A. Suhanthra Still Refuses To Call ElectionsApril 4411
Above: Independent Electoral Council Chairwoman, T. Sagana, who has called the stalemate 'disgraceful'.
It's months after the due date of the communist government's first test of the polls, and it still seems like the poll is slipping by. Polling, which suggests another win for the communists, has been ignored and the communist government is not setting into place any measures to hold a vote. Under Vanakalamese law, the Independent Electoral Council should set into place a series of mechanisms defined by the constitution, certifying a date and getting into place organisations for polling stations and counts. However, the government is responsible for choosing the date of the election, and despite repeated attempts by IEC chairwoman T. Sagana to get the President to set a date, there has been no comment from the government as of yet on the issue. Therefore, the nation is left in a period of gridlock which could spell at least a periodic end to democracy in the country.
T. Sagana, appointed by A. Suhanthra's now-executed predecessor - killed on charges of rape of a minor - has called the refusal to set an election date 'disgraceful and absurd'. T. Sagana has also suggested attempting to lobby for an election to be held anyway, or even in defiance of the government. This leads to a complex situation, as the communist-packed law courts, supreme court, parliament, local councils and police commissioners are all very unlikely to go against Suhanthra. This makes the possibility of her being vetoed by parliament almost impossible, and the court is almost certain to side with the President as well. The only option T. Sagana would then have is to invoke article XVII of the constitution, the process for resolving a state of corruption or dictatorship in the nation. This would require military support to hold a ballot, and then force than ballot via military force. Suhanthra's name, under this article, would not legally be able to appear on the ballot papers.
The communists are despised by the military, especially considering that their leaders have refused to step down, regardless of age or illness, so as to prevent new appointees from Suhanthra making the armed forces more partisan in her own interests. However, Suhanthra has police support, and the last thing anyone wants to see is clashes between forces within Vanakalam in a region of the world already rife with bloodshed. Expat and heiress T. Dyshini has been proposed as an alternative President, but she would have to return to the country in which her political enemies have a vested interest in harming her to protect the national leadership.
T. Sagana herself has refused to enter a race, while former Internal Minister and centrist politician H. Hritik has said he could run. Regardless, the path back to democracy, or perhaps away from it entirely, seems misty at the present time. If T. Sagana launches a military-backed election against the popular incumbent, Suhanthra will undoubtedly respond. How the government, currently preoccupied with rebuilding the country's crumbling infrastructure, will act now is a thing impossible to predict fully.