Viendilia By-Election

## Background

Viendilia is one of the many regions of Mayseland and is the largest eastern region holding a very large working class population. Part of The Plains spills over into it, so it does have a strong farming economy, but it also has a lot of industrial towns, especially in the west, that have seen a decline in recent years. The region first elected Tony Montoya Commissioner in the July Local Elections with a majority of 32.25% he began his term with an approval of roughly 50% and tried to pass the Viendilia Referendum #1 which passed 9-0 however was soon overturned by the Supreme court, soon after this she would resign from office on the 5th of August and her Lieutenant Commissioner, Tomás Turbado, took over, however, his term was mostly uneventful and he ended up resigning after only seven days.

The Regions previous Commissioners had all been members of different Conservative parties and while the region had been dominated by Conservative politics since its creation it had voted for Bert, a Liberal Democrat, in the Presidential Election over the CPP's candidate. With the resignation of the Commissioner the region now go through three commissioner since the last local election. The By-Election was announced on the 12th of August one day after the resignation of Tomás Turbado.

## Debate

The debate was held on The Europa news channel with all three candidates attending, each candidate had the same time to speak starting with each candidates opening statements, then going on to questions, then debate, then ending on final statements.

### William Howe - Liberal Democrat

Howe began by criticising the previous administration on there "negligence of the region" and how the region and its people had been let down by the previous commissioners and now was the time for change and to focus on the key groups of the nation. Howe continued the debate without much conflict with the other candidates and mostly focused on agriculture during his major comments on agricultural industry he did say that the nation should "apply for EU membership" in order to give farmers bigger markets however it was clear to most people that although Howe had a better plan then the other candidates when it came to agriculture his industry plans were questionable especially compared to his major competitor, Seafox, however Howe remained compitent during the rest of the debate and managed to answer every question appealing to multiple different groups however isolating certain ones including second home owners who he said he would raise taxes on to fund the revival of our industrial basis and to increase the cost of second homes giving local people a chance to fight for the community helping to make sure local communities stay local. For the closing statements every candidate was asked "Please summarise after the most important issue at the centre of your bid in 5 words or less." Howe replied with People, education, agriculture, veterans, prosperity. He ended the debate by saying "I believe we have choices, the choice of picking the same inactive government who will then say a few words and then take for granted the office given to them once again and abandon the region, I say lets not make the same mistake again. Lets look forward into the future, lets work together as a region to ensure that prosperity is not just a dream for our region but a reality. Our region's story is not of the few, but of the many where we all look out for each other, work with each other, and in turn create the region we dream of, lets get this region back on track! I would also like to thank Mr. Seafox and Mr. Jordan Bardella for the debate this evening, and for Felipe Garcia for hosting it, this has truly been a privilege. "

### Seafox - Mayen Popular Party

Seafox began on his focus of economics and promising "sweeping economic and social reforms". As the debate continued Seafox answered questions however when it came to the recent weather crisis which had happened in the region he was criticised for his comments especially by Jordan Bardell for some of his comments, his clear plan for industry appealed to many people however when it came to religion Seafox was surprisingly more liberal then Howe, with Howe saying there should be "mandatory Religious education in our schools to help give our students a winder knowledge of religions across the world" with Seafox disagreeing with Howe believing that state and religion should be separate. For the closing statements every candidate was asked "Please summarise after the most important issue at the centre of your bid in 5 words or less." Seafox replied with Work, bread, land, equality, peace. He ended the debate by saying "Citizens of Viendilia, we have the ability to make history in a way which has not yet been seen in the history of Mayensland since the end of the civil war. Give the MPP and myself a chance and God willing we will all emerge a greater province. Be the road map into the future for a nation which is fair for all. Forward into prosperity!"

### Jordan Bardell - Mayens First

Bardell began the debate by saying that the Mayens First party was still the right course for the region and he blamed the failures of the previous commissioners on the Supreme Court "who has attacked our regional rights" and that he wanted to end the influence of the Supreme court over Viendilia. During the debate Bardell went on the offensive especially when it came to the recent crisis attacking Seafox saying that he found it "insulting to the people of our region, people have to work and I don't think playing boardgames is going to solve their problems" Bardell continued during the debate however it was clear to most people that out of every candidate he was probably the worse during the debate. For the closing statements every candidate was asked "Please summarise after the most important issue at the centre of your bid in 5 words or less." Seafox replied with A true Mayen's First Candidacy, which helped to summarise his campaign, his belief that the Mayens First was the right party for the region however both the party and the region had been let down by the candidates before, he also appeared to criticise the use of a by-election as he believed that since Mayens First had won the local elections, it should continue to be Mayens First candidates who run the region.

After the Debate two open polls were made by Europa asking viewers what they thought of the debate and the candidates.