Tukarali

[Rogue]

Sérgio Bastos, Political commentator at Espelho - Ladies and gentleman. A full term of a democratically elected government has come to a close. Doesnt it feel weird to say that out loud? All those years under autocracy and we have finally succeeded in succesfully introducing democracy to our country. To celebrate this joyous occasion and report on these election results i am here with political commentator Rúben Moura and former mayor of Vajo Luísa Rego, thank you both for joining us. "It is a pleasure Sérgio", "Likewise". This election was a contentious one. We saw polls come closer together in the last few weeks as Rosa unexpectedly managed to rise in popularity. What attributed to this rise you think Rúben? "Undoudebtly it was the star power of Senator Machado. She rocked crowds with her humanitarian message, striving for a fairer and warmer Tukarali. She blasted the PDP for not using our democracy to enact radical change and right the wrongs of the past. Her rallies were something to behold." One of the last polls, as i can remember, had her up by 2% against Caetano, i wonder if she really does win this election. Anything to add Luísa? "Well, not really, i think Machado has a real power to relate to the people. I doubt that even if she loses, this would be the last we see of her."
 
Well we are about to find out. With 98% of the vote in for the presidential election we are here to make a prediction. With 49.6% of the vote, Alex Caetano has won a first round of elections. We predict that a runoff vote will be held in one month time as Rosa candidate Camila Zanetti Machado wins 49% of the vote. Remaining votes were distributed amongst several other candidates. This is a shocking result, with president Caetano winning 4 years ago with nearly 67% of the vote in the first round. While thus retaining first place, he has a serious challenger in Machado who will face him in a head to head for the second round. Rúben: "this is shocking, really, we knew the president's approval rating was low, but he was still favoured to win reelection in the first round. While victory is still possible, any day extra for Machado to campaign will hurt Caetano." Luísa: "I agree. President Caetano has been blamed for being relatively inactive in his first term. His latest visit to Tukarali striking a security agreement did do him good, but not good enough. I am anxious to see the result on a party level." 

Well you dont need to wait long. With the presidential prediction we are here to also release our exit poll for the chamber. With 96% of votes for the chamber counted, we predict that...........the PDP will retain its majority by the slimmest of margins, winning 75 of the 150 seats, down 6 seats from last election. While this would tie it with the oppossition, the oppossition is also not able to vote out a incumbent government or Prime Minister. This means that either Pinho remains as Prime Minister, or a newly elected President Caetano can appoint a new Prime Minister that can not be voted out. This creates a effective majority, with the PDP having to be creative in trying to pass new legislation. Rúben: "Again whats notable here is the rise of Rosa. The party has won 21 seats compared to 4 years ago in this exit poll, also taking seats from parties like the MDV and completely wiping out the Radical Party, which loses all seats in the lower house. While a good result for the PDP, the real winner is definitely Rosa."

Lets take a quick look on how those constituencies filled up tonight.



And that concludes the election so far. But we are not done. Next month, the country will head to the polls once more to elect their President and we will be right with you to give you those results. Luísa: "This election was a succesfull one, with our democratic prowess on full display. Gone are the times of a single party dictating our every move. We are in a competitive era, and we are all in for it. Its good to see that Kalistani election observers also called the election clean, releasing their final recommendations after the presidential election is concluded. It shows that our newly build democratic process is resilient and working."

We at Espelho thank you all for watching and conclude by saying: until next time. Good night.