Pacitalian parliamentary elections, 2023
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All 715 seats in the Constazione and 100 seats in the Senato 358 seats needed for a majority in the Constazione 51 seats needed for a majority in the Senato | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Registered | 365,757,066 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 92.5 Votes can be cast in person or by postal or special ballot | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Votes counted | 100% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Parliamentary elections were held in the Pacitalian Republic on Monday 27th November 2023. Officially, this was the 119th national general election; voters elected the 715 members of the Constazione Repubblicana, Pacitalia's lower house, and 100 Senators to its upper house.
The order of election, which dissolved the parliament, was issued by Archonate Vittoria Agradossa on 23rd October 2023, officially starting the campaign period. However, campaigning by parties and their leaders had unofficially commenced well before the order was issued.
The centre-left Pacitalian Social Democratic Congress (PSDC), led by incumbent Prime Minister Damián Moya, were attempting to retain outright control of both houses of parliament and form a third consecutive government in the next three-year term. Centre-right and right-wing parties currently in opposition, such as the Federation of Progressive Democrats, the Christian Democratic Party, and Defence of the Republic, sought to return a conservative government to power at the national level for the first time since 2017.
New parties, such as the eDemocrats, threatened to upend traditional voting patterns, while regional parties in Empordia and Marquería were poised to further fragment the final makeup of parliament, creating a more difficult road for the eventual winner to form a coalition.
Despite broad satisfaction with the Moya government, specifically their handling of the COVID pandemic, the PSDC's overall support had dipped over the course of the term, and it was widely expected that the party would relinquish outright control of both houses. The previous election had delivered a landslide win for the PSDC – a rare occurrence under Pacitalia's mixed-member proportional representation electoral system.
In this election, the PSDC still won the most seats in the Constazione, and performed more strongly than expected compared to opinion polling, but still lost their majority as expected. As a result, political experts noted that the party might only need one other party in a potential coalition, after most polls had indicated the likely need for at least two partners for a workable coalition arrangement. The PSDC finished only 18 seats short of a bare majority and were also poised to avoid a potential coalition with the eDemocrats, who were widely seen as unpredictable due to being a new party, and their repeated disavowal of coalitions. The PSDC further managed to retain control of the Senato with a comfortable majority of seats in the upper chamber.
The Christian Democrats supplanted the FPD as the main opposition party, as the latter party suffered its worst-ever result and was nearly shut out of parliament. Likewise, the national Greens had a surprisingly poor result on election day, barely clearing the required threshold of 0.5 percent of the vote, and electing just a handful of lawmakers.
The eDemocrats, and the far-right Defence of the Republic, who, combined, had polled as high as one-quarter of overall voter support throughout the campaign, saw a retreat in support at the ballot box; however, they became the third- and fourth-largest assemblies in the lower chamber, winning 74 and 34 seats, respectively.
Regional parties performed well – in Empordia, the leftist Empordian Socialist Party and centre-right Empordian League both increased their share of seats, while in Marquería, Podemos-Derecha Unida consolidated the centre-right vote and elected lawmakers to both houses. The centre-left Libertad Marquería Juntos re-entered the Senato after being shut out in the previous term, although its assembly in the Constazione shrank by about a third.
The parliamentary election results were certified by Elections Pacitalia on 4th December 2023; the Archonate appointed Moya as formateur, officially allowing him to begin negotiations to form a new government. It is widely expected Moya will first attempt to reach an agreement with the Empordian Socialist Party, though some pundits believe the PSDC might try to govern alone and rely on confidence votes to stay in power.
Background
Parliamentary elections in Pacitalia are triennial and held on the last Monday of November unless circumstances require them to be re-scheduled. Pacitalians also elect their regional governments triennially, though in the year following the parliamentary vote. Archonates, by comparison, are elected to six-year terms.
Pacitalians elect 715 members of the Constazione using the mixed-member form of proportional representation (MMP). There are 445 Members of the Republican Parliament (MRPs) elected through a party list, with the remaining 270 coming from single-member districts whose members are elected using instant-runoff voting (IRV). The weighting of the two blocs of seats typically leads smaller parties to focus their resources on winning party list seats rather than standing candidates in electorates; this leaves the latter bloc to be captured overwhelmingly by larger parties, and has the effect of increasing the odds of the winning party having a workable coalition or an outright majority.
Senators, by contrast, are elected using solely IRV.
Previous election and outcomes
The previous parliamentary elections were held in 2020.
Buoyed by his government's decisive response to the COVID-19 pandemic, voters delivered Moya and the PSDC a resounding mandate and a second term in office, with a majority of the party list vote, and a strong plurality of votes from electorate seats. The PSDC won outright control of both houses of the Pacitalian parliament and were able to govern alone as a result – the first time since 2004 that any party had won a majority of seats in both houses. Due to the social distancing guidelines resulting from the pandemic, that election also made history as the first where the majority of votes were cast by mail instead of in-person.
Campaign
On 31st July 2023, four centre-right parties agreed to cooperate in the upcoming election in an attempt to bolster their chances of forming government[1]. Federation of Progressive Democrats leader Dominic de Brincat was reported to have led the talks between his party, the Christian Democrats, the Empordian League and Podemos–Derecha Unida.
Under the agreement, the FPD and the Christian Democrats will not run electorate seat candidates in Empordia or Marquería so as not to split the centre-right vote[1]. The two parties would also coordinate their efforts in the rest of the country, with a non-compete agreement in place based on a review of previous election history to determine which party would have the better chance to defeat a PSDC opponent in each seat[1]. The deal was not intended to extend to a formal coalition agreement if the centre-right bloc wins the election, but was viewed as likely to form the basis for any further cooperation.
Significant policy positions
| Issue | CSDP | FDP | PDC | PVP | eDems | VdR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Public health | ||||||
| COVID-19 lockdowns | Policy decisions based on public health guidance as during the pandemic | Pledged no further restrictions or mandates | No official position | No official position; support parliamentary vote to approve further lockdowns | No further restrictions or mandates | |
| Essential vaccinations[a] | Expand religious exemption for vaccines | Abolish the essential vaccinations requirement | ||||
| Finance and budgets | ||||||
| Government spending | Would raise taxes to cover spending increases; would not commit to avoid budget deficits | Committed to "balanced budgets" through 2028; would introduce legislation forcing governments to keep deficit margin within 3% | Committed to only fund "fully costed" election promises regardless of what is in the party manifesto | Shrink government budget by 30% by 2030 | ||
| Business and commerce | ||||||
| Taxes | ||||||
| Income taxes | Eliminate top two tax brackets | Eliminate top tax bracket and replace with a flat "surcharge" | Tie income taxes to pollution or carbon generated by the individual's field of employment | Shift from tax bracket system to sliding scale income tax that uses a formula to calculate income taxes owed | Implement a flat income tax of 8% | |
| Land value | Follow Tax Commission's 2020 recommendation to implement land value tax to allow government to transition away from income taxes | Opposes a land value tax | Supports a land value tax | Opposes a land value tax on the basis that it is "communist" | ||
| Other taxes | Promised to eliminate the tax on foreign remittances | Would eliminate capital gains and withholding taxes on first Ð 25,000 of retirement savings if withdrawn after age 70 | ||||
| Foreign policy | ||||||
| Atlantian Oceania | Supported Forexit; supports public inquiry into alleged sports and political corruption in Vilita and Turori. | Officially supported rejoining AO as of October 2023[b] | Supported joining Anaia as of October 2023 | Supported Forexit | Supported Forexit; party is officially AOsceptic | Supported joining Anaia as of October 2023 |
| Alliances | Supports continued Foringanan cooperation; open to remaining in or joining military and security alliances | Commits to remaining in existing military and security alliances | Supports a military cooperation pact with Anaia | Supports a military and security pact with Anaia | ||
| Defence and national security | ||||||
| Military | Maintain current spending levels | Recruit 600,000 active duty and 1.5 million reserve over 5 years; increase defence spending to 3.125% of GDP by 2030 | Refocus military on peacekeeping, cut military spending by 15% in 2024 and 9% in 2025 | Reintroduce compulsory military service for 18- to 20-year-olds | ||
| Immigration | Increase net migration to 1% of population by 2025 | Pass a law requiring governments to hold a referendum on increasing immigration | Moratorium on new immigration through 2026; limit admission to skilled migrants from select countries from 2027 | |||
| Migrants and asylum seekers | "Zero tolerance" for any illegal migration, including boats entering Pacitalian waters | |||||
| Law and order | ||||||
| Police funding | Audit of Constabulario and Gendarmeria Repubblicana budgets; funding increases of 1%, 1%, and 1.5% for the next 3 years | Funding increases of 2%, 4% and 6% for the next 3 years | Committed to funding increases (not specific) | Decrease police funding by 20% in 2024; create "community police" model[c] | Investigate corruption in police agencies; re-align national and municipal police forces to get rid of agency "overlap" | Funding increases of 10% per year for the next 5 years; create a special unit to arrest and deport illegal migrants |
| Police recruiting | Support funding recruiting programs, no specific recruiting target | Hire 5,000 new police officers in cities by 2025 | Hire 20,000 new police officers over the next year and deploy them to areas where crime is above national median[d] | Reduce bloat in police agencies by laying off some senior officers | Hire 20,000 new police officers over the next year | |
| Education | ||||||
| Learning | Fund a national program to allow kids to attend school digitally | Grants and tax credits for parents to home-school their children or move them to private religious schools | ||||
| University education | Continue to work toward free university education by 2030; widen tuition exemption criteria; increase tuition fees for foreign students | Remove cap on private university tuition levels | Commit to leaving tuition cap in place through at least 2028 | Tax credits and grant programs for students in critical fields of work that could help fight climate change | Support institutions in digitizing archives, publications and library materials and providing free access to them for all Pacitalians; help universities provide better virtual classroom options and flexible class scheduling | Require international university students to work while in the country or lose their student visa |
| Social policies | ||||||
| Abortion | Supports a review of current abortion policy and of access to social services for expectant mothers | Simplify national law to a 15-week abortion ban except in cases of rape, incest, or threats to mother's life | Remove mifepristone and misoprostol from drug schedule and allow it to be purchased without prescription or under doctor supervision | Supports national abortion ban[e] | ||
| Domestic violence | Implement a mandatory reporting rule which would penalize witnesses who fail to report domestic abuse; force women who cannot prove domestic abuse or threat to life to pay a fine to be allowed to divorce | |||||
| LGBTQ+ rights | Party's official position is now that LGBTQ+ rights are "settled law", pledging no changes or repeal to existing laws and protections | Would introduce legislation to repeal same-sex marriage, adoption rights and domestic partnership benefits | ||||
| Medically assisted dying | Expand access to procedure for people with mental illness | Supports narrower criteria to determine eligibility for procedure | Would repeal the law legalizing medically assisted dying | |||
| Culture, language and heritage | ||||||
| Official languages | Eliminate publicly-funded English language programs and make Pacitalian the sole official language | |||||
| Environment | ||||||
| Biosecurity[f] | Expand the biosecurity program, increase fines and penalties for violators | Relax biosecurity rules for inbound air travellers | Maintain the current biosecurity regulations, would require violators to issue a public apology | |||
| Tourism | ||||||
| Visa programs | Introduce a new visa subclass for favoured nations' skilled workers | Expand the working holiday visa program from under-35 to under-40 | Exempt working holiday visa holders from paying income tax, simplify visa class structure, eliminate COVID-19-related visa subclasses 996 and 997[2] | |||
| Consumption tax rebates | Reinstate sales tax refund scheme for visitors | Reinstate sales tax refund scheme for visitors staying longer than 10 days | ||||
Opinion polls
- Main article: Opinion polling for the 2023 Pacitalian elections
Results
Constazione Repubblicana
Default table sort is by total seats won.
Senato Repubblicana
Default table sort is by total seats won.
Election aftermath
- Main article: 2023 Pacitalian government formation
References
Notes
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