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Sopo
Deputy Editor
The fourth presidential election since the re-merge of the Executive is this Friday, five days from now. So far, one ticket has stood, Forilian/Monkey. President Pichtonia previously announced that he would be seeking re-election, and in Discord today suggested his platform would be ready “probably today or tomorrow,” meaning Monday or Tuesday (given that it is already Monday for Pichto). At the latest, that would place his platform release three days before polls open, or, at the earliest, four.
The last time a platform from an incumbent president was released so late was when then-President Rach (Solorni) sought re-election as a popular incumbent in January 2018. At the time, the ENN published an article titled “Yeah, Rach’s Platform Is Pretty Late” when she finally released it three days before the election. The article looked at when previous winning tickets posted their platforms and found that, as the title suggests, Rach’s was late. While the present situation seems parallel, there are a few key differences.
Firstly, standing was opened on Thursday, February 11, only three days ago and eight total days before the election, just one day short of the minimum-length standing period, per the Elections Act. While some in the Chancellery may prefer this, I would argue that longer standing periods allow for more robust elections with opportunities to ask platforms, run polls, and schedule debates. With President Pichtonia holding off on posting a platform, we certainly won’t have time to organize a fair debate, though there may yet be time for a quick poll.
Secondly, President Pichtonia has been visible to some degree conducting government business, whether it be working on the statement on the ERN’s piling in The Embassy or sending valentines, whereas Rach was largely silent, raising additional questions.
Finally, then-President Rach had no opposition for her re-election, whereas President Pichtonia is facing a ticket that released their platform the same day standing opened.
In both cases, I would imagine that an incumbent would be preparing well in advance, given announcements of their intent to seek re-election. That is, of course, unless they thought they had it in the bag and didn’t feel much pressure to deliver. Rach clearly didn’t, and she sailed to a begrudging victory unopposed before later resigning under threat of recall. Perhaps Pichtonia feels the same way and doesn’t see the Forilian/Monkey ticket as a threat. That’s not entirely unfair, given Pichto’s historic popularity, not to mention both Forilian’s dearth of regional leadership experience and the controversial nature of his platform. But, you know what? At least Forilian has a platform, and he had it out in a timely manner.
While the valentines are nice, that seems like a task better delegated to a minister or deputy, especially when we’re in election crunch-time. I expect President Pichtonia to deliver a platform ASAP if he expects to earn my vote.
The original version stated that elections were opened in time for the minimum-length standing period. The article has been amended to correct that.
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