Opposition Party Successfully Ousts Progressive Incumbent

After an overly extended election cycle, the common denizen of Civa-Orchestra could finally give a sigh of relief now that the ballots were closed. All the political bullshit that everyone had to put up with would be a thing of the past come tomorrow, or at least until the next election came around the corner. In no way does this diminish the importance of this particular election, although many could argue for its complete irrelevance. Of course, one had to realize that there would always skeptics and pessimists within the political process, going on and on how the system was broken beyond repair. There were definitely times in which they were correct and it was worth listening to their ramblings. Other times, it was best to simply ignore all of their pointless and needless complaints. In this case, the office of the Lord-Protector was to be decided during this election.

Any other election would be cut and dry for the People's Progressive Party, which has largely dominated Civan politics for the last several decades. The PPP is very much left-leaning and has some socialist tendencies, and has enacted a few social programs such as a national healthcare service. All the potential good that these services have achieved has been overshadowed by the current recession in Civa-Orchestra and the economic downturn in much of the rest of the world. The lost of faith within the PPP resulted in the major opposition party, Grand Democracy, to win enough seats in the National Assembly to take a hold of a majority. Unlike the Progressives, Grand Democracy is in favor of slashing spending and taxes across the board, announcing that money paid into taxes would decrease the most for the middle class. Other differences between the two parties involves abolition of corporate regulations, with Grand Democracy making a point that these sort of restrictions only snuffle growing businesses and choke the job market. Finally, GD claims that they will pursue a more "proactive" foreign policy and place much more emphasis on a capitalist economy.

The incumbent, Abdus Salaam Abad, being a member of the PPP, has received much criticism for the inefficient programs and laws that his administration has put into place in an effort to revitalize the economy. It wasn't long into the campaign that Grand Democracy labelled him as a completely ineffectual Lord-Protector and a glaring embarrassment to the people that he was elected to represent.

Being a career politician, Abad found it increasingly difficult to win any form of real sympathy from the electorate, like his opponent seemed to be doing. Also, he wasn't much of a public speaker, always seeming to be very stiff while giving any kind of speech or public address, thereby alienating even further those who could potentially vote for him. It didn't help that the recession was largely blamed upon him and the entirety of the PPP found it hard to retaliate against these kinds of attacks especially when they were becoming greatly disliked throughout the country. Sure, there were claims that Grand Democracy would inevitably lead the Protectorate into an unneeded war, but these words didn't really stick especially given reassurances from the very charismatic GD nominee.

Grand Democracy's choice for a nominee to run against Abad was definitely not a conventional one. Cyrus Khovar-Vostaym was the owner of an influential pro-GD newspaper, a one term Governor-General, and a popular political writer. At a mere 43 years of age, what truly made him stand out from the crowd was how he presented himself. He had no problem insulting another politician, nor did he refrain from using his vast amounts of wit to easily out debate the elderly Abad at numerous occasions. He was easily portrayed as a new and fresh face who could better connect with the middle class than Abad.

What was previously thought to be a close election was anything but that as Khovar-Vostaym managed to attain over two-thirds of the counted vote. Once news of this broke out, Abad gave words of congratulations to the new Lord-Protector-elect. As for Khovar-Vostaym himself, he had slightly words for his defeated opponent, which can be seen from the following excerpt.

Quote :

"...I think, in the end, that this really shows the effectiveness of the political process. Could the will of the people so boldly stand out in anything other than a democracy like the Protectorate? I think this is a wake-up call to politicians who forget the fact that they are elected to represent the people, not to further their interests or those of their biggest campaign contributors. I respect that Mr. Abad gave his best effort, but that's just it. After all the time and all the money. . . he still lost miserably. It might be a good idea for him to think about switching careers to being a janitor. That way he could clean up the crap that he so often spews everywhere."

The official inauguration will be held three months from now, with Abad ceremoniously transferring his executive authority to the newly elected Lord-Protector.

The United Kingdom of KingIsaac heard the news about the election of Civa-Orchestra's new Lord Protector.

President Abraham convened the cabinet to discuss the possible implications of Khovar-Vostaym ascending to the position of Lord Protector. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Department of Trade and Industry created a joint committee that will study the possible impact of the election in UKKI. The reports were conclusive that Civa-Orchestra will experience an unprecedented growth on economy under the new Lord Protector. Likewise, the reports also said that Civa-Orchestra might be "more open" to the world and shall turn away from isolationism.

The Department of Foreign Affairs sent its congratulatory message to the new Lord Protector.