Valruzia

[Aethan]

Alarm bells in the Red Fortress: KPW's last stronghold at risk

Last electoral poll in Kampania shows close legislative results and the Presidency at risk

May 5692

Marshall of Kampania Anton Sajdak (KPW) is facing an uphill campaign towards his reelection 

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The Valruzian Voivodeship of Kampania is also known as the Red Fortress due to its constant and unwavering support for the Communist Party of Valruzia for decades, both before and after the dictatorship. Since the return of democracy, the KPW has held the presidency of the region and the top position as the largest force in the regional parliament, although not always with absolute majorities. That is why the latest poll published today by Valruzia Elects for the regional elections – to which the results in the region apply for the national elections – has set off alarm bells at the KPW headquarters, located in the regional capital, Szary Kamien.

Kampania is the only one of the five Valruzian Voivodeships in which the regional president is not elected by members of parliament, but rather, following the latest legislative amendment, is elected directly in a vote held at the same time as the legislative elections, and if there is no candidate with an absolute majority, a second round is held the following month. When this amendment was introduced, it was done under the argument of completely separating "the executive and legislative branches".

But now, this amendment and difference with the rest of the Valruzian Voivodeships may backfire, according to the latest Valruzia Elects poll.

Anton Sajdak, the fourth and current Marshall of Kampania, still has more than two and a half years ahead of him to reverse the trends that are beginning to cast dark clouds over the party that has so far been unrivalled in the region. On the horizon looms the spectre of Workers' Vanguard, which has gradually been closing in on them.

According to this poll, in the legislative elections the KPW would obtain 36% of the votes, with Workers' Vanguard following closely behind at 29.5%. If these results are confirmed, it would be the worst result ever for the KPW in the region since the return of democracy, surpassing the previous worst result of 37% in the 5640 elections. This would be an unprecedented collapse in the region, which the KPW boasts is the only one where the same party has been in power since the beginning. In addition, the same poll predicts that the current Marshall Sajdak is the candidate with the most support to make it to the second round of the presidential elections in the region, where he could face Workers' Vanguard candidate Miroslaw Popowski. In this situation, the poll predicts a close result of 53% to 47% in favour of the current Marshall, but the important thing is that it would be the first time since the adoption of this election system that the KPW candidate would need to contest a second round, with results that would also be quite close.

The KPW leadership is attempting to downplay the survey results, but internal sources indicate that the party is currently awaiting upcoming polls which, if they confirm the trend, would put the party on high alert and prompt it to urgently mobilise all its officials to avoid what they consider would be "a debacle of major proportions" following the loss of the Chancellery and all regional governments except Kampania in the last elections and the sharp drop in votes. Marshall Sajdak has privately told his advisors that he "wouldn't be" the first KPW regional leader to lose the government of Kampania. Prior to him, the party was led in the region by Kaja Romanowicz, who also served as a member of the Presidency from 5660 until its abolition – the longer member of the Presidential body – and prior to her, former Chancellor of Valruzia Iwan Nowik was briefly also the Marshall of the region. 

The party is currently in the position of deciding which political direction to take in the region where one of the main criticisms levelled at Workers' Vanguard – its anti-Yeudi stance – has no effect in Kampania, the region of Valruzia where the Yeudi population is smaller and where Our Homeland barely exceeds 3% of the vote, barely scraping the electoral threshold – and where it lost its only MPs in the last election, becoming the only region without Yeudi representation.

"The main problem is that we do not currently know how to address this issue" says a senior KPW regional official on the condition of anonymity "Workers' Vanguard is our child of sorts, and thus many of its proposals come from us. However, there are some positions that we simply cannot take because they go against our core principles, and that's where they are hurting us more".