Sanctus – Fresh from his loss in the bid to become the new leader of the Sanctarian Conservative Party, Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Andrew Silk, today announced that a vote on a new regional council would be forthcoming within the week. The charter for the council, which Silk proposed in a memo circulated last year, has received almost unanimous support from leaders of the countries within the International Democratic Union in recent days, paving the way for a vote on the body.
Expected to pass, the establishment of the council, dubbed CIDUS, will be Secretary Silk’s crowning achievement in his term since he was appointed last June, though it is believed that much of the groundwork for the proposal was completed by his predecessor former Secretary Robert Smyth. In a bitter-sweet moment, however, Silk, who Monday night lost to Secretary of Enterprise & Commerce Mark Kindle by a narrow vote in the leadership election of the governing SCP, will likely not see the establishment of the Council before his term ends; outgoing Prime Minister and SCP leader Joshua Turner last week announced that Parliament would be dissolved on Tuesday, February 5th before the general election on Saturday, February 16th.
Secretary Silk, who is also Deputy Prime Minister, has announced that he will seek re-election to his seat in the House of Deputies and is also said to be in talks to build bridges with the SCP leader-elect Kindle, who hopes to lead the party to a third consecutive general election win. The two fought a bitter leadership campaign and any hopes of Silk being re-admitted to the cabinet should the SCP win the election depend on the outcome of the meetings between the two.
Silk’s office confirmed his last press conference as both Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister will be next Monday, as all Ministers leave office upon dissolution of parliament.
SARAH PLEDYS, Political Editor
