Valruzia

[Aethan]

Presidential elections settled

Sejm pass law to enable presidential elections next year

March 5628

The three candidates leading the latests polls (from left to right): KPW Karolina Pietrzyk, Military Junta leader Marcel Szumski and ON Bernard Łukaszewski

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Today, the Sejm of Valruzia has approved a law that will allow for Presidential elections to be celebrated next year, therefore electing a new Head of State for Valruzia.

The law, set to be provisional until the full Constitution is drafted, voted and approved by the Sejm and the citizens, establishes the title of "President of Valruzia" for the Head of State, and clearly specifies that it is intended to last until new elections are called and the Constitution is approved. Therefore, it does not establish a fixed term for the elected President, but rather the winner is set to serve as the Valruzian Head o State until the Constitution is finished and approved.

According to the Marshall of the Sejm, Katarzyna Roszkowska, its purpose is merely to "move away from the Military Junta and continue walking the democratization path" of the nation. 

With 541 votes in favor and 60 against - all of them coming from the ranks of National Salvation, whose leader Ignacy Zelazny and four other deputies are serving provisional prison time following the events of the 5627 Valruzian coup attempt. The party spokesperson has clarified that they are not against the democratization process but rather believe that elections should only be celebrated once the Constitution as a whole is passed and enabled. Some deputies have accused National Salvation of trying to buy more time for his leader to be able to run, or in other case, find a suitable candidate for the party.

The law also establishes a two-round system if no candidate receives over 50% of the votes, as well as the following requisites to stand as a candidate for the elections, whose exact date is yet to be determined by the Sejm:

• Be in possession -exclusively - of Valruzian citizenship.
  
• Be over 30 years old and under 80 years old.
  
• Have resided in national soil for at least 20 years.
  
• Speak fluent Valruzian AND Luthorian.
  

Yes, the approved law specifies that candidates MUST speak Luthorian apart from native Valruzian and also settles an age limit for candidates, apart from the need of holding ONLY Valruzian citizenship. Leaders of the main parties have defended this measures as a way to ensure that the position of Valruzian Head of State is not compromised by any means and that as representative of the nation as a whole, whoever gets elected is able to speak with international counterparts.

The main leaders of Valruzian political parties have already announced their intention to contend these elections with the exception of Liberal Alliance leader Wiktoria Pasciak, whose extremely weak performance in various diverse polls - under 3% of the vote - has lead her to assume this decision. 

Despite the early popularity of CDS Marcel Szumski as a clear front-runner for the position, a population eager to finally leave behind everything related to the Morawki dictatorship as well as unfounded rumors that place Szumski as the brainmaster behind the failed 5627 coup in the Sejm to boost his own figure have affected is candidacy, although he has yet to announce whether he will run for the position or not.

Early polls placed CDS Szumski to battle Krystian Malecki, leader of Sovereign Valruzia and winner of the constituent elections, who was already announced his intention to run. However, just one year later, the last two polls released predict both of them to lose in the first round, albeit Szumski still trailing close to the second position, and place two new frontrunners: National Renewal leader Bernard Łukaszewski and Communist Party leader Karolina Pietrzyk. The popularity of both leaders started to emerge following the coup, albeit due to different reasons: Łukaszewski is seen as the only conservative candidate following the arrest of NZ leader Zelazny and therefore the only viable representative for the conservative population, whilst Pietrzyk has been widely praised for her stand during the coup attempt in the Sejm, with the former now leading the polls. However, Pietrzyk is also the candidate that most voters say they "are completely certain" not to vote for, with almost a 40% of the population saying so. This screams trouble for her, since if she does not command a straight majority of the votes in the first round, she will have it even more difficult in the event of a face-to-face second round against Łukaszewski. 

The battle is open and until a date is definitively settled, there's a lot of ground to change in yet another year before this election takes place.

Sejm passes new Valruzian flag and coat of arms
The constituent Sejm has also voted the new flag of the nation, along with a new coat of arms, passing the resolution by 596-0: 

The colors of the flag, blue, red, yellow and white, along with its symbols, are said to have a deep meaning. This is how Marshall Roszkowska has described it:

"The predominant blue in our new flag represents stability and confidence, necessary for all our people after this turbulent period, as well as our proximity to the sea, from where all of us come from; the white stripe, filled with a smaller red stripe, represent the peace finally achieved in our nation and the sacrifice made by thousands and millions of citizens of Valruzia to achieve this peace, the blood spilled by martyrs such as Tobert Obrzut, which leads to the color yellow and its symbols: the spark of revolution that lies within each of our citizens, the laurel wreath to represent all of us as equal and the sun to represent that there is always a new dawn for our nation."

The flag seems to gather unanimous support among the population, with many people from different ideologies reassuring that it looks "powerful" and embraces every citizen of Valruzia.