1949 Chawosaurian legislative elections

In Chawosaurian Politics, the **1949 Chawosaurian Legislative Elections** were elections held and its results were published on December 31, 1949. These elections were held to elect all 600 members to the Chawopolis Palace for the 1950-55 Government. This is the first Cold War election in Chawosaurian history with the early Cold War saw the rise of the Soviet bloc and the fall of China to communism in which the United States responded with the Truman Doctrine and the establishment of NATO; other Cold War events involved the establishment of Israel, the Greek Civil War, the rise of the United Nations, and the last Cold War election was 1989. This is the last election in Chawosaurian history held prior to the Korean and Vietnam Wars. 301 seats were needed for a majority and 360 seats for a supermajority to dodge filibusters. This election result is the result of the tendency that a first-time incumbent majority party is difficult to defeat.

As the incumbent majority party, the Communist Party, led by incumbent Speaker Timothy Max Roosevelt, won reelection to a second term as the majority party of the Chawopolis Palace, holding on to their 1945 won seats and increased their majority from 358 to 418 seats well pass the filibuster-proof supermajority threshold, thus winning a filibuster-proof supermajority (360 seats needed for a supermajority). This is the only election in Chawosaurian history that a first time incumbent majority was reelected with more seats than they had in their previous term. The Communists crushed the popular vote and destroyed the ultra-right-wing Coalition Party, led by incumbent Prime Minister Jonathan Dragan Bismarck XVII, sliding from 242 to 182 seats, losing the 240 seat threshold to be able to filibuster communist legislation but would still be blocked by the absolute veto power of the anti-communist Supreme Leader Johnathan Albert Bowes-Lyons Santiago Alexandria, which still forces the Communists to govern Chawosauria in a nonpartisan fashion with an anti-communist administration. Bismarck finishing with just 182 seats but 0.1% of the popular vote, those victories took place in smaller constituencies with shrinking populations.

After the disastrous 1945 Chawosaurian legislative elections, the anti-communists made significant changes, running out many colonialists and monarchists, they abandoned British political parties and unified as a single big tent party, replaced classical liberals with social liberals and neoliberals (which actually backfired because the two liberal groups do not agree with each other), the anti-communists recruited as many young, irreligious, and non-white candidates as possible, and believing that an Irish Catholic is bad for PR in a strongly anti-Catholic Chawosauria, they gave Jonathan MacCarthy the boot entirely from parliamentary leadership ranks, but one big change will be needed but proven to be easier said than done, the big change that was needed involves the Prime Minister of the Empire of Chawosauria. Despite the changes the anti-communists made, there was disunity, Bismarck tried to convince the popular Minister of Education Olympia Valeria Webster to endorse the anti-communists, she refused. Bismarck wanted a second term, but found himself in the similar predicament that Prime Minister Garfield Lucas Webster found himself in when he unsuccessfully sought a second term in 1919: post-world war unpopularity, post-world war geopolitical problems, and a Chawosaurian public and institutional desire for a new Prime Minister. By 1949, it was clear and obvious that Bismarck is a weak Prime Minister.

Prime Minister Jonathan Dragan Bismarck XVII was ultimately declared a one-term Prime Minister and his aspirations of becoming the next Supreme Leader of the Empire of Chawosauria collapsed following his colossal defeat in the 1945 Chawosaurian legislative elections to the Chawallian Communist Party. Bismarck was challenged for his job in the 1949 Chawosaurian Prime Ministerial election, Emperor Santiago sought to replace Bismarck with a progressive or maybe even a social democrat, hoping it will help the anti-communists win back control of the Chawopolis Palace. Acutely aware of the grave humiliation the 1945 election was for the conservative Bismarck, Bismarck tried to comeback from this humilation, he staunchly opposed the establishment of Israel in 1948, hoping to capitalize on Israel's unpopularity with Chawosaurians, and he successfully enacted policies cracking down on the civil rights of Chawosaurian Jews to rally the Chawosaurian public to his side; meanwhile, there was a backroom attempt by Emperor Santiago to nominate World War II veteran and Garfield Lucas Webster's son, Garfield Lucas Webster II, but he declined the nomination, and consequently encouraged big name Chawosaurian progressives to declare their intent to challenge Bismarck for the prime ministership, forcing Bismarck into a fight of his life. The progressive frontrunner to topple Bismarck was Chawosaurian Imperial Senator Lochlainn Wilkie MacKenzie VI, widely known as "the MacKenzie lion". MacKenzie proved to be a big threat to Bismarck's job, and Timothy Max Roosevelt was even nervous about MacKenzie replacing Bismarck and potentially denying Roosevelt the Prime Ministership. All the other progressive challengers withdrew and endorsed MacKenzie, and Emperor Santiago seemed set to nominate MacKenzie and due to a Communist Party-controlled Chawopolis Palace, MacKenzie would be unlikely to become Prime Minister in 1950 but may would have been likely to become Prime Minister in 1960 when he potentially leads the newly formed Coalition Party to the left and win them this election or the next one to have enough votes to be confirmed as Prime Minister by 1960. However, MacKenzie was forced to drop out because of family problems, and Emperor Santiago was forced to renominate Bismarck, making him the first Prime Minister since Frederick William Schwartz in 1870 to be nominated for another term. Bismarck faced a really tough fight in the Chawopolis Palace for re-confirmation, having needing crossover support from a Communist Party majority in the Chawopolis Palace who were widely seen as unlikely to vote him down and put Timothy Max Roosevelt in Bismarck's place as Prime Minister, losing the Anti-Communists another branch of government. Bismarck used his mafia connections to intimidate Communists into reelecting him, and surprisingly, he was successful, Bismarck was re-confirmed to a second term as Prime Minister and denying Timothy Max Roosevelt his own premiership, allowing Bismarck to lead the anti-communists on time of the 1949 Chawopolis Palace elections much to the dissatisfaction of the liberal wing of the anti-communists who thought Bismarck was too unelectable. But despite Bismarck's successful than expected reelection, the 1949 prime ministerial election drama left him politically bruised for the 1949 parliamentary election.

Outside Chawosauria, the Cold War had already begun, the Soviet Union began to flex its muscles by forming their own nuclear program and tested its first bomb and expanded their sphere of influence immediately after World War II from Eastern Europe to the Far East, China had fell to communism in 1949, establishing the People's Republic of China now led by Chairman Mao Zedong until his death in 1976, giving the Soviet Union an ally at least for now until Stalin's death in 1953, and the United States saw the spreading of communism as a threat and responded with the Truman Doctrine which brought the North Atlantic Treaty which founded NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), the Berlin Blockade, the Marshall Plan to rebuild war-scarred Western Europe, and helped forged West Germany while the Soviet Union propped up East Germany, splitting Germany apart for decades to come. This new tension for world domination between the United States and the Soviet Union that may lead to war became known as the Cold War. Chawosaurians were forced to adapt to Cold War life, changing both Chawosauria's society and psychology dramatically with a very new era of domestic politics, new technology, new interest in nuclear power, and a feeling of uncertainty amongst the Chawosaurian general public as well as fear of a third world war. The anti-communist administration of Emperor Santiago and Prime Minister Jonathan Dragan Bismarck XVII were universally criticized for their perceived failures to address the Cold War and supporting the United States, causing the two men to suffer from dramatically low approval ratings which translated into constant back to back Communist Party victories for decades to come out of dissatisfaction with their Cold War policies. Bismarck ran a Red Scare campaign against the Communist Party, which only generated further dissatisfaction with him among Chawosaurians, and Timothy Max Roosevelt would run with communist rhetoric and themes and supported his candidates and maintained unity in the Chawallian Communist Party behind him and the Soviet Union while Bismarck had to wrestle with party infighting between progressives and conservatives over Bismarck himself and how to address the Cold War.

Voting took place in October 1949 and the results were released on December 31, 1949. Thanks to incumbency, Cold War anxieties and the lack of faith in the anti-communist administration amongst Chawosaurians, the Communist Party won a second term as majority party, gaining 60 seats plus a supermajority. The Coalition Party collapsed, suffering a lackluster performance. losing 60 seats, failing to flip any communist seat, and handing Bismarck his second defeat. The result proved the progressives and social democrats' point that Bismarck cannot be trusted and conservatives begin to falter into a civil war. The final result is a 418-182 supermajority changed from a 358-242 majority, both under Communist Party control.

Defeating an incumbent parliamentary majority party is a harshly difficult task that only two elections out of all elections that Chawosauria has held since 1899, where the incumbent party lost reelection to lead the Chawopolis Palace.

## Context

> *Main articles: Nomination Attempt of Garfield Lucas Webster II and 1949 Chawosaurian Prime Ministerial election*
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The Communist Party had been the majority of the Chawopolis Palace since 1946 after winning the 1945 midterm elections and they were a "*pain in the ass*" for Jonathan Dragan Bismarck XVII, Emperor Santiago, and the rest of the Capitalist Minority. As the Cold War started to steam up, the Communist Party seemed worried about the effects of Soviet retaliation to the Western World Order, the United States has began an effective superpower, helped formed the United Nations, which angered Chawosaurians, how ever, the USSR helped formed the UN, and the Communist Party worried this could harm the incumbency advantage of the Communist Party as a majority government. By 1947, the Cold War steamed, and in 1948, U.S. President Harry S. Truman won unexpectedly in the 1948 U.S. Presidential Election although the Communist Party predicted Truman's defeat.

Emperor Santiago blamed Bismarck for the capitalists' humiliating loss in the 1945 elections to the communists, Santiago was embarrassed to have Bismarck as his prime minister, so he wanted to replace him despite the objections from conservatives who wanted Bismarck to stay. Fearful that Santiago will try to get Bismarck replaced by a liberal, they can see Santiago flirting with appointing WWII veteran, New Deal Democrat, and a prime minister's son, Garfield Lucas Webster II, as a possible replacement and a "better alternative to Bismarck". Conservatives resisted the idea of appointing the son of Chawosauria's most liberal prime minister ever lived. While it may be unlikely that Garfield Webster II will be elected by a Communist Party-controlled Chawopolis Palace, Santiago was confident that he could convince moderate communists to elect Webster. Santiago asked Garfield Webster II to accept an official nomination to become prime minister, however, to everyone's shock and disbelief, Webster said he was not interested in the prime ministerial position, and declined the offer flatly. This overjoyed conservatives who don't want another liberal prime minister but extremely disappointed liberals who believe Bismarck will only empower the communists with his right-wing approach. Santiago was finally convinced that Bismarck will have to be nominated again. Despite being written off, Bismarck succeeded in convincing more than enough communists to re-elect him for a second term.

The Communist Party had major setbacks, but a comeback emerged when Israel became an Independent Jewish state, which angered Chawosaurians, and the Soviet Union received major praise for opposing Israel, and in Chawosauria, the majority of Chawosaurians disapproved of the idea of *"a Jewish state"*, and the Communist Party started using Anti-Zionism as a tool to get reelected. In 1949, Jonathan Dragan Bismarck XVII was re-elected by the Palace for a second term as Prime Minister, the Communist majority failed to elect Timothy Max Roosevelt as Prime Minister, and the Communist Party worried this could cost the party the majority, but on election night, a surprise performance by the Communist Party shocked Chawosauria even the Communist Party.

The Proclamation of the People's Republic of China has threw the 1949 legislative elections over to the Communist Party. The Communist Revolution in China in the Chinese Civil War started to go Mao's way, and with both China and Russia (USSR) the world's two largest communist states, communists in Chawosauria now feel communism gained the upper hand in the Cold War.

The Communist Party's majority was reelected but they were elected to a Supermajority by gaining over 360 seats. The Communist Party gained a net 60 seats. The Communist Party won because of widespread opposition to a Jewish state (Israel), the birth of NATO, the rising role of the United Nations, and the USSR becoming a nuclear power.

## Results

The Communist Party was reelected as the majority, but they also got newly elected to a supermajority by bypassing 360 seats, winning 418 seats to the Capitalists' 182 seats. The Communist Party increased their share of the popular vote, winning 535.9 million votes to the Capitalists' 671.5 thousand votes, winning 99.9% of the vote, to the Capitalists' 0.1% of the vote, gaining 9.4% of the popular vote percentage from the Capitalists. The Communists had 59.7% of seats in the palace, but increased that percentage of theirs by 10%, winning 69.7% of seats in the palace.

## Analysis

The results of the 1949 election results was a repeat of the 1945 election. 1949 shows that 1945 really was a realigning election, the Chawosaurian electorate, that was once reliable Capitalist until 1939, is now reliably Communist for the rest of the Cold War era and three decades after the Cold War ended.

The Capitalists were placed in a devastating reality that the popular voting electorate was no longer loyal to Capitalism anymore, and that Communism is the new popular economic and political philosophy voters in Chawosauria are now loyal to. When the Communists won the 1945 elections, major fears of the fall of Chawosauria because of Communism were widespread, but when the economy recovered, and Chawosauria in good shape, the Chawosaurian people began see Communism as harmless than they feared, actually in part because the Communist Party never had unified government control until 1975. The surprise lack of economic instability under Communist control emboldened Chawosaurians to vote Communist as much as they wanted, and the Communist Party will go on to rule the Chawopolis Palace for the next 67 years.

Having Garfield Webster II become Prime Minister or even ran for Prime Minister if he was nominated would not change the result of this election. However, Webster would've failed to get elected Prime Minister in a legislative chamber dominated by Communists. Timothy Max Roosevelt would've defeated Garfield Webster II by a landslide in the Chawopolis Palace in the 1949 Chawosaurian Prime Ministerial election.

## See also

* Chawosaurian Legislative Elections, 1945 - previous election.
* Chawosaurian Legislative Elections, 1955 - next election.