2000 Ordennyan general election
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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.
The Liberals benefitted greatly from the new electoral system and managed to solidify their position as the third largest party, gaining twenty-four seats, despite a decrease in vote share, finishing with 64 seats.
The smaller Democratic and Green Parties also benefitted from the new system, with both parties just about doubling their seat totals from the previous election with the DCP winning 28 seats and the Greens winning 24 seats. Additionally, four Independents were elected, two more than the last election.
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.
| Investiture Fredrik Månsson (AP) | ||
| Ballot → | 16 May 2000 | |
|---|---|---|
| Required majority → | 326 out of 650 
| |
Yes
|
298 / 650
| |
No
|
324 / 650
| |
Abstentions
|
28 / 650
| |
| Absentees | 0 / 651
| |
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, facilitated by President Jenssen, 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.
| Investiture Frederik Xandström (KP) | ||
| Ballot → | 21 May 2000 | |
|---|---|---|
| Required majority → | 326 out of 650
| |
Yes
|
324 / 650
| |
326 / 650
| ||
| Abstentions | 0 / 650
| |
| Absentees | 0 / 650
| |
| Investiture Frederik Xandström (KP) | ||
| Ballot → | 21 May 2000 | |
|---|---|---|
| Required majority → | Simple
| |
Yes
|
324 / 650
| |
326 / 650
| ||
| Abstentions | 0 / 650
| |
| Absentees | 0 / 651
| |
Jenssen's consultation
On May 23, President Jenssen began consulting with the party leader's and Independents about who best could form a government. It was her view that, after the divisiveness of the previous election campaign, the most effective course of action was to find a compromise candidate to become Prime Minister and avoid a second general election. The Conservatives remained adamant that they would want to form a government with Xandström as Prime Minister, while the Liberals said they would not support a Labour-led government so long as Månsson remained Party leader. The Democrats and Greens made clear their opposition to a centre-right Conservative government, but also their base reluctance to the notion of supporting a Labour-led government, a sentiment echoed by the four Independent MPs. Fredrik Månsson had lost a confidence vote among his parliamentary colleagues for his continued leadership of the Labour Party, so it was clear that Labour could not lead a government.
When it became clear that none of the five party leaders in the Chamber of Deputies could command a majority, despite there being a majority against the Conservatives, Jenssen convened a meeting of Månsson, Gudmundsson, and Nyström, to raise the possibility of finding an individual Member of Parliament to serve as a consensus Prime Minister. Gudmundsson, the DCP leader, recommended Johan Olsson as a potential candidate for Prime Minister. Olsson was the Independent MP from Axlarhagi, and was widely regarded as having a high level of personal popularity both inside and outside Parliament, in part due to his roles as Chairman of the Chamber of Deputies Committee on Standards & Privileges and as Chairman of the Liaison Committee. Månsson and Nyström seconded this idea, and both party leaders met with Olsson to discuss the possibility of forming a government.
Olsson's attempt
Johan Olsson was initially shocked by the notion of forming a government with himself as Prime Minister, and was reluctant to go ahead with the idea. As it became apparent that this was the only way to avoid a new election and a Conservative led-government, he decided to begin negotiations, and was commissioned by President Jenssen on May 25 to form a government.
He began negotiations with Labour, the Democrats, and the Greens the same day, and on May 27th, twenty days after the election, an agreement was reached where Olsson would serve as Prime Minister for one term, with Fredrik Månsson as Deputy Prime Minister until his successor as Labour Party leader was elected. Of the remaining twenty-one cabinet posts, Labour would receive twelve cabinet positions, the Democrats would get six, and Olsson's fellow Independents would get the remaining three. The Greens opted not to become a formal part of the coalition, but pledged to support the investiture vote and give confidence and supply in exchange for investment in renewable energy and a moratorium on the construction of new off-shore oil drilling sites.
The investiture vote was held on May 28th and passed on the first vote, with the combined Labour, Democrat, Green, and Independent votes totalling 326 seats, while the 260 Conservative MPs voted against. The Liberals abstained in exchange for the government giving support to a Liberal candidate for Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies. Olsson met with President Jenssen that evening to officially form a government as the country's first and to date only Independent Prime Minister.
| Investiture Johan Olsson (Independent) | ||
| Ballot → | 28 May 2000 | |
|---|---|---|
| Required majority → | 326 out of 650 
| |
326 / 650
| ||
No
|
260 / 650
| |
Abstentions
|
64 / 650
| |
| Absentees | 0 / 651
| |