28.09.2073
It is the end of a decisive day in Husen-Kurl and finally all votes have been counted. We show the outcome of this 2073 Presidential election, ask experts for their assessment and also sum up the major happenings and statements of the day.
After another four years of President Lukas Thiele's office time, all Husen-Kurler finally had the chance to vote on a new parliament and President. Well, there is a new and also expanded parliament but the President remained the same: Lukas Thiele was re-elected for the second time but just like his party, he had to mourn about less votes than for years ago. This are the overall results for parliament and President in comparison to those four years ago:
Parliament:
55,0% - SPHK (-30,6%)
21,6% - SP (+21,6%)
19,7% - Die Grünen (+15,0%)
3,7% - HP (-6,0%)
Presidential Election:
60,1% - Lukas Thiele (SPHK) (-31,2%)
21,9% - Phillip Rosenköhler (+21,9%)
15,6% - Sophie Bachmann (+13,5%)
2,4% - Rodolfo Gusto (-4,2%)
With that result, the mainly conservative but also nationalist SP comes into parliament for the first time and immediately is the opposition leader. The SPHK could keep the absolute majority. Therefore, the parliament which is now 90 seats large will be assembled of 50 SPHK seats, 20 SP seats, 18 Green seats and 2 HP seats. The Presidential candidates Sophie Bachmann and Rodolfo Gusto weren't elected for the second time, still Sophie Bachmann seems to be very happy: " I never expected to become President anyway. Although we may disagree on some issues, Lukas Thiele is a highly respected leader! I hope that he doesn't ignore the opposition as we didn't reach to steel the absolute majority. Our 15% voter increase should be a sign!". Rodolfo Gusto didn't want to comment on the election. The President will give his winning speech in a few hours.
We have asked political expert Benjamin Porsch to analyze the results for us. This is our interview:
I: "Now all votes are counted. The President remains Lukas Thiele, the government party remains the SPHK. Is there any surprise for you in this election?"
B: "Well... first you have to point out that the government has lost around 30% of voters. That is not a surprise as we have seen this over one year ago but it is interesting that they could't recover from their fall during the "Great War" and "Devikea War" times. It is an indication that many people have lost their full faith into the government and the President."
I: "How do you see the rise of the SP and the Greens?"
B: "Well first you have to say that the voters that turned their back on the SPHK had to go anywhere, right? (laughs) But their rise didn't come from anywhere. The SP was founded and fast expanded during the war times. Many people who thought the government was not doing a good job in these times went to the SP. They promised to regain stability which wasn't there in these war times. That remained until now. The SP had the problem that after the "Devikea War", a time in which they had nearly 30% in polls, no new great instabilities happened, so that many frustrated people went back to the government or over to the Greens. The SP still can thank these crisis times that so many people voted for them. The Greens are different. They have a clear base of root voters which increased in times when pollution also increased and affected peoples life. In the last months they also have taken some of the possible SPHK votes. This was because some people who do like the government but were unsatisfied with the environmental policies voted for the Greens to force the SPHK into a coalition that would provide more environmental protection. You can also see that in the votes as it is assumed that nearly 4% of the Green voters for the parliament still voted for Lukas Thiele as President and not for Sophie Bachmann. But this plan didn't work out. It will be interesting to see how the President will deal with the opposition. It couldn't be more different: The Greens, a green, socially minded and left party, who shared many demands in campaigning with the SPHK and on the oder side SP which is mainly conservative, capitalist and also a bit nationalistic. The President can't simply ignore them like in the last four years because of the massive voter increase for them and the massive loss for him and his party."
I: " Do you think that the SPHK can take voters back in the next four years?"
B: "If they keep what they promise, especially on environmental aspects, it is most likely that many Green voters will go back to the SPHK. And then it depends on stability: Can the government protect Husen-Kurl from a war? How will food prices develop? Can the government finally achieve a better trade balance? If all these questions are taken seriously and are also tackled by the government, they could also get back many voters from the SP."
I: " Speaking about policies: Do you think there will be any surprising change within the next four years?"
B: "I mean, I can't see into the future but the rumors are intensifying. Some people are rumoring about a major war and foreign policy change. In other areas you here about new economic policies. We will simply have to wait for what is going to happen."
I: "Thank you, Benjamin."
B: "Thanks for having me, Mark."
Beside the election there was the census which happens all four years before the election. It was published just minutes ago. In these four years the population has increased by around 1.1 million people to 2,075,321. The primary ethnic group are now the Husen-Kurler themselves with 54,3%, then Germans (former primary ethnic group with 60.1%) with 26,4% and then Europeans with 10.7%. Most spoken languages are still the official language German with 94,5%, then English with 91,3% and Spanish with 7,1%. The Primary Religion remains Logicism with 67,7%, then Christianity with 15,7% and Atheism with 10,8%. Life expectancy remained 96 years, obesity decreased from 6,2% to 5,0%, alcohol users from 59,7% to 43,9%, tobacco users from 4,8% to 4,2%, cannabis users from 38,0% to 14,9%. Hard drug users increased by a little from 0,2% to 0,3%. The census is now available for the government to have a new overview over its country.
Let us see what may come. We will at least be back in the next year with the new economic report. Stay safe, stay healthy and be happy!
