Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

The Netherlands, like the United States in later generations, has two electoral stages: mid-term elections and prime ministerial elections. To put it simply, mid-term elections are dedicated to electing senators, representatives and governors.

The latest Dutch constitution after review in 1875 stipulates that candidates for the Dutch Senate must be over 25 years old, have been citizens of the Netherlands for 10 years, and must be residents of the elected province; representatives of the House of Representatives must be over 20 years old, and have been citizens of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. After five years of service and being residents of the elected provinces, members of both houses of the House of Representatives can be re-elected, and they are full-time and cannot concurrently hold government positions.

In addition, in the Dutch mid-term elections, in addition to the elections for both houses of Congress, in addition to the Australian mainland, Tasmania and New Zealand provinces, other overseas countries such as the European Dutch mainland provinces, Dutch East Indies, New Guinea, Suriname, and Hawaii , South Pacific Islands Province, New Guinea Province, African provinces, etc., all hold elections for senior officials in each province at the same time based on mid-term elections.

There are 9 provinces in Australia including William Province (formerly Victoria), Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, Northern Australia, and New South Wales; two overseas provinces, New Zealand and Tasmania, and the Australian capital Melbourne. The local governorship election will be held from December 10th to December 20th this year.

The Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy, consisting of 38 provinces and the capital Melbourne. Senior officials in each province and Melbourne are directly elected by voters. The term of senior officials is generally 4 years, except for accidents. According to Dutch regulations, senior officials with overseas status are elected in mid-term elections ( Except New Zealand and Tasmania).

The prime ministerial election is held at the same time as the elections in nine provinces and cities in mainland Australia, New Zealand, and Tasmania.

The final results of the 1876 mid-term election resulted in the victory of the Liberal Party, which allowed the Liberal Party to once again gain control of both houses of the Dutch Parliament. In the nine provinces and cities of Australia, New Zealand, and Tasmania, the Liberal Party controlled Melbourne, William Province, West The four provinces of Australia and Queensland.

The Christian Party controls the three provinces of South Australia, Northern Australia and New Wales.

The Socialist Party controls Tasmania and New Zealand.

Many people are very interested in this election, because after 16 years in power, the Liberal Party will face the biggest challenge in its history, especially in the Dutch political arena and even overseas. It has been reported that the Christian Party and the Socialist Party will join forces to form a joint candidacy. group to jointly challenge the 'hegemony' of the Liberal Party.

Because of this, everyone in the Liberal Party was panicked this time.

So the final mobilization sprint began in preparation for a rainy day.

On November 28, 1878, Tolbeck, the former Prime Minister of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, went to the Australian mainland of Western Australia on Friday to help Liberal Senator Rams canvass votes, hoping to help the Liberal Party keep the territory in power in Western Australia during its senior official period.

Tolbeck, who was elected Prime Minister of the Netherlands three times from 1849 to 1853, 1861 to 1865, and 1866 to 1870, stood on the podium of an opera house in the large suburbs of Perth City Hall that day. He called on everyone to -Vote actively in the Dutch general election on December 20. At the same time, Western Australia, the traditional territory of the Liberal Party, should not be lost.

He shouted to more than 2,000 people in the opera house: "It is not enough to elect Liberals with votes alone. We really need to elect outstanding people in elections at all levels."

Tolbeck alleged that some people who are trying to undermine the balance of the Netherlands are running for office in various provinces and cities in the Netherlands. “If they win, I don’t know what will happen, but everyone can see the Liberal Party’s governance achievements in the past ten years. It is clear that we resolutely implement all the instructions from His Majesty William IV. At the same time, we also carefully listen to all the voices that love the Netherlands and make the Netherlands stronger. We have done it because our Kingdom of the Netherlands has become a world-class Big countries, not just in the Indian Ocean and Pacific region, so if you vote for the Liberal Party, this is the wisest choice."

The majority of people attending the campaign rally that day came from the Netherlands and came to live in Western Australia. They shouted the slogan that Tolbeck was elected in Amsterdam that year, and the atmosphere was boiling.

Western Australia is the primary target of the Socialist Party, because the Socialist Party only needs to win here, then the Liberal Party in mainland Australia will directly change from the 4, 3, and 2 pattern of the Liberal Party, Christian Party, and Socialist Party in the 9 provinces, even if the others are not Under the changed circumstances, the Socialist Party also won three provinces, turning into a real three-point world, with each winning three provinces. Therefore, as long as it wants to win here, the Socialist Party can compete fairly with the two established major parties and officially land on the Australian mainland, because the Socialist Party has only won the isolated overseas provinces of New Zealand and Tasmania.

If Western Australia is captured, zero breakthrough will be achieved. This is very important for the Socialist Party.

At present, the Socialist Party and the Christian Party have not defeated each other in the Senate and House of Representatives, but if they win this time, they can break the monopoly of the Liberal Party. Therefore, if they win the general election, the future is promising.

Therefore, the province of Western Australia, which took the lead this time, became the bellwether for the general election. Liberal Party Senator Rams of Western Australia faced the competition from Socialist Party Senator Walker. Walker received the support of Socialist Party leader Jules Danetang. , also won the support of former Home Secretary Russell.

He is the founder of the Socialist Party and a political ally of Jules Danet.

Liberal Rams and Socialist Walker also competed with Christian Cape for high-ranking seats in Western Australia, but Cape has been lagging behind Walker and Rams in the polls.

Tolbeck's active campaigning for the Liberal Party does not show that the Liberal Party is increasingly anxious about the future elections in nine provinces and cities in mainland Australia. According to the election analysis of "The Australian Times" and "European Times", it was found that the current opinion polls are increasingly favorable to the Socialist Party in the election of senior officials in Western Australia.

As of November 20, 1878, Socialist Senator Walker's probability of winning was 43%, which was the same as Rams's support of about 45%, almost tying Rams's. Even Senator Walker of the Socialist Party is estimated to have a 70% victory rate.

Therefore, it is understandable that veteran Tolbeck is now taking action to personally canvass votes for his former subordinate Ramsay.

However, today is different from the past. Can Tolbeck, a political giant who has served three terms as Prime Minister of the Netherlands, really be able to increase Rams's support in the polls and get rid of the new generation of the Socialist Party - political ace Senator Walker?

No one knows the outcome, but everyone is looking forward to it.

After all, after the arrival of former Prime Minister Tolbeck, it is obvious that the polls in Western Australia have indeed boosted Rams' popularity and widened the distance between him and Walker, but there is also a gap between the two. The difference is only less than 10 points.

Suspense, still suspense!