With their first-ever national elections just over six months away, the future direction of the nascent Huenyan Federation is on the line and will be decided on December 31st, 2021. Nineteen different political parties are bidding for power. Here’s a look at the current state of the various races.
Vice-Speaker: The position of Vice-Speaker (Cuauhtlatoani), as designated in the Huenyan constitution, is the head of government of Huenya. The position is currently held by Tiacihitli, acting Vice-Speaker who took power as part of the transitional government following Huenyan secession from the Xiomeran Empire. He is running for the permanent spot, and seventeen candidates are competing against him. Most experts agree that there are four serious contenders in the race.
Tiacihitli: As current Vice-Speaker and the candidate for the Unification Party, Tiacihitli is seen as the most likely candidate to win the election. He is running on a center-left platform, with a paramount goal of ensuring unity between all of Huenya’s ethnic groups. He is also promoting Huenya’s TRC, the Committee of National Reunification and Reconciliation (CNRR), as a way for Huenya to resolve the issues stemming from the previous Xiomeran domination of Huenya “in a way that binds wounds, rather than creating new ones, and allows us to bring justice to those deserving it without being punitive or retaliatory.” Tiacihitli is a member of the Itotemoc ethnic group. Tiacihitli has been the leading candidate since elections were first proposed, but is losing ground among ethnic Xiomerans as of late due to his support for the abdication of former Great Speaker Yauhmi. He is 45 years old, an attorney and a longtime political activist who was imprisoned by the Xiomeran government from 2015 to 2016 for his efforts to defend Xiomerans accused of political crimes.
Quauhxochuepo: The candidate of the Huenyan Centrist Coalition, Quauhxochuepo is an economist who worked for the Imperial Bank of Xiomera prior to the Xiomeran civil conflict. Her platform, like Tiacihitli’s, places major importance on tolerance, reconciliation and national unity. However, her campaign platform differs sharply from that of Tiacihitli in that it favors a much smaller social safety net, and a more centrist approach to the economy and to public benefits. Her platform also favors de-militarization, which the Unification Party has been using to accuse Quauhxochuepo of being too risky a choice with Xiomera still looming to the east as a threat. Her candidacy mainly appeals to Huenyans who view the Unification Party and the Green Party as too leftist, and favor a more moderate approach. She is 59 years old, and a member of the Xiomeran ethnic group.
Yucuyche: The candidate of the Green Party of Huenya, Yucuyche is 49 years old and a member of the Necatli ethnic group. He is a longtime activist who was imprisoned by the Xiomeran government multiple times over the past ten years. He is a schoolteacher by profession. His platform focuses mainly on environmental, social and economic issues. It has a particular focus on ensuring that checks and balances are built into the emerging Huenyan government to make sure it does not follow a similar path to Xiomera. His platform has a strong emphasis on non-violence, and the Unification Party has been using that as a point of leverage against his campaign in much the same fashion as it has against Quauhxochuepo.
Acxopotl: The candidate of the Party of Huītzilōpōchtli, Acxopotl is a 56-year-old professor of indigenous religious studies at the University of the Four Directions, a school run by the Huenyan indigenous church and based in Chuaztlapoc. At the beginning of the race, Acxopotl was seen as a fringe candidate. However, in the past few months his campaign has begun gaining momentum, a phenomenon linked by observers to the rise of religious revival among Huenyans after the war. Acxopotl is now in fourth place in most polls, and while he is still considered a long shot to win, his rising candidacy is notably forcing the frontrunners to shift their campaigns to meet the expectations of the religious community in Huenya. The most conservative by far of the leading candidates, Acxopotl is promoting a socially and fiscally right-wing platform that also calls for the Huenyan church to have a greater role in the governance of the nation. His campaign also calls for the High Priest of the Huenyan church to be given an advisory role to the government, a stance that has alarmed secularists in the country. Acxopotl has also called for the Huenyan church to be made the national religion of Huenya, while promising to still allow other religions to be worshiped without interference. Like the Unification Party, Acxopotl and his party have called for the eventual reunification of the entire Huenyan landmass under the Huenyan Federation to be made a national mission – even if it means going to war with Xiomera once again someday. This stance has highly alarmed those Huenyans who do not want further fighting, and has helped drive people to the Centrist Coalition and the Greens.
Chamber of Deputies: The elected branch of the Huenyan Federal Legislature, the Chamber of Deputies has 240 seats up for grabs. If the election were held today, the Unification Party, the Centrist Coalition and the Greens would take the majority of seats. However, at least ten other parties, and possibly as many as sixteen, would gain at least some seats. This makes it highly likely that a coalition government will need to be formed to get legislation passed, regardless of who becomes Vice-Speaker or holds the theoretical majority in the Chamber.
Regional and local races: In addition to its national elections, Huenya will also be holding elections for regional governors as well as regional legislatures and local races. In those races, regional coalitions such as the Western Alliance and the Central Coalition (not the same as the Centrist Coalition) are expected to play a much greater role than they are in the national race. Coalition building in those regional governing bodies between the regional parties and the national ones, like the Unification Party, is expected to be much more important for governing – and much harder.
