2042 Libirachi National Congress Election

The **2042 Libirachi National Congress Election** was held on August 14, 2042 across the Fox Dynasty to elect members of the 33rd Libirachi National Congress. The election was the first snap legislative election to be held since the August 2010 congressional election, and was the first Libirachi election to be held under a system of proportional representation. The 2042 election was also the first in which not all parties were a member of the United Front since 1950.

Following the election of Angelica Rivera as president of the Imperial Cabinet on October 7, 2040, the Libirachi government implemented a series of major constitutional changes, such as dissolving the Administrative Zone in August 2041 and changing the electoral system used across the country in February 2042. However, these progressive reforms were unpopular with a significant portion of the governing coalition, and vice president Damien Rightly resigned from government in protest against the reforms. Having left government, Rightly established the Coalition for Progress as a political party and publicly rebranded himself as a populist reformer attempting to take on the "Beijing elite"; whilst Rightly's rhetoric of attacking elites was largely viewed with scepticism from the public, his messages on tackling bureaucracy, upholding territorial integrity, and ending the dominance of white politicians in Libirachi politics all gained significant traction among parts of the population. As part of the Electoral Renewal Act of 2042, president Angelica Rivera asked Empress Penny Fox to dissolve the Libirachi National Congress for a snap election in order to elect the first representatives under the new proportional system, and elections were scheduled for August 14, 2042.

For the first time in a Libirachi election, all senior politicians involved took part in an election campaign across the country in a bid to canvass votes and produced manifestos of their proposed policies. As a largely new innovation for Libirachi politics, many senior politicians struggled to connect to the public, with Peng Qinghua of the Socialist Party and Hu Chunhua of the Kuomintang receiving much ridicule on social media for their failed bids to appear relatable during the campaign. By contrast, Damien Rightly's populist rhetoric and style, Angelica Rivera's compassionate and modern campaigning, and Karyn Voor's technocratic style and government experience made the three leaders genuinely popular amongst the public. During the campaign, Zhang Dejiang withdrew the Progressive party from the pro-government United Front coalition and rebranded the party as an independent pro-democracy group, providing a more moderate alternative to Rightly's Coalition for Progress.

As a result of the elections, the Coalition for Progress made a surprise entrance to congress as the largest party, with 998 seats, whilst the Revolutionary party and COMPNOR gained 967 and 723 seats respectively. The Progressive party doubled its seat share to 102 seats, whilst the Kuomintang saw its seats drop to 28, and the Socialist party lost 32 seats, winning just 9. Union was entirely wiped out, loosing all seats, whilst the Imperial Army Political Corps was exempted from the proportional election and was allocated 51 seats. Despite loosing a significant number of seats, the Revolutionary party - COMPNOR coalition still controlled 1690 seats out of 2980, giving them the power to choose and appoint a government unhindered by the new opposition bloc.

On September 1, 2042, the Thirty Third Libirachi National Congress convened for the first time in the Hall of Revolution in Beijing. As part of the first session of the new legislature, the congress re-elected Eleija Longwood as chairwoman of the National Congress, alongside a new executive of presiding officers and party whips. With neither the Revolutionary Party of COMPNOR Political Bureau receiving enough seats to govern alone, the two established a legislative coalition government with support from the Imperial Army Political Corps, led by Grand General Qi Jianguo. Following the election of a new congressional executive, Chairwoman Eleija Longwood convened the new congress to hold a presidential election to confirm the head of government (by means of a motion to recommend their appointment to Empress Penny Fox). In the subsequent election, Angelica Rivera was re-elected as president alongside finance secretary Battsetseg Batmunkh as vice president.