2039 Pindoraman National Congress election

The **2039 Pindoraman National Congress election** occurred on Saturday January 15, 2039 in order to elect representatives to the first National Congress of Pindorama. The elections were the first democratic elections to be held in Pindorama since 1960, and the first democratic elections under the Empire of Pindorama, which had been established the previous year.

Following the signing of the Treaty of Shanghai and the end of the Conquest of Africa in September 2038, prime minister Marisa Belacqua of the Bovido State of Pindorama used her executive power to bring the region out of the Bovido Imperium, and formally established the Empire of Pindorama on September 23, 2038. Under the new empire, Belacqua reigned as the first empress of Pindorama and began a process of implementing a more liberal constitution to undo much of the heavy religious conservatism which had defined the previous 53 years of Pindoraman history. Despite her move towards more liberal political positions, Belacqua appointed her conservative ally Yesu Soong as the country's first independent prime minister and allowed more moderate elements of the Magisterium to remain politically active.

During October 2038, the first Pindoraman political parties began to emerge, such as the Worker's Party and Union. In November, Geraldo Alckmin founded the Liberal Party, whilst prime minister Yesu Soong became the head of the Christian Conservative Union in December 2038. On November 25, 2038, Empress Marisa Belacqua implemented the nation's first full democratic constitution, which came into effect on January 1, 2039. As part of the enactment of the constitution, a new National Congress was established as the legislative branch of the empire and elections were scheduled for January 15th, though campaigning had been taking place across the country since the formation of the political parties.

As part of its transition towards democracy, the Empire of Pindorama adopted the electoral system used by the National Assembly of Morra for use in its own National Congress of Pindorama, though this was changed to work on a significantly larger scale. In order to be eligible to receive seats in the National Congress, political parties and independent candidates were required to register with the central government by January 2, 2039, though campaigning had *de-facto* begun with the formation of political parties in the autumn of 2038. In order to be elected to the National Congress, political parties and independent candidates must be registered with the civil service, both nationally and with the local governments of any regions they sought to contest the election in. Pindorama is split into 45 local administrations, each with a specific proportion of seats allocated based on population size. Following the election, political parties will be given a percentage of seats in the chamber, rounded to the nearest whole number, proportional to the percentage of overall valid votes cast for the party. After the results are known, independent candidates are placed onto a *de-facto* party list in ranking of total votes cast, and the remaining vacant seats are allocated to independent candidates in the order of highest to lowest vote share until all seats in the National Congress are taken. This calculation is done locally, with each region running its own elections in order to elect the whole National Congress.

During the electoral campaign, the Christian Conservative Union (UCC) took advantage of its implicit links to the Magisterium and other church institutions linked to the Final Testament to mobilise support from most parts of the Christian population in the country. Since the European settlement of the region in the 1500s, Pindorama held a strong connection to Christianity and this was exacerbated in the 20th century with the formation of the Holy Republic of Saint Joseph's Devotees, and the subsequent absorption into the Bovido Imperium in 2030 - whilst many chose to reject the extremist teachings of the devotees and their Magisterium, the churches possessed a significant degree of influence on the lives of millions in the country. With the UCC weaponising its links to the churches, the Worker's Party and Union highlighted their connections to the working classes and intellectually liberal groups in society to advance, whilst the Liberal Party campaigned on pro-democracy credentials with a promise to establish a parliamentary republic in place of the empire. During the election campaign, Empress Marisa Belacqua remained largely neutral, surprising many political commentators who had expected her to openly back a faction or party during the election - instead, Belacqua held rallies encouraging citizens to vote and back pro-democracy candidates.

On January 16, 2038, electoral results were released by the Academy of Elections after having been digitally counted and calculated overnight following the closure of polling stations at 10pm the previous day. In the final results, the Christian Conservative Union gained 311 seats, the Workers Party gained 128 seats, Union gained 99 seats, the Liberal Party gained 44 seats, and independent candidates won 18 seats. On January 18, 2038, the newly elected first National Congress assembled in Brasilia for its first session; after the swearing in of all 600 members of congress, Yesu Soong travelled to the Imperial Palace at the invitation of Empress Marisa Belacqua to be re-appointed as prime minister after having won a majority of seats with his UCC party. Upon his appointment as prime minister, Soong formed a cabinet comprised purely of members of the Christian Conservative Union, having previously governed as an independent; the formation of a purely UCC government, particularly one dominated by former members of the Bovido Imperium, caused discontent within several of the more liberal and progressive regions in the empire. Following a split within the governing UCC, prime minister Soong was forced to hold early elections in 2041 and was returned to power at the head of a fractious political coalition, before ultimately being forced from power. Despite being associated with several controversies, the 2039 general election was seen as a resounding success in terms of establishing democratic institutions and conventions, and formed the basis for the beginnings of Pindoraman democracy.