Katrina Fischer, the governor of Béspura, has formally announced she will seek the presidency in November’s election for the first time.
In a major unexpected speech in Emajic on Sunday morning, Fischer declared she wanted to become the Progressive Centrist Coalition candidate in the presidential race. The three-term governor called on the country to come together behind her vision of ’one future’ – a phrase she used almost fifteen times across the thirty-five minute speech and one that is expected to become her campaign slogan. Echoing the words of Koruin Gruaman shortly after he became the country’s first president in 2003, Fischer said “As our country stands at a crossroads, we have to embrace the future or we will miss the opportunity of a generation. We have stood as one so that we can make this choice together. So let’s face that future as one – and build one future for all of us together.”
Close aides to Ms Fischer say that she decided to make the announcement speech at the beginning of last week, fearing that Nationalist nominee Alexei Sukhorukov was being ‘given a free pass’ without another candidate currently joining the race. Both Taras Illyushin and Ivan Tattar, the leading candidates for the nomination of the Union Party, have yet to declare formally – leaving Sukhorukov as the only leading candidate in the national contest.
Since launching their campaign the Nationalists have spiked in opinion polls – which is thought to have contributed to Fischer’s decision to launch her bid earlier than expected. In her speech the governor took aim at the Nationalists and Sukhorukov, saying that she believed Polasciana’s future was as an “outlooking, forward-facing nation, not one that would turn inwards on ourselves, away from the world” and blasted her rivals as “betraying the very foundations of our peace”.
Other major sections of her speech centred on Polasciana’s history and transition – including a controversial part where Fischer stated that “the pain and suffering of our history is the price we have paid for our independence”. Some commentators expect this part of the governor’s speech to create tensions with some in the Sar community, who fear Fischer’s Noric background and have taken the statement to mean the independence of Gal communities. Her campaign have insisted that the line in her speech referred to ‘all Polascianan communities’ and was not intended to refer to Noric Gal’s specifically, but at this point in her campaign any slip-up could be fatal in a heavily charged race.
Deciding to stay away from policy at this time, Fischer used a wider narrative about ‘choosing the future’ to portray her vision to the country. She said she wanted Polasciana to “embrace the international community to strengthen the country at home”.
Her close ally, Marina Yanaka who ran in the election four years ago, but lost to President Artamova, started her campaign with the launch of many bold domestic policies – but Fischer is expected to stay clear of making promises until her rivals in the national contest are known. She remains the frontrunner to win the election in November, and would become the first female president of the country if she was to do so. Fischer would also become the first Progressive Centrist elected to the role since Koruin Gruaman was elected as the country’s first president in 2003, some sixteen years ago.
As the country awaits the launch of further campaigns in the coming weeks, Fischer is expected to start holding events across the nation – and will begin to challenge the Nationalists as the key candidates in the contest at this time. With reservations about her ability to create a winning coalition across the whole country, having now declared, Fischer will quickly build a campaign infrastructure that she believes can drive her all the way to the Niveri Palace.
Her speech on Sunday has been rumoured to have been written by former Gruaman staffers who have said they feel more confident about Fischer as a national candidate than Marina Yanaka four years ago. “She is a gifted politician, natural and more engaging – it will be a better race than last time, she’s a better candidate” said one off the record official.
Fischer will be interviewed later this week on PTV’s weekly ‘The Big Interview’.
