1908 Dissauian General Election

146 Seats - 74 for a Majority

The 1908 Dissauian General Election was held on the 12th of May 1908 and was the 3rd legislative election in Dissau. The constitution of the Kingdom of Dissau required that an election would take place every four years sometime in May, thus requiring another election less than a year after the last. The election was predicted to a major blow to the National Moderate Party, and possibly a bad enough election that would see the Labor Party elected. The fears of a Labor-won government was put aside after the leader of Labor at the time, George A. Martin, was caught in an affair scandal with a singer, leading to news publications coming out against Martin as Prime Minister.

The publications and scrutiny against Martin allowed National Moderate to win just shy of a majority in the election. A coalition government between National Moderate and Free Liberal was formed shortly after the election to form a majority.

## Background

Due to the constitution of the Kingdom of Dissau, the government was forced to call another election less than a year after the last. The reason for the "early election" was that the constitution demanded that an election was required every four years in May, regardless of snap elections in between. National Moderate MPs feared a major loss in the election due to newspaper publications scrutinizing the government and its policies. The election was expected to be a loss for National Moderate, best case scenario, a small minority.

The government attempted to place the date of the election later in the year, but it caused backlash among the newspapers, and was rejected by the Royal Court of Dissau who cited the attempt as "unconstitutional." Eventually, the government set the date of the election to the 12th of May 1908 after much concessions.

## George A. Martin Affair Scandal

Main Article: *George A. Martin Affair Scandal*

A week before the election, George A. Martin was exposed for having an affair with a young, 23-year-old singer called Penelope Aideliate. Martin's wife, Adele, left Martin a day after the scandal hit the newspapers, later expressing her opinions about the marriage in some newspapers in the early 1920s, later dying in 1924. Aideliate refused to comment on the situation, instead, cutting ties with Martin for a couple years, until they rekindle in the the early 1910s. The scandal led to publications of the story among all popular newspaper companies, and solidified the fact that Labor would not get elected that year. Many newspapers criticized both the Labor Party and Martin himself, making the election favorable for National Moderate.

## Results & Aftermath

### Results

Free Liberal won 18 seats, the smallest sum, giving them a decrease of 7 seats since the last election. Labor won 58 seats, an increase of 11 , and giving them the second largest amount of seats. The National Moderate Party won the largest sum of seats, 70 seats.

 NMD
 LAB
 FRL

### Aftermath

National Moderate received 4 seats shy of a majority, and divided the party on whether they should form a coalition with Free Liberal or run the government with a minority. Eventually, an agreement was reached between National Moderate and Free Liberal to form a coalition.