A regional election was held in Catalonia on 15 March 1992 to elect the 4th Parliament of the autonomous community. All 135 seats in the Parliament were up for election.

Overview Under the 1979 Statute of Autonomy, the Parliament of Catalonia 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.; .

Date The term of the Parliament of Catalonia expired four years after the date of its previous election, unless it was dissolved earlier. The election was required to be called no later than 15 days before the scheduled expiration date of parliament, with election day taking place within 60 days from the call.; . The previous election was held on 29 May 1988, which meant that the chamber's term would have expired on 29 May 1992. The election was required to be called no later than 14 May 1992, setting the latest possible date for election day on 13 July 1992.

The regional president had the prerogative to dissolve the Parliament of Catalonia at any given time and call a snap election, provided that no motion of no confidence was in process and that dissolution did not occur before one year after a previous one under this procedure. ( by ). In the event of an investiture process failing to elect a regional president within a two-month period from the first ballot, the Parliament was to be automatically dissolved and a fresh election called..

The Parliament of Catalonia was officially dissolved on 21 January 1992 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the Official Journal of the Government of Catalonia (DOGC), setting election day for 15 March..

Electoral system Voting for the Parliament was based on universal suffrage, comprising all Spanish nationals over 18 years of age, registered in Catalonia 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 Catalonia had a minimum of 100 and a maximum of 150 seats, with electoral provisions fixing its size at 135. All were elected in four multi-member constituencies—corresponding to the provinces of Barcelona, Girona, Lleida and Tarragona, each of which was assigned a fixed number of seats—using the D'Hondt method and closed-list proportional voting, with a three percent-threshold of valid votes (including blank ballots) in each constituency. ( by ); . The use of this electoral method resulted in a higher effective threshold depending on district magnitude and vote distribution.

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

Seats Constituencies 85 Barcelona 18 Tarragona 17 Girona 15 Lleida

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..

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..

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

Candidacy Parties andalliances Leading candidate Ideology Previous result Vote % Seats CiU Jordi Pujol Catalan nationalismCentrism 45.7% PSC–PSOE Raimon Obiols Social democracy 29.8% IC Rafael Ribó Eco-socialismGreen politics 7.8% PP Alejo Vidal-Quadras ConservatismChristian democracy 5.3% ERC Àngel Colom Catalan independenceLeft-wing nationalismSocial democracy 4.1% CDS Teresa Sandoval CentrismLiberalism 3.8%

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; 68 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Parliament of Catalonia.

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Turnout IC Lead 1992 regional election 15 Mar 1992 54.9 46.2 27.5 6.5 8.0 0.9 6.0 18.7 Sigma Dos/Diari de Barcelona 8 Mar 1992 2,400? 46.1 29.0 8.0 5.2 1.6 6.4 17.1 RGR/Avui 8 Mar 1992 1,000? 47.5 27.6 8.3 5.3 1.8 5.1 19.9 Gabise/El Observador 8 Mar 1992 800? 46.6 30.8 6.7 5.6 2.0 6.1 15.8 Marketing Comunicación/ERC 8 Mar 1992 4,780 55??? ? –?? OTR–IS/El Periódico 3–5 Mar 1992 2,000 57 46.4 29.2 7.7 5.6 – 6.3 17.2 Opina/La Vanguardia 2–4 Mar 1992 2,004? 47.9 28.2 7.0 6.5 1.5 5.6 19.7 Demoscopia/El País 29 Feb–4 Mar 1992 1,600 58 46.5 27.6 7.1 6.2 1.1 6.3 18.9 Opina/La Vanguardia 17–19 Feb 1992 2,000 60–65 47.5 28.5 8.5 5.0 1.0 5.0 19.0 Demoscopia/El País 8–14 Feb 1992 1,600 58 46.4 30.1 6.9 6.0 1.6 6.2 16.3 OTR–IS/El Periódico 8–11 Feb 1992 2,000? 46.6 27.9 8.2 5.6 1.8 6.5 18.7 Producciones 5/Avui 19 Jan 1992 2,900? 46.8 28.8 7.5 5.1 2.6 6.0 18.0 Central de Campo/PSC 3 Jan 1992?? 40.0 32.0 – – – – 8.0 1989 general election 29 Oct 1989 67.6 32.7 35.6 7.3 2.7 4.3 10.6 2.9 1989 EP election 15 Jun 1989 51.5 27.5 36.4 5.5 3.3 3.7 8.6 8.9 1988 regional election 29 May 1988 59.4 45.7 29.8 7.8 5.3 4.1 3.8 – 15.9

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

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size IC Lead 1992 regional election 15 Mar 1992 25.2 15.0 3.5 4.3 0.5 3.2 45.1 10.2 1989 general election 29 Oct 1989 22.0 24.0 4.9 1.8 2.9 7.2 32.3 2.0 1989 EP election 15 Jun 1989 14.1 18.6 2.8 1.7 1.9 4.4 48.4 4.5 1988 regional election 29 May 1988 26.5 17.1 4.4 3.1 2.4 2.2 – 40.7 9.4

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 IC Other/None Lead Demoscopia/El País 29 Feb–4 Mar 1992 1,600 43.0 17.0 3.0 5.0 1.0 3.0 28.0 26.0 Opina/La Vanguardia 17–19 Feb 1992 2,000 42.9 22.3 6.0 2.7 0.8 2.9 1.2 13.5 20.6 Demoscopia/El País 8–14 Feb 1992 1,600 38.0 23.0 4.0 6.0 1.0 3.0 25.0 15.0 CIS 11–25 Jan 1992 2,484 37.7 21.5 3.2 4.8 0.3 2.8 1.2 28.5 16.2 CIS 1 Oct 1991 2,496 32.6 25.2 5.3 4.8 0.5 2.0 2.0 27.7 7.4

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 IC Other/None Lead CIS 28 Feb–9 Mar 1992 2,500 71.6 5.6 0.2 0.4 0.0 0.4 0.0 21.8 66.0 Demoscopia/El País 29 Feb–4 Mar 1992 1,600 74.0 6.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 19.0 68.0 Opina/La Vanguardia 17–19 Feb 1992 2,000 72.6 9.6 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.6 0.1 16.2 63.0 Demoscopia/El País 8–14 Feb 1992 1,600 63.0 14.0 0.0 1.0 1.0 2.0 19.0 49.0 CIS 27 Jan–1 Feb 1992 2,498 66.1 12.7 0.2 0.6 0.4 0.7 0.3 19.1 53.4 CIS 11–25 Jan 1992 2,484 63.7 8.2 0.1 0.4 – 0.5 0.1 27.0 55.5 CIS 1 Oct 1991 2,496 58.4 9.0 0.5 0.3 – 0.2 0.1 31.4 49.4

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

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Other/None/Notcare Lead Demoscopia/El País 29 Feb–4 Mar 1992 1,600 48.0 15.0 4.0 4.0 0.0 2.0 27.0 33.0 Demoscopia/El País 8–14 Feb 1992 1,600 45.0 16.0 3.0 3.0 0.0 1.0 32.0 29.0

Results Overall + ← Summary of the 15 March 1992 Parliament of Catalonia election results → Parties and alliances Popular vote Seats Votes % ±pp Total +/− Convergence and Union (CiU) 1,221,233 46.19 +0.47 70 +1 Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC–PSOE) 728,311 27.55 −2.23 40 −2 Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) 210,366 7.96 +3.82 11 +5 Initiative for Catalonia (IC) 171,794 6.50 −1.26 7 −2 People's Party (PP)1 157,772 5.97 +0.66 7 +1 Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) 24,033 0.91 −2.92 0 −3 Party of the Communists of Catalonia (PCC) 22,181 0.84 New 0 ±0 The Greens–Green Union (EV–UV) 14,041 0.53 New 0 ±0 Ruiz-Mateos Group (ARM) 13,067 0.49 New 0 ±0 Green Alternative–Ecologist Movement of Catalonia (AV–MEC) 10,323 0.39 −0.22 0 ±0 Workers' Socialist Party (PST) 10,270 0.39 +0.18 0 ±0 The Ecologists (LVE) 9,879 0.37 +0.05 0 ±0 Ecologist Party of Catalonia–VERDE (PEC–VERDE) 7,786 0.29 +0.07 0 ±0 Free Catalonia (CLL) 5,241 0.20 New 0 ±0 Revolutionary Workers' Party of Spain (PORE) 2,258 0.09 −0.01 0 ±0 Independent Socialists (SI)2 2,080 0.08 +0.04 0 ±0 Humanist Party (PH) 1,752 0.07 −0.01 0 ±0 Lleida Republican Youth (JRLL) 431 0.02 New 0 ±0 Blank ballots 31,092 1.18 +0.55 Total 2,643,910 135 ±0 Valid votes 2,643,910 99.58 +0.09 Invalid votes 11,141 0.42 −0.09 Votes cast / turnout 2,655,051 54.87 −4.50 Abstentions 2,184,020 45.13 +4.50 Registered voters 4,839,071 Sources

Distribution by constituency Constituency CiU PSC ERC IC PP % S % S % S % S % S Barcelona 44.6 41 28.9 27 7.2 6 7.4 6 5.9 5 Girona 54.3 11 21.8 4 11.6 2 3.4 − 4.0 − Lleida 53.6 9 21.8 4 9.8 1 2.9 − 6.9 1 Tarragona 45.8 9 26.5 5 9.2 2 4.7 1 7.7 1 Total 46.2 70 27.5 40 8.0 11 6.5 7 6.0 7 Sources

Aftermath Government formation

Investiture Ballot → 9 April 1992 Required majority → 68 out of 135 Absentees Sources

Notes

References Opinion poll sources

Other

Bibliography