Gaduridan legislative election, 3608

A legislative election took place in Gaduridos in October 3608 to elect the 350 members of the Gaduridan Congress. The Congress is the supreme legislative assembly of the country. Since the politics of Gaduridos take place within the frames of a presidential system, Congress is independent from the country's head of state and government, the President of the Federal Union. Thus the president is elected separately from, but on the same date as Congress.

Background
Following the 3596, 3599 and 3602 general elections, the Socialist Party and the Gaduridan National Congress had formed coalition governments. The two parties sought to win re-election in 3605, with Socialist leader Teo Ferrero as their ultimate candidate for the presidency. Throughout the past nine years, the Conservative Party had been in opposition, and campaigned for a change in government, and for a Conservative president. The election was the fourth federal electoral test for the PS-GNC majority coalition.

Electoral system
Federal legislative elections in Gaduridos are held using a system of proportional representation. Political parties or coalitions may field lists of candidates in each of the five states of Gaduridos. In total, there are 350 seats up for grabs in such elections, also from each of the regions. The number of seats allocated to each state is determined based on their population size. States with larger populations send many representatives to Congress, and smaller states send fewer representatives. The states of Gaduridos, listed in alphabetical order, are:
 * Marligantos
 * North Vintalli
 * Pernessia
 * Salnaeta
 * South Vintalli

Conservatives
Led by Jacob Lieberman, the Conservative Party campaigned for a change in government. Their fielded candidate for the presidential election Steve Summers served as a trademark figure throughout the entire campaign. The Conservatives promised to re-introduce the flat tax system, and to relax regulations on big business, that the Socialist-led government had introduced throughout their past years in government.

Socialists
The Socialist Party, the largest party in the ruling coalition government, focused mainly on taxation and healthcare reform throughout the campaign. Socialist leader and incumbent President of Gaduridos Teo Ferrero pledged to shut down all military bases of foreign nation-states within Gaduridan borders. Futhermore, the PS advocated for the introduction of a womens' quota in the executive boards of big businesses. Environmentalism remained a primary concern of the Socialists also in the 3605 election, with Ferrero campaigning for significant reductions of the country's carbon emissions. The party continued to support the recently introduced progressive tax system, and aimed at raising taxes for the wealthy, while lowering taxes for the working and middle classes.

National Congress
GNC, the smallest party in the Gaduridan Congress, continued its campaign expressing support for the existing government. Although formerly supporting a free market economy and militaristic policies, the party under the leadership of Constantinou Valenki had suprisingly shifted to more leftist positions throughout their time as an associate party of the Socialists. They wanted to ensure vigorously to gain more seats not only in the state legislatures but also in the Congress.

Participating parties
The electoral lists and political parties listed below, are displayed in alphabetical order.

Results
The 3605 election was descibed as a victory for the Conservative Party, who had previously sat in opposition for almost a decade. The GNC was reduced to a less than a fifth of the vote. The Socialist Party shrunk slightly, and lost only a single seat, retaining their position as the second largest party.

The ruling PS-GNC coalition lost 17, which all went to the Conservatives. The government thus only retained 197 of their previous 214 seats.

Aftermath
Although the Socialist-Congress coalition had kept a large majority following the elections, the Gaduridan National Congress expressed dismay with the results, accusing the two major parties of sabotaging the turnout for minor third parties. As a result, the GNC decided on its party conference, to boycott future elections, and to pull out every single one of their 63 MPs. Because of this, the Conservatives now held a majority in the new Congress, with 153 out of the remaining 287 seats. Thus the latter seized power and created a majority government, leaving the Socialist Party in a congressional minority.