HDV secures victory in three-way contest
September 4434
HDV leader and Staatsminister Masaki Arinaga beams as his party's results in rural Budenlar and Mitrania put them ahead of the GreenLeft Alliance for plurality
Kien, Hulstria - In what turned out to be a closely-run battle with the new Green-Left Alliance to the rest, the Hosian Democrats have held firm to their plurality status in the Imperial Diet, even though an unexpected endorsement of the NDU's Regina Mekkeru trumped HDV candidate Kathrine von Anderinch in the race to succeed retiring Governor-General Karolu Mori. In the first election under the restore Mixed-Member Proportional system, the Hosian Democrats polled just under 40%, winning 242 seats in the Imperial Diet. The HDV vote held firm in their heartlands in Budenlar and Mitrania, seeing them to plurality later in the night, when rural constituencies reported in to put them ahead of their unexpected left-wing rival, the Green-Left Alliance.
Speaking at the HDV election night celebrations in central Kien, Staatsminister Masaki Arinaga said the public had trusted the governing credentials of the HDV once more, and that it was now their duty to form a coalition given the new circumstances. "We lost our majority, but that was to be expected," said Arinaga. "I believe it's only healthy not to have any single party with a majority in the Diet - but it's equally healthy to have a solid party of government like ours to help make sense of that. To our voters I say tonight: we won't let you down. Arigato, Dankusyu, Dankeschön!"
Coalition formations are not expected to be very complicated, observers say. Given the HDV's good relations across the aisle with its former opposition, the NDU, the most logical combination of HDV and NDU is likely to be formed. But analysts warn that Arinaga must not get overconfident: "The Green-Left endorsement of the NDU might endear them to the central player. If Arinaga overplays his hand, he has not got many options. A GLA-HDV coalition is not looking very likely, and will the arch-conservative wing of the HDV, which have been quite upset with their proposal to fully legalise abortion and euthanasia. An independent-minded MdR like Prosperina Gubler, known to be less green than the Staatsminister, might pose problems."