Ladies and Gentlemen, dear citizens, residents and followers of Sunilia,
The government of the Empire of Sunilian States is glad to announce that the referendum on the future national anthem of our nation has come to a close after seeing notable participation. The results are clear, and the Sunilian government has made the according changes – from now on, Sunilia is the proud mother of a dual national anthem system.
Outcome of the Referendum
The people of Sunilia were given six options to choose from, which may be listened to here.
From these options, the participants to the referendum were asked to rank their top three choices. The votes were weighted in a way that first choices had a stronger impact than second choices, and second a stronger one than third.
The final results of the referendum are as follow:
Participants
A very mixed group of individuals cast their vote to have a say in determining the future of the great Empire of Sunilian States.
One third of the votes cast came from individuals who were residents & members of the national party, and a further third of the votes were cast by residents who do not hold citizenship. 16.7% of votes were cast by residents who held citizenship but were not members of the national party.
What will happen now?
Musical and political experts of the Empire of Sunilian States have made the decision for the nation to not simply have on national anthem, but two, used on different occasions.
The decision has been taken due to the outstanding popularity of options 3 and 5 on the referendum, in combination with musical considerations concerning the most-voted option 3; Sunilian musical experts see potential challenges arising from having to write a singable, lyrically interesting and otherwise fit text for the most-voted option, while option 5, the well-known melody of the “International”, is considerably more fit for the purpose. Option 5 has a melody which can be sung with much less effort, and further is already widely known, making learning the new national anthem easier for citizens of Sunilia than if an entirely new song were to be selected.
For these and other considerations, the Sunilian government has decided to introduce a dual national anthem system.
The winning Option 3 will be used by the military, at times when no singing is expected to take place with the anthem, or when otherwise deemed fitting. There will be no lyrics written for option three, it will remain a purely musical national anthem, much like those of Spain, Bosnia & Herzegowina, Kosovo and San Marino.
The second-ranking Option 5 will be used for most civilian occasions, at times when citizens, onlookers or others are expected to or want to sing, or when otherwise deemed fitting. The lyrics to the national anthem as of now will be that of the “International”, with the preferred language being German. Individuals are welcomed, however, to sing the lyrics in any language of their choice or simply follow the melody. Verse two will be skipped in singing, meaning only verses one and three will be sung.
On behalf of the Empire of Sunilian States as a whole, we want to express our thanks to all those who participated in this latest referendum and have set Sunilia on a bright, prosperous and musical path into the future.
Tu felix Sunilia, manere fortis!
Red Suns Publishing