NationStates Jolt Archive

CIELON, Cielonia - A motion of no confidence passed through the Grand Council yesterday 51 votes to 49 and through the House of Counts 137 votes to 116, forcing the Liberal government to resign and call an election.

The motion was put forward by Conservative Party Leader Baron John Trieste, Leader of the Opposition, in response to earlier legislation passed by Grand Duke Francis St. Marie's Liberal government diverting billions from defense spending to combat VODAIS. The Liberal Party, holding 36 seats in the Council, typically governs with the support of the Social Democratic Party's 13 seats as well as the Council's two independents and three to four sympathetic Libertarian Barons. However, the Liberals and Social Democrats were isolates as the Conservatives, Cielonian Alliance, Libertarians, and Independents voted in a block against them - some for political gain rather than ideology - to narrowly push the motion through.

"The Liberal Party has known this was coming for a long time," said Trieste in a press conference this afternoon. "While the threat of VODAIS is tangible, drawing money from defense is foolhardy in these troubled times. In Asia alone Leng Jinjao just came out of a bloody founding civil war, the Empire of Calodroia has emerged as a potentially hostile power, and nations are annexing neighbouring territories all across the map. If Cielonia is to survive the government must not compromise on national security."

When approached for comment a spokesman from Grand Duke St. Marie's office said, "His Grace truly regrets the decision of Mr. Trieste to pull the trigger on closing down the government, but we are confident that the Cielonian people will choose social justice over the Conservative thirst for war."

While the Liberal Party intends to run St. Marie for reelection as an incumbent, it is unclear whether the Conservative Party will stick with its current leadership.

While Trieste has served effectively as Leader of the Opposition, his position is being challenged by Count Jean-Patrice Takei, former Opposition Leader of the House. Takei currently enjoys a lead of two points over Trieste in a University of Cielon primary poll.

The other parties have yet to select nominees.

It is believed that St. Marie will campaign heavily on funding the fight against VODAIS and maintaining current pro-environment policies as well as emphasizing a foreign policy based on diplomacy and establishing friendly relations with neighbours. Trieste is known to advocate a stiffer foreign policy, more funding for the military, and repeals of laws permitting equal marriage and legalized drugs, while Takei advocates increased policing and stiffer defense and immigration policies.

OOC: Yes, I'm going somewhere with this. Welcome to election season.

Cherry trees bloomed in East Park in the city of Ville-de-Loyal, a town of 500000 people lying north of Cielon itself. A crowd of people had gathered there in the sunny afternoon, focusing around a dais and a podium that had been erected and draped in red; the podium itself bore the insignia of the Conservative Party of Cielonia, a scarlet 'c' with a bear's head within the arms. Promised a speech by current Conservative Party chairman John Trieste, hundreds of loyal Conservative voters had flocked here to listen to the man's words.

Daigo Kusagi, however, was the farthest thing from a Conservative. Outwardly he appeared to be no more than a man in his early thirties, wrapped in a grey windbreaker and a pair of jeans as he stood on the fringes of the crowd. Who, then, would suspect him of being an observer sent by Cielonia's secret police, the Akai Hayabusa?

Yeah yeah yeah, freedom of speech, freedom of politics... Daigo wasn't there to put a halt to anything, merely to observe (on behalf of the Liberal Party, like the good partisan he was) the Conservative primary in action.

As Daigo watched the platform, the crowd broke out into loud applause as Trieste strode to the podium. Clad in a white short-sleeved button-down shirt and a pair of black slacks, the slim man looked oddly like a haystack with his silver hair fluffed out atop his thin head, his moustache a bit on the bushy side.

Waiting a moment for the cheering to subside slightly, Trieste raised his right hand casually as if to signal his readiness to speak. "First and foremost," he said, his somewhat deep voice calm and modulated but carrying a casual hint about it, "I want to thank each and every one of you people for coming out here and showing your support for the Conservative Party." Brief applause broke out. "Without you people, all that's happened recently would've been impossible. It's the support of Cielonians like you that gave us the numbers we needed in the House and the Council to form a strong opposition to the liberals who are destroying this country, and it's the support of Cielonians like you that gave us the strength to finally push this arrogant government over the edge."

Applause broke out at that comment. Daigo chose not to join in.

"We've been fighting the good fight with everything we've got," Trieste continued, "and we got results by bringing the government down - but the fight's not over yet, my friends. This great nation has been tragically raped by arrogant, immoral liberals, and it's up to us, up to each and every Conservative Party supporter from one end of Cielonia to the other, to come together, to make the right choice on election day, to repair the damage that's been done to this country by people who subscribe to the doctrine of immorality, corruption, and depravity!"

More applause broke out as Daigo inwardly smirked at the irony. Hadn't it been Conservative Barons who had been caught accepting corporate bribes from the mining and tourist industries?

"A lot of people have been asking me why the Conservative Party toppled the government over funding the fight against VODAIS. I'll assure everyone right now that I firmly believe that VODAIS is a threat that must be neutralized swiftly. No Cielonian deserves to suffer from this disease."

"However, that's not really the issue. The issue here is that the Liberal Party is soft on national defense. While I agree that VODAIS must be stopped, I disagree fervently with the liberal policy of drawing tens of billions from defense spending to try and halt the spread of this disease. We're living in dangerous times in Asia, friends. Just recently we've heard that the civil war in Leng Jinjao killed thousands of people, and nations with billions of people and limitless resources at their disposal are looking beyond their borders, annexing territory after territory to accomodate their population as they smear across the landscape. In this kind of hostile environment Cielonia cannot affort to budge an inch on the issue of national security."

"We spent the last fifty years divided, fighting against each other to decide who would control these islands, and it was only through luck that we managed to come together again as one sovereign nation. And I am NOT about to let liberals weaken this great nation to the point where someone else can just march right into Cielonia and take that away from us!"

At that the crowd erupted into a sea of supportive applause, though as usual Daigo was silent, knowing full well that Trieste was spinning horror stories out of cloth. Given the respect Cielonia had earned in the region, the likelihood of invasion was very, VERY slim.

Lifting the mic from the podium, Trieste continued to speak, pacing a bit as he went. "The Liberal Party wants you to believe that the best foreign policy is to play kiss-ass with other nations in the hopes that they'll be gentle enough not to crush us. I say that Cielonia shouldn't bend over backwards or compromise her principles, not now, not ever, not for the sake of some faceless nations half a world away. If I'm elected I intend to increase funding to the military and adopt a new stance on foreign policy. The Spine Stance. The liberals have given you the spineless stance and have given everyone the impression that Cielonia is a weak nation. I won't do that. I'll give Cielonia a foreign policy she can be proud of, an international reputation to be respected, a real presence in world affairs..."

Trieste's speech grew more and more distant as Daigo moved away from the crowd; his shift was, after all, over. Drawing a cellphone from his pocket, he made contact with the agent on the other side of the crowd and informed him to keep watching.

And with that, Daigo quit the park, heading to the nearest Burger Samurai for a bite to eat.