2019 Themiclesian general election

2019 Themiclesian general election

December 30, 2019 (2019-12-30)
All 349 seats to the House of Commons 175 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout	57.5%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Lja Le Lord Gawh Jean Sak Party Liberal Conservative Progressive Leader since Oct. 1, 2016 Jan. 5, 2018 Feb. 14, 2012 Leader's seat Dah Srji′ Srji′ North Last election 162 149 10 Seats before 157 149 10 Seats won 181 121 11 Seat change 19 28 1 Percentage 38.2% 35.6% 19.5% Swing 2.9% 3.3% 1.1%   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Rim Ban Franklin Tju Party Greens Republicans Alliance Left Left Leader since Sep. 5, 2009 Mar. 30, 1989 Leader's seat Gak Smat Last election 7 6 Seats before 7 6 Seats won 8 5 Seat change 4 1 Percentage 4.1% 3.1% Swing 0.2% 0.2%
Composition of the House after election
Prime Minister before election Lja Le Liberal Prime Minister Lja Le Liberal

The 2019 Themiclesian general election (今三年徹選, kjem-s.rum-ning-r′jêt-sor′) was held on December 30, 2019. The incumbent prime minister, Lja Le, called the snap election on Nov. 22, 2019 after four months of parliamentary deadlock caused by the Progressives breaking away from the coalition with the Liberals. This was the third general election in Themiclesia since August 2016.

The election resulted in a nine-seat Liberal majority in the House of Commons and allowed Lja to remain in office. It was also the first parliamentary majority since 2009, ending the succession of six minority governments.

Calling the election

In April 2019, the minority Liberal government announced that it was seeking inter-party support for the passing of the appropriations bill. Support was initially secured amongst the Progressives, with a final vote of 125-120 to pass the year's budget. Disputes broke out between the Liberal leader, Lja, and the Progressives who demanded the Liberals to make good on commitments to cuts in multiple departments, in the next fiscal year. The Liberals claimed that there was no such understanding, while the Progressives believed there was. While the Progressives called for a confidence motion on the Government, the latter survived with the defection of several Conservative and Green MPs. The Progressives officially left the coalition on Oct. 15, while Lja said on Nov. 4 he was "anticipating and seeing auspicious signs of a stable coalition with the Green Party." However, 18 days later, he declared a snap election.

With a span of 37 days between calling and polling and little anticipation, the 2019 election was one of the most sudden general elections in Themiclesian history. Not only has this haste been blamed for the low turnout at merely 55.4% of electors, it was also widely circulated that it had caught the Opposition completely off guard. The Conservative peer, the Lord of Ban, considered it a "very base gesture" and a contravention of the norms parliamentary government.