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A New Moon over Haesan (Elections '23) - Printable Version

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A New Moon over Haesan (Elections '23) - Haesan - 04-24-2023

April 20, 2023
National Assembly, Hwagang, Haesan:
As soon as the gavel dropped on the vote of no-confidence and the parliamentarian read out the lopsided result, a wave of nervous energy swept over the deputies.  Just 15 months after they took their oaths of office, they were back into the campaigning circus.  For their political futures, these first two weeks were the most crucial, an intense internal political networking battle to see who can rise the highest on their party's regional deputy lists.  The tension was palpable as the deputies huddled in their party groups, as they made tentative convention plans and frantically snapped up plane tickets back to their home provinces to start the frenetic campaign season, in what media pundits were already labeling the "most unpredictable election in Haesanite history."

For the Conservative Party and Liberty!, the two core constituents of the governing coalition, Jan van Deventer's fiery speech split their parties in twain.  Their struggle would be to determine just how exactly they planned to reform and reunite their parties after the chaotic fallout.  Perhaps that lofty task was too much to ask of junior deputies who entered the National Assembly on a miraculous tidal wave of popular anger at the "corrupt elites" just a year ago, but they would be forced to undertake it nonetheless.

As for Jan himself, the ousted PM was already headed home to his seaside estate in Ryujang.  The man whose public tantrum started this fiasco was set to decamp and determine his political future.  However, as he landed in Gyeongseong, his face was perfectly still and calm, as if nothing was amiss.  Perhaps the outburst was more calculated than it initially seemed.

In Haesan, they say that the moon will guide you home.  However, that night, a new moon rose over Haesan, and in the countryside the brilliant sunset transformed into an uneasy pitch black.   The headlights of Jan's sedan cut through the inky darkness on the winding coastal roads, charting a murky path into the unknown.
April 24, 2023
Anfa L'Cite Grande en Foi:
The Parti du Nord had always been seen as a minor regional party.  This is because, well, they always were a minor regional party.  French language education isn't really an issue that pulls in votes in Suyang, or Hanyeong, or Namhae, all of the southern, densely populated manufacturing regions that are needed to win an election in Haesan with any significant deputy count.  It makes intuitive sense that the Party of the North wasn't ever going to win seats anywhere other than the north, but now they have a vision and a desperate tactic to try and break through.

Martin Saint Fleur was an up and comer in Anfan politics, and now at 39 years of age he has been nominated as the party leader without much resistance.  He is Arrivee through and through, and the old guard loved the zeal with which he pursued their traditional goal of federalizing the Haesanite government.  However, Martin also had a clever little idea, to turn his Arrivee heritage into a ploy for Arrivee unity, with those other long-despised Arrivee just across the Iron Mountains.  In just two years, while federalism and French language issues never stopped being important, economic integration with Laeral had become the party's primary issue.  If there was anything to get southern manufacturers to vote for a northern party who does not represent them in the slightest, it might be by convincing their pocketbooks.

There are some within the party, especially those who Saint Fleur had trampled on his way to the top, who believe the party was losing its way.  However, deep down, they know better messaging means more votes, which means more political security.  If that fact alone isn't enough to convince them, then maybe the undercover Laeralite diplomats in the stands with their Ministry of Foreign Affairs-backed bank accounts can do the trick.

The party announced its unprecedented full slate of 395 deputies, many running outside of their home districts, and most of whom will assuredly lose, to a fanfare of traditional colonial French Haesanite marches and a cascade of pink and white balloons.  With their convention out of the way early, most of the candidates will start a fierce rebranding campaign with the support of a party apparatus flush with Laeralian cash to try and do the unthinkable: have the Party of the North win outside of the north.

One Haesan's Convention - Haesan - 04-25-2023

April 24, 2023
Sinju, Sinhan
The deliberations wound down in the evening as the three rivals seemed to reach a knowing agreement.  The platform had to be clear and concise, and to combine their three ideas into one core concept.  The announcement of Nord's intent to run across the country was a startling one, and they knew they had to stop their agenda at all costs.  One Haesan had to be the party to rise from the ashes of the governing coalition.

First was Seo Yu-jun, the present and future leader of One Haesan.  He knew how to govern, and to imprint his party into even the most unlikely of governing coalitions.  Being blasted by Jan only strengthened his position in the party, and having expanded the party's seats exponentially over the last two cycles he was prepared to put the party into yet another position of strength.  He had to shape the platform into something flexible, so One Haesan could form with any possible coalition, and hold leadership to its promises on reunification.  There was no other way.

At his right was Kang Geon-u, a hardliner, and an absolute hawk.  Kang was a former security consultant and knew the harsh realities of national defense.  He wanted a party that was willing to bargain with any power to take action on Soeyan today, regardless of political inconvenience.  He understood more acutely than most that the levers of power were a weapon, a weapon that could be aimed at the hearts of ones enemies.  If One Haesan returned to governance, he would make sure that weapon was used to crush Laeral, and reunite his homeland.

Lastly, the young, round face of Alain Poirier was an unfamiliar sight amongst the largely Haemi party membership.  Poirier was not there by mistake though, he believed in One Haesan's mission as much as anyone, and worked the party machinery to elicit his rapid rise to the inner circle.  He had a keen sense for electoral politics, and as a descentant of Arrivee knew the missing key to One Haesan's coalition: the Northlands.  With a long border with Soeyan, and a large population descended from those who died or were displaced during the Great War, the north was filled with untapped potential for the OHP.  What poetry he thought, the same day that Nord was taking the fight to their territory in Sinhan and Seocheon, they would be unveiling full slates in Nord's strongholds. 

The three embraced, and vowed to fight for the future of their party with one common vision, a hybrid of Seo's flexibility, Kang's conviction, and Poirier's strategy.  As the names of the party's 291 deputy candidates were read aloud and blue confetti rained down from the auditorium ceiling, there was only one thought on everyone's mind: One Haesan would make it out of the ashes of van Deventer's explosion reborn stronger than ever.

RE: A New Moon over Haesan (Elections '23) - Haesan - 05-27-2023

April 26, 2023
Seowon, Sugang:
The Conservatives had been dealt a massive shock by the statements of Jan van Deventer, and faced the real threat of falling back into obscurity.  They had dominated Haesanite politics during the late 80s and 90s, but the crash in 2004 had ruined a good gig.  As soon as they finally reached the heights of power again, it all was spiraling out of control.

Lee Ju-ho was an old-timer who remembered the glory days of the Bishop government, back when the Conservatives were a broad tent party that passed critical legislation like the Korean Language Administration Act and the Block System.  They had built the urban and cultural landscape of a country that was becoming increasingly inhospitable to their policies.  Lee was aging now, in his early 70s, but he was who the party turned to in their moment of crisis.  The Chief of Staff to Bishop in the 90s, and a long term deputy from Sugang, Tory heartland, his steady manner provided a sense of calm to the otherwise turbulent convention.

He confirmed what everyone had hoped, that the party would continue to denounce Jan and would focus on reviving its illustrious history.  The spotlight would be on turnout out its base of older voters in the river valleys, with a message centering on tradition, jobs, and Haesanite respectability.  Their goal was to hang on by doing what they know would work.  This wasn't an election for gains, it was one for survival.
April 27, 2023
Hanyeong, Sinhan:
Representatives from all their key constituents were there: the Seollim Group, Suri Motors, Atlas Telecoms, and more; their true keys to power.  The figurehead of the party was still in Hwagang, refusing to acknowledge the power of the machine that they had built, well the machine that even put her into power.  It was the Free Dems convention, and Kim I-seul was nowhere to be found.

Peter Kang delegated power with total confidence; as majority leader of the Chamber of the Commonwealth, he was effectively running the government now.  He had to be careful to maintain balance between appeasing their real source of power, the conglomerates that dominated the Haesanite business scene, while convincing their nominal source of power, the people, that the party apparatus had indeed moved on from the Seollim bribery scandal that ousted Choi Da-yeon, their leader of 16 years.  As such, he pipped a fresh new face for PM, Seo Jun-yeong, a former entrepreneur and political outsider who was seated as a deputy from Suyang.  He seemed to be the perfect balance between moving on and embracing their key interests.  Kang knew the corporate interests blessed the move, now all he had to do was get the advertising machine up and running so the public would too.

Yellow balloons fell from the ceiling, and the deputy list of Haesan's most powerful party was announced over massive speakers at the Hanyeong Marina, the gateway to Haesanite commerce.  They had just had their first taste out of power for the first time in almost two decades, and they were dedicated to ensuring the embarrassment would not continue.
April 28, 2023
Anmi, Namhae
The Lib Dems had always been on the fringes of power, but could never really break through.  The biggest little party in Haesan always had popular ideas, fighting for a place on the international stage, pension reform, and amelioration with Laeral, but they never seemed to get the vote haul.  This year, they would have to try and shake things up a little to take advantage of this highly uncertain elections cycle.

Amelia Ward was just the choice to do this, and as an experienced policy maker and diplomat, she understood that Haesan's population was becoming more younger, more multi-cultural, and less factional.  Differences in ethnicity and ideology were becoming shallower, and the nation was becoming more united as a simply Haesanite identity.  Their message would follow suit: Unity.  Progress.  And a Haesan that helps define policy on the world stage.  If Laeral can do it, then Haesan should be able to as well, and do it even better.  There would be no more getting pushed over in international politics in the service of corporate profit.

The Lib Dems, quite simply, wanted Haesan to be an unequivocal member of the democratic club, a peer with those powerful nations like Eiria and Sanctaria, rather than some corrupt, backwater manufacturing hub.  And the delegates assembled believed Amelia was the right person to make that happen.  With a rejuvenated message, Lib Dems were finally ready to compete.
April 30, 2023
Munseong, Namhae
The Mods had always been the dealmakers of Haesan, the ultimate Chamber of the Commonwealth party.  They could broker truces amongst factions with totally opposite ideologies and make it think it was their idea to compromise. But in the Chamber of Deputies, they always seemed to come up short.  A lack of clear messaging other than transparency, justice, and fighting corruption really haunted their party.  Other than the public statements of their massive number of qualified judicial appointees, the party does not really have much clear that they stand for.

Sabrina Hwang was who they chose to fix these fundamental issues.  She advocated for something radically new, not just for the moderates, but for Haesanite general elections as a whole: personal campaigning.  The path to a moderate victory would not be by convincing voters on some vague platform, but rather they would get them to believe in the candidates as people.  It's what had worked for them for so long in Commonwealth elections where candidates run individually for seats, and Sabrina was gambling that it would work for them in the general elections too.

As the Moderates announced their deputy slates, all those in attendance knew there would be a lot of work ahead.  However, what they were left with was hope, and for the first time in a long time, a plan.

RE: A New Moon over Haesan (Elections '23) - Haesan - 05-27-2023

May 1, 2023
Hapyeol, Boeri
The administrative center of Boeri province is small, with only about 40,000 people, and despite being a 45 minute train ride from the capital, it feels like an alternate universe.  There's nothing but grain fields for miles, well except for the nuclear reactors that power the country, that is.  That was the true reason for Onwards Haesan! holding their convention in seemingly the middle of nowhere, as this was the home of their base: nuclear scientists.

It had always been a difficult balance for Onwards to divorce the pro-science agenda that defined the Lagarde years and is central to their platform with the problematic side of the man: censoring media, cracking down on opposing politicians, and most critically, losing everything in the Great War.  However, Haesanite R&D is rapidly becoming one of the best in the world, and with high tech space and nuclear research centers being built in the Eastern plains, there is a real shot that the party could gain a real stranglehold on the eastern time zone.

The fact that their convention didn't get much press isn't too much of an issue, with their friends in the Novellan SDUP organizing a massive ad buy across the plains.  Onwards Haesan! was mobilizing from a small, retrograde party into the primary advocate of Haesanite innovation.
May 2, 2023
Suyang, Suyang
The manufacturing workers in the Southern Coast have always been the voters to deliver elections in Haesan, and right now, they are fed up.  The Liberty! government who they thought would represent them turned out to stab them in the back the moment they got in power.  They were merely a tool, bounced around from party to party, praying they would get some form of real representation.

New Bargain has promised to be that representation.  They had made the unprecedented move of nominating their whip, 28 year old Mireille Kim, as their PM candidate, who would easily be the youngest to hold the office in Haesan's history.  In a nation where the average age in 29, playing to the youth vote is not a completely unreasonable strategy, and it was Mireille's sharp wit on the Chamber of Deputies floor that ultimately cued some of Jan van Deventer's worst admissions.

The party continued its historical pro-labor messaging, advocating for a minimum wage, better working conditions, and better pensions and welfare more generally.  They're hoping that this year, with increased visibility and an exciting young figurehead, they can finally break through and enter government.
May 2, 2023
Suyang, Suyang
On the other side of the Suyang metroplex were a bunch of young challengers with designs to compete with New Bargain for the critical youth vote.  Founded by a bunch of Suyang National University law students, for the first time in well over a decade, Haesan would have a genuine far left party.  The Social Democratic Party of Haesan would be born anew.

The students petitioned for security forces, and the government, with Kim I-seul's blessing, graciously complied.  They would show the world Haesan was a real democracy, and fringe parties would be respected as legitimate.  There would be no repeat of the tragic massacre that happened in Yeocheon.  They were prepared, not just physically for any attack, but mentally for the lambasting they knew would surely be coming from the hardliners.  They did not care about those trifling matters when they carried their firm belief that Haesan needed a real left wing alternative, and that the legacy of Gramont could not continue to define Haesan too.  In a way, wasn't fearing his ideology letting him still win?  Their presence was surely a path to progress.

The party would only appear on the ballot in the Core Four of the southwest, but if they could even win one deputy, that would be a huge victory for progressives in Haesan.  However, how much they would play spoiler to the other left leaning parties and hurt their chance at victory remained to be seen.

RE: A New Moon over Haesan (Elections '23) - Haesan - 05-27-2023

May 3, 2023
Gyeongseong, Ryujang
Jan van Deventer returned to the stage triumphant.  Two weeks ago, he knew he was going down, but he had no idea how much of the old order he would be burning with him.  Leaders from all across the IDU were making panicked calls to Kim I-seul, a million diplomatic fires that he had spawned.  But the unexpected consequence is that he had crushed his own party in the process, and his support wasn't as solid as it first appeared.  But Jan didn't care too much about that, not when he could simply switch parties.

If One Haesan was the traditional Haesanite nationalist party, Our Haesan could be better described as rabid fanatics.  The rightmost fringes of Haesanite politics, they are condemned by virtually everyone, but Jan's willingness to lead them had given them the largest influence they'd ever had.  Although they polled abysmally, the secret Xiomeran funding, a reward for Jan's praise of the Empress, would be their answer to gain an advantage over the field.

Even in Ryujang, the largest agricultural province, it was unclear who exactly their message was for.  Focusing on a revival of colonial culture over the widely popular, uniquely Haesanite fusion birthed from the KLAA, would get blowback from virtually everyone.  When groups as diverse as Slokasians, Huenyans, and Acadians appreciate your culture, it stands to reason that it is fairly popular at home as well.  Also, opening the borders and paving the easiest path to citizenship in the IDU during the reconstruction period of Haesan was one of Lagarde's finest achievements.  The influx of immigrants built Haesan's manufacturing sector and launched the economic miracle of the last 40 years.  A platform demanding closing the borders is not a recipe for widespread success.

So Jan took the stage, seemingly triumphant, but without a message or plan.  He set off on an experiment: could bombast and money alone win an election in Haesan?
May 4, 2023
Gyeongseong, Ryujang
The rumours were true; Jan would not be returning to Liberty!.  The party's administration was in shambles, with the party's name dragged through the mud, no real leadership of any kind, and their deputies scattered amongst various parties trying to flee the upcoming onslaught.  There were genuine discussions on whether it was even worth running a slate of candidates this cycle, but a few key party members decided to press on.  20% of the economy of Haesan was still agricultural and someone had to stand up for those workers.  Liberty! was returning to its roots.

Wim Schouten would hope to lead his party out of the van Deventer ashes into a new prosperous era.  Focusing on agricultural subsidies, less government interference in interest rates, continued liberalization of financial systems to appreciate the sterling, and economic policies favorable to the agrarian class, he hoped that the true spirit that the party once had could be recaptured.  However, Wim was simply a shrewd economic theorist, he didn't have close to the political gravitas of his party's former leader.

For Liberty!, they ended up reliant on whether farmers will be able to look past the negative connotations of the party's past and vote with their pocketbook.  With big agriculture firmly behind them, maybe a desperate campaign push could indeed keep a good number of their politicians in the House of Delegates.