Candidates Flock to the Countryside as Avanoran Election Campaign Kicks Off

A quiet town in the Morier Region is where we begin our journey. The region is hilly and forested, quaint stone houses with ivy and vines growing along their walls line a narrow street which opens up into a cobblestone square with a cheese market, with the centuries old Sanctum with its bell tower standing starkly against the cloudy sky as a mist hangs in the air.

The town is like many in this region, and that is likely the reason that Henrriet Brasseur of the Solidarity Party has begun his campaign here, hoping to win over this region described as the "Red Fortress", referring to Solidarity's strong positioning in the polls here. He walks along the allies and streets and converses with the townsfolk about their complaints.

"I think many people here feel left behind" says Brasseur as he stands in front of a local grocer "all of the government's attention goes to the larger regions - Mortier, Calise, Rosair, and others. People here don't get the same attention from the capital."

Its a sentiment shared with many in the region. We spoke with Fremin Chuquet, the village barber.

"In politics, the big parties like the Centre-Left, the Centre-Right, and the Greens... they all forget us. I never even saw Prime Minister Barnier campaign in this region in the last election" he says to us "but the issue is, if you don't vote for them, then you have to vote for the crazy populists in the National Union, and I don't want to do that. It is nice that the Solidarity Party is coming out here. It gives us an alternative to the racists."

Brasseur is 38, and the former Provincial President of Morier. His popularity here is unmatched, and something that worries the larger parties, who could loose their majorities in this election to his campaign.

"Good, they should be scared" says Chuquet "They should not be taking us for granted like this."

School teacher Gamet Lièvremont points to his school's lack of funding as a reason he is voting Solidarity this election, rather than the Green Party of current Prime Minister Alis Barnier.

"My school has been lacking funding for years" he says "I am happy to care about the environment, but Barnier only votes on that, and if it is not related to climate change, she wants nothing of it."

We move on to the sandy beaches of Colossy, the resort town of Avanor, and a favorite spot for movie stars, the rich, and families wanting to get away from the city. The scenery is quite different from the village in the Morier, and their complaints are too.

"Infrastructure needs to be addressed" says Adenulphus Escoffier, a pensioner who moved to the resort city three years ago "the roads need to be fixed, and we need better public infrastructure." he says "The Prime Minister spent the past three years telling us to avoid climate change, raising taxes on fuel, but did we see her giving funding to public transit to help us transition without hurting our bank accounts? Did she give us tax incentives to the poor to install solar panels on our roof? No, she expects us to do these expensive endeavors, and we don't have the money."

Here, we see Evrart Seyrès of the Centre-Right campaigning in his old hometown. At his rally, is Escoffier, who says the candidate's plans to strengthen pension benefits, as well as reverse Barnier's controversial tax policies, has won over his vote. At the rally, we see many members of the Garde municipale, the local law enforcement. We talk to their President to get their take.

"The next government really needs to focus on illegal immigration and crime" says City Guard President Ermelina Le Sueur. "I can't tell you the amount of illegal immigrants we have had to call the customs enforcement on, or how many petty crimes teens and young adults at bars have been committing. We need to strengthen sentences for these offenses."

Back into the countryside we meet up with Center Party candidate Galois Brugière, the 27 year old LGBT rights activist and city planner who became party leader late in 1923, and whose charisma has caused the party's fortunes to skyrocket to heights the party had not seen previously. On the back of this popularity high, he is campaigning in the rural province of Lavant in the hopes that his rural policy agenda will win him votes here where the National Union, Sanctumite Democrats, and Centre-Right have historically done well. Joining him is Alternative Party lead candidate Eva Gaudreau, a mother of 4 who at 47 years old might be the first Alternative Party leader to ever win seats in parliament. The two have formed an electoral pact which states if one enters government, they will bring the other.

"Our rural communities have been left behind for too long" says Brugière, standing on stage with Gaudreau "We must, as a nation, invest in our rural infrastructure, invest in education and public transport, invest into agriculture subsidies and bring our rural communities into the national conversation."

Polls indicate that the electoral duo are a good match, and the two could be on course to serve together in an electoral alliance now being dubbed the "Alliance of the Center". Gaudreau, for her part, went to campaign at the local school, discussing digital development, infrastructure, agricultural subsidies, and business loans for graduates who return to the rural provinces to begin business ventures.

"If the government gives our rural graduates the resources, and importantly the safety net, to come back to their hometowns and begin a prosperous life, they will." she said at her campaign stop. "We must invest in our future."

Finally, we ended our tour in the capital, where a flurry of activity was ongoing. Prime Minister Barnier held a rally on the Parc National, calling for investment in green energy, better railway systems to connect the nation's cities, access to high speed internet for the poor, and and expansion of welfare benefits, while also campaigning for a foreign policy of humanitarianism - points which won her the last election, though with the shift going to local issues, many in her party have wanted the Prime Minister to focus on those, rather than foreign affairs.

Hervé Gaume, a municipal councilor of a suburb of Calise, spoke to ABO News after the PM's rally.

"She did well" he said "but polls increasingly show that local issues are the focus. We need to focus on education and development. We need to show the environmental revolution can benefit the poor too, not just the urban elite."

"Do you think the Greens have an image problem?" We ask him.

"I think the Greens can come off as snobbish, or out of touch with reality" he says "We only come off that way when we ignore the national conversations and focus on values. Green values are important, but practicality is what wins elections, not values".

With the election months away, the candidates have time to address their supporters and attempt to improve their campaign numbers. Though it is looking as though it may be an uphill battle for the incumbent government, and it will be a hard campaign for all sides to gain the Prime Minister's office at the Chateau Rose in Calise this summer.