Romulan race heats up, May 30, 2397 Options

[Federation News ...]

Jurai – Ultra-nationalist Unity party candidate En'Riov Destorie N'Dak called for unanimity and strength, speaking today before a group of mostly university students at the Jurai Imperial Retor.

"We are the chosen, D'Era," he said, fervently, "We must rise up as one nation, as one people, and announce to the rest of the Galaxy that we have returned. For we are the D'Era, and we are on Errand."

The reaction from the audience was tempered. The first stop on N'Dak's whirlwind tour of the Southern provinces on his first campaign trip outside the Eisn system, Jurai's population is almost entirely non-Rihan, with the local populace and surrounding systems having been annexed some years ago.

Most of the audience, however, were Rihans attending the Retor. Outside the gathering, held in the central auditorium, many Jurai-natives gathered in protest of N'Dak, who is seen as being anti-Alien.

Many of them waved banners bearing the colors and likeness of People's Party candidate Aekal Donatra. The Jurian leader of the Alien Union party, Wizix Maossa, said that many of the Alien Union votes were going to be directed in support of Donatra, who he believes is more tolerant to the opening of the political process to non-Rihans; something many non-Rihans had hoped N'Dak would address in his Southern tour.

However, according to sources inside the N'Dak camp, he has no intention of shifting his focus. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a senior N'Dak official said that while they are hoping for a strong showing in the alien-heavy Southern sectors, they were concentrating on the eastern, central, and western sectors were they felt they had the best chance of picking up more votes.

Meanwhile, the latest RINN (Romulan Imperial News Network) poll shows N'Dak with a slight lead over Donatra, though experts caution against placing much faith in the polls, as Donatra only recently announced her candidacy.

"Right now," FNS political analyst J. Scott Townsend said, "I wouldn't give either of them an advantage over the other. There is a still a good deal of time between now and elections, and they both have some cards to play."