As polls closed in Milintica on September 1st, they ushered in the end of a day marked by heavy voter participation, police and soldiers on the streets, and sporadic incidents of violence as well as attempts by both the major parties involved to hinder or intimidate rival voters and candidates.
Polling stations in most of the country had to stay open well past their scheduled closing hours in order to handle the huge crowds of people casting their vote. Milinticans were voting for the positions of President and Prime Minister, as well as the Representative Assembly. Local and provincial positions were also up for grabs. While seven parties were seeking offices, the overwhelming majority of Milinticans were voting for either the incumbent Milintican Peoples’ Party or the Milintican Communist Party.
Clashes between MCP and MPP supporters were reported at or near polling stations in the cities of Huānoch, Ngāmotu, Utlamec and Wairarapa. Milintican police and soldiers intervened in the clashes, but maintaining order proved to be a tough task for the undermanned and underfunded security forces. The Milintican army also had to intervene in the village of Ātaahua in the north of the country, when local Paora villagers initially blocked the roads into the village and refused to allow MCP candidates and voters in.
Milintican police and soldiers were in heavy attendance around the Representative Assembly and Haven House, the home of the Milintican President. They also had multiple perimeters around the studios of Milintican Peoples’ Broadcasting, the national media network. Allegations by the MCP that MPB was deliberately airing and posting biased stories in favor of the MPP had caused an angry crowd to threaten to storm the studios. This was prevented by the security forces, although violent clashes took place for several hours.
The heaviest security presence was around the Peoples’ Electoral Committee headquarters, where vote results were being tabulated. As the heavy vote tally caused the count to drag on well into the night, accusations arose on both sides that the PEC was trying to rig the vote in favor of either the MPP or the MCP, depending on whichever side the accusers favored. No result was finalized by midnight of the 1st, and the PEC announced that no final vote tally would be provided until midday or later on September 2nd. The delay further aroused suspicions among MCP and MPP loyalists.
Neither incumbent President Matōchmizalo of the MPP or his chief rival, Neina Arana of the MCP, waited for the PEC’s final results. Both of them declared themselves as the winner of the Presidential race, and warned against anyone trying to manipulate the vote. The premature declarations of victory have further raised concerns among election observers that the final result could cause supporters of the losing candidate to refuse to accept the outcome. Exit polls indicate that Matōchmizalo and Arana are in a dead heat, and that the balance of power between the MPP and MCP also remains too close to call.
Arana, Xiadani clash and Huenyans respond
Further complicating the Milintican elections has been the response of Milintica’s current ally, Huenya. After an August 23rd debate in which Arana pledged to ask Huenya for help acquiring nuclear weapons, President Xiadani of Huenya made her opinion on that extremely clear. “There is absolutely no scenario in this universe or any other in which the Huenyan Federation would give a potential leader as crazy, communist and chaotic as Neina Arana a single atom, much less a nuclear bomb. Arana has threatened to take Milintica out of the UCS, a position that is utterly unacceptable to the Huenyan Federation. If Arana wins, the idea that Milintica would even continue to be an acceptable ally at all would be completely called into question,” Xiadani told Huenyan National News.
Arana responded by calling Xiadani “a vapid fool who is too stupid to realize that her stance on arming Milintica only weakens us all against Xiomera.” She further denounced Xiadani for “trying to interfere in Milintican elections and preventing the MCP from winning.” Arana then threatened to acquire nuclear technology from Huenya and other nations “whether they cooperate or not.” The final response from Xiadani in the exchange was a terse comment on the official Huenyan presidential social media page. “Neina, you want our nukes? Come try and take them – if you can.”
The Huenyan government itself was not done, however. It was announced that the Huenyan State Department would be sending observers to Milintica to monitor the elections, with a particular focus on the presidential race. The announcement from the State Department warned that “any attempt to hinder or harm our election observers will result in an immediate and decisive response from the Huenyan Federation.”
