1991 Laharnian state election

The 1991 Laharnian state election was held on 8–9 June 1991, to elect the 175 members of the 2nd Parliament, the unicameral legislature of Laharn. A total of 1,500,855 people were enrolled to vote in the election. Turnout was 86.42%.

Electoral system

Of the 175 seats in the Parliament, 140 seats were filled from ten multi-member constituencies–corresponding to Laharn's ten local government areas–under closed party-list proportional representation. Within each constituency, seats were distributed according to the d'Hondt method.

After the distribution of constituency seats, an additional 35 at-large seats were distributed among the parties that received at least five percent of the statewide vote. Parties which failed to cross the threshold kept any constituency seats they'd won, but were not considered in the distribution of at-large seats.

Electoral District	Seats
Alaro	28
Altatajdo	11
Estuaro	10
Kalkalo	16
Karbono	8
Kupro	15
Laharna Hadaro	9
Olveko	31
Rivervalo	6
Sunleviĝo	6
At-large	35
TOTAL	175

Results

The governing New Democratic Party won 46% of the seats on 43% of the votes.

Political Party		Votes	%	±	Seats	±
	New Democratic Party	551,842	43.03	–4.85	81	–16
	Socialist Party	258,879	20.19	+4.05	37	+4
	Our Strength — Our State	152,184	11.87	+7.25	22	+18
	United Laharn Party	116,319	9.07	–0.12	17	–1
	Liberty Party	84,341	6.58	–0.05	12	–1
	Agrarian Party	62,504	4.87	+2.36	5	+3
	Nationalist Party	21,228	1.66	+0.08	1	±0
Other parties		35,063	2.73	–0.07	0	–7
Valid Votes		1,282,360	98.87	–0.34	175	±0
Invalid Votes		14,713	1.13	+0.34
Total Votes		1,297,073	100.00	±0.00
Enrolled Voters/Turnout		1,500,855	86.42	+1.04

The proportionality of the result, as measured by the Gallagher Index, was 3.55, significantly lower (thus more proportional) than the 1988 result's index of 6.63. Over 90% of votes were cast for the five largest parties in the election, all of which passed the 5% threshold to be allocated at-large seats. This also indicates that the somewhat fragmented Laharnian political system was starting to consolidate around fewer, larger parties.

Despite suffering only a modest swing of –4.85 percentage points, the more proportional result meant New Democratic Party was not as generously over-represented as in the previous Parliament. The NDP lost 16 seats, and thus fell seven seats short of a majority.

The biggest success story of the election was the right-wing conservative Our Strength--Our State party, which more than doubled its share of the votes and seats from the 1988 election. During the parliamentary term, several small parties had merged into Our Strength--Our State, and the party developed a strong, populist platform that appealed to voters outside the major urban centers.

Government formation

Having been deprived of their parliamentary majority, the New Democratic Party under incumbent Chief Minister Karlo Bevincimo was required to seek support from another party. Prior to the convocation of Parliament, Bevincimo negotiated a confidence and supply agreement with the Liberty Party, which allowed the NDP to form a minority single-party government.

The 2nd Parliament was convoked on 5 August 1991, and Karlo Bevincimo tendered his government's resignation. That same day, Governor Manuelo Vajardo nominated Bevincimo to form a new government, and Bevincimo presented his proposal for government to the Parliament, which was followed by a vote on the proposal.

Party positions on the proposal

Bevincimo's proposal for government was supported by his own New Democratic Party and the Liberty Party, per the terms of the confidence and supply agreement.

The proposal was opposed by the Socialist Party, which served as the leading opposition party during the previous parliamentary term, as well as Our Strength--Our State, which objected to the NDP rejecting its offer to form a two-party coalition. The United Laharn Party, the Agrarian Party, and the Nationalist Party also voted against the proposal..

Voting results

The proposal for government put forth by Karlo Bevincimo on 5 August 1991 was approved by the Parliament with 93 votes in favor and 82 votes against, with no abstentions.

Faction	YES	NO	ABSTAIN
New Democratic Party	81	0	0
Socialist Party	0	37	0
Our Strength--Our State	0	22	0
United Laharn Party	0	17	0
Liberty Party	12	0	0
Non-aligned	0	6	0
TOTAL	93	82	0

Appointment by Governor

On the morning following the vote, Governor Manuelo Vajardo formally discharged the members of the 1st Bevincimo Government and appointed the members of the 2nd Bevincimo Government to office.