Lotus Party Leadership Election Results to be Announced
14-16 May 4298
The Day Before Convention - 13 May 4298
For the past two weeks, over 1.2 million registered Lotus Party members have had the opportunity to vote, either online or by mail, for their preferred choice of three candidates for the leadership of the party. This leadership convention comes just less than one month after the death of former-leader Huang Zitao, and 14 days after his state funeral. As opposed to the last 4270 Leadership Convention, this leadership race has been far more subdued, with less prominent candidates and restrictive campaign financing laws.
Perceived front-runner Kwan Zhiyong spent her final day before the convention campaigning in Yincheng, Jiaozhi. General Yang Hanying spent the day with his family in Taixi, before flying to Kaizhou late at night. Dr. Chen Quanguo held a small rally in Kaizhou, where he thanked his supporters for their work on his campaign.
Leadership Election Results Day - 14 May 4298
On the first day of the convention, all candidates descended on the Kaizhou Convention and Exhibition Center, along with around 18,000 party members. Lotus Party President Yan Zhelan opened the convention at 9:00 a.m.
At 12:00 p.m. the first ballot results were announced. As the party only releases vote percentages, that is what will be displayed.
On the first ballot, front-runner Kwan Zhiyong was elected Lotus Party leader with 61.8% of the vote, beating out General Yang and Dr. Chen. In her acceptance speech, Kwan said:
Stand with me, and together we will continue Huang Zitao's legacy. Stand with me, and we will rebuild our movement! Stand with me, so that I can stand up for you!
As Kwan does not currently hold a seat in the National Conference, Lotus Party Deputy Leader will be promoted to National Conference Leader until the next election. Kwan is the first female leader of the Lotus Party and the youngest party leader in the country at just 46 years old.
Directly after her acceptance speech, Kwan traveled to Huzheng, where she gave offerings at the Guidao temple where her parents are interred. Weeping before their urns, the new Lotus Party leader asked for their guidance moving forward.
General Party Conference - 15-16 May 4298
Following the leadership election, the Party went on to debate and vote on policies, voting to reaffirm the 4270 Manifesto:
Protecting Our Future - The Lotus Party Manifesto
(1) Protecting our vital public services from the threat of privitization;
(2) Protecting our environment for generations to come by investing in our national parks, renewable energy, retrofitting and recycling;
(3) Protecting our infrastructure by founding an public train-operating company, nationalizing our highways, and examining the way government constructs public projects;
(4) Protecting our national character by supporting cultural industries and sites, supporting our Jienist/Guidao heritage, and protecting our children from damaging vices;
(5) Protecting our children's future by increasing tuition subsidies, limiting the growth of private schools, and protecting our public education system;
(6) Protecting our economy by driving growth through public subsidization and investment and protecting industry from foreign competitors;
(7) Protecting our nation by maintaining a strong military with a proud conscription tradition;
(8) Protecting our labour rights by continuing and expanding government support for labour unions and democratic workers councils;
(9) Protecting our most disadvantaged by growing the welfare state, and;
(10) Protecting our farmers by introducing legislation to assure their continued success.