Under the
1983 Statute of Autonomy, the
Assembly of Madrid 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 Assembly of Madrid 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 Community of Madrid (BOCM). 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 regional president had the prerogative to
dissolve the Assembly of Madrid at any given time and call a
snap election, provided that no
motion of no confidence was in process, no nationwide election had been called and that dissolution did not occur either during the first
legislative session or during the last year of parliament before its planned expiration, nor before one year after a previous one. In the event of an
investiture process failing to elect a regional president within a two-month period from the first ballot, the Assembly was to be automatically dissolved and a fresh election called. Any snap election held as a result of these circumstances did not alter the date of the chamber's next ordinary election, with elected lawmakers serving the remainder of its original four-year term. The election to the Assembly of Madrid was officially called on 20 April 1999 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the BOCM, setting election day for 13 June and scheduling for the chamber to reconvene on 30 June.
Electoral system Voting for the Assembly was based on
universal suffrage, comprising all
Spanish nationals over 18 years of age, registered in the Community of Madrid 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. The Assembly of Madrid had one seat per 50,000 inhabitants or fraction above 25,000. All were elected in a single
multi-member constituency—corresponding to the autonomous community's territory—using the
D'Hondt method and
closed-list proportional voting, with a five percent-
threshold of valid votes (including
blank ballots) regionally. As a result of the aforementioned allocation, the Assembly was entitled to 102 seats, based on the official population figures resulting from the latest revision of the municipal register (as of 1 January 1998). 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.
Outgoing parliament The table below shows the composition of the
parliamentary groups in the chamber at the time of the election call. ==Parties and candidates==