A regional election was held in the Basque Country on 30 November 1986 to elect the 3rd Parliament of the autonomous community. All 75 seats in the Parliament were up for election.

The Socialist Party of the Basque Country (PSE–PSOE) won 19 seats, the Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ/PNV) came second with 17 seats, People's Unity (HB) and Basque Solidarity (EA), a PNV split, each won 13 seats, and Basque Country Left won 9 seats.

Overview Under the 1979 Statute of Autonomy, the Basque Parliament was the unicameral legislature of the Basque Autonomous Community, having legislative power in devolved matters, as well as the ability to grant or withdraw confidence from a lehendakari.. The electoral and procedural rules were supplemented by national law provisions..

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 25 days before the scheduled expiration date of parliament and published on the following day in the Official Gazette of the Basque Country (BOPV), with election day taking place between 54 and 60 days after the decree's publication. ( by ). The previous election was held on 26 February 1984, which meant that the chamber's term would have expired on 26 February 1988. The election decree was required to be published in the BOPV no later than 2 February 1988, setting the latest possible date for election day on 2 April 1988.

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 60-day period from the Parliament's reconvening, the chamber was to be automatically dissolved and a fresh election called..

The Basque Parliament was officially dissolved on 1 October 1986 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the BOPV, setting election day for 30 November..

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

The Basque Parliament had 75 seats. All were elected in three multi-member constituencies—corresponding to the provinces of Álava, Biscay and Guipúzcoa, each of which was assigned a fixed number of 25 seats to provide for an equal parliamentary representation of the three provinces—using the D'Hondt method and closed-list proportional voting, with a five percent-threshold of valid votes (not including blank ballots) in each constituency.; ; .

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 ).

Opinion polls The tables below lists 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; 38 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Basque Parliament.

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Turnout PNV Lead 1986 regional election 30 Nov 1986 69.6 23.6 22.0 17.4 4.8 10.8 3.5 15.8 1.6 Emopública/Diario 16 23 Nov 1986????????? Tie Demoscopia/El País 14–18 Nov 1986 1,500 65–68 25.0 24.0????? 1.0 CINDE/Basque Government 14–18 Nov 1986 1,500????????? Bergareche/El Correo 15–17 Nov 1986 2,972????????? CINDE/Basque Government 9–12 Nov 1986 1,200? 24.0 19.0 14.0 7.0 11.0 5.0 15.0 5.0 Demoscopia/El País 7–11 Nov 1986 1,200 65–69 28.0 25.0 16.0? 11.0? 13.0 3.0 PSOE 18 Oct 1986?????????? Bergareche/El Correo 18 Oct 1986 2,545????????? Iope–Etmar/Tiempo 7 Oct 1986?? 16.2 18.9 17.4 3.6 11.0 3.3 27.5 8.6 Ikerfel/PNV 11–19 Sep 1986?????????? Gaceta del Norte 12–17 Sep 1986??????? –? Tie?????? –?? 1986 general election 22 Jun 1986 67.6 27.8 26.3 17.7 10.5 9.1 5.0 – 1.5 1984 regional election 26 Feb 1984 68.5 41.8 23.0 14.6 9.3 7.9 – – 18.8

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

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size PNV Lead 1986 regional election 30 Nov 1986 16.3 15.2 12.0 3.3 7.5 2.9 10.9 30.4 1.1 CIS 20 Nov 1986 1,191 19.0 13.0 12.0 1.0 10.0 2.0 10.0 28.0 5.0 6.0 CIS 10 Nov 1986 2,077 17.0 9.0 9.0 1.0 7.0 1.0 7.0 42.0 7.0 8.0 CIS 1 Nov 1986 2,074 17.0 8.0 9.0 1.0 8.0 1.0 8.0 40.0 7.0 8.0 CIS 20 Oct 1986 2,055 15.0 10.0 8.0 1.0 8.0 – 7.0 44.0 6.0 5.0 CIS 10 Oct 1986 1,996 17.0 9.0 8.0 1.0 7.0 1.0 8.0 41.0 7.0 8.0 CIS 1 Oct 1986 1,755 16.0 9.0 8.0 1.0 9.0 – 8.0 41.0 7.0 7.0 1986 general election 22 Jun 1986 18.5 17.5 11.8 7.0 6.0 3.3 – 32.4 1.0 1984 regional election 26 Feb 1984 28.5 15.6 9.9 6.3 5.4 0.9 – 31.5 12.9

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

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size PNV Other/None Lead CIS 20 Nov 1986 1,191 19.0 13.0 12.0 – 9.0 1.0 8.0 1.0 37.0 6.0 CIS 10 Nov 1986 2,077 22.0 11.0 9.0 1.0 8.0 1.0 9.0 – 39.0 11.0 CIS 1 Nov 1986 2,074 21.0 10.0 10.0 1.0 10.0 1.0 10.0 1.0 36.0 11.0 CIS 20 Oct 1986 2,055 20.0 13.0 9.0 1.0 9.0 – 9.0 1.0 38.0 7.0 CIS 10 Oct 1986 1,996 22.0 10.0 8.0 1.0 8.0 1.0 10.0 – 38.0 12.0 CIS 1 Oct 1986 1,755 22.0 10.0 8.0 1.0 10.0 1.0 10.0 2.0 36.0 12.0

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 PNV Other/None Lead CIS 20 Nov 1986 1,191 38.0 16.0 1.0 – 2.0 – 43.0 22.0 CIS 10 Nov 1986 2,077 36.0 15.0 1.0 – 3.0 – 45.0 21.0 CIS 1 Nov 1986 2,074 32.0 15.0 2.0 – 4.0 – 47.0 17.0 CIS 20 Oct 1986 2,055 32.0 17.0 2.0 – 5.0 – 44.0 15.0 CIS 10 Oct 1986 1,996 35.0 15.0 1.0 – 4.0 1.0 44.0 20.0 CIS 1 Oct 1986 1,755 31.0 19.0 – 1.0 5.0 2.0 42.0 12.0

Preferred Lehendakari The table below lists opinion polling on leader preferences to become Lehendakari.

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Other/None/Notcare Lead CIS 20 Nov 1986 1,191 23.0 14.0 14.0 – 1.0 17.0 1.0 30.0 6.0 CIS 10 Nov 1986 2,077 22.0 12.0 12.0 1.0 1.0 17.0 – 35.0 5.0 CIS 1 Nov 1986 2,074 22.0 10.0 12.0 1.0 1.0 20.0 – 34.0 2.0 CIS 20 Oct 1986 2,055 19.0 12.0 14.0 1.0 – 20.0 – 34.0 1.0 CIS 10 Oct 1986 1,996 25.0 – – – – 38.0 – 27.0 13.0 19.0 9.0 13.0 1.0 – 22.0 – 36.0 3.0 CIS 1 Oct 1986 1,755 19.0 9.0 15.0 – – 25.0 – 32.0 6.0

Results Overall + ← Summary of the 30 November 1986 Basque Parliament election results → Parties and alliances Popular vote Seats Votes % ±pp Total +/− Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ/PNV) 271,208 23.60 −18.21 17 −15 Socialist Party of the Basque Country (PSE–PSOE) 252,233 21.95 −1.01 19 ±0 Popular Unity (HB) 199,900 17.40 +2.81 13 +2 Basque Solidarity (EA) 181,175 15.77 New 13 +13 Basque Country Left (EE) 124,423 10.83 +2.89 9 +3 People's Alliance–Liberal Party (AP–PL)1 55,606 4.84 −4.48 2 −5 Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) 40,445 3.52 New 2 +2 United Left (IU/EB) 6,750 0.59 New 0 ±0 Communist Party of the Basque Country (PCE/EPK) 5,675 0.49 −0.90 0 ±0 Workers' Socialist Party (PST) 2,925 0.25 +0.05 0 ±0 Humanist Party (PH) 1,400 0.12 New 0 ±0 Internationalist Socialist Workers' Party (POSI) 1,190 0.10 New 0 ±0 Republican Popular Unity (UPR)2 1,102 0.10 ±0.00 0 ±0 Blank ballots 5,003 0.44 −0.03 Total 1,149,035 75 ±0 Valid votes 1,149,035 99.41 −0.01 Invalid votes 6,780 0.59 +0.01 Votes cast / turnout 1,155,815 69.62 +1.13 Abstentions 504,328 30.38 −1.13 Registered voters 1,660,143 Sources

Distribution by constituency Constituency PNV PSE HB EA EE AP–PL CDS % S % S % S % S % S % S % S Álava 20.1 5 24.9 7 12.8 3 14.5 4 10.9 3 6.9 1 8.0 2 Biscay 28.8 8 22.5 6 16.0 4 11.7 3 10.2 3 5.1 1 3.2 – Guipúzcoa 16.0 4 19.9 6 21.6 6 23.1 6 11.9 3 3.6 – 2.4 – Total 23.6 17 22.0 19 17.4 13 15.8 13 10.8 9 4.8 2 3.5 2 Sources

Aftermath Government formation Investiture Ballot → 26 February 1987 Required majority → 38 out of 75 Juan Carlos Yoldi (HB) Sources

Notes

References Opinion poll sources

Other

Bibliography