2018 Notoshan parliamentary election

A **parliamentary election** was held in Notosha on 10 March 2018 to elect all members of the State Assembly. The election was constitutionally mandated to fall on this date, as the constitution states that all parliamentary elections must fall on the second Saturday of March, four years apart.

Initially, the popular New Notosha Alliance was predicted to cruise to reelection victory in the 2018 election. However, with the foundation of Luftojmë! in May 2017, things began to become less clear. With clever campaigning that targeted the working-class and rural voters, Luftojmë! began to rise in the polls considerably in the lead-up to the election, with the opposition Democratic Notosha coalition seeming to fall in the polls in correlation to Luftojmë!'s rise.

At the conclusion of the election, the New Notosha Alliance was determined to have narrowly kept their majority in parliament, while Democratic Notosha lost 15 of their seats. Luftojmë! became a dominant force in parliament, winning 21 seats, with most of their victories coming at the expense of Democratic Notosha. Looking at individual parties, the Nationalist Platform of Luftojmë! became the fourth-largest party in parliament following a successful campaign that targeted right-wing voters of the Democratic Notosha coalition. The Democratic Party was the biggest loser, losing 8 seats, mostly due to effective campaigning by the Nationalist Platform. Following the certification of the election's results and the emergence that the New Notosha Alliance had maintained their majority, Balush Gjintelma was expected to remain in his capacity as prime minister. He began ministerial appointment discussions with the party leaders of his coalition shortly after the election's conclusion, with his second cabinet later being sworn in by Ilzabete Kafriti on 16 March 2018. The election's results led to the reelection of Kafriti in the 2018 presidential election.

## Date

The election was set to occur on 10 March 2018, as denoted by the constitution, which states that all parliamentary elections must fall on the second Saturday of March, four years apart. This also effectively bans snap elections from occurring.

## Electoral system

The 125 members of the State Assembly are elected at-large, with Notosha having no individual constituencies. Prior to the election, each political party creates an electoral list of 125 candidates. During the election, each voter casts their vote for one of the party lists. The system uses open lists, meaning voters can cross out names from the list if they choose. Seats are then allocated using the d'Hondt method, with a 2% electoral threshold. Each political party belongs to a coalition which selects a prime ministerial candidate, who most often is the leader of the coalition. The prime ministerial candidate is not a member of the electoral list, and will only be elected if their coalition secures a majority.

Only Notoshan citizens who will be at least 18 years old six months following the election may vote, while only Notoshan citizens who are at least 18 years old and have resided in Notosha continuously for a period of five years may stand as a candidate. Voting-eligible citizens who are residing abroad may not vote, as Notosha does not have a system for mail-in voting.

## Contesting coalitions

The following parties were represented in parliament following the 2014 election.

The following coalition and parties were not represented in parliament, but received seats in the 2018 election:

* **Luftojmë!**
	+ Nationalist Platform (Asbanian nationalism)
	+ Radical Party (Left-wing populism)

## Aftermath

Following the certification of the election's results, it emerged that the New Notosha Alliance had maintained their parliamentary majority after amassing 64 seats. This meant that Balush Gjintelma would continue in his capacity as prime minister, with the New Notosha Alliance remaining as the governing coalition in parliament. He soon began discussions with his coalition's party leaders regarding ministerial appointments.

After ministerial appointment discussions with the various party leaders of his coalition, Gjintelma's second cabinet was announced on 16 March 2018. The government was sworn in by Ilzabete Kafriti later that day. After securing a majority in parliament, the New Notosha Alliance reelected Kafriti as president of Notosha in the 2018 presidential election.