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1st Union Grand Secretary Election
17/04/2021 (2nd round)
Turnout.....81.2% (423,218,135 voters)
Nominee | Tan Ju-Long | Huang Duzhen | |
Party | Far Eastern Unionist Party | Asia First | |
% Vote | 72.3% | 68.5% |
The 1st Union Grand Secretary Election was a nationwide vote to determine the two inaugural Grand Secretaries of the FEUSSR. It was the second national election ever held in the Far Eastern Union, following the 1st Union Federal Elections for the Soviet of the Union.
Background
The Grand Secretaries are elected to a five-year term in a two-round election. The initial pool of candidates are whittled down by a round of approval voting* into a pool of 5 candidates. Votes are measured in percentages: total percentages do not add up to 100%, as the percentage listed is indicative of the percentage ballots which have the candidate nominated, instead of the percentage of total votes garnered. The 5 candidates with the highest percentages are then run past a second round of approval voting, with the pair of most-approved candidates elected into the office.
Each of the candidates must meet a specific set of requirements in order to run. They must be a national of the FEUSSR, and serve as or have served as a magistrate in the civil service. Alternatively, they can be a member of the Armed Forces. To be listed on the ballots, candidates must also secure 500 signatures from a local constituency. Following their approval as candidates, they are held by the Republican Censors in a secure location for their security, and also to monitor them for signs of electoral fraud or outside help. The Censors also ensure that all candidates receive equal time in broadcast media "under comparable programming conditions", with the aim of providing all candidates equitable treatment on broadcast platforms.
The first round of voting is preceded by a televised debate, where candidates are asked on their policy prescriptions for various issues (i.e: militarisation, foreign policy, economic development, agronomy, LGBT+ issues, etc.) and also to debate other candidates on their policy points. This is because Grand Secretaries can table their own legislative items onto the Soviet of the Union (and subsequently, the Supreme Soviet), which gives them some power in enacting their own policies.
Candidates
Below is a list of candidates for the Grand Secretary Elections, in alphabetical order:
Boris Zhirinovsky (Northern Prosperity): Labelling himself as the "defender of rural territories and a humanist ecology", Zhirinovsky's candidacy seeks to improve rural living conditions by sponsoring a public healthcare and educational outreach programme for the rural population. He also endorses the transition to clean, renewable energy within 4 decades, the creation of a carbon tax, a jobs guarantee, and improved infrastructural projects for rural communities.
Cao Kaiming (Veteran's Party): Nicknamed the 'de Gaulle of East Asia', Cao seeks to "construct a messianic vision of the FEUSSR's historic destiny, reaffirm its prestige in the world, and transcend the national humiliations of the past." He supports the colonisation of the Moon, the exploration of Mars by the FEUSSR, as well as traditional policies of the Veteran's Party such as paying severance to veterans to finance their integration into society, and to disperse economic and political power to individuals via social credit theory.
Chae Won-tak (Chollima Movement): A professor of economics, and son of revolutionary Chae Kum-sok, he aims to create a platform to "hear the voices of workers", hoping to "unite workers of the world to defend their interests". A self-described communist candidate, he has promoted global revolution to discard a "toxic capitalist world", and instead institutionalise labour and work unions to protect the working class. He also supports the FEUSSR's current tripartite system, and has called for worker-based economic planning.
Chōjun Naagusuku (Internet Party of Asia): Naagusuku stands for an independent centre in politics. He has promised to dismantle state control of the media and prohibit censorship on the media. He has furthermore advocated for a reduction of the country's external debt, cuts to tax exemptions, and a raise in tariffs and VAT to directly finance the repayment of debt. He has also proposed plans to increase data security so that the datasets are not publicly available by default and cannot be used to identify someone, stating that no personal data may be processed unless it is done via consent, contract, a public task, a vital interest, a legitimate interest, or due to a legal requirement.
Chung Eun-hun (Jeonguidang): Chung Eun-hun has proposed setting a maximum wage differential of 1 to 20 in all businesses, so that employers wishing to increase their own salaries would also have to increase those of their employees, as well as a 15% tax on corporate bonuses which will be funnelled into employee pension contributions. He has advocated for the taxing of imports which do not meet the FEUSSR's environmental regulations, a progressive capital gains tax to supersede the nation's individual income tax, and a requirement for businesses to abide by environmental regulations consistently in order to receive public subsidies.
Dmitry Neverov (Far Eastern Unionist Party): Neverov has endorsed the concept of a "sovereign democracy", stating that the FEUSSR's actions and policies should only be accountable to the masses within the nation, and not be directed or influenced from outside the country unless said policies involve outside countries. He has also pledged to be tough on organised crime, having called for FEUSSR citizens to kill drug dealers, make use of court-mandated drug therapies for drug addicts, and "shoot-to-kill" orders against resisting gangsters. His campaign revolves around the use of capital punishment for convicted criminals involved in drug distribution, gun-for-hire syndicates, rape, robbery, or murder.
Hua Meilian (Yellow Flower Movement): Hua has described herself as the representative of the "reasonable" or "realistic" left, focusing her campaign on denouncing discrimination against immigrant, ethnic, and religious minorities. She has supported homosexual marriage and adoption, and has also suggested that the transition to a green economy would be beneficial to the nation. She has furthermore advocated for streamlined immigration platforms, the opening of FEUSSR educational institutes to foreign academics, and tax cuts for businesses that reinvest their profits in the country.
Huang Duzhen (Asia First): Huang has promoted a socially conservative view, supported by "rational intellectualism" and educational reforms that emphasise critical thinking and the life sciences. He has openly advocated for the "purging of undesirable elements from Far Eastern society", such as smoking, drugs, excessive drinking, foreign religions, and so on. He has also denounced democracy, calling it as an "old man's game where skill and expertise is cast aside for some television hotshot who tells the people what they want to hear, but do not give them what they need." He has called for an autarkic means of economic self-sufficiency and trade, centering trade policy around the AU and granting Asian nations preferential treatment by virtue of shared values and destiny.
Kim Joo-yong (Gungminuihim): Kim Joo-yong has advocated "national preference" for local citizens with regards to job access and social services, a protectionist economy that would be entered around 'like-minded Asian communities", as well as withdrawing from treaties such as the Seabed Arms Control Treaty, Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, and Chemical Weapons Convention, adding that "ratifying said treaties only limits the nation's ability to defend herself". She has called on FEUSSR locals to love the nation and to unite for the common good, saying that "foreign interference in Asian affairs should not be tolerated", and that the FEUSSR's national sovereignty should be paramount.
Qi Peiping (May First Academic Society): Qi Peiping has supported globalisation, having advocated for the establishment of a new international democratic economic order on the basis of respect for the economic sovereignty of each country, calling for the regulation of activities by MNCs to ensure that it abides by the principles of corporate social responsibility. She has also called for greater funding to be poured into education and research institutes, with price ceilings on
internationally recognised essential medicines, and bolstering the nation's overall research output. She has also said that the FEUSSR should invest more in hi-tech industries, such as computing, AI, IoT, and so on.Ri Pak-Hye (Democrat Party): Ri Pak-Hye has said that job-creating businesses that provide vocational skills should receive tax cuts at a 15% rate. She has supported the recognition of the 'right to die', right to abortion, as well as the full subsidy of healthcare costs by the state. Homosexual couples would have the right to marry and adopt, and foreign residents would have the right to vote in local elections. She has also called for a new constitutional convention to increase the prerogatives of the legislature and diminish the powers of the Executive branch, electoral policies to be based on proportional representation, and foreign policy doctrine centred around global denuclearisation and nonproliferation.
覚luntu (Society for Monarchical Constitutionalism): 覚luntu, former commander of the Imperial Guards, currently heads the Qing household in the Mountain Resort. His campaign programme prioritised the national interests of the FEUSSR, emphasising the party's concern about protecting traditional Asian values, as well as sovereigntism on matters of currency, borders, the economy, and rule of law. 覚luntu also envisions the creation of the Asian Confederation to supersede the Asian Union and better protect Asia against the "hegemonic West".
Tan Ju-long (Far Eastern Unionist Party): Tan's candidacy campaign emphasises the transition of the FEUSSR into an international financial centre by assuring foreign businesses and traders of the reliability of the FEUSSR's social and economic conditions, cutting down on bloated staffing, renewing investments into infrastructure and education to provide the FEUSSR with a skilled workforce, and a stable currency. Tan also believed that ministers should be well paid in order to maintain a clean and honest government, proposing a 30% peg on the salaries of top civil servants to the salaries of professionals in the private sector plus more employee benefits as a means to help recruit and retain talent in the public sector. He has also enforced 'positive non-interventionism', limiting government intervention in business.
Yoshiko Shii (Kyōsan-tō): Yoshiko Shii's platform revolves around the realignment of the FEUSSR into a non-aligned and neutral country, in accordance with its principles of Asian self-determination and sovereignty. She has also proposed the downsizing of the military from 4 million active troops to 3 million, and opposes possession of nuclear weapons. She has advocated for the revocation of special privileges granted to the House of Aisin-Gioro following its abdication in the Red Revolution, with a revamp of the nation's economic policy to one of "defending the interests, lives, and basic rights of the people".
Zheng Meiyue (Bloc420): Zheng has emphasised her desire to decriminalise victimless crimes and recreational drugs such as marijuana, with the caveat that narcotics vendors should reinvest profits into addiction and treatment programmes. She has also campaigned for an overhaul of the corrections system to match that of the Nordic model, based more on restorative practices and reform, as well as the cancellation of tax cuts across the board. Residents who hail from AU member stares would be given the right to vote in local elections after five years of legal residency. On housing, she has promised to regulate rises in rent to a narrow margin within an annual inflation rate, as well as the provision of more land to construct public housing.
Notable Events
18 Feb 2021: Boris Zhirinovsky is egged in Boli.
18 Feb 2021: Huang Duzhen makes a speech, criticising the "imperialist west" and calling for the expulsion of the UKOB from Jeju Island.
19 Feb 2021: Dmitry Neverov organises a march to the Gwanghwamun in Kum-sok city, mirroring Mussolini's 'March on Rome' in 1922.
19 Feb 2021: 覚luntu eats a dog on livestream, inciting mixed reactions across the nation.
20 Feb 2021: Qi Peiping reveals the "Yellow Sea Ring Project" as part of her candidacy platform.
21 Feb 2021: Ri Pak-Hye and Zheng Meiyue are embroiled in a scandal after leaked documents suggest they are currently lovers.
27 Feb 2021: The first televised debate is held at the Rungrado Stadium. Punches were thrown as a regular occurrence; Huang Duzhen was stabbed 24 times.
28 Feb 2021: Dmitry Neverov, Huang Duzhen, Kim Joo-yong, Qi Peiping, and Tan Ju-long progress to the second round.
17 Apr 2021: Huang Duzhen and Tan Ju-long are elected as Grand Secretary.
Results
Candidate | Party | First Round (%)* | Proceed to 2nd Round (Y/N) | Second Round (%) |
Boris Zhirinovsky | Northern Prosperity | 8.81% | No | N/A |
Cao Kaiming | Veteran's Party | 15.96% | No | N/A |
Chae Won-tak | Chollima Movement | 16.91% | No | N/A |
Chōjun Naagusuku | Internet Party of Asia | 13.14% | No | N/A |
Chung Eun-hun | Jeonguidang | 27.15% | No | N/A |
Dmitry Neverov | Far Eastern Unionist Party | 86.12% | Yes | 68.3% |
Hua Meilian | Yellow Flower Movement | 26.56% | No | N/A |
Huang Duzhen | Asia First | 67.39% | Yes | 68.5% |
Kim Joo-yong | Gungminuihim | 48.81% | Yes | 62.3% |
Qi Peiping | May First Academic Society | 55.01% | Yes | 60.4% |
Ri Pak-Hye | Democrat Party | 7.46% | No | N/A |
覚luntu | Society for Monarchical Constitutionalism | 2.53% | No | N/A |
Tan Ju-long | Far Eastern Unionist Party | 66.46% | Yes | 72.3% |
Yoshiko Shii | Kyōsan-tō | 24.86% | No | N/A |
Zheng Meiyue | Bloc420 | 15.58% | No | N/A |
