Kalasin, Now Free, Goes to the Polls Nantin Willapana
02/11/2024
Kalasin held its recently-scheduled elections for the office of Minister-President and for the regional assembly. While numerous parties were able to participate under guiding hand of the Allied Provisional Authority, only three parties—the Liberal Democratic, Conservative, and Renewal parties—were successful in gaining seats within the assembly. But before we can discuss the results of the election, it is perhaps best if we provide a refresher for who these parties are as well as who they are aligned with in the Union State at large. First off, the Liberal Democratic Party is, as the name suggests, is a centrist party led by Minister President-elect Tai Montri which is aligned to the larger Democratic Party based in Paechon. The party formed in 2019 following the signing of the Saelim-Mangjul accords and quickly aligned itself with said party in Paechon, seeing it as a valuable source of funding at the time. Over the years since, they have grown closer to one another, with much of the party's leadership going into exile once Kalasin attempted to terminate its membership within the Union. The party is seen as generally in favor of permitting coalition forces to remain in the region, much like the Conservative Party.
On the note of the Conservative party, they too are aligned with a larger supranational part, in their case the NSP—the National Salvation Party. This party, forming a "big tent" of various conservative positions, had previously been supplanted by the now-banned People's Party which led the region into declaring its independence last year. The party is led by Anutin Suebsang and will form the primary opposition to the new ruling party in the regional assembly. Finally, the Renewal party, an alliance of left-wing politicians, was also successful in gaining seats in the assembly, and it is led by Paetongtarn Silpa-archa. The conservative party, like the LDP, is in support of the continued presence of coalition forces through 2027; only the Renewal party has advocated for an earlier withdrawal. The elections were conducted with independent monitoring from the nations which contribute to the APA, this coming in spite of demands by the Kusanese government that "independent" monitoring, which is of course to say that they be granted a seat at the table—that they be permitted to choose the fate of our beloved nation—be provided.
As already noted, Tai Montri, a Ranong native, was elected as the new Minister-President of Kalasin, gaining a stunning 46% of the vote while Suebsang gained 29% and Silpa-archa gained 21%. Roughly 4% of the votes were for independent candidates as well as candidates put forwards by more minor parties. Meanwhile, in the unicameral Regional Assembly, the LDP gained 58 seats while the Conservatives picked up 37 and the Renewal Party gained 25. For the sake of ensuring future elections do not serve as a drain on the economy, 75 of the newly elected representatives will only serve for two years, however will be permitted for an additional third term as compensation rather than the standard two terms currently in place; if they are not reelected, this extra term will not apply to the new representative. In his victory speech, Montri thanked everyone for their support, both in fighting for a free Kalasin under the auspices of the Union State, but also asked that the nation continue to remember the many lives who had been lost in the "Soknatkrrm", a name for the recent genocide which ravaged the nation under the leadership of Kasidej Rangsitpol and executed by the PAFK. He also warned that though the nation was liberated, the PAFK continued to pose a threat to not only Kalasin, but to the world at large, and vowed that he would pursue their erradication during his time in office.