The Election of 1836
Going into 1836, the people of Hispania were filled with hope, something that had been lacking for quite some time. The restoration of the Assembly was a symbol, one of change or at least a return to calmer times. All the chaos of the past decade and a half could be forgotten or pushed aside as everyone looked to the future. The more conservative members of society yearned for a restoration of order, of a return to times where rebellion and dissent were almost nonexistent and a strong government made Hispania flourish. The liberals instead dreamed of seeing Parliament take on the shape it had under Alfons IX, where free thought and reform was favoured in the name of progress. As men went to the polls, albeit those who met the much stricter requirements, only one of these groups seemed likely to achieve their goal.
As the results came in, it became clear from the start that one or two parties would be dominating the Assembly. The Facción Imperial received a whopping 199 seats, making them the largest party. While their numbers had been high before the dissolution of the Assembly, the increase in seats could easily be attributed to changes in government policy. The Regent wielded the new Clarification of Elected Positions Act to weed out the undesirables in other parties, finding anyone with ties to the earlier parliamentary coup or the Lisbon Assembly. Many of the parties found themselves struggling for seats or pushed from their former prominence due to these efforts. The Partido Fénix alone nearly found itself disbanded as many members found themselves ineligible to run, although the efforts of Lluis Faixòn prevented the party from fading into complete irrelevance, holding onto a mere 6 seats. Facción de los Campos dropped dramatically in membership due to their blatant connections to the Lisbon Assembly, only able to keep 28 of their previous seats. Many of their members turned to the Imperials or the new Partido Anti-Revolucionario as an alternative, although the latter made only minor gains seeing as it was only founded in the past few years, managing to claim 15 seats. The Partido Reformista picked up the more hard-line conservatives, although most favoured the Imperials over them, gaining 19 seats. Even the Parta Marina suffered a loss in votes, although the key support of the merchant class kept them from being hit as hard as some of the other parties, giving them 45 seats. Out of all the other parties besides the Imperials, it was the Partido Reconquista that was the only one to see massive gains, rising to 133 seats. With the Imperials siphoning off the conservative votes, the Reconquista became the bastion of the left.
At first glance, while it was not all that surprising that the Imperials had the most support due to government support, it was quite shocking to some to see many of the other parties fall so far. How had they lost so many seats compared to the previous Assembly? One of the biggest factors was the presence of small gangs of men hanging around the polls, harassing voters and pressuring them into voting for the Facción Imperial. While there was no outright evidence of government involvement, it seemed clear that they had the implicit support of the Regent. Many voters found themselves swayed to vote for the Imperials, perhaps even fearing for their own safety if they did not. As for why the Partido Reconquista might also rise, it could be explained based on two factors. Support for the Reconquista had often been focused in key areas of the country, such as Leon and Sardinia, so just like the Marina they had a strong base holding them up. Perhaps more importantly though, the Reconquista was the one liberal party that the Regent and Imperials tolerated, for they had cooperated well in the past. This played a major role when it came to actually voting, for those voting Reconquista faced less harassment than those voting for some of the other parties. This helped to lead to the Imperials and Reconquista becoming the two largest parties. However, the Imperials benefited even more from the Regent’s support. With Joan in control of the 50 appointed seats in the Assembly, it was no surprise when they were all given to known Imperials, raising the Imperial seats to 249, just shy of a majority. It seemed that no government would function without the support of the Imperials.
While the Cortz had not been disbanded, it had faced some major changes over the past few years, specifically in allowing the Crown to have greater control over membership. Those who had been tied to the earlier coup found themselves removed and their seat predictably filled with known Imperials. The Parta Marina found their support amongst the nobility reduced to almost non-existence, relying entirely on the Duke of Barcelona. The Facción de los Campos saw a dramatic drop down to 7 seats, again in part due to ties to previous anti-government movements, although the stalwart presence of the Grand Duke of Navarra kept the party’s core from disintegrating. The Partido Anti-Revolucionario gained the favour of the Count of Valladolid, giving the party its first seat in the Cortz. The Partido Reconquista held onto what seats it had managed to acquire over the years, as well as managed to gain further support amongst the nobility to rise to 35 seats. The Facción Imperial, of course, saw a significant increase in seats, rising to 55 seats. The Regent had made full use of the changes to the Cortz to put as many Imperials as he could on the body, giving them control over well over half of the Cortz. The Regent’s party was practically cemented into power, for no government could function without them. And now Joan would be deciding the first government since the restoration of the Assembly, for he refused to step down as Prime Minister either. This was perhaps an alarming prospect for those who wanted change, for it seemed more than clear that the Regent would be ruling as he did before, just now with parliamentary support. The Crown Prince remained present at court, but who knew if his presence was enough to moderate the Regent’s policies. Those voices of dissent could only remain quiet for now and hope for better results in 1840 or find another way to seek reform.
Assembly
Independent - 5
Reformist - 19
Imperial - 249 (199 + 50 appointed)
Los Campos - 28
Anti-Revolutionary - 15
Reconquista - 133
Marina - 45
Phoenix - 6
Cortz
Independent - 1
Imperial - 55
Los Campos - 7
Anti-Revolutionary - 1
Reconquista - 35
Marina - 1
((Well these results were interesting to say the least. VP was a major factor here, and the Imperials and Reconquista had so much more than everyone else for the Assembly's election, and the former had half the VP in the Cortz. The fact the Imperials have the backing of the Regent, and thus count as the previous ruling party, made me give them a larger starting base due to our current reforms. I had to buff up a few smaller parties just so they wouldn't be reduced to complete insignificance. At least this fits the narrative from right before the election. I expect that once we start using the game results as a base, it might be more balanced, but it appears that player VP has a major impact too. Also, while it may not be ideal for the GM to serve as the first Prime Minister, based on how I've developed Joan as a character, there was no way he'd hand over that position. I'm sure though he'll stop being an obstacle at some point.
Also, just a heads up that these numbers may fluctuate when new players join. If they join a party, nothing should happen unless that party doesn't have enough seats in that house yet. If they are not part of a party, I'll have to take one seat from a random party and make it independent so they can have someone to vote through.
Onto some business for now. Obviously we'll need a government now, and I'll be getting to that as Joan. Negotiations and all that fun stuff can happen through PM to speed up the process with the final Cabinet posted here. Once that is down, we also have other matters to deal with. The Assembly is lacking a Speaker. Members of the Assembly should start considering whether they want to nominate themselves for the position, or whether they will put forward an NPC from their party if they would prefer that. If you have any laws or reforms in mind, you can start working on them. Keep in mind that if they're related to the in-game reforms, they can only change them by one level, so no swapping to universal franchise without first going through wealth and weighted universal first. I ask that you refrain from nominating a Speaker or proposing laws until a government has formed, upon at which time I will open the floor for such things. Ideally I want these negotiations to finish within
48 hours, but seeing as this is the first government and not everyone is familiar with each other or the changes to the Cabinet, I may extend it.))