[Lauchenoiria]

Lauchenoirian Broadcasting Service Studio
19th April 2020 – 10:01pm local time

[LIVE]

Maria sits at a desk, behind her is a photo montage of a political campaigner knocking a door, a ballot box, and presidential residence Fleura House.

Maria: Good evening. Polls have now closed in the first round of the 2020 presidential elections in Lauchenoiria. We are expecting an exit poll shortly, and will bring that to you as soon as we have it in the studio. The elections were carried out without incident, and turnout is thought to have been very high, but we will confirm that later. We’ll be here in the studio bringing you live updates on the votes as they are counted throughout the night. We’ll also be talking to experts, political party representatives and a special guest later in the evening! For now, we go to Andre, who is at a count in Usera.

Cut to a man standing on a balcony overlooking a sports hall, in which people are busy carrying ballot boxes and counting votes.

Andre: Thanks, Maria. Well, it’s looking to be an exciting night here in Usera. We have a cross between a protest and a street party going on outside, a celebration of democracy coupled with a warning to the government that the people are watching – an event taking place in true Useran style. As for the actual vote, rumours here suggest that it is definitely too close to call between the four main contenders. As you know, Usera is a very atypical city politically, the people here tend to be young, left-wing, liberal and anti-authoritarian, so it’s possible that Clavell actually has a chance of winning in this area, but we won’t know anything for certain until later.

The two images are placed side by side as Maria begins to talk again.

Maria: Thank you, Andre. Well, we’re hearing the early exit poll – it suggests that the Liberal party candidate, Obando, is set to take the lead, closely followed by Zavala for the Communists. I’d like to remind viewers to take this with caution, given the changed political landscape of Lauchenoiria in recent years, but if this is accurate it could be that we’re seeing a return to the normal Liberal-Communist run-offs we were used to before the war. Here in the studio I have statistician and political analyst, Oriol Casado. Shot widens to view a table three other people are sitting at. Oriol, what are your thoughts on this exit poll?

Oriol: Well, Maria, I’d echo your warning to take this with a pinch of salt. Our statistical methods are still biased towards the two major parties from pre-war Lauchenoiria, due to a lack of more recent data and the fact that public opinion has greatly fluctuated in the last two years. The algorithms still consider that undecided voters are most likely to default back to the party they supported at the previous election – but that certainly can no longer be assumed. The Liberals and Communists still face a lot of blame for the events of the war, and there are new parties, and new alliances that we couldn’t necessarily have expected until just a few months ago.

Maria: Yes, there does seem to have been a lot of change recently. With us here, we also have Nina Pond from the Liberal Party, who ran for president in 2019, and Élia Agramunt, Communist Party leader. Ms. Pond, what are you expecting from tonight?

Pond: We’re very confident about our chances this evening. Last year was an unpredictable election, with three candidates occupying the space on the political spectrum of my party. It is understandable that in the shadow of the war, voters looked for a change – but it is clear from President Marwick’s decline in popularity after his inexperience showed, that voters are looking for a steadier hand, someone who can lead us by both listening to the people and the expertise they have gained over the years. Emilia Obando is such a candidate. She has years of experience in government, worked with President Walker, and has shown while she was an MP that she listens to the voices of her constituents. We are confident that the electorate has recognised this.

Maria: You certainly seem confident indeed! Ms. Agramunt, what about you? 2019 saw the Communist Party’s worst defeat since the revolution, do you think this election will be different?

Agramunt: As Ms. Pond says, 2019 was an unpredictable aberration. The voters – rightly – blamed us, and our current leadership for the war. But since June, we have made great steps to reform our party, and rid it of those elements who still support the authoritarianism of our past. Communists opposed to the Chaher regime deserted us for the Left Alliance, but that is no longer necessary. Those who opposed that regime, and the previous one, are no longer welcome in the Communist Party. This has even been recognised by those in the Left Alliance, who are supporting Zavala for president precisely because he, and I, are vehemently opposed to a dictatorship. We cannot judge 2020 on the basis of 2019, as despite the closeness, these elections take place under very different circumstances, and under a new constitution.

Maria: Thank you Ms. Pond, Ms. Agramunt. It will still be some time before we start receiving results, so we will take a short break just now, and go to the news and weather forecast. I hear it’s looking like a nice, warm week!

Cut to news studio.
 

[Lauchenoiria]

Fleura House, Presidential Residence
10:30pm

“I’m kind of relieved, to be honest,” President Marwick commented, throwing and catching a tennis ball as he lay back on the couch. The election coverage was playing on the TV, but he wasn’t paying all that much attention. Some cardboard boxes were already packed and sitting by the door of the residential wing, even though he wouldn’t be moving out for another week.

“Why did you even do this?” his cousin Steve asked, opening another beer and flicking the top across the coffee table.

“Well, I didn’t think I’d actually win!” the President laughed. “But seriously, though, during the war I was helping people with my broadcasts. It helped keep up morale among the resistance and it helped them to have a figurehead for their cause. I thought that I could provide that for the country, make it clear which side won in spite of the fact it ended in a treaty. Make sure the pro-democracy side had a figurehead. Of course, the job turned out to be far harder than I expected, and I found out what happened to my sister, and it all went to hell.”

“Your half-sister? The one who vanished? What does she have to do with anything?” Steve’s brother, Karl, frowned, taking a bite of a packet of crisps.

“Just… don’t. Alvarez has promised to find out the full story and until then I’m just gonna not deal with it, because I can’t.”

“Okay…” Steve said, offering Alex a beer. “So, who’s gonna win?”

“The election?” Alex shrugged, taking the beer. “It’s anyone’s guess. The people who voted for me last time will probably go for Obando, but I think some’ll go to Clavell or Sandoval. Same with Paloma’s votes. Zavala will get the Left Alliance votes and any Yervian anarchists who bother to vote. Course, there’s the Aelurian nationalists too, and they’re really unpredictable when it comes to voting for mainland parties. It’ll be a close one.”

“Does any part of you wish you’d run again?” Karl asked.

“Nah,” Alex shook his head forcefully. “I’m done. I’m gonna go and transfer to a university out of the country and finish my PhD. Honestly, I’m kind of embarrassed at this whole thing, I feel like I messed up when I could’ve done something good. I wonder if Shuellian universities take foreign students, they seem to really like me for some reason!”

“I don’t think anyone’s travelling to Shuell anytime soon,” remarked Steve.

“True, but maybe it’ll have calmed down by September. They probably get less foreign news so maybe I could actually go a day or two without being recognised.”

“If you’re trying to avoid foreign media, you should go to Kerlile,” teased Karl. “I hear they’re letting men go to university these days.”

“I will never set foot in that godforsaken country!” Alex shouted suddenly, standing up and shocking his two cousins. “Don’t ever say that to me again.”

With that, the President stormed out of the room. He grabbed a tie which was strung over the top of a door, and pushed out of the residential wing, pulling it around him and attempting to tie it as he walked to his office. Upon arrival, he startled some members of staff who had rarely seen him at work this late.

“Mr. President, is everything ok?” one woman, Lyssa, asked.

“My cousins drink too much,” he replied, to her confusion, then added, “is there anything I need to do before the elections are all concluded?”

“Well, there are several matters, but I was under the impression you were waiting to give these tasks to your successor?” Lyssa said, pushing her glasses further up her nose.

“Yeah, but I don’t really want to sit up all night doing nothing but drink, y’know?”

“There’s no legislation, foreign leaders are waiting until the elections to call, but we have information on the Xiomeran coup situation, and our ambassador to Shuell is calling everyone in a panic again,” Lyssa informed him.

“I’m not touching the Xiomera situation with a barge pole,” Marwick shuddered. “I’ll call our ambassador to Shuell. The usual, is it? ‘Help, I don’t want to get adenovirus, please evacuate me?’”

“That is correct, Mr. President.”

“Cool, I’ll be in my office.”

[Lauchenoiria]

LBS Studio
11:00pm

[LIVE]

Maria is sitting at the same desk, across from the table, Oriol remains, accompanied by Noguera, with Pond and Agramunt absent.

Maria: We are still waiting on our first results here in the studio, but we are expecting results from Aeluria shortly. For those unaware, Aeluria often calls results much earlier in the evening due to its relatively small population, but such results are not often considered a good measure of the overall result due to the vastly different politics on the island. To discuss Aelurian politics in more detail, we have former First Minister of Aeluria, and former interim Prime Minister of Lauchenoiria, Keitha Noguera. Welcome, Ms. Noguera.

Noguera: Thank you for having me.

Maria: Now, it must be difficult for your party, the Aelurian Independence Party, after the negative referendum result in March 2019. Do you think this result will have an impact on how Aelurians vote this year?

Noguera: Yes, we at the AIP were disappointed in the result of the referendum, but we respect the will of the Aelurian people. I worry, however that pro-independence Aelurians will feel that none of the candidates in this election represent them. I could see many of their votes going to the Feminist Party, as the only party running who really supported independence in any great deal. Among those opposed to independence, though, it really will vary.

Maria: Do you anticipate a drop in turnout among pro-independence Aelurians?

Noguera: I hope not, but that’s my worry. The AIP has endorsed no candidate in this election, but we have urged our members to still turn out to vote. I could see a large number of spoilt ballots, though.

Maria: Thank you, Ms. Noguera, we’re getting indications that the results in Aeluria are going to be announced any second, so we’ll go to the count in Liaville.

Cut to a town hall, with wooden looking walls in the Aelurian fashion. A crowd of journalists is gathered in front of a small stage, on which stands a podium. An elderly native Aelurian woman carrying a pile of papers walks up to the podium and places the papers on it, before adjusting the mic.

Woman: I will now read the results of the first round of voting in the presidential election on Aeluria in Spanish, then English, then Aenian. The total number of votes cast was 73,057. Of these, there was a total of 214 rejected ballots. The number of votes for each candidate is as follows.
Samantha Clavell, Green-Pacifist Alliance: 10,929 votes
Paul Doberman, Lauchenoiria First: 4,152 votes
Emilia Obando, Liberal Party: 14,932 votes
Fabián Sandoval, Conservative Party: 20,177 votes
Katherine Wright, Feminist Party: 1,165 votes
Nataniel Zavala, Communist Party: 21,488 votes.
With that, I can announce…

Cut back to studio

Maria: well, it seems to be a clear victory for the Communist Party in Aeluria, followed by the Conservative Party. I imagine there will be celebrations at Communist Party HQ following this result, it seems that Ms. Agramunt was correct in her belief that the party would recover from last year. Ms. Noguera, what are your thoughts on that result?

Noguera: I’m surprised, if I’m honest, to see the Communist resurgence given what happened during the war. The Conservatives, however, do usually gain greater support in Aeluria than on a mainland as a result of our tendency to be more traditional, and the party’s support for religious freedom in the past. The Liberals tend to do much more poorly in Aeluria than on the mainland, so I don’t think Obando should be giving up quite yet.

Maria: Thank you. Well, by the looks of things, the Communists are optimistic, and the Liberals more worried than when the night began. But it’s early hours yet, and we shall need to wait to see what else occurs.
 

[Lauchenoiria]

Usera Election Protest/Street Party
11:30pm

“Leonie? Where are you? I can’t… oh, there you are!” Darya pushed past another pair of students and handed Leonie a cup of something red, which Leonie promptly sniffed. “I don’t know what it is, someone’s just handing out drinks.”

“How safe,” Leonie responded sarcastically, but she took a sip of it nevertheless. She glanced around the crowd while they waited for Zahra to finish tying her shoelace. Then, the trio set off through the crowd, heading closer to the protest side than the party side.

“Have you heard from her yet?” Zahra asked Leonie, who shook her head.

“I doubt we ever will. She was probably killed when she went back to Kerlile,” Leonie said flatly, then took a large gulp of her drink.

“Are you two talking about Veronica again?” Darya asked, hurrying to catch up. “You really shouldn’t, it’s dangerous. We should just forget she ever existed.”

“Hah! Easier said than done in Leonie’s case,” Zahra teased, causing Leonie to roll her eyes.

“I hope we go into coalition with the Greens again, rather than the current mess,” Leonie changed the subject. “I really hate how Averforth has been messing with things.”

“Same,” Zahra nodded. “If he had his way, I’d probably be deported. He’s barely different from Doberman in my view.”

“I mean, he’s not that bad,” piped up Darya, who was stifling a yawn – politics was the other two’s thing, not hers. “My parents voted for him, I think.”

“Not surprised,” remarked Leonie. “But yeah, I agree he’s not as bad as Doberman. He at least hides his prejudices behind a mask of civility. Which is better, because they’re less contagious that way. Doberman makes everyone a worse person every time he opens his mouth.”

“What about Clavell?” Darya asked. “I like her policies.”

“She’s not a bad person,” nodded Zahra as they came to an empty bench and sat down on it. “But her policies are ineffectual. The Green-Pacifist Alliance is probably a good thing for both parties, they’re super similar – in both good and bad ways. They haven’t done a proper cost analysis of their policies, and the amount they’d need to raise taxes to pay for what they want would fast gain them enemies.”

“Doberman’s been on social media again,” Leonie interrupted, holding up her phone to show the other pair a post.

BREAKING Lesbian Alvarez been making secret trips to Kerlile to get ORDERS from her wife. Seen at border only TWO NIGHTS AGO.

The post was accompanied by a very blurry photograph of a woman who only very, very vaguely resembled Alvarez at a border checkpoint.

“God, he never stops,” complained Darya. “I kind of wish he would go to Kerlile so we’d never have to hear from him again.”

“Wishing death upon people is unkind, Darya,” chided Zahra.

“That isn’t what I meant,” she said immediately, trying to backtrack.

“It’s what would happen though. Most people who go to Kerlile don’t come back. Guess I was one of the lucky ones,” Leonie said, looking down at her feet.

“Enough!” said Zahra, standing and pulling the others to their feet. “Let’s forget the damned Matriarchy exists for a couple hours. Come on, the International Students Society have a food truck on Ross Street. They made loads of food from different cultures. You guys should come with me to Serriel next time, I miss my mum’s cooking so much.”

The three began making their way through the crowds once more, as the election coverage continued being broadcast on some large screens throughout the area, and those there to party became increasingly drunk.

[Lauchenoiria]

LBS Studio
Midnight

[LIVE]

Maria sits at her desk, with the camera on a close up so that her guest remains a mystery.

Maria: We’re not expecting any more results for another hour, but we have here in the studio a surprise guest, one who is intimately familiar with the workings of the Lauchenoirian political system, and who has been largely absent from the public arena since the end of the war: former Prime Minister Laura Moore.

Moore: It’s a pleasure to be here. Since the war, I’ve been focusing on my family, but these elections mark, in my opinion, the end of that terrible saga.

Maria: Indeed. It must be strange to watch from the outside, I imagine you hadn’t planned to retire quite so early.

Moore: Yes, it is, rather. I keep thinking what would have happened in an alternate timeline where Chaher’s coup never happened. Things would be very different, and many would be with us who are not otherwise. The coup was a terrible thing, and I wish it hadn’t turned out this way. I had hoped at first to resolve the conflict without bloodshed.

Maria: There are several stories about how the conflict began. Some say you gave the order for the attack on Annatown.

Moore: I did not. The woman known at the time as Sonja Viratnen acted of her own accord, without any orders from myself. If I had been consulted, I would have asked her to refrain from acting. At the time, I was still pursuing a diplomatic solution and trying to contact the Laeralian government, but sadly Chaher was rather determined to hunt me down.

Maria: But you were in contact with Jennifer Hale, then known as Sonja?

Moore: I was, yes, but we did not discuss taking what amounted to military action. We were discussing peaceful resistance, and how to remain in hiding from the Chaher regime. I did not want to start a war, although I have been called ‘naïve’ for that position even in hindsight.

Maria: Still, that’s all in the past now, but coming back to the present…

Moore: Yes, that is all in the past – for us. But right now, a similar situation is happening in Xiomera as we speak. Empress Yauhmi has been overthrown in a coup, and unlike myself, she did not manage to escape before taken into custody. This is wrong. What happened in Lauchenoiria was wrong, what is happening in Xiomera is wrong, and I personally condemn the junta that has seized power in that country.

Maria: Um… yes, well. Back on the election, who do you think will be the next president?

Moore: I’m still holding out hope for Obando, despite the results from Aeluria. She’s a very capable individual who will make an excellent president. I trust her completely, and I know she would work very well with Alvarez, assuming she remains Prime Minister.

Maria: And, finally, would you ever consider returning to politics?

Moore: Well, I don’t intend to, but I’d never say never. As long as there’s no chance at all of any further armed conflicts!

Maria: Thank you, Ms. Moore. We’ll now be breaking once more for an update on today’s headlines.

[Lauchenoiria]

Moore Residence
12:30am

Laura Moore crept back into the house, turning the key as quietly as possible to avoid waking the children. As she opened the door, she saw her husband Felipe waiting for her. She closed the door quietly, and reached up to kiss him briefly on the lips.

“You’re going to get a call from Alvarez about those Xiomera remarks, you know,” he whispered, as they made their way through to the kitchen, which was furthest from the children’s rooms.

“Oh, I’m counting on it,” Laura said, opening a cupboard and pulling out her favourite comfort food: cheap chocolate chip cookies sold in the shops of a popular petrol station chain that she ate a lot of while on the run during the war.

“So, the answer to that last question was ‘yes, I’m going to get involved in politics again’,” Felipe teased, shaking his head.

“Well, I just can’t sit by while someone else goes through what I could have. If Yauhmi ends up like Leanna I’ll be crushed.”

“You don’t even know her!”

“We met once, when Xiomera sent us a new ambassador, but we didn’t speak much. It’s the principle though,” Laura sighed, sitting down. “I feel I have a moral duty to stand up for those who are in such positions. And you must admit, this junta seem really horrible, from what we’ve heard. Worse, even than the Chaher regime.”

“Are you worried this coup is Auroras again?” Felipe asked, sitting across the table from her.

“No, there’s no way. Sonj… Jennifer wouldn’t let them do that again. She’d leak it very publicly, and we’ve seen her, she’s alive and not imprisoned. I actually believe the Kerlians are reforming. But, anyway, has there been any news on the election since I left the studio?”

“Nah, no more results than those from Aeluria. Are you worried?”

“A little,” Laura admitted. “If we get a Communist president, then a lot of my work will be undone. And I’m worried about the Shuellians, I feel like they’ve been encouraging people to vote Conservative. I don’t know why, I don’t think Averforth would make a deal with them, but we can’t rule anything out.”

“That’s a bit paranoid, isn’t it?”

“I… yeah, probably. The war really messed with my head. Especially when they started spreading rumours that you were dead, and threatening the children. I hope that Charissa Clarke dies in that Sanctarian cell, she doesn’t deserve freedom ever.”

“You really hate her, huh?”

“Yes. I’ve never actually hated someone before, not really. But Clarke… there should be a special place in hell for people like her. Even if the Kerlians made her do it, she did it willingly; I could see it on her face. She was crueller than she needed to be to achieve any objective Kerlile could have had.”

“Let’s… just go watch the results, Laura?” Felipe said, suddenly exhausted. He hated talking about the war.

“Yeah, sure,” she nodded, standing up and walking through to the living room where the TV was on, but muted. “I need to know what’s happening if I’m going to wade into this quagmire once more.”

[Lauchenoiria]

LBS Studio
1am

Maria is sitting behind her desk with three others, including Oriol.

Maria: Well, the results are coming in faster now. We’re expecting results from both Butterfly Island and Costeno province soon… and I’m hearing that the results from Butterfly Island are ready, so we’ll go straight to Seahaven.

Cut to a fancy looking sports hall, that has clearly been recently built, a podium surrounded by journalists and political party representatives. A man in a suit is standing at the podium.

Man: The total number of votes cast was 889,217. The number of rejected ballots was 735. The total number of votes cast for each candidate is as follows.
Samantha Clavell, Green-Pacifist Alliance: 213,236 votes
Paul Doberman, Lauchenoiria First: 38,204 votes
Emilia Obando, Liberal Party: 264,768 votes
Fabián Sandoval, Conservative Party: 216,790 votes
Katherine Wright, Feminist Party: 5330 votes
Nataniel Zavala, Communist Party: 150,154 votes.

Back in studio.

Maria: Well, this is looking very different from the Aelurian results earlier in the evening. The Liberals have done much better in Butterfly Island than the Communists, and it seems that the Conservatives and the Green-Pacifist alliance are neck-in-neck on the island. Oriol, thoughts on these results?

Oriol: Well, Butterfly Island is generally a better indicator than Aeluria for national results, so I expect the Communists are not too happy right now. The Liberals will be relieved after the upset of Aeluria earlier in the night. I imagine Clavell is feeling quite excited just now, it seems that she really is in this race, making it a true four-way contest rather than the three-way vote that many expected. The Greens and the Pacifists will be congratulating themselves on the alliance just now, which seems to be working well for them. But there’s still everything to play for.

Maria: Thank you Oriol. We also have results from Costeno province about to come in. Now, Costeno province was the hardest-hit during the war by many measures, which is likely to influence their vote. Polling from Costeno has indicated that the population has shifted to the right, but the only poll that matters is the one on the day. We’ll go now to Carville.

Cut to a hall which looks like it’s been patched up fairly recently after half of it was hit by a bomb. Nobody is at the podium yet, and people are milling around and talking. After a minute or so, a rushed looking man hurries to the podium.

Man: The results from Costeno province for the first round of presidential elections are as follows. Total number of votes cast: 4,237,301. Number of rejected and invalid ballot papers, 531. Each candidate received the following votes.
Samantha Clavell, Green-Pacifist Alliance: 864,569 votes
Paul Doberman, Lauchenoiria First: 275,130 votes
Emilia Obando, Liberal Party: 1,212,241 votes
Fabián Sandoval, Conservative Party: 920,389 votes
Katherine Wright, Feminist Party: 50,342 votes
Nataniel Zavala, Communist Party: 914,161 votes.

Back in studio.

Maria: The Liberal party will be rejoicing at this result. Over one million votes in Costeno for the Liberal Party. While the Conservatives did increase their numbers, it seems to have been far less dramatic than predicted, which will come as a disappointment to Sandoval and to that party. We now have a tally of the percentages so far.

A colourful board appears behind Maria.

Samantha Clavell, Green-Pacifist Alliance: 20.9%
Paul Doberman, Lauchenoiria First: 6.1%
Emilia Obando, Liberal Party: 28.7%
Fabián Sandoval, Conservative Party: 22.2%
Katherine Wright, Feminist Party: 1.1%
Nataniel Zavala, Communist Party: 20.8%

Maria: The Communists are in fourth place once more, which will come as a big disappointment for them, especially following that exit poll. It looks like the Liberals will definitely be heading to the next round, but that second spot is still a three-way competition.

[Lauchenoiria]

Liberal Party HQ
1:30am

Prime Minister Josephine Alvarez stood aside from the others at the HQ who had their eyes glued to the screen watching the analysis, or chatting with each other. She was nervous, tapping her pencil against her notepad subconsciously.

“What if the Communists get through with us, and then people turn on us and they win?” she asked one of her aides and then continued before they could speak. “Or we miss out by a fraction of a percentage point again? The Conservatives are doing better than I expected, that alliance too.”

“It is out of our hands now,” one of the aides attempted to soothe Alvarez.

“And we still need to deal with this mess of a Xiomera problem. Laura Moore! She always has to interfere. Yauhmi is not a friend to Lauchenoiria, she can’t just go and say these things on live television. I’m going to need to talk to her. Again. Although, I understand where she’s coming from. But it’s too dangerous for her to do anything, or for us to do anything.”

“Prime Minister,” another aide said, approaching. “Your wife is on the phone again.”

“Of course she is!” Josephine sighed. “I wonder what this is now. Let me take the call, for all her flaws she used to know how to calm me down during election results.”

Josephine took the phone from her aide and headed upstairs from the election watch to her office, she shut the door and breathed a sigh of relief when all the noise was shut out. She looked at the phone, shaking her head but smiling, and then lifted it to her ear.

“Jennifer, what’s up?”

“Are you going to support Yauhmi’s faction in their coup?” Councillor Jennifer Hale asked, sounding rather delighted at the idea.

“Don’t listen to Laura,” Josephine sighed. “She just says these things with no consideration of how it will affect us.”

“That’s disappointing. But I think you should listen to her. People are going to empathise with Yauhmi because of Lauchenoiria’s civil war, especially people on our side. What Laura did was tactically smart.”

“I will not support Yauhmi.”

“Why not?”

“Because I won’t.”

“Josie, you don’t do things without reasons.”

“Don’t call me… oh never mind. I’m surprised your own spies haven’t told you.”

“Well, they might have, but I don’t read all the reports. Will you tell me or should I go back to the KIS building?”

“You’re going to get us both shot for treason! God, fine. Remember that traffic incident? Yeah, it was Xiomera. Trying to get back at us for that whole fiasco with the affair rumours and everything in that election. The message was quite clear. Don’t mess with Xiomera. Well, I’ll happily do as she asked and stay out of it.”

“For Goddess’ sake! You’re choosing to interpret this in a way that benefits you and your wannabe neutrality. Well, Prime Minister, I’ve got news for you. Neutrality in this world is impossible. Neutrality is complicity. People who stand back and let terrible things happen are complicit in those things. You’re going to win this election, everything indicates that. And then, you’re going to have to make a choice.”

“Why do you do this? Call me all the time? State business, secret discussions, and then this. A chat disguised as one of the others.”

“You know why, Josephine.”

With that, Hale hung up the call, leaving Alvarez sitting on the edge of her desk, leaning back and groaning, with her head in her hands, before heading back downstairs to continue watching the election coverage.

[Lauchenoiria]

LBS Studio
2am

Maria: Good morning, it’s 2am here in Buttercity, and we’ve had results over the last hour from Ulinaria and Ecanta. To recap, the votes in these provinces are displayed on the screen.

A board appears, which looks as follows:

ULINARIA PROVINCE:

Samantha Clavell, Green-Pacifist Alliance: 535,323
Paul Doberman, Lauchenoiria First: 170,431
Emilia Obando, Liberal Party: 742,698
Fabián Sandoval, Conservative Party: 565,309
Katherine Wright, Feminist Party: 30,871
Nataniel Zavala, Communist Party: 569,695

Maria: Voiceover As you can see, the Greens, Communists and Conservatives are all very close together, particularly between the Communists and Conservatives. There is hardly anything in it for second place in this election, and that second spot in the second round. It’s still all to play for. Ulinaria is a farming province, which was affected by the war only slightly, with power changing hands in the capital of Elopolis, but relatively peacefully compared to other areas of Lauchenoiria. Now, looking at Ecanta…

The screen shifts to show the following

ECANTA PROVINCE:

Samantha Clavell, Green-Pacifist Alliance: 499,622
Paul Doberman, Lauchenoiria First: 158,773
Emilia Obando, Liberal Party: 700,301
Fabián Sandoval, Conservative Party: 530,726
Katherine Wright, Feminist Party: 29,904
Nataniel Zavala, Communist Party: 530,276

Maria: A very close result between the Communists and Conservatives here, less than 500 votes in it, in a province with a population of over 3 million. The Liberal Party is very clearly taking the lead, and it is very unlikely they won’t make it to the second round. The results, in Annatown, were announced in a building which was one of the first seized by the Resistance in the first battle of the civil war, a building constructed only four years ago, but already an historic location… and we’re hearing that the results in Melissa province are about to be announced.

Cut to a hall in Melissa City University, where a much larger crowd is gathered around a podium. Unlike all the other results, which were delivered first in Spanish, the people here are speaking English. A woman is at the podium, already reading.

Woman: … number of invalid ballot papers was 1,936. The total number of votes for each candidate is as follows.
Samantha Clavell, Green-Pacifist Alliance: 1,126,550 votes
Paul Doberman, Lauchenoiria First: 327,087 votes
Emilia Obando, Liberal Party: 1,339,183 votes
Fabián Sandoval, Conservative Party: 1,081,967 votes
Katherine Wright, Feminist Party: 80,385 votes
Nataniel Zavala, Communist Party: 1,069,935 votes.

Back in studio

Maria: A remarkable result for the Green-Pacifist Alliance! Coming second in one of the largest provinces will undoubtedly be very exciting for the party, and shows they might still manage to snag that elusive spot in the run-off. This will be a shock to both the Communists and Conservatives, however. We’re now going to add Melissa to our leader board, which shows that it’s still all to play for.

Another screen comes up, similar to earlier.

Samantha Clavell, Green-Pacifist Alliance: 21.3%
Paul Doberman, Lauchenoiria First: 6.4%
Emilia Obando, Liberal Party: 27.9%
Fabián Sandoval, Conservative Party: 21.8%
Katherine Wright, Feminist Party: 1.2%
Nataniel Zavala, Communist Party: 21.5%

[Lauchenoiria]

Communist Party HQ
2:30am

“I’m hoping they just kick out our ambassador over what Moore said, to be honest,” Agramunt remarked to her husband as they sat watching the results. She was always oddly calm during these periods of unpredictability. She was good in a crisis, which had served her well during the war when she managed to avoid either imprisonment, or compromising on her beliefs.

“What do you think Alvarez will actually do?” Jon asked her.

“Knowing her… honestly, I’m unsure. She might withdraw the ambassador apologetically, citing neutrality, or she might do as they ask while also offering asylum to dissidents. I think she’ll play both sides, try and keep us out of it. It’s not a bad plan, to be honest. But I’ve never much liked Xiomera.”

“Well, they are kind of like Shuell but just a little less terrifying. What of Clavell? She seems to be a risk, here.”

“I didn’t anticipate her doing so well. I have to say, I admire the tactics of all three of our main opponents here. It’s a good race, to be sure. And Clavell and Obando aren’t bad people. I could work with either of them if needs be. Sandoval… no. He despises me with a burning passion. Pretty sure I overheard him saying we should all be executed for treason over the coup.”

“Sounds like a Conservative. If, by some miracle, we win, what are your priorities?” Jon asked, leaning back as they watched Oriol discuss statistics on the screen.

“We need to get rid of those Shuellian aid workers, for one thing. We pull our ambassador out of Xiomera and let them fight among themselves. Then, we overturn the capitalism referendum, but depending on who we’re in coalition with we might have to re-run it. Improve the social welfare programmes, and build more social housing instead of private sector housing. It might also be an idea to find out from Alvarez what exactly did happen with those Auroras, because it seems like something was done, but I’m not sure what.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Jon smiled, and put his arm around her. “And if we don’t?”

“I don’t want to step down just yet, we need stability and we need to recover from the war. If the worst comes to the worst, we can create some kind of formal alliance with the Left Alliance, which might make people more amenable to our ideas. Chaher really messed things up for us, I’m not gonna lie.”

“Fair enough,” he nodded. Agramunt, unusually, liked to talk things through and think logically during stressful occasions, it helped ground her. “So, what do you think about Laura Moore? Will she return to politics?”

“Almost definitely, after that stunt,” Agramunt nodded. “I very much doubt if it was sanctioned by her party, but Moore is smarter than Alvarez in some ways. Alvarez likes to play it safe, Moore is more willing to take risks – or, at least she was before the war. God knows how the PTSD epidemic is affecting her. It’s smart, people here are gonna hate anyone who starts a coup just now, so taking Yauhmi’s side was smart.”

“You think she’s trying to usurp Alvarez?”

“No, she does things without asking permission, but the two of them are friendly and get on well when push comes to shove. I think Moore might be a little upset that her own chance was ruined, but she’s going to angle for something else. Honestly, with everything that happened, I don’t think she wants to be a figurehead: I think she wants to actually do the work, and maybe even in the background.”

“How does that reconcile with what she did tonight?”

“She’s letting it be known that she can do such things. I think she wants the Liberals to welcome her back into some kind of background role, but she’s making it clear to them that if they fail to listen to her, she can always go to the media. But I know that she’s wanted to protect her family since the war. Though why she went and angered the Xiomeran junta, I can’t explain.”

“Hey, something’s happening on the TV.”

“Oh, more results,” Agramunt said, falling silent and looking up at the TV.

[Lauchenoiria]

LBS Studio
3am

Maria: We’ve just heard the results from Yervia, they should be on screen just now. And we’ll go to Andre in Usera who was present for the count.

A screen flashes up containing the following:

YERVIA

Samantha Clavell, Green-Pacifist Alliance: 893,640
Paul Doberman, Lauchenoiria First: 285,628
Emilia Obando, Liberal Party: 1,260,644
Fabián Sandoval, Conservative Party: 954,724
Katherine Wright, Feminist Party: 53,185
Nataniel Zavala, Communist Party: 943,333

With the table on half the screen, the other half shows Andre on the same balcony as earlier.

Andre: Well, Maria, the street party outside rages on, and the Liberals celebrate. It’s my understanding that they may have already secured a place in the run-off, depending on the turnout in Fleura. Clavell will be disappointed, the Green-Pacifists were hoping to do well in Yervia thanks to the support for them in Usera. But the support outside of the ‘City of Protest’ as it has been called both by those who support and oppose the concept was not enough to do it for them in the province as a whole. Once we have the final results from Fleura, we’ll be able to tell who will be joining Obando in the second round, but as of now, we have no concrete idea.

Back in studio.

Maria: Thank you Andre. It looks like we’ll be getting that result very soon indeed, as the results from Fleura are about to come in.

A large municipal hall teeming with people is shown, the crowd containing well-known politicians like Agramunt, Alvarez and even Paul Doberman. A man is on a podium speaking.

Man: The number of votes received by each candidate are as follows:
Samantha Clavell, Green-Pacifist Alliance: 1,270,222
Paul Doberman, Lauchenoiria First: 436,590
Emilia Obando, Liberal Party: 2,020,988
Fabián Sandoval, Conservative Party: 1,467,540
Katherine Wright, Feminist Party: 80,601
Nataniel Zavala, Communist Party: 1,440,824

In studio

Maria: Well, that’s the results! After a very close contest, it’s looking like Emilia Obando will be joined in the run-off by Conservative candidate Fabián Sandoval, though it’s been a very close election. Both Zavala and Clavell came close, and it’s unlikely we’ve seen the last of either in politics. Sandoval is going to have to try very hard to capture the right in the run-off, while it seems likely that Obando will be seeking to court the left. And we have the final results confirmed now.

A screen flashes up showing the following.

Samantha Clavell, Green-Pacifist Alliance: 5,414,091 (20.5%) (+6.0%)
Paul Doberman, Lauchenoiria First: 1,695,895 (6.0%) (-0.8%)
Emilia Obando, Liberal Party: 7,555,755 (28.6%) (+12.2%)
Fabián Sandoval, Conservative Party: 5,757,622 (21.8%) (+3.7%)
Katherine Wright, Feminist Party: 311,708 (1.2%) (+0.6%)
Nataniel Zavala, Communist Party: 5,666,866 (21.5%) (+9.6%)

Total valid votes: 26,401,937
Turnout: 87.9%

*Change based on Green Party votes in 2019

Maria: Well, that’s the first round concluded. Congratulations to Obando and Sandoval, and I will see you all here next week for the second round, alongside the parliamentary elections. Goodnight everyone!

[Lauchenoiria]

Parliamentary Results - Aeluria

Aeluria is the smallest province by population. It is still comprised of a sizeable Aenian population, the native inhabitants of the island, and their religion, Lurian, is still widely practiced. The island declared independence during the conflict known as the Second Lauchenoirian Civil War, but rescinded that declaration following the signing of the Haven Accords. The island then held an independence referendum in March 2019, in which the island voted against independence. Despite this, the Aelurian Independence Party (AIP) continues to dominate, as the pro-union vote is split among other parties.

[Lauchenoiria]

Parliamentary Results - Butterfly Island

Butterfly Island, the smallest geographical province, but with a larger population than Aeluria, is the wealthiest part of Lauchenoiria, and has no native population, having been free of humans until the 20th century when it was settled by Lauchenoirians. It is the technology hub of Lauchenoiria and where most advanced industries are based. Due to the business community on the island, it tends to vote for more economically right-wing parties, and the Liberals struggle on the island since the war.

[Lauchenoiria]

Parliamentary Results - Ecanta

Ecanta is a landlocked province in central Lauchenoiria, home to the city of Annatown which has become famous for being the site of the battle which kicked off the war. Traditionally, it has been a socially conservative province, with varying economic views, however with recent upsets it is unknown how that will affect it. Much of Lauchenoirian agriculture is done in Ecanta, and the province is known also for its forests and mountainous terrain.

[Lauchenoiria]

Parliamentary Results - Ulinaria

Ulinaria is a western province of Lauchenoiria. It contains the city of Ecanta, and is the second agricultural province, alongside Ecanta. During the war, it changed hands slowly, and was the site of various covert operations, but did not have many battles. For that reason, the province came out relatively unscathed. People in Ecanta are Spanish-speaking and tend to have strong accents that make it sometimes hard for non-Lauchenoirians to understand.

[Lauchenoiria]

Parliamentary Results - Costeno

Costeno is the southernmost province, and one of the hardest-hit in the war. The cities of Summersea and Carville were both sites for major battles, and much of the population is currently living in poverty. Shuellian aid workers who came to Lauchenoiria did a lot of work in the province, leading to rumours that they have managed to influence the politics of the province in favour of the Conservatives and away from the Communists. Parties which played a large role in the war are out of favour here.

[Lauchenoiria]

Parliamentary Results - Yervia

Yervia is known for being the most left-wing, liberal province of Lauchenoiria. It is home to many anarchists, and “city of protests” Usera. During the war, much of the province was held by Kerlians, and it was there that “Sonja Viratnen” and Josephine Alvarez were captured by the Kerlians during the war. The province is known for its non-traditional political views, and its large student population. Some also say the influence of Kvask to the east is also partly the cause of the politics in Yervia.

[Lauchenoiria]

Parliamentary Results - Melissa

Melissa is the second-largest province, in the north-west of the country and contains Melissa City, Lauchenoiria’s largest city and the site of much controversy in recent years – it was the target of multiple state-sponsored terror attacks by foreign hostile powers in 2018. The riots caused by the Anarcho-Communist Collective of Lauchenoiria (ACCL) in February 2018 took place in Melissa City, which some say was a precursor to the Second Lauchenoirian Civil War, after Skodenian peacekeepers assisted the local police in the matter.

[Lauchenoiria]

Parliamentary Results - Fleura

Fleura is the largest province of Lauchenoiria, and home to its capital of Buttercity. Situated in the north-east, it borders both Kerlile and Kvask, and is the central hub of Lauchenoirian politics. Relatively unaffected by the war, Fleura remained in pro-Chaher hands throughout the conflict, and few battles were fought in the city. This has led to the province being less affected by the changes of the war, and is usually fairly average in its voting tendencies.

[Lauchenoiria]

Presidential Results - Round Two

After the first round of the Presidential Elections, only two candidates remained - Emilia Obando, of the Liberal Party, and Fabián Sandoval, of the Conservative Party. It was a close-fought first round, with the Communists and Green-Pacifist Alliance coming close to gaining a spot in the run-off. However, the final results are:

Emilia Obando, Liberal Party - 63.2%
Fabián Sandoval, Conservative Party - 36.8%

This means Emilia Obando will be the next President of Lauchenoiria.

National Parliamentary Results Table