The acting leader of the Nationalist Party, Drakan Slivinski, has criticised Prime Minister Krill Serbin for “political plotting” following a shock judgement by the Union Court earlier this morning that the party will be blocked from taking its seats in the Federal Assembly. Serbin, who is still attempting to negotiate forming a new government, is accused of “pressuring” Dmitri Korsakov, the president of the court, into applying “dramatic sanctions” on the party for ballot tampering in the initial legislative elections held in June. Whilst the accusation has been dismissed by a spokesperson for the government, the ruling will reduce the number of votes that Serbin requires to form a new administration – with the Coalition now only needing to find two further supporters in the 170 seat lower-house.
Slivinski, who has served as assemblymember for Mozyr in Amar since replacing former Nationalist leader Lev Gauk in the seat at the 2013 elections, was confirmed as the party’s acting leader during a meeting of its ruling executive last week – ahead of expected criminal charges against its former leader Alexei Sukhorokov. Both have now called for a “wave” of protests to be organised against the decision, which will see the party’s four representatives locked out of the Assembly. “It is an assault and it is a stitch up. Like everybody else I was appalled by the actions of a few individuals, but taking away the right of representation to hundreds of thousands of voters who legitimately voted Nationalist at the re-run election is an affront. It must be contested. It must be fought – and we must win” Slivinski proclaimed at a rally held on at lunchtime in Arvi. “The Prime Minister may see this as a way of getting him closer to forming a government but he has just fired the opening shots of a democratic purge” he continued.
The decision is likely to escalate political tensions that have at times spilled over into violence – with government officials and the leaders of the Union Party warning that there “cannot be a return to the violence we saw over the summer” when protesters occupied government buildings after Sukhorokov was arrested by Kamchetkan police. “People need to stay calm – violence will not be tolerated in Karasciena or any other city. Rightly, there are many who want to demonstrate their dismay at this decision, and they have a right to do so peacefully. But any acts of violence will be met with the full force of the law” said Kamchetkan governor Philip Kirkiosma, who had been criticised for a lack of enforcement over previous protests. The governor is expected to take preemptive action, including potentially announcing a curfew for this evening later today. Further reaction is also expected from other political leaders over the course of the afternoon.
The Coalition and court chief Korsakov deny that this decision however was anything but “correct and rightfully independent” saying that it was a unanimous call between all three justices, and was based “solely on the evidence” presented to the Court. The government had “only presented supporting evidence” within its role as overseeing the election, officials stated. The charge of politicisation however is not a new one, with the Court’s original ruling to re-run the legislative elections criticised by the Nationalists at the time. The decision to progress with a criminal charge however has been met with some criticism beyond the Nationalists – with several leading figures, including Rally for Democracy founder Tymur Rubin saying that “national reconciliation would be a better way forward than a divisive criminal trial”. The Court however says that proceedings are “important” in showing that such actions “will not be tolerated”. It was expected that the final judgement would sanction Sukhorokov, but it was not thought that the Court would seek to ban the party from taking up its seats in the Federal Executive – the implications of which are many, and already several commentators have raised how the issue will be dealt with, considering the loss of representation for voters in these districts.
The judgement comes as the government continues to scramble in its attempt to form a government before the end of the month – when the deadline for any agreement expires, and new elections would be triggered. The Prime Minister is desperately trying to avoid a new vote, fearing further losses in terms of seats; something that would almost certainly guarantee the Union Party the opportunity of forming a government. Talks between the two party’s broke down last week without an agreement.
