78th Shingōan National Election

The **78th Shingōan National Election** was held on 7 May 394 to determine the composition of the Parliament of the Imperial Republic of Shingō. Voters elected 50 members to the national legislature, 25 from single-member electorates and 25 from closed party lists. All male citizens of the 6 home prefectures of Shingō above the age of 20 were able to participate. Official results from the election were released on the following day.

The decision to hold an early election was made on 19 April 394 in response to a large corruption scandal which led to the resignation of all 3 sitting members of the Peace Party and 2 members of the Liberty Party. Prime Minister Shōgo Kobayashi argued that an election was needed in order to replace the members who resigned, while members of the opposition criticized the perceived self-interest in calling an election while support for the opposition was low. Parliament officially voted to dissolve itself on April 22nd, and the election was scheduled to occur 13 days later on May 7th.

The governing Reform Party, led by incumbent Prime Minister Shōgo Kobayashi, won the election in a decisive victory against the Liberty Party, led by Kōhei Hoshijima. Reform won 23 seats, providing it with a plurality in Parliament and allowing it to form another ruling coalition with other parties. The election was the worst result for the Liberty Party since the 65th National Election in 346 G.E.

The election was widely seen as a referendum on the leadership of the incumbent Kobayashi government and its policy objectives, such as the Global Democracy Initiative and the Populist Initiative. While members of the Liberty Party argued that the prime minister's monopoly-busting was "erratic" and "dangerous," these measures were generally well-received by the public.

The election additionally saw the emergence of two new parties onto the national scene: the Center Party and the Revolutionary Front. The Center Party, founded by economist Bunmei Inaba, advocated for increased trade relations with foreign nations as opposed to colonialism and occupation. The Revolutionary Front is comprised of a self-described coalition of laborers, syndicalists, and union-members who promote planned economics.

The Recovery Association and the Peace Party, which have both previously participated in ruling coalitions, performed very poorly in the election and lost all their seats in Parliament. Given that the Recovery Association primarily associated itself with solving the 391 Tōkai Recession and implementing fiat money, the accomplishment of these two goals by the First Kobayashi Government led support for the Association to decline. The Peace Party's decline has been linked to major corruption scandals, one of which occurred just 20 days before the election and forced the resignation of all sitting members of the party in Parliament.

After the election, Shōgo Kobayashi was re-elected as prime minister by the 78th Parliament. Following several weeks of negotiations, the Reform Party announced that it would form a ruling coalition with the Center Party. Initially, the Liberty Party attempted to lead a coalition including the Revolutionary Front and the Center Party, however, these negotiations quickly broke down due to major ideological disagreements.