Thursday’s general election has produced no clear winner, with Social Labour in the lead – but far, far short of the majority they would need to form a government without coalition partners. The last hung parliament, following the 2006 election, resulted in an Economic Focus-Centre Liberal coalition; but this year’s election is set to produce something even more chaotic as no two parties alone would be able to form a coalition.
A few possible coalitions have been proposed by analysts in response to the results. One potential proposal would be a left coalition formed of Social Labour, Republic Now! and the Communists; with their fourth partner either Women Rising, Green Ecology or the Tomorrow Party. Alternatively, if Social Labour prefer a centrist coalition they could partner up with the Centre Liberals in place of the Communists, with Republic Now! and one of the three mentioned above.
The right would have more difficulty, as less parties have stated they would be willing to work with Economic Focus. Even if Kristensen’s party could convince Republic Now! to work with them and the Centre Liberals, they would need to secure the support of either Women Rising or Green Ecology – neither of which has been keen to work with the centre-right party in the past.
It is also entirely possible that no coalition will manage to form; and with Social Labour so far off of a majority, it is unlikely that a minority government would last for very long. This would result in another election, in the hopes of receiving a more workable result. Coalition discussions will be beginning immediately, though it is unknown how long they may last. Parties have up to two weeks to nominate a government, or another election will be called. In the interim period, Ivan Kristensen will remain acting Prime Minister. Once a proposed government is nominated, the new candidate for Prime Minister will formally meet with the King to form a government.
Four new parties have been added to the map: Republic Now!, Tomorrow Party, Royal Resurgence and the National Equine Party. The latter, a joke party advocating for “horse rights”, won a single seat in the vicinity of Kunsapka University where a number of students dissatisfied with traditional politics had been campaigning for them. Additionally, one party has been completely wiped out – Our Zongongia, which previously held 7 seats now has a grand total of zero. Another far-right party, the imperialist Grow Together, failed to gain any seats despite their seeming constant use of social media to campaign.
