I thought there might be a defence analogy. It seems they've been told forever to combine their five regions into one. And it reminded me of the military, I think in the 1960s, being told to combine their navy, air force, and army effectively into one. Admirals will go down with their ships before they'll don a united services uniform. Is there a certain analogy there that would provide huge resistance over many years to such movements towards integration?
On February 14th, 2007. See this statement in context.