
1 / 75
Sources[7]

Notes

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References

Opinion poll sources

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Other

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Ley Orgánica 3/1979, de 18 de diciembre, de Estatuto de Autonomía para el País Vasco, Organic Law No. 3 of 18 December 1979 Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Español)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Ley 5/1990, de 15 de junio, de Elecciones al Parlamento Vasco, Law No. 5 of 15 June 1990 Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Español)
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Ley 7/1981, de 30 de junio, sobre Ley de Gobierno, Law No. 7 of 30 June 1981 Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Español)
  6. ↑ Ley Orgánica 5/1985, de 19 de junio, del Régimen Electoral General, Organic Law No. 5 of 19 June 1985 Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Español)
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.


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