Sergio Marqués Fernández (4 August 1946 – 8 May 2012) was a Spanish

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

. Marques served as the

President of the Principality of Asturias The President of the Principality of Asturias (; ) is the head of Government of the Principality of Asturias, government of the Spanish Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Asturias. The president is chosen by the General Junt ...

from 1995 to 1999. He is the only member of the People's Party (PP) to have held the presidency of

Asturias Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...

to date. In 1999, Marques founded Unión Renovadora Asturiana (URAS), a regional

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

based in Asturias.

Biography

Personal life and career

Marqués was born on 4 August 1946. He graduated from the

University of Oviedo The University of Oviedo (, Asturian: ''Universidá d'Uviéu'') is a public university in Asturias (Spain). It is the only university in the region. It has three campus and research centres, located in Oviedo, Gijón and Mieres. History Th ...

in 1967. He became a lawyer, practicing at firms in Gijón and

Oviedo Oviedo () or Uviéu (Asturian language, Asturian: ) is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain and the administrative and commercial centre of the region. It is also the name of the municipality that contains th ...

during the 1970s. He also became the director of a metal company from 1973 to 1979. He then moved to

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

, where he lived from 1979 to 1983. He moved back to Spain in 1983 to become the commercial director of the firm, Isidro Jover y Compañía, in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

. Marques was involved with People's Party (PP) from the time of the party's establishment in 1977. he was appointed to the PP regional executive committee in 1987 and was elected to the General Council of the Principality of Asturias that same year. He became the chairman of the PP's finance committee in Asturias in 1991. He further became the spokesman of the People's Party in 1993. He elected the Vice President of Asturias at the autonomous community's tenth regional congress in September 1993.

President of Asturias

In the May 1995 Asturias General Council election, the PP under Marqués won 21 of the 45 seats in the General Council. The

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( , PSOE ) is a Social democracy, social democratic Updated as required.The PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * List of political parties in Spain, political party ...

(PSOE) won 17 seats, while the United Left and Partido Asturianista won a combined six seats. The PSOE failed to form a

coalition government A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...

with the smaller parties due to disagreements. Therefore, Marqués formed the new PP government with a simple majority in the council. He was sworn in as president on 11 July 1995. The regional Asturian PP party became plagued by infighting by 1998. Marqués came under attack by members of the PP, both nationally and within Asturias. Oviedo Mayor Gabino de Lorenzo, a member of the PP, accused Marqués of ignoring both the party and the needs of the city. The First Deputy Prime Minister of Spain,

Francisco Álvarez-Cascos Francisco Álvarez–Cascos Fernández (born 1 October 1947) is a Spanish politician. He was Secretary-General of the ruling Partido Popular from 1989 to 1999 and the President of the Principality of Asturias from 2011 to 2012. Álvarez-Casco ...

, was also condemned Marqués for lack of coordination with the party. A wave of resignations from Marqués' government followed the PP's withdrawal of confidence. The first resignation was Pedro Muñiz, the regional director of sports and youth. The Asturias General Council rejected a censure motion against Marqués on 10 March 1999, which had been introduced by members of the PP. Despite the opposition from members of the PP, Marqués finished his entire term as President with the support of only four members of the General Council.

Post-presidency

Marqués's ongoing dispute and crisis with the PP led him to found the Asturian Renewal Union (URAS) in December 1998. The URAS, now under Marques, won three seats in June 1999, Asturias General Council election while the PP won 15 seats, down from 21 in 1995. However, the PSOE won a clear majority of 24 seats in the election. Marqués retained his seat in the 1999 election, under the banner of the new URAS, serving in the council until 2003. Marques ran again in the May 2003 election, but the URAS failed to win seats in the General Council. He remained President of the Asturian Renewal Union until November 2007. Sergio Marqués died on 8 May 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marques Fernandez, Sergio 1946 births 2012 deaths Presidents of the Principality of Asturias Politicians from Asturias People's Party (Spain) politicians University of Oviedo alumni