Lorraine enters critical vote as unionists eye history

Amory – Lorrainé, Gallia.

The Gallian nation of Lorrainé will go to the polls on Friday in an election that could decide its future as a sovereign nation. The country’s leading opposition leader, and current favourite to win the election, Gilles Adnet, who is the head of Lèsgens, has changed his party’s policy to back the nation becoming part of the Free States Union.

Seceding sovereignty to its northern and eastern neighbor may seem like a bold policy move, but it is one that the country has been on a slow path towards – with pro-unionists having increased their vote at every election since 1993. But Mr Adnet’s landmark decision came after he dramatically captured the leadership of the party at the start of the year, and has transformed its odds of winning the national election. Mr Adnet is expected to win a majority on Thursday – becoming the first unionist to do so, and, should his margin of victory be large enough, start negotiations with Threveburg.

Standing in Lèsgens’ way, is Jean-François Pelletier, who has been Premier of the country since 2004. Standing for a fourth term, his La Bleue Croix Fête (meaning Blue Cross Party) is the country’s ardent voice of Metz sovereignty, and has accused Mr Adnet of ‘treachery and treason’. Mr Pelletier has made the election a referendum on the issue, and has said the “only way to guarantee we wake up as one country on Saturday is to vote for us – we have to save Lorrainé.” The party has adopted the slogan “Sauver la Nation Unie” – which translates directly as ‘Save and Unite the Nation’.

Ahead of the election the country is split, with polls showing that districts in the west are likely to back Mr Pelletier’s party, and the east, centering on the Joue-Du-Plain region, likely to support Mr Adnet. The city regions of Amory, the country’s capital, Wisches, Lily, Jussy-le-Chaudrier and Bauduen are likely to decide the outcome of the race. Both major parties are touring the country, expecting turnout to be high as voters become increasingly polarized in the run up to the vote.