Ariddia
19-04-2007, 17:48
http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/9408/645045968nt.png Channel 3 news
Radical change predicted in West Ariddian politics
The announcement made by Ea L’lew (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/Ea_L%27lew) to the press earlier today was experienced by most West Ariddians as a huge splash in the already troubled waters of the island’s politics. President L’lew, a university lecturer from a poor working-class background, represents the Democratic Communist Party, and has a very tenuous hold on the country’s leadership.
Eight years ago, she was the first DCP candidate ever to come to power in what had always been, until then, a staunch bastion of extreme capitalism, and the sole preserve of the ultra-capitalistic Free Democratic Party. President L’lew was re-elected for a second term in office three years ago, but with just 50.2% of the vote. Worse, her party has only 50 seats out of 99 in Parliament – an absolute majority with no margin at all for internal dissent. (See the composition of West Ariddia’s Parliament. (http://img474.imageshack.us/img474/9204/waparlof9.png))
Ms. L’lew has managed remarkable achievements, in terms of providing access to health, housing, food and water for the country’s many poor, neglected by earlier capitalist governments. She has also done much to undo an FDP legacy of catastrophic environmental damage. But prospects for re-election are not looking good; current polls suggest that, in two years, West Ariddia will have an FDP government once more.
It is in this context that the President has announced her wish to move from a monocameral to a bicameral Parliament. The current Parliament would remain, but a new Upper House would come into being, empowered to veto any legislation from Parliament. This Upper House would, like Parliament, be democratically elected, and would have 44 members. 22 of these would be Indigenous West Ariddians, elected by Indigenous West Ariddians, and 22 would be members of all other ethnic and cultural groups.
Officially, this measure is to ensure that Indigenous West Ariddian (Wymgani) traditional rights will be protected. Ms. L’lew is herself Wymgani, and has done much to guarantee that other Wymgani West Ariddians could achieve local self-government and control over their ancestral lands.
However, Opposition parties have denounced this as an entirely political move. It is well known that a large majority of Wymgani tend to vote for the DCP. An Upper House in which the Wymgani population would have greater representation than its proportion within the population (31.8%) would almost certainly mean that the DCP would be entrenched as the dominant party in the Upper House.
(See what this may mean in practice. (http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/9681/2parlswf1.png))
One would assume that such a drastic measure would require a supermajority vote in Parliament before it could be implemented – but no. Astonishingly, any change to the structure of the country’s legislative or executive bodies can be effected by an absolute majority vote. Hence 50 votes in Parliament are all that would be required.
But has Ms. L’lew got them?
All 41 FDP MPs are almost certain to vote against – or, at best, abstain. Nor can the President count on the two representatives of the Morality Party. The three MPs of the Blank Party, of course, will abstain. And it is uncertain what the 3 MPs of the centrist, left-leaning Socialist Party may vote. This means that Ms. L’lew will need every single one of her 50 DCP MPs to support her.
Already, there is an outcry from the non-communist media. Channel One political analysts claim this will turn West Ariddia into a “one Party communist dictatorship”. Tomorrow’s edition of the pro-FDP Aqeyr Daily will seek to mobilise voters against this “undemocratic” proposal, while the tabloid The Inquiry predicts that “hard-working, loyal West Ariddian citizens will be driven out of this country in droves by communist dictator wannabes”. A “talk show” programme on the Wymgani channel TV9, run by big business interests, was equally critical.
The communist newspaper L’Espoir is cautious, explaining that there are both positive and negative aspects to this idea.
President L’lew herself has not yet been available for comment.
Ironically, the reason why a simple majority in Parliament is all it takes to make sweeping changes is because an earlier FDP government made it that way. A belief that the FDP would hang on to power, but would always face a large DCP Opposition, meant that the FDP knew it would never obtain a supermajority for any measures in Parliament.
Today, the capitalist party’s own laws look as if they are about to blow up in their faces. And the West Ariddian people, debating this new proposal, have become more divided than ever.
Radical change predicted in West Ariddian politics
The announcement made by Ea L’lew (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/Ea_L%27lew) to the press earlier today was experienced by most West Ariddians as a huge splash in the already troubled waters of the island’s politics. President L’lew, a university lecturer from a poor working-class background, represents the Democratic Communist Party, and has a very tenuous hold on the country’s leadership.
Eight years ago, she was the first DCP candidate ever to come to power in what had always been, until then, a staunch bastion of extreme capitalism, and the sole preserve of the ultra-capitalistic Free Democratic Party. President L’lew was re-elected for a second term in office three years ago, but with just 50.2% of the vote. Worse, her party has only 50 seats out of 99 in Parliament – an absolute majority with no margin at all for internal dissent. (See the composition of West Ariddia’s Parliament. (http://img474.imageshack.us/img474/9204/waparlof9.png))
Ms. L’lew has managed remarkable achievements, in terms of providing access to health, housing, food and water for the country’s many poor, neglected by earlier capitalist governments. She has also done much to undo an FDP legacy of catastrophic environmental damage. But prospects for re-election are not looking good; current polls suggest that, in two years, West Ariddia will have an FDP government once more.
It is in this context that the President has announced her wish to move from a monocameral to a bicameral Parliament. The current Parliament would remain, but a new Upper House would come into being, empowered to veto any legislation from Parliament. This Upper House would, like Parliament, be democratically elected, and would have 44 members. 22 of these would be Indigenous West Ariddians, elected by Indigenous West Ariddians, and 22 would be members of all other ethnic and cultural groups.
Officially, this measure is to ensure that Indigenous West Ariddian (Wymgani) traditional rights will be protected. Ms. L’lew is herself Wymgani, and has done much to guarantee that other Wymgani West Ariddians could achieve local self-government and control over their ancestral lands.
However, Opposition parties have denounced this as an entirely political move. It is well known that a large majority of Wymgani tend to vote for the DCP. An Upper House in which the Wymgani population would have greater representation than its proportion within the population (31.8%) would almost certainly mean that the DCP would be entrenched as the dominant party in the Upper House.
(See what this may mean in practice. (http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/9681/2parlswf1.png))
One would assume that such a drastic measure would require a supermajority vote in Parliament before it could be implemented – but no. Astonishingly, any change to the structure of the country’s legislative or executive bodies can be effected by an absolute majority vote. Hence 50 votes in Parliament are all that would be required.
But has Ms. L’lew got them?
All 41 FDP MPs are almost certain to vote against – or, at best, abstain. Nor can the President count on the two representatives of the Morality Party. The three MPs of the Blank Party, of course, will abstain. And it is uncertain what the 3 MPs of the centrist, left-leaning Socialist Party may vote. This means that Ms. L’lew will need every single one of her 50 DCP MPs to support her.
Already, there is an outcry from the non-communist media. Channel One political analysts claim this will turn West Ariddia into a “one Party communist dictatorship”. Tomorrow’s edition of the pro-FDP Aqeyr Daily will seek to mobilise voters against this “undemocratic” proposal, while the tabloid The Inquiry predicts that “hard-working, loyal West Ariddian citizens will be driven out of this country in droves by communist dictator wannabes”. A “talk show” programme on the Wymgani channel TV9, run by big business interests, was equally critical.
The communist newspaper L’Espoir is cautious, explaining that there are both positive and negative aspects to this idea.
President L’lew herself has not yet been available for comment.
Ironically, the reason why a simple majority in Parliament is all it takes to make sweeping changes is because an earlier FDP government made it that way. A belief that the FDP would hang on to power, but would always face a large DCP Opposition, meant that the FDP knew it would never obtain a supermajority for any measures in Parliament.
Today, the capitalist party’s own laws look as if they are about to blow up in their faces. And the West Ariddian people, debating this new proposal, have become more divided than ever.