by admtrap » Fri Apr 17, 2009 3:09 am
Cabinet seated; tensions fall
MERENBERG - As Brandon Tracy (DJP) took the oath of office as the new Prime Minister, much of the nation took a collective sigh of relief. The new government of Darnussia will be composed of the two major left-leaning parties, the DJP and the LDP, with the tacit support of the Surprise Party, blocking at least for now the spectre of Nova Terran participation in the legislature.
The deal places the LDP in government for the first time since its formation, and returns the DJP to the Prime Minister post for the first time since 2707, when it was called the DSDP.
Emma Evergreen will take the helm of the Surprise Party, which will be neither in the government, nor the official opposition, for the first time since 2663.
Not surprisingly, the deal does not make everyone happy. DNP supporters were expected to protest the deal, claiming they were shut out of government despite their legislative plurality. Their position is hardly unprecidented, however; the Surprise Party had a plurality from 2698 to 2707, but was in Opposition. The Oink Oink Party suffered a similar indignity from 2662 to 2668.
"Dealmaking is part of politics. While we do not support the leftist ideology, we prefer leftist government over the government of terrorism," said Evergreen, explaining why she agreed to continue with the Redwood-negotiated deal to support the minority coalition; Darnussia's first actively-governing minority since the days of Claude Deimore. "It does not mean we will compromise with them ideologically, but they can at least be trusted to act in what they believe the nation's best interest is, rather than the best interest of some foreign puppetmaster."
Prime Minister Tracy and Foreign Minister Bartlett (LDP) are expected to address the press soon, to set their agenda for the coming term.
Redwood to seek quiet retirement
MERENBERG - Few in the legislature could even remember what the protocol was, except one, old man. After sixty-two years in public service, and thirty-four years as Prime Minister, Robert Redwood was one of only six members of the House of Delegates who had ever seen another Prime Minister inaugurated. He was also the only man who knew a different Surprise Party leader. When he was first seated to represent Clenon in 2679, he spoke with a thick Darnus accent, representing a heavily Alkavoni-migrant community. His accent was, in fact, so thick, that his first speech to the House was very nearly his last. Decades in Merenberg have tempered, but not entirely eliminated, his formerly infamous mainlander accent; he has been called uncultured, rude, aloof - and that by members of his own caucus. But no one could deny his ability.
Redwood became Opposition Leader in 2705, after serving a stint as Shadow Minister of Finance, and before that serving as Assistant Minister for Trade. Two years later, the voters gave him an outright majority, and the Redwood era began.
Overshadowed by the comparatively charismatic Presidents Birch and Dogwood, Redwood was the quiet enforcer, keeping the government running and the party in power as the electorate shifted, until the end. Even now, he has few regrets.
Yesterday, Redwood had to be helped to his feet, to pass the official duties of Prime Minister to his DJP counterpart. The last year has been exhausting for him, physically and mentally, as he faced what he called "his last crisis."
"I like 'im. Tracy. He's a good kid, good head on his shoulders." Redwood said to me, as he walked (well, hobbled) with me to his office for what would be his last time there. A kid? Well, to the 91 year old Redwood, they're all kids now.
"Bit too idealistic, but he'll grow outta that," he added. Tracy, of course, is no spring chicken himself.
On the topic of his party successor, he was more brutal. "She takes it too personal. Like it's a personal insult to her, these elections. I worry about her... but, well, I could only ride the tiger for so long. Better for me to get to retire, then wake up with her knife in my back some mornin. She's a good kid, but she's no Bob [Birch] or Franz [Fernidad]. Well, it's her show now."
"You've spent so much of your life in this office. Do you think you're going to miss it?" I asked him, as he admired the view from his fourth floor office.
"I won't miss the bloody stairs, that's for sure," he jokes, then turns back to the window. "I've got my garden at my granddaughter's place waiting for me," he says, more soberly. "It'll be nice to tend it without worrying about some damned crisis back here. No more midnight phone calls. No more red-eye flights half way around the world."
He turned back to me, a twinkle in his eyes. "But, her place is in Alkavon, you know. I'm a bit worried they won't understand my Darnus. They say I've got a bit of an accent."