1936 General Election

The 1936 General Election was held on 24 September 1936.

The 1936 election was a bitterly-fought contest between the Liberal Party, the Ibaglian Democratic Union, and the newly-formed Progressive Party. Though the latter two parties were both considered conservative, the former was against government solutions to economic issues while the latter preferred viable populist solutions to the effects of the worldwide economic crisis occurring at the time, espousing many of the ideas that had seen Franklin Roosevelt elected President of the United States. The Liberal Party, though offering many solutions similar to those offered by the Progressive Party, was seen as responsible for the sharp economic downturn seen in Ibagli since the election of 1931.

After the votes were counted, the Progressives came in first place in both the popular vote and the number of seats won in the Legislative Assembly. With 17 seats out of 40, they were 4 seats short of a majority. The Ibaglian Democratic Union took 14 seats, and the Liberals came in last with 9. As there was no clear winner of the election, the Liberal Premier, Lionel Baxter, refused to tender his resignation to the Governor, stating that it was his right to continue as Premier unless and until he lost the confidence of the Legislative Assembly.

In the following days, rioters took to the streets demanding the resignation of the Liberal government. The growing number of unemployed had grown restless in their idleness, and could not see an end to their problems while Baxter headed the government. Six days after the election, the Chief Constable of the Royal Ibaglian Constabulary advised the Governor that his officers would not be able to quell the riots if they continued to grow. Fearing an insurrection, Governor Sir Michael Cross contacted the Colonial Office asking for advice.

The Colonial Office advised Cross to take any action necessary to avert more widespread rioting. It was "not in the best interests of the Empire," the Secretary of State for Colonial Affairs wrote, "for one of His Majesty's possessions to be taken over by desperate hordes seeking employment." He further advised Cross to dismiss the Premier immediately if he felt it would cause the riots to stop.

After a further day during which it became obvious that the riots would not stop unless Baxter resigned or was dismissed, Cross called the leaders of the three parties and advised them of his correspondence. He declared to them that it was imperative that they find some way of forming a government before the opening of the legislature, which was not scheduled to happen for approximately two weeks. He warned them that if no solution was found, he would advise the Colonial Office to take direct control of Ibaglian affairs. He gave the leaders three hours in which to negotiate a coalition. After just over two hours, the leaders of the Progressive Party and the Liberal Party announced that they would form a coalition in the Assembly with the leader of the Progressive Party, Edward Hallihan, as the leader of the coalition in the Assembly. Baxter also declared that in order to assist in the bringing of peace to the streets as soon as possible, he would not take a place in the Hallihan government. He tendered his resignation to the Governor shortly thereafter. Within the next twelve hours, the riots nearly completely dissipated.

In 1938, the coalition agreement would collapse, and Hallihan went to Cross to seek a dissolution of the Legislative Assembly. Cross refused, stating that all possibilities for a government had not been exhausted since the previous election which had been held only sixteen months previously. He again called the leaders of the parties together, advising them to find a coalition that would hold a majority of seats in the Assembly. He stated that if no coalition was formed, he would allow each leader in turn to form a government in turn, allowing them to test the confidence of the Assembly. If all three failed to form a government, he would then call an election. Believing that an election would not be advantageous, the Progressive Party and Ibaglian Democratic Union formed a coalition, again with Hallihan as leader.

Results

Party		Seats
	Progressive	17
	I.D.U.	14
	Liberal	9