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Opinions: The Political Upheaval in Callise- Justified Anger or Opportunistic Power Grab?
by Sölvi Buhl and Vegard Ketelsen
Note from the Editor:
I have made the decision to allow for a unique format. I am allowing two of our editorial staff, Sölvi Buhl and Vegard Ketelsen, to present a duo-faceted debate in print form to explore the political situation in Callise.
It's my hope that this unique format will allow for the dynamic and fluid debate that dominates our offices to be conveyed to our readers.
-Gunhild Kvale
Editorial Board Chief
Sölvi Buhl
Callise is paralyzed. The United Front- an electoral coalition of left wing parties- won the 2022 elections but was denied a government. The entrenched interests in the Callisean state, fearful of the threat the UF presented, conspired to hold them out of power and deny the will of the majority of Callisean voters.
I need to make something clear- violence is never the answer. I watched as my own father worked within a regime- a left wing regime at that- that perpetrated violence against its own people. I find the notion of political violence abhorrent, but I am also at a loss as to what the United Front and their supporters are meant to do?
I believe in democracy. And I believe that when your side loses you need to accept that and work on winning back the trust of the electorate. But this is predicated on a level playing field. It's predicated on the belief that when the votes are counted the party that represents the will of the majority of the voting populace leads the country for as long as they can retain that electoral support. Instead what we saw in Callise was a rigged game- where the majority voice was shut out by machinations of a state apparatus looking to deny the people their say. When the very rules of the game are weighted against the will of the people, what are the people to do?
Vegard Ketelsen
You're right Sölvi, Callise is paralyzed. The problem is you're blaming phantoms. You're blaming "the entrenched power structures," who exactly? I can answer that. Cedric Battier, the President of the Callisean Republic, denied the United Front the Directorate. And I can tell you why he did it. It's because the United Front lacks the seats to command the Callisean Senate.
You talk about the rules of democracy, but let's consider that the United Front, despite their electoral gains, simply lack the votes necessary to secure these organs of power. Democracy is not simply mob rule. You're right, it's based on rules. And in those rules parties that do not reach the threshold to command power are denied power.
We held an election last year. At the end of that election the Free Democratic Party had won the most seats of any party, and Peace not Blood had won the popular vote. Neither had a majority though. We didn't award the government to the FLFP*'s 55 seats or FeB*'s 54 seats because of those benchmarks. Each had a chance to negotiate a working coalition, and in the end FeB was only able to control the government by working out a coalition with the Conservatives that afforded them a majority in the Alþingi.
So why are the United Front owed the Senate or the Directorate? As impressive as their electoral success was in the 2022 elections, they didn't win the seats necessary to form a government. "Close" only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, as my grandpabbi would say.
So I'm forced to conclude that what we're seeing is a radical left wing that's attempting to seize power that their electoral returns do not entitle them to.
SB
We're not talking about a left wing that's trying to defy the will of the people though. Look. If my party, the People's Party, demanded to form the government in the Alþingi with only 25 seats and no coalition support I'd agree, you don't get to do that. But the United Front won pluralities in the Callisean elections. Their 325 elected Deputies and 31 Senators may not be able to command a majority in either chamber, but they represent the largest bloc in both. No, the United Front should not be handed the keys to government on their own unless they are able to navigate the always tricky path of minority governments. But they absolutely should be key partners, if not leading partners, in any government that hopes to represent the will of the Callisean people.
VK
Maybe, but isn't that what the government formation process is about? Moving and negotiating to achieve workable majorities? If the United Front finds itself on the outside then I'm sorry, that's how democracy works. They won't be the first plurality party to be excluded by a coalition and they won't be the last. If the United Front truly believes they represent the will of the people they can take their lumps and head out one election cycle from now. And they can talk about how they were denied and if enough Calliseans believe they were they can increase their vote count and potentially win government that way. Remember, Cedric Battier denied the United Front the Directorate. He is himself democratically elected. You can't have democracy both ways, using it as a banner when it suits you but ignoring its processes and checks and balances when you don't get your way.
SB
I think the results speak for themselves. Nearly 70% of the electorate has voted in favour of a constitutional assembly. That tells me a solid majority of Calliseans are upset about the manoeuvring used to deny the United Front the Directorate.
VK
We need to be very careful about this though. You said Callise was paralyzed. Já it is. By the United Front. When United Front-governed provinces refuse to coordinate with the national government to put down insurrection then that's essentially treason. You have willingly begun the first steps towards civil war by doing that.
Does the Callisean United Front want that? Do the Callisean people? I've seen civil war first hand, Sölvi. So have you. I think you'd agree with me when I tell the Callisean United Front they absolutely do not want to go down that path.
SB
You're right, I'd join you in that. But if you want to use our own experiences as a reference point or use it as a warning, I'd point to the situation that led to civil war in 2002. A right wing dictatorship clung to power despite increasing calls for it to relinquish it. As the Anders/Toft regime tightened its grip to stave off the will of the people that anger was seized by the Syndicalists.
To me that's a cautionary tale, that when you deny the will of the people it manifests in destructive ways.
The United Front is not a radical dictatorship in waiting, but who knows what it could become if its support and its clear mandate is continuously ignored? The Syndicalist Party of Prydania used to believe in parliamentary democracy only to abandon that belief when it felt that was no longer viable. That doesn't have to be the United Front's fate.
VK
I don't find that convincing- "let us form the government or we'll become a dictatorship to prove our point." Again, democracy has rules. It's not about mob rule, and even if it was, they don't command a majority of the mob anyway.
All democratic systems have rules and checks and balances. By the rules of the Callisean system the United Front simply didn't win enough votes and seats to command the power of government. Hubert Bennet is nothing but an opportunist using this crisis to try and claim power and influence beyond what would be afforded his coalition by vote totals and seats.
Sölvi, I'm from outside Erkiengil, you're from Býkonsviði. Say KBÍK* played EÍK in the playoffs and EÍK won in seven games. Yet over the course of those seven games KBÍK scored more cumulative goals. You don't get to say "oh KBÍK socred the most goals over seven games, it doesn't matter that they lost the series. They should be the winners." Like politics sports has rules. You have to win the games, and if you don't you don't get to politic you way into a win. Your team may have scored more goals, but if they lose the series they lose the series.
SB
You could make the argument though that KBÍK was the better team despite losing. This isn't some crazy notion either. How often do losing teams go "we think we were the better team" despite a loss? It's not such a crazy notion. But you're right, sport is sport, and in that scenario I as the KBÍK fan would have to suck up the fact that they lose the seven game series despite their superior goal total. And I'd have to deal with it. It's sport. Those breaks happen. And look. I'm a huge hockey and football fan, so I don't want to denigrate sports. But they're not life and death.
If that playoff series happened I'd be pissed as a KBÍK fan, but I'd get over it. This isn't sports though, it's politics. People's lives and futures are on the line. We cannot be expected to shrug when the coalition that wins a plurality of seats and votes is excluded from government. A team that loses in a quirk of sport is tough luck. A party denied a role in the government of the nation that wants to have a role is a tragedy.
VK
So why can the United Front not wait until the next election to take their case to the people? And further, any claim that they might have at legitimately holding power is undermined by provinces they could openly advocating for civil war.
SB
But they're not. It's an extraordinary circumstance where the UF is doing what it can to hold the people who are responsible for denying the will of the people to account. They have indicated they won't coordinate with the national government but they haven't called for separation from the Callisean Republic or called for insurrection. What they've done is engaged in non-violent civic protest on a government scale.
VK
Non-violent protest is about people holding government to account. When a government does it, it's not protest. It's a breakdown of the systems of government. It IS insurrection.
SB
The Nationalist League has paramilitaries though, that's where I see the distinction. The provinces governed by UF parties have said they won't cooperate with the national government and their supporters have engaged in non-violent protest. It's the right wing Nationalist League that is pushing Callise towards violence.
VK
If they see Hubert Bennet as a left wing politician who failed to secure a majority needed to assume power, but is orchestrating a "revolution" to gain that power then they might as well see resistance as necessary.
SB
I thought you were condemning violence and chastising the UF for supposedly pushing Callise towards civil war? Now you're championing the NL for sending armed militants into the streets!
VK
No, I'm not. I'm taking the view that anyone, UF or NL, that is taking to the streets to engage in violence against either other citizens or the state, is a criminal and terrorist. That's what I'm saying. What I see, though, is the UF trying to steal power it could not win legitimately, advocating for a "revolution," and then crying victim when their provocations illicit a response. I know the leftists hate this term, but both sides are acting recklessly. I choose to condemn the UF and Herra Bennet because they simply fell short of electoral thresholds necessary to achieve the power they claim was denied to them.
SB
And I'm saying that no government of Callise can hope to represent the will of the people when it purposefully excludes the party that received the plurality of votes and seats. You can't deny the will of the people in a democratic system and then claim the system is operating as intended.
Gunhild Kvale
What began as a plan to publish duelling editorials evolved into this unique format. I'm proud of our editorial board having a diverse range of political opinions, and it's a point of pride that I'm able to oversee healthy discussion and debate on these issues. I'd like to thank both Sölvi and Vegard. They're both torchbearers for their political camps, and we as a news outlet and editorial board are stronger for having both of them on board. It's my hope that this spirited snipped of the debate around this issue will provide our readership with enough of a balanced viewpoint to make their own educated decisions.
Regardless, I speak for Sölvi, Vegard, and the rest of our staff in wishing for a peaceful resolution to the political situation in Callise.
*FLFP- Free Democratic Party of Prydania
*FeB- Peace not Blood
*KBÍK- Royal Býkonsviði Hockey Club
*EÍK- Erkiengil Hockey Club
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