United Trigunia prepares for National ElectionsAs elections get closer, Trigunia prepares to be bombardment by election campaigningA United Trigunia rally yesterday in Tirvoslavl.Friday 14th August 3896The contours of Trigunia's next election season are becoming clearer and Minister-President Rulan Abakumov is sending the strongest signals yet that he intends to return to the Minister-Presidency in 3897. At a conference of the ruling United Trigunia party, in the city of Tirvoslavl, Abakumov called for the formation of a "popular front" of "all people who are united by a common desire to strengthen our country." Abakumov said the party needs "new ideas, new suggestions, and new faces" before the national legislative elections in 3897. He emphasized that non-United Trigunia people from the new organization could be included on the party's list of candidates for the Duma. The move was apparently intended to broaden United Trigunia's appeal following the party's disappointing showing in many regional elections in 3895 and a string of scandals that left the party's image tainted. Most prominent among these was the purging of former State Duma deputy, Nikita Zavyalov, a long-time senior party leader who was hounded out of office amid vague public charges of massive corruption.
Consolidating The Pro-Bashnya VoteAlmost as soon as Abakumov finished speaking in Tirvoslavl,representatives of Bashnya-friendly trade unions, agricultural associations, and veterans' organizations seconded the idea, and emphasized that their members had earnestly requested the very same approach. Abakumov met at his residence outside Tiroslavl with the heads of several Bashnya-connected organizations, including Rustem Siyanosov, Head of the United Trigunia Youth Wing, and heads of the many pension unions, all whom are United Trigunia State Duma Deputies. Abakumov said he intends to meet with the heads of the new "popular front" at least once a month. The creation of the new front both distances Abakumov from the flagging United Trigunia party and strengthens his control over it. Petrovgrad-based political analyst Robert Lyalyushkin sees the move primarily as a prelude to an increasingly likely Abakumov Minister-Presidential Campaign: "If they establish this new group, and there is no reason to think they won't, then we can say that Rulan Abakumov will be nominated precisely by this 'popular front' -- that is, by all Trigunians who are for a better life," he says. "That, of course, is much better than saying that he was nominated by a party of swindlers and thieves."
Abakumov Nomination Increasingly LikelyNow, with United Trigunia upport dwindling and none of those other parties ever having gained traction, the Bashnya seems to be moving toward consolidating its position in order to produce the broadest range of support for its candidate -- which seems increasingly likely to be Rulan Abakumov, although the new popular front could nominate Timur Remizov, a Senior United Trigunia deputy of the State Duma. "At present, I am getting the impression that the basic strategy of United Trigunia is the weakening of its competitors," says Kusma Lagransky, director of the Petrovgrad-based International Institute of Political Science. "So far the essence of United Trigunia's election campaign is not to find new campaign approaches but to purge the electoral-political field and ensure its domination by only the ruling party. We have only one party -- the party of the authorities and that is the party of Rulan Abakumov.