Gylian federal election, 1969

Gylian federal election, 1969

22 January 1969
All 285 seats in the Chamber of Deputies All 400 seats in the Senate 143 Chamber of Deputies seats and 201 Senate seats needed for a majority
Turnout	94,7%
First party Second party Third party   LU Leader Darnan Cyras Sasa Ruişela Hasy Talir Party DCP MCP NLP Alliance PA CG LU Leader since 1946 1961 1960 Leader's seat Tomes Nerveiík-Iárus-Daláyk Elena Last election 90 C 90 S 55 C 72 S 64 C 89 S Seats won 89 C 90 S 59 C 68 S 57 C 84 S Seat change 1 4 4 7 5 FP vote 1.860.697 C 1.733.992 S 1.061.806 C 977.745 S 1.403.853 C 1.341.682 S Percentage 32,7% C 30,4% S 18,6% C 17,2% S 24,6% C 23,5% S Swing 3,2% C 6,1% S 0,7% C 2,6% S 5,4% C 6,3% S
Plurality of deputies by region*   PA   LU   CG   NI * (SL, MK, GC, and GE counted as one circonscription)
Prime Minister before election Darnan Cyras PA Prime Minister after election Darnan Cyras PA

Federal elections were held in Gylias on 22 January 1969, to elect the 285 members of the Chamber of Deputies and 400 members of the Senate.

The incumbent Darnan Cyras government was re-elected with minor losses at the height of the Golden Revolution. The main highlight of the election was the appearance of the LSD Party, whose tongue-in-cheek campaign and platform made it the largest non-inscrit party.

Electoral system

Both chambers of the Gylian Parliament were elected through single transferable vote, using the Droop quota.

The Chamber of Deputies was elected using 5-member circonscriptions, drawn by Elections Gylias based on regional populations.

The Senate was elected by regions, each electing 20 senators.

Parties were not allowed to nominate more than one candidate per seat.

Parties

Electoral bloc		Parties	Political position
	Progressive Alliance (PA)	DCP, SP, SDP, DL, LSL	Left-wing to far-left
	Liberal Union (LU)	NUP, NLP, PRRA, LLR, FSP	Centre-left
	Centre Group (CG)	MCP, RDC, RCP, IPR, CCM	Centre to centre-right
	Revolutionary Rally (RR)	RWP, WLF, PRV, RCR, RMP	Far-left
	Conservative Coalition (CC)	CP, RP, UPF, NSM, LUR	Right-wing to far-right
	Front for Renewal of Order and Society (FROS)	ACFF, PNM, RNM, PND, RU	Far-right
Non-inscrits (NI)		ARENA, FLP, IRAM, LSDP, MED, NPP, PFT, RJU, UI, UM, UNR	Various

Background

In the 7 years since the previous federal election, the Golden Revolution was in full flower. The booming economy and social revolution created a climate of widespread prosperity and revolutionary exuberance. Notable reflectious included a flourishing pop culture scene that found success abroad, and transformation of gender and sexual norms.

Although the Darnan Cyras government benefited from the consolidation of the Gylian consensus and its role in the Golden Revolution, it was still challenged. The big electoral blocs increasingly lost ground to the Non-inscrits, a trend first visible in local elections. The government's withering away of the state turn, a lingering controversy since the end of the Liberation War, erupted in "anarchaos" protests in 1968.

Inspired by contemporary protests in Akashi, the "anarchaos" protests were unsuccessful. Their egoist tendency, unclear grievances, and attempts to instigate fights with the widely-respected Gylian Police made them unpopular. The "anarchaotics" founded the LSD Party as a political vehicle, but were quickly expelled due to a factional battle, and the party instead adopted acid communism as its main ideology.

The protests also benefited the National Reconstruction Alliance, which leveraged its image-based politics and lack of clear ideology to win support from voters who were exasperated with "anarchaotics".

Another significant political force to emerge was the Movement for Emancipation and Democracy, which seized left-wing populist ground with its economic nationalism and the charismatic leadership of Maria Elena Durante. Before the election, it formed a political alliance with the New People's Party. The two parties fielded joint candidates and ran a united campaign.

Campaign

The petite république poster created by the Progressive Alliance

With the Golden Revolution ongoing, the established electoral blocs' campaigns were compared by some commentators to a "comedown" from the heights of 1962. Their collective manifestos were more modest in aims, and their campaigning took a more comfortably subdued tone.

The Progressive Alliance, as the incumbents, went into the election with comfortable advantages: high popularity, the successes of the Golden Revolution, respected cabinet ministers, and indirect support from the Revolutionary Communications Office. Their main challenge, according to Jessica Freeman, was "revolutionary complacency": the risk of losing touch with the popular agitation that drove the social revolution.

Their collective manifesto was parodied: compared to the utopian goals of 1962, it largely promised a continuation of the Golden Revolution. Its sole major promise was to establish regional governments. Nevertheless, its advantages seemed enough to see it through.

The Liberal Union took their usual role as pragmatic foils for the more utopian PA. This campaign saw them play down economic policy and focus on themes of political reform, individual liberties, and a philosophy of rights. They supported the establishment of regional governments. Their proposals to reduce the threshold for constituting municipal government were less popular, and rejected in a 1968 referendum.

The Centre Group were a known quantity as the official opposition. Sasa Ruişela earned comparisons to Beatrice Albini, commanding broad public respect that failed to translate at the ballot box.

The Revolutionary Rally, Conservative Coalition, and Front for Renewal of Order and Society remained marginalised, and practically nonentities during the campaign. The RR's anti-"anarchaos" stance worsened its image as "old left dinosaurs", obsessed with economics and reactionary on social issues. The compositions of the CC and FROS changed slightly due to certain parties being shut down for anti-constitutional activities.

The Non-inscrits proved the stars of the campaign, and the new LSD Party its main attraction. Boasting an acid communist stance and a charismatic foresitter in Hildegard Wirner, the party used satire to make its point, and humorously embraced drugs as a force of revolutionary liberation. It ran on the slogan Gylias needs LSD, and its platform included pledges to create state-owned "oxygen clinics", adding LSD to the national water supply (parodying conspiracies around water fluoridation), and establishing Special Tourist Districts for sex tourism.

Maria Elena Durante campaigned heavily for the MED–NPP alliance, and her left-wing populist platform and demagogue rhetoric found an appeal among voters who were skeptical of the Golden Revolution's ambitions, but were not social conservatives or reactionaries. Similarly, the National Reconstruction Alliance attracted voters exasperated by the "anarchaotics" but opposed to right-wing parties. Emilia Malandrino even used the PPBs to promote ARENA as a harmless protest vote.

Results

In accordance with electoral law, the results were embargoed until the full counting and transfers were completed, and were released all at once on 25 January.

Parties and blocs		Chamber of Deputies					Senate
		FPV	%	±	Seats	±	FPV	%	±	Seats	±
	Progressive Alliance	1.860.697	32,7%	3,2%	89	1	1.733.992	30,4%	6,1%	90
	Liberal Union	1.403.853	24,6%	5,4%	57	7	1.341.682	23,5%	6,3%	84	5
	Non-inscrits and independents	1.218.621	21,4%	11,4%	76	10	1.504.893	26,4%	16,0%	158	9
	Centre Group	1.061.806	18,6%	0,7%	59	4	977.745	17,2%	2,6%	68	4
	Revolutionary Rally	85.410	1,5%	0,5%	2	3	84.814	1,5%	0,5%	0
	Conservative Coalition	54.470	1,0%	0,5%	1	3	48.981	0,9%	0,3%	0
	Front for Renewal of Order and Society	10.375	0,2%		1		7.149	0,1%	0,1%	0
Total		5.695.232	100%	—	285	—	5.699.256	100%	—	400	—
Registered voters and turnout		6.071.040	94,7%

Analysis

Little changed from 1962. No bloc won a majority by itself. The PA maintained their plurality in both chambers, and the LU remained close behind in first preference votes. Although the CG finished third in first preference votes, they managed to win 2 more deputies than the LU, making them the second-largest bloc in the Chamber of Deputies.

Despite first preference vote losses of 3%–5% for the Chamber of Deputies and 6% for the Senate, the PA–LU alliance managed to hold on to most of its seats. The PA only lost one deputy, while the LU lost 7 deputies and 5 senators.

The non-inscrits performed best. The LSDP played a key role, becoming the largest non-inscrit party. The non-inscrits increased their first preference vote by over 10% in both chambers. However, due to the multiple parties and electoral system, their gains were more modest: 10 new deputies and 9 new senators. Other notable beneficiaries were ARENA and the MED–NPP alliance, both of which won the maximum 20 Senate seats possible for a party.

The RR and CC experienced further losses, while the FROS remained stagnant.

At the regional level, the PA once again swept mainland Gylias, the LU held their strongholds of Arxaþ, Alţira, and Elena, and the CG held its stronghold of Nerveiík-Iárus-Daláyk. The non-inscrits built on their previous performance, winning a plurality of deputies in Nauras, Kausania, and Tandar, and coming a close second in Mişeyáke, Nezyál, and Herlan.

Many anarchist-leaning voters dissatisfied with the PA's performance in government switched to the LSDP.

Aftermath

The new Parliament was sworn in on 1 February 1969. The Darnan Cyras government was returned with minor losses: it held onto a majority in the Chamber of Deputies and was now 7 seats short a majority in the Senate.

The CC was destroyed by the election. Reduced to only one deputy, it underwent entryism by "constructives" and its member parties were all abolished, replaced by the progressive conservative National Bloc. This ushered a period of political realignment. Many centre-right politicians previously elected under other banners joined the NB parties instead, leaving the CG as a centrist formation. The NB performed very well in the first regional elections of 1970, municipal elections of 1970, and the presidential election of 1975, raising expectations they would become a serious contender in the next federal election.

The MED's campaign approach and results are seen by historians as a forerunner of the RR's rise during the wretched decade; indeed when the MED disbanded due to Maria Elena's death in 1975, much of its former support transferred to the RR.