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A snap election is an
election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...
that is called earlier than the one that has been scheduled. Generally, a snap election in a
parliamentary system A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...
(the
dissolution of parliament The dissolution of a legislative assembly is the mandatory simultaneous resignation of all of its members, in anticipation that a successive legislative assembly will reconvene later with possibly different members. In a democracy, the new assemb ...
) is called to capitalize on an unusual electoral opportunity or to decide a pressing issue, under circumstances when an election is not required by law or convention. A snap election differs from a
recall election A recall election (also called a recall referendum, recall petition or representative recall) is a procedure by which, in certain polities, voters can remove an elected official from office through a referendum before that official's term of offi ...
in that it is initiated by politicians (usually the head of government or ruling party) rather than voters, and from a
by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...
in that a completely new parliament is chosen as opposed to merely filling vacancies in an already established assembly. Early elections can also be called in certain jurisdictions after a ruling coalition is dissolved if a replacement coalition cannot be formed within a constitutionally set time limit. Since the power to call snap elections (the
dissolution of parliament The dissolution of a legislative assembly is the mandatory simultaneous resignation of all of its members, in anticipation that a successive legislative assembly will reconvene later with possibly different members. In a democracy, the new assemb ...
) usually lies with the incumbent, they often result in increased majorities for the party already in power provided they have been called at an advantageous time. However, snap elections can also backfire on the incumbent resulting in a decreased majority or in some cases the opposition winning or gaining power. As a result of the latter cases, there have been occasions in which the consequence has been the implementation of fixed-term elections.


Americas


Belize

According to Section 84 of the Constitution of Belize, the
National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...
must be dissolved "five years from the date when the two Houses of the former National Assembly first met" unless dissolved sooner by the
governor-general Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...
upon the advice of the prime minister.Belize / Belice: Constitution 1981
Political Database of the Americas The Political Database of the Americas (PDBA) is a non-governmental organization based at the Center for Latin American Studies (CLAS), an academic center of the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service of Georgetown University, Washington, D. ...
. (accessed 9 October 2014) Since Belize gained independence from the
British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...
in September 1981, snap elections have been called twice, in
1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...
and
2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
. In March 2015, Belizean Prime Minister
Dean Barrow Dean Oliver Barrow, SC PC (born March 2, 1951) is a politician from Belize who served as prime minister of Belize from 2008 until 2020 and as leader of Belize's United Democratic Party. An attorney by profession, Barrow served as Belize's ...
ruled out the possibility of a snap election later in the year.31798 "Hon. Barrow Pleased, Avoids Gloating"
Tropical Vision Limited, 5 March 2015. (accessed 16 March 2015) In the November 2015 general election, Prime Minister Barrow's United Democratic Party increased its majority by 9 percent as it made Belizean history, forming its third consecutive government.


Canada

In
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, snap elections at the federal level are very common. Section 50 of the '' Constitution Act, 1867'' and section 4 of the ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' limits the maximum life of a federal parliament to five years following the return of the last
writs of election A writ of election is a writ issued ordering the holding of an election. In Commonwealth countries writs are the usual mechanism by which general elections are called and are issued by the head of state or their representative. In the United S ...
. A law was passed to set the election date on the third Monday in October in the fourth calendar year after the previous poll, although courts found it effectively legally unenforceable and not binding on the prime minister. Any election that occurs before the schedule is a snap election. During his 10 years as prime minister,
Jean Chrétien Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien (; born January 11, 1934) is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 20th prime minister of Canada from 1993 to 2003. Born and raised in Shawinigan Falls, Quebec, Chrétien is a law graduate from Uni ...
recommended to the
governor general Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...
to call two snap elections, in 1997 and 2000, winning both times.
Wilfrid Laurier Sir Henri Charles Wilfrid Laurier, ( ; ; November 20, 1841 – February 17, 1919) was a Canadian lawyer, statesman, and politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Canada from 1896 to 1911. The first French Canadian prime minis ...
and John Turner, meanwhile, both lost their premierships in snap elections they themselves had called (in 1911 and 1984, respectively). The most notable federal snap election is that of 1958, where
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
John Diefenbaker John George Diefenbaker ( ; September 18, 1895 – August 16, 1979) was the 13th prime minister of Canada, serving from 1957 to 1963. He was the only Progressive Conservative party leader between 1930 and 1979 to lead the party to an electio ...
called an election just nine months after the previous one and transformed his
minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and Cabinet (government), cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or Coalition government, coalition of parties do ...
into the largest
majority A majority, also called a simple majority or absolute majority to distinguish it from #Related terms, related terms, is more than half of the total.Dictionary definitions of ''majority'' aMerriam-Websterhistory of Canada up to that date. A snap election was also called in the province of Ontario in 1990, three years into Premier David Peterson's term. Peterson was polling at 54%, lower than his peak popularity but still well above the opposition party leaders, and expected to be re-elected with comfortable majority. However, the
1990 Ontario general election Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 ''Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since the ...
backfired since it was interpreted as a sign of arrogance, with some cynically viewing it as an attempt to win another mandate before an anticipated economic recession. In the biggest upset in Ontario history, the Ontario New Democratic Party led by
Bob Rae Robert Keith Rae (born August 2, 1948) is a Canadian diplomat and former politician who is the current Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations since 2020. He previously served as the 21st premier of Ontario from 1990 to 1995, leader of the ...
won an unprecedented majority government while Peterson lost his own seat to a rookie NDP candidate. A similar result occurred in Alberta in
2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...
when Premier
Jim Prentice Peter Eric James Prentice (July 20, 1956 – October 13, 2016) was a Canadian politician who served as the 16th premier of Alberta from 2014 to 2015. In the 2004 federal election he was elected to the House of Commons of Canada as a candidate ...
of the governing
Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta The Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta (often referred to colloquially as Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta) was a provincial centre-right party in the Canadian province of Alberta that existed from 1905 to 2020. The party f ...
called a snap election. A few months before, 11 MLAs including their leader from the official opposition
Wildrose Party The Wildrose Party (legally Wildrose Political Association, formerly the ''Wildrose Alliance Political Association'') was a conservative provincial political party in Alberta, Canada. The party was formed by the merger in early 2008 of the Albe ...
had crossed the floor to sit with the government. However, the province was entering an economic recession due to the abrupt
2010s oil glut The 2010s oil glut is a significant surplus of crude oil that started in 2014–2015 and accelerated in 2016, with multiple causes. They include general oversupply as unconventional US and Canadian tight oil (shale oil) production reached crit ...
, and Prentice's budget was not well received by either the political left or right. The resulting
Alberta New Democratic Party The Alberta New Democratic Party (french: Nouveau Parti démocratique de l'Alberta), commonly shortened to Alberta's NDP, is a social-democratic political party in Alberta, Canada. It is the provincial Alberta affiliate of the federal New Democr ...
majority victory unseated 13 cabinet ministers and ended 44 years of Progressive Conservative government in Alberta. In 2021, sitting Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called a snap election in an attempt to win a majority, up from his previous minority government. He justified the snap election as a way for Canadians to choose which government leads them through Canada's recovery from the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
. However, Trudeau was widely criticized for calling the snap election while the country was in the midst of a 4th wave of Covid. Following the election Trudeau managed to remain Prime Minister, but the Liberal Party failed to win a majority government.


Peru

The Constitution of Peru allows for the dissolution of Congress by the
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
if a vote of no-confidence is passed two times by the legislative body, and has four months to call for new parliamentary elections or faces impeachment. The
2020 Peruvian parliamentary election Early parliamentary elections were held in Peru on 26 January 2020.Martín Vizcarra dissolved Congress.


Asia and Oceania


Australia

There are three procedures in which elections can be held early in Australia: * The maximum term of the
Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. The term of members of the ...
is 3 years. However, the chamber can wait several months after the election to make its first sitting, while a campaign period of at least 33 days is needed between the dates that the election is called and held. It is the norm for the chamber to be dissolved early by the
Governor-General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...
before its term expires, which is done on the advice of the
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
. * Half of the
Australian Senate The Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives (Australia), House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Chapter ...
(excluding the seats representing territories) changes over every three years in July. An election for the half about to change over must take place up to a year before this is due, on a date determined by the government. By convention, the elections of both chambers have usually been held on the same day. If the previous Senate election was held close to the changeover, the next Senate election can be held significantly earlier. * A
Double dissolution A double dissolution is a procedure permitted under the Australian Constitution to resolve deadlocks in the bicameral Parliament of Australia between the House of Representatives (lower house) and the Senate (upper house). A double dissolution ...
may be called to resolve conflict between the two chambers, in which case the entire membership of both chambers comes up for election. This requires at least one bill that originated in the House of Representatives (often called a "trigger") to be rejected twice by the Senate under certain conditions. In this case, the next Senate changeover is due in the second month of July after the election, while the House of Representatives begins a new 3-year term. Examples of early elections in Australia: * 1963 election: Liberal Prime Minister
Robert Menzies The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory ...
called an early election for the House of Representatives because the government were struggling to govern with their narrow 2-seat majority in the chamber. The government succeeded in gaining 10 seats. The election left the House and Senate elections out of synchronization until 1974. * 1974 election: The
double dissolution A double dissolution is a procedure permitted under the Australian Constitution to resolve deadlocks in the bicameral Parliament of Australia between the House of Representatives (lower house) and the Senate (upper house). A double dissolution ...
election focused on Labor Prime Minister
Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. The longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1977, he was notable for being the he ...
's first one-and-a-half years in office and whether the Australian public was willing to continue with his reform agenda, and also to break a deadlock in the Senate after Opposition Leader
Billy Snedden Sir Billy Mackie Snedden, (31 December 1926 – 27 June 1987) was an Australian politician who served as the leader of the Liberal Party from 1972 to 1975. He was also a cabinet minister from 1964 to 1972, and Speaker of the House of Represe ...
announced that the opposition would block the Government's supply bills in the Senate following the
Gair Affair The Gair Affair was an episode in Australian political life in 1974, during the government led by the Labor Prime Minister Gough Whitlam. Whitlam offered the post of Ambassador to Ireland to a non-government senator from Queensland, Vince Gair, i ...
. The Whitlam government was subsequently returned with a reduced majority in the House of Representatives but increased presence (but no majority) in the Senate, allowing the government to pass six reform bills in a joint sitting of the two houses of the Australian parliament. * 1975 election: The election followed the controversial dismissal of the Whitlam government by Governor-General Sir John Kerr in the 1975 constitutional crisis and the installation of Opposition Leader Malcolm Fraser as prime minister. Labor believed it had a chance of winning the elections, and that the dismissal would be an electoral asset for them but the Coalition attacked Labor for the economic conditions they presided over, resulting in the Coalition winning a record victory, with 91 seats in the House of Representatives to the ALP's 36 and a 35–27 majority in the expanded Senate. * 1983 election: While an election was not due for seven more months, Malcolm Fraser had been emboldened by the unexpected victory in a 1982 by election which his Liberal Party was expected to lose. Fraser also sought to exploit divisions in the opposition Labor Party, and was surprised to learn that the popular
Bob Hawke Robert James Lee Hawke (9 December 1929 – 16 May 2019) was an Australian politician and union organiser who served as the 23rd prime minister of Australia from 1983 to 1991, holding office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (A ...
had won the Labor Party leadership on the day he sought a dissolution. Ultimately, Labor won power and defeated the Fraser government on a 24-seat swing—the largest defeat of a sitting government since 1949, and the worst defeat a sitting non-Labor government has ever suffered. * 1984 election: This election was held 18 months ahead of time in order to bring the elections for the House of Representatives and Senate back into line. They had been thrown out of balance by the double dissolution of 1983. It was widely expected that the incumbent Hawke Labor government would be easily re-elected, but an exceptionally long 10-week campaign, confusion over the ballot papers and a strong campaign performance by Liberal leader, Andrew Peacock, saw the government's majority reduced (although this was disguised by the increase in the size of the House from 125 to 148). * 1998 election: The election on 3 October 1998 was held six months earlier than required by the Constitution. Prime Minister
John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the s ...
made the announcement following the launch of the coalition's Goods and Services Tax (GST) policy launch and a five-week advertising campaign. The ensuing election was almost entirely dominated by the proposed 10% GST and proposed income tax cuts. * 2010 election: A federal election was held on Saturday, 21 August 2010, which was called relatively early in order to give Prime Minister Gillard - who had won the prime ministership outside of an election from Kevin Rudd - a greater mandate. The election ended in a hung parliament, and a resultant retaining of Labor's majority in the House of Representatives after negotiations with independents and the
Australian Greens The Australian Greens, commonly known as The Greens, are a confederation of Green state and territory political parties in Australia. As of the 2022 federal election, the Greens are the third largest political party in Australia by vote and th ...
.


Bangladesh

After Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party five-year term ended in January 1996, the country went to the polls on 15 February 1996, where elections were boycotted by all major opposition parties including BNP'S arch-rival Sheikh Hasina's
Awami League In Urdu language, Awami is the adjectival form for '' Awam'', the Urdu language word for common people. The adjective appears in the following proper names: *Awami Colony, a neighbourhood of Landhi Town in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan *Awami Front, wa ...
. The opposition had demanded a neutral caretaker government to oversee the polls, but it was rejected by the incumbent government and the election went on as scheduled. The BNP won by default, grabbing all the 300 seats in the Jatiya Sangsad and assumed power. The Awami League and its allies did not accept the results and called a month-long general strike and blockades to overthrow the BNP government. The general strike was marred by bloody violence including a grenade attack on Awami League's headquarters which killed scores of people. On the other hand, the Supreme Court of Bangladesh annulled the election results which forced the BNP government to amend the constitution in a special parliamentary session by introducing the Caretaker government system as a part of the electoral reform. Eventually the BNP government was toppled and ousted when they resigned on 31 March 1996, and handed over power to the caretaker government. The caretaker government stayed in power for 90 days before new elections could be held. Finally a snap election was held on 12 June 1996, where Awami-League won a simple majority by beating its bitter rival BNP and stayed in power for the next five years.


India

* 1998 general election: General elections were held in
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
in 1998, after the government elected in 1996 collapsed and the
12th Lok Sabha This is the list of members of the 12th Lok Sabha, (10 March 1998 – 26 April 1999) after the 1998 Indian general election held during February–March 1998. This was the second consecutive Lok Sabha, like the 11th Lok Sabha elections that d ...
was convened. New elections were called when
Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...
(INC) left the
United Front A united front is an alliance of groups against their common enemies, figuratively evoking unification of previously separate geographic fronts and/or unification of previously separate armies into a front. The name often refers to a political a ...
government led by
I.K. Gujral Inder Kumar Gujral (4 December 1919 – 30 November 2012) was an Indian diplomat, politician and freedom activist who served as the 12th prime minister of India from April 1997 to March 1998. Born in Punjab, he was influenced by nationalist ...
, after they refused to drop the regional
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; DMK) is a political party based in the state of Tamil Nadu where it is currently the ruling party having a comfortable majority without coalition support and the union territory of Puducherry where it is curre ...
(DMK) party from the government after the DMK was linked by an investigative panel to Sri Lankan separatists blamed for the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. The outcome of the new elections was also indecisive, with no party or alliance able to create a strong majority. Although the
Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...
's
Atal Bihari Vajpayee Atal Bihari Vajpayee (; 25 December 1924 – 16 August 2018) was an Indian politician who served three terms as the 10th prime minister of India, first for a term of 13 days in 1996, then for a period of 13 months fr ...
retained his position of
prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
getting support from 286 members out of 545, the government collapsed again in late 1998 when the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, with its 18 seats, withdrew their support, leading to new elections in 1999. * 1999 general election: General elections were held in
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
from 5 September to 3 October 1999, a few months after the
Kargil War The Kargil War, also known as the Kargil conflict, was fought between India and Pakistan from May to July 1999 in the Kargil district of Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere along the Line of Control (LoC). In India, the conflict is also referr ...
. The
13th Lok Sabha The 13th Lok Sabha (10 October 1999 – 6 February 2004) is the thirteenth session of the Lok Sabha (House of the People, or lower house in the Parliament of India). It was convened after 1999 Indian general election held during September–Oc ...
election is of historical importance as it was the first time a united front of parties managed to attain a majority and form a government that lasted a full term of five years, thus ending a period of political instability at the national level that had been characterised by three general elections held in as many years. On 17 April 1999, the
Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...
(BJP) coalition government led by Prime Minister
Atal Bihari Vajpayee Atal Bihari Vajpayee (; 25 December 1924 – 16 August 2018) was an Indian politician who served three terms as the 10th prime minister of India, first for a term of 13 days in 1996, then for a period of 13 months fr ...
failed a to win a confidence vote in the
Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...
(India's lower house), falling short a single vote due to the withdrawal of one of the government's coalition partners – the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). The leader of the AIADMK,
J. Jayalalitha Jayaram Jayalalithaa (24 February 1948 – 5 December 2016) was an Indian politician and actress who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for more than fourteen years over six terms between 1991 and 2016. From 9 February 1989 to 5 December 2 ...
, had consistently threatened to withdraw support from the ruling coalition if certain demands were not met, in particular the sacking of the
Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...
government, control of which she had lost three years prior. The BJP accused Jayalalitha of making the demands in order to avoid standing trial for a series of corruption charges, and no agreement between the parties could be reached leading to the government's defeat.
Sonia Gandhi Sonia Gandhi ('' née'' Maino; born 9 December 1946) is an Indian politician. She is the longest serving president of the Indian National Congress, a social democratic political party, which has governed India for most of its post-independ ...
, as
leader of the opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...
and largest opposition party (
Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...
) was unable to form a coalition of parties large enough to secure a working majority in the Lok Sabha. Thus shortly after the no confidence motion,
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
K. R. Narayanan Kocheril Raman Narayanan (27 October 1921 – 9 November 2005) was an Indian statesman, diplomat, academic, and politician who served as the 9th vice president of India, Vice President of India from 1992 to 1997 and 10th President of India fr ...
dissolved the Parliament and called fresh elections. Atal Bihari Vajpayee remained caretaker prime minister till the elections were held later that year.


Israel

After the
legislative election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
in April 2019 resulted in a political stalemate after Yisrael Beiteinu refused to join a
Likud Likud ( he, הַלִּיכּוּד, HaLikud, The Consolidation), officially known as Likud – National Liberal Movement, is a major centre-right to right-wing political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon ...
-led governing coalition, on the day transitional prime minister
Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...
's mandate for coalition formation ended, the Knesset voted to dissolve itself (preventing president
Reuven Rivlin Reuven "Ruvi" Rivlin ( he, רְאוּבֵן "רוּבִי" רִיבְלִין ; born 9 September 1939) is an Israeli politician and lawyer who served as the tenth president of Israel between 2014 and 2021. He is a member of the Likud party. Riv ...
from transferring the mandate for coalition formation to the second-largest party Blue and White's leader,
Benny Gantz Benjamin Gantz ( he, בִּנְיָמִין "בֵּנִי" גַּנְץ, Transliterated: ; born 9 June 1959) is an Israeli politician and retired army general serving as the minister of Defense since 2020 and deputy prime minister of Israel sin ...
, with respect to the process defined by the law). Thus, a snap legislative election was called, which resulted in a similar stalemate. After both Likud and Blue and White failed to form a coalition, a third consecutive snap election resulted in yet another stalemate. Progress has been made due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, and consequently the thirty-fifth government of Israel was formed. However, another snap election was held in
2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...
after collapse of the coalition government.


Japan

In
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, a snap election is called when a
prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
dissolves the
lower house A lower house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has co ...
of the
Diet of Japan The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (, '' Sangiin''). Both houses are directly elected under a paralle ...
. The act is based on Article 7 of the
Constitution of Japan The Constitution of Japan (Shinjitai: , Kyūjitai: , Hepburn: ) is the constitution of Japan and the supreme law in the state. Written primarily by American civilian officials working under the Allied occupation of Japan, the constitution r ...
, which can be interpreted as saying that the prime minister has the power to dissolve the lower house after so advising the
Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
. Almost all general elections of the lower house have been snap elections since 1947, when the current constitution was enacted. The only exception was 1976 election, when the Prime Minister Takeo Miki was isolated within his own Liberal Democratic Party. The majority of LDP politicians opposed Miki's decision not to dissolve the lower house until the end of its 4-year term.


Kazakhstan

Nationally, general elections in Kazakhstan are held every five years. According to the Constitutional Law, the
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
may call a snap election both for parliamentary and presidential races and must held no later than two months respectively after which they are called. * Virtually every presidential election in Kazakhstan since independence had been held ahead of schedule in
1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...
,
2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...
,
2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
,
2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...
,
2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
, and
2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...
. In which the reasoning behind for consecutive snap elections were due to economic and political factors with allegations for the Kazakh leadership to systemically maintain its grip on power while leaving the opposition consolidated. * Snap parliamentary elections have also become more frequent in Kazakhstan. Originally the 1994 legislative elections were held as a result of the dissolution of the
Supreme Soviet The Supreme Soviet (russian: Верховный Совет, Verkhovny Sovet, Supreme Council) was the common name for the legislative bodies (parliaments) of the Soviet socialist republics (SSR) in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) ...
which previously consisted of former Communist Party MPs and paved way for a multi-party system. However due to the nature of the newly Supreme Council opposing then-President Nursultan Nazarbayev, it was dissolved a year later and were followed by 1995 legislative elections which saw pro-Nazarbayev candidates becoming MPs. Snap elections took place in
2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...
,
2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
, and
2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
under the pretext of economic issues.


New Zealand

New Zealand elections must be held every three years, and the date is determined by the
prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
. There have been three snap elections, in 1951, 1984 and 2002. * The 1951 snap election occurred immediately after the
1951 waterfront dispute The 1951 New Zealand waterfront dispute was the largest and most widespread industrial dispute in New Zealand history. During the time, up to twenty thousand workers went on strike in support of waterfront workers protesting against financial ha ...
, in which the National Party government sided with shipping companies against a militant union, while the
Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...
opposition equivocated and thus annoyed both sides. The government was returned with an increased majority. * The 1984 snap election occurred during a term in which the National Party government had a majority of only one seat. Prime Minister
Robert Muldoon Sir Robert David Muldoon (; 25 September 19215 August 1992) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 31st Prime Minister of New Zealand, from 1975 to 1984, while leader of the National Party. Serving as a corporal and sergeant in th ...
lost patience with his less obedient MPs and called an election, announcing it on television while visibly drunk. Muldoon's government subsequently lost and the Labour Party took power. * The 2002 election. On 12 June 2002 the Labour Party
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
Helen Clark Helen Elizabeth Clark (born 26 February 1950) is a New Zealand politician who served as the 37th prime minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008, and was the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme from 2009 to 2017. She was ...
announced that the country would have a general election on 27 July 2002. Clark claimed that an early poll was necessary due to the collapse of her junior coalition partner, the Alliance, but denied it was a snap election. This early election caused considerable comment. Critics claimed that Clark could have continued to govern, and that the early election was called to take advantage of Labour's strong position in the polls. The National Party was caught unprepared by the election and suffered its worst ever result (20.9% of the
party vote Mixed-member proportional representation (MMP or MMPR) is a mixed electoral system in which votes cast are considered in local elections and also to determine overall party vote tallies, which are used to allocate additional members to produce ...
), and the government was returned with an increased majority.


Pakistan

* 1990 general election: The
Pakistan Peoples Party The Pakistan People's Party ( ur, , ; PPP) is a centre-left, social-democratic political party in Pakistan. It is currently the third largest party in the National Assembly and second largest in the Senate of Pakistan. The party was founded ...
(PPP) led by
Benazir Bhutto Benazir Bhutto ( ur, بینظیر بُھٹو; sd, بينظير ڀُٽو; Urdu ; 21 June 1953 – 27 December 2007) was a Pakistani politician who served as the 11th and 13th prime minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990 and again from 1993 t ...
won a plurality of seats in the 1988 election and Bhutto became
prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
. However, by 1990 there was discontent over rising lawlessness, allegations of
corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...
and the failure of the government to fulfill the promises it had made during the 1988 campaign. * 1993 general election: The
Pakistan Muslim League (N) The Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) ( ur, , translit=Pākistān Muslim Līg (Nūn) PML(N) or PML-N) is a Centre-right politics, centre-right and Liberal conservatism, liberal conservative political party in Pakistan. Alongside the Pakistan Teh ...
(PML-N) won the 1990 election and the party's leader, Nawaz Sharif, became prime minister. In early 1993 he attempted to strip the president of the power to dismiss the prime minister,
National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...
and regional assemblies. However, in April 1993 President Khan dismissed Sharif for corruption and called elections for 14 July after dissolving the National Assembly. Sharif immediately appealed to the
Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
, which in May ruled by 10 to 1 that Khan had exceeded his powers and therefore restored Sharif as prime minister. Khan and Sharif then began to battle for control of Pakistan for the next two months. They both attempted to secure control over the regional assemblies and in particular,
Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...
. In Punjab this saw a staged kidnapping and the moving of 130 members of the Punjab Assembly to the capital to ensure they stayed loyal to Sharif. Meanwhile, the leader of the main opposition party Benazir Bhutto threatened to lead a march on
Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital T ...
unless new elections were called. Finally on 18 July, under pressure from the
army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
to resolve the power struggle, Sharif and Khan resigned as prime minister and president respectively. Elections for the National Assembly were called for 6 October with elections for the regional assemblies set to follow shortly afterwards. * 1997 general election: The PPP won the largest number of seats in the 1993 election and Benazir Bhutto became prime minister at the head of a
coalition A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...
government. However, on 5 November 1996, President Leghari, a former ally of Bhutto, dismissed the government 2 years early for alleged corruption and abuse of power. The allegations included financial mismanagement, failing to stop police killings, destroying judicial independence and violating the
constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...
. A number of PPP party members were detained including Bhutto's husband Asif Ali Zardari who was accused of taking commissions for arranging official deals. A former
speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...
and member of the PPP
Miraj Khalid Malik Meraj Khalid ( ur, ; 1 February 1916 – 13 June 2003), was a Pakistani advocate, left wing politician and Marxist philosopher who served as Caretaker prime minister of Pakistan from November 1996 until February 1997. He was noted as be ...
was appointed interim prime minister. The National Assembly and provincial assemblies were dissolved and elections called for 3 February 1997. Bhutto denied all the charges against herself and petitioned the
Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
to reverse her dismissal. However, the court ruled in January that there was sufficient evidence for the dismissal to be justified legally.


Philippines

The
Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
has used the
presidential system A presidential system, or single executive system, is a form of government in which a head of government, typically with the title of president, leads an executive branch that is separate from the legislative branch in systems that use separati ...
with fixed terms more much of its history. This means that
Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...
cannot be dissolved, and that "snap elections" as understood under the parliamentary system cannot be invoked. However, during the presidency of
Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. ( , , ; September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino politician, lawyer, dictator, and kleptocrat who was the 10th president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled under martial ...
, the constitution starting from 1973, and first applied in 1978, placed the country under the
semi-presidential system A semi-presidential republic, is a republic in which a president exists alongside a prime minister and a cabinet, with the latter two being responsible to the legislature of the state. It differs from a parliamentary republic in that it has a ...
of government, where the Batasang Pambansa (parliament) can be dissolved. During the operation of that constitution, the parliament was not dissolved, but Marcos, who had earlier been elected in 1981 for a six-year term, asked parliament to move the 1987 presidential election to 1986, in response to growing social unrest, political and economic crises, political instability, and deteriorating peace and public order. In the Philippines, the term "snap election" often refers to the 1986 presidential election. Marcos was self declared the official winner of the election but was eventually ousted when allegations of
fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compens ...
marred the election. A new constitution approved in 1987 reverted to the presidential system, which made future snap elections unlikely. Fixed presidential elections are held every six years, with legislative elections held every three years.


Thailand

* 2006 general election: In 2005,
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
Thaksin Shinawatra Thaksin Shinawatra ( th, ทักษิณ ชินวัตร; ; ; Chinese: 丘達新; cnr, Taksin Šinavatra; born 26 July 1949), is a Thai businessman, politician and visiting professor. He served in the Thai Police from 1973 to 1987, a ...
and his
Thai Rak Thai The Thai Rak Thai Party (TRT; th, พรรคไทยรักไทย, , ; "Thais Love Thais Party") was a Thai political party founded in 1998. From 2001 to 2006, it was the ruling party under its founder, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatr ...
Party were re-elected for a second consecutive term in office when they won a landslide general election victory by securing 375 out of 500 seats in parliament. This result gave his party the power to amend the constitution since they won a two-thirds majority. However one year later, in 2006, Thaksin was found to have been indulging in corrupt business practices in his telecommunication firm Shincorp. This led to violent street protests in
Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...
arranged by his rivals, the Democrat party, led by the main opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva in which they demanded his resignation. Thaksin took a gamble and called a snap election scheduled for 2 April 2006 where all the main opposition parties boycotted the polls and over 50% of voters chose to not cast their ballots. Thaksin won by default and captured all the 500 seats in the house of parliament. Months later, the supreme court annulled the election results and ordered a fresh election to be held within 100 days from the date of the court's ruling. However, Thaksin was ousted in a bloodless military coup, forcing him into exile in the
Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
and
Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
. The military stayed in power until 2007 when they stepped down and held a general election in December that year to restore democracy. * 2014 general election: Thaksin Shinawatra's sister
Yingluck Shinawatra Yingluck Shinawatra ( th, ยิ่งลักษณ์ ชินวัตร, , ; ; born 21 June 1967), nicknamed Pou ( th, ปู, , , meaning "crab"), is a Thai businesswoman, politician and a member of the Pheu Thai Party who became the Pri ...
became Thailand's first female prime minister on 3 August 2011 when she won a landslide election victory on 3 July 2011. Peace prevailed in Thailand for the next two and a half years under Prime Minister Yingluck's rule. The country returned to another political crisis in November 2013 when her opponents wanted the prime minister and her
Pheu Thai Party The Pheu Thai Party (PTP; th, พรรคเพื่อไทย, lit=For Thais Party, , ) is the third incarnation of a Thai political party founded by former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The Pheu Thai Party was founded on 20 Septemb ...
government to resign after she tried to pass a controversial amnesty bill in parliament which would permit the return of her brother Thaksin as a free man. However, the bill was not passed because the government succumbed to pressure from weeks of street protests and blockades that took place in Bangkok, which intensified before the King's birthday. On 9 December 2013, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra decided to dissolve parliament and called a snap general election, which was held on 2 February 2014. This announcement came a day after the resignation of all MPs from the main opposition Democrat Party led by
opposition leader The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...
Abhisit Vejjajiva, which boycotted the election afterwards.


Europe


Armenia

Snap parliamentary elections were held in
Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...
on 9 December 2018, as none of the parties in the
National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...
were able to put forward and then elect a candidate for prime minister in the two-week period following the resignation of incumbent Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. They were the first elections following the 2018 revolution and the country's first-ever snap elections.


Czech Republic

Snap general elections were held in the
Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
on 25 and 26 October 2013, seven months before the constitutional expiry of the elected
parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
's four year legislative term. The government elected in May 2010 led by Prime Minister Petr Nečas was forced to resign on 17 June 2013, after a corruption and bribery scandal. A
caretaker government A caretaker government is a temporary ''ad hoc'' government that performs some governmental duties and functions in a country until a regular government is elected or formed. Depending on specific practice, it usually consists of either randomly se ...
led by Prime Minister
Jiří Rusnok Jiří Rusnok (born 16 October 1960) is a Czech politician and economist who served as the prime minister of the Czech Republic between June 2013 and January 2014. From 2016 to 2022 he served as the governor of the Czech National Bank. Previous ...
was then appointed by the
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
, but narrowly lost a vote of confidence on 7 August, leading to its resignation six days later. The Chamber of Deputies then passed a motion dissolving itself on 20 August, with a call for new elections within 60 days after presidential assent. The President gave his assent on 28 August, scheduling the elections for 25 and 26 October 2013.


Denmark

In Denmark,
Parliamentary elections A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
take place every fourth year (
Danish Constitution The Constitutional Act of the Realm of Denmark ( da, Danmarks Riges Grundlov), also known as the Constitutional Act of the Kingdom of Denmark, or simply the Constitution ( da, Grundloven, fo, Grundlógin, kl, Tunngaviusumik inatsit), is the c ...
art. 32, sec. 1); however, the
prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
can choose to call an early election at any time, provided that any elected parliament has already been called into session at least once.(Danish Constitution art. 32, sec. 2). If a government loses its majority in the
Folketing The Folketing ( da, Folketinget, ; ), also known as the Parliament of Denmark or the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral national legislature (parliament) of the Kingdom of Denmark—Denmark proper together with the Faroe Islands ...
, this is not automatically a
vote of confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...
, but such a vote may be called, and – if lost – the government calls a new election. Denmark has a history of
coalition A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...
minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and Cabinet (government), cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or Coalition government, coalition of parties do ...
s, and due to this system, a party normally providing parliamentary support for the sitting government while not being part of it, can choose to deprive the government of a parliamentary majority regarding a specific vote, but at the same time avoid calling new elections since any vote of no confidence takes place as a separate procedure. Notably, Denmark faced a number of very short parliaments in the 1970s and the 1980s. Prime Minister
Poul Schlüter Poul Holmskov Schlüter (; 3 April 1929 – 27 May 2021) was a Danish politician who served as Prime Minister of Denmark from 1982 to 1993. He was the first member of the Conservative People's Party to become Prime Minister, as well as the first ...
lead a series of coalition minority governments calling elections in both
1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...
,
1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...
,
1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...
and
1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...
. Likewise, his predecessors called elections in
1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...
,
1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...
,
1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...
,
1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...
,
1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...
and
1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...
. For more than 40 years, no Danish parliament has sat its full four-year term, in all cases, the prime minister has called elections at an earlier date. * 2007 general election: Danish
prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
Anders Fogh Rasmussen announced an election date for 24 October 2007. The election was held ahead of time in the sense that by law, the election needed to be held before 8 February 2009, four years after the previous election. Anders Fogh Rasmussen explained that the elections were called early in order to allow the parliament to work on important upcoming topics without being distracted by a future election. Referring specifically to welfare reform, he said rival parties would then try to outdo each other with expensive reforms which would damage the Danish economy.


Finland

The
President of Finland The president of the Republic of Finland ( fi, Suomen tasavallan presidentti; sv, Republiken Finlands president) is the head of state of Finland. Under the Constitution of Finland, executive power is vested in the Finnish Government and the p ...
can call for an early election. As per the version of the 2000 constitution currently in use, the president can do this only upon proposal by the prime minister and after consultations with the parliamentary groups, while the Parliament is in session. In prior versions of the constitution, the President had the power to do this unilaterally.


France

In France, under the Fifth Republic, while the
National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...
is elected for a five-year term, the
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
has the authority to dissolve the National Assembly and call an early election, provided the Assembly hasn't been dissolved in the preceding twelve months. Since the synchronization of the presidential and parliamentary terms to five years in 2002, reducing the risk of a cohabitation, an early election has not been called. * 1968 Parliamentary Election: The then-president
Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government ...
called a snap election after May protests. * 1988 Parliamentary Election: After the re-election of
François Mitterrand François Marie Adrien Maurice Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was President of France, serving under that position from 1981 to 1995, the longest time in office in the history of France. As First Secretary of the Socialist Party, he ...
in that year's presidential election, a snap parliamentary election was called to try and create a parliamentary majority for Mitterrand in order to end the cohabitation government. While his allies obtained a plurality of seats, a coalition government needed to be formed. A similar dissolution occurred in
1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...
after Mitterrand's first election. * 1997 Parliamentary Election: The then-president
Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, , ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. Chirac was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988, as well as Ma ...
called an election one year before it was scheduled to take place in an effort to catch the left-wing parties off guard. Partly due to the unpopularity of the prime minister,
Alain Juppé Alain Marie Juppé (; born 15 August 1945) is a French politician. A member of The Republicans, he was Prime Minister of France from 1995 to 1997 under President Jacques Chirac, during which period he faced major strikes that paralysed the coun ...
, a coalition of left-wing parties were able to form a government, resulting in the longest cohabitation period in modern French history. This also marks the only time a French president has lost an election he called on his own initiative.


Germany

In the Federal Republic of Germany, elections to the
Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Commons ...
must take place within 46–48 months (every four year) after the first sitting of the previous chamber. The Federal President may dissolve the chamber prematurely if the government loses a confidence motion (at the request of the Chancellor), or if no majority government can be formed. * 1972 federal election: Chancellor
Willy Brandt Willy Brandt (; born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm; 18 December 1913 – 8 October 1992) was a German politician and statesman who was leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) from 1964 to 1987 and served as the chancellor of West Ge ...
's
social-liberal coalition Social–liberal coalition (german: Sozialliberale Koalition) in the politics of Germany refers to a governmental coalition formed by the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and the Free Democratic Party (FDP). The term stems from social d ...
between the
Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...
and the
Free Democratic Party Free Democratic Party is the name of several political parties around the world. It usually designates a party ideologically based on liberalism. Current parties with that name include: *Free Democratic Party (Germany), a liberal political party in ...
had been elected in
1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...
with a relatively narrow 20-seat majority. The government then lost their majority after several MPs defected to the CDU/CSU opposition due to the government's '' Ostpolitik'' foreign policy, especially the recognition of the Oder-Neisse line. Benefitting from Brandt's personal popularity, the government was re-elected with a strengthened majority. * 1983 federal election: The government of Chancellor Helmut Schmidt had been ousted in October 1982 after the FDP had switched from being allied with the SPD to being allied with the CDU-CSU union. Although the majority of MPs now supported the government of the new Chancellor Helmut Kohl, he called an early election in order to gain an explicit mandate to govern. To do this, he deliberately lost a confidence motion by asking for his coalition MPs to abstain. There was some controversy over this move and the decision was challenged in the Constitutional Court, but given approval. Kohl's government won the election with a net loss of one seat. * 2005 federal election: Chancellor
Gerhard Schröder Gerhard Fritz Kurt "Gerd" Schröder (; born 7 April 1944) is a German lobbyist and former politician, who served as the chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. From 1999 to 2004, he was also the Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany ...
deliberately lost a confidence motion to trigger new elections after a series of state election losses, culminating with
North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...
, caused the opposition to gain a wide majority in the Bundesrat. The red-green coalition government also feared that left-wing SPD MPs were threatening to block legislation. As with the 1983 dissolution, it was challenged and upheld in the Federal Constitutional Court. The election produced a hung parliament due to the gains made by The Left party, resulting in a
grand coalition A grand coalition is an arrangement in a multi-party parliamentary system in which the two largest political parties of opposing political ideologies unite in a coalition government. The term is most commonly used in countries where there are t ...
being formed between the CDU-CSU and SPD. Schröder lost his chancellorship to Angela Merkel due to his party narrowly coming second in the elections.


Greece

In 2012,
Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
held snap elections in two consecutive months. The government of George Papandreou, elected in the 2009 legislative election, had resigned in November 2011. Instead of triggering an immediate snap election, the government was replaced by a national unity government which had a remit to ratify and implement decisions taken with other
Eurozone The euro area, commonly called eurozone (EZ), is a currency union of 19 member states of the European Union (EU) that have adopted the euro (€) as their primary currency and sole legal tender, and have thus fully implemented EMU policies ...
countries and the
International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster globa ...
(IMF) a month earlier. This government served for six months. The May 2012 legislative election produced a deadlocked parliament and attempts to form a government were unsuccessful. The constitution directs the
president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
to dissolve a newly elected parliament that is unable to form a government. Ten days after the election, the
president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
announced that a second election would be held. The June 2012 legislative election resulted in the formation of a coalition government.


Italy

In Italy, national snap elections have been quite frequent in modern history, both under the
Monarchy A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutional monarchy) ...
and in the current republican phase. After the foundation of the Italian Republic in 1946, the first snap election occurred in 1972 and the latest one in 2022. After significant changes in the election system (in 1992–93), the frequency of snap elections has been slightly reduced since new regulations granted completion of two of four parliamentary terms. Nonetheless, snap elections still play a role in the political debate as tools considered by political parties and the Executive branch to promote their agenda or to seize political momentum. No
recall election A recall election (also called a recall referendum, recall petition or representative recall) is a procedure by which, in certain polities, voters can remove an elected official from office through a referendum before that official's term of offi ...
is codified in electoral regulations. The Italian President is not required to call for a snap election, even if the prime minister asks for it, provided that the Parliament is able to form a new working majority (President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro denied snap election to Prime Minister
Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies ...
after the loss of confidence in 1994).


Luxembourg

Early general elections were held in
Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
on 20 October 2013. The elections were called after Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, at the time the longest serving head of government in the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
, announced his resignation over a spy scandal involving the
Service de Renseignement de l'Etat Service may refer to: Activities * Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty * Civil service, the body of employees of a government * Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a pu ...
(SREL). The review found Juncker deficient in his control over the service. After a spy scandal involving the SREL illegally wiretapping politicians, the
Grand Duke Grand duke (feminine: grand duchess) is a European hereditary title, used either by certain monarchs or by members of certain monarchs' families. In status, a grand duke traditionally ranks in order of precedence below an emperor, as an approxi ...
and his family, and allegations of paying for favours in exchange for access to government ministers and officials leaked through the press, Prime Minister Juncker submitted his resignation to the Grand Duke on 11 July 2013, upon knowledge of the withdrawal of the Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party from the government and thereby losing its confidence and supply in the
Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...
. Juncker urged the Grand Duke for the immediate
dissolution of parliament The dissolution of a legislative assembly is the mandatory simultaneous resignation of all of its members, in anticipation that a successive legislative assembly will reconvene later with possibly different members. In a democracy, the new assemb ...
and the calling of a snap election.


Romania

In Romania, under the 1993 constitution, according the article 89, the President of Romania can dissolve the
Parliament of Romania The Parliament of Romania ( ro, Parlamentul României) is the national bicameral legislature of Romania, consisting of the Chamber of Deputies ( ro, Camera Deputaților) and the Senate ( ro, Senat). It meets at the Palace of the Parliament i ...
if a government has not been formed in 60 days and two proposals for
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
have been refused.


Russia

In Russia, under the 1993 constitution, according the article 109, while the
State Duma The State Duma (russian: Госуда́рственная ду́ма, r=Gosudárstvennaja dúma), commonly abbreviated in Russian as Gosduma ( rus, Госду́ма), is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, while the upper house ...
(lower house of the Federal Assembly) is elected for a five-year term, but the
president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
has the authority to dissolve the State Duma and call a snap election. However, this possibility of the president is limited, and he can use it only in two cases: if the State Duma three times in a row refused to approve the
prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
, or twice in three months pass a motion of no confidence against the
Government of Russia The Government of Russia exercises executive power in the Russian Federation. The members of the government are the prime minister, the deputy prime ministers, and the federal ministers. It has its legal basis in the Constitution of the Russia ...
. * 2016 legislative election ''
de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...
'' were snap, as they were held three months ahead of schedule. However, the early holding of election was not due to the dissolution of the State Duma, but to the postponement of the day of voting on the day on which the regional elections were held. The early elections were approved by the Constitutional Court.


Slovakia

A snap general election took place in
Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...
on 10 March 2012 to elect 150 members of the ''Národná rada''. The election followed the fall of Prime Minister
Iveta Radičová Iveta Radičová (; born 7 December 1956) served as the first woman prime minister of Slovakia from 2010 to 2012. She led a coalition government, in which she also briefly held the post of Minister of Defence in the last five months of the coalit ...
's Slovak Democratic and Christian Union – Democratic Party-led coalition in October 2011 over a
no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...
vote her government had lost because of its support for the
European Financial Stability Fund The European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) is a special purpose vehicle financed by members of the eurozone to address the European sovereign-debt crisis. It was agreed by the Council of the European Union on 9 May 2010, with the objecti ...
. Amidst a major corruption scandal involving local center-right politicians, former Prime Minister Robert Fico's Direction – Social Democracy won an absolute majority of seats.


Slovenia

A parliamentary election for the 90
deputies A legislator (also known as a deputy or lawmaker) is a person who writes and passes laws, especially someone who is a member of a legislature. Legislators are often elected by the people of the state. Legislatures may be supra-national (for ex ...
to the
National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...
of
Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...
was held on 4 December 2011. This was the first early election in Slovenia's history. 65.60% of voters cast their vote. The election was surprisingly won by the center-left Positive Slovenia party, led by Zoran Janković. However, he failed to be elected as the new
prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
in the National Assembly, and the new government was formed by a right-leaning coalition of five parties, led by Janez Janša, the president of the second-placed Slovenian Democratic Party. the National Assembly consists of 90 members, elected for a four-year term, 88 members elected by the
party-list proportional representation Party-list proportional representation (list-PR) is a subset of proportional representation electoral systems in which multiple candidates are elected (e.g., elections to parliament) through their position on an electoral list. They can also be us ...
system with
D'Hondt method The D'Hondt method, also called the Jefferson method or the greatest divisors method, is a method for allocating seats in parliaments among federal states, or in party-list proportional representation systems. It belongs to the class of highest- ...
and 2 members elected by ethnic minorities (
Italians , flag = , flag_caption = The national flag of Italy , population = , regions = Italy 55,551,000 , region1 = Brazil , pop1 = 25–33 million , ref1 = , region2 ...
and
Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and  ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Urali ...
) using the
Borda count The Borda count is a family of positional voting rules which gives each candidate, for each ballot, a number of points corresponding to the number of candidates ranked lower. In the original variant, the lowest-ranked candidate gets 0 points, the ...
. The election was previously scheduled to take place in 2012, four years after the
2008 election This electoral calendar 2008 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2008 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, even though they are not elections. By-elections are no ...
. However, on 20 September 2011, the government led by Borut Pahor fell after a vote of no confidence. As stated in the
Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...
, the National Assembly has to elect a new
prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
within 30 days and a candidate has to be proposed by either members of the Assembly or the President of the country within seven days after the fall of a government. If this does not happen, the president dissolves the Assembly and calls for a snap election. The leaders of most parliamentary political parties expressed opinion that they preferred an early election instead of forming a new government. As no candidates were proposed by the deadline, the President Danilo Türk announced that he would dissolve the Assembly on 21 October and that the election would take place on 4 December. The question arose as to whether the President could dissolve the Assembly after the seven days, in the event that no candidate was proposed. However, since this situation is not covered in the constitution, the decision of the President to wait the full 30 days was welcomed by the political parties. The dissolution of the Assembly, a first in independent Slovenia, took place on October 21, a minute after midnight.


Spain

* 2011 general election: The
Cortes Generales The Cortes Generales (; en, Spanish Parliament, lit=General Courts) are the bicameral legislative chambers of Spain, consisting of the Congress of Deputies (the lower house), and the Senate (the upper house). The Congress of Deputies meets ...
were dissolved and the general election called by King
Juan Carlos I Juan Carlos I (;, * ca, Joan Carles I, * gl, Xoán Carlos I, Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias, born 5 January 1938) is a member of the Spanish royal family who reigned as King of Spain from 22 Novem ...
on 26 September, at the request of
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (; born 4 August 1960) is a Spanish politician and member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). He was the Prime Minister of Spain being elected for two terms, in the 2004 and 2008 general elections ...
, who had already announced his intention to call for a snap election on 28 July. * 2016 general election: After no party secured a majority in the 2015 general election and with ensuing negotiations leading to political deadlock, a fresh election was called for 26 June—the first time in Spanish recent history that an election was triggered as a result of failure in the government formation process.


Sweden

The Instrument of Government (Regeringsformen) in the
Constitution of Sweden The Basic Laws of Sweden ( sv, Sveriges grundlagar) are the four constitutional laws of the Sweden, Kingdom of Sweden that regulate the Politics of Sweden, Swedish political system, acting in a similar manner to the constitutions of most countries ...
allows an "extra election" ("''extra val''" in Swedish). The wording is used to make clear it does not change the period to the next ordinary election, and the Members of Parliament elected merely serve out what remains of the four-year parliamentary term. Elections are called by the government. Elections are also to be held if the parliament fails four times to elect a
prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
. Elections may not otherwise be called during the first three months of the
Riksdag The Riksdag (, ; also sv, riksdagen or ''Sveriges riksdag'' ) is the legislature and the supreme decision-making body of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral legislature with 349 members (), elected proportionally and se ...
's first session after a general election. Elections may not be called by a prime minister who has resigned or been discharged. * 2014 Swedish government crisis: On 3 December 2014, Prime Minister Stefan Löfven announced that the government was calling for a snap election on 22 March 2015, after the parliament elected on 14 September 2014 voted against the government's proposal for the 2015 state budget. However, the final order of the snap election was never carried out as six out of the eight parliament parties reached an agreement on 27 December 2014 called
Decemberöverenskommelsen The 2014 Swedish government crisis ( sv, Regeringskrisen i Sverige 2014) started on 3 December 2014 after the Riksdag rejected the proposed government budget in favour of a budget proposed by the centre-right opposition. The Sweden Democrats d ...
(The December Agreement). The agreement was dissolved in 2015.


Ukraine

In
Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
a snap poll must have a
voter turnout In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This can be the percentage of registered voters, eligible voters, or all voting-age people. According to Stanford Unive ...
higher than 50%. A snap election was most recently held with the
2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election Snap elections to the Ukrainian parliament were held on 21 July 2019. Originally scheduled to be held at the end of October, these elections were brought forward after newly inaugurated President of Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dissolv ...
held after President
Volodymyr Zelenskyy Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy, ; russian: Владимир Александрович Зеленский, Vladimir Aleksandrovich Zelenskyy, (born 25 January 1978; also transliterated as Zelensky or Zelenskiy) is a Ukrainian politicia ...
dissolved the
Verkhovna Rada The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine ( uk, Верхо́вна Ра́да Украї́ни, translit=, Verkhovna Rada Ukrainy, translation=Supreme Council of Ukraine, Ukrainian abbreviation ''ВРУ''), often simply Verkhovna Rada or just Rada, is the ...
shortly after his inauguration to win a parliamentary majority for his Servant of the People party.


United Kingdom

The
prime minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern pr ...
has the
de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...
power to call an election at will by requesting a dissolution from the monarch – the limited circumstances where this would not be granted are set out in the
Lascelles Principles The Lascelles Principles are a constitutional convention in the United Kingdom beginning in 1950, under which the sovereign can refuse a request from the prime minister to dissolve Parliament if three conditions are met: #if the existing Parlia ...
.


Fixed-term Parliaments Act

From 2011 to 2022, the conditions for when a snap election could be called were significantly restricted by the
Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 The Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 (c. 14) (FTPA) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that for the first time set in legislation a default fixed election date for a general election to the Westminster parliament. Since the repeal ...
(FTPA) to occasions when the government loses a confidence motion or when a two-thirds
supermajority A supermajority, supra-majority, qualified majority, or special majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of more than one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority ru ...
of MPs vote in favour. During autumn 2019 there were three attempts to trigger an election through the FTPA's provision for a two-thirds majority: all failed. Then the FTPA was bypassed entirely by Parliament enacting the Early Parliamentary General Election Act 2019 stipulating a set date for the next election: the
2019 United Kingdom general election The 2019 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 12 December 2019. It resulted in the Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party receiving a Landslide victory, landslide majority of 80 seats. The Conservatives made a net gain of 4 ...
. This required only a simple majority, because of the doctrine of parliamentary supremacy: Parliament cannot pass a law that cannot be changed or reversed by a future Parliament. The Fixed-term Parliaments Act was repealed on March 24, 2022 by the
Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022 The Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that repealed the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 and reinstated the prior constitutional situation, by reviving the prerogative powers of the m ...
, which restored the Monarch's power to dissolve parliament on request by the Prime Minister. This is thought to have revived the Lascelles Principles as well.


History

The following elections were called by a voluntary decision of the government less than four years after the previous election: * 1923 general election: Although the
Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...
had won a working majority in the House of Commons after
Bonar Law Andrew Bonar Law ( ; 16 September 1858 – 30 October 1923) was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from October 1922 to May 1923. Law was born in the British colony of New Brunswick (now a ...
's victory in the 1922 general election,
Stanley Baldwin Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, (3 August 186714 December 1947) was a British Conservative Party politician who dominated the government of the United Kingdom between the world wars, serving as prime minister on three occasions, ...
called an election only a year later. Baldwin sought a mandate to raise tariffs, which Law had promised against in the previous election, as well as desiring to gain a personal mandate to govern and strengthen his position within the party. This backfired, as the election resulted in a hung parliament. After losing a confidence motion in January 1924, Baldwin resigned and was replaced by
Ramsay MacDonald James Ramsay MacDonald (; 12 October 18669 November 1937) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the first who belonged to the Labour Party, leading minority Labour governments for nine months in 1924 ...
, who formed the country's first ever Labour minority government with tacit support from the Liberal Party. * 1931 general election: After his government split over how to deal with the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
,
Ramsay MacDonald James Ramsay MacDonald (; 12 October 18669 November 1937) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the first who belonged to the Labour Party, leading minority Labour governments for nine months in 1924 ...
offered his resignation to the King in August 1931. He was instead persuaded to form a
National Government A national government is the government of a nation. National government or National Government may also refer to: * Central government in a unitary state, or a country that does not give significant power to regional divisions * Federal governme ...
with the Conservatives and Liberals, which resulted in his expulsion from the Labour Party. The Cabinet then decided to call the election to obtain a Doctor's Mandate to fix the economy. The result was that the National Government won the biggest landslide in British history. Labour, which was blamed for running away from responsibility as a Government in the nation's hour of need, was reduced to just 52 seats and its leader,
Arthur Henderson Arthur Henderson (13 September 1863 – 20 October 1935) was a British iron moulder and Labour politician. He was the first Labour cabinet minister, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1934 and, uniquely, served three separate terms as Leader of th ...
, lost his seat. * 1951 general election: Despite the fact the Conservatives were leading in the polls,
Clement Attlee Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, (3 January 18838 October 1967) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955. He was Deputy Prime Mini ...
called the election to increase his government's majority, which had been reduced to just five seats in the previous general election. The Labour Party was defeated and
Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
returned to power with a majority of 17. * 1955 general election: After
Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
retired in April 1955,
Anthony Eden Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon, (12 June 1897 – 14 January 1977) was a British Conservative Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1955 until his resignation in 1957. Achieving rapid promo ...
took over and immediately called the election in order to gain a mandate for his government. * 1966 general election:
Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...
called the election seventeen months after Labour narrowly won the
1964 general election The following elections occurred in 1964. Africa * 1964 Cameroonian parliamentary election * 1964 Central African Republic parliamentary election * 1964 Central African Republic presidential election * 1964 Dahomeyan general election * 1964 Gabo ...
: The government had won a barely-workable majority of four seats, which had been reduced to two after the Leyton by-election in January 1965. Labour won a decisive victory, with a majority of 98 seats. * February 1974 general election: Prime Minister Edward Heath called the election in order to get a mandate to face down a
miners' strike Miners' strikes are when miners conduct strike actions. See also * List of strikes References {{Reflist Miners A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are tw ...
. The election unexpectedly produced a hung parliament in which Labour narrowly won more seats, despite winning fewer votes than the Conservatives. Unable to form a coalition with the Liberals, Heath resigned and was replaced by Wilson. * October 1974 general election: Six months after the February election, Wilson called another general election in an attempt to win a majority for his Labour minority government and resolve the deadlock. Wilson was successful, though Labour only held a narrow 3-seat majority.
Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chance ...
came very close to calling a snap election in the autumn of 2007; after he failed to do this, his popularity and authority greatly declined and he lost power in
2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
. The following election was called by a vote in the House of Commons resulting in a two-thirds majority of MPs, under the terms of the
Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 The Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 (c. 14) (FTPA) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that for the first time set in legislation a default fixed election date for a general election to the Westminster parliament. Since the repeal ...
: *In April 2017, Prime Minister
Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cab ...
requested a general election which was approved in Parliament by a near-unanimous vote. This was shortly after the official commencement of the process of withdrawing from the European Union (Brexit), with May saying that she needed a clear mandate to lead the country through the ensuing negotiations, and hoping to increase her Conservative Party's majority. The
2017 general election This national electoral calendar for 2017 lists the national/federal elections held in 2017 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 November  ...
was a failure for May, with the Conservative Party losing seats, resulting in a hung parliament and a minority Conservative government with a confidence and supply agreement with the
Democratic Unionist Party The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a unionist, loyalist, and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley, who led the party for the next 37 years. Currently led by J ...
. The following elections were forced by a motion of no confidence against the will of the government: *1924 United Kingdom general election, 1924 general election: Ramsay MacDonald was forced to call the election after a successful 1924 vote of no confidence against the government of Ramsay MacDonald, vote of no confidence as a result of the Campbell Case. It was the third general election in three years. The result was a landslide victory for Baldwin and the Conservatives. *1979 United Kingdom general election, 1979 general election: This election was held six months before the latest possible date. It was called when the minority Labour government of James Callaghan 1979 vote of no confidence in the government of James Callaghan, lost a confidence motion, which had been proposed by the Scottish National Party, SNP in the aftermath of the 1979 Scottish devolution referendum, Scottish devolution referendum and was taken forward by the Conservatives, by one vote. The Conservatives, led by Margaret Thatcher, won a majority of seats at the election.


Devolved governments

The devolved UK administrations (the Northern Ireland Assembly, Scottish Parliament, and Welsh Assembly; established in 1998, 1999, and 1998 respectively) are also elected for fixed terms of government (four years prior to 2011, five years thereafter), but snap elections can still be called in the event of a motion of no confidence, or other special circumstances. *2017 Northern Ireland Assembly election: Held ten months after the 2016 Northern Ireland Assembly election, previous Assembly election. Following the resignation of Sinn Féin deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness over various issues and scandals with his party's Democratic Unionist Party, DUP coalition partners, and the subsequent refusal of Sinn Féin to nominate a new deputy First Minister, the Northern Ireland Executive collapsed and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland James Brokenshire was legally obliged to call a snap election to attempt to restore a functional devolved government. This election took place on 2 March 2017. The DUP and Sinn Féin remained the two largest parties following the election, but did not reach an agreement to share power until January 2020.


References

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