2019 Themiclesian general election
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All 349 seats to the House of Commons 175 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Opinion polls | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 57.5% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Composition of the House after election | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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".