Yes it’s true. We finally managed to agree on an electoral process. Planned for 2016 already, the election had to be postponed several times due to problems in the process. But better late than never. While there were already elections of representatives of the National Assembly in 2006, 2010, and 2012, this is the first time you vote for the next PM.
While the last legislature consisted of five parties with one (the LRU) governing, eight parties have applied for the voting list now. Therefore, it is considered very unlikely that one party gets the absolute majority, which is required. That’s why it will be necessary to form a governing coalition. As there is no minimum percentage to enter the NA, all eight will join in. Just the percentages will be exciting, especially, of course, those who will eventually govern, as both the nation’s favourites (Gina Horroway and Brittany Hess), who have already been in charge, now run separately, and especially the more right-parties have already announced to form their own coalition (which is called the Organised Opposition so far, but will change if they manage to win, of course).
So, who’s gonna run Democratic Lykna for the next four years, and will former rivals be forced to get together again? And how strong is the opposition gonna be? And will we have to drop our Matriarchy label in case the one male candidate becomes the next PM? This is what we will find out in one week. You decide on that. And you! And also you, that guy with the green hat over there!
And yes, we know that this system is complicated and will lead to a total chaos, and it will increase the number of seats in the NA (300 in last term). But Lykna is a chaotic place, so we adopt a system fitting our makeup. And to be honest, politics are more fun if you have a colourful parliament, right?
Foreign endorsements are warmly welcome. You have a maximum of three votes.
Party: Lyknic Republican Union (LRU)
Leader: Gina Horroway
Political orientation: free-market capitalism (with basic welfare), social libertarianism, slight militarism.
Description: Gina Horroway was born on November 28, 1979, in Santa Clara by the Bay. She became PM in 2010 via appointment by Queen Karen I., together with Brittany Hess and Stacey Carrington, and has kept ruling Lykna on her own since Carrington quit and Hess got removed from office. She is fluent at English, Spanish, and Dutch.
Horroway is known for heavily supporting Civil Rights. Also, she clearly prioritises road and railroad infrastructure over environmental protection. Another focus she used to have in mind is the military: the construction of a number of sorts of weaponry got commissioned by her. Horroway is a free-market capitalist, yet supports basic welfare. Also, she managed to save taxes while being efficient at business subsidisation. She is infamous for being quite stubborn and impatient, but mostly polite.
Party: Lyknic Freedom Alliance (LFA)
Leader: Brittany Hess
Political orientation: social libertarianism, Rhine capitalism, slight internationalism.
Description: Brittany Hess was born on October 24, 1988, in Lyslaw. She joined the LRU when she was 18. First, she started to work at Occidental Programming ('OP'), Lykna’s biggest IT company, until, in 2009, a seat in the NA became vacant and she stepped in. Together with Horroway and Carrington, she became PM in 2010.
Unlike Horroway, Hess has always preferred a social market economy with a distinct focus on social welfare, but still using the benefits of capitalism. Once, she submitted a social reform and a Bill of Freedoms for legislation while Horroway was on a trip. The few drug and gun restrictions Lykna still had got immediately abolished according to this bill. Horroway approved it belatedly. Hess eventually got removed from office in 2012 when she faced her trial at the Supreme Court due to suspicion of corruption, which she had been accused of by Horroway. Although she was found innocent, she lost her position and founded her own party, the LFA, deciding to run for the PM office again at the next election. Hess is generally known for being calm and diplomatic. As a result, she prefers international diplomacy and trade over plain armament. Also, she plans to extend the welfare system and to integrate environmental protection into future infrastructure projects.
Party: Lyknic Democratic Union (LDU)
Leader: Megan Cole
Political orientation: social market economy, slight environmentalism, militarism, culturalism, social libertarianism.
Description: Megan Cole was born on July 18, 1980, in Santa Clara. She was Supreme Mayor of Santa Clara from 2003 to 2007 and Minister of Sports & Youth Affairs from 2005 to 2010.
When the triumvirate of Horroway, Hess and Carrington got appointed, she took over leadership of the LDU. While the party shared many points with the governing LRU, Cole dragged the party into direction of her own imagination. Concerned about the health status of the younger generation, Cole proposed a revamp of the educational system in favour of a focus on physical education, which should include a mandatory physical fitness test for every graduating student, the result should form 30 to 50% of the final grade. Alternatively, she suggested re-introducing conscription, this time for both men and women. Both her quite radical proposals were denied by the other parties. But who says it’s forever. Cole generally favours social market economy and international diplomacy (yet also focusing the military), also environmental protection (fitting to her health issue). Besides, she wants to protect the cultural identity of Lykna, also distinguishing it from others.
Party: Lyknic Homeland Alliance (LHA)
Leader: Carolina Perera
Political orientation: slight social conservatism, militarism, isolationism.
Description: Carolina Perera was born on January 16, 1984, in Lorrinsgrove as the oldest of five children of a farmers' family of Spanish-Caribbean descent. She was the first member of her family who managed to get a job in the administration. As the mayor of her hometown, the second-but-smallest municipality of Lykna, she still had to deal with the consequences of the War, which were still visible in the municipality. In 2014, she took over leadership of the LHA, a royalist party back then.
Over time, Perera developed Lyknic-nationalist ideas, so a form of nationalism not based on ethnicity, but on geographic area. In her opinion, Lykna should be isolated from international politics but build up a strong army (yet without conscription), following the concept of armed neutrality. Economically, she supports free-market capitalism.
Party: Alliance 2006 (A06)
Leader: Spike Leary
Political orientation: mixed-market capitalism, centrism, internationalism, social libertarianism.
Description: Spike Leary was born on August 29, 1982, in Laola Bay. He entered politics after finishing school and founded his own party in 2006.
Often viewed as Brittany Hess's male counterpart due to his relaxed kind, he has a few different points though. He considers himself anti-bureaucratic, thinking that some organs of the political process "seriously need to be tidied up." He favours mixed-market capitalism with a load of state-run enterprises, along with some public-private partnership. He gave his party a deliberately neutral name, to get "everyone who doesn't really fit in." Therefore, he declares his alliance as centrist. Although he has always been in the opposition so far, he was known for frequently having a good drink with Horroway and Hess. ("Opponents don't always have to be enemies.")
Party: Communist Party of Democratic Lykna (CPDL)
Leader: Stella Vansippen
Political orientation: Marxism-Leninism, internationalism, environmentalism, social libertarianism.
Description: Stella Vansippen was born on April 12, 1991, in New Breda. Her actual name was "van Sippen", but she decided to change the spelling in 2007, because she was tired of being associated with Dutch nobility. She developed her points of view quite early. In 2009, she used a fun action to gain attention: she took a few friends with her and occupied her own school, proclaiming the People's Republic of Lykna. Although it was just for fun, she got she attention she wanted. She joined the CPDL right after that and took over leadership in 2015.
Her main goal is to nationalise the entire economy, or at least parts of it, and wiping out economic elites, leading to a fully classless society. Also, environmental protection is important to her. Regarding foreign politics, she wants to lead Lykna into a socialist bloc and ally with fellow comrades.
Party: Lyknic Violet Union (LVU)
Leader: Shamaine Malkia Mugambi
Political orientation: social conservatism, social market economy, religiosity.
Description: Shamaine Malkia Mugambi was born on October 8, 1989, in Santa Clara. Her parents came from an African country to Lykna as refugees. She entered the Lyknic Cultural Forum in 2008 and became head of it in 2013. She is quite devout and somewhat more conservative than the average Lyknic. She supports social welfare and environmental protection, as she considers them duties given by any religion, which she prefers none of particularly. Yet, she wants to bring spirituality back to the Lyknic state apparatus, where it has not played any major role since the military rule.
She, jokingly, often calls herself "First Lyknic Queen since Karen" referring to her second name Malkia, the Swahili word for queen.
Party: Initiative Nolan Reilly (INR)
Leader: Caitlin Finnigan
Political orientation: nationalism, militarism, interventionism, free-market capitalism, social libertarianism.
Description: Caitlin Finnigan was born on June 17, 1995, in Lyslaw. She joined the military in 2011, became Officer in 2013 and Superior Officer in 2014. As such, she was member of a think-tank dealing with new strategical options, as the only non-General. She quit her duty in 2017 to enter national politics, as the youngest of all faction leaders who will be in the NA soon.
She sees herself in the tradition of Ross Graham, John Wilbur Zapata, and Nolan Reilly, the three ruling generals during the era of the military dictatorship. Consequently, she named her party after Reilly. While she used to be a follower of Perera’s (LHA), she disagrees with some of her points, which is why she founded the INR. Finnigan proposes a new foreign policy where the military should be an adequate device to intervene in foreign countries oppressing their peoples, starting with those in Lykna’s immediate area of influence. Conscription should be an option in her opinion. Apart from that, she supports the social policies established so far, while she favours free-market capitalism.
