Yachese Referendum Campaigners Arrested by Izhitska EdnotaKenna Sladek
24 October 2021
Skrshin, a sleepy town just across Yach’s southern border, is known mainly as a place for truckers and tourists making the trip between Lzmdint and Zapadni Pokhod to rest and have a bite to eat. However, in recent days, it has become the site for more political activity. Campaigners from Yach, eager to ensure that the referendum succeeds, have been taking advantage of the hublike status of the town to promote the new constitution, in
direct violation of rules set for the vote being held by Izhitska Ednota.
Today, party officials put a stop to it, arresting 24 individuals associated with the campaign. “It’s unfortunate that we had to go so far to safeguard our election,” said Kamil Petrovich, the officer responsible for the arrest, “but the law is the law.” Petrovich went on to say that the detainees would be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, indicating that they may be held in Izhitska Ednota prisons until the new year.
While the law is purportedly intended to prevent interference with the referendum, some observers have indicated concern that it is intended to tilt the result in favor of Izhitska Ednota’s preferred outcome, a negative result. According to Kinsa Edris, a political scientist who works for the University of Tilhuitnah, “This falls right into the party’s pattern of anti-democratic behavior. Campaigning is an essential part of democratic politics, and by banning it within their territories, they’re able to control the narrative about the constitution.”
At least one of the campaigners, Guran Navaz, is reported to be a local
Shaab Yach official, a fact that hasn’t been lost on Izhitska Ednota. “It’s such a shame that our neighbours to the north, not content with forcing the constitution through to the referendum without our input,” said Petrovich, “has now resorted to sending their people over here to break our laws.” Shaab Yach has acknowledged that Navaz as one of their officials, but denied any official involvement.
Yachese Parliament has issued a memorandum condemning the arrests, and demanding that their citizens be returned to Yach to be tried by their peers. The request is unlikely to be met, considering that laws issued by Izhitska Ednota hold no force in the Yachese administrative zone.
Yachese Parliament has also issued a warning to Yachese, Izhitsans, and foreigners in Izhitsa to avoid travel through Eastern Izhitsa. “Neither Yach nor the Federal Assembly can guarantee the safety or freedom of individuals travelling through territories controlled by Izhitska Ednota,” said a parliamentary spokesman. “We highly recommend avoiding all unnecessary travel, including commercial travel in those areas, and encourage all Yachese citizens to return leave as soon as possible.”
Whatever hopes Federal Assembly members may have had that Izhitska Ednota would hold a fair referendum seem to have been dashed. While the Assembly did not respond to requests for comment, insiders have reported rumours that prominent lawmakers are already planning contingency measures in case—or perhaps more correctly,
when—the vote fails.
Kinsa Edris, certainly, is pessimistic about whether the results of their referendum could be trusted. As she says, “Izhitska Ednota has been openly advocating against the constitution since it was passed to the people by the Federal Assembly. It controls both the election and their people’s ration cards. Even without overt political influence, they are hoping that their people will vote in the party’s interests. We cannot expect a democratic result from this election.”