2021 Vinalian General election

2021 Vinalian General election

12 August 2021
All 238 seats in the House of the People (119 needed for majority). All 39 seats in the Senate of the Union (20 needed for majority).
Registered	19,572,520
Turnout	15,181,482 (81% 0.8%)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Omelyan Pavlov Rayisa Bohdanivna Stepan Martynyuk Party Unionist Party Workers Party of Vinalia Conservative Party Leader since 20 June 2018 19 December 2020 28 January 2017 Leader's seat Chyhyryn (Senate) National List Velkarichka (House) Last election Outdated Outdated Outdated Seats won 16 Senate, 93 House 12 Senate, 58 House 11 Senate, 51 House Seat change Outdated Outdated Outdated   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Trokhym Radkohn Hryhorij Bujicnovik Yana Perepelytsya Party Freedom Party Nationalist Party Green Party Leader since 20 August 2019 30 January 2019 17 November 2006 Leader's seat Kisharsk (Senate) South Bin (House) National List Last election Outdated Outdated Outdated Seats won 0 Senate, 9 House 0 Senate, 4 House 0 Senate, 10 House Seat change Outdated Outdated Outdated
Minister-President before election Omelyan Pavlov Unionist Elected Minister-President Omelyan Pavlov Unionist

The 2021 Vinalian General election was held on Sunday, 12 August 2021, to elect the 16th Vinalian Parliament of the United Republic of Vinalia. All 238 seats in the House of the People were up for election, as well as the 39 seats in the Senate of the Union. The election was called, after the Parliament was dissolved by President Ersnt Rupold, on June 12th 2021, as per law which mandates parliamentary elections 3 years after the previous parliamentary election, which had been carried out the 12th of August 2018.

Pavlov was competing to be reelected for his second term as head of the Unionist Party, which had been leading a Minority government since 2018. Although both Workers and Conservative parties were in Confidence and supply of Pavlov, and he did not face any challenge to his position during his term. One of his major criticisms was his inability to move forward with major bills as his government did not have the votes to act unilaterally. He promised in March 2020, that he would establish a coalition if the Unionist party did not gain a majority. The Workers Party the second largest party in Parliament has been hit by stagnant results in local elections and dissastifaction with their unwillingness to form a coalition with the Unionists. A major scandal in November heavily reduced the parties polling numbers and led to a major breakout group, as the party held elections to replace its leader. Rayisa Bohdanivna was elected by the party and saw the party reform and announced its willingness to enter into a coalition with the Unionist party following the elections. The Conservative party, which had under Stepan Martynyuk moved further to the right, and increased its inflammatory rhetoric, which has seen it distance itself from the Pavlov government. The Conservative Party which had seen great success in local elections and with wavering support for the Nationalist and Freedom parties, the Conservative party was set to make gains against those two parties. Other parties such as the Indigenous and Green parties were expected to perform well in the election.

The Unionist, Workers, and Conservative parties made gains during the elections cementing their positions. No senators from neither of the 3 major parties were elected, including previous incumbents. The gains made by the Unionist party established them as the largest party and ensured Omelyan Pavlov a second term as Minister-President of Vinalia. The Conservative party made its greatest gains since the government of Ulyana Hryhorivna, primarily from a swing in former Freedom and Nationalist voters. The Socialist Alternative for Vinalia and Indigenous party of Vinalia made minor gains but made little process in dissuading voters of the 3 major parties, instead gaining most of their support from Green and the Workers International voters.

Omelyan Pavlov was announced as the new Minister-President of Vinalia on the 18th of August following the establishment of a ruling coalition with the Workers party which granted Pavlov a ruling majority in both houses of parliament, and almost a 2/3rds majority in the house. Valeria Kunavin was elected as president of the Republic on the 14th of August following a pre election agreement by all 3 major parties, succeeding President Ersnt Rupold the following morning. Valeria was the first Independent President or Minister-President elected in the history of Vinalia.

Electoral process

Voters elect using the closed list Proportional representation method, each province/federal district is slotted at the minimum one seat, with seats being added in relation to the province/district with the smallest population (currently the province of Juyu Ruwach South with 134,600 people). The largest province by population and seats is that of Shyroniy with 36 seats followed by Rigalia with 33 seats. Elections are held every three years, with seats being assigned every 10 years following a census (the Federal district of Vinalinsk had a census performed in 2017, adding three more seats into the district.)

Each voter can cast two votes for the House: a provincial party list vote (first vote) and a national list vote (second vote). Based solely on the first votes, 188 members are elected by closed party lists in all 13 Provinces/Districts. The second votes are used to produce 50 seats for parties at a national level. Seats are allocated using the D'Hondt method. To be assigned a seat in the National List a party must receive more second votes nationwide than the electoral threshold of 5%.

Elections for the Senate are similar to House elections with the exception that all provinces/districts elect 3 members regardless of population, a 33% of the vote is required for a party to sit a member, although this is hard to achieve. As with the house, the party with the largest percentage of the vote gets seated, in case the vote is split and the threshold cannot be reached.

Background

Workers party leadership crisis

The Workers party under Vadym Stepanovych, had arrived from a bad 2018 election. Workers voters and party members were left unsatisfied by Vadym which refused to enter into an official coalition with the Unionist party of Pavlov. Although the Workers party operated in great cohesion with the Unionist parties, no official coalition agreement was ever reached following the breakdown of the Grand Coalition between Unionist-Workers-Conservative in April 2018, which ended Turden Najic's Minister-Presidency. Vadym had made it a goal of the party to enter into a coalition with the Unionist party to exclude the Conservative party from any coalition agreement with the Unionists. His inability to respond to Conservative attacks and pressure also led to general unpopularity.

Following the defeat of Workers incumbent Mayor of Tajinsk Taisiia Zhena in October 19th 2020, to the Conservatives, a position she had held for 8 years and was highly expected to keep. Vadym attempted to direct the party towards a more moderate view. Such a move angered the left wing of the party which rallied around Orlavo Senator Alina Rybak in opposition to him. Although un satisfaction with Vadym was wide inside the party, no candidate held sufficient support to launch a successful leadership challenge, additionally the instability this might create for the party was deemed as too much of a risk in the face of coming elections. Yet public dissatisfaction with Vadym existed.

On November 4th, after a business trip to Soravia, Vadym was pictured in a Soravian beach resort kissing a woman who was later identified to be a campaign staffer. The pictures appeared in Vinalian Tabloid Morning News (Ранкові Hовини; Rankovi Novyny) the morning after, becoming a major breaking story. Vadym was called out after having denounced Freedom party Velkarichka city councillor Yankul Kollar in January, who had been found to be cheating on his wife, House member Amelia Tychinka with a campaign staffer. Vadym initially remained silent, but after the possibility of investigation into Vadym's campaign staffers and how they had managed to afford such rooms in the Soravian resort. Vadym flew back to Vinalia on November 6th, and resigned his position as leader of the workers party, triggering a party leadership election within 3 months. As no clear successor to Vadym existed, a general leadership crisis began.

The crisis resulted in the party setting elections for the 30th January to elect a party leader. Initially 3 major candidates were seen as ideological successors to Vadym which represented the traditional moderate wing of the party: The Speaker of the Senate, Yaroslav Savych; leader of the Workers party in the House, Artur Vsevolodovych; and House member Alla Leontiyivna. Although neither of the 3 candidates had more than 10% of support among the party electorate, as close to 30 individuals were in the race for the position. Alina Rybak received a major boost on her candidacy when on November 9th she delivered a speech in opposition to Pavlov. She quickly became the face of the left wing of the party, although her support among members inside Parliament was limited her outspoken attitude earned her support from younger voters.

On November 18th she announced that she and another Senator along with 4 house members were leaving the party and establishing a new party, the Socialist Alternative for Vinalia. The announcement was a surprise to the party electorate, and many flooded to support Alina. By the end of December, 3 Senators and 15 House members had switched over to the Socialist Alternative, as had a large group of legislatures in the State Legislatures and municipal positions. The party was polling at 14% during December 2% over the Workers party, however her credibility was hurt following the surfacing of pictures of her with the People's Defence Action Group, a pro-People's Republic of Vinalia which denies the illegality or existence of killings of religious prisoners during the leadership of Danylo Palij between 1966 and 1975. Her inability to counter such attacks, along unapologetic remarks began to reduce her numbers, the election of Rayisa Bohdanivna to the leadership of the Workers Party on January 15th cemented the Socialist Alternative to between 2-4% of support.

Rayisa Bohdanivna a relatively young House member at just 36, she had been elected just 3 years prior in 2018. She had gained a vast following on social media and was highly popular with the young members of her party. She was also seeing as a compromise candidate between the moderate traditional wing of the party, and the leftist breakaways of the Socialist Alternative. On the first ballot the 10th of January, 21 candidates contested the election, with the top 5 moving on to the second stage. Yaroslav Savych led the race, and was considered to be the fore runner of the contest, with Bohdanivna placing 4th. Bohdanivna defied expectations when on the second ballot she earned over 290 thousand votes, placing her second in the competition with Savych and Leontiyivna contesting the leadership. On the 30th, she shocked outsiders as she earned the necessary 51% of the vote on the third ballot. Bohdanivna promised to seek a coalition with the Unionists should they remain the main party in Parliament. She quickly began attacking the Conservative party cementing herself as a fierce leader, her approval rating had risen to 81% in February, and she was considered to be among the most popular parliamentarians in the House.

Candidate	First ballot: 10 January 2021		Second ballot: 20 January 2019		Third ballot: 30 January 2019
	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%
Rayisa Bohdanivna	152,637	12.55	291,631	23.39	689,778	51.36
Yaroslav Savych	252,951	20.79	310,636	24.91	401,621	29.90
Alla Leontiyivna	205,601	16.90	235,103	18.85	251,720	18.74
Artur Vsevolodovych	195,678	16.08	209,693	16.82	Eliminated
Koloman Macheshich	83,788	6.89	199,910	16.03	Eliminated
Bronislav Tymofijovych	80,526	6.62	Eliminated
Maryanna Malupin	68,136	5.60	Eliminated
Grigori Shemiatov	56,195	4.62	Eliminated
Ivan Okhmatov	53,783	4.42	Eliminated
Other	67,262	5.53	Eliminated
Turnout	1,216,557	88.82	1,246,973	91.04	1,343,119	98.06

Parties

Name				Ideology	Leader	Seats in parliament at dissolution
						Votes	House of the People	Senate of the Union
	UP		Unionist Party Юніоністична партія Yunionistychna partiya	Vinalian Unionism Social liberalism Economic liberalism Center-Right	Omelyan Pavlov	10.85%	69 / 185	14 / 39
	WP		Workers Party Робоча партія Robocha partiya	Vinalian Unionism Democratic Socialism Left-wing populism Progressivism Left	Rayisa Bohdanivna	10.85%	30 / 185	8 / 39
	CP		Conservative Party Консервативна партія Konservatyvna partiya	Vinalian Unionism Episemialist democracy National conservatism Economic liberalism Right	Stepan Martynyuk	10.85%	28 / 185	8 / 39
	FP		Freedom Party Партія свободи Partiya svobody	Social Conservatism Economic liberalism Anti-Immigrant Populism wikipedia:Anti-establishment Right	Trokhym Radkohn	10.85%	25 / 185	5 / 39
	NP		Nationalist Party Націоналістична партія Natsionalistychna partiya	Anti-Vinalian unification Marolevic nationalism Social Conservatism Nationalism Right-wing populism Right	Hryhorij Bujicnovik	10.85%	11 / 185	1 / 39
	GP		Green Party Партія зелених Partiya zelenykh	Green Politics Eco-socialism Left	Yana Perepelytsya	10.85%	8 / 185	1 / 39
	VSWI		Vinalian Section of the Workers International Вініаліанська секція Міжнародного трудящого Vinialiansʹka sektsiya Mizhnarodnoho trudyashchoho	Council socialism Workers International Left	Olha Havrylenko	10.85%	5 / 185	0 / 39
			Independents Hезалежні Nezalezhni	Independents		2%	2 / 185	0 / 39
	IPV		Indigenous Party of Vinalia Корінна партія Віналії Korinna partiya Vinaliyi	Vinalian Unionism Green Politics Indigenous interests Celebration of Vinakian culture Left	Nelya Kianto	0%	0 / 185	0 / 39
	IPV		Socialist Alternative for Vinalia Соціалістична альтернатива Віналії Sotsialistychna alʹternatyva Vinaliya	Market socialism Chistovodian Model Left	Alina Rybak	0%	7 / 185	2 / 39

Campaign

Legal Campaigning begun on the 12th of June 2021, when Parliament was dissolved by the president. Although legally parties and candidates cant enter into Television advertisement agreements before the dissolvement of parliament, numerous hold pre arranged deals, which are officially signed on the morning of the 13th, and enter into force the day after. Newspapers can print advertisements on the 12th with the intention of distribution the morning after.

Debates

Vinalian general election debates, 2021
Date	Organisers	Channel	P  Present    A  Absent invitee   NI  Non-invitee
			Unionist Party	Workers Party	Conservative Party	Freedom Party	Nationalist Party	Green Party
21 June	HTK	HTK-1	P Pavlov	P Bohdanivna	P Martynyuk	P Radkohn	P Bujicnovik	P Perepelytsya
31 June	Red Coast Media	RC-01	P Pavlov	P Bohdanivna	P Martynyuk	A Radkohn	P Bujicnovik	P Perepelytsya
9 July	Free Press TV	Free Press	P Pavlov	P Bohdanivna	P Martynyuk	P Radkohn	P Bujicnovik	P Perepelytsya
10 July			P Pavlov	P Bohdanivna	P Martynyuk	NI Radkohn	NI Bujicnovik	NI Perepelytsya
29 July	Armadillo Group	Our Newspaper	P Pavlov	P Bohdanivna	A Martynyuk	NI Radkohn	NI Bujicnovik	P Perepelytsya
1 August	Informed Citizen	Informed Citizen	P Pavlov	P Bohdanivna	P Martynyuk	P Radkohn	P Bujicnovik	P Perepelytsya
5 August	Independent Media	Independent	P Pavlov	P Bohdanivna	P Martynyuk	NI Radkohn	NI Bujicnovik	NI Perepelytsya
8 August	Armadillo Group	21st Century Citizen	P Pavlov	P Bohdanivna	P Martynyuk	NI Radkohn	NI Bujicnovik	NI Perepelytsya

Endorsements

A number of organisations, individuals and newspapers have made endorsements on behalf of parties and individual candidates in the election.

National newspapers

Newspaper	Endorsement		Notes
21st Century Citizen		Unionist Party
Informed Citizen		Unionist Party	First time it endorsed a political candidate
National Intelligencer		Conservative Party
Odel Magazine		Unionist Party
Our Newspaper		Workers Party
The Sentinel		Conservative Party

Other national publications

Newspaper	Endorsement		Notes
Blue State		Conservative Party	Right-wing political magazine
Gapolanese-Vinalian National Magazine		Unionist Party	Soravian-language Gapolanese newspaper.
The Green		Green Party	Weekly Environmentalist newspaper.
National Episemialist		Conservative Party	Daily Episemialist newspaper
New Idea		Freedom Party	Right-wing monthly Anti-establishment magazine
The Northern Vinalian		Workers Party	Daily newspaper covering the constituent state of North Vinalia
The Patriot		Conservative Party	Right-wing political magazine
Say "No" to Abortion		Conservative Party	Right-wing Monthly Anti-abortion newspaper
Teen Times		Unionist Party	Weekly fashion magazine aimed at young people
The Vinalian Solarian		Conservative Party	Weekly Solarian newspaper.
Vinalian Voice		Indigenous Party of Vinalia	Daily Indigenous newspaper
The Vinalian Worker		Workers Party	Left-wing political magazine
Workers Agenda		Workers Party	Left-wing political magazine

Local newspapers

Newspaper	Endorsement		Notes
Artemove Sentinel		Unionist Party	Daily newspaper covering the city of Artemove.
Casimirsk Post		Unionist Party	Daily newspaper covering the city of Casimirsk.
Catherinsk National		Unionist Party	Daily newspaper covering the city of Catherinsk.
Catherinsk Solarian		Conservative Party	Weekly Solarian newspaper for Catherinsk
Catherinsk Tribune		Conservative Party	Daily newspaper covering the city of Catherinsk.
Chervona Standard		Workers Party	Daily newspaper covering the city of Chervona.
Ivanovo Prosecutor		Freedom Party	Monthly newspaper covering the city of Ivanovo.
Jangorod Enquirer		Unionist Party	Daily newspaper covering the city of Jangorod.
Juyu Ruwach Times		Indigenous Party of Vinalia	Weekly Indigenous newspaper covering both North, and South Juyu Ruwach provinces.
Morechia Revival		Unionist Party	Weekly magazine covering the city of Morechia.
Morechia Star		Workers Party	Daily newspaper covering the city of Morechia.
New Samistopol Tribune		Conservative Party	Daily newspaper covering the city of New Samistopol.
The New Velkarichka Citizen		Freedom Party	Daily newspaper covering the city of Velkarichka.
Orlavo Green		Green Party	Weekly Environmentalist magazine covering the city of Orlavo.
Orlavo Quetzal		Indigenous Party of Vinalia	Daily Indigenous newspaper covering the city of Orlavo.
Orlavo Review		Unionist Party	Daily newspaper covering the city of Orlavo.
Popular Jangorod		Freedom Party	Weekly newspaper covering the city of Jangorod.
The Rigalia Magazine		Unionist Party	Weekly magazine covering the province of Rigalia.
Tajinsk National		Conservative Party	Daily newspaper covering the city of Tajinsk.
Velkarichka Union		Conservative Party	Daily newspaper covering the city of Velkarichka.
Weekly Vinalinsk Review		Unionist Party	Weekly Newspaper covering the city of Vinalinsk
Youth Magazine of Velkarichka		Unionist Party	Daily youth magazine covering the city of Velkarichka
Zdavro Worker		Workers Party	Monthly newspaper covering the province of Zdavro.
The Ziban		Workers Party	Soravian-language Ziban newspaper for Orlavo.

Results

Double check everything. from here on below

Senate of the Union

Party		Total votes	Seats
				+/–
	Unionist Party		352,522	16	+2
	Workers Party	352,522	12	+2
	Conservative Party	352,522	11	+3
	Freedom Party	352,522	0	-5
	Nationalist Party	352,522	0	-1
	Green Party	352,522	0	-1
Valid votes		46,362,013	98.9	–
Invalid/blank votes		492,495	1.1	–
Total votes		46,854,508	100.0	39
Registered voters/turnout		61,181,072	76.6	–
Source: Electoral Commission of Vinalia

Seats by province
Province	Distribution	Total
Chyhyryn	1 2	3
Kisharsk	1 2	3
North Bin	1 2	3
North Juyu Ruwach	2 1	3
Orlavo	2 1	3
Rigalia	1 2	3
Shyroniy	1 2	3
South Bin	2 1	3
South Juyu Ruwach	1 2	3
Velkarichka	1 2	3
Vinalinsk	2 1	3
Zamara	2 1	3
Zdavro	2 1	3
Vinalia	12 16 11	39

Seats by state
State	Distribution	Total
North Vinalia	10 8	18
South Vinalia	7 11	18
Vinalinsk	2 1	3
Vinalia	12 16 11	39

House of the People

Party		Total votes	Seats
				+/–
	Unionist Party		5,029,517	75	+6
	Workers Party	4,206,214	43	+6
	Conservative Party	3,569,603	40	+12
	Green Party	616,964	7	-1
	Freedom Party	310,266	6	-19
	Indigenous Party of Vinalia	525,163	4	New
	Nationalist Party	225,674	4	-7
	Socialist Alternative for Vinalia	392,663	3	New
	Vinalian Section of the Workers International	239,205	2	-3
	Ivan Melan	352,522	1	0
Valid votes		15,142,520	99	–
Invalid/blank votes		152,526	1	–
Total votes		15,295,046	100.0	185
Registered voters/turnout		18,592,520	82.26	–
Source: Electoral Commission of Vinalia

Seats by province
Province	Distribution	Total
Chyhyryn	4 4	8
Kisharsk	1 3	4
North Bin	1 4 11 4	20
North Juyu Ruwach	2	2
Orlavo	1 1 1 3 6 3 1	16
Rigalia	1 1 9 13 2	26
Shyroniy	1 1 1 16 12 2 2	35
South Bin	1 1 2 10 4 1 1	20
South Juyu Ruwach	1	1
Velkarichka	1 4 7 2 1	15
Vinalinsk	2 1	3
Zamara	1 1 1 14 10 2 1	30
Zdavro	2 2 1	5
National List	3 3 15 17 12	50
Vinalia	2 3 7 10 58 93 51 9 4 1	238

Seats by state
State	Distribution	Total
North Vinalia	2 3 2 5 37 39 9 1 1	99
South Vinalia	2 2 4 35 31 5 4	83
Vinalinsk	2 1	3
Vinalia	2 3 4 7 43 75 40 6 4 1	185