May 2020 Caudonian general election

May 2020 Caudonian general election
All 19 seats of the Legislative Assembly ; 10 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	74.6%
Prime Minister before election; Andrew West; Social Democratic Party	Prime Minister after election ; Ned Fram; Caudonian Front

The May 2020 Caudonian general election was held on 16 May 2020.

Background

March 2020 general elections

The previous election of March 2020 was one of the most hectic elections in Caudonian history. The Caudonian Front and Social Democratic Party both attempted to form a government, which resulted in the Democratic Alliance forming a controversial confidence and supply agreement with the Christian Union. Among all this, an Social Democratic MP defected to join the Caudonian Front and this result lead to the collapse of the Co-operative Party. The Caudonian Front and the Alternative for Caudonia became closer to each other after the general election, with one usually supporting the other on bills and proposals.

Annexation of Ethosia

Ethosia was self-annexed by Caudonia soon after the general election after a passing of legislation in late March 2020. This led to the Caudonian realm gaining another county and lead to proposals of two new Swedish counties.

Ethosia News Bulletin

Gabriel Sebastian got charged for leaking sensitive information in a story in the Ethosia News Bulletin by the Cycoldian Government in April 2020. These quickly lead to a breakdown of diplomatic relations between Caudonia and Cycoldia. Although from pressure from the Crimson Socialist Republic, Doggenburg and the GUM, Cycoldia was quickly told to drop the charges. This event lead to Caudonia receiving a large amount of Micronational backing. For multiple reasons, stories had been taken down since the event.

After this event, the Ethosia News Bulletin remains one of the most influential and most active state new sources in Caudonia.

Motion of No Confidence

On Saturday, the 25th of April, the Leader of the Opposition accused the Democratic Alliance Government of "try[ing] to undermine our head of state and our values of democracy" as well as planning to "[backstab] the country if the country did not decide to go their way" (referring to the March general elections, and the involvement of some members of the Government in the nation of Daragonia), and moved to table a motion of no confidence against the Government. These accusations led to at least one Member of Parliament for the Front to directly say that the Government's behavior was "treason" in the Parliamentary session. These accusations were hotly contested by Andrew West, who called the accusations "slanderous rhetoric" and stated that it was part of a "shameless power play" by the Opposition. After a heated debate in Parliament, a vote was held on the motion, and 12 Members of Parliament cast a vote out of 19, as did the Prince. The proposal failed 9 votes to 4, meaning that the Government retained the confidence of the Assembly, and thus, stayed in power.

Boycott

Later, on Sunday after the vote was officially closed, and the results announced, the Leader of the Opposition, Ned Fram announced that his party, the Caudonian Front, would boycott future Parliamentary sessions, citing "partisan bias" from the Speaker and the Democratic Alliance having "too much power". This move was incredibly controversial, particularly given its proximity to the failed vote of no confidence, and many citizens from across the political spectrum denounced the move, including Prime Minister Andrew West, who called the move a "juvenile attack on our institutions and the integrity of this Parliament". The move prompted two Members of Parliament from the Front, Gabriel Sebastian and Nicholas Randouler, to announce that they would still attend the regularly scheduled sessions, despite their leader's boycott. Due to the controversy over the move, the policy was reversed just hours later, but it's suspected that the damage to the Caudonian Front's reputation was already done.

Leadership Votes

On the 27th of April, a day after the announcement of the Caudonian Front's boycott, party President Ned Fram announced that there would be a leadership election held on the 1st of May in order to see if he still had the support of his party. Later that day, Prime Minister Andrew West announced a change in the policies of both the Social Democratic Party and the Democratic Alliance; that confidence votes in the party/alliance leadership would be held every three months, with the first such vote being held on the 30th of March. West cited his long tenure as Leader (at the time lasting about 10 and a half continuous months) without challenge as being the cause of the policy change. The decision was made after consideration from the leaderships of the Social Democrats and Democratic Alliance. With 80% support within the Social Democratic Party, and 86% support within the larger Democratic Alliance, Prime Minister West retained his positions as Leader of both groups.

Dissolution of Parliament

William I dissolved Parliament on the 3rd of May, 2020, citing issues within Parliament that would stop it from being able to function for its full term. The dissolution was designed to be after a rescheduled Parliamentary sitting, but due to low attendance and the Prime Minister taking a leave of absence the day before, it didn't occur. Voting is scheduled to open on the 16th of May, both for its county citizens and its citizens living abroad.

Opinion polls

There have been various opinion polls carried out to predict who may win in the next Caudonian General election.

Online/Citizens Abroad

Pollster	Release date	Sample Size	SDP*	PSL*	DA	CF	CU	AfC	LP	Ind	Invalid/Undecided/None	Lead
Pollster	Release date	Sample Size								Ind	Invalid/Undecided/None	Lead
ENB	15-4-2020	14	35.7%	7.1%	42.8%✝	35.7%	7.1%	14.3%	0%	0%	0%	Tie
CBC Gibson	18-4-2020	15	46.7%	13.3%	60.0%✝	26.7%	6.7%	-	0%	0%	6.7%	20.0%
CBC	25-4-2020	21	42.9%	9.5%	52.4%✝	23.8%	19%	-	0%	0%	4.8%	19.1%

- member of the DA

✝ = Combined results from alliance members