The Labor Party, which reelected a Deputy and elected a Governor, is clearly struggling to revive its political fortunes. Meanwhile, the LDP put up two write-in candidates (for Bavan Governor and Mattimean Deputy) and lost both. This shows that, while divided, the two parties are in deep trouble.

However, a merger can definitely help these two parties. But, first, why were they ever separate? Because of the issue over presidential and parliamentary systems during the Constitutional Convention. However, after that debate was over, the differences between the two parties have faded, and in recent months have disappeared.

Since the Constitution requires each party to have different platforms, the Labor and Liberal Democrats need to merge, or split off into two completely different parties. And with that, talks are concluding over a new Liberal Party.

This would unite the non-radical left-of-center (besides the non-Marxist left-wing PFP) behind a single banner, make them the largest voting bloc in Cyberia, and create a new paradigm focused on liberalism. (Which happenes to be equidistant from the CP and CWP.)

It will be interesting to watch this merger in the future.

This victory was a hallow one at best. Had the CP candidate not existed, more likely the LPoC candidate would have won. Therefore, Rosario was lucky. And luck doesn't build confidence that's needed in a presidential campaign.

Rosario was hoping for an easy, strong mandate to show the people of Menet were behind his candidacy. Instead, he got an uncertain message that they weren't exactly in favor of him. And to top it all off, the Menetian government is left open because of a loophole in the Menetian Constitution, but also left open for the CP or LPoC to take in August.

Will Rosario be able to use his position as Deputy to build confidence in Rosario the wannabe President? Not if the President has any say in the matter. The President had this to say about Rosario's race: "It really shows my opponent is out of step with mainstream Cyberians. And it begs the question: if he can't win a majority in a province where he was governor, can he really expect to win a majority of the country? He has some problems to deal with, that is for sure. However, I won't block legislation he writes, if it is good for the country, simply to prevent his candidacy from gaining the confidence of the people."

Belar's Governor race was especially interesting. Joel Schapp, a moderate, former Conservative, was looking for a third term, managed a 4-3 victory over Tom Smith, a former Atheist Nation Party. This seemed really narrow, in Cyberian terms, but the status quo was maintained, and Belar was the only province to turn down a SP candidate for governor in this election. This is something noteworthy, and should be remembered in September.

Mattimeo's Deputy race was originally an predictable victory for the veteran legislator Jack Santucci. In the end, he won only 60% of the vote. The opposition, however, was split over two write-in candidates: Gary Swing of the Pacifist Party, and Peter Eckersly of the LDP. In fact, at one point, Swing was ahead of Santucci. This tight race shows that Mattimeo is still a melting pot of a whole range of parties with a wide-range of opinions. Of course, Mattimeo still awarded experience and returned Santucci to his seat in the Chamber of Deputies.

This has never happened before. We have always had one coalition that dominated the majority of seats. Now we don't. The Speakership will now have to be elected by people across coalition lines, which further weakens the coalitions. Also, the SP has become the dominant force behind the UCCL. If the LibDems and Labor Party decide on a merger, then they will pull from both coalitions.

It is conceivable that by the end of the summer, both coalitions will be dead. Yep, this election was a watershed one. The election that ended the UCCL and FC. And the pundits had said there was nothing special about this election....