What is a hung parliament?
Question: What is a hung parliament?
Answer: Simply put, no party has won an absolute majority of seats, thus depriving any one party of the absolute legitimacy to rule and put forth its prime minister.
But since a country still needs a government, what's done next?
Minority parties can choose to align into a ruling coalition and mutually agree on who will serve as prime minister, for either whole or part of the elected term.
This can get controversial if the ruling coalition does not appear to reflect the intention of the voters. Additionally, infighting can be rampant if the parties break on key pieces of the coalition platform. Controversial issues that crop up within a term, for instance, can tear apart coalitions.
Or, a minority government can attempt to rule without an absolute-majority mandate. This means that the party in control may have to soften its stances or be more amenable to compromise to avoid being hit with a no-confidence vote by the other parties in parliament -- or even to get legislation through.
Another scenario can be the dissolution of parliament, something that happens before regular elections and can be declared if things are in such disarray that a new election is necessary to have a shot at a stable government.
Answer: Simply put, no party has won an absolute majority of seats, thus depriving any one party of the absolute legitimacy to rule and put forth its prime minister.
But since a country still needs a government, what's done next?
Minority parties can choose to align into a ruling coalition and mutually agree on who will serve as prime minister, for either whole or part of the elected term.
This can get controversial if the ruling coalition does not appear to reflect the intention of the voters. Additionally, infighting can be rampant if the parties break on key pieces of the coalition platform. Controversial issues that crop up within a term, for instance, can tear apart coalitions.
Or, a minority government can attempt to rule without an absolute-majority mandate. This means that the party in control may have to soften its stances or be more amenable to compromise to avoid being hit with a no-confidence vote by the other parties in parliament -- or even to get legislation through.
Another scenario can be the dissolution of parliament, something that happens before regular elections and can be declared if things are in such disarray that a new election is necessary to have a shot at a stable government.
