Cover of the Daocheng Times. The first elections of the Adelsraad and Folksraad since the Kalirion Fracture were widely covered by Shirerithian media.
General elections were held throughout Shireroth on 1.VII.1717 for the Adelsraad and Folksraad. Neither chamber has been in session since the Kalirion Fracture in 1671AN, but elections were resumed by Imperial Decree. It was also the first time since the the reintegration of Greater Kildare, and the annexation of Batavia, that representatives of those territories could participate.
Through extensive propaganda attempts the Mango-Strengthening Movement tried to compel to housewives and patriots within Shireroth: the MSM presented itself as the sole party able to protect the Imperial Republic's independence and protector of imperial values.
Imperial Humanist Party of Shireroth, Lunaris Regional Sector Party - local policies include a campaign for the restoration of Lunaris in the eastern portion of the Guttuli and the incorporation of the west bank into Brookshire.
Passibelend, loose party formed to support the candidacy of the Countess to the Adelsraad and the establishment candidates for the Folksraad. Lead by and loyal to the Count.
"Strength through leadership". Propaganda poster, published across the Imperial Republic.
Jingdaoese and Kildari are called upon to show their patriotism towards the Imperial Republic.
Its economic program became an anchor point in the election campaign of the MSM: with lots of funds in the hands of its party members, promises of renewed investments were made. Some unkind commentators noted that the wings appeared to be coming off the aircraft. The Tegong duly noted their names and locations, while the artist of the poster had an unfortunate accident by falling on a bullet later that day.
Local successes in social and economic by nobles in the provincial administrations were magnified and widely published in newspapers and seen as harbinger of success on a national scale, should the party win. The Mango-Strengthening Movement focused during its rallies and election campaign on several issues: the economic stagnation in several states (in Benacia the after-effects of the Kalirion Fracture and in Apollonia the results of two decades of political disorder) was denounced, and would soon end. With Li Suyi's major clean-up - the so-called Chastisement of the Hereditary Lords - peace was restored and the situation normalized.
Massive government investments were announced should the MSM win the election. Strengthened by Li Suyi - who, despite his tough character - was slowly but surely building up the image of an incorruptible statesman, the party was able to raise itself as a party of order and stability. "Order and stability lead to a new golden age," the party said.
The huge gold reserves of the Dalmacijan Imperial Gold Reserves would be used to give the extra boost to improve the prosperity in both Benacia and Apollonia. Gold reserves - piled up during two decades of neglect - would be used to stimulate trade, reinvigorate research and enrich the people of the whole Imperial Republic. Several large companies, like Gong Shipyards and Sokoku Industries openly approved of the plans and pledged their support to the economical program of the party. References to investments in Shirekeep and the gentrification of certain neighborhoods influenced by the capital's past investments were cited to prove that the MSM was not standing still.
In addition to economic issues, the party emphasized the importance of traditional values: the family as the cornerstone of society, with Cedrism and Tianchaodao as moral guides. Loyalty and obedience to the Kaiseress, Heavenly Light and State were promoted as a necessity for a better life.
An electoral vote - warned to the party - for humanism, however well-intentioned, were misguided (since its core principles were certainly acceptable in the eyes of many MSM'ers), could only lead to the loss of the Imperial Republic's independence. References to the party as a talking point for the Benecian Union were made several times directly and indirectly at rallies. The humanists constant attacks on the established order were dismissed as an attack on the Imperial Republic. The denizens, ravaged by revolutions and civil wars, were not helped by new conflicts and should not concern them with those who sought to destroy the natural order.
Humanist propaganda poster for the Kildari community of Greater Kildare, circulated ahead of the Folksraad elections.
In contrast to the security focus of campaigning in the Eastern Imperium, the messaging of the Imperial Humanist Party of Shireroth revolved around improving the lot of the ordinary denizen, using guild enrolment as a mechanism for social security.
Campaigning in Shirekeep meanwhile focused on the sanitation issues which had bedevilled the city ever since the infamous Cabbage Crisis.
The campaign of the Imperial Humanist Party of Shireroth's regional sector party in Brookshire focused upon the reintegration of West Bank Guttuli into the Brookshirian realm, with the separate regional sector party in East Bank Guttuli campaigning under the banner of Lunaris. To this end, throughout the West Bank territories the IHPS sponsored the construction of Cedrist temples and devotional spaces that would conduct sacrifices and worship to the Sun in his triple role of Rising Creator, Radiant Sustainer, and Unyielding Destroyer. The layout of these temple sites had been derived from the texts of the Cornflower Society, an esoteric organisation that grew up around the teachings of Ilona bi Finbloman. The 1717 celebrations of the Festival of the Undaunted Atos in Brookshire and West Bank Guttuli saw Humanist sponsored carnivals celebrating the Daughters of Atos as the hope for the future of the nation. It was believed that Humanist cadres in the region were hard at work recruiting for the establishment of Humanist Institutes and a coordination centre for the N&H Future Leadership Programme which would be unveiled at the culmination of a grand carnival festival to be held in Musica during High Roqpin. The push to establish the apparatus for a system of selective education was presented as a means by which denizens would be able to better themselves, and to ensure that their children stood a chance of attaining citizenship via entry into the service nobility.
The Regional Sector Party of Lunaris (East Bank or Far Guttuli) meanwhile campaigned on a platform of reconstruction. The former Lunatic lands had suffered the worst of the Guttuli Protectorate tyranny and had been devastated by a daemonic incursion during the war which had seen the territory reincorporated into Shireroth. The cadres sought to establish contact with the elusive and unreconciled survivors of the Children of Salus, a partisan movement which had opposed the Protectorate regime and its successors, in order to establish an appropriately Lunatic form of nationalism. Amongst the causes championed by the regional sector party was the reconstruction of Erianamor, a former seat of the House of Yastreb and later a part of the personal domain of Isabella Simrani-Kalirion, that had been a city of some historical and cultural significance prior to its destruction. As may be surmised, the regional sector party advocated for the reassertion of Lunaris as a Duchy once West Bank, "Near", Guttuli is reincorporated into Brookshire proper.
In the Eastern Imperium meanwhile the cadres of the Imperial Humanist Party of Greater Kildare had focused on pamphleting, billboard postings, and mass demonstrations in the Kildari and Jing cities, calling out the denizens in protest against the nobility, who had so severely mishandled reintegration over the last decade as to have been subjected to a campaign of Imperial chastisement only last year. The protests advocated for the creation within the IHPSK of a strong mass party of the denizens whose Vanguard Divisions could then help to keep the Feudatory Lords in check.
Party meetings became heavily monitored by Tegong officers, whom saw the activities of the Vanguard as a threat to public security services.
Within the first hours after the elections, the Mango-Strengthening Movement claimed victory and promised cooperation with all parties - especially the Throne Loyalists and Ultraroyalists. Behind the scenes, Li Suyi noted to his closest aids that the influence of humanism on the masses was a worry that had to be handled with care. As agreed between several noble factions during the Chastisement of the Hereditary Lords, Provincial Assemblies were set up in Greater Kildare to limit and control any potential power hungry nobles.
