Noël Nishikawa

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**Noël Nishikawa** (Japanese: 西川ノエール, *Nishikawa Noēru*) is a graphic designer and Independent politician serving as Commissioner of Île-de-Mayen since July 2023. Formerly a member of The Left, Nishikawa departed the party following a personal scandal. In the July 2023 Mayen local election, Nishikawa contested the Commissioner elections in Île-de-Mayen as an Independent candidate, winning 80% of the vote and being elected Commissioner.

## Political Career

### 5th Mayensland Presidential Election

As a then-member of the Left party, Nishikawa supported the Left presidential candidate Alexandre Illias in the 1st round of the presidential election, and frequently expressed his support for Illias' campaign on the social media platform Chirpy. Following Illias' elimination in the 1st round, Nishikawa did not officially endorse either then-Acting President Bert of the Liberal Democrats or Xavi Erlijo of the Conservative People's Party for the 2nd round.

### The election manipulation scandal

On July 16th 2023, President Bert exposed private communications between Nishikawa and other Left party members, in which Nishikawa appeared to attempt to swing the election in CPP candidate Xavi Erlijo's favour by encouraging other Left members to vote strategically for Erlijo over Bert in the 2nd round of the 5th Mayensland Presidential Election. Bert characterised the exposed message as attempts to "manipulate and fear-monger". Nishikawa refused to address the allegations levelled against him on Chirpy, but departed from the Left party soon after, writing in the Worker's Times that "it is for the benefit of the party, and of my colleagues and fellow members, for me to leave the party". To date, Nishikawa has not addressed the allegations or made any apology in response.

### July 2023 Mayen local elections

Following a long and silent hiatus from politics after his personal scandal, following the start of the campaigning season for July 2023 Mayen local election, Nishikawa declared his candidacy for Commissioner of Île-de-Mayen. Adopting the slogan of "Humane Politics for Mayens", Nishikawa ran as an Independent candidate and emphasised his style of "politics of grace, empathy and humanity". During the campaign, Nishikawa released his official manifesto and outlined left-wing progressive policies that secured the endorsements of the Left, the Greens, the Red Front, the Labour Party, the Christian Union and the Green Mayensland Initiative. Nishikawa also created the Alliance for Empathy as a united platform between the Left, Greens and Red Front to unite said three parties on the provincial level in Île-de-Mayen in support of his candidacy. His sole opponent was Obapy Armstrong, who changed affiliation from the CPP to the Libertarian Party during the campaign. Nishikawa appeared on the town hall debates and also conducted an interview with the Green Page, though his performance on the former was criticised by some - including an article by the Mayen Broadcasting Company - as lacking in substance and detail.

Nishikawa ultimately won a 1st-round victory against Armstrong in the elections, securing 80% of the vote (and thus a 60% majority) in the biggest landslide victory out of all the victorious Commissioner candidates in the elections. Nishikawa delivered his victory speech in Mayen City and took office as Commissioner shortly after.

### Commissioner of Île-de-Mayen (2023-)

Nishikawa's first act as Commissioner was to draft and present the Proposal for Anti-Corruption Action (PACA), an anti-corruption bill that Nishikawa said would "help eradicate corruption within the provincial government". The proposal was approved by residents in a referendum, leading Nishikawa to declare that under his leadership, Île-de-Mayen became the first province to pass anti-corruption legislation and tackle corruption following the end of the Mayen Civil War.

Besides corruption, Nishikawa also gave speeches on tackling the drug epidemic, and pledged to take action on drug use and substance abuse. This culminated in the Harm Reduction and Drug Action Act (HAREDA Act), which Nishikawa presented to the people for a referendum. The HAREDA Act was also passed with little fanfare and approved into law; Nishikawa remarked that the act's passage was a "major victory in the fight for an empathetic drug policy" and said that "residents have shown that they want love, not fear, at the centre of our province's politics and our approach to helping drug users". The bill established the Île-de-Mayen Drug Control Commission as well as legislated the gradual establishment and phasing-in of harm reduction centres with drug consumption rooms throughout the province.

**August Coup d'etat attempt**

On 2 August 2023, Minister of Defence Leon Kuchmá mobilized the Mayen Armed Forces in a coup attempt against President Bert. For the days after the 30 July 2023 Mayen legislative election, the Christian Union had attempted to form a coalition with Labour Party of Mayensland and the Red Front; however this 'Titanic Coalition' soon collapsed. The prolonged political instability led Kuchmá to lead a column of military forces towards Mayen City while declaring a revolutionary government, leading to his immediate dismissal by President Bert and the deployment of government forces to put down the coup.

As Commissioner of Île-de-Mayen, Nishikawa rejected Kuchmá's actions and derided Kuchmá as a "fascist" and "traitor". Nishikawa supported President Bert's actions to put down the coup and cooperated with Bert to safeguard Mayen City, with Nishikawa himself ordering the Mayen City Police to block all entrances into the capital and place barricades on all major roads in the capital. Nishikawa was proactive in repeatedly denouncing Kuchmá's actions on Chirpy and delivered several speeches to his province during the coup attempt, all of which criticised Kuchmá and called for residents in Île-de-Mayen to remain safe and refuse to cooperate with Kuchmá's forces. When the coup was put down by the Bert administration, Nishikawa said that "it is now time to recover from this traumatic attempt to overthrow our democracy", and pledged to "do my utmost to facilitate this recovery".