2030 Morranian Presidential Election

The **2030 Morranian Presidential Election** was held on Wednesday January 2, 2030 and was the first quinquennial presidential election under the Republic of Morra, which had been established the previous year on February 20, 2029. The election was held concurrently with the 2030 Morranian National Assembly Election. Voting took place using a first past the post voting system and an electoral college, before the certification of results by the National Assembly of Morra on January 10, 2030, with incumbent president Sunil Bakshi being re-elected and inaugurated to a second term on January 20, 2030.

As part of the new constitution, political parties other than the governing People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) were allowed to form in opposition to the government; in April 2029, the Party of the Labourers (PvdA) was formed and quickly gained support as the main opposition group to the VVD thanks to it's role as the political wing of the major trade unions in Morra. By May, the delegations of corporate and industry representatives formed into the Corporate Union and Workers Alliance respectively, whilst the pro-government New Party formed in The Hague to support the VVD. In August 2029, the Progressive Party was formed as a more left-wing alternative to the PvdA, whilst the DENK movement launched as a political force in late September of the same year.

With political parties required to register for the presidential election by September 14, 2029, three major political campaigns were able to secure places on the ballot paper; the VVD alliance of pro-government parties, the PvdA alliance of left-wing opposition parties and the DENK movement comprised of right-wing opposition to the government. On September 20th, Vice President Werner Reinheart announced his intention to stand down as vice president after the election, whilst incumbent president Sunil Bakshi successfully retained his party's nomination; the following day, finance secretary Eris Assecla was nominated as the vice presidential candidate for the VVD. On September 23, 2029, the PvdA alliance nominated PvdA leader Marianne Thieme and Progressive party leader Wopke Hoekstra as candidates for president and vice president respectively, whilst DENK leader Geert Wilders and his deputy Deen Janick nominated themselves as the right-wing ticket.

During the electoral campaign, the governing VVD party and President Sunil Bakshi made significant usage of official government apparatus and state controlled media to support the Bakshi-Assecla campaign, whilst also being able to draw upon funds from EuroCorp and the treasury to finance their campaign. Other political parties, particularly the PvdA, complained about the unfair allocation of governmental resources during the election and several independent groups threatened to withdraw from the concurrent National Assembly election in protest.

Following election day on January 2, 2030, official results were announced on January 4, 2030 by the independent Morranian Electoral Commission, with the VVD securing a majority of states and thus the presidency, whilst the PvdA-Progressive alliance won 9 out of the 26 states, coming second in the election. Following the election of a new National Assembly, Peter Illich was elected as Speaker of the National Assembly on January 10, 2030 during the new legislature's first session; on January 11, 2030, Speaker Illich presented the results of the presidential election to the National Assembly, who voted to certify the results 289-11. On January 20, 2030, Sunil Bakshi and Eris Assecla were inaugurated as president and vice president respectively.