2019 Friends Societal general election
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28 seats in the National Assembly 15 needed for a majority | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 2019 Friends Societal general election was held to constitute the 11th National Assembly, electing members of parliament for all 28 parliamentary constituencies. The election was held soon after the decision of the President to dissolve the 10th National Assembly, which was formed after the 2018 presidential election. The election was held on 17 March 2019 and results were declared on the same day itself.
The Friends Societal Congress under the leadership of Tanishkaa Patranabish won 18 seats whereas the newly formed Independent Party of Sarala Baishya won 10 seats. The Friends Societal Congress won 64.29% of the total seat share whereas the Independent Party won the remaining 35.7% of the total seat share. Sarala Baishya of the Independent Party was recognised as the Leader of the Opposition.
Election process
The Leader of the Parliament is chosen by an electoral college consisting the members of the executive committee of Friends Society. The nomination of a candidate for election to the office of Prime Minister must be supported by any political party or they can independently run for the election. At least two members must support their candidacy.
Election history
The last parliamentary election was held on 25 November 2018 alongside the presidential election. On 20 December 2018, President-elect Varuna Sriraya appointed Tanishkaa Patranabish as the Prime Minister. She was sworn-in as Prime Minister on 7 January 2019. The alliance between the Friends Society Secular Party and Friends Societal Congress could not last long and following the resignation of Sarala Baishya along with four of her confidents from the union council of ministers on 13 March 2019 and the later suspension of those five members from the Friends Societal Congress, prompted the need for a general election in the nation. Finally, the resignation of the prime minister paved the way for the election to be held.
The President using his executive powers called for the election to be held on 17 March 2019 to elect members of the National Assembly. The National Assembly is composed of 27 elected members who are known as MPs and the President himself as an ex-officio member.
Results
| 18 | 10 |
| Friends Societal Congress | Independent Party |
| Party/alliance | Seats | +/– | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Friends Societal Congress | 18 | ▼ 2 | |
| Independent Party | 10 | ▲ 10 | |
| Total | 20 | – | |
The Friends Societal Congress emerged as the majority party winning 18 of the 28 seats and was invited to form the government by the President on 17 March 2019. Meanwhile, the Independent Party winning 10 seats emerged as the opposition party and was recognized as such by the speaker of the National Assembly.
Government formation
The Friends Societal Congress was invited to form the next government by the President Varuna Sriraya who was also the party president. Tanishkaa Patranabish was elected as the Prime Minister and the leader of the parliamentary party. She nominated Arnab Sil and Bishnu Chetry as the deputy prime ministers. The cabinet was sworn-in into office on 17 March 2019 with the portfolios being allocated on 19 March 2019.
Aftermath
The ruling Friends Societal Congress continued to exert its dominance on the politics. The party won 3 of the four constituencies in the by-elections held in June 2019 while the opposition Independent Party was able to win only 1 seat. Finally in September 2019, talks between prime minister Tanishkaa Patranabish and leader of opposition Sarala Baishya began to re-align the Independent Party with the Congress after one of its leaders, Nishwan Baidantic joined the Congress party.
The talks culminated in the merger of the Independent Party with the Congress. As a part of the talks, Sarala Baishya was nominated as the successor to Anoushkaa Patranabish for the vice-presidency.
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