Bianjie

[journey]

Will opposition actually unite to deny the 6th socialist re-election?
12 January 5641



GEMUN: It has come in no surprise that the opposition leaders, Tabai Wenggot, president of the Demaction, are looking for a united front in face of the yet another election in two years. Wenggot, who has been leader of the opposition for almost 14 years now, has been pursuing to enter the Kōtei for his whole career, but was unable to succeed because of the fractioning of the anti-SPP vote between various opposition parties, allowing the pro-government MPs to easily win in their respective districts. Now that SPP is under the fire from the public after the corruption scandal that has fatally scarred the reputation of the incumbent government, democrats are looking at all options of unity, including an all-united electoral alliance.

However, the proposal, which was put forward for a public discussion between BDA party members by the party vice-president Batu Aora, was immediately faced with questions and confusion, as the idea Aora had in mind, would include Gurun in the potential coalition. Democrats and Gurun are two fiery opponents of each other for decades, coming from the long-standing two-party system period, but now that it collapsed and turned into a dominance of the socialists, BDA leadership seems to be more open for a temporary alliance with a dying Gurun, at least it would appear so from the recent comments and the proposal put forward. "We have our profound differences with Gurun, and we are not fond of them and their ideas, but if we want to bring down the irresponsible purple plague, this situative alliance, that if Gurun agrees, of course, is a way out of this", Aora justified his idea.

On the Gurun's side, PPB leadership has also been growing more positive towards some kind of an agreement between them and the right-of-centre opposition. "You will not find someone more opposed to the BDA than us, but you know as the say: the enemy of my enemy is my friend. We also wish to bring down the SPP government, and sadly, working with BDA might be our only chance", said Babutai Dartao, leader of Gurun. Dartao said that he's expecting to meet the Wenggot and Aora to discuss the alliance next Sunday.

But, besides Gurun, it is clear that BDA's "united front" would require more forces to unite the vote against the SPP, hence why Aora's proposal also included the Party for the People, party usually dubbed BDA's "natural partner". The move did not come in suprise, and PFP's leadership was rather quick and excited to publicly endorse the idea and "work towards the realisation of the alliance", according to the Dorgon Jong, new PFP leader.

As the discussion of the united opposition alliance coming forward into the public life, pollsters have been trying the hypothetical coalition in their polls, asking citizens whether their voting preferences would change had such coalition been created. A hypothetical three-way coalition of BDA-PFP-Gurun could possibly capture up to 43% of the vote, overcoming SPP, which has been trailing at 37% for a couple of months now. At the same time, purely right-of-centre coalition, BDA-PFP-INP, would be able to get 39%, according to the internal poll commissioned for the BDA, sources within the party told us.

So, with two years before the election, as the opposition seems to be the closest it has ever been at unity, and declining socialists' numbers in the polls, one can be certain in saying that the 5643 election could become very crucial for the political system of Bianjie, and for the future of both the SPP and the opposition. Will the opposition succeed, it will mean the end of the SPP dominance and possible return to the two-party system. Will the opposition fail, it may push Jalar off the premiership and leadership, but the dominance of the socialist parties will only cement further, closing the doors for any opposition victory for the next couple of decades to come.



毎日急行 (Daily Express) is a major daily newspaper based in the city of Namušun, Khani Province.