Decision 2018: no clear winner as Liberals lose support

Liberal leader Noa Dargany

According to the final result announced by the Electoral Commission, the Democratic Party made a splendid debut, but with 11 seats (47%), they still fell short of a majority in a result that mirrored the 2017 election. The ruling Liberals kept their 10 seats, but in a larger Parliament, their unchanged block represents only 43% of the vote. The battered Artists won only two seats in their longstanding downward trend, but may now find themselves as kingmakers.

Since no party achieved an outright majority, it remains to be seen which of the two biggest parties will get to form a government. Any government formation would require the assent of the National Artists’ Guild, as the unlikely scenario of a Liberal-Democrat grand coalition has been thoroughly ruled-out by the two parties’ leaders. Artist leader Shounn Virny is yet to make any pronouncements on his party’s standing, but The SiV Phonograph understands the former PM will meet with Noa Dargany early in the morning to discuss the new government’s formation.

Analysts have long speculated that the Artists would be reluctant to allow the Democrats to form a government, given the problematic relationship between the two parties, though Democrat leader Apollo Cerwyn never ruled it out straight up.

Though the current Liberal government was also formed without a full majority and negotiation with the Artists (Virny and Dargany are known to have good rapport), this time around the blue party counts with less MPs and popular support to excercise the parliamentary leverage it used to advance Dargany’s agenda. For this reason, the Artists will likely try to use their kingmaker status to elevate their relevance, even as they’ve been reduced to the single-digits. More fragmented and devoid of clear winners, the fourth parliament may prove a more hostile environment for a renewed Liberal government, especially with a rightfully emboldened opposition.

Distribution of seats in the Fourth Parliament of Sabia and Verona: 11 seats for the Democrats (red), 10 for the Liberals (blue), and 2 for the Artists (pink).

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