Sergio Marqués Fernández (4 August 1946 – 8 May 2012) was a Spanish politician and lawyer. Marques served as the President of the Principality of Asturias from 1995 to 1999. He is the only member of the People's Party (PP) to have held the presidency of Asturias to date. In 1999, Marques founded Unión Renovadora Asturiana (URAS), a regional political party based in Asturias. Biography Personal life and career Marqués was born on 4 August 1946. He graduated from the University of Oviedo in 1967. He became a lawyer, practicing at firms in Gijón and Oviedo during the 1970s. He also became the director of a metal company from 1973 to 1979. He then moved to Puerto Rico, 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. 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 (PSOE) won 17 seats, while the United Left and Partido Asturianista won a combined six seats. The PSOE failed to form a coalition government 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, 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