1996 Monsilvan federal election

1996 Monsilvan federal election

10 August 1996
All 221 seats in the Legislative Assembly 111 seats are needed for a majority
Registered	30,590,487
Turnout	25,543,056 (83.50%)
First party Second party   Leader Suen Shi-huang Qi Hu Party FDP RNP Leader's seat South Waiping (Bazhong) Fushi Borders (Luhai) Seats won 104 89 Seat change 26 18 Popular vote 11,954,150 9,553,103 Percentage 46.8% 37.4%   Third party Fourth party   Leader Kong Tsai Tsai Fan Party Liberal Green Leader's seat North-West Bazhong (Bazhong) Houli and North Qidong (Wuzhong) Seats won 27 1 Seat change 9 1 Popular vote 3,499,399 791,834 Percentage 13.7% 3.1%
Prime Minister before election Qi Hu Reformed National Party Prime Minister after election Suen Shi-huang Freedom and Democracy Party

The 1996 Monsilvan federal election was held on Saturday 10 August 1996 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Monsilva for the 36th Parliament of Monsilva. The election saw a large swing towards the Freedom and Democracy Party, with the party gaining 26 seats, which was boosted by the re-organization of the county constituencies which had raised the number of seats in the Assembly from 203 to 221. Despite the RNP's fall to the second largest party, the FDP failed to win a majority and the election resulted in a hung parliament. This election was the first time the RNP lost since the establishment of the republic in 1978. All 221 seats in the Legislative Assembly were up for election. In the separate 1996 senate election, which took place at the same time, as is tradition, all 65 seats were up for election as well.

As the FDP did not win a majority, they were faced with the decision to either create a minority government, or start a coalition with another party in order to form a majority. Suen Shi-huang, leader of the FDP, decided to negotiate with Kong Tsai, leader of the Liberal Party, to form a coalition. On 10 September 1996, the two parties formed a coalition and Kong was appointed as Deputy Prime Minister on 20 September. Besides the hung parliament, the election also saw the introduction of a fourth party to the Legislative Assembly, the Green Party, which gained one seat in Wuzhong. This was the first time there had been a fourth party in the Monsilvan legislature since the 1958 general election during the Kingdom of Monsilva.

Voter registration

Enrollment of eligible voters is compulsory. Voters must notify the Monsilvan Electoral Commission within 8 weeks of a change of address or after turning 18. The electoral rolls are closed for new enrollments or update of details about a week after the dissolution of the assembly. Enrollment is optional for 16- or 17-year-olds, but they cannot vote in federal or senate elections until they turn 18, and persons who have applied for Monsilvan citizenship may also apply for provisional enrollment which takes effect on the granting of citizenship. A total of 30,590,487 people were enrolled to vote in the election, which meant that 81.6% of all eligible Monsilvans were enrolled on the electoral roll.

Election date

Dissolution of parliament

The election was called by Qi Hu on 30 June 1996, when he visited the President advising the latter to dissolve the Parliament, including the Legislative Assembly, while the Leader of the Senate was approved by the senate to dissolve the senate at the same time (as is usual procedure). The Parliament was then dissolved the next morning, as is procedure after 4 years of a parliament's tenure.

Election timeline

On 30 June 1996, the office of the President released documents relating to the calling of the election. The documents set out a timeline of key dates for the election.

• 01 July – 9:29 am: Dissolution of the 35th Parliament
• 01 July – 9:30 am: Dissolution of the Legislative Assembly
• 08 July – Close of electoral rolls
• 11 July – Close of candidate nominations
• 12 July – Declaration of nominations
• 30 July – Early voting commences
• 07 August – Close of postal vote applications
• 10 August – Polling day
• 02 September – Last day for receipt of declaration votes
• 16 September – First meeting of the 36th Parliament

Candidate parties

See also: List of political parties in Monsilva

Below is a list of parties that ran candidates for the 1996 election:

Name			Ideology	Party leader
	Freedom and Democracy Party		Social democracy	Suen Shi-huang
	Reformed National Party		Conservatism	Qi Hu
	Liberal Party		Liberalism	Kong Tsai
	Green Party		Green politics	Tsai Fan
	Cheng I		Conservative Buddhist democracy	Xia Hong
	Unite Party		Unionism (removal of federal system)	Zhao Dongmei
	Party of the Emperor		Monarchism	Ma Shunyuan
	Alternative for Monsilva		Fascism	Xu Yusheng
	Revive Monsilva		Monsilvan nationalism	Hu Rong
	Monsilvan Communist Party		Communism	Bai Wei

Results

Government (131)
  Freedom and Democracy Party (104)
  Liberal Party (27)

Main Opposition (89)
  Reformed National Party (89)

Secondary Opposition (1)
  Green Party (1)