A regional election was held in the Canary Islands on 13 June 1999 to elect the 5th Parliament of the autonomous community. All 60 seats in the Parliament were up for election. It was held concurrently with regional elections in twelve other autonomous communities and local elections all across Spain, as well as the 1999 European Parliament election.

Overview Under the 1982 Statute of Autonomy, the Parliament of the Canary Islands was the unicameral legislature of the homonymous autonomous community, having legislative power in devolved matters, as well as the ability to grant or withdraw confidence from a regional president.. The electoral and procedural rules were supplemented by national law provisions. ( by ).

Date The term of the Parliament of the Canary Islands expired four years after the date of its previous ordinary election, with election day being fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years, but a 1998 amendment allowed for regional elections held in May 1995 to be held concurrently with European Parliament elections, provided that they were scheduled for within a four month-timespan. The election decree was required to be issued no later than 54 days before the scheduled election date and published on the following day in the Official Gazette of the Canaries (BOC).; ( by ; by ). The previous election was held on 28 May 1995, setting the date for election day concurrently with that year's European Parliament election on 13 June 1999.

The Parliament of the Canary Islands could not be dissolved before the expiration date of parliament, except in the event of an investiture process failing to elect a regional president within a two-month period from the first ballot. In such a case, the Parliament was to be automatically dissolved and a snap election called, with elected lawmakers serving the remainder of its original four-year term..

The election to the Parliament of the Canary Islands was officially called on 20 April 1999 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the BOC, setting election day for 13 June..

Electoral system Voting for the Parliament was based on universal suffrage, comprising all Spanish nationals over 18 years of age, registered in the Canary Islands and with full political rights, provided that they had not been deprived of the right to vote by a final sentence, nor were legally incapacitated.; ( by ).

The Parliament of the Canary Islands had a minimum of 50 and a maximum of 70 seats, with electoral provisions fixing its size at 60. All were elected in seven multi-member constituencies—corresponding to the islands of El Hierro, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, La Gomera, La Palma, Lanzarote and Tenerife, each of which was assigned a fixed number of seats—using the D'Hondt method and closed-list proportional voting, with a 30 percent-threshold of valid votes (including blank ballots) in each constituency or six percent regionally..

As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Parliament constituency was entitled the following seats:; .

Seats Constituencies 15 Gran Canaria, Tenerife 8 La Palma, Lanzarote 7 Fuerteventura 4 La Gomera 3 El Hierro

The law did not provide for by-elections to fill vacant seats; instead, any vacancies arising after the proclamation of candidates and during the legislative term were filled by the next candidates on the party lists or, when required, by designated substitutes. ( by ).

Outgoing parliament The table below shows the composition of the parliamentary groups in the chamber at the time of the election call.

+ Parliamentary composition in April 1999 Groups Parties Legislators Seats Total Canarian Coalition Parliamentary Group (CC) AIC 12 18 CCN 4 ICAN 1 AM 1 People's Parliamentary Group PP 18 18 Canarian Socialist Parliamentary Group PSOE 16 16 Mixed Parliamentary Group PIL 3 8 IF 1 AHI 1 PNC 1 INDEP 2

Parties and candidates The electoral law allowed for parties and federations registered in the interior ministry, alliances and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates. Parties and federations intending to form an alliance were required to inform the relevant electoral commission within 10 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. ( by ).

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

Candidacy Parties andalliances Candidate Ideology Previous result Vote % Seats CC Román Rodríguez RegionalismCanarian nationalismCentrism 32.8% PP José Miguel Bravo de Laguna ConservatismChristian democracy 31.1% PSOE Jerónimo Saavedra Social democracy 23.1% FNC Juan Manuel García Ramos Canarian nationalism 3.0% AHI Belén Allende InsularismCanarian nationalismCentrism 0.3%

Opinion polls The tables below list opinion polling results 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.

Voting intention estimates The table below lists weighted voting intention estimates. Refusals are generally excluded from the party vote percentages, while question wording and the treatment of "don't know" responses and those not intending to vote may vary between polling organisations. When available, seat projections determined by the polling organisations are displayed below (or in place of) the percentages in a smaller font; 31 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Parliament of the Canary Islands.

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Turnout FNC Lead 1999 regional election 13 Jun 1999 60.8 36.9 27.1 24.0 2.7 4.8 0.3 9.8 Eco Consulting/ABC 24 May–2 Jun 1999?? 37.1 31.0 20.1 – 3.3 0.3 6.1 Demoscopia/El País 26 May–1 Jun 1999? 63 35.2 33.7 22.3 4.7 1.0 0.3 1.5 CIS 3–23 May 1999 1,599 64.0 36.5 32.1 21.1 3.6 4.3 0.3 4.4 Sigma Dos/El Mundo 17–20 May 1999 1,000? 31.9 31.6 23.4 5.3 3.3? 0.3 1996 general election 3 Mar 1996 69.1 25.1 37.6 30.0 5.5 – 7.6 1995 regional election 28 May 1995 64.2 32.8 31.1 23.1 5.1 3.0 0.3 1.7

Voting preferences The table below lists raw, unweighted voting preferences.

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size FNC Lead 1999 regional election 13 Jun 1999 22.8 16.7 14.8 1.6 2.9 0.2 38.2 6.1 CIS 3–23 May 1999 1,599 23.6 16.6 12.4 2.7 1.7 0.1 31.7 7.4 7.0 1996 general election 3 Mar 1996 17.5 26.2 20.7 3.8 – 30.2 5.5 1995 regional election 28 May 1995 21.0 19.8 14.7 3.3 1.9 0.2 35.0 1.2

Victory preferences The table below lists opinion polling on the victory preferences for each party in the event of a regional election taking place.

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size FNC Other/None Lead CIS 3–23 May 1999 1,599 27.8 19.6 15.6 3.1 1.8 0.1 1.7 30.4 8.2

Victory likelihood The table below lists opinion polling on the perceived likelihood of victory for each party in the event of a regional election taking place.

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size FNC Other/None Lead CIS 3–23 May 1999 1,599 24.3 30.2 6.3 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.6 38.1 5.9

Preferred President The table below lists opinion polling on leader preferences to become president of the Canary Islands.

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Other/None/Notcare Lead CIS 3–23 May 1999 1,599 6.1 11.2 18.4 0.6 2.6 7.9 53.1 7.2

Results Overall + ← Summary of the 13 June 1999 Parliament of the Canary Islands election results → Parties and alliances Popular vote Seats Votes % ±pp Total +/− Canarian Coalition (CC) 306,658 36.93 +4.13 24 +3 People's Party (PP) 225,316 27.13 −3.94 15 −3 Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) 199,503 24.03 +0.95 19 +3 Canarian Nationalist Federation (FNC)1 39,947 4.81 +1.81 0 −4 Canarian United Left (IUC) 22,768 2.74 −2.36 0 ±0 The Greens of the Canaries (Verdes) 12,146 1.46 New 0 ±0 Centrist Union–Democratic and Social Centre (UC–CDS) 4,442 0.53 −0.14 0 ±0 Independent Herrenian Group (AHI) 2,773 0.33 +0.07 2 +1 Humanist Party (PH) 1,346 0.16 −0.04 0 ±0 Nationalist Maga Alternative (AMAGA) 864 0.10 New 0 ±0 Canarian Alternative–Independent Citizens of the Canaries (AC–CICA) 806 0.10 New 0 ±0 Pensionist Assembly of the Canaries (TPC) 692 0.08 New 0 ±0 Fuerteventura Popular Platform (PPF) 533 0.06 New 0 ±0 Blank ballots 12,558 1.51 +0.37 Total 830,352 60 ±0 Valid votes 830,352 99.42 −0.01 Invalid votes 4,829 0.58 +0.01 Votes cast / turnout 835,181 60.80 −3.40 Abstentions 538,460 39.20 +3.40 Registered voters 1,373,641 Sources

Distribution by constituency Constituency CC PP PSOE AHI % S % S % S % S El Hierro 22.8 − 23.1 1 51.3 2 Fuerteventura 34.7 3 21.1 2 26.7 2 Gran Canaria 31.8 5 40.3 7 18.4 3 La Gomera 31.2 1 10.9 − 50.3 3 La Palma 47.3 4 21.3 2 27.0 2 Lanzarote 28.5 4 13.3 1 24.2 3 Tenerife 43.0 7 16.2 3 28.6 5 Total 36.9 24 27.1 15 24.0 19 0.3 1 Sources

Aftermath Government formation Investiture Ballot → 14 July 1999 Required majority → 31 out of 60 Abstentions Sources

2001 motion of no confidence Motion of no confidence Ballot → 7 November 2001 Required majority → 31 out of 60 Absentees Sources

Notes

References Opinion poll sources

Other

Bibliography