Beluzia

[Credo]

Factional Divide Emerges for P with Election Around the Corner!



The People's Party is rising in the polls! The new leadership under Cervantes has proved successful at broadening the party's appeal. Hundreds of thousands that have never considered voting blue before are suddenly very interested in the party and are impressed with its role in government. If current trends hold up, the party is looking at its best result ever! However, this growth is coming at the expense something very important - the party base!

The People's Party consists and has always consisted of three types of members. The ruralists, the hosianists and the more hardline traditionalists. All these groups constitute the spine of the party. Ruralists and hosianists have traditionally been content with mostly equal shares of important positions within the party and within government. However, when P entered into the coalition with the CPB and ARL, all four ministers within the party came from the ruralist faction. These ministers, handpicked by Cervantes himself rarely focuses on the more religious legislation that P is associated with. The hosianist faction has never been weaker within the party. Something that very few could have predicted only two years ago. 

Cervantes was always known to be more moderate than Margrove. Very rarely does he campaign on issues like same-sex marriage and abortion, the sort of issues that launched P into mainstream politics. Those issues, whilst integral to the core of the party, do have a tendency to alienate the majority of voters. Especially those not living in the rural countryside. And even though the strategy of not always talking about cross-dressing as soon as the cameras are on you seems to be working, many members feel alienated by the new face of the party. 

If this is price that the party has to pay for a coalition to the left of centre, then Mr. Cervantes shouldn't be so surprised if some of the old base doesn't show up to the polls - or worse, shows up for a competitor instead!

The tricky thing about all this is the timing. The election year is underway, and Cervantes needs to mobilize everyone he can if he wants to win big and stay in government. A split in the base at this time could prove to be disastrous for a leader seeking to unite the country. It is good to remember that Cervantes never faced a challenger when seeking the party leadership. There was no "hosianist candidate". The real hosianist candidate, Jonah Margrove, died two weeks before the party conference. 

The Tribune is hearing that some senior Hosianist staff in the government are discussing amongst themselves, who they would rather see lead their grand ol' party!