2000 Ordennyan general election

2000 Ordennyan general election

7 May 2000
All 650 seats in the Chamber of Deputies 326 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Fredrik Månsson Frederik Xandström Albin Andersson Party AP KP LP Leader since 22 March 1994 22 August 1996 22 June 1989 Leader's seat Hellesvik (Lost re-election) Nørdenavvic (List) Mellanborg Barkerud Last election 435 seats, 48.5% 148 seats, 25.4% 40 seats, 9% Seats won 270 260 64 Seat change 165 112 24 Percentage 41.54% 40% 9.85% Swing 6.96% 15.6% 0.85%   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Guðmund Guðmundsson Rune Nyström Party DCP GP Leader since 17 November 1983 6 July 1995 Leader's seat November City North Oured North Last election 15 seats, 3.9% 10 seats, 3.5% Seats won 28 24 Seat change 13 14 Percentage 4.31% 4.1% Swing 0.41% 0.6%
Prime Minister before election Fredrik Månsson Labour Party Elected Prime Minister Johan Olsson Independent

The 2000 Ordennyan general election was held on 7 May 2000, four years after the previous election in 1996. It was the first election held using mixed-member proportional representation, following a constitutional amendment in 1998 changing the electoral system from first-past-the-post.

The incumbent Labour government, led by Fredrik Månsson, faced heavier than expected losses, even those expected under the new system. Throughout their four years in government, the Labour Party had enjoyed unprecedentedly high approval ratings, with many opinion polls pointing to an outright Labour majority at the beginning of the campaign period. Their ratings fell, however, after Dagens Nyheter broke news during the campaign that Fredrik Månsson's senior adviser, Julius Jönsson, had embezzled public funds through his expenses account. A wider exposê published shortly after revealed a wider scandal within the Labour Party, where it was revealed that many Labour parliamentarians and their advisors had abused their expenses accounts. Labour was able to recover from this somewhat after Jönsson's public dismissal and the overhaul of Labour's candidate lists, but they never managed to regain their wide poll lead over the Conservatives, finishing with 270 seats and 41.5% of the vote, only narrowly ahead of the Conservatives.

The Conservatives were able to mostly rebound from their historic low of the previous election, running an insurgent campaign under the leadership of former Defence Secretary Frederik Xandstrom. In the four years following the last election, Xandstrom made a concerted effort to overhaul the Conservative Party's image to make it appear more modern and liberal. For example, he appointed a frontbench with very little ministerial experience overall, free from the baggage of the previous Conservative government, promised to match Labour's public spending if they formed a government, and relaxed the Party's stances on social issues such as drug use and LGBTQI+ rights. The Labour expenses scandal during the campaign was a boon for the Conservatives, and they managed to narrow a 20-point-lead held by Labour at the beginning of the campaign to 1.5% on polling day, finishing with 260 seats and 40% of the popular vote.

Government formation

The election resulted in a hung parliament, which necessitated the formation of a coalition government. Furthermore, any party leader who wishes to form a government must obtain an absolute majority on the first vote or a simple majority on the second vote in the Chamber of Deputies supporting their candidacy.

Månsson's attempt

As leader of the largest party, President Dagmar Jenssen commissioned Fredrik Månsson to try to form a government. Both he and Xandström ruled out a grand coalition between Labour and the Conservatives, and Liberal leader Albin Andersson announced that the Liberals would not vote for a Månsson-led government after the expenses scandal.

Månsson's preference was a three-party coalition between Labour, the Democratic Centre Party, and the Green Party with confidence and supply from the four elected Independents. Negotiations commenced on May 10th, with President Jenssen personally facilitating the negotiations. Within two days, the Independents pulled out of negotiations, with Independent MP Johan Olsson noting a "lack of reform to MP standards" as the main reason. The Greens left negotiations a day later, citing disagreements on moving away from fossil fuels. They did, however, say that they would abstain on the investiture vote.

On May 15, Labour and the DCP presented their coalition agreement, and announced that they would move for an investiture vote for Fredrik Månsson as Prime Minister the next day. The first vote, which required an absolute majority of 326 to form a government, failed, with the combined votes of Labour and the DCP totalling 298, 28 short of the majority needed. The Conservatives and Liberals both voted against, totally 324, with the 28 Greens and Independents abstaining. Instead of proceeding to a simple majority vote, Månsson met with President Jenssen to return his commission to form a government.

Xandström's attempt

On May 17, ten days after the election, President Jenssen commissioned Frederik Xandström to form a government. He immediately began negotiations with the Liberal Party, and also stated he would seek support from the four Independent MPs for confidence and supply. All four of the Independent MPs stated they would not vote for a Conservative-led government, as all four ran on platforms opposing cuts to public services, but remained ambigious as to whether they would abstain on the investiture vote.

On May 20, the Conservatives and Liberals presented their coalition agreement, which contained a commitment to maintain Labour's public spending for the first two years, before enacting cuts in the 2003 budget. On May 21, Frederik Xandström moved for the government investiture vote, and failed both the absolute majority vote and the simple majority vote, with the Conservatives and Liberals reaching 324 votes in favour, but the combined Labour, Democratic, Green, and Independent forces totalling 326. That evening, Xandström returned his mandate.