ROTHESAY — In a shock move, Premier Ethan McAllister has called a snap election for August 30.
An election is not required until next year but the Premier has decided to call the election early to ‘determine the direction’ the nation takes after its founding.
McAllister visited Governor Sir Geoffrey Marsden at approximately 10 a.m. this morning to formally request the dissolution, which His Excellency duly granted.
The campaign will last 9 days — 4 days more than the 5 day minimum required by the Constitution Act. Speaking shortly after his meeting with the Governor, Premier McAllister said, ‘It’s important in our earliest days to determine the direction our young country takes. This isn’t about personalities or politics, it’s about what we want to achieve as a nation, and where we want to go.’
So far, there has been no comment or reply from other members of Parliament.
McAllister heads New Ulster’s non-partisan, so called ‘consensus government’. Currently, there are no political parties in the country and all members of the House of Assembly sit as independents. The Cabinet is therefore appointed without reference to political parties.
However, this could be about to change as some members have mused on more formal political arrangements between themselves. This includes the Premier who, even as the election gets underway, is said to be considering launching a political party.
The August 30 election will be conducted by multiple non-transferable vote, whereby electors will vote from a single, nationwide constituency and have as many votes as there are seats to fill. There will be 5 seats to be elected as this general election.
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