2022 Lavanan General Election

2022 Lavanan General election

1 September 2022
All 789 directly elected seats in the Lavanan Congress. (Out of 849 total seats) 425 seats needed for a majority
Registered	66,179,774
Turnout	56,319,726 ( 83.14)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Laina Keomany Emlig Sounvannaphouma Kuanysh Kholmatzhouma Party Lavanan Section of the Workers International Ukilen Section of the Workers International Majgar Section of the Workers International Leader since 11 February 2019 16 June 2022 28 June 2022 Leader's seat Xiangta Municipality Ukilen List Majgar List Last election 760 0 0 Seats won 312 67 53 Popular vote 22,127,393 4,782,372 3,783,070 Percentage 39.29 8.49 6.72   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Somphone Fomenkongsy Aidos Mukhametaune Aida Dibegaune Party Worker-Labour Front Yoloten-Friendship Party Dhavoni People’s Party Leader since 3 June 2022 30 June 2022 17 July 2022 Leader's seat Pers Municipality Majgar List Dhavoni list Last election 0 0 0 Seats won 40 75 Popular vote 7,994,413 2,855,148 5,353,402 Percentage 14.20 5.07 9.51
Premier before election Laina Keomany LSWI Elected Premier Laina Keomany LSWI

The 2022 Lavanan General election are to held on Thursday, 1 September 2022, to elect the 16th Lavanan Congress of the People's Republic of Lavana. All 849 seats in the Congress are for election. The election was called, by Premier Laina Keomany on the 13th of March, following a Coup and countercoup by the Premier and Former General Secretary of the Lavanan Section of the Workers International Khudu Narimanoa. She dissolved the Congress and called for early elections.

The Lavanan Section of the Workers International remained in power, despite losing half of its size, still mantaining its position as the largest party in Lavana. Laina Keomany was voted and approved for another term as Premier of the country, on September 5th following the swearing in of the 60 Provincial delegates to the Congress. Soon after a new constitution was introduced and approved.

The elections have been called unfree by numerous International Organizations, and countries.

Electoral process

All voters not in jail, or being under a serious criminal investigation who are over 18 and are citizens of Lavana can run for any office, and vote in elections.

Voters elect using closed list Ranked voting method on all elections. The Congress is divided into two categories of those elected directly to the Congress, and indirectly. All legislatures in the country work in the same way. For Congress elections, 789 seats are elected directly with 60 being elected indirectly, instead being assigned from the Provincial Councils. Voters elect two members per municipality (700 total seats for 350 municipalities). 35 seats are elected on a nationwide list per ethnic group with 5 seats granted per ethnic group of which there are 7, voters belonging to these ethnic groups can cast their vote on the nationwide list. 51 Seats are slotted to numerous municipalities to better represent the population, citizens in the Pers municipality will elect their 2 assigned members and an additional 8 seats to Congress. Additionally 3 seats are slotted for Lavanans living abroad.

Voters elect using the same system their Provincial Councils. Each province elects 3 members per municipality directly to the council. Out of the members elected to the Provincial Council 3 are sent to the Lavanan Congress and constitute the last 60 seats of that council. Members selected to represent the province in the Congress, retain their seat in the Provincial council as well. The Provincial Council additionally seats the rotating leader of each Municipal council.

In Municipal Councils, voters elect using the same system a 15 member council, which select a leader who sits in the corresponding Provincial council for a period of 3 months. The Council sits additional members from "City" level councils beneath them, who are in turn elected by their respective jurisdictions.

Background

These are the first elections to be contested since 1959 that do not require candidates to be members of the Lavanan Section of the Workers International. They're also the first to be contested under the new March Constitution in Lavana, which replaced the 1994 constitution.

2022 Lavana coup d'état

Main article: 2022 Lavana coup d'état

The Lavanan Section of the Workers International has been the sole party in elections since 1960. The party however had fractured into numerous smaller unofficial sections, with differing ideologies and goals. The Goubist faction centered on the policies and members/descendants of Lavanas first Premier Zadavana Goube, which is supported by Kachai, and Ziban members of the electorate. The Reform Faction with its main leaders in United People's Section (UPS) is composed of moderates and ethnic majorities which favor an approach similar to that of Dezevau, which saw major reforms. Following the opening of the Congress to all voters in 1994, the Reform faction gained prominence and secured numerous Premierships since 2000, although all members belonged to the same party competitive elections were held with voter favoring one of the many factions. Loe Vatthana was appointed in 2014 as Premier and was a clear moderate, Laina Keomany was made Vice-Premier do to her close ties with the Goubist faction. Following Vatthanas death in 2019, Keomany became Premier and initially crashed with General Secretary of the Lavanan Section of the Workers International who holds power over the democratically elected government and is directly solely by the party elite and its members. Keomany attacked Goubist faction members, and was seen as a threat against the old guard of the party. Khudu Narinamoa was elected on 2020 as General Secretary to counter Keomany as both of them were connected through the marriage of immediate family. The connection was abruptly ended by the death of Vinliam Keomany, Lainas Grandson on October, fearing renewed interest by Keomany to challenge the old guard he approved new election rules which would had given the party elite greater power to elect his position. The Reform faction increasingly began challenging and attacking the Goubists for such a move, and the election of Narinamoa was expected on March 1st.

On March 6th, Khudu Narinamoa, legally dismissed sitting Premier Laina Keomany and appointed Suhk Bagabiada to the position as an interim Premier until elections in the Congress could be held. Keomany called the decision a coup against Lavanas Democracy and launched a countercoup against Narinamoa soon after. Elements loyal to the Government and the Premier fought over control of the government, with Narinamoa surrendering late on March 7th, and resigning his position from the Party. Fighting ended on the 9th, as Keomany was appointed as the new General Secretary of the Party and appointed herself as Premier. Keomany had made numerous appointments and moves of officials and military units in the lead up to her dismissal which allowed her to fight elements loyal to Narinamoa, and win.

Keomany called a state of emergency, and purged thousands of "Anti-Lavanan" officials, teachers, journalists, and media outlets. Thousands were arrested or publicly blacklisted by the government in the immediate aftermath of the coup. Keomany removed over 300 members of the Lavanan Congress, and appointed allies to the vacant seats. Which she used to approve a temporary new constitution giving her position increased powers, and removing any possible attempt by the party to remove her from the position. The expanded powers expire on September.

Proposed new Constitution and reforms

Keomany stated that Lavana would hold free elections, and that several reforms would be introduced into the country. Elections were opened up to be multi-party (so long as they're approved by the Electoral Commission), for the first time since 1959, when Lavana was still a Democratic Republic. Keomany introduced legislation to allow for the drafting of a new constitution that will be voted on by the new Congress following the elections. The new constitution will establish 4 new provinces, along with granting numerous political rights and freedoms to Provincial councils to defend, and maintain minority groups, the changes have been welcomed by the ethnic minorities of Lavana. Keomany has referred to establishing Lavana as a federation, although no such thing will de facto happen.

Senrian retail store opened in Pers on June 2022

Lavana and Senria signed a friendship pact on April 24th, which is the latest in Lavanan economic opening, as the powerful state-owned companies were dilluted of power in numerous areas, allowing for foreign investment in the country. Senria has opened numerous factories and is looking to expand economic prospects in the country. The retail sector which was under complete government control, was completely abolished allowing approved foreign business to open shops in the country. The importation of goods was standardize, and a reduction of tariffs soon followed.

Parties

All parties competing in the elections must be approved by the Electoral Commission of Lavana.

Approved Parties

Name				Ideology	Leader		Seats on June 10, 2022
							Lavanan Congress	Provincial Councils	Municipal Councils	City Level Councils
	LSWI		Lavanan Section of the Workers International	Council socialism Workers International Brown Sea Socialism Moderate Councilism Market Socialism		Laina Keomany	548 / 760	738 / 1,400	4,229 / 6,675	11,349 / 21,375
	W-LF		Worker-Labour Front	Council socialism Workers International Syndicalism		Somphone Fomenkongsy	78 / 760	206 / 1,400	756 / 6,675	3,672 / 21,375
	USWI		Ukilen Section of the Workers International	Council socialism Workers International Brown Sea Socialism Ukilen politics		Emlig Sounvannaphouma	30 / 760	98 / 1,400	278 / 6,675	2,062 / 21,375
	MSWI		Majgar Section of the Workers International	Council socialism Workers International Brown Sea Socialism Majgar politics		Kuanysh Kholmatzhouma	28 / 760	66 / 1,400	205 / 6,675	949 / 21,375
	Y-FP		Yoloten-Friendship Party	Equalism Workers International Majgar politics Ukilen politics Lavanana-Yoloten Unification		Aidos Mukhametaune	15 / 760	31 / 1,400	66 / 6,675	205 / 21,375
	DPP		Dhavoni People’s Party	Council socialism Workers International Brown Sea Socialism Dhavoni Politics		Aida Dibegaune	22 / 760	107 / 1,400	685 / 6,675	1,092 / 21,375
	SSUP		Socialist-Solarian Understanding party	Council socialism Brown Sea Socialism Solarian Socialism		Mhibodu Thammavong	19 / 760	97 / 1,400	166 / 6,675	1,004 / 21,375
	MGA		Maral Gavagamu Alliance	Council socialism Brown Sea Socialism Dhavoni politics		Maral Gavagamu	3 / 760	5 / 1,400	18 / 6,675	64 / 21,375
	GCA		Great Crane Association	Council socialism Brown Sea Socialism Eco-socialism		Akhutai Achmedjana	12 / 760	36 / 1,400	201 / 6,675	705 / 21,375
			Independents	Independents			5 / 760	16 / 1,400	71 / 6,675	273 / 21,375

Parties that were not approved

• People's Party of Lavanan Democracy: Party registered under Phet Rustemegrath, a Lavanan exile living in Werania. Rejected as the party was not registered by a leader inside Lavana. Later registered as the Socialist People's Party of Lavanan Democracy.
• Socialist People's Party of Lavanan Democracy: Party registered under Kimo Takgatoa, a Dezevauni-Weranian who registered the party for Phet Rustemegrath inside Lavana. Rejected over irregular funding.
• Party for the Rejection of Socialism: Party registered by Iskander Chanthraphone, a Lavanan exile in Vinalia. Rejected as the party was not registered by a leader inside Lavana.
• Party of Starvation: Party registered under Thao Smith, a Lavanan exile in Estmere. Rejected as the party was not registered by a leader inside Lavana.
• Party of Lavanan-Dezevauni Cooperation: Party registered under Madthai Marlenevanh a former member of the Lavanan Congress briefly imprisoned following the coup. Rejected over irregular funding.
• Goube Party for establishing Socialism: Party registered under Badegiuva Olzhany a former member of the Lavanan Congress briefly imprisoned following the coup. Rejected over the opening of new criminal investigations into Olzhany.

Results

Party		Municipal			Ethnic list			Distribution seats			Abroad			Total seats	+/–
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	Lavanan Section of the Workers International	20,751,103	37.71	264	23,557,730	41.83	15	25,189,009	45.78	31	557,246	43	2	310	-448
	Worker-Labour Front	7,545,856	13.71	96	6,436,318	11.43	4	11,867,461	21.57	11	452,276	34.9	1	112	+112
Valid votes		55,021,864	99.99	–	56,317,785	99.99	–	55,021,864	99.99	-	1,295,921	99.99	-	-	-
Invalid/blank votes		941	0.0001	–	831	0.0001	–	727	0.0001	-	1000	0.0001	-	-	-
Total votes		55,022,805	100.0	700	56,318,616	100.0	35	55,022,591	100.0	51	1,295,921	100.0	3	789	-
Source: Electoral Commission of Lavana

Government formation

On 5 September 2022, Laina Keomany was confirmed as Premier by the Lavanan Congress. Provincial delegate Shaira Bekhavong voted no on the confirmation of Keomany by accident, and attempted to annul her vote, but it was registered as the sole "No" vote in Keomany's confirmation.