1989 Constantinopolitan general election (Queen of Cities)

The 1989 Constantinopolitan general election was held on November 5, 1989 in order to elect the members of the 13th Parliament. The snap election was called by Costas Antoniou in order to strengthen the position of his government in order to complete its neoliberal program. The election resulted in a narrow victory for the government as Antoniou secured a third term despite a reduced majority. The center-left and left-wing were now represented by three parties that accounted for 98 of 200 seats, allowing the Citizens' Front to have a stronger position as the junior coalition partner in government.

Electoral system
The 200 deputies of Parliament were chosen from a single nationwide electoral district via closed-list proportional representation with a 5% threshold.

Polarization
The neoliberal economic policies of Costas Antoniou led to the polarization of Constantinopolitan politics around the neoliberal right of the Liberal Reform Party and the democratic socialist left of the Socialists. While pledging a more moderate approach to their program, The Socialists defended the legacy of Djemal Erkmen's policies of state interventionism and the planned economy. In contrast, the Liberal Reform Party argued that the economic policies that were introduced since 1986 led to significant economic growth, balanced budgets, reduction in public debt and the preservation of Constantinopolitan identity. Additionally, the city-state's closer ties with the European Economic Community was heralded by supporters as a major step in Constantinople's integration into the European sphere.

Domestic policy
After securing a strong majority in the previous election the Antoniou government began a series of neoliberal reforms that were vastly more radical than those that had been implemented during his first term in office. The standoff between the government and the unions ended in the summer of 1986 with the adoption of the new legislations that severely limited the unions' powers, opening the door for further reforms. Over the course of the next three years, the government privatized many state-owned companies and banks, abolished the Industrial Commission, and deregulated the financial sector. As an opponent of the country's extensive social security programs, Costas Antoniou introduced major cuts to the SAM (the country's health care system), ended the construction of social housing, raised the age of retirement by three years to 63 and abolished or cut numerous welfare payments. The government also sought to boost economic growth by cutting or abolishing taxes.

While these policies led to economic growth (especially in the banking and corporate sector) they also resulted in the rapid deindustrialization of the country as the now privately-owned factories were either outsourced or shut down. The government's goal of lowering the public debt was achieved, but the cuts to social programs led to rising income inequality and a decrease in the standard of living for the poorest Constantinopolitans.

The second axis of the government's activity was concentrated on preventing the mass migration from Turkey. Painting it as a threat to Constantinopolitan identity, the government implemented numerous measures to limit immigration, such as mandatory French tests for new arrivals and the construction of a border fence on the eastern and western borders. In 1988, the government adopted the now infamous Migration Balance which specified that the number of Turkish immigrants could not surpass the combined number of non-Turkish immigrants to the country. The anti-immigration policies of his government won Costas Antoniou the support of the Greek and Armenian ethnic parties and organizations, as well as some traditional voters of the country's far-right.

Foreign policy
Prime Minister Antoniou was a strong supporter of European integration and was in favor of Constantinopolitan accession to the European Economic Community (EEC). The close ties between the city-state and the organization were demonstrated by the signing of a free-trade agreement in 1988, the conclusion of an association agreement in 1989 and the official Constantinopolitan application for membership in the EEC on September 8, 1989. The strongly pro-European and pro-American foreign policy of the Antoniou broke with Constantinople's traditional policy of neutrality during the Cold War. These policies were strongly opposed by the Socialists, who considered the EEC to be a fundamentally capitalist organization and argued that the country's rapprochement with the US would endanger its relationship with the Soviet Union.