SDP Cornered as ICBM Restriction Plans Face Scrutiny

The Social Democratic Party has found itself between a rock and a hard place as its plans on restricting the Government's authority to launch and produce ICBMs after the election have faced immense scrutinity.

A compromise has supposedly been made within the party to keep the Demarcian Nuclear Deterrent Act (DNDA) intact while amending it significantly so that the President no longer has the unilateral authority to launch ICBMs, as well as so that the Government can not even produce ICBMs, capped at 2 to 5 per month, without the consent of the opposition leader.

The party's Secretary, Penstubal, has, according to the Demarcian Inquirer's sources, been confronted by a "prominent citizen" of the country who criticised the party's plans on the issue, inquiring what the point of nuclear weapons is when "you can't launch them without the consent of a shit ton of people".

In a back-and-forth argument with the citizen, Penstubal asserted that the decision made in the nuclear referendum is interpreted by the party as one "in favor of safeguarding Demarcia's security" and to be respected, but that the DNDA must be "tailored" so that ICBMs "can not be used to harm us adversely".

He, furthermore, defended the move as one necessary to restore Demarcia's international reputation, signalizing to the world that "our government is committed towards reversing dangerous policies that the CUP has made".

The argument was long and difficult, with the citizen suggesting to the SDP Secretary that his party should either keep the act as it is, repeal it in its entirety, or merely introduce "more specific circumstances in which they can be used by the president" and/or require "someone else's approval but not a shit ton of people like you proposed".

The party's Secretary has expressed his openness towards a compromise, stating that the citizen should suggest an amendment to the DNDA in the next term, which the citizen rejected.

This confrontation showcases the many ways in which MikeBodwin's move to hold a nuclear referendum, one that resulted in an affirmative result for his proposed piece of legislation, has cornered the Social Democratic Party. Keep the law as it is - and the pacifist, anti-nuclear base of the party will be disappointed. Repeal it - and the party's democratic, populist credentials will be damaged, perhaps irreparably. Slim the bill down - and "the worst features of both options" would be combined, as the prominent citizen said.

One thing is clear from the whole issue - MikeBodwin has undoubtedly come out as the winner in this specific battle. With his referendum gamble which some have described as "brilliant" and "masterful", he has ensured that the next election would not be such a walk in the park as the SDP had hoped it would be.

Laura Cooper,

Demarcian Inquirer.