2038 Persian Congress Election

The **2038 Persian Congress Election** was held on Wednesday September 22, 2038, and was the fifth congressional election to elect representatives to the National People's Congress of Persia. The election was only the second to be held on a day other than November 11, and was the first time that Congress had been dissolved for a snap election by the president. The election saw members to the 7th Persian Congress elected; elected representatives were sworn into office on September 24, 2038, with Salman Al-Khalifa becoming prime minister on September 27, 2038. The election took place on the same day as the signing of the Treaty of Shanghai.

Following the 2034-35 Persian Constitutional Crisis, presidential elections were held in November 2035 and President Geena Kulmuni lost election to her rival Hassen Ahmed. Upon her transfer of power, Kulmuni was appointed as general secretary of the Shanghai Pact amid the ongoing Conquest of Africa, whilst also remaining as the head of the Progressive Party. In the summer of 2038, following the Bovido Imperium's capitulation in the ongoing war, President Hassen Ahmed led calls for Kulmuni to resign as general secretary following intense disagreements over terms of surrender for the Imperium; whilst Kulmuni initially resisted the calls, she ultimately acquiesced to them on August 17, 2038, citing a desire to become more actively involved in Persian politics following the "disastrous" administration of Ahmed and the Union for Persia. On August 24, 2038, Kulmuni's Progressive party tabled impeachment articles against President Ahmed with the support of parliamentary UfP rebels. In response, Ahmed used his presidential authority to unilaterally dismiss the Persian Congress on September 1, 2038 and call for new elections, prompting outcry from opposition groups.

During the election campaign, Geena Kulmuni launched the Progressive party's manifesto on September 3, 2038 with the primary pledge to oppose and ultimately impeach President Hassen Ahmed. Likewise, Ahmed's Union for Persia launched a manifesto on September 4, 2038 pledging to implement constitutional amendments to cap presidential terms at two, thereby blocking Kulmuni from assuming the presidency again. Despite never having contested an election, the Halqa party under the leadership of Rania Al-Yassin soared in popularity in many densely populated city areas as the movement capitalised on growing frustration with the two-party dominant system in Persia. The Islamic Conservative Party continued its longstanding policy of not actively campaigning.

In order to be eligible to receive seats in the National People's Congress of Persia, political parties must register with the Electoral Board at least eight months before an election and give notice of any and all candidates that they intend to stand at the next election within four months of their registration; candidate lists may then be updated at any point until the dissolution of congress for an election. Elections to the National People's Congress of Persia take place using a regional proportional representation system - the country is divided into 153 constituencies, which each elect at least 3 representatives based on the distribution of votes in the constituency, with more populated regions such as Dubai and Amman receiving more representation than the sparsely populated Arabian desert constituencies. Since 2029, elections have been conducted using electronic voting devices at poling booths, which has enabled near instantaneous publication of results following the closing of polling.

Following the conclusion of voting on September 22, 2038, the results of the congressional election were announced by the Electoral Board on September 23rd; the Union for Persia won 261 seats, the Progressive Party won 243, Halqa gained 74 seats, and the Islamic Conservative Party won 22 seats. Between the UfP and Progressive party, the two dominant parties lost a net of 76 seats, with Halqa being by far the biggest beneficiary of the shift, having held no seats prior to the election; as the third largest party, Halqa became a kingmaker in congress as neither major party possessed enough seats to enact legislation without the support of Halqa. Representatives were sworn into office on Friday September 24, 2038 by clerks of congress; former president Geena Kulmuni was elected to her former seat of Dubai, returning as the representative of the constituency for the first time since 2024.

With the Union for Persia having lost its majority and only narrowly retaining a plurality in congress, prime minister Tamim bin Hamad tendered his resignation to President Hassen Ahmed and returned to the backbenches of the chamber. Following intense political negotiations over the weekend of September 25-26, President Ahmed appointed defence minister Salman Al-Khalifa as prime minister of a minority UfP government after failing to win the support of Rania Al-Yassin's Halqa party for a coalition. Without a majority in the chamber, Prime Minister Al-Khalifa's government initially struggled to gain the backing of congress, resulting in the Progressive party tabling a motion of confidence against him; however, the abstention of Halqa and the Islamic Conservative Party on the vote allowed Al-Khalifa to remain as prime minister. On October 17, 2038, the Union for Persia and Halqa jointly passed a constitutional amendment which imposed a two term presidential term limit, effectively prohibiting former president Geena Kulmuni from holding office again. Amid the political turmoil following the snap congressional election in September 2038, former prime minister Tamim bin Hamad began to make political manoeuvres against President Ahmed in a bid to gain control over the Union for Persia; on December 7, 2038, Hassen Ahmed resigned as leader of the Union for Persia and appointed prime minister Salman Al-Khalifa as his successor with the support of the executive committee of the party.