The Spring Elections Were the Beginning of the End for the Big Parties

Election season is well and truly over for Thaecia and we are now focused on the general function of the region. The Legislative and Executive sides of the region have solidified themselves and are going ahead with business, which in one of my articles I explained further. Thaecia has officially left election mode. However, the results of this election still intrigues me, and the repercussions of this have only started to show themselves to the region. This election, has begun the killing of the major political parties.

Now I know that this is my opinion, but I really feel that it is obvious that the Thaecian political landscape is changing. So let's start, by explaining what's happening to the major parties. First of all, in total the TPU gained only 2 seats in Congress, which equates to around 11% of the legislative seats. For a party of 20 members, this is quite shocking. Despite this though, I shouldn't be surprised, because it seems the TPU is in decline. With members leaving (myself included) or CTEing, the TPU is losing members, and losing influence in Thaecian politics. Since the turn of the year, the TPU has shedded 35% of its membership and that has proved costly at the ballot box. Even with the PM being a TPU member, I'm really worried for its future.

The second of the major parties (the current largest) is the PCT. Now, I don't think the PCT is doing as badly as the other parties, performing strongly in the HoC election, taking 27% of the chamber respectively. However, the PCT lost Chairman Titanne's leadership in the wake of the election as he will be stepping down from the Chairship, which could be a fatal blow to the party, alongside Foreign Affairs Minister, The Bigtopia to the Liberty Party. This loss of political experience could affect party leadership and strength, putting the PCT in a weaker position. Overall, I do believe that the PCT could survive this scare, but could really feel some of the effects.

The final major party that has been hit by this scare is the Unity Party, which has already been described by Senator Catlin as being on 'life support'. The party failed to make any major gains in the legislative elections, taking around 5% of the total seats by only winning one. Despite being led by Zon Island, an influential politician, the Unity Party is falling behind, losing 14 members this year and slipping to having no representation in the Senate. The Unity Party has really felt the effect of this change in politics, and due to having a politically inactive membership, the Unity Party has significantly lost its influence of Thaecian politics. They have dug themselves in a very deep hole, and have a hard route to get out.

Now I've spoken a lot about the major parties and their troubles, but I think I need to mention the three new parties that I have tipped to do pretty well in the next election. The first one of those is the younger one, Progressive Parliament. Led by the former Prime Minister Rayekka, Progressive Parliament really fired a few shots in the recent election, and hopefully, with an increase in membership, PP can really come into their own in the next election. They already have a solid foundation, winning all of the seats they stood in, and making a name for themselves to be a strong political contender. Basing their agenda on strong political reform, PP should be able to make strong changes to Thaecia if all goes to plan, and the major political parties should be really nervous of this organisation.

The other newer party didn't do so well, but still has a good foundation to stand on. Solidarity won only one seat overall, however with a membership count of only 6, Solidarity should be happy with their current position. In the space of over a month, Solidarity has shown positive growth. With a less radical manifesto than PP, I don't expect Solidarity to do as well, but I do expect them to do solidly in the future if they make the right choices.

And the final party, is the Liberty Party, which I believe has the right assets to go far. Hosting the former EC and two-time MP Terentiland alongside FAM, The Bigtopia, Liberty have a good backbone to the party. With masses of political experience comes the knowledge that helps the cards to be played right, and should result in a successful party, however, I think Liberty are going to need more time to grow and to challenge.

To conclude, I think it is fair to say that change is coming to Thaecia. I predict a growth of members for PP, Solidarity and Liberty and a decline for the likes of the TPU and Unity Party. I think that the political landscape, is only going to get more interesting as the years pans out.