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1967 Urcean political crisis: Difference between revisions
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==National Pact minority government attempt== | ==National Pact minority government attempt== | ||
As Loughlin's transition government lost cohesion, many commentators in Urcean society began to suggest that the Commonwealth Union, though a nominal majority in the Daoni, was completely unable to govern. The eyes of the public gradually shifted towards the minority [[National Pact (Urcea)|National Pact]]. Though it possessed only 221 seats, it technically controlled the plurality of the Daoni if one considered the Union to now be split between the Loughlin and Aedansson factions. Felix Finnean, leader of the Pact, privately began to lobby King Caelian II to ask him to form a minority government on 27 March. The King reluctantly began to lay the groundwork for doing so, and invited Finnean to the Julian Palace on 4 April for a private discussion on the matter. The King told Finnean that he would consent to the formation of a minority government, but only on the condition that Finnean received either a coalition agreement or a confidence-and-supply agreement from the [[Julian Party (Urcea)|Julian Party]]. The King's rationale is not entirely known, but many private diaries of palace officials from the period indicate his concern that, without at least the combined 243 seats of the two parties, it would be effectively impossible for the Pact to have a Chancellor maintain confidence or for the Purpaidá ministers to remain in place. | As Loughlin's transition government lost cohesion, many commentators in Urcean society began to suggest that the Commonwealth Union, though a nominal majority in the Daoni, was completely unable to govern. The eyes of the public gradually shifted towards the minority [[National Pact (Urcea)|National Pact]]. Though it possessed only 221 seats, it technically controlled the plurality of the Daoni if one considered the Union to now be split between the Loughlin and Aedansson factions. Felix Finnean, leader of the Pact, privately began to lobby King Caelian II to ask him to form a minority government on 27 March. The King reluctantly began to lay the groundwork for doing so, and invited Finnean to the Julian Palace on 4 April for a private discussion on the matter. The King told Finnean that he would consent to the formation of a minority government, but only on the condition that Finnean received either a coalition agreement or a confidence-and-supply agreement from the [[Julian Party (Urcea)|Julian Party]]. The King's rationale is not entirely known, but many private diaries of palace officials from the period indicate his concern that, without at least the combined 243 seats of the two parties, it would be effectively impossible for the Pact to have a Chancellor maintain confidence or for the Purpaidá ministers to remain in place. | ||
[[File:VP Agnew and Mayor Lindsay (cropped to Lindsay).jpg|thumb|right|250px|Felix Finnean, leader of the National Pact in the 1960s and 70s, attempted to break the crisis by forming a Pact-led minority government.]] | |||
Finnean began a complex series of negotiations with the Julian Party's leader, Petrio Amphár, on 5 April. Amphár was a classic {{wp|throne-and-altar}} conservative that typified the historic position of the Julian Party, but he also believed in a degree of economic openness and deregulation, making him a natural choice for the National Pact to form an alliance with. Nevertheless, Amphár and Finnean disliked eachother personally, and negotiations on 5 April ended almost immediately due to a heated personal argument between the two men. The King summoned both men to the Palace on 8 April to resume negotiations. King Caelian II managed to get both men on speaking terms, but Amphár made new demands he would not budge from. He asked Finnean that he be given the office of [[Procurator]], and in exchange the Julians would give the Pact a formal coalition with no specific terms. Finnean rejected the offer outright. Not only was it considered to be a bad deal, but ideologically the Pact viewed the Julians as an enemy of the [[Constitution of Urcea|constitutional balance]] between the King and civil government, and he viewed giving them the office of Procurator could unbalance the constitution. Negotiations ended on 9 April. Knowing that he would not be able to get the King's consent to form a minority government in the Daoni, Finnean next lobbied the King to make him Procurator, a position from which Finnean argued he could leverage to build a national unity government in the Daoni. The King did not refuse this offer outright, but instead contemplated the merits of the argument and also wondered if he could instead arrange a different coalition government. | |||
==King appoints Procurator== | ==King appoints Procurator== | ||
King Caelian II's view of the crisis had been changed by Finnean's efforts, though not in the way that the National Pact leader intended. Through the beginning of April, it was assumed that the office of Procurator would be filled by whomever the Daoni had confidence in to elect as Chancellor. However, Caelian was convinced that choosing a Procurator would be a powerful tool in breaking the deadlock. The King considered appointing Finnean but was convinced by several palace officials to instead appoint Petrio Amphár. The logic behind choosing Amphár was threefold. First, as leader of the Julian Party, Amphár would be unimpeachably loyality, allowing the King to influence him in the formation of a government. Second, the Julian Party's 22 seats would likely be the decider in the formation of a government (normal or minority), and empowering Amphár made him more likely to agree to form a government. Third, as the leader of a small third party, Amphár was largely considered to be neutral in the divide between the major two parties, making him broadly acceptable to serve as caretaker Procurator through the end of [[1970]]. The King made the decision on 14 April but waited until 19 April to formally make the appointment, as he waited for constitutional lawyers to confirm his ability to make a recess appointment of a Procurator on his own authority. Once the legal scholars confirmed his ability to do so, the King appeared on national television at 6 PM on 19 April announcing the appointment. Amphár was made aware that he was going to be appointed but was unsure when, finding out about the appointment on television with the rest of the public. | King Caelian II's view of the crisis had been changed by Finnean's efforts, though not in the way that the National Pact leader intended. Through the beginning of April, it was assumed that the office of Procurator would be filled by whomever the Daoni had confidence in to elect as Chancellor. However, Caelian was convinced that choosing a Procurator would be a powerful tool in breaking the deadlock. The King considered appointing Finnean but was convinced by several palace officials to instead appoint Petrio Amphár. The logic behind choosing Amphár was threefold. First, as leader of the Julian Party, Amphár would be unimpeachably loyality, allowing the King to influence him in the formation of a government. Second, the Julian Party's 22 seats would likely be the decider in the formation of a government (normal or minority), and empowering Amphár made him more likely to agree to form a government. Third, as the leader of a small third party, Amphár was largely considered to be neutral in the divide between the major two parties, making him broadly acceptable to serve as caretaker Procurator through the end of [[1970]]. The King made the decision on 14 April but waited until 19 April to formally make the appointment, as he waited for constitutional lawyers to confirm his ability to make a recess appointment of a Procurator on his own authority. Once the legal scholars confirmed his ability to do so, the King appeared on national television at 6 PM on 19 April announcing the appointment. Amphár was made aware that he was going to be appointed but was unsure when, finding out about the appointment on television with the rest of the public. | ||