2005 Scalizagastian federal election

2005 Scalizagastian federal election

7 May 2005
All 500 seats in the Parliament of Scalizagasti 251 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Russel Balfour Samson Rock Gary Biyende Party Revolutionary Republican Party Liberal-Conservative Alliance New Scalizagasti Party Leader since 25 October 2000 14 October 2000 11 February 2005 Leader's seat Ostrawijan South Dunedin Jurein North Last election 203 seats, 36.6% 139 seats, 25.3% Pre-creation Seats before 203 90 57 Seats won 139 138 82 Seat change 64 48 25 Percentage 25.3% 25.6% 15.4% Swing 11.3pp 0.3pp 15.4pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Max Sormann Jake Leurgin Bodi Lampoche Party Social Democratic Party Patriotic Defense Movement Labour and Socialist Party Leader since 31 March 2005 28 July 1999 29 November 1998 Leader's seat Monulla Palgaroca South Liahuan Last election 86 seats, 16.2% 19 seats, 4.6% 9 seats, 2.5% Seats before 85 11 10 Seats won 69 21 7 Seat change 16 10 3 Percentage 13.0% 4.7% 2.3% Swing 3.2pp 0.1pp 0.2pp   Seventh party Eighth party Ninth party   Leader Katherine Sorres Adrian Lutz-Schürmann Francis Wright Party Progressive People's Party Holispet First Green Party Leader since 2 November 2004 22 May 1996 14 August 1999 Leader's seat Ostrawijan North Haprian Group Sunshine Coast Last election 5 seats, 1.7% 11 seats, 1.7% 3 seats, 1.4% Seats before 5 11 3 Seats won 7 8 6 Seat change 2 3 3 Percentage 1.7% 1.3% 2.2% Swing 0.0pp 0.4pp 0.8pp
Prime Minister before election Russel Balfour RRP Prime Minister after election Samson Rock LCA

The 2005 Scalizagastian federal election was held on May 7, 2005, to elect 500 members of the Parliament of Scalizagasti. The centre-right Liberal-Conservative Alliance, led by then-Deputy Prime Minister Samson Rock, narrowly defeated incumbent Prime Minister Russel Balfour's Revolutionary Republican Party after only 158 days in office. Rock formed a minority coalition with the New Scalizagasti Party, whose leader, Gary Biyende, had left the Alliance 85 days earlier. Rock's government would last only three years until he was replaced as Prime Minister by his coalition partner Gary Biyende after the 2008 election. The coalition between the Alliance and New Scalizagasti Party would continue until 2016 when both parties experienced severe defeat to the opposition.

Background

The Revolutionary Republican Party and Liberal-Conservative Alliance were the two largest parties following the 2004 federal election, forming a grand coalition government. Neither party wanted to work with the Social Democrats, who were seen as corrupt and untrustworthy due to the Alpodes Scandal that toppled their government. 49 MPs from the Alliance would leave the coalition and form the New Scalizagasti Party in February 2005 after the coalition legalized same-sex marriage throughout the country. Sensing a surge in the polls for the Alliance, Rock pulled out of the coalition in May. Although SDP leader Max Sormann declared that he would support the government in a vote of non-confidence, Prime Minister Balfour refused any support from the Social Democrats and called a snap election.

Electoral System

The 516 members of Parliament are elected by open party-list proportional representation in multi-member constituencies. Seats are allocated using a Droop quota for the largest remainder method, with a 3% threshold for parties and a 1.5% threshold for independents.

458 seats are elected in 42 geographical electoral districts, ranging anywhere from 5 to 18 seats per electorate. The other 42 seats are elected through a national list, where each of Scalizagasti's six recognized ethnic groups (officially documented in the census) vote for 6 seats each, alongside a seventh list for "other" ethnicites and expats (including expats of Scalizagasti's six recognized groups). If a party wins 251 or more seats, they can govern without forming any coalition. However, this is incredibly uncommon due to Scalizagasti's proportional electoral system. The last time one party won an absolute majority was the RRP's landslide victory in 1993.

Election Date

The date of the election, 7 May 2005, was set by President Jennifer Charest following the dissolution of Parliament on 2 April 2005.

According to the 2000 Election Law, unless an early election is called, the general election must be held on the second Friday of August, four years after the last election year. However, because a snap election was called by Prime Minister Russel Balfour, the election law could be ignored and another date chosen. The last election was held on 30 November 2004, which was also called prematurely.

Polls close in electorates at 8:00 PM local time, and results are usually released a few hours later. However, recounts and other unexpected issues have previously caused vote count delays for up to 24 hours.

Campaign

Taxation

Taxation was a major issue during the election that was debated by all the major parties. Both the Liberal-Conservative Alliance and New Scalizagasti Party pledged to lower taxes on low- and middle-income earners. The Alliance also proposed to increase the tax-free allowance on income tax and the threshold for the inheritance tax. In its Three Preserves campaign platform, the NSP declared it would pass a law to prevent increases to income and sales taxes, which some critics claimed would make deficit reduction impossible. The Social Democrats proposed expanding the low-income family tax credit program, which was introduced by the Second Blaisworth Government, to include middle-income families as well. This would be paid for by a general income tax increase on high-income earners, as well as the creation of a new income bracket on those making over $450,000 yearly. The Republicans declared that taxation on individuals would not increase "by a single penny," although the party planned to fund healthcare expansions with higher corporate taxes.

Grand Coalition

Both the Republicans and Alliance described the grand coalition as a "coalition of necessity" following the Alpodes Scandal. Alliance leader Samson Rock declared that he would seek to form a government led by the Alliance, who at that point was leading in the polls. The NSP criticized the Alliance for entering a grand coalition and supporting "Big-time Socialism" during their time in government, and appealed to Alliance voters to instead vote NSP to prevent another grand coalition. Meanwhile, Labour and the Social Democrats accused the Republicans of tolerating and encouraging austerity measures by the Alliance, declaring that progressive voters should abandon the RRP.

Energy

The Green Party drew national attention when some of their members, including party leader Francis Wright, interrupted a news conference held by Samson Rock. They waved signs and held posters declaring that "Rock will poison us for 100,000 years!" in reference to the Alliance's plan to build 12 new nuclear reactors by 2020. The Social Democrats also adopted an anti-nuclear position, instead planning to invest in hydroelectric, solar, and wind energy.

Same-sex marriage

In February 2005, same-sex marriage was legalized throughout the country by the grand coalition. A survey conducted by QOPH Polling in April found that 43% of Scalizagastians supported the legalization of same-sex marriage while 38% opposed it (the remaining 19% had no opinion). The RRP, Alliance, and SDP all affirmed their support for same-sex marriage, although some Alliance members and voters voiced their disapproval. The New Scalizagasti Party was the most vocal opponent of the policy and appealed to social conservatives for support in repealing the law.

High-speed rail

Both the Alliance and Social Democrats wanted to extend Scalizagasti's high-speed rail line, which ended in the Torlonian city of Priel Swann, all the way to Reliance, Sintalli. The Republicans claimed that a high-speed rail expansion would not be economically feasible as demand to travel in Scalizagasti's north did not justify a high-speed corridor.

Opinion polls

Polling firm	Date	RRP	LCA	SDP	PDM	NSP	LSP	PPP	ADP	REF	GPS	Other	Lead
QOPH Polling	20 Mar 2005	22	43	14	4	4	2	1	-	-	1	9	21
Bookmark	1 Apr 2005	23	44.5	15.5	3.5	2	1.5	1.5	-	-	1.5	7	21.5
QOPH Polling	3 Apr 2005	22.5	42	15	3.5	4	2	1	2.5	-	1	6.5	19.5
Bookmark	10 Apr 2005	21	40	16	3	6	1	1.5	3	2	1	5.5	19
QOPH Polling	10 Apr 2005	21.5	40.5	15	3.5	6	2	1	2	-	1.5	7	19
QOPH Polling	17 Apr 2005	21	35	14	4	8	3	1	2	1.5	2.5	8	14
QOPH Polling	24 Apr 2005	25	34	18	2.5	7.5	2	1	0.5	2.5	1	6	9
Bookmark	27 Apr 2005	19.5	31	13.5	3.5	13	3.5	2	2.5	3	2	6.5	11.5
QOPH Polling	1 May 2005	18.5	29	12	5.5	14	4	1.5	3	2.5	3	7	10.5
Bookmark	4 May 2005	22	23	11	4.5	19	2.5	2.5	3	2	3	7.5	1
QOPH Polling	5 May 2005	23	27	10.5	4.5	17.5	2	2	2.5	1	2	8	4
2005 election	7 May 2005	25.3	25.6	13.0	4.7	15.4	2.3	1.7	1.3	1.7	2.2	6.8	0.3