In an early morning session today, the Eirian Senate approved the ascension of Manabí Rive into the Union of Caxcanan States, giving the small island nation the final stamp of approval that it needed to join the regional organization. While the final vote was being held, Chancellor Stendē watched on from the People’s Balcony, and as soon as the last Senator had voted, she entered the Senate chamber and signed the bill on the spot. This gesture is yet another sign that UCS leaders are desperate to balance the effects of the recent election in Milintica, as the Chancellor had already affixed her personal seal to the bill in order to lift it out of the hands of the Committee of Diplomacy.
This comes after both chambers of the Aurian Parliament passed the same resolution yesterday evening, all but ensuring success for the Manabí bid to join the Union. In Auria, the bill was met with vocal dissent from some of the United Aurian Commune’s hardliners, who viewed the admission as nothing but an attempt to water down the influence of a Milintica controlled by the Milintican Communist Party. “Arquette and his elites cannot get away with pushing out a member of the UCS just because they are scared of progress,” stated parliamentarian and trade union leader Mōdris Darōz. For his part, Alain Bonnet abstained from voting, perhaps due to the fact that outgoing President Matōchmizalo’s negotiators were key in reaching the deal that assured the Commune its survival.
The election of Neina Arana has thrown a large wrench in the UCS’s plans. Given Arana’s famous opposition to the organization and rhetoric around isolationism, it is understandable that politicians in Eiria and Auria are balking at the concept of being on equal footing with a nation who may not even support the alliance. However, regardless of who sits in Haven House, Milintica is still a member of the UCS all the same, and that fact will not be changed by the admission of Manabí Rive. Only time will tell if this is a last-ditch attempt to shore up the Union from the inside, or if this is just the first step in mitigating an ideological conflict among allies before it begins.
