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The Pulse of the Empire, Delivered to You

Results announced for Division elections

Results have been announced for yesterday’s election, the first for the new Divisions recently established for non-residential subjects. Three of the four Divisions had only a single candidate stand. Turnout in these Divisions was, as expected, accordingly quite low, although voters did have the option to vote for an abstention, which – should the majority of votes be cast for it – cause that specific election to be re-run with new candidates. However, the three Divisions with a single candidate all saw said candidate win comfortably. Lord Andrew Creed has been elected for the Britain and Ireland Division, Professor Sir Sanjib Bhattacharya for the Asia Division, and Sir Isaiah Burdette for the New World Division. Lord Creed received 100% of the vote, and both Professor Bhattacharya and Sir Isaiah received 80%. Many eyes were on the election for the Europe and Africa Division, which had three candidates standing; a record for a local election. With a turnout of 68.75% (11 out of 16 eligible voters), Dr Kalin Yanev narrowly won with 5 votes, with his opponents Nitan Kumar and Clemens Schumann receiving 4 and 2 respectively. The four newly elected Representatives take office today. Although, constitutionally speaking, new elections do not now have to take place for up to five years, the Prime Minister Lord William has stated he would prefer elections to take place much more frequently in Divisions so as to encourage political engagement and ensure democratic mandates.

Candidates announced for non-residential elections

Nominations have closed and candidates have been announced for the elections taking place on July 31st. The upcoming elections are a historic first, being for the Divisions established at the start of the month to represent non-residential subjects in Parliament. Any non-residential subject – that is, an Austenasian not living within an Austenasian land claim – will be entitled to vote for a Representative, depending on the region of the world in which they live. Of the four Divisions into which the Empire’s non-residential subjects were placed, three returned only a single candidate for Representative. Professor Sir Sanjib Bhattacharya is standing for Asia, Lord Andrew Creed is standing for Britain and Ireland, and Sir Isaiah Burdette is standing for the New World. The non-residentials of these Divisions will therefore have the option to either vote for the sole candidate or to abstain. Should the majority of votes be abstentions, the election will be re-run for that Division, with those eligible to do so invited again to stand. Professor Bhattacharya has served in various diplomatic capacities for the Empire since 2015, and has had an award-winning career in translation and education. Lord Creed is the incumbent Home Secretary, and took part in the Cabinet discussions for the naturalisation and representation initiative that has culminated in these elections. Sir Isaiah is one of the newly-naturalised Austenasians whose entry into the Empire made these elections so necessary, and has held various roles within the Grand Unified Micronational. The Europe and Africa Division, on the other hand, has had three different candidates stand. Perhaps the most well-known of these three candidates is H.E. Nitan Kumar, Austenasia’s ceremonial Ambassador to Ukraine, whose safety has been of concern due to living in the beleaguered city of Kharkiv, in which he has organised humanitarian relief. The other two candidates for the non-residential subjects of Europe and Africa are Mr Clemens Schumann and Dr Kalin Yanev, both of whom joined Austenasia in May. Mr Schumann is running on a liberal left-wing platform, and Dr Yanev has expressed interest in developing Austenasian culture, having been conducting research on the organisation of societies and cultures for over 15 years. Votes will be counted and the duly elected Representatives announced and take office on Tuesday 1st August, replacing four Acting Representatives appointed by Parliament upon the creation of the Divisions.

Parliamentary representation for non-residential subjects

Non-residential subjects of Austenasia will henceforth be able to vote for Representatives in Parliament, following a new law passed this evening. This sees the culmination of efforts led by Prime Minister Lord William Wilson, whose campaign for the premiership included a pledge to see parliamentary representation for non-residential subjects (an idea originally proposed by his predecessor Lord John Gordon) finally arranged. No parliamentary representation for non-residential subjects was provided for by the Austenasian Constitution of 2011 or its subsequent amendments, due to their historically having made up such a small proportion of Austenasia’s population. However, in recent years the proportion of Austenasians who do not live within Austenasia itself has increased, with a notable jump in numbers happening in May earlier this year as a result of Honorary Subjects being able to apply for naturalisation. While still technically a minority, just under half of Austenasians – 47.3% – now hold non-residential subjectship as opposed to being residential subjects living in traditionally organised territorial Towns. The growing proportion of non-residential subjects has made it a pressing concern of the government to enable parliamentary representation for them, with the Constitution only allotting Representatives to Towns. Today’s Act of Parliament has changed the definition of Town to include a new entity known as a Division, into which Austenasia’s seventy non-residential subjects are henceforth grouped. Four Divisions have been established, grouping together non-residential subjects living in the British Isles, in the rest of Europe and Africa, in Asia, and in the Americas and Oceania. Parliament has appointed a prominent non-residential from each of these regions as Acting Representative of their Division on a provisional basis until elections are organised: Non-residential subjects will be contacted over the coming few days to inform them of these reforms, and to begin organising elections for the new Divisions. With the addition of the four above-mentioned Acting Representatives to Parliament, the House of Representatives now stands at 15 strong, the largest it has ever been.