Sydalene legislative election, August 2018

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Sydalene legislative election, August 2018
National Flag of Sydalon.png
7 August 2018 (2018-08-07) Nov. 2018 →

256 seats in the National Assembly
129 seats needed for a majority
Turnout67.59% Increase
  Pelae de Arvad.jpg Elisabetta de Calvacamp.jpg Adeodata Haddad de Saabi.jpg
Leader Pelae de Arvad Elisabetta de Calvacamp The Lady Haddad de Saabi
Alliance Center-right coalition Franġiskani Center-left coalition
Leader since 8 March 2016 4 May 2016 19 July 2015
Leader's seat Elected to Sarpeta Elected to Royal Domain List Lord Temporal
Seats won 80 64 63
Seat change Increase 80 Increase 64 Increase 63
Popular vote 2,029,824 1,569,991 1,484,669
Percentage 32.6% 25.2% 23.8%

  Michael Antuniez.jpg Elissa de Ireyz.jpg Valent Arghal.jpg
Leader Michael Antuniez Elissa de Ireyz Michael Ahearna
Alliance Democratic Alternative Patriots Movement Montgisene National
Leader since 29 January 2017 15 February 1999 2 April 2010
Leader's seat Elected to Ostracine-1 Elected to Hayan List Elected to St Arthur
Seats won 24 10 6
Seat change Increase 24 Increase 10 Increase 6
Popular vote 502,521 379,553 134,650
Percentage 7.7% 5.8% 2%

Speaker before election

None

Speaker

Pelae de Arvad
People's Party

The Sydalene legislative election, August 2018 was held on 7 August 2018. It was the first nation-wide election in Sydalene history and Elections elected all 256 members of the National Assembly, featuring 115 seats from single-member districts and 141 seats based on party-list proportional representation. The election took place concurrently with regional elections in throughout the Royal Domain, Tanas Toron, and local elections.

The centre-right coalition, led by the People's Party earned a plurality of seats, while Franġiskani earned the second most seats, and most votes among the party-list voting. The centre-left coalition, led by Adeodata Saabi and the Modern Left, came third. No party or coalition achieved an outright majority, resulting in a strained chamber election for Speaker.

Three weeks of negotiations between numerous parties from across political spectrum eventually resulted in the People's Party Speaker candidate, Pelae de Arvad, elected to the role.

Background

The 2018 legislative election was originally scheduled for 19 November 2017, but was postponed by royal decree on 1 October due to the death of King Jordan IX and the ascension of Melisende III. The 2017 election was set to be the first nationwide legislative election in Sydalene history, following an amendment to the Consitution signed into effect in 2015, establishing the National Assembly as the lower chamber of Parliament.

The postponment was met with protests in major cities, such as Ostracine, Philippopolis, and Santa Gilles, with Ostracine-based protests even gathering outside of Palis de Aultavilla. Queen Melisende III eventually left Ostracine for Ascalzar, where she maintained her postponment. The Queen eventually announced that elections would be held in the coming year and appointed Fernande Mifsud as Chancellor. The 2018 election was later announced for August, with the Council of Ministers preparing to institute the reforms required ahead of the election. Mifsud's appointment and the announcement of elections quelled many protests and saw the Queen's return to Ostracine.

Electoral system

The election featured 115 constituencies that were elected by single-member districts under a first past the post system. Another 141 members were elected by party-list proportional representation. All list members of parliament were elected in multi-member constituencies based on domain borders. All 115 single member constituencies were drawn ahead of the election.

Voting eligibility

To be eligible to vote in the legislative election, one must be:

  • registered to vote with the Royal Registry;
  • aged 20 years old by the registration deadline of 6 July 2018;
  • a Sydalene citizen; and
  • not excluded from voting (whether by legal incompetency, found guilty of or convicted of a felony, not an adherent of a nationally recognized religion) or not disqualified from voting (sitting in the Chamber of Peers).

Timetable

19 May Queen Melisende III announced postponement of 2018 legislative election by royal decree; measure approved by the Senate
22 May Election date announced for 7 August 2018
23 May Commencement of official campaign period
6 July Last day to register to vote
7 August Voting day: national polls open at 8 am with polls closing at 9 pm, all voters queued outside of their proper voting station by 9 pm may still cast their vote. Vote counting to begin at 10 pm
14 August National Assembly is sworn in and assembled

Coalitions and parties

There were sixteen registered political parties running candidates in the August 2018 election, and 51 independent candidates that were not members of a party. Of all parties standing candidates, nine political parties were contesting in elections for the first time, though all parties were contesting for the first time on the national level. Two possible coalitions formed before the election date: the Centre-right coalition, which included the People's Party, Catholic Justice, and the Traditional Party; and the Centre-left coalition which included Modern Left, Liberal Alliance, Progress, and the Green and Agrarian Party.

Results

Summary of the 7 August 2018 National Assembly election results
Coalition Party Proportional First-past-the-post Total
seats
±
Votes % Seats Votes % Seats
Centre-right coalition People's Party (PP) 1,355,075 19.8% 31 1,523,113 22.2% 38 69 –1
Catholic Justice (JK) 472,656 6.9% 11 439,010 6.4% 0 11 –15
Traditional Party (T) 202,093 2.9% 0 87,310 1.3% 0 0 –9
Total seats 42 38 80 –26
Franġiskani (F3O) 1,569,991 22.9% 36 1,338,310 19.5% 28 64 +39
Centre-left coalition Modern Left (XM) 1,125,936 16.4% 26 1,409,348 20.6% 29 55 –2
Liberal Alliance of Christians (LAC) 232,210 3.4% 5 412,319 6.0% 3 8 +4
Progress (P) 92,092 1.3% 0 98,313 1.4% 0 0 –3
Total seats 31 32 63 –1
Alternative Democracy (AD) 502,521 7.3% 11 591,213 8.6% 13 24 +4
Patriot's Movement (PM) 379,553 5.5% 8 162,314 2.4% 0 8 –2
New Democracy (DG) 301,231 4.4% 7 102,414 1.5% 0 7 +7
Republican Party (PR) 281,139 4.1% 6 109,121 1.6% 0 6 +3
Total 256

Speakership election

See also