Election highlights:

The 13 Precincts and the Federal District of Castoropolis listed at least 19 parties on the ballot, along with the possibility of write-in votes where paper ballots are used.

Three new parties entered the race for the 48th Congress: the one-issue "just say no until you say I do" Chastity Party fighting the evils of pre-marital sex, the far-right openly racist Freedom Party claiming to be "Patria's only pro-white party", and the "have a take! don't suck!" Jungle Party of Jim Rome clones.  Of of these new parties,the Jungle Party was the most successful, winning a dozen seats in the 48th Congress. The Freedom Party and Chastity Party were good for only 5 and 6 seats respectively, and thus can be considered no more than fringe nutbars.

The Amrita Party - now incorporating the Spiritual Regeneration Movement - despite being the front-running party and gaining popularity since the South Asian tsunami of December 2004 still came in short of winning 40% or even one-third of the seats in the 48th Congress.  Nonetheless, Amrita's 88 seats are still slightly better than the 85 seats won in 2002 and well ahead of the National Union's 70 seats.  But Ammachi and the hug-meisters will once again need to form a coalition that includes the bikes-not-cars Green Party (24 seats), the womyn-only Lilith Party (16 seats), and the non-sectarian new-age Chakra Party (48 seats).  The Chakra Party, who won only 8 seats in the 47 Congress, won six times as many in the 48th Congress as many ex-SRM voters who were not devotees of Ammachi switched their votes to the "No Gurus, just right!" Chakras.  The Chakra Party and SRM famously dueled each other with negative campaign ads in 1998 and 2002 (the negative electioneering was somewhat toned down in 2006), and did not get along too well as coalition partners during the 46th Congress.  With the demise of the SRM as a separate party, it remains to be seen if an Amrita-Chakra coalition can govern effectively and overcome the National Union-led rightist opposition.

The National Union has turned its law-and-order guilty-until-proven-innocent bullseye from international terrorism during the immediate post-9/11 47th Congress campaign to domestic street crime and gangs.  As in 2002, the NU continues its advocacy of racial profiling ("Black is the color of crime!") and the no do-rags, no baggy jeans, no backwards baseball hats, and no bling-bling dress code, along with its "Law and order! Tooth and nail!" slogan.  But the NU has virtually abandoned its support  to the hilt of George W. Bush, rah-rah cheerleading of the GWOT (Global War on Terror) and U.S. occupation of Iraq.  Despite becoming slightly less testosterone-driven as "the man's party" macho sloganeering was dialed down in 2006, the NU lost 15 seats from its 85 held in the 47th Congress.

Among the small leftist (aka "progressive") faction in Patria, the Progressive Labor grabbed 19 seats as its "bring Patria's jobs home" campaign against offshoring and outsourcing hit home amid fears of job insecurity.  The left, including the Social Democrats (11 seats) once again holds hold the balance of power, along with the motley assortment of one-trick-pony fringe parties such as the Libertarians, Rationalists and Party for Personal Responsibility (formerly the Party for Fiscal Responsibility) and an assortment of one- or two-seaters.

For detailed election returns and seat allocations by precinct, visit the 48th Congress election page.

The 2006 All-Patria campaign:


Virtually all parties, with the notable exception of the Libertarians, who view circumcision as a free-choice issue beyond the reach of the nanny state, have endorsed the campaign to end genital mutilation - particularly to end the double standard of male circumcision being tolerated while female genital mutilation is a criminal offense.

Pre-election recess, lame-duck session:  The 4th Session of the 47th Congress recessed on March 14, 2006 (108 days before Inauguration Day), to allow members to return to their home precincts and fight the campaign for re-election.  On April 24, Congress returned for a lame-duck session that will adjourn sine die a day or two before the Inauguration.

2005-06 Kamala Cup playoffs
The Castoropolis Centurions, despite a late-season surge that saw them win almost all of their remaining games for 11 of a possible 12 points in the last two weeks of the regular season, finished out of the Patrienish Hockey League playoffs, edged out by the Nova Columbia Condors.  In the Kamala Cup semi-finals, the Arboria Beavers meet Nova Columbia, while the defending Kamala Cup champion Caesarea Violets face the Centralia Crusaders.

New 48th Congress license plate

Patria's new 48th Congress plate went on sale May 1, 2006.    Click on plate to view larger image.  Note that the above sample is a general issue, not a vanity. But the serial number (GTA-408) brings to mind Bhagavad Gita, chapter 4, verse 8: paritranaya sadhunam vinashaya cha dushkritam, dharma samsthapanarthaya, sambhavami yuge yuge. (To save the righteous, to destroy the evil-doers and to re-establish dharma, in every age I take birth)