Tropica

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Tropica Today

Labour unveils 5628 election manifesto four months out from polling day

Tropica City - Feburary 5628 - With the election just months away, the Tropican Labour has released its manifesto of what it plans to do with a second term in Government. And compared to the Conservative Party’s manifesto released mid-last year, it’s seemingly being much better received by the public.

The Labour manifesto has two main pillars. The first is foreign relations, something that hasn’t exactly been at the forefront of mind during this term, and the second is domestic policy.

The first pillar, Foreign relations, involves the following things that Labour would like to do in a second term:

• rejoin the Luthorian Commonwealth,
  
• Reestablish diplomatic ties with as many nations that align with Tropica’s democratic values as possible,
  
• and enter into free trade agreements with most of those nations too.
  

The second pillar, Domestic policy, is much more thorough and seemingly was why the manifesto came 6 months after the Tories’.

The biggest promises are a pair of binding referendums on electoral reform, the format of which is established as:
An initial ‘primary’ where up to 6 alternative systems compete in an instant runoff voting contest to determine the winning alternate system to compete against FPTP-Supplementary in a second referendum, to be held in conjunction with the 5633 election. The second referendum will be the first national poll under Tropica’s new constitution that will require a double majority of 50%+1 of the popular vote and 18 regions voting in favour to pass. The first referendum doesn’t need it since there is not a binary choice.

The other major policy is the closing of the gender pay gap in the public service, which this publication has written about before when discussing the Conservative manifesto. In short, Labour will legislate a universal base wage of T$60,000 per annum, which is the middle ground of the current average wage for male and female public servants. 

Several other minor policies announced include: 

• A T$500 million, expansion of public or low-rent housing projects
  
• Setting a uniform 5% wage bonus for workers who work on Sundays and public holidays
  
• The establishment of a national rail network by combining all the regional networks on Coromaru and Tapoa, with feasibility studies on linking the two islands’ networks by an undersea tunnel. 
  

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Tropica Today

Election 5628: Labour re-elected in stunning Landslide

Labour leader and Prime Minister William Tama during his victory speech

Nikutabi - 4 June 5628 - The Tropican Labour Party pulled off a stunning triumph in the 5628 Federal Election last night. They were handed a mandate to form government by everyday Tropicans. The TBC-Tropica Today election computer had ‘LAB win’ flashing up on almost four out of every five constituencies, as they came close to receiving an outright majority, but are expected to need at least one party on confidence and supply based on the current results declared. Those results suggest Labour won 179 constituencies, leading in 19 more. The Tories were completely and utterly destroyed in the constituencies. They were destroyed from 83 down to 40, and are leading in 3 more. That puts them at circa 85 seats in the National Assembly, compared to Labour’s possible absolute majority. 


The minor parties did not benefit at all from the Tories’ destruction. Pati Teoan Tagata was completely wiped off the map and won 1.09% of the vote, which at best will win them maybe 5 seats if Labour can win all the constituencies, losing two-thirds of their votes. Pāʻina Kanakan managed to gain a single constituency and weathered the storm of Labour winning about 80% of constituencies, only losing two seats. Although most didn’t benefit, the hard-right Tropican National Party thrived in the destruction. They gained 11 seats, as well as winning 2 ex-conservative constituencies, and coming second in 7 more. However, the far-right Democratic Alliance did not benefit at all they lost most of their votes and had no chance at potentially winning a second seat. Pati Mātou did similarly poorly, despite some polls projecting them to have won Leader of the Opposition Andrew Rangi’s seat in Takutai Tonga’s second district, and won 12 seats, all compensatory. Raktavan Dal and the newly-formed Progressive Socialist Party didn’t do as well compared to polling either. But both didn’t do too badly either

The Greens, while faring better than most of their compatriots, also lost quite a bit. The Greens lost Lalo Lahui, a seat they won on a 1.19% majority over the Conservative second placer 5 years ago, to Labour, and now sit in third in the largest constituency in the nation by population. Their leader, young deputy PM Kiri Nikora, is under threat in her constituency, Tropica City’s second district, where she was just behind at the end of counting last night, but is likely to be awarded a top-up if she loses the constituency. The Greens are currently projected to win between 35 and 45 seats, and will likely be re-invited to the Government if Labour don’t end up with a majority (which is quite likely)

The enigma of the night were the Democrats. They won two constituencies on razor thin margins of 8 and 515 votes respectively. Somehow, despite Labour cleaning up in every other seat, they increased their majorities in both seats, and gained a third. They also barely lost any votes, but will still lose 6 seats, thanks, to Labour’s aforementioned landsliding of the other constituencies. Those two Democrat constituencies were the only two that weren’t held by Labour before and after the election to have a swing in the incumbent party’s favour. 

Almost immediately after the exit poll, which was (incorrectly) suggesting Labour would win an absolute majority of seats, Conservative leader Andrew Rangi announced he would resign from the leadership effective immediately. The two gladiators for the leadership of the decimated Tories come from the centre-right and liberal-conservative factions of the party. The centre-right is endorsing Gabrielle Mackenzie, the current MNA for Matamata Tata’s first district, who retained her seat in spite of her majority being sliced by more than half. She’s described as a softer, more compassionate choice than the stern and cold Rangi. The Liberal-Conservative faction is proposing Jack Lewis, who’s been described as the best of both worlds for the Conservatives. He can appeal to the laissez-faire corporates on the right and the socially liberal moderates in the centre. Whoever wins will have an unprecedented task ahead of them in clawing back from this disaster though.

Finally, re-elected PM William Tama is being hailed as the greatest leader in their history. This isn’t hard, considering he’s the only leader in their history, but the unprecedented nature of the destruction of the Opposition is something to be proud of. At his victory speech, he declared that Labour will be finishing the work they started in their first term, starting with Tropica’s first referendums under the post-5621 constitution, to determine whether the electoral system should be reformed and made fairer for smaller parties (a group that now seemingly includes his once-powerful opposition). Tama is expected to elaborate more on the timeline over the coming months, but right now, Labour is in a jubilant mood, having easily secured a second term in government.

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Tropica Today

Electoral Reform Referendum - Alternative Systems Announced

Since Labour’s re-election in June, the party has focused on achieving their big main policy promises. And they’ve achieved quite a bit of the foreign policy pillar, rejoining the Luthorian Commonwealth amid massive fanfare at the start of the year, This is in addition to their domestic policy goals. The big policy they’re touting is the electoral reform referendums, as the announcements of the six systems contesting the primary have been made for the first referendum simultaneously with next year’s regional elections. 

The six systems chosen to be part of the primary are:

• National List PR, with Local Lists and a 4% threshold, which is waived for minority parties
  
• Regional List PR, with national levelling seats that have a 5% threshold to access
  
• Mixed Member Proportional, with a 4% or 1 constituency threshold, which is waived for minority parties
  
• Dual Member Proportional, with 2 member districts and a 4% or 1 First Seat threshold
  
• First Past The Post, with no sort of compensation mechanism
  
• Single Transferable Vote, with randomised ballot orders in districts sized between 3 and 7 members.
  

Five of the six options retain the current 400-seat National Assembly, but FPTP will reduce it to 354 seats.

The various parties have all announced support for different systems, with Labour advocating for DMP, the Tories for National List PR, the Greens and Democrats for MMP, the four ‘ethnic’ parties (Pati Mātou, Pa’ina Kanakan, Pati Teoan Tagata and Raktavan Dal), as well as the Progressive Socialists and Democratic Alliance for Regional List PR, and The Tropican National Party for STV. 

The first referendum is scheduled for June 5630.

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Tropica Today

Election 5633 - Hung Parliament elected, Unclear who's next PM

June 5633 (backdated) - Well, it’s finally happened. Three years after Dual Member Proportional was chosen as the system to go to the referendum against the current Wasted-AMS system, the referendum was comfortably passed in favour. That happened simultaneously with the 5633 election, where we couldn’t have a tighter race, especially compared to last time. Labour’s shine that nearly won them a majority last time is well and truly gone, and new Tory leader Jack Lewis has been in a tussle for preferred PM with William Tama for most of this year, although his party sits about 2 points behind Labour in the actual vote. Coming into election night, the expectation was that a well-hung parliament would be the result. And well-hung it was. Once the dust settled, the seat counts showed the Tories had 120 seats, Labour 118, the Greens 43, the Democrats 31, Pāʻina Kanakan 28, and Pati Matou 20, with the other parties holding the remaining 40 seats. Referendum-wise, Dual Member Proportional was adopted with a 54% National vote, and received a majority in 23 of the 35 regions, so the redistribution required for the 5638 election under the new system will begin as soon as Parliament returns. Although that could be a while, as electing a Prime Minister is the first act of any session of the National Assembly, there’s no obvious PM with a majority.

Coalition negotiations began the day after the election, and it still looks very messy. At the moment, it looks like Labour have the Greens and the Progressive Socialists in their corner, totalling 169 seats, while the Conservatives have the Tropican National Party and Democratic Alliance in theirs for 139 seats, with the Democrats and 4 ‘ethnic’ parties (Pati Mātou, Pa’ina Kanakan, Pati Teoan Tagata and Raktavan Dal) yet to decide, totalling 92 seats between them. 

Lewis and Tama have been clashing for most of the time since the election, and it looks like Tropica may be headed for a political crisis if the five undecided parties remain undecided and the remaining parties can’t elect a consensus candidate as a caretaker PM of sorts in the next few months.

[Blake]

5657 General Election

*Sunrise Network logo appears on the broadcast*

Voice over: “Welcome to the Sunrise Network Election Night Coverage.”

Anthony: Good evening, thank you for joining us for our special election night coverage. My name is Anthony Clarke, and I will be your host for this evening. I am joined by my cohosts John Baker, Kalā Kalili, Zack Spears, and my lovely wife, Natalie Clarke. Emma Baker is standing by our magic board to help us analyze the data as it comes in and make the calls about which party is likely to form a majority. I am going to hand it over to John so he can go over how we got here.

John: Thank you, Anthony. This election the polls have been all over the place. It is clear that the country is unhappy with the long-standing National Party majority. Which has been in power at this point for over ten years. However, after losing the last election the Labour Party elected Gerald Fenn, who was a minor minister in the very popular William Tama Governments. He is one of the last remaining members of parliament from that time. The problem is that he is over seventy years old and to a lot of traditional labour voters is just not an inspiring forward-thinking candidate they were hoping for. While for most of the time in the pre-campaign period they have held a small polling lead. However, the Labour Party really tried to lean into being a return to the Tama Governments. The National Party focused on the recession that ended the Tama governments and left so many people out of work. This coupled with the rise of a new political party on the left, the Alliance Party and the traditional Center Party, Act! Have left polls pretty unclear about which party would be leading the next government.

Labour Party Leader: Gerald Fenn


National Party Leader: Henry Shelton


Act! Leader: Andy Spence


Tropican First Party Leader: Wesley Tyson


Alliance Party Leader: Mālie Keahi

Natalie: That’s right John. Going into tonight the National Party has held a nice polling lead of about two percent. Well within the margin of error, but it has been a pretty consistent lead since the leaders debate about two weeks. Which opinion polls were pretty clear that Gerald Fenn was the clear loser of. However, the fact that the national party is not running away with this election despite everything clearly speaks to how much this country is ready for change away from the National Party and the government of Henry Shelton. The National Party’s near decade of austerity has led to the quality of public services to being the worst in decades. The National healthcare service has months long waitlists, class sizes are over thirty students. Struggling families are being pushed off of welfare in order for taxes on the wealthiest to be cut. Even areas that have been their historic strengths in public perception like the military and veterans have seen massive cuts. However, the one thing that this government has always had going for it is stability. Despite being a coalition government the National Party and the Centrist Party, Act! Have managed another five years of governance without a reshuffle or the threat of an early election.

Zach: Yeah that is the important thing not to forget in this discussion is that it is almost impossible that any party is going to reach an outright majority. So, we are going to see a continuation of the coalition government. Which has usually meant that the moderate social liberal party, Act! Will still remain in government. Their leader Andy Spence has continued their general campaign of being humanity in a National government and the reason in a Labour Government. They are pushing for expanding the free trade agreement and helping Tropican businesses spread their wings overseas. Making a point that Tropican companies are having an impossible time competing on the world stage and that is making it harder for them to compete and succeed at home.

I know we are all excited to talk about the Alliance Party, however, we should cover the elephant in the room first. The Tropican First Party. The far right isolationist party is led by Wesley Tyson. They are promising even more strict austerity, securing election integrity, and making it harder for migrants and refugees from entering into Tropican. I’d be remiss if I did not mention that by preserving election integrity what they really mean is making it harder for non-Luthorian Tropicans to vote. Since they first ran in parliamentary elections ten years ago they have been denounced by the Labour Party as being racist extremist and both parties have pledged never to work with the other. The Tropican First Party is polling at its highest ever, and according to Emma, the odds that the National Party will be able to put together a coalition without them is extremely low. The Tropican First Party has made it clear that they would need major concessions in order to enter into government with the National party.

Kalā: That brings us to our final major contender of this election, the Alliance Party. This is the first federal election that they are competing in. After the Green Party merged with Labour there has not been another voice on the left except the ethnic Tropican parties. The problem there is that those parties struggled to find broader appeal outside of their demographic. So as Labour has proven to be more and more ineffective there have been calls for a new party on the left. One that could successfully challenge the National Party. Which is how the Alliance Party was born. They were founded by a number of school teachers and other public service workers who left those professions due to the National Party’s budget cuts. They have had a few surprise elections including taking a safe labour seat in a by-election. However, they have performed such as where they placed fourth in the New Kosmos mayoral election. They tend to do strong when Labour’s candidates are considered weaker. They are also very popular with those under the age of thirty and when youth turnout is very high they have been able to pull off their upsets. It is unclear how well they are going to do tonight as they have been the most inconsistent party when it comes to polling, ranging from single digits to high twenties depending on the pollster. Their candidate for Prime Minister is Mālie Keahi who is the only Tropican up for the position this cycle.



Anthony: With polls closing we are expecting the results of the exit poll shortly. Let’s go around the table and make predictions, just who will be the largest party and who is in second. I’ve got the National Party with Labour a close second.

John: National Party largest with Labour a clear second.

Zach: I agree with you John, however, I’d go further. National Party first with the Alliance Party a clear second.

Anthony: Wow.

Natalie: National Party with Labour a distant second. It is going to be a very bad night for Labour. They are going to really need to ask themselves who they are and how they need to change if they are ever going to win an election again.

Emma: National Party winning with Labour a close second. I think it is going to be incredibly close and it could take a few days to sort out all the rounds from the multi member districts.

Kalā: I’ll go against the grain and say virtual tie between Labour and the National party.

Anthony: There you go, our panel has at best the Labour Party and National Party tied. Not shaping up to be Labour’s night. I believe we have the exit poll ready. Let’s take a look.

John: Wow.

*Graphic under the screen: National Party to be largest party.*

Kalā: I would not want to be Gerald Fenn, tonight.

Emma: Now we should clarify these are just first preference votes in the constituencies so it could shape up to be a bit different than this. But it is fairly safe to say that the National Party will be the largest party even with that large swing against them. You are not wrong though. This is probably a terrible night for Labour. Not only are you out of power again but you’re only barely the largest leftwing party.

Anthony: Reactions on social media have been pretty tense with many Labour MPs blaming the Alliance Party for forcing labour to compete with them instead of being able to focus on an anti-national party message.

Natalie: I mean when you run a bad campaign you can find someone to blame but they probably should be focused on looking internally. The exit poll’s other questions show that Gerald Fenn had the highest unfavorables of any party leader.

Zach: I believe that we are getting some results, now this is mostly from the rural constituencies that only need to elect five members. But so far with about one hundred seats called. The National Party has won forty seats. Labour is performing better than the poll suggests at about thirty. With Alliance down at fifteen.

Emma: Yes, however, I’d caution against making the assumption that the night is going to turn out better for labour. The rural seats not only largely favor the National Party, but they are also much more Luthorian than the urban districts which is where we are expecting Alliance to do the best. The old Labour homelands. The interesting part is that in traditional suburban areas Labour is over performing. This is where the National Party really lost voters and could be a worrying sign for the future for them.

John: I’m being told that the Tropican First Party is seeing a surprising number of second place rankings from National Party voters. Could be a sign that their voters are much more comfortable with the idea of them being a member of the coalition than in previous elections.

Anthony: I believe we have a bit of breaking news. Labour’s Gerald Fenn has placed second in first preference votes in his constituency of New Kosmos Central. Losing out to Charlotte O’Hare of the Alliance Party. He still has crossed the threshold to be elected in parliament but still it is shocking as he has always done very well there.

Kalā: I do not believe you can get much clearer than that on where the problem for Labour is. They set themselves up for this. The Alliance Party has been able to take advantage of an electorate that wants change but did not see it from Labour.

Zach: This is not to take anything away from the Alliance Party as they’ve done very well, but I wonder if they did benefit from largely not having a history that could be attacked or pointed to as their opponents. The National Party was focused on the last Labour Government and its mismanagement in their campaign, and it seems to have worked at least enough. Whereas there’s little to say that the Alliance Party would be bad for Tropica because they just have not done anything.

Anthony: Maybe, but I do not think anyone would have predicted that they would have done this well. We should be getting the final numbers back. Yes. National Party 138, Labour 111, Alliance Party 78, Act! 42, Tropican First 31.

Emma: In theory that means that the National Party is not guaranteed to be the next government. But I don’t know that either three party coalitions are going to be very stable. How would Act! And Tropican First works in a coalition, and if Labour leads a government how do you manage that Act! Isn’t going to want to abandon austerity which is the main pitch of both Labour and Alliance.

John: I’m not sure but in his victory speech Henry Shelton promised National Party supporters that they would lead the next government while Gerald Fenn has stated he will explore every option to denying the Nationals a government. Coalition negotiations are likely going to be taking place for a few weeks. They have until the end of the recess in January to have reached a deal or there will be another round of elections.

Anthony: It is quite the exciting time in Tropican politics. We will be providing coverage and updates regarding negotiations. Take care and enjoy tomorrow’s Sunrise!

[Blake]

Sunrise Network: The National Party form a government

by Anthony Clarke

Nikutabi - Earlier today, Prime Minister Henry Shelton announced that his National Party had reached an agreement with Act! and Tropican First to form a government. They combine to control a full two hundred and eleven seats. The agreement centers around small cuts to social welfare programs while increasing work requirements for those receiving welfare as demanded by the Tropican First Party, along with middle class tax cuts wanted by Act! and the general push for a more pro-friendly business environment that the National Party has always pursued. Larger cuts to public services were demanded by the Tropican First Party but apparently Act! stood against any further cuts to education and healthcare. The deal continues Andy Spence’s time as deputy Prime Minister and Act! Ministers will be appointed to Internal Affairs, Attorney General, Education, and Culture. Whereas Tropican First will have ministers appointed to Customs, Regional Development, Defense and Housing. With the National Party having the lion’s share of ministers including Foreign Affairs, the Treasury, Health, Agriculture, Environment, and Energy.



Shelton’s statement on the formation of the government, focused on continuing the stability of National Party Leadership. Promising that Tropican’s fiscal house will get in order while lowering the tax burden on hard working Tropicans. Deputy Prime Minister Andy Spence focused on how Act! has made sure to stop the worst impulses of both the National Party, and Tropican First. He pointed out that his party has prevented deep cuts to public services, and prevented reactionary promises on immigration and election reform. Whereas the Tropican First Party leader and future Defense Minister Wesley Tyson focused on that the deal achieves many of their election promises and that they will still push for an up and down vote on lowering immigration numbers and protecting election integrity. Many in the media are surprised to see Act! enter into a coalition with Tropican First as polling showed it was deeply unpopular with their supporters.

To the Labour Party this deal comes out of left field who stated they had meetings with Act! to negotiate a coalition agreement. However, Labour was insistent about excluding the new Alliance Party from the government demanding that they simply supported a Minority Coalition. Stating they were not a serious party ready for government. Since the announcement Labour has focused on how Act! has betrayed its voters in endorsing this government instead of trying to reach an agreement that would restore public services and end the austerity. Mālie Keahi of the Alliance Party stated “Act! is the party we’ve always known they are. They are far more willing to continue the austerity that they have supported for ten years, than even negotiate with a left-wing party. We are going to oppose the cuts at every turn and do what we can to protect the most vulnerable. The people need a real leftwing voice.” She went on to comment about Labour’s policy of not entering in a coalition with the Alliance Party, focusing on how it is clear that Labour has not and will not learn the lessons the voters are screaming at them. She also would state that the Alliance Party is ready for government and that they are prepared to offer a real alternative to the National Party.

Time will tell how effective this coalition will be and whether or not Labour can learn to live with another party on its side of the aisle.

[Blake]

Sunrise Network: Hundreds of Teachers laid off

by John Baker

Nikutabi - Earlier today the Minister of Education Ashlyn May (Act!) announced that as a result of the budget cuts from earlier this year, the difficult decision has been made to lay off hundreds of public-school teachers. In her statement she said that this was unavoidable as the cuts were necessary as the teacher's union was unwilling to come to an agreement on pay that would allow the ministry to stay on budget without having to cut any jobs. She is insistent that these layoffs will not result in a decline in student performance. She is hopeful that as the economy improves from the tax cuts passed as part of the budget the money will be reinvested into education so that these layoffs end up being temporary. This announcement comes on the back of a close election; however, Minister May was adamant that this decision was not planned or even discussed prior to the election and is simply the result of the new reality based on recently published budget projections.

However, the claims made by Ashlyn May have been refuted by the head of the Teacher’s Union Judy Hightower, who stated that the Teacher’s Union was unwilling to accept a pay cut but had dropped their demand of a pay increase in order to find common ground with the Ministry of Education. “Our kids are already piled into classes with nearly thirty other kids. Their schools are falling apart, and many teachers are leaving the profession altogether before these layoffs. This government is failing our children. We are going to have to consider our next options because we cannot continue like this. Teachers haven’t had a pay increase in over seven years, and the cost of living is out of control. It is unacceptable.”

Act! members of the government have voiced their support for this move, focusing on the fact that sometimes tough decisions have to be made. The Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister have both emphasized the importance of governing within our nation's means to prevent building up massive debt that will saddle our children without the means to even pay for basic public services. Tropican First members of Parliament have started to talk in the media about the ability to save more money by moving to a school voucher focused system rather than a government run education system. Though that idea does not at the moment have broad governmental support.

Alliance and Labour MPs have been outspoken in their opposition. “This government is destroying our public services.” Gerald Fenn, the leader of the Labour Party stated. Going further: “These disastrous austerity cuts have been going on for too long. We had an opportunity to end them at the last election, but the selfishness and narcissism of the Alliance Party allowed this government to continue. We could have had a return to the years of William Tama. When our public services were strong and our students always performed well on their text scores. I can promise any teacher considering who to vote for in the next election, that only voting for Labour will lead to having a government that prioritizes our public services. This country will not accept a government led by those it sees as extreme. The Alliance Party is too far away from the center to win the votes needed to form a government.”

Alliance Party Leader Mālie Keahi, a former schoolteacher, was much more focused on attacking the Government. Stating that the government has known about these cuts for months but held off on the unpopular layoffs until after they were reelected. “How do they expect us to believe that they only decided now to do layoffs when they cut the budget six months ago? No, they just did not want to lose the election. Because they knew that the people were crying out for change. They want stronger public services. They want to end this austerity. The worst part is if you look at where the teachers have been laid off from schools that are majority Tropican. They are hurting the schools that need teachers the most. Act! is not an unwilling partner in this. They are complicit in the cruelty of the National Party and now Tropican First! We are going to fight this government's layoffs as much as we can and if the teachers strike, we will be right there next to them.”

Polls are showing that these layoffs are not supported by the public with about 63% of respondents saying that they disagree with the layoffs of teachers this year, with only 29% of respondents saying they agree with them. Additionally, about 52% of respondents say that teachers would be well within their rights to strike because of this. However, National Party and Tropican First voters generally approve of the layoffs whereas Act! voters are much more mixed. Labour and Alliance voters overwhelmingly oppose the layoffs.

The Teacher’s Union is apparently frustrated with Labour's response. With an anonymous source stating that their focus on the Alliance Party rather than government is extremely disappointing. The source would go on to state: “People are losing their jobs, and you’re focused on your political horse race. If Labour cannot get their act together on focusing on being a voice for teachers rather than grumpy politicians, we are going to have to consider endorsing a different party next time.” If that happens it would be the first time a labour union has endorsed a non-labour party in decades.

The fallout of these layoffs is likely not going to be known for months or years. But it likely will not be the last round of lay offs of this government, nor are the divisions between the Alliance Party and Labour likely to end any time soon.

[Blake]

Sunrise Network: Prime Minister on Holiday while Tropican City Recovers from Massive Earthquake

by Kalā Kalili

Nikutabi - Earlier this week Tropican City was devastated with a massive 8.1 magnitude earthquake. So far two hundred and fifty-three have been declared dead with another fifty-seven still reported missing. Some families are still without shelter, and more are without power. City officials state that they have not been able to get the Tropican Government to approve full disaster relief funds. With the Ministry of Regional Development supposedly only approving a quarter of the funds requested. Leaving the city with little ability to help those in need, instead having to focus purely on limiting further damages. A spokesperson for the Minister of Regional Development stated that he is waiting for a chance to talk with the Prime Minister and the Minister of the Treasury to make sure that additional funds will be provided. He cites concerns over aftershocks, tsunamis, and other additional consequences that requires him to be frugal with the funds. He states that he is sympathetic and is working with private charities to get the people the help they need. When asked why he has not been able to speak with the Prime Minister, the minister stated that the Prime Minister was on his scheduled vacation and was unreachable. After a fierce negative media reaction, the government has since walked back the statement that he was unreachable. They stated that “The Prime Minister is aware and is closely monitoring the situation. He has had long discussions with all members of his government and has personally approved the full deployment of the emergency funds.

Reactions all across Tropican have been quite negative about the Government’s response. “They constantly talk about how we have to get our finances in order to make sure that we are ready when the rainy days come. Well, if this is not a rainy day, I don’t know what is.” Said one voter from Nikutabi. Another stated “To find out the Prime Minister is on vacation is just a huge slap in the face to the people who don’t know where they are going to sleep tonight and haven’t known all week.” Reactions in Tropican City have been much more extreme. “They don’t care about us. How do you look at these apartment complexes that have been destroyed, broken powerlines, people still being pulled from the rubble, and think this is the time to be penny pinching? It is beyond heartless; it is actively cruel.” Stated one resident. Another stating, “if this had happened in New Kosmos is there any question if the emergency funds would’ve been approved immediately? Of course they would have gotten the help they needed. It is a disgrace that we have a government so willing to play favorites.

The Mayor of Tropican City Mele Kealoha “we are a resilient people, and we are going to get through this crisis. I am glad that this government has finally given us the resources we need to be able to help all of our citizens. Our community has really come together in this time of crisis. We are going to make sure that every person who lost their home, has food and a warm bed. To those who are still trying to find their families we are going to find them soon, and we will have power and water restored to the entire city as soon as possible. We must look forward as well and when we rebuild the buildings that we destroyed we need to make sure that they are constructed to withstand future earthquakes. I will be fighting tooth and nail in the City Council and with Parliament to strengthen our building codes. We can save lives; we only have to be willing to do so.”

When the Prime Minister returns from his vacation he will find a country that has turned further against his government. Time will tell if his reputation is irreparably damaged.

[Blake]

Sunset News:
Opposition Parties Schedule a Vote of No Confidence

Earlier today the Speaker of Parliament’s office was informed that a Vote of No Confidence motion in the Prime Minister had been made by members of the opposition. The motion was made by Alliance Party leader Mālie Keahi. However, the Labour Party is the one who asked for it to be scheduled on their opposition day. An unusual sign of cooperation between the two parties as Labour has generally been more focused on fighting the Alliance Party rather than the National Party. However, both parties have seen a bounce in the polls as it currently looks the two parties could form an outright majority on their own. So, maybe this is the first step to actual cooperation between the two parties in preparation of forming the next government.

This is the first vote of no confidence measure in at least twenty years to be scheduled against a Prime Minister. The Prime Minister has been on rocky footing both within his party and with the Government at large. The Prime Minister has been in rocky water since it was found out that he was unable to be reached due to a vacation during the aftermath of the earthquake that rocked Tropica. Since then his party has been trailing in the polls to Labour and Alliance with them sometimes falling behind Tropican First. This drop in the polls has led some members of his party to call for the government to lean more to the right and try and chase Tropican First voters in order to rebuild their coalition.

While Act! leader Andy Spence is a known ally of the Prime Minister, Act! backbenchers are worried about the shift to the right made by the National Party and they are worried that they could drag him Act! down with the Prime Minister if they remain in the unpopular government for much longer. Some anonymous sources within Act! said the first domino to fall in the collapse of this government could be the Deputy Prime Minister as he led the charge to not even consider a coalition with the Labour Party citing their inability to truly form a government. But with Act!’s polling falling into single digits it is no wonder that their insiders are considering every option. However, Andy Spence has been clear that he supports this government and will be voting against the Vote of No confidence.

However, the other party in the Coalition might make the most surprising ally for Labour and Alliance. Wesley Tyson, Tropican First’s leader has said he wouldn’t mind an election soon as he feels like this government isn’t doing enough to balance the budget, protect Tropican borders, ensure election security, empower parents in education, and many more of Tropican First’s priorities. He’s stated that he will be meeting with the Prime Minister in the coming days to address these concerns. Many political commentators are calling this a shakedown that Tropican First has done at nearly every confidence vote like the budgets. It is assumed that they will get some minor concessions and then back the vote of no confidence. But some of the more centrist members of the National Party are stating that enough is enough and if the Tropican First wants to hand deliver a left wing government. Let them.

If the motion does pass and Labour and Alliance are unable to form a Government with Act! as the most likely third partner there will be an election in a few months. However, if the vote doesn’t pass the election will be no later than next year. The country overwhelmingly wants an election with one poll showing 63% of respondents in favor of an early trip to the polls. Time will tell if this government will hold on.

[Blake]

November 5472: General Election

*Sunrise Network logo appears on the broadcast*

Voice over: “Welcome to the Sunrise Network Election Night Coverage.”

Anthony: Good evening, thank you for joining us for our special election night coverage. My name is Anthony Clarke and I will be your host for this evening. I am joined by my cohosts John Baker, Kalā Kalili, and my lovely wife, Natalie Clarke. Emma Baker is standing by our magic board to help us analyze the data as it comes in and make the calls about which party is likely to form a majority. I am going to hand it over to John so he can go over how we got here.

John: Thank you, Anthony. Unlike last election where we had little idea which party group was going to end up in the majority. We are pretty certain that the coalition coming out of this election will be a left leaning one. The National Party and Act! poll numbers have collapsed. Act! will likely end up being the smallest party whereas the National Party could even finish behind the far right Tropican First Party. The government is as unpopular as ever after another five years of harsh austerity. To the point that Tropican First were looking like they were going to kill the Government but actually forced some anti-austerity measures which helped them gain at the expense of the National Party. But the real story is the Alliance vs Labour race. It is clear that one of them will be the largest party and lead the government. It is just not clear which one.

Natalie: It was because of how close they were that Labour decided to continue their focus on campaigning against the Alliance Party instead of the National Party. Where the Alliance Party has always stated their focus was on ending the right wing austerity government. They rarely took direct attacks on Labour with their closest being comments about that it was time for a new generation of leaders, which given the eldest party leader is Labour’s was seen as a cheeky attack on both the Government and the Labour Party.

Anthony: All five parties stuck with their leaders from the last election. Which honestly is probably the biggest factor in Alliance’s favor, all things considered. Their leader Mālie Keahi remains by far the most popular. She looks poised to be the first native Tropican to be elected Prime Minister in over thirty years. Which is an astounding fact given they are overwhelmingly the majority population in Tropican.

*Skips forward to the end of the night*

Anthony: At the end of this election Alliance is the largest party followed by Labour. The National Party barely retains third over the Tropican First, while Act! holds on to just two seats. Alliance and Labour are expected to quickly reach a coalition agreement as it was rumored that both parties have been planning for either party to end up as the largest one going into it. Combined both parties received 68% of the first preference votes, an astounding landslide that shows just how unpopular the government had gotten. 

Emma: An interesting point I will break down further in an article later this week is where the successes of the Labour and Alliance Parties diverged. Labour did better in the Suburbs and traditional Act! and National Party strongholds. While Alliance swept the cities and more urban leaning suburbs, which are placed that Labour has done traditional very well. If the suburbs ever readjust to the National Party, it is likely that Labour could get close to being wiped out. They need to figure out why their old heartlands have moved away from them. 

Emma: This is how the parliament breakdown will look for the next five years, and we will be sure to keep you up to date on coalition negotiations and how quickly this new Government works to end the near two decades of austerity that was the prime focus of the previous governments.