2017 Brunanter government formation

The 2017 Brunanter government formation resulted from deadlock (essentially a hung parliament) after the 2017 general election.

Background
The 2017 election saw twelve parties elected to congress, surpassing the number of parties elected in 2013 to make for a record. Seven parties were leftist or center-left, four were rightist or center-right and one was centrist. No one party had more than 20 percent of the votes or 20 seats, and political pundits declared no less than four parties would be needed to form a government.

Post-election developments
The Social Democrats, finishing as the party with most seats, was widely expected to lead formation talks, with Pieter Van Buskirk the likely candidate for Prime Minister. ECO17 announced their support for a coalition with the SD, which A Better Brunant was willing to support, though they would only reach 33 seats, far short of a majority.

All right-wing parties increased in seats, and the Christian Democratic Union, coming to within one seat of the SD, appeared likely to head opposing government proposals, though all the parties in the right together could not surpass the minimum 50% needed to form a government.

The far left, in particular Yes to the Future, P70-Links, Social Anarchy Party, and to a lesser extent the Socialist Left Party opposed either possible government proposals, though the far left was even further from a majority.

Possibilities
There were no clear possibilities as to what government was likely possible, but analysts saw several outcomes, such as:


 * A grand leftist coalition of SD, SLP, ECO17, YES and the GP
 * A grand coalition with the SD, CDU, ECO17, ABB and GP, which would be a new phenomenon and a difficult pact
 * A CDU, FLP and CvB coalition with support from BPP (and enough abstentions)
 * An SD, ECO17, ABB and GP coalition with enough abstentions

The leftist coalition would not work due to animosity between YES and SLP with the SD, with YES leader Aina Sarria saying there was < > she could agree to a coalition with the Social Democrats. The grand coalition would be very difficult, due to the significant ideological gap between the parties. While it was suggested some in the CDU might be open to a grand coalition, ECO17 leader Warren Sheraldin stated that <>.

A right-wing coalition led by the CDU would have been sunk by the left; even with the support of BPP, it would have needed at least eight other abstentions/votes in favor to pass. The leftist proposal would be even more challenged, requiring fifteen additional non-opposed votes.