A primary election was held on Friday, 24 April 1998, to elect the prime ministerial nominee of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) for the 2000 Spanish general election.
Following the 1997 PSOE congress, former several times minister Joaquín Almunia became new party leader succeeding former prime minister Felipe González, who surprisingly announced during the congress' opening that he would not be running for re-election as PSOE secretary-general. González's succession process was perceived as rushed and the result of a pact between party elites, prompting Almunia to propose a primary election as a way to legitimize his leadership. Former public works minister Josep Borrell, who for years had been the subject of speculation as one of González's possible successors, also announced his run in the primary.
The election resulted in the party's grassroots unexpectedly backing Borrell over Almunia, but the latter remained as secretary-general in order to prevent an extraordinary party congress. This situation prompted a "bicephaly" ( duumvirate) which would see both Borrell and Almunia clashing for months on their roles and the party's platform. Borrell would withdraw in May 1999 after it was unveiled that two former aides were involved in a judicial investigation for tax fraud, leaving a vacancy that resulted in Almunia being proclaimed as prime ministerial candidate without opposition. Almunia would went on to lose the 2000 general election, in which José María Aznar's People's Party (PP) would secure an absolute majority of seats.
Background The debate on whether to hold an internal primary election to elect the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)'s nominee for prime minister of Spain dated back to 1995, when long-lasting leader Felipe González had seriously considered for several months not to run in the 1996 general election. The election of foreign affairs minister Javier Solana—widely seen as González's most likely successor—as NATO secretary-general in December 1995 conditioned González's plans to retire and led to him confirming a new run, thwarting the aspirations of other likely contenders, such as public works minister Josep Borrell. In May 1997, González had announced that he did not wish to run for the post of prime minister again, despite his leadership of the party not being in question.
The 1997 PSOE federal party congress saw González surprisingly announcing his immediate retirement and his backing of Joaquín Almunia—who had been a former minister of labour and public administrations under his governments—as the party's new secretary-general, but this had been perceived as a rushed process influenced by the powerful regional leaders (colloquially referred to as barones, Spanish for "barons"), with other potential candidates such as Borrell being sidelined by party elites for the sake of unity in the wake of González's shock farewell. Worried about a perceived lack of legitimacy among party members, Almunia initially declined to propose himself as the party's candidate for prime minister in the next general election, instead advocating for alternatives such as calling for Felipe González to consider a new run, or for the candidate to be elected through primaries in the first semester of 1998. González ruled himself out, whereas the primary proposal—which had been voted and approved in the party congress in June 1997 for local and regional elections—was met with skepticism or outright opposition from PSOE regional leaders.
Following increasing pressure from his party, Almunia ultimately accepted to run for the post in the primary election as a way to legitimize his leadership, while warning that he would resign as secretary-general should he lose to any prospective contender. On the eve of the official start of the primary process, it transpired that Borrell had been considering for some time to field his own candidacy, which he confirmed on 21 March 1998.
Overview Procedure The PSOE Federal Committee approved on 21 March 1998 a party regulation governing the selection of candidates to public offices through a closed primary system, which included the election of prime ministerial nominees.
The primary election was organized on the basis of plurality voting. Voting comprised all members of the PSOE—including its regional branches—and the Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC). Candidates seeking to run were required to collect the endorsements of either at least 7% of party members (which for the 1998 prime ministerial primary amounted to 26,843 endorsements), 15% of federal committee members, a majority of members in the federal executive commission or a majority in the territorial council. In the event of only one candidate meeting this requirement, the primaries would be left uncontested with such candidate being elected unopposed.
Timetable The key dates of the primary election procedure are listed below (all times are CET):
21 March: Official announcement of the primary election. 23 March: Start of endorsement collection and candidacy submission periods. 12 April: End of endorsement collection and candidacy submission periods. 13 April: Provisional proclamation of primary candidates. 16 April: Definitive proclamation of primary candidates. 17 April: Official start of internal information campaign. 23 April: Last day of internal information campaign. 24 April: Primary election (polling stations open at 1 pm and close at 8 pm). 25 April: Proclamation of prime ministerial nominee.
Candidates Candidate Notable positions Announced Qualified Candidates who met endorsement requirements and qualified to contest the primary election. Josep Borrell(age ) Member of the PSOE Executive Commission Member of the Congress of Deputies for Barcelona Minister of Public Works, Transport and Environment of Spain Minister of Public Works and Urbanism of Spain Secretary of State of Finance of Spain Secretary-General of Budget and Public Expenditure of Spain City Councillor of Majadahonda 21 March 1998 Joaquín Almunia(age ) Secretary-General of the PSOE Leader of the Opposition of Spain Member of the Congress of Deputies for Madrid Spokesperson of the Socialist Group of the Congress Secretary of Studies and Programs of the PSOE Minister for Public Administrations of Spain Minister of Labour and Social Security of Spain Secretary of Trade Union Policy of the PSOE 23 March 1998
Declined The individuals in this section were the subject of speculation about their possible candidacy, but publicly denied or recanted interest in running:
Felipe González (age ) – Member of the Congress of Deputies for Madrid ; Leader of the Opposition of Spain ; Secretary-General of the PSOE ; Prime Minister of Spain ; President pro tempore of the Council of the European Union ; Spokesperson of the Congress Socialist Parliamentary Group .
Endorsements + Summary of candidate endorsement results Candidate Party members Federal committee Count Count Joaquín Almunia 50,170 13.08 100.00 colspan="3" Josep Borrell colspan="3" 65 31.55 100.00 Total 50,170 65 Valid endorsements 50,170 13.08 65 31.55 Not endorsing 333,292 86.92 141 68.45 Total members 383,462 206 Sources
Opinion polls Poll results are listed in the tables below in reverse chronological order, showing the most recent first, and using the date the survey's fieldwork was done, as opposed to the date of publication. If such date is unknown, the date of publication is given instead. The highest percentage figure in each polling survey is displayed in bold, and the background shaded in the candidate's colour. In the instance of a tie, the figures with the highest percentages are shaded. Polls show data gathered among PSOE voters/supporters as well as Spanish voters as a whole, but not among party members, who were the ones ultimately entitled to vote in the primary election.
PSOE voters Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Other/None Lead Primary election 24 Apr 1998 44.7 55.0 – – – – 0.3 10.3 ASEP 20–24 Apr 1998 1,204 38.9 31.4 – – – – – 29.7 7.5 Sigma Dos/El Mundo 19 Apr 1998? 40.2 24.5 – – – – 21.2 14.1 15.7 DECO/PSOE 27–28 Mar 1998 2,000 48.8 31.1 – – – – 20.1 17.7 Opina/La Vanguardia 26 Mar 1998 83 33.7 43.4 – – – – – 22.9 9.7 600 37.3 35.7 – – – – – 27.0 1.6 Sigma Dos/El Mundo 26 Mar 1998? 43.9 30.6 – – – – 9.5 16.0 13.3 Demoscopia/El País 24–25 Mar 1998 336 40.0 35.0 – – – – 25.0 5.0 ASEP 7–11 Jul 1997 1,214 10.0 4.6 11.6 4.7 2.3 0.9 3.0 63.0 1.6
Spanish voters Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Other/None Lead ASEP 20–24 Apr 1998 1,204 30.1 21.5 – – – – – 48.5 8.6 Sigma Dos/El Mundo 19 Apr 1998? 25.7 17.5 – – – – 40.1 16.8 8.2 Vox Pública/El Periódico 29 Mar 1998 800 28.3 20.5 – – – – 51.2 7.8 Sigma Dos/El Mundo 26 Mar 1998 800 30.9 23.1 – – – – 24.9 21.1 7.8 Demoscopia/El País 24–25 Mar 1998 1,200 31.0 29.0 – – – – 40.0 2.0 ASEP 7–11 Jul 1997 1,214 7.7 3.3 8.9 3.1 1.1 1.0 3.4 71.7 1.2
Results Overall + Summary of the 24 April 1998 PSOE primary results Candidate Votes % Josep Borrell 114,254 55.04 Joaquín Almunia 92,860 44.73 Blank ballots 507 0.24 Total 207,567 Valid votes 207,567 99.90 Invalid votes 207 0.10 Votes cast / turnout 207,774 54.18 Abstentions 175,688 45.82 Total members 383,462 Sources
By region Region Electorate Turnout JosepBorrell JoaquínAlmunia Votes % Votes % Andalusia 107,650 52.25 24,516 43.59 31,554 56.10 Aragon 15,610 56.10 4,650 53.10 4,068 46.45 Asturias 10,270 65.94 4,583 67.68 2,180 32.19 Balearic Islands 3,813 54.50 1,171 56.35 895 43.07 Basque Country 9,176 61.19 2,746 48.90 2,845 50.67 Canary Islands 19,649 37.20 4,483 61.34 2,800 38.31 Cantabria 4,759 62.78 1,716 57.43 1,265 42.34 Castile and León 19,156 53.87 6,207 60.15 4,075 39.49 Castilla–La Mancha 26,902 62.34 6,076 36.23 10,628 63.37 Catalonia 28,947 62.34 14,925 82.71 3,050 16.90 Ceuta 507 35.50 108 60.00 72 40.00 Extremadura 21,339 57.50 6,752 55.03 5,471 44.59 Galicia 24,150 43.81 7,070 66.83 3,470 32.80 La Rioja 1,256 75.08 618 65.54 323 34.25 Madrid 21,968 54.95 7,894 65.39 4,112 34.06 Melilla 845 30.06 188 74.02 66 25.98 Murcia 20,889 46.35 5,192 53.63 4,465 46.12 Navarre 2,623 66.07 971 56.03 758 43.74 Valencian Community 39,376 60.02 13,875 58.71 9,701 41.05 Europe 1,294 48.07 231 37.14 386 62.06 Americas 3,209 28.30 282 31.06 622 68.50 Other 74 colspan="5" Total 383,462 54.18 114,254 54.99 92,806 44.67
Aftermath Against expectations of an Almunia victory, Borrell emerged as the clear winner in a shock result, with 55% of the votes to the former's 45%; his showing was particularly strong in his home region of Catalonia, where—despite the support given to Almunia by the leaders of the Socialist Party of Catalonia (PSC)—he won with over 80% of the votes, coming out on top in all autonomous communities but Andalusia, the Basque Country and Castilla–La Mancha.
The outcome of the primaries—with the defeat of the secretary-general and the party apparatus which had supported him—immediately plunged the party into uncertainty: convinced that the party's rank and file had voted not just for the prime ministerial nominee but also against his leadership, Almunia considered fulfilling his promise of tender his resignation, which would have triggered an extraordinary congress. A majority of party regional leaders, former leader Felipe González and Borrell himself urged Almunia not to resign in order to prevent an internal crisis, while fears of internal reprisal or political purges were dismissed.
As some sectors suggested a power-sharing agreement, both of them negotiated their future roles in the party structure. Borrell would become the PSOE's political and electoral leader as well as the new parliamentary opposition chief to Aznar's government, while Almunia would remain as secretary-general and the de jure leader of the party. These agreements paved the way for a "bicephaly" (duumvirate) situation in which both men would cohabitate the party's leadership with each other.