Crilalia Nationalists Take Power Balance in Parliament

Following the closure of the polls across Plembobria tonight, it's estimated the Crilalian Nationalist Party will take at least ten seats in the 132-seat House of Commons, preventing either both the center right bloc (made up of the National and Libertarian parties) or the Socialist Group (consisting of The New Left and the Revolutionary Democratic Party) from forming a majority Government.

The Party refuses any agreement with any of the political groups until their demands are met, these include reinstating the provincial parliament, rescinding the arrest warrants of independence leaders, and the start of secession negotiations to be ratified by referendum.

Prime Minister Sydney Briggs, leader of the Revolutionary Democratic party which came in first this election, and an MP representing a constituency in Crilalia announced, "We have absolutely no intention of engaging in any such negotiations. The Courts have spoken on the matter of secession, and found it unconstitutional and illegal. Plembobria is one nation, and we shall continue as one nation. I shall immediately seek an audience with the King tomorrow and request that we be allowed to form a minority government pending a vote of confidence in the House of Commons."

There is no precedence for minority governments in Plembobrian government tradition, the last parliament was undecided on a Prime Minister, a caretaker government was established under the King's guidance. Still, there is speculation the National party, which staunchly opposes even the consideration of independence or greater autonomy for Crilalia, may abstain in the vote, preventing the government's collapse for the time being. More developments will take place in the coming days.

The Royal Election Commission has published the official results of the General Election. For the first time in Plembobrian politics, both the left-wing and right-wing coalitions have equal shares of the House of Commons, unless either of the major parties wish to form a bipartisan government, no one will be able to take control of the government without a fresh round of elections. His Majesty the King has invited the leaders of the major parties, Alec Durand, leader of the Nationals, and Sydney Bautista, leader of the Revolutionary Democrats in hopes they can reach some kind of agreement allowing Plembobrians to move forward. Only time will tell what will happen.

Vote tallies:

RDP (3553758 votes, 33.8%): Local: 33 List: 16 Total: 49
TNL (870235 votes, 8.3): Local: 1 List: 11 Total: 12
PNP (3526867 votes, 33.6%): Local: 25 List: 23 Total : 48
LIB (916203 votes, 8.7%): Local: 1 List: 12 Total: 13
CNP (707707 votes, 6.8%): Local: 6 List: 4 Total: 10
A&L (404541 votes, 3.9%): Local: 0
PP (512321 votes, 4.9): Local: 0

Total votes: 10491632

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The Royal Palace

"I suppose you both know why you are here. I refuse to let you leave this room until you decide what's going to happen."

Durand stared across the table at the Prime Minister. Out of all the political figures he had worked with since he was a member of the Conservative Youth Alliance in secondary school, she had had the strongest influence on him. The Revolutionary Democrats was a loose faction of socialists, social democrats, guild advocates, and moderate liberals. The group could scarcely agree on anything accept for two things: The status quo was undesirable, and that Communism maybe wasn't such a good idea after all.

Before the leadership of Sydney Bautista, the group (hardly considered a political party) was a laughing stock. But when tensions with Crilalia, which seemed to be the catalyst for every political crisis in Plembobria, suddenly flared up, and the old political order finally bent to the growing calls for a democratic parliamentary monarchy, Bautista appeared out of nowhere. She seized control of the group, purging radicals and separatists. For the first time in their nearly 100 year long history, the Revolutionary Democrats put forth a party platform -- and won the first ever national election in history.

Durand was first elected to parliament in the second election, in which the then Conservative Alliance and the libertarian party defeated Bautista, bringing in conservative rule. The alliance was so fractured that the de facto leaders of the coalition were the libertarians. The legislative agenda consisted of not more than tax cuts for corporate executives and deep cuts to the health and welfare department. This coalition collapsed after few months, catapulting Bautista into power once more.

Durand eventually fought to take control of the conservative faction. He built a moderate faction within the party to rebrand and refocus it. By following Bautista's example, he pushed through reforms, renaming the party the Nationals, and giving it a principled ideology. Respectful of traditions and institutions, but open to sensible reform. After this, the Nationals began to slowly chip away at the socialist coalition's majority.

Now here he was, sitting before his role model and chief rival, in a position of equal power. He motioned to an aide, who handed him a document. He set it on the table before the Bautista, saying, "Prime Minister, I present the solution to the CNP problem." Across the top read, "A Bill to amend the Electoral Act" The bill would abolish the proportional system that existed in the Parliament, replacing it with single-member districts elected by preferential voting.

The Prime Minister picked up the bill, flipping through it contents. She looked up at him. "This is ridiculous. Do you expect for us just snap our fingers and destroy our coalition partners?"

"And what good have our coalition partners done for us, Prime Minister. Yours is not much more than a puppet is it?" Alec was referring to the Agriculture and Labor party, which had previously served alongside Bautista, but eventually was thrown out of parliament, being replaced by The New Left, a faction created to sell RDP ideas to working class voters.

"Last I checked I don't hold a leadership position in the new left, Alec."

"Fair enough then, but the Libertarians really are a cancer aren't they?"

Bautista did not address this comment. "This is not a reasonable plan. The RDP can't support it."

"That's not it. I also propose the following." He placed another bill on the table, this one entitled, "An amendment to the Constitution Edict to establish a House of Peers proportionally elected by each province". "The agreement is simple," Durand continued, "your partners are guaranteed a place in the House of Peers, since they are regionally concentrated, and the libertarians and Crilalians are crushed. Leaving you and I, to seek control of our government as we ought to."

The Prime Minister look pensive. Alec continued still, "Suppose we put either of these issues to referendum, as that is required for constitutional amendments, and thereafter, call for the dissolution and election of a new parliament. I'll guarantee if you accept, that the Nationals will allow the existing government to stay in office until the election decides between either of us."

Bautista smiled, "Mr. Durand, I think you have a deal."

The House of Commons met today for a relatively short inaugural session. No King's speech was given, but a proclamation officially summoning MPs with read out by the speaker, officially allowing the meetings to begin. The House had precisely three items to consider. The first, a vote of confidence in the government, the second, a vote on a constitutional amendment to change the electoral system to a district-based preferential vote, and finally, to reestablish the old Senate under the new Name of House of Peers. Unlike the shortlived Senate, however, the House of Peers (which bears the name of the national legislature under the absolute monarchy) is proportional to the population of each province. This is seen as a compromise with the smaller parties since they will be largely eliminated from the lower house under the proposed system.

The vote of confidence passed with a simple a majority. The socialist coalition voted for, the Libertarians and Crilalian Nationalists voted against, and the National Party abstained. The motion thus passed 61-23. The King is thus expected to allow the Bautista Government to stay in office until new elections are held.

The election bills were then brought forth. Debate on either was limited to one hour each, followed by an immediate vote on passage. The Crilalian Nationalist members left the chamber in protest, claiming the "illegitimate House" was "changing history" by trying to "erase our victory from the history books." Since both bills had the support of the two major parties, they easily passed. After holding some votes on various procedural matters related to the referenda, the House adjourned. As both bills are constitutional amendments, they will be put to referendum shortly.

Plembobrians will answer two questions: "Do you approve of the constitutional amendment to replace the voting system for the House of Commons from a proportional system to a preferential vote?" (Nuevoumbriano: «¿Aprueba el proyecto de reforma constitucional para reemplazar la sistema de elección con una sistema proporcional a una sistem de voto preferencial?») and "Do you approve of the constitutional amendment to establish an Upper House of Parliament called the House of Peers which shall consist of a number of elected members per province proportional to its population?" (Nuevoumbriano: «¿Aprueba el proyecto reforma constitucional para establecer una Cámara Alta del Parlamento que se llama La Cámara de los Pares que se componerá de un número de miembros electos por cada provincia proporcional con su población?»)

No opinion polls have been taken so far, but many political commentators feel it is likely at least the first of the referenda will pass, since a large majority of voters consider the political system to be highly unstable. Since this proposal may reduce the need to make coalitions to govern many will support it.

A tall, olive-skinned man, dressed in a pinstriped blue business suit, red tie, and brown shoes, stood outside the House of Commons in Plembobria as they met to discuss what political pundits had been talking about all day: the proposed amendments to the Plembobrian constitution. He leisurely smoked a cigarette while leaning against an iron fence and gazed absentmindedly at the traffic buzzing by.

When the legislature was brought to order and the bills introduced, he thought he could almost hear the angry yelling from the Crilalian nationalists. Sure enough, all of the party's MP's rushed out of the front doors of the building a few minutes later. Noticing his cue, the olive-skinned man threw his cigarette on the ground, stomped it out, and walked towards the group briskly. He kept his eyes fixed on his shoes and acted surprised when he bumped into a staffer at the edge of the crowd. An envelope fell out of the olive-skinned man's jacket.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry," the man said in a thick accent. He bent to pick up the envelope and handed it to the staffer. "I think this is for you."

Before the staffer could say anything, the man disappeared into the pedestrian traffic on the busy sidewalk.

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To whom it may concern,

My name is Paolo. I represent a sizable bank foreign to your country which I am not at liberty to identify in this unencrypted letter. Please forgive the clandestine manner my associate delivered this letter to you, but the importance of this communication means it cannot reach the hands of the Plembobrian postal service.

The bank I represent has been following the political struggle by your people closely. Many of the top executives at our bank are sympathetic to your cause. To that end, we are prepared to offer your party a loan to fund your further activities. Though I cannot specify the size of this loan in this letter, I can assure you it is more than adequate for the needs of any quickly-growing political organization. We have faith in your people's ability to win their independence and are willing to "put our money where our mouth is", as the saying goes.

If this offer interests you, I can give you more details in an encrypted phone call. Please dial +299 3910.009.087, and ensure you take the proper precautions to keep our conversation secret. Please show this letter to no one outside your party - unfortunately, if this offer is compromised, it must be rescinded immediately. I and my employers hope to hear from you.

Paolo

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Only one of the two constitutional referenda proposed was enacted today. Plembobrian's overwhelmingly approved the move to a district-based electoral system abolishing the previous mixed-member proportional system used to elect its parliament. The amendment passed 58.3% to 41.7%.

However, the plan to establish an upper house like the previously-abolished Senate, but this time with members apportioned to the populations of the provinces, was flatly rejected 61% to 39%.

With the amendments in place, Prime Minister Bautista has requested that the King promulgate the dissolution of the House of Commons, making way for a secondary election, in which the minor parties are expected to be heavily defeated.

The National Party, still headed by Alec Durand, has a slight lead in the polls of about 2% to 3% regardless of which party wins, however, Plembobria will for the first time have a single-party government.