Chapter 225: The Upcoming General Election
After handling the recent crisis, the political focus in Australasia shifted back to the upcoming Cabinet elections in two months.
This Cabinet election is a significant one for all political parties and individuals involved. According to Australasia's system inherited from Australia, once the Prime Minister has served two successful terms, without special permission from Arthur, Prime Minister Evan will have to step down from his position, either taking a lower role as a minister in a department or simply waiting for the next election.
However, after having experienced the power and position of Prime Minister, would Evan truly lower himself to become a minister again?
What many of the powerful cabinet ministers are most looking forward to in this election is whether Evan will be able to secure another term, as they would be the most likely candidates for the position of the next Prime Minister if he fails.
Even though the power of the Prime Minister in Australasia is highly limited, it is still a position of immense political influence, ranking just below the monarch, and cabinet ministers cannot be indifferent to the allure of that position.
Since the beginning of 1907, the atmosphere around the upcoming election in Australasia had already started to intensify. As April came to a close, the race became even more heated, with political parties that had been preparing for the election for four years now eager to make their move to take control of the highest political office in Australasia.
The election of Minister Willy in the previous government was a surprise to many political parties, but this time, they were ready.
The Unified Party (a merger of the Independent Party and the Progressive Party), currently holding the most seats in the House of Representatives, was one of the parties most likely to secure ministerial positions.
The elections in Australasia are different from those in other countries. In Australasia's political system, the Prime Minister's powers are heavily restricted by the Cabinet Ministers, and he only holds executive powers. The large powers that are typical for a Prime Minister in other countries are actually divided among the entire Cabinet.
If Australasia were a democracy, such a system would have many drawbacks. The most prominent issue would be conflicting orders. Cabinet ministers could unite to resist the Prime Minister's rule, and fundamentally, the Cabinet ministers are not on the same page as the Prime Minister.
Since all cabinet positions are independently elected, this means that cabinet members may be enemies, friends, or even complete strangers. This highlights Arthur's importance in the system. The Cabinet is responsible to Arthur and the Royal Assembly, and Arthur controls the Royal Assembly.
This means that Arthur has complete control over the Cabinet, making him the ultimate authority in the nation's administration.
The current Cabinet can be divided into three factions. The first faction consists of the former colonial prime ministers, who occupy key departments in Australasia's government thanks to their past prestige from the colonial period. They are one of the strongest factions within the Cabinet.
The second faction consists of those ministers elected from the common people, such as Minister of Agriculture Henrys, Minister of Transport Conlet, and Minister of Health Willy. These ministers are generally more loyal to Arthur and are pragmatic in their approach, genuinely striving to make a mark in their positions.
The third faction is composed of cabinet ministers directly appointed by Arthur, who are completely loyal to him. While this faction is small, it controls the most important departments in the Cabinet: the Department of Defense and the Treasury.
Though Ministers Kent (Defense) and Roger (Finance) are not particularly power-hungry, their positions are critical to the cabinet's structure, and even Prime Minister Evan is reluctant to conflict with them, as they are representative of Arthur's authority in the government.
Compared to other countries, the political powers of parties in Australasia are much smaller. First, all legal political parties in Australasia are supervised by the Royal Assembly. This supervision is not just nominal; the Royal Assembly has the power to oversee, punish, declare the legitimacy of parties, and even force illegal parties to disband.
This means the Royal Assembly has the power of life and death over all political parties in Australasia, and political parties cannot stir up significant trouble.
Second, activities such as political donations or indirect bribery are prohibited. Australasia has an Electoral Union that oversees all elections, which is composed of members from the Royal Assembly, the House of Representatives, and the Cabinet.
The Electoral Union is directly responsible to the Royal Family and is supervised by both the Royal Assembly and the House of Representatives. The only way for political parties to receive legal development funds is to encourage voters to donate to the Electoral Union.
Seventy percent of the funds received by the Electoral Union are allocated based on the proportion of seats each party holds in the House of Representatives, while the remaining 30% is evenly distributed among all legitimate parties.
Because political parties have limited power, even the Unified Party, which holds the most seats in the House of Representatives, controls only 24% of the vote. This makes bribery from capitalists nearly impossible.
While political parties may receive a large portion of donations, they can never exceed 25%. This system essentially prevents the common practice of political donations seen in many other countries, forcing political parties to develop together, benefitting not only themselves but also their competitors.
This rule has made the major political parties uneasy, but since they are under the supervision of the Royal Assembly, and elections are also overseen by the Electoral Union, they have no choice but to accept it.
As for private bribery, political parties have no courage to engage in it. The Royal Assembly and the Electoral Union's oversight is thorough, and with the election law and party laws in place, strict laws prevent such actions.
Arthur has implemented harsh penalties for election bribery. Once discovered, all illegal earnings will be confiscated, and the involved political party will be declared illegal and disbanded. Its key members will be banned from participating in any future elections in Australasia, effectively ending their political careers.
This is only the political punishment. For individuals involved, depending on the amount of money involved, they may face trial, with sentences ranging from imprisonment to life sentences or even the death penalty.
Furthermore, since Australasia's capital is still small, aside from the Royal Family's financial consortium, there are no other powerful entities that can challenge the government.
Due to all these restrictions, the campaign funding for political parties in Australasia is quite limited. Most of the funding comes from spontaneous political donations made by the citizens of Australasia.
Although these donations are frequent, the amounts are relatively small, and the total yearly donations amount to less than 500,000 Australian dollars. Even the most popular party, the Unified Party, can only receive a budget of less than 100,000 Australian dollars a year.
While this may seem like a substantial amount, it's important to note that 100,000 of that comes directly from Arthur's support.
Without Arthur's 100,000 Australian dollars, the political parties would face even worse financial conditions.
Of course, the rapid development of Australasia is also one of the reasons for the limitation on the size of political parties. The rapid development has satisfied the common people, and since they are content with their lives, they are not inclined to get involved in politics.
The lack of support from more lower-class citizens is the main reason why most of the political parties remain small with relatively low support.
(End of Chapter)
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