Capsuleer Influence Paramount As Road to Election Begins
With voting scheduled for the 17th of April YC128, the road to the Gallente election is truly underway. Despite their very different stances, the three candidates are currently tied in the polls. While entrenched voting blocks are unlikely to budge, election analysts believe swing voters may be looking to the stars for guidance.
Capsuleers are expected to have an outsized influence over voters due to their past impact on key issues such as fighting Rogue Drone emergences, the ongoing conflict with the Caldari, and strong stances on the autonomy of Intaki Prime. New reports are coming in that Rogue Drone outbreaks resulting from the AID act have begun spreading beyond Gallente borders. New out-of-control Rogue Drone production sites dubbed “Rampant Fabricators” have been spotted across New Eden, and it will be Capsuleers who once again are called upon to keep this threat under control.
To try and gain their support, all three candidates have established new capsuleer outreach centers in Dodixie. These outreach centers offer rewards in exchange for capsuleer service. Due to anti-corruption laws, these sites are not allowed to discriminate between capsuleers based on their political affiliation. However, there is no doubt over the candidates' attempts to influence the empyreans with significant resources being offered in exchange for capsuleers' pro-Gallente efforts.
Here to complete our Presidential Profile series and provide our readers insights with their final candidate interview is the Scope’s own Johanna Marqoso.
Presidential Profile: Soraya Roden
Thousands of voices cry out at once at the Sinq-Copation amphitheater on Dodixie VI. Some chant, some scream, some even cry — overwhelmed by the sight of their idol. The woman who just walked onto the stage is not a holoreel star, a musician, or a sports hero. It is Presidential candidate Soraya Roden, and the very sight of her face sends waves of euphoria through the crowd of her ecstatic supporters.
It is not a coincidence that I am asked to meet Soraya Roden for our interview after this rally is complete, or that I am encouraged to attend the rally from inside the crowd. Roden ships rocket by overhead, carpet bombing the crowd with campaign merchandise sponsored by Quafe. Skyscraper-sized holograms depict Soraya Roden booting the Caldari State “C” into the upper atmosphere. It is a spectacle like no other, and there has been one just like it on a different planet five nights a week since Roden’s candidacy was announced.
When we meet backstage in her concert trailer (a refitted 1-kilometer-long Megathron-class battleship), I ask her about her personal history. Unlike the other candidates, Roden does not have a background in public office, having worked instead at the ship manufacturing behemoth Roden Shipyards since graduating from the Center for Advanced Studies. Daughter of the former President Jacus' Roden’s estranged son, she has been a mentee of her grandfather since her youth.
“People think I got to where I am purely by virtue of birth,” she tells me, “but believe me, my grandfather and cousin made sure I worked twice as hard as everyone else.” The cousin to whom Soraya refers is CEO of Roden Shipyards, Miloise Roden. “Milioise has always been an inspiration to me, but we have followed different paths. As head of Roden’s charitable foundation and a liaison to the Senate, I have been proud to represent our values of personal liberty empowered by personal responsibility.”
Soraya Roden may not have come from a political station but she is indeed well known within the halls of power. Since her grandfather left the office of the President in YC122, it has been Soraya who has represented her family's values when lobbying for political change. However, she says that “I am not running to be a president for my family or their company. We are not Caldari; blind servants to the dictates of megacorps. We are proud Gallente, and I want to represent what is best for all our people.” According to Soraya, her grandfather Jacus originally tried to convince her not to run, but “once he saw just how badly our Federation needed a strong hand to guide it, he understood my passion.”
Soraya Roden is running with the backing of the Progressive party, the very same party her grandfather defeated in the YC112 election. “I’m aware of the irony, but my grandfather was not fighting against a party. He was fighting against a wave of overzealous government control. That’s the same reason I am running today, and this time the Progressive Party is excited to be on the right side of history. Aguard lied to the Progressives, just as she lied to us all. Now they have embraced the reality that in order to protect the values that made our Federation strong, the government must listen to the wisdom of those who have excelled in the private sector.”
As she discusses the problems the Federation is facing, Roden becomes solemn. “Freedom is our most important value, but we must also be responsible with how we use that freedom. Too often, Federal authority can be abused to place collective welfare over an individual's right to be exceptional. Red tape strangles the very people we should be lifting up.
“Oof course, our government can also be irresponsibly lax. Pragmatic controls are needed to ensure sane limits, and we should empower private companies to set those limits — and no, I don’t just mean Roden here. Duvolle Laboratories has some of our greatest minds, and has there been any greater innovator in the robotics space than CreoDron? As a proud Gallente, I am inspired by their stories and believe that all such successful innovators deserve to be heard.”
When it comes to foreign policy, Roden’s campaign has been heavy on aggressive militaristic rhetoric. “I am not ashamed of that,” Roden explains. “Together, we are the greatest power the cluster has ever seen. We should not be ashamed of that power, nor should we be hesitant to defend the prosperity that has guaranteed it. Vicious Caldari assaults in the past have hit at the very heart of our Federation. Should we allow that to happen again? Not on my watch.”
Roden is also clear what this means for the controversial miltary build up in Intaki. “In these troubled times, our Federation needs security. That security benefits the people of Intaki as much, if not more than anyone else. Intaki Prime is a beautiful place, and its people are treasured members of this Federation. I will do whatever it takes to protect them, especially from a few contrarians who like to benefit from the security our Federation brings as long as it isn’t situated on their doorstep. The Intaki deserve better than that.”
News In Brief
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SOCT scientists blame Drifter Wormhole experimentation for changes in connecting wormhole behaviors.
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CONCORD unveils new Rogue Analysis Beacon to aid in fight against rising Rogue Drone occurrences.
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EDENCOM reports shift in abysal energies inside Pochven, resulting in quantum probability shifts.
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Pilots warned altered Pochven abyssal energies may interfere with ship location information.
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Reports on Triglavian tactics within Pochven suggest shift in response to energy changes.
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Minmatar Republic announces increased incentives as they launch new military initiatives within Tabbetzur.
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CEP Chairman Akimaka Saraki calls all Gallente Presidential candidates “troubling for cluster stability”.
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Sanmatar Maleatu Shakor wishes the Gallente people “wisdom and caution” in upcoming election.
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Empress Catiz I expresses willingness to continue trade with whoever serves as next Gallente President.