Valruzia

[Aethan]

Political earthquake as Monarchists become largest party in the elections

Early elections sink traditional parties and result in a fragmented parliament

September 5707

Mateusz Jarosz, leader of the Valruzian Monarchist Party

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Following the decision by the Supreme Court of Valruzia to issue a declaration of incompatibility between the referendum on the Head of State and the amendment to the Constitution of Valruzia, and after speaking with President Urszula Pawlik, Chancellor Marzel Zagórski decided to call early elections so that citizens could once again have their say after what KPW leader and Deputy Chancellor Judyta Kram called a “judicial blow” to the legislators who voted in favor of holding the referendum.

“We should never have reached this point,” said Mrs. Kram, whose party voted unanimously against allowing the referendum. She also called for the immediate resignation of all representatives who voted in favor of the referendum as a way of “taking responsibility” for the institutional degradation of Valruzia. Instead, Chancellor Zagórski of Sovereign Valruzia decided to call elections.

Now, election night has delivered the verdict of the people, with the following results:

Valruzian Monarchist Party: 24.52% (New), 151 seats (New)

Communist Party of Valruzia: 17.92% (+0.55%), 111 seats (+3)

Sovereign Valruzia: 16.33% (–7.43%), 102 seats (–46)

Forward Valruzia: 14.29% (–11.38%), 88 seats (–71)

Socialdemocratic–Agrarian Party: 13.75% (+0.67%), 85 seats (+4)

People's Front of Kampania: 6.06% (+3.05%), 37 seats (+19)

Workers' Vanguard: 4.44% (–3.85%), 27 seats (–24)

In what has been a complete electoral surprise, the Monarchist Party of Valruzia has won almost a quarter of all votes cast, with a turnout of 82%. But what is this party, and how has it achieved these results?

The Monarchist Party of Valruzia (Partia Monarchistyczna Walruzji, or PMW for short) was founded just two years ago as the "Valruzian Imperial Party" to campaign for the establishment of a monarchy in the country. Several of its members were in charge of collecting the signatures to hold the referendum that has now blown up Valruzia's constitutional system, with a confrontation between the country's highest judicial authority and the so-called “will of the people”. The early election call was a surprise gift for them, according to its leader Mateusz Jarosz, as they were getting ready for a massive campaign of demonstrations and protests across the country following the "disappointing verdict" of the Supreme Court, but instead, they now have found themselves as the largest party in the Sejm of Valruzia. However, despite the monarchist option winning the referendum by 56%, the party has only managed to reach 25%, less than half of those who voted in support of the Nowik dynasty. 

According to political analysts, this is the result of the PMW presenting itself as a single-issue party but clearly aligning itself with more conservative positions. This partially explains the higher decrease in vote share for Forward Valruzia in comparison to Sovereign Valruzia, as more conservatives have decided to give their support to the Monarchists but that option was not so popular among more progressists. According to interviews and polls, many of those who voted in favor of the Monarchist option and define themselves as "left of centre" did so in favor of the Nowiks and as a compromise vote, but are not in favor of supporting a clearly conservative party.

Within Sovereign Valruzia, they blame their party's poor election results on a "tremendously horrible miscalculation" by their current chancellor, Marzel Zagórski, who brought the elections forward "unnecessarily". But apart from the PMW, which is indisputably the big winner of election night, it is precisely the parties further to the left – socially speaking, because Workers' Vanguard has suffered yet another electoral catastrophe – that have best weathered the monarchist tsunami, by being the only ones increasing their vote share. The KPW and the Socialdemocratic–Agrarian Party have won 3 and 4 seats each, whilst the People's Front of Kampania, the breakaway faction of the KPW in the region, has doubled its results and reached 37 seats. In fact, the Kampanian Voivodeship has become a two-way race, with the FLK achieving 39% of the popular votes against the 34% for the Monarchists, with no other party in the Voivodeship surpassing the 10% threshold.

Our readers might also notice something important: Our Homeland, the Yeudi-based Valruzian party, decided not to contest the elections. The party is immersed in a deep crisis itself, as many believe the party "no longer serves a fruitful purpose" and has failed to capture and to adapt to the vote of the Valruzian Yeudis. In fact, rumors circulate that the party is ready for its official dissolution. 

And what now? The Valruzian Monarchist Party has already stated its intention to push for a Constitutional reform in the Sejm ,which would require the favorable vote of at least 400 deputies and therefore is most certainly deemed to fail, but have pledged to "keep fighting to protect the will of the Valruzian people". The question of the government formation is certainly to become a headache, with the current coalition government of SW–KPW–SPR falling short of 3 seats from the 301 seats needed and not only that, but the acting Chancellor's party, Sovereign Valruzia, falling behind its former junior party. That means a new negotiation to take place, first with the explicit consent of the regionalists of the FLK to give their favorable vote to the new government and second to the terms of the agreement between the KPW and its two partners. Some members of Sovereign Valruzia are reportedly talking about paying the KPW with the same coin by asking them to replace its leader, Judyta Kram, by a new candidate the same way the KPW asked for former Chancellor Krystian Barela's head in exchange for the new government. 

Whatever the outcome, the new government will only be in place until the next general elections, in 5710, and are certainly to not satisfy many, as the PMW will for sure stay out of government and unable to deliver its main promise. Many demonstrations are already scheduled across Valruzia, and and tempers are not expected to cool down anytime soon

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