NationStates Jolt Archive


Poll: Elections in Marian Rome for the First time in 50 years.

Marian Rome
16-04-2005, 10:49
*DETAILS OF PARTIES BELOW*

Following the tragic death of General Lucius Antonius, the long time ruler of Marian Rome, who led the military revolt which overthrew King Valerius, who had after dismantling the old republican government ruled as an absolute monarch for over 2 decades.

the political situation has become tenuous. A reform minded group with in the Military Authority, is led by Major Julius Sertorius, the De facto ruler of the nation for the past 2 years, after a series of Strokes rendered the General Antonius unable to fullfill his duties as leader, this group has just recently managed to push through laws to reintroduce freedom of speech (banned 22 years ago in an effort to clamp down on supporters of the ousted King) and has allowed the formation of political parties (although as elections were still banned when the law was passed, this second clause was largely irrelevant). This was met by widespread opposition by the more hard-line members of the Military Authority, who unsuccessfully attempted to storm the Government headquarters in a coup.

These reforms were insufficient to placate the populace, many of whom, with General Antonius dead, no longer see a reason for the Military authority to exist, and several Pro-Democracy riots have occurred across the country (though all were crushed, with 11 deaths and hundreds of arrests)

It is with this background that the Military Authority finally agreed to hold elections, with the senior executive body of the nation, the Military Tribune, voting 6 – 5 in favour.

The elections will decide the membership of a senate, which must then nominate and confirm a Consul, by a 2/3 majority, the consul may then nominate two praetors, who must be individually confirmed by a 50% majority.

The Administration wishes for these elections to be as internationally recognized as possible, as such we wish to see the approval of our various parties by other nations.

PARTIES:

The Marian National Party:
Led by Major Sertorius, the National Party pledges to modernize, and bring full democracy to the old system, while at the same time, maintaining much of the old ways. The promise to separate the military and police forces, and reduce the formers gigantic budget, but not by too much and they have also made clear they will not abolish compulsory Military service. They pledge to uphold the former administrations hard-line anti-crime policies, including the use of capital punishment. They will bring in an independent international board to review the national education system, which has been accused of indoctrinating the youth for the military authorities purposes. They also pledge to maintain the universal health care and large pensions introduced by General Antonius 18 years ago.

The Military Loyalists
Led by retired General Flavius Novanius, the Military loyalists vow to return the country to strict military rule. They blame the recent democratic revolution on outside influence, they pledge to increase military funding by 60%, cut off all international ties, leave the UN, and introduce a completely centrally planned economy.

The Social Democrats
Led by Professor Arminius Germanicus, The Social Democrats are the only party in the election espousing the idea of introducing welfare into Marian Rome; they want Unemployment and sickness benefits introduced quickly and efficiently. They want to increase taxes on the rich through a graduated tax scheme. They pledge to deal with Marian Rome’s horrendous environment record. They want the military to be cut by 60% and compulsory service brought to an end. They favour a more active UN role, and pledge to end Marian Rome’s current practice of voting against any movement which would reduce the sovereignty of the government (e.g.: the international court of justice)

The Boni
A Traditionalist party led by Galerius Magnus, the only surviving member of the last democratically elected government of Marian Rome, overthrown 50 years ago by King Valerius. He spent the entire of the reign of the King in the Monarchs infamous torture chambers. He was released by the Military soon after they burnt the royal palace to the ground. After first parading him about as a public hero, the military quietly had Magnus placed under house arrest, where he remained until being released 3 years ago by personal order of General Antonius. The party favour a 50% decrease in military spending, and the removal of compulsory service. They want to reintroduce the Church of Marian Rome as the national religion, the church was banned under the King (who set up a state religion based around worshipping him), and as it was seen as a potent political force it remained banned under the military authority. They strongly oppose gay marriage and want the conditions for divorce to be tightened, the also pledge to look into allegations that the custody courts are prejudiced against fathers.

The Movement for Heavenly Salvation
Led By a shadowy figure who calls himself “The One” this extremist, violent, neo-Buddhist cult has substantial support in the nation’s undeveloped and mountainous far south. They believe that peace can only be achieved by the forceful conversion of all people to the Movement’s ways. Beyond this the movement refuses to release any information on their beliefs or policies.
Marian Rome
17-04-2005, 02:36
Preliminary results are in from voting in many parts of the country.

in the urban areas, where the results are almost fully coalated, it was a tough contest between the Social democrats and the National party.

as it stands the the Social Democrats have 43% of the vote is these areas, the national party has 45% with 3% of the vote are the military loyalists, and the Boni are sitting on 9%. of the 118 seats available to the urban areas, the various parties would at the moment win the following:

The National Party: 53 seats

The Social Democrats: 50 seats

The Boni: 11 seats

The Military loyalists: 4 seats

in rural areas, where the voting has yet to finish in some areas, and most of the votes have yet to be counted, preliminary results indicate a fierce contest between the Boni, The National Party, and The Military Loyalists, the Social Democrats captured only a minute percentage of the vote. their are 93 rural seats up for contest

The National Party: 33% : 31 seats

The Military Loyalists: 35% : 33 seats

The Boni:30% : 28 seats

The Social Democrats: 2% : 1 seat

no votes have yet been recorded from the far south's 10 seats, due to logistical reasons, hence the absence of any seats for the Movement for Heavenly Salvation.

the seats as they stand are as follows, out of 211 seats which we currently have numbers for:

the National Party: 84 seats

The Military Loyalists: 37 seats

The Social Democrats: 51 seats

The Boni: 39 seats

political commentators are at a loss as to how a consul will be chosen, if we discount the as yet undecided southern seats, in order to achieve a 2/3 majority 141 senators would have to support a Consular Nominee, as such a three party coalition is likely to be formed, with the consul choosing his praetors from among the other two parties of the coalition. the Military Loyalists have made it clear they will not support a member of the National Party for Consul, but would be open to supporting a Boni-led government, even if it meant a coalition with the National Party. The Social Democrats vow to oppose any Boni government, and with 51 seats they stand a real chance of blocked such a development, any seats gained by the movement for Heavenly Salvation are also likely to oppose a Boni government on religious grounds. The Social Democrats have said they are open to disscussion with the National party, and would be open to joining a coalition which contains the Boni, as long as the Boni do not lead it. This leaves only 2 real coalition options (again ignoring the southern seats, which might change the balance of power severly). a Coalition led by the National Party, and containing the Boni and Social Democrats. which would give 174 seats, easily obtaining a consular majority, such a government would likely return Major Sertorius as Consul, and Professor Germanicus and Galerius Magnus as praetors. The other option would be a Boni led coalition containing the National Party and The Military Loyalists, leaving a substantial Social Democrat oposition. However this would still give the government 160 seats, meaning Magnus as likely consul, with Major Sertorius and General Novanius as praetors.

some political analysts note that the consul might not come from the leadership of any party, their are several more moderate figures among the parties who might be able to achieve what their leaders could not.

We asked the Social Democrat Leader professor germanicus, what he thought of the results, and the abscence of much support for left wing progressive parties, or party we should say, as their is currently only 1.

"The current state of politics, and the swiftness with which this election was called, did not give any party sufficient time to mobilise support. have lived under two very different, but still socially right wing dictators for 50 years, the people have been ingrained since birth against Left-wing attitudes. This election carries with it the baggage of those 50 years of dictatorship, and it is unlikely we will see any true change in politics untill the next election in 4 years time. The senate currently contains 4 large parties, and if we ignore the uncounted southern seats, no small parties. It is unlikely this state of affairs can be supported for long, expect to see atleast one large party meet its downfall, either through loss of public support, or by splitting into factions, before the next election"

most political analysts are inclined to agree.
Marian Rome
17-04-2005, 06:53
The soon to be disbanded military authority urges foreign nations to continue to show their support for the various parties of Marian Rome.

Vote Counting has been completed accross all of Marian Rome. Some of the results are surprising. the votes have been split into three regions: urban areas, rural areas, and the far south (though rural in nature its unique social makeup requires a seperate classification)

Urban Areas: 118 seats available. their has been a slight change from the preliminary results, with the social democrats just edging out the National Party.

The Social Democrats: 45%; 53 seats

The National party: 44%: 52 seats.

The Boni:9%; 11 seats

The Military Loyalists:2%: 2 seats

Rural Areas: 93 seats available: the rural areas have changed dramatically since the preliminary results:

The Military Loyalists: 38%: 35 seats

The Boni: 40%: 37 seats

The National Party: 20%: 19 seats

The Social Democrats: 2%: 2 seats

The South:10 seats: was remarkable in that only 2 parties earned any seats, the south seems to be divided strongly on religious lines, the Christian Boni, and the Neo-Budhist Movement for Heavenly Salvation capturing all the seats.

The Movement for Heavenly Salvation: 67%: 7 seats

The Boni: 33%: 3 seats.

this gives the parties the following seats in total:

The National Party: 71 seats ( 13 less than the preliminary results)

The Military Loyalists: 37 seats ( no change)

The Social Democrats:55 seats (+4)

The Boni: 51 seats (+12)

The Movement For Heavenly Salvation: 6 seats (no earlier data)

with 221 senators, any consul would require 148 senators to approve him. The change in seats with the nes results means that it is now possible for a government to be formed without the held of the National party (though any such government would need to include every other party), prieviously the National party had sufficient seats to block any attempt at making a government without them. This throws wide open the contest on how the government will be formed.

The Senate will meet for the first time tomorrow, they have only one week to hammer out who will be the new Consul.
Marian Rome
18-04-2005, 01:11
The Senate has completed its deliberations. after substantial debate among the parties a 3 party coalition has been formed, containing: The Boni, The Military Loyalists, and The National Party. With the Boni leading the government. This leaves the Social Democrats and the Movement for Heavenly Salvation to form a weak opposition. effectively sidelining the two parties (who combined have only about 1/4 of the seats in the senate) till the next election. Despite his disapointment at failing to secure his party membership in government, Professor Germanicus made the following statement:

"We will soldier on, and will continue to fight for our beliefs, we have learnt the painfull lesson of failing to respect the rural voting constituency, we will not make such a mistake again. Untill the next election we will have settle for leading the opposition and doing our best to ensure the government remains in check"

The government (assuming the unstable coalition is able to hold itself together for 4 years) has a majority of 159 seats.

Consul: Galerius Magnus (Boni)

Praetors: General Novanius (Military Loyalists), and Major Sertorius (National Party)

in order to gain the support of its coalition partners the Boni have had to make some sacrifices. they have agreed to settle for a 25% decrease in military spending, and will not try to revoke compulsory service. It is unlikely they will succeed in recreating the Official state church of Marian Rome, but banning gay marriage is still up in the air. beyond this we are unaware as to the nature of the deals made.

Their were riots throughout the south today as supporters of the Movement For Heavenly Salvation marched accross the region in protest of their parties exclusion from government. the largely Boni supporting military of the region was able to quell them, but not without several deaths.

The Movement's Leader: "The One" has delivered the following statement:

"we will never give in! the northern heathens have tried to crush us, but we shall not be crushed! we will fight them on everyday from here on till the end of time, if that is what it takes! one day our Movement will stand triumphant in the streets of Marian Rome City itself! but for today, look to the Christians among you, and remember they are your enemy!"