Recent reports suggest that pops from the Cul’thar Republic have suddenly developed diverse opinions on political matters.
Cul’thari pops had previously been broadly apolitical, however on the tenth anniversary of the young space-nation discovering FTL travel, vast swathes of society rapidly divided into bitterly opposed factions.
A leader of one the newly formed xenophilic factions, Veldanura, explained to Xenonion: “When I went to sleep last night all I was thinking about was breakfast, but when I woke up my mind was racing with thoughts about pan-galactic trade and the ethical implications of space militarism.”
At the time of writing, seven Cul’thari factions have emerged, each pushing for individual agendas such as expanding foreign diplomatic relations, or enslaving anything that moves.
Image: A number of political factions have emerged in Cul’thari society.
According to insider reports, the Cul’thari government were caught completely off guard after discovering almost 1.3 trillion pops had suddenly developed opinions, having previously enjoyed absolute political unity in a single-minded Senate.
Livestreams from inside the legislature showed dramatic pictures of Senators initially placidly agreeing with each other on a new xeno refugee policy, before half the body erupted into a blind rage, with both some government and opposition members calling for the immediate purging of anyone who disagreed with them.
Urging an end to political strife, Cul’thari president Kashnaka made a public address earlier today, stating: “So, does anyone know what just happened? My last election was a unanimous victory but now I have something called an ‘approval rating’, and it’s dropped below 20%. I don’t know what that means, but I don’t like it and want it higher. Perhaps it’s something to do with all the policies that we introduced over the last ten years that everyone now seems to have issue with. However, even I admit I’m starting to disagree with policies I personally implemented.”
Health experts have highlighted concerns about the longer term effects of opinions on Cul’thari pops. The Public Institute for Space Health (PISH) has confirmed it is investigating whether opinions could be classified as infectious, and whether if left untreated, may cause serious harm.
Similarly, political analysts expect opinions will have a highly fraught impact on the Republic’s upcoming election, which for the first time ever is likely to feature more than one candidate for pops to vote for.
