2008 Ostric regional election

2008 Ostric regional election

17 February 2008
All 15 seats in the Dorada 8 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Léch Kneller Hugo Górka Konrad Roth Party Coalition Social Democratic Radical National Consolidation Leader since 17 December 1998 9 April 2006 2 September 1998 Last election 4 seats, 24.35% 5 seats, 32.93% 1 seat, 10.82% Seats won 6 5 2 Seat change 2 1 Popular vote 3,922 3,428 1,900 Percentage 34.25% 29.94 16.59% Swing 9.90pp 2.99pp 5.77pp   Fourth party Fifth party   OLP Leader Marek Best Klemens Hagen Party People's Liberal Leader since 3 April 2001 2 December 2004 Last election 3 seats, 19.36% 2 seats, 12.54% Seats won 2 0 Seat change 1 2 Popular vote 1,649 552 Percentage 14.40 4.82% Swing 4.96pp 7.72pp
Minister-Chairman before election Hugo Górka Social Democratic Radical Minister-Chairman Léch Kneller Coalition

The 7th Ostric regional election occurred on 17 February 2008. In a surprise upset, the Ostric Coalition led by Léch Kneller defeated the government of Minister-Chairman Hugo Górka, ending twelve years of Social Democratic Radical Party rule and forming the first fully separatist government with the left-wing Ostric People's Party.

Background

In the previous election, the centre-left SRPO under Jón Burgstaller was able to create a governing majority with the Ostric Liberal Party, with outside support from the conservative National Consolidation Party.

Starting his third term as Minister-Chairman, Jón Burgstaller was diagnosed with late-stage liver cancer in the fall of 2005, and resigned from his post due to poor health on 9 April 2006. He was succeeded as leader of the SRPO and Minister-Chairman by Hugo Górka, who oversaw a tightening in opinion polls between himself and the Ostric Coalition in the two years prior to the election.

Electoral system

The electorate elects all fifteen members of the Dorada using single non-transferable vote in one island-wide multi-member constituency.

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Ostric Coalition	3,922	34.25	6	+2
	Social Democratic Radical Party	3,428	29.94	5	0
	National Consolidation Party	1,900	16.59	2	+1
	Ostric People's Party	1,649	14.40	2	–1
	Ostric Liberal Party	552	4.82	0	–2
Total		11,451	100	15	0
Registered voters/turnout		16,528	69.28	–	–

Popular vote KÒ   34.25% SRPO   29.94% NKP   16.59% ÒSL   14.40% OLP   4.82%

Seats KÒ   40.00% SRPO   33.33% NKP   13.33% ÒSL   13.33%

Reactions

The election results were a surprise to Coalition leader Léch Kneller, who oversaw the first time that separatists gained a numerical majority in the Dorada. The Coalition was later able to form an agreement with the Ostric People's Party, which faced its worse result in its history and saw leader Marek Best resign on election night. The main point of the coalition agreement was a referendum on independence by 2010, in which the SRPO, now in opposition, denounced.

Weranic media placed great emphasis on the rise of separatist sentiments in Ostry during the election campaign, and the issues brought by the formation of a "Blue-Green" nationalist government.