With little over a week until the next election, candidates are preparing for the final showdown. ONN election coverage begins now as we enter the campaigning stage.
The PSD is keen to score its first major region-wide election victory on 7th December and has announced a swathe of new and seemingly popular proposals. These include:
Improving Social Security
Uphold the Constitution
Uphold Free Speech and Grow the region's Media Industry
Legalising rehabilitation drugs
A Bill of Rights to be established
Improve Emergency Service and general Worker conditions in the region
Establish missing agencies such as a Regional Disaster Service, and an IC3 or ICAC
Commit to combatting Climate Change and establishing future-helping agencies or programs such as an SWF
Uphold same-sex marriage, right to euthanasia, and many, many, other vital human rights
Balancing STATE and REGION
Reduction of Nuclear Proliferation
Political Cooperation
Judicial Reform
Many in the Orange Order praised the ambitious and detailed plan by the PSD in tackling a variety of issues, including climate change, nuclear armament and workers rights while also reforming several aspects of the region.
Others also celebrated the PSD manifesto for its detail and specifications regarding what a PSD-led regional government would look like.
And with The New Orangalists having one full term and another half term behind them, the PSD seem keen to captivate the region and storm to an electoral victory.
However, some the other parties have questioned the "achievability" of the PSD's plans, stating that it is a "two term program" and that the PSD needs a realistic vision of the next two months rather than "any further beyond that"
Some also questioned the briefly mentioned policy, "Judicial Reform" which does not appear in the PSD manifesto. In particular, those in the ODU who are on the fence between Patec and Niater, questioned what this policy was and what it actually meant. The ODU says it will not support judicial reform until "clarifications are made"
Meanwhile, TNO has launched its campaign for re-election. Their manifesto (which can be viewed here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1-Dtkp4BBUzW4YUeDWD4nUxycEocVb0-yjhaJTO6vHkk/edit#slide=id.p has an emphasis on reformation, particularly:
Reforming the Snoop system of RP in cooperation with the ODU
Increasing activity
Increasing recruitment aims
Patec also proposed a plan of four major pieces of legislation that the TNO will attempt to approve in the next term:
Bicameral Parliament (possibly dependant on the outcome of the current poll)
A Worshipful Orders Act- allowing the WM to pass legislation without the need for a poll.
The Lime Act- a region wide initiative to switch to renewable energy
The Welcome Home Act- establishes an Immigrations Officer
Both parties have received considerable praise for the ambition and depth of their plans, however, in order to secure victory the parties will have to win over ODU voters and Independents, and at this stage there is no clear frontrunner.