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Region: The Alliance of Dictators

THE CENTURY

Charan breaks ranks on The Controlist Ferwerter Union canal plan

    SURADAO—Debates began in the General Estate today over a Ferwerter-led canal project that would change the face of Suraiya’s export industry. Overtures from the Controlist Ferwerter Union to construct a massive canal linking the Aurelian Sea to the Bay of Ferwert were initially met with support from Prime Minister Pramdishat Ananda’s government. As debates began today, however, members of the Charan party broke ranks with the government on mass, calling for the canal project to be voted down.

    Charan party leader Psom Non said the canal would be “a complete waste of funding,” that could be better used supporting farmers and investing in the struggling rural welfare state. “We have hundreds of millions of people who can’t afford the medical care guaranteed to them by our national laws. The government expects us to put money into a pet project?”

    Non also mentioned the physical challenges presented by the vast stretch of land the canal would have to cross. The shortest route from the Aurelian Sea to the Bay of Ferwert crosses through hundreds of miles of dense jungle, including parts of the Kalang Chaiya region inhabited by indigenous tribes. Should the canal project go forward, Non mentioned, it would cut through those tribal lands. “That would be a violation of their basic rights,” Non said.

    In a rare turn of events, the remnants of the Samnat Raj—which remains dominant in Rama Atri and the surrounding provinces—have sided with the Charan. The two parties have long been bitter rivals, but the existence of a canal in the east would threaten Rama Atri’s flourishing monopoly on Suraiyan shipping.

    Princess Samsheet Karupaktichai of Raman, a ranking member of the Samnat Raj and influential northern noble, warned of the risks of becoming reliant on a canal tied to the whims of another nation. “There is nothing stopping the Ferwerters from blocking their end of the canal the moment we do something they don’t like,” Karupaktichai said. “I would much rather preserve Rama Atri’s economy and support northern Suraiyan dockworkers than tie the fate of our economy to another country.”

    Suradao’s apparent hesitation on the canal project could signal a rift in Suraiyan-Ferwerter relations, which just last year were rife with nuclear tensions and political standoffs. Since then, a tenuous but optimistic peace between the two states has prevailed, especially with the establishment of the Khon Ngai—based Aurelian Union. The construction of the canal is intended to be a major part of the Aurelian Union’s model of continental economics: increasing financial interdependence as a means to discourage hostility.

    But what was popular with Suraiyan diplomats in Khon Ngai may not be popular with a public that is becoming unsettled with their new government’s failure to enact any major economic reforms. Poor Suraiyans who supported Pramdishat Ananda’s election as Prime Minister are still poor, and Ananda is now embroiled in a battle over her refusal to cut the national defense budget.

    From here, the General Estate might move to vote on the canal within the week. This is very likely, as the Sinn Hind appears to remain largely supportive of the program. But the Samnat Raj’s backing could give the Charan just enough votes to block the bill; or, if enough members of the Samnat Raj defect, the Charan may force the issue to go to a national referendum, which could take weeks.

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