Halendian National Public Broadcasting [Newswire|Read-Only]

[Halend]

Halendian National Public Broadcasting
Solidarity in knowledge

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RSP Puts Funaki Up for Reelection
Would be his 5th term--fatigue for Reformed Socialists high


Prime Ministers Funaki accepts the nomination

Last night, the Reformed Socialist Party nominated Prime Minister Toshi Funaki for reelection. The RSP has won every election in the USSH since 1998, when the first elections were held after the civil war. Funaki in particular, as a war hero and now experienced politican, has always been the favorite thus far.

But polls are saying that this time might be different. The RSP, while the favorite for the presidency as usual, is dipping in parliament polls. The House of Representatives, were the election held today based on current projections, would come up with with a Centrist majority, giving the seat to Centrist nominee Sosa Yoshida. Analysts are saying that several factors may be in play, chief among them being public fatigue, unpopular foreign policy moves in the last week and the appeal of the Centrists to more conservative voters.

If elected, Prime Minister Funaki would enter his fifth five-year term, continuing a strong Reformed Socialist government that has held firm for 20 years. With the country completing its post-war recovery process, even pushing out the nation's first aircraft carrier in a show of the renewed strength of the Halendian economy and military, voters may no longer feel an obligation to vote RSP purely because of their usual talking point of rebuilding and ensuring a stable democratic system. And without that, the RSP will have to find a new, radically different platform, as the voters demand real change.

What's more, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been making waves with its response to the Tsengai situation, and they haven't been popular. With military action in Tsengai looking ever more likely, polls suggest that this is one conflict the people would prefer to sit out, with one poll indicating 62.12% of those polled being against military intervention. With the Centrists pouncing on this and pushing an isolationist, pacifist foreign policy, the current course may prove to be a major misstep for Funaki.

Finally, Centrists are simply more popular than any other party with conservative voters by a wide margin. Despite popular belief, there is a large number of conservatives in Halend, generally in the rural areas, who consider themselves oddly excluded in election cycles. All of the parties that currently meet the requirements for official electoral recognition by the Election Commission and a spot on the ballot are various shades of left-wing, with the Centrists being furthest right with a neoliberal platform. Candidate Yoshida is promising a different, slightly farther right platform tis year, emphasizing the merits of full transition to a capitalist society and pushing to loosen the restrictions for electoral recognition. This platform has excited the conservative voter base for perhaps the first time in 20 years of elections.

All of these factors combined seem to paint a bleak picture for the RSP. They will need a new platform to excite the people, and putting Funaki up again doesn't seem to have that effect.

The elections are to be held on the 1st of August this year.

[Halend]

Yoshida: Presidency, Prime Ministry "Should be Merged"
A matter of efficiency or consolidation of power?


Yoshida in an interview with Innovative Machinations Directory

Centrist candidate Sosa Yoshida took part in an interview with Innovative Machinations Directory (an independent news source) this morning. The interview covered several topics, including the RSP's interventionalist policy in Tsengai, which Yoshida has been criticizing heavily as of late.

However, the interview took an odd turn when Yoshida was asked to comment on whether the prime minister has the authority to direct the actions of the military, as Prime Minister Funaki has been. Yoshida replied:

"Well, of course he has the authority, that is not in the question. Who's going to direct the military? The president? The president handles domestic affairs, not foreign affairs. Now, if you ask me, I think they should be merged. That would be more efficient, and it would make for less confusion. That's how the US does it, and look at how the US is doing. I think they should be merged. I would try to do that, have them merged."

Critics are already pointing to this as another example of Yoshida pushing for consolidating power in fewer politicians, which they believe indicates a larger authoritarian bent. Supporters, however, are saying that he didn't imply any authoritarian motive whatsoever, and that his words are being twisted.

"All Yoshida said was to make the heads of state and government the same thing, like most other republics," said Punch user drill-pill in a post. "Leave it to the media and the teenagers who support only the candidate with the most glitters and rainbows to think he's totes a fascist because he wants a little streamlining everybody."

In its report on the interview, IMD commented that the tangent had little to do with the question and was odd to suddenly go into. This has led some to question Yoshida's mental wellness.

No representatives of the Reformed Socialist Party have released a statement.

[Halend]

Halendian National Public Broadcasting

Mere Hours After Yoshida Interview, Council Introduces Head of State/Head of Government Merge Bill

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The Council of Advisors put forth a bill this evening that would abolish the presidency and vest all executive power in the prime minister and the ministries. This seems to be in direct response to an interview Centrist candidate Sosa Yoshida gave this morning suggesting that the presidency and the prime ministry should be merged. While some of the advisors are denying this, saying the bill was being debated for months in advance, legal experts say the bill is sloppily written and sounds like a pre first draft-on-floor bill, suggesting something thrown together to one-up the opposition party.

Though the bill is expected to fail without serious revisions, protests have already erupted outside the National Legislature. The Reformed Socialists have already plummeted in the polls. The Minority Front has had a minor surge, likely as a protest vote. Overall, this seems to be a major misstep on the part of the RSP.

Yoshida has been quick to criticize the bill himself, calling the affair "The pettiest game of oneupmanship imaginable."

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[Halend]

In Massive Upset, Merge Bill Passes in the Council
Bill will continue to the House


The Council meets for the final vote

At 4:32 PM (HST), the Council of Advisors announced that it had completed its vote on the highly controversial bill that would merge the presidency and the prime ministry--or, more accurately, abolish the presidency and pass on its powers to the prime ministry. Against most predictions, the Council moved to pass the bill by a close margin--4 YEA and 3 NAY. The bill will be passed onto the House for further debate.

The decision has elicited much public outcry, with critics calling it a dangerous game of "It Was My Idea First" that could lead to a quick erosion of democratic freedoms and the consolidation of power in a single man. It has also been called unconstitutional, as the Halendian constitution states that amendments must be passed through referendum, as the 1st Amendment (enshrining various LGBT+ rights) was passed in 2008.

Prime Minister Toshi Funaki is to hold a press release tonight at 10. Tune into the livestream at www.hnpb.org.hl/livestreams/funaki-release-7-21,or the official television broadcast on Channel 0.

[Halend]

House of Representatives Passes PM-Presidency Merge Bill
PM to gain domestic policy authority ahead of election

In a major upset vote, the House of Representatives has voted to pass a bill that will dissolve the presidency and pass all its powers to the prime ministry. The bill passed extremely narrowly, with 257 YAY and 253 NAY, a mere two-vote majority. The Overseer of the Parliment has stated that they will be signing the bill into law, in an as-always anonymous release.

A wave of protests has reignited in response to the unpopular vote, with critics claiming that it represents is an unacceptable centralization of power. Centrist candidate Sosa Yoshida--despite having originally suggested the bill in an interview--invoked Star Wars by calling it "reminiscent of Palpatine", and demanded the bill be put to referendum before final approval.

The bill is being passed at a crucial time, mere days before the election. This has been seen by many as an opportunistic move by the RSP to lean into the nation's right-wing. The RSP has received strong criticism for this, including from members of the party itself.

Prime Minister Toshi Funaki will be sworn in under the new oath tonight at 9 PM.