Start 1861: I just inherited the Dutch throne

Chapter 716 The Liberal Party was defeated

On December 1878, 12, the penultimate day of the elections for the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, mainland Australia, New Zealand, and Tasmania, the Liberal Party candidate Walker was canvassing on the streets of Perth, Western Australia. and Whip Hester, the Socialist House of Representatives member who came to support his campaign, were shot by gunmen mixed in the crowd. One bullet grazed Walker's belly, and another bullet hit his knee.

Due to "two bullets with eyes", the Socialist Party polls were originally lagging behind in Western Australia and William Province, a 180-degree turn.

Finally, after the voting was completed on the 20th, and the votes were counted on the 21st, Walker of the Socialist Party won the governor general election of Western Australia.

The Socialist Party won the seats of Governor of Western Australia and Governor of William Province, plus secured fishing seats in New Zealand and Tasmania.

At the same time, Santos, who is running for Governor of Wilhelm Province on behalf of the Socialist Party, has captured 90% of the 65% of the votes cast, sealing victory in advance.

In Taiwan, the Socialist Party has occupied 4 of the nine provinces. Even if the Christian Party wins Queensland, it will only have the same 4 seats as the Socialist Party. The Socialist Party has jumped from third place to the party with the greatest victory in this election.

At the same time, the international community has condemned the bullet election incident in the Netherlands, but many people have also begun to ridicule the Netherlands.

Disraeli, the leader of the British Tory Party, sarcastically said:
"The bullet passed through the edge of Walker's knee and exited on the other side. The stray bullet even affected a bullet that hit innocent people in the audience. This completely destroyed the "fragile" illusion of the Dutch Western Australia election. The phenomenon of bullet elections also satirizes the democratic elections in the Netherlands. It will be deeply pierced into the memory of the democratic system from now on, and it will become a shadow that will not be covered by the post-election results. of"

In addition, since the Socialist Party won sympathy points in Western Australia and William Province because Walker was injured, the Christian Party, in the name of an ally of the Socialist Party, spread propaganda to imply that the Liberal Party was the murderer of the shooting, so that the Christian Party finally also The Liberal Party won 50.5% to 49.5%.

“Since the start of the nine-province and municipal elections in the Netherlands, the Liberal Party has had the advantage of keeping four out of five. South Australia, William Province, Melbourne City, and Queensland, Western Australia, belong to the Liberal Party’s basic base.

The Christian Party is keeping a close watch. Northern Australia, New South Wales, and the City of Melbourne belong to its base. Winning the breadbasket of Queensland is their main goal in this local election.Of course, the Prime Minister is the most important.

The Socialist Party has its hands on the two provinces of New Zealand and Tasmania, and wants Western Australia and William Province. However, its operations are quite unsatisfactory. To attack the Liberal Party's base, it only sends "Lieutenant General" Walker to fight against the "veteran" Rams of the Liberal Party. . , released news of possible failure from the beginning, and even gave up the competition at one point.Turning to the defensive mainly means attacking William Province.

In particular, the Liberal Party used offense instead of defense, wielding a big stick to attack the base of New Zealand and Tasmania, the base camp of the Socialist Party. Former Liberal Prime Minister Thor Baker took the lead to help Ordoñez attack the New Zealand candidate Julio of the Socialist Party. New Zealand was once Election crisis.

In addition, Prime Minister Gerrit of the Liberal Party helped Maximo attack Tasmania's Socialist Party candidate Obers. For a while, the two parties almost reached a tie there with a difference of several points. The gap in the polls narrowed and it was basically clear who would lose. Whoever loses is likely to lose this Prime Minister election.The Christian Party is also facing counterattack from the Liberal Party. In this election for the prime minister and nine provincial and municipal elections, none of the three parties can afford to lose.
Because they couldn't afford to lose, they all tried their best to participate.

However, the Liberal Party could not escape its fate after all. The Socialist Party seemed to be arranged by God. The sudden appearance of two bullets made all the previous efforts of the Liberal Party in vain, and the Socialist Party succeeded in making a comeback.The Christian Party also took the opportunity to capture the province of Queensland.

to the prime ministerial election votes for the same period.It will take until December 12 for the counting of votes to be completed and the results to be announced publicly.

By this time, the news that the Liberal Party had become the biggest loser was not only in the Netherlands, but also began to spread internationally.

This made the Liberal Party very angry.

Starting an investigation into the incident became an immediate matter for the Liberal Party.However, the "two bullets with eyes" were discovered because the shooter and the investigator mysteriously disappeared, key evidence from the crime scene was mysteriously missing, and there was still no clue until the results of the general election came out on December 1878, 12.Even into the 25st century, the case remains unsolved.

On December 12, the final election results came out. Theo von Linden of the Christian Party ran against Jan von Lopek for Prime Minister of the Netherlands with 25% of the votes, while Lopek received 53%. Linden became the The winner of this Dutch election.

Although he was dissatisfied that the bullet incident had ruined the plans of the Liberal Party, Gerrit de Vries, leader of the Liberal Party and Prime Minister of the Netherlands, announced at the South Australian provincial headquarters that he had admitted defeat and sincerely congratulated Theo von Linden for being successfully elected as the next president. A term of Prime Minister, and stated that the handover activities would be completed on February 1879, 2.

Dutch Royal Palace.

William IV smiled and said to Alexandra: "Look, I said the result may be unexpected."

Alexandra still doesn't want to believe that the election, which originally looked like the Liberal Party had an advantage, was actually taken away by the Socialist Party and the Christian Party.

And it allowed the Liberals to be defeated so badly.

"Nine provinces and cities, the Liberal Party only has one province left, South Australia."

Queen Alexandra smiled bitterly and said: "Now, compared to the Liberal Party, the whole party is very depressed."

William IV shook his head and said: "How can they grow without going through this level?"

Queen Alexandra suddenly became suspicious: "William, you couldn't have known about the two bullets incident from the beginning, right?"

William IV did not deny or affirm, but just said: "I told all the members of the Dutch Privy Council that the process is not important, what I value is the result. The Netherlands needs to develop, and it does not need to be limited to conspiracy. Conspiracy is also It’s not something shady.”

"You" Alexandra are here, don't you know where you are? From the very beginning, her husband, the king of the Netherlands, has already known the inside story.

Alexandra asked hesitantly: "Aren't you afraid that the Liberal Party will have objections if they find out?"

William IV shook his head and said: "If there were opinions on this, then the Liberal Party would not have been the ruling party of the Dutch government for 16 years."

He said solemnly: "Don't forget, the political arena has always been the dirtiest place in the world. What the Socialist Party is doing, how do you know that the Liberal Party and even the Christian Party have not done it before? Even they have done more It’s impossible to say for sure.”

(End of this chapter)