Divided Government
Fight over cabinet appointments after Republican victory
Rector Proserpina Dexsia must now convince the opposition to vote for her cabinet appointments
March 4519 - The elections last month proved to be the fulfillment of the Republican Party's decades-long dream, since the establishment of presidentialism in 4478, of acquiring the highest executive office of the land, the position of Rector of the Republic. As had been widely expected since the previous elections in 4515, the election of Proserpina Dexsia as chairwomen of the party and Rectoral candidate proved fruitful, as the party moved further left in an effort to court centrist voters dissatisfied with the Liberal-In Marea coalition. Benefiting from a wave of rising mobilization at the grassroots level, the Republican candidate won by a landslide against incumbent Rector Agrippina Leponta of the Liberal Democratic Party and was sworn in as the first Rector not hailing from one of Selucia's left-wing parties. At the same time the Republicans recreated their achievement of winning all but one of the provincial governor elections, granting the right-wing party a wide degree of power and influence over the Republic's policies at the national and provincial levels. However last month's elections also resulted in a divided government, with the Republican executive win tempered by the continued Senatorial majority of the current coalition. Although constitutionally the Rector has absolute authority over executive matters, the constitution requires the consent of the legislative for all cabinet appointments, meaning that Rector Dexsia must convince at least 44 Senators from the other side of the aisle to endorse her executive officers, provided that all Republican representatives also support their Rector's appointments. Not an easy task considering the wide gap that exists between the center-left parties and the Republicans on effectively every major issue as well as the numerous internal divisions within the Republican Party itself. With government now divided between a right-wing executive and a left-wing legislative, the ball is in the latter's court, who will be left to decide whether they can endure a Republican-dominated executive for the next four years, whether in a coalition or otherwise, or instead leave the cabinet unstaffed and risk popular backlash as a result.