The Prime Minister has today announced that an election will be held a week Monday on the 30th. In a message to the people he said:
"You will have the decision between continuing political stability, or heading down the path of political and economic instability. Think back to the progress we have done since the civil wars in December and January, this is your chance to ensure that this progress continues, and I look forward to putting our case to you over the next week".
Other political parties have released statements endorsing the decision, with the Sawhists Party urging all people to "vote for an end of tax wasting and stop devolution.". There was no mention of a Sawh-Gwlad Emrys unification.
This comes amid widespread criticism of the government's handling of the aftermath of the Bourbon Street exit, with many expressing that the Prime Minister should have done more in response to the embargo and denouncements by BSt officials. This morning, Downing Street released a statement noting that:
"While the aftermath of the events have been unfortunate, the Prime Minister continues to express his desire for the continued partnership and civility between Bourbon Street members and Gwlad Emrys."
The Liberal Party lost 12% support in the poll in the last 48 hours, with many likening the drop to the plunge seen by the Labour Party during Gwlad Emrys' exit from UPN last year.
A leading elections expert told the Gwlad Emrys Post:
"Whether this drop will remain until the election is completely down to how the Liberals react. They can't stand and act like it never happened or they will lose the next election. They need to rebuild support, and the best way I can see that happening is if the Prime Minister takes a firm approach on the last 24 hours' actions. At present he's not pleasing the cut all communications and embargo them side, but he's also not pleasing the align closer and keep a partnership with the alliance. He urgently needs to decide which approach he wants to go with".
A snap poll by the Gwlad Emrys Post showed:
- 68% Thought the government had handled the exit Badly or Extremely Badly. Only 12% said it was handled well.
- 58% thought there should have been a referendum on exit, similar to the UPN Wexit referendum
- 42% agreed that the exit was "the right thing to do", with 43% disagreeing and 15% not sure.
Official campaigning for the election begins tomorrow.
