Beluzia

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Kermode-Gilbert: "This Is Exactly Why We Need Unity at the Top"
The Daily Standard - November 5735

CPB President Aalin Kermode-Gilbert has renewed her call for cross-party unity behind her presidential candidacy, pointing to the Rossanian League's referendum bill, proposing a declaration of war against the Holy Luthorian Empire, as proof of exactly the kind of moment her campaign was built to answer.

"I said when I announced this candidacy that the presidency needs to rise above party lines. I did not expect to be proven right this quickly, or this seriously," Kermode-Gilbert said. "A governing party is asking this country to vote on war. That is not a moment for Beluzia to have a presidency that belongs to one faction. It is a moment for a presidency that belongs to everyone."

Kermode-Gilbert noted that the timing of her appeal is itself a consequence of the recent constitutional reform that cut the presidential term from six years to four, which has brought the election forward and compressed the usual window in which parties would have had to settle on candidates. "We are having this conversation now, earlier than anyone expected, because the term was shortened. That's precisely why I'm asking other parties to move quickly and seriously rather than wait for a normal cycle that isn't coming. There isn't time for the usual slow positioning."

The bill, proposed by the Rossanian League, now part of the Second Corwyn Government, would put a declaration of war to a national referendum, requiring 67% support in the Quaiyl to proceed. Kermode-Gilbert was careful not to turn her presidential pitch into a referendum-by-proxy on the bill itself, but the contrast was hard to miss. "Whatever you think of that bill, I hope we can agree the office of the President should be a steady hand in moments like this, not another battleground."

She repeated her appeal to the Democratic Left Front, the People's Party, and "anyone else who believes the presidency shouldn't belong to whichever bloc happens to hold the most seats this year." Coalition partners have so far remained warm but noncommittal. "Nobody has to agree with the CPB on everything to agree that a country weighing war needs a president it can trust to want peace first."