Mirfak
25-03-2005, 16:21
Mirfakan/International AP report:
The Xanthalian Socialist Party, which was the driving force behind the Mirfakan independence movement seven years ago, lost 93 of its 372 initially-held Council seats in the last election cycle, giving way primarily to the Mirfakan Democratic Party, Party Internationale, and the Private Interest Party; which gained fourteen, fifty-one, and eight seats respectively. XSP leader Kevin Ailes managed to snag a new term in office, but only by a 62% popular vote as compared to his first term's 83%.
The XSP's loss of power has been attributed to poor foreign policy decisions and a dragging economy in the wake of the occupation's withdrawal. The Party Internationale, rocketed from its position as eighth most represented party in the Council to second in the last cycle, with sixty-nine seats out of the total five hundred, is viewed as very strong on foreign and social policy issues, but is yet untested on matters of economy.
The Council's top issues in the coming cycle seem sure to be economic policy and the construction of new defense fleets, but a constitutional issue has also come to the fore through the elections of the past five years. The large number of political parties currently having active candidates in the Mirfakan government, now sixteen (down from twenty after the nation's first elections), has resulted in several Councilors being elected by less than fifty percent of their constituents. With the Alphin losing popularity, public worries that the next Alphinic election will not result in a majority winner are running high. Two constitutional amendments to resolve the issue are on the table for consideration by the Council this session, and one is expected to be chosen for a vote before the legislature adjourns in October.
The Xanthalian Socialist Party, which was the driving force behind the Mirfakan independence movement seven years ago, lost 93 of its 372 initially-held Council seats in the last election cycle, giving way primarily to the Mirfakan Democratic Party, Party Internationale, and the Private Interest Party; which gained fourteen, fifty-one, and eight seats respectively. XSP leader Kevin Ailes managed to snag a new term in office, but only by a 62% popular vote as compared to his first term's 83%.
The XSP's loss of power has been attributed to poor foreign policy decisions and a dragging economy in the wake of the occupation's withdrawal. The Party Internationale, rocketed from its position as eighth most represented party in the Council to second in the last cycle, with sixty-nine seats out of the total five hundred, is viewed as very strong on foreign and social policy issues, but is yet untested on matters of economy.
The Council's top issues in the coming cycle seem sure to be economic policy and the construction of new defense fleets, but a constitutional issue has also come to the fore through the elections of the past five years. The large number of political parties currently having active candidates in the Mirfakan government, now sixteen (down from twenty after the nation's first elections), has resulted in several Councilors being elected by less than fifty percent of their constituents. With the Alphin losing popularity, public worries that the next Alphinic election will not result in a majority winner are running high. Two constitutional amendments to resolve the issue are on the table for consideration by the Council this session, and one is expected to be chosen for a vote before the legislature adjourns in October.