2020 Trjebian General Election

2020 Trjebian general election

June 15, 2020 (2020-06-15)
All 51 seats to the Legislative Assembly 27 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout	64.4%
First party Second party Third party   RA GBD BdB Leader Redhe Sje Lucas Mhe Timht Gha Party Liberal Alliance United Trjebia Society Thirteen Kingdoms Leader since June 2015 January 2017 May 2015 Leader's seat Centre District Centre District Centre District Last election 21 16 6 Seats before 21 16 6 Seats won 20 14 9 Seat change 1 2 3 Popular vote 68,280 43,503 35,764 Percentage 36.9% 23.5% 19.3% Swing 1.5pp 5.4pp 5.5pp   Fourth party   Ņ-Oa Leader Madhia Na Party Left-Green Alliance Leader since March 2014 Leader's seat South District Last election 7 Seats before 7 Seats won 6 Seat change 1 Popular vote 26,062 Percentage 14.1% Swing 1.6pp
Prime Minister before election Redhe Sje Liberal Alliance Prime Minister after election Redhe Sje Liberal Alliance

The 2020 Trjebian General Election was held on June 15, 2020 to elect the 51 members of the Legislative Assembly of Trjebia.

The governing Liberal Alliance lead by Prime Minister Redhe Sje and their coalition partner Left-Green Alliance were re-elected to a second term despite seat loses from both parties. The far-right Thirteen Kingdoms Party made large gains at the expense of the centre-right United Trjebia Society, making them the third largest party in the Assembly for the first time.

Prime Minister Sje's cabinet was confirmed 27-24 by the Assembly on July 6, 2020 and were sworn in the next day at the Royal Palace.

Background

In accordance with the Trjbian Charter, the legislative term cannot last longer than 4 years, and an election must be held within 6 months of its expiration or a vote of non-confidence. Trjebia uses a negative confidence system, meaning that the opposition must produce an absolute majority (27 votes) in order to dissolve the government, rather than the government needing to produce an absolute majority itself.

The last election was June 2016 to elect the 164th Assembly. It resulted in the governing United Trjebia government losing its majority and the Liberal Alliance, in coalition with the Lefts, forming government for the first time since 2003. It would also be the first time the Lefts were in government since their founding in 2009, though its precursor the Socialists had participated in government before.

Electoral system

In Trjebia there are 4 multi-member districts containing a total of 51 seats directly elected by closed list proportional representation, using the d'hondt method with an electoral threshold of 5% in all districts. Any independent candidate who earns one seats worth of votes in a district is automatically elected.

The electoral districts always coincide with Trjebias 4 administrative districts.

Political Parties

Name			Ideology	Position	Leader	Current Seats
Parties with representation
	RA	Liberal Alliance Rebhesj Aransz	Liberalism	Centre	Redhe Sje	21 / 51
	GBD	United Trjebia Society Ghabheī Bherrasj Drhedhri	Liberal conservatism	Centre-right	Lucas Mhe	16 / 51
	Ņ-Oa	Left-Green Alliance Ņabhj Obharansz	Democratic socialism	Left-wing	Madhia Na	7 / 51
	BdB	Thirteen Kingdoms Bīboszdhrij Bharti	National conservatism	Far-right	Timht Gha	6 / 51
Parties without representation
	S+	Seniors +	Pensioners' interests	Centre	Mikgal Bhis	0 / 51
	TUCS	Communists and Sosymets	Communism	Far-left	Laura Ug	0 / 51
	H	Horizons Party	Populism	Centre	Collective Leadership	0 / 51
	F	Free Party	Classical Liberalism	Centre-right	Marchal Po	0 / 51

Results

Party			Votes	%	+/-	Seats	+/−
	Liberal Alliance	RA	68,280	36.9	+1.5	20	−1
	United Trjebia Society	GBD	43,504	23.5	-5.4	14	−2
	Thirteen Kingdoms	BdB	35,764	19.3	+5.5	9	+3
	Left-Green Alliance	Ņ-Oa	26,062	14.1	-1.6	6	-1
	Independent	3,734	2.0	+0.1	2	+1
	Seniors +	S+	5,205	2.8	-0.1	0	±0
	Free Party	F	1,506	0.8	±0	0	±0
	Horizons Party	H	599	0.3	±0	0	±0
	Communists and Sosymets	TUCS	431	0.2	±0	0	±0
Total			185,084	100	51	0	0
Registered voters/turnout			287,303	64.4	–	–	–

Analysis

The election saw the Liberal Alliance gain votes and retain their place as the largest party, despite losing a single seat. Most strikingly, the far-right Thirteen Kingdom party gained 3 seats and 5% of the vote, proplling them to 3rd place mostly at the expense of the United Trjebia Society who had their worst ever showing.

Government Formation

The results left the current government of the Liberal Alliance and the Left-Greens retain their majority, despite losing 2 seats. After the election was called, Prime Minister Sje annouced that he was looking forward to another government with the Left-Greens. On July 2 a formal press conference with Prime Minister Sje, interm Left-Green leader Sesilia Dhi, and independent MP Tomhas Ghe was held to annouce the continuation of government with MP Ghe joining as Minister of Seniors and Housing.