News Thread [Kylaris|Canon|IC]

by **Nuvania** » Mon Mar 30, 2020 7:42 pm

Cape Fever Outbreak Sparks Concern In Capital

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Jordan Peterson (@JordanPeterson)
31 March (1:00pm)|PIETERSBURG

City workers spray fumigants to kill mosquitoes in Huntingdon, Pietersburg.

Health officials in the Cape Provincial Health Board (KPHB) have announced a localised outbreak in the outer suburbs of Pietersburg after 16 confirmed cases of cape fever were confirmed over the past 24 hours, causing concern as to what might be behind the outbreak.

The outbreak is centred on the metropolitan city of Andover, which has recorded 12 of the confirmed cases, with two from border localities in the suburb of Huntingdon. All cases were admitted to Andover Hospital, with patients displaying typical signs of cape fever infection.

The Director-General of the Cape Provincial Health Board, Doctor Marja van Niekerk, said that the outbreak was "unusual" in the number of cases admitted over a 24 hour period.
"Typically we see between one and two cases per day admitted to hospitals across the province," she said. "We don't usually see anything more than five and certainly not as many as 16." She said that it wasn't unusual in that the cases were admitted from an urban area as she said that the mosquitoes that transmit the disease "can be found in most places".
"Roughly half of the cases the KPHB deals with annually are from urban areas, and the other half are from rural areas. It really depends on where the mosquitoes are and who gets bitten."

Cape fever is a viral disease spread primarily by mosquitoes, although some cases have been spread by other biting insects, particularly fleas. It is not transmissable between humans except for when pregnant women are bitten, as it can be transferred to the unborn through the blood supply from the mother. Common symptoms of the disease include a high fever, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhoea. In more severe cases it can cause convulsions, confusion, loss of consciousness, and in some cases, hallucinations. Although the disease itself is not particularly deadly, it can cause fatal complications, including dehydration and organ failure, both of which are responsible for the vast majority of fatalities from the disease. People who are infected typically do not show signs until five to six days after being bitten, with around 75-80% of invections showing mild or no symptoms at all.

Dr van Niekerk said that the most vulnerable to cape fever were the elderly, those with compromised immune systems, and children under the age of nine, all of whom have shown to have high mortality rates in the past. She said that those living in impoverished and in rural areas were also among the most vulnerable, and urged residents in the affected areas to be vigilant.
"We cannot stress that we need to protect our most vulnerable in our communities," she said. "This means checking on our elderly relatives, and making sure that our children are well protected."

People can protect themselves from cape fever, as well as other mosquito-borne diseases by eliminating any areas of standing water, such as emptying buckets of water, as well as disturbing standing water in ponds and other watercourses, or avoiding standing water altogether. People can also install insect screens around windows in houses, minimise the amount of skin exposed, and use basic insect repellants to keep mosquitoes from biting. Dr van Niekerk stressed that people in the city of Andover and in the suburb of Huntingdon should take these precautions seriously.
"These are basic steps to take to protect yourself and your family," she said. "If you have buckets of water, empty them if you can. Otherwise stay away from ponds, lakes, and streams." She also said that properties in the affected areas that have water features with ponds or other standing water on their properties should get into contact with local authorities to sign up for mosquito eradication.

Cape fever has been documented in Nuvania since before the arrival of Eucleans and is present in neighbouring Aucuria and Vlissingemond. It, alongside other tropical diseases, caused high mortality among the initial Euclean settlers and was considered a major health problem during the Estmerish colonial period, and throughout much of the existence of Nuvania as an independent country. A vaccine was developed in the late 1950's and was rolled out in 1965, which has drastically reduced the number of people who are infected, and by extension, those who have died from the disease and its complications. Over 4,000 people per year are infected with the virus that causes cape fever, down from a yearly average of just over 10,000 in the 1940's, and the number of deaths is around 350-500 per year. Typically infections are limited to the humid tropical areas of Nuvania, although the risk is expanded to cover all of the country during the wet season, which sees peak mosquito breeding.

Dr van Niekerk said that the KPHB was engaging in a vaccine drive prior to the outbreak, and said that the drive would continue regardless, but encouraged more people to get vaccinated themselves from either their local doctor or pharmacist. She said that the KPHB had also asked the Ministry of Health for more vaccines from other provinces in order to expand the vaccine drive in the areas affected by the current outbreak.
"We want to ensure that everyone in the affected areas who need a vaccine can get one," she said. "We cannot allow our most vulnerable to die from a disease that is entirely preventable with vaccines."

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by **Imagua and the Assimas** » Mon Mar 30, 2020 8:12 pm

COALITION TALKS TO BEGIN
Both Green Party, National Party and Democratic Labour Party rule out coalition with Movement for a New Imagua

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TYRA HOWARD (@TyraHoward)
31 March, 2020 14:12 IST | CUANSTAD, CITY OF

Douglas Egnell at his victory speech on 27 March, 2020

Days after the election results came in, the National Party and the Democratic Labour Party have begun negotiations to try and form a coalition in order to avoid a minority government.

Outgoing National leader Giocondo Stasio said that "we are going to enter into discussions with the Democratic Labour Party and attempt to determine whether a grand coalition can be formed as a sort of cordon sanitaire against the Movement for a New Imagua."

Stasio said that "while the Nationals and Democratic Labour Party do not share a lot in common, we are unwilling to form a coalition with the Movement for a New Imagua, given their extremist policies are an echo back to Austin Houghton's National Reform Party."

Democratic Labour leader Douglas Egnell echoed the remarks of Giocondo Stasio, saying that "we intend on forming a coalition, ideally with the National Party, although if necessary, we are open to forming a coalition government with the Greens."

Egnell ruled out forming a coalition with the Movement for a New Imagua, saying that "although we do not have a lot in common with the Nationals, we have even less in common with the Movement for a New Imagua, and given their campaign platform and their rhetoric during the campaign, we simply cannot form a coalition with the Movement for a New Imagua."

While the two major parties seem set to discuss creating a grand coalition, numerous obstacles stand in their way, such as the fact that the current parliamentary leader of the National Party, Giocondo Stasio, has not only lost his seat, but also tendered his resignation from the party leadership, meaning Stasio would either have to run for re-election in a safe seat, or else a different MP from the National Party becomes Deputy Prime Minister. In addition, while both the Nationals and the DLP agreed on continued AFDC membership, traditional issues such as labour rights, affirmative action, and the economy mean that it is unlikely that such a grand coalition could even be formed in the first place, and even if it does, it is unlikely it will see the full four year term.

Meanwhile, among the smaller parties, MNI leader Dalmazio Pasquarello expressed his disappointment, saying that "we have learned from the mistakes of '88 through '95. We have learned what works well for this political environment, and we have learned from our finest colleagues across the Vehemens. To not be invited to form a coalition is a mistake of the highest caliber."

However, Green leader Mystelle Stone said that she is open to forming a coalition with the Democratic Labour Party, as "their platform and policies are the only ones that the Green Party can agree with."

More as the story develops.

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by **The Ik Ka Ek Akai** » Wed Apr 01, 2020 11:46 am

NOON INVASION
The end times?

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Live rendering of sighted ships crossing the Vehemens
Picture courtesy of Celeste d'Astruc

This morning at dawn, odd-looking strangers in exotic ships came ashore. These strangers from across the sea requested an audience with local authorities. They came bearing wonderful gifts and merchandise: stygian beads black as night, pearls of every shape, and many feathers for each colour of the rainbow. Their tongue was unknown to everyone at city hall, but it seemed they were requesting land in exchange for their baubles and trinkets. They were laughed off and left shortly thereafter, leaving a sense of foreboding looming over the horizon.

This is a story that had become all too familiar, with many countries reporting similar, if not identical, incidents on both sides of the Vehemens, in many countries. For hours, we were left to wonder what was going to happen, what these strangers had intended and where they were going. The presence of similar incidents across the world is more concerning, perhaps, that if it were an isolated incident - it proves that there is some sort of organized effort at play here that we cannot fully understand. The bible teaches us not to toy with such forces that we cannot understand, not to play God, but what other choice is there? What are we to do in the face of such obscure, but wide, effort from unknown forces?

That question was answered today when armies landed on the shores of many countries, including Gaullica, Caldia, Dezevau, Valentir, Eldmark, Nuvania, and Cassier. Thousands of exotic ships arrived on the coasts of these states, and more, spewing out numberless hordes of ululating warriors in weird armor sporting feathers and bone. These invaders from beyond the horizon worship hellish demon gods, sacrificing the populations of entire towns on altars erected on top of pyramid-shaped edifices. They cut out the victim's heart, carefully flay them, and let their devil priests wear the skins for many days.

Many are fleeing inland and taking refuge in religious structures, praying for salvation from what seems to many to be the judgement day come to life. While our governments attempt to organize a response to this sudden invasion, slipped under all detection due to the smallness and wooden nature of their vessels and the lack of seriousness given to them, we will try to keep our readers updated on the developing events throughout the day in the wake of this unforeseeable nightmare. Is this revenge for some colonial crime? Or maybe, the colonialists were right, and we should've brought this menace down before it could come back to bite us? The latest takes and updates can only be viewed here, stay safe folks.

UPDATE - 2:40 PM

The city of Verlois has fallen under the cruel yoke of the Sublustrians! These foreigners are not impressed with the Queen of Cities, it compares poorly to the ornate architecture and bustling centers of the Celestial Isles, and a thousand Gaullicans have been sacrificed and thrown into the waterways for their shameless impudence. The famous rivers now run red with blood as the army consolidates its control and forces the Gaullican government into surrender. This prosperous new colony will become the crown jewel of the Sublustrian colonial demesne, and a launching point for further attacks across the Euclean continent. May Sotiras have mercy on us all.

UPDATE - 3:14 PM

Hammarvik has fallen to the Sublustrian horde! The blood of victims fill the famous fountains of the city, and Sotirian statues are being toppled from their mounts. Westermarck Street is only one color now, that of blood red, and the Riksdag's columns are being carved into heathen poles. The bloated bodies of the slain clog the port and all but make it inaccessible, trapping any attempted shipgoers from fleeing the fate of the city. After several minutes of trying to topple the grand skyscrapers, the Sublustrian warriors cracked a few windows and decided to continue forth onto the next great conquest to be had in this new world. Will anyone be able to stop their hellish advance?

UPDATE - 3:43 PM

Bahia has fallen! Across the subcontinent, nations reel in shock and some in reconciliation at the unstoppable advance of the shrieking warriors. In Port Fitzhubert, the river has been dammed with the bodies of those slain - proving the failure of their city's motto. However, the dam has also provided a bridge across, and the Wood and Stone towns have never been more in-touch as they are now. Meanwhile, in Garambura, the Sublustrians committed an act of great mercy in allowing local government to resume under the compliant local authorities. There shall be no interruption in Garamburan politics and all will resume as normal, with Zivai Mushohwe as their appointed governor. Elsewhere, at the foot of great pyramids, the traveling warrior-priests declare the site to be the holiest outside of Sublustria, and let blood flow down the sides into the stain-soaked sand below.

UPDATE - 4:09 PM

The sacred sites of Irfan are now in Sublustrian hands! Citizens of the country colloquially known as Zorasan have been anxious about the change, many holding out hope that this new government could address what the old one failed to. Others feel righteous fury that their native government was displaced by infidels with a thirst for blood. The Sublustrians seem equally unsure, but have begun to take what they call 'corrective actions' within their newly acquired territory. The great rivers have been course-corrected after their catastrophic redirections by Zorasani authorities, and several dams have been opened. The situation continues to develop, but we do not suspect it will be long until the warriors stop planting trees to try to clean the air around Zahedan.

Meanwhile in Tsabara, the Sublustrians seek to resolve local disputes through the means available to them. While the sights of Adunis left the warriors impressed, it did not stop their warpath, and they claim grander temples stand in their homelands than that of the Atudites. Unable to effectively breach the walls and bronze doors, however, they made a deal to leave it alone that granted the Atudites governorship rights over their majority lands. Next, the armies are believed to be making their way north.

Further south in Ajahadya, the great forts of dynasties past now see Sublustrian banners raised. The red forts now stained red with the blood of museum guides who happened to be in the way, this marks the first incursion into South Coius of the Sublustrians since news of their landing in Dezevau. The Dezevau Front has not produced any news, and reporters are unsure of the situation there. We eagerly await further developments.

UPDATE - 4:45 PM

The Adhikari has been captured! Following a series of waves across the steppes of Coius, and dealing with caravan insurance agencies trying to communicate the travel, Sublustrian warriors have finally breached the mountains of Phula. Small villages were taken one by one, the bodies of those who resisted fertilizing the rice crops for the next harvest. Fields of poppies slowed their advance only slightly. The princely rubber groves and orchards provided cover for them to move in quickly and unseen, until they reached Pushkarma itself. Storming past the city walls, down the inclined streets, and through palace gates, a hard-fought advance was made up the many steep steps to finally reach the Adhikari's palace. Rooms were cleared one by one, captives made of the workers, until the Adhikari was found at last.

She was not distinguishable from the staff of the palace at first, but was managed to be identified by a difference in uniform. While initial suspicious believed that Avani had tried to hide among her staff in hopes of being overlooked and escaping into the night, but this has been debunked. It seems the Adhikari was in a rubber cosplay outfit, taking from the famous Senrian series Maids of Aligonia. The series, prominently featuring magic-wielding women in cute outfits fighting the forces of evil, is thought to be even more popular in Phula than in Senria itself. After a great deal of conversation and learning the history of the land, it was determined that the Adhikari would continue to rule her nation of her own accord, as long as sufficient rice would be provided to fuel their continued advance.

UPDATE - 5:30 PM

The Asterias have fallen...we think...

Sublustrian soldiers have been seen meandering around the vast wildernesses of the Asterias, and occasionally bumping into cities that they promise they were heading to the whole time. It seems the actual scale and size of the Asterias and the differing countries therein, as well as relatively poor infrastructure that doesn't have the long histories of other nations to have long-abandoned imperial roads to help navigation, have befuddled and baffled the Sublustrian warriors. Navigation in the northern hemisphere through traditional means is also fairly alien to them, as they struggle to comprehend the sky in no certain terms that they are familiar with besides the mere presence of the stars and moon.

Things fare much better in the southern hemisphere, which, unfortunately for the invaders, is only the smaller piece of the Asterias broadly. They have ravaged the cities that they can find, but many have been spared as warriors huddle together to try to read maps, bus lines, or train routes. Is this the first sign of the slowing of the Sublustrian advance, or is this just a peculiarity in what
will otherwise be certain doom for the rest of the world? Only time will tell, and we'll keep you updated on the matter.

UPDATE - 8:08 PM

Mainland Coius has been conqured! Satria and Xiaodong have both fallen victim to the Sublustrian hordes, having marched far and wide in these past few hours to reach their destination in the princely palaces and jade temples throughout the remainder of mainland Coius. The sheer majesty and spirituality of these lands was no match for the weapons of the warriors, who struck down most resistance and pressured priests to show favor to the new regime. Those who refused were butchered mercilessly upon the very altars they sacrificed upon. The statues of dragons throughout these lands appeal to the Sublustrians, who have started to uproot and carry them as a blessing of some wicked variety. Will these demons meet no end?

UPDATE - 8:45 PM

Senria has unilaterally declared itself a Sublustrian territory following the pillaging of Xiaodong, stating that its fierce warriors need not fight the Sublustrians if they are given Xiaodong as a vassal of the Sublustrian Empire. The deal was signed, and with it, the world fell. The EC proposed a merger with the Sublustrian Union, and it passed unanimously as warriors watched from the corners of the room. The world has officially fallen, and the Sublustrian Union kindly extends an invitation to all vassals of the Celestial Empire for equal and fair participation in the reconstruction of nature along indigenous sustainable guidelines.

Is this the end of the world as we know it? What will the planet do without factories, cities, and smokestacks? Apocalypse cults claim their visions are fulfilled, and a level of planetary destruction will come within the next few generations as has never been seen by the likes of man before. Maybe, just maybe, we should've listened to them. Thank you for staying updated, and reading our live reporting. Signing off for the last time, thank you.

12251 comments

atuditemilsperger ·
Tsabara has a navy?

8,761 up · 5,186 down
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TinFoilHatist ·
IT'S HAPPENING

43,195 up · 45,826 down
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JadeFoilStatist ·
What

5,541 up · 867 down
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Celeste d'Astruc ·
Imperialist scum! They must be thrown back into the sea!

5,532 up · 769 down
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AwahaliFootballer1851 ·
If any White Devils think they can hide in ODAVLI land, they can FORGET IT

1453 up · 1066 down
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Luzzer101 ·
Say what you will, but the Sublustrians have done more for inner-Bahian reconciliation than the Eucleans ever have or ever will.

69420 up · 13 down
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IrfanicAtudite ·
Inshallah, my people are free!

666 up · 666 down
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GhentishBoi ·
Hey, cool! Didn't know the Adhikari was into that too! Maybe my taste isn't "shit" and "offputting around women" after all!

769 up · 867 down
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StreetLyfe4Eva ·
Right, guys, you're gonna wanna take a left, then a right, keep going til ya see the melons, then go northwest for three hours, it'll take ya right there, ya can't miss it.

1861 up · 42 down
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Imahara_Stan_1935 ·
They have beaten the Xiao dogs and conquered ROSPO? I don't care what they do next, I think I'm in love.

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Doomer2020 ·
It's all...over...

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by **Eskaeba** » Wed Apr 01, 2020 12:55 pm

by **Qianrong** » Wed Apr 01, 2020 1:46 pm

NO SUCH THING AS BAD PUBLICITY
How Senria built a cultural empire out of dissent

April 2020 issue | by Pierre Kamikawa | graphics by Félicette Desmoulins | There are few other nations from Coius that can claim to have the global cultural reach which Senria currently holds. Senrophiles, including some very enthusiastic ones, can be found across much of Euclea and the Asterias, even in areas beyond the reach of the Senrian Republican Armed Forces; the names of Senrian films and television shows are at least as prominent as the names of Senria's foremost brands. This has given Senria a sort of soft power beyond just its ethnic diaspora and its economic and corporate might; for nearly 40 years now, a substantial portion of Senria's global influence has been the consumption and propagation of Senrian media by Eucleans and Asterians with no real connection to the country producing it.

This lack of connection between Senria and the audiences consuming Senrian culture internationally - and the prominence of Senrian cultural works among that foreign audience - makes it easy for non-Senrian audiences and viewers to forget entirely that this media is not originally produced for consumption by Euclean and Asterian audiences; it is produced for Senrian audiences, and oftentimes first independently translated and disseminated by enthusiasts before being officially exported abroad.

This, in turn, obscures the fact that many of Senria's most prominent cultural works in the past four decades - ranging from animated adaptations of manga to live-action films - have had themes and messages directed at Senrian audiences, typically veiled criticism of the country's government, economy, psyche, and society.

Readers will no doubt have noticed that my preceding mentions of "forty years" and "four decades" line up roughly with the 1983 accession of Kiyosi Haruna to the position of prime minister, and with his declaration mere weeks later that Senria would cease its policies of media censorship. It is not controversial, or even really debated, to say that Haruna's liberalizing reforms and cessation of censorship led to an explosion of Senrian cultural and media production, and to a global increase in the popularity of Senrian culture throughout the 1980s and 1990s; the term "Senrian Wave" was coined in 1985, originally as a Senrian-language pun (the word Senryuu can be read either as "Senrian wave" or simply as "Senrian"), and has not left parlance since. It is similarly uncontroversial to note that much of the media produced contained themes of sociopolitical criticism that could not have been expressed before.

What might be more controversial and more important, however, is the idea that this was, from the beginning, a feature - not a bug - of Senria's liberalization. That is to say, there is good reason to suspect that Senria's government under Haruna expected that there would be a surge in Senrian culture, much of it with critical themes, and that Haruna proceeded with his reforms anyways, because he suspected that the benefits to Senrian soft power would be worth it, as they have been.

One needs only look at Senrian history to find this evidence. Haruna was not the first Senrian leader since the Great War to attempt a cultural and political thaw; he was preceded, nearly thirty years beforehand, by Prime Minister Tokiyasu Kitamura, who ran the country from 1954 to 1964. Kitamura engaged in his own process of party civilianization, political relaxation, and media liberalization.

This program was not as expansive or enduring as Haruna's, but it did lead to a cultural blossoming in Senria and, as a result, the first real global flourishing of Senrian culture in the 20th century, a sort of trial run for the Senrian Wave. The kaizuu film, for example, was born during this period; the great monsters of these films, like Ebirah and Megannon, were invariably created as a result of some corporate irresponsibility in upsetting the balance of nature, and became problems that the Senrian military could not solve, an implicit criticism of the haphazard, pollution-heavy nature of the Keizaikiseki and a jab at the power still held by the Senrian Republican Armed Forces. Samurai films and historical dramas, like Kakusareta Yousai, the Twelve Rounin, Nizaemon, the Nameless Samurai, and the Fox in the Moonlight, used their period settings as a veil for their political and social themes, telling stories about corrupt, malicious, or incompetent officials, the devastation of war, and underdogs standing against the system in the name of honor and justice. Even the seemingly-innocuous children's cartoon Rocketboy carried themes about environmental destruction and the pursuit of power without morals.

Kansuke Baisou as "the Nameless Samurai".
The global influence of samurai films on
other genres is a preeminent example
of Senria's cultural soft power under
Kitamura.

These works had enduring cultural reach not only in Senria, but across Kylaris. Rocketboy was dubbed into thirteen languages and broadcast in several Euclean and Asterian countries in the 1950s. The kaizuu genre remains popular - the most recent Ebirah film came out in 2018 - and has inspired countless imitators in foreign countries, some distinctly better than others. The samurai film, meanwhile, had substantial influences upon the Asterian frontier film genre (to the point of downright plagiarism), playing a crucial role in the tonal shift of the genre towards a grittier direction, and upon decades of foreign science fiction films.

Kitamura was assassinated by Xiaodong in 1964, however, and succeeded by General Takesi Takahata. Under the pretense of restoring security and stability in the wake of Kitamura's assassination, Takahata reversed most of Kitamura's policies, including his loosening of censorship and media control. And while Senria's economic and military might remained as formidable as ever, there was a distinct cultural slowdown to the Takahata years - one that was even noticed at the time. Montecaran film critic Tixàn Verxì wrote in 1979 that "Senria's cinematic and cultural fields seem almost to have flatlined... aside from brief bursts of genius, like last year's Gin'noken, what the country produces culturally feels stale, safe, and fundamentally uninteresting." Fear of violating censorship laws strangled the creativity that Senria's cultural industry needed to survive.

Takahata himself was assassinated in 1979, and succeeded by Admiral Kitirou Imahara, adoptive son of Senrian pater patriae Katurou Imahara. Kitirou Imahara largely continued Takahata's policies; less than a month after taking office, however, he found himself faced by the 1979 South Coian economic crisis, which sank four of the ten corporate conglomerates dominating the Senrian economy and plunged the country into financial turmoil. Unable to effectively handle the crisis, Kitirou Imahara was unceremoniously ousted from power by the Aikokutou in 1983, and replaced by Kiyosi Haruna, who was able to position himself both as a safe bet due to his hardline stance on foreign affairs, and as a breath of fresh air due to his status as a civilian politician.

This was the balance that Haruna ended up playing for much of his first decade in office: push a hard line on Xiaodong militarily and diplomatically, while sorting out Senria's economy, in order to keep party and public support alike high; at the same time, as a means of furthering both his administration's public popularity and Senria's relations with the democracies of Euclea, engage in domestic reforms like civilianizing the Aikokutou, ending the repression of opposition parties, enlarging the National Assembly, and - most importantly for our purposes - formally ending government censorship of the media in Senria.

Senria's government remains, in spite of its liberalizations, immensely secretive and keen on preserving an "official narrative", and this makes it difficult to know what Haruna's true motives in pursuing political liberalization were. The official line, put forth by Haruna himself in speeches and by his successors in governance, is that the liberalization was conducted in line with the Imaharist principle of republicanism, and that Haruna's liberalization was always intended and desired by Katurou Imahara, who believed it to be the best for Senria, but was prevented from doing it himself merely by circumstance. It is reasonable, to say the least, to be doubtful that Haruna liberalized Senria for reasons of high-minded ideals of freedom, and that Imahara invariably wanted said freedom. But, with regards specifically to Haruna's abolition of media censorship and support for Senrian culture, we can't dismiss the likely role of Imaharism; Imahara did state explicitly that Senrians ought "to glory in the richness of our customs and culture, in our music, cuisine, literature, visual art, theater, and all other areas", and allowing for its flourishing would certainly be in line with that. There are also, obviously, economic factors to consider; film and television generate massive amounts of income for many Euclean and Asterian countries, and, in the wake of Haruna's reform, generate similarly massive profits for Senria - exactly the sort of profit that would have been sought in the wake of the 1979 economic calamity.

But there is reason to suspect that Haruna was seeking to recreate the flourishing of Senrian culture, and Senrian cultural soft power, that had existed under Tokiyasu Kitamura. Firstly, with Senria's economy in turmoil at the time, it would have seemed both obvious and pragmatic for Senria to diversify its soft power investments beyond brand recognition and product reach; the Kitamura thaw provided a clear example of how that might be achieved. Secondly, in several of his speeches from the period - including many explicitly pertaining to government financial support for the print, television, and film industries - Haruna mentions Kitamura obliquely or directly. And thirdly, when the Senrian Wave did take off in the mid-1980s, the government seemed more than ready to take complete advantage of it, both with domestic support for cultural industry and by promoting Senrian media across Kylaris.

As with the flourishing of the Kitamura thaw, many of the works (whether manga, film, or television) produced during the Senrian Wave were veiled criticism of Senria's government, economic structure, and psyche - though, due to the larger scope of Haruna's liberalization, these criticisms were often handled far more directly than they were under Kitamura. This was most obviously expressed in the most successful subgenres of manga and anime of the period - cyberpunk/sci-fi, and historical/rustic.

The cyberpunk subgenre, whose cityscapes were deliberately reminiscent of those of Senrian megalopolises, is most iconically embodied by the works of Tosirou Hurui. His most famous work, the film Venator, focuses on Chance Lovell, a "venator" who hunts rogue humanoid robots on behalf of their owners - typically corporations - on a well-established Senrian lunar colony, but must grapple with the discovery that he himself might be a robot specially-produced for the job. Venator deals heavily with Senria's economic structure, depicting stratification, poverty, and the near-supplanting of the state by corporate conglomerates deliberately reminiscent of Senria's keiretu. Hurui is also famous as the director and lead producer of Keisen'na; here the protagonists are a gang of youth delinquents who have to grapple with corrupt police officers and officials, and a murky corporate scheme, after one of their members is kidnapped. In addition to the more apparent themes of government corruption and collaboration with corporations, Hurui slips in anti-war themes by setting the story in "New Keisi", with characters obliquely hinting that "Old Keisi" was destroyed in a Second Great War.

Rei, the protagonist of Ryuutaro Maehara's
Valley of Moss and Steel. Maehara's rustic
settings are a deliberate contrast with
modern, industrial Senria.

The rustic subgenre, by contrast, heads the exact opposite direction setting-wise, typically depicting an idyllic pastoral land which is threatened by some antagonistic force which embodies ruthless industrialism and militarism. Here the iconic figure is mangaka and director Ryuutarou Maehara. Maehara's first great success, Flight of the Gulls, focuses on fisherman's daughter Teiko using magical powers to stop the plans of a sinister invading force, which seeks to destroy the forests and farmlands surrounding her home village to search for metal. This was followed two years later by the Valley of Moss and Steel, set in what is implied to be Senria centuries after an apocalyptic event reduced humanity to iron-age technology, and follows the Esamankur prince Rei as he tries to prevent the scheming Lady Takenaga from using an army of ancient robots in the eponymous valley to wage war; and, three years after that, by Into Kamimori, a film set in 1940s Senria, where sisters Himari and Masae - having recently moved with their father to rural Tousuu - must save the spirits of a nearby forest from the contaminants being leaked by decaying army munitions.

The old stalwarts that had spearheaded the flourishing of the Kitamura thaw saw a renaissance, too. Kaizuu flicks saw a noted resurgence, both in number produced and box office returns; historical dramas and samurai films returned, too, often confronting Senria's past in even grayer fashions, and felt more comfortable to include and criticize real historical figures. And piggybacking off of all of this, naturally, were uncontroversial media, like the children's shows Telefang and the Elemental Warriors, which became global cultural phenomena.

Even films which one would initially think to be plainly pro-Senrian felt able to address their subjects more boldly. 1994's Kaze no Hai, perhaps the most famous film about the Senrian Genocide yet made (the Senrian Genocide being a subject which is almost never approached from any angle other than pro-Senrian in non-ROSPO media, if only because the alternative is genocide denialism), felt able to have protagonist Ayako Takeda attempt, with little success, to attack the Senrian soldiers who liberate her from a Xiaodongese death camp, on the grounds that they were unable to liberate the camp before the deaths of her daughter and infant son.

And while scholars might debate as to whether or not post-2000 works can be described as part of the "Senrian Wave", the use of works critical of the Senrian government by the Senrian government in order to expand its soft power has, without a doubt, continued into the present. Actress and director Emiko Yamamura's black comedy Sakiko, a vicious criticism of Senrian corporate and social culture, was nominated for and won a Béco aùreo at the 2007 Montecara Film Festival; Scarlet Sky, a television show about a group of individuals with magical powers known as "the Chosen" trying to stop an impending catastrophe which those in power refuse to address, is broadcast in more than twenty languages across Kylaris; the manga Dog Eat Dog, set in a world of anthropomorphic predators and focusing on the collapsing friendship of protagonists Russell and Kuno as they vie for top position at a prestigious academy, implicitly criticizes aspects of Senria's educational, corporate, and political cultures, and has an anime adaptation which will premiere on May 4.

This all, however, leaves one crucial question: why is Senria's government so comfortable about placing its soft power in the hands of comics and television shows and films which implicity - or, in some cases, very explicitly - criticize the Senrian government, or economic structure, or the country's militarism, or its endemic corruption, or its disregard for the environment?

The simplest and most obvious answer is that Euclean and Asterian audiences, more often than not, either fail to notice that these deeper themes exist at all and view the works simply as entertainment, or apply these deeper themes to their own governments, and not to Senria's. The latter certainly seems evident in how these works are reviewed and mentioned in Euclea and the Asterias. The works of Ryuutarou Maehara have been brought up favorably by green politicians in Werania, Estmere, Caldia, Azmara, and Hennehouwe as criticism of the economic and environmental policies of their own governments. Gaullican film critic Guillaume Brossard wrote, in his review of Sakiko, that the film "serves to highlight the sort of consumerism and crushing corporate culture that has consumed Gaullica, and Euclea as a whole"; in reviewing the Dog Eat Dog manga before its adaptation's release, Hallandic journalist and critic Faolán Walsh noted that its depiction of ruthless competition for limited opportunities "reminds us to consider the inequities in our economic systems". For many fans, meanwhile, these shows are primarily inspiration for fanart and for cosplays; they serve no purpose beyond consumption for entertainment.

In short, Senria's government has figured that foreign audiences - being fundamentally disconnected from Senrian society as foreigners, and oftentimes disinterested in anything beyond that which can be sold to and consumed by them - will gladly consume Senrian cultural works, and will either miss or misinterpret the themes placed into those works by their creators. After all, they aren't - and never were - the intended audience for those messages. As a result, Senria gets all the benefits to its soft power without any real drawbacks to its reputation.

Perhaps - to be somewhat more charitable to audiences - it is even possible that viewers are aware of these Senrian themes, but discount them in favor of more personal interpretations, and even consider the fact that Senria is willing to permit, promote, and disseminate works which are critical of it as a positive; after all, many governments in Coius would refuse to do any such thing.

In turn, this is perhaps the crucial difference that has resulted in Senria having a substantially larger cultural reach than other Coian states, like Xiaodong or the UZIR. It's not that Senria's government is any less scheming, any less interested in furthering its own interests and influence, any less determined to get its hand on power; it's that Senria's government has realized that even art which criticizes or denounces the regime in power can be used to bolster its power and influence worldwide.

PIERRE KAMIKAWA is a staff writer for la Senrie, focusing on Senrian culture and media. Born to a half-Senrian father and a Gaullican mother in Verliquois, he lived and studied briefly in Keisi, graduating from Keisi University with degrees in journalism and creative writing, before returning to Gaullica; following some years of freelance work, he joined la Senrie in 2016. He has a wife, Josephine, and a son, Claude.

Obligatory OoC disclaimer that Cowboy Bebop, Beastars, Yojimbo, Castle in the Sky, and Princess Mononoke are very much not actually my work, and that all rights to them belong to their respective creators and publishers. They're all good works and you should read/watch all of them.

by **Eskaeba** » Thu Apr 02, 2020 3:26 am

by **Tusing** » Thu Apr 02, 2020 6:02 pm

Politique
Mabifia: Gaullican aid creates polemic amidst economic troubles
3 Avril 2020 à 10h40 | Par Ibrahim Nguesso

The relationship between Gaullica and Mabifia has never been simple. The most restive of its colonies during Toubacterie, it was the centre of the vicious Sougoulie uprisings which killed thousands and represented the only true test of Euclean control over the subcontinent. Flash forwards to independence, Mabifia is taken over by a socialist government who cut off all ties with their former hegemon. In the brutal civil war of the 70s, Gaullica was a key supporter of the democratic opposition forces and has since been a key supporter of the troubled Bahian state, providing much needed financial aid and help with the reconstruction of infrastructure.

But this relationship has always been precarious. The Mabifian government has always walked a tightrope between the mostly secular democratic forces of the south and the conservative, Irfanic north. Under previous Houreges such as the "Modernising Mansa" Kasem Maal, the Mabifian government leaned closely on its Euclean parteners for aid and support, but with the rise of Mahmadou Jolleh-Bande to the position the nation has taken a strong turn towards political Irfan. Jolleh-Bande is in many ways representative of Zorasan's increasing power, in particular in the influence of their own Irfanic development charities and publications which have led to a major rise in religiosity in recent years. Under Jolleh-Bande, Mabifia has begun to crack down harder on dissent, particularly within the conflict zone of Makania which has seen a new rise in violence. These changes have not been to the benefit of Mabifian-Gaullican ties, which have begun to show strain. In 2007, ten years into Jolleh-Bande's rule, Gaullica cut aid to Mabifia by 30%, stating: "we encourage the Bahian states to orient themselves as exemplars of the region and at the moment Garambura leads by example". These cuts are often seen to have been unsuccessful in their goal, with Mabifia moving closer to Zorasan and the IFDS.

This has made Mabifia a key stop in Valette's Bahian tour. Despite its problems, Mabifia is the largest nation in Bahia and a key exporter of valuable resources such as petroleum and gold. It is also the homeland of one of the largest migrant populations in Gaullica, with several hundred thousand Gaullicans declaring themselves of Mabifian descent. This number is ever-growing, with a survey showing that over 50% of Mabifians saying that they believe life would be better for them in Gaullica than at home. It is the number one destination for a large portion of Mabifians with higher educational qualifications, with a brain drain that has damaged Mabifia's own economy. These problems have only been made worse in recent years, as corruption and bad harvests have led to a major economic downturn. In a nation where a third of the population live on less than two euclo a day, any weakness in the nation's economy can cause major fears and the government has been looking for any help that it can get. Even Jolleh-Bande, who had been quick to condemn the aid of Euclean powers as "the new Toubacterie" in 2007, has been forced to swallow his pride and hold out his hands. Amidst this political mess, there have been calls from several key Mabifian academics to diminish aid, especially in its current form, in order to diminish Mabifia's dependence on foreign powers.

Valette's arrival in Ainde was met with the usual pomp and ceremony of a dignified guest, with all the traditional drumming and honour guards of a ruler keen to put on a show. He was presented a state gift, a traditional Ndjarendie sword which was the mark of a respected Karane, and then began with a tour of Ainde's cultural district. He visited the National University of Mabifia, the nation's premier educational facility, where he delivered an address to the university's PolSci cohort on the importance of strong democratic institutions in the process of development. A targeted barb at the current regime. He was shown key institutions related to the Gaullophonie, before beginning talks with the Mabifian government. Both sides came to the talks with clear agendas in mind, and when they addressed reporters at the end of their talks there was a clear buzz of interest. Thousands of Mabifians had come to watch the speech by "Tonton Jean", as the leader is often referred to by pro-Euclean media, and it was broadcast on all news channels. Many waited in apprehension, hoping for aid which would help protect them from the country's economic woes. Demonstrations against Gaullican presence in Bahia were organised by several Irfanic organisations, but these were for the most part small as the gendarmerie were out in full force.

The speeches were substantive. Jolleh-Bande spoke of how Gaullica's cooperation with Bahian states and their benevolent presence had "written of many of the scars of Toubacterie" and promised the release of several political prisoners, most significantly journalists. On his side, Valette announced that Gaullica would slowly phase out its "prêt à manger" food aid program and replace it with more aid for local farmers, grant financial aid for the development of a medical school in Ainde and Kangesare, and help in the creation of a working rail network to connect the country's major cities. As a extra, Valette promised a reassessment of the status of several key Mabifian artefacts within the Museum of Verlois. Valette also gave a clear, if diplomatic, warning to the Mabifian government, saying : "We would promote the encouragement of the maintenance of Mabifia's democratic institutions, and underpin that our relationship is built on mutual respect for founding principles on the respect of freedom of religion, people's right to express themselves..."

Valette's time in Mabifia may have been short, but the after-effects will surely be felt for a long time. Whether Jolleh-Bande will stick to his promises is another matter, as it is not the first time that he has promised his commitment to democratic governance. But with an economic situation extremely fragile, he needs to be prudent. It would not take much to topple Mabifia's monarchical system, which is increasingly unpopular with the richer and less supportive coastal regions. It is likely that changes will be seen in Mabifia in the current weeks, for better or for worse.

by **Eskaeba** » Fri Apr 03, 2020 3:56 am

About me · by **Luziyca** » Fri Apr 03, 2020 11:23 am

ELECTION RESULTS HAILED BY MAMBO
One hundred Members of the National Assembly elected

His Most Faithful Majesty in Port Fitzhubert, 2020

Gondo Chikwava | 3 APRIL, 2020 22:08 | GUTA raMAMBO, RWIZIKURU

As the results came in to determine the composition of the reconstituted National Assembly of Rwizikuru, His Most Faithful Majesty Munashe Ngonidzashe addressed the nation, thanking them for voting in the first elections for the National Assembly in over six decades. He announced the turnout for the first Rwizikuran elections to the National Assembly since 1959 was at 82%.

Munashe Ngonidzashe said that "I am most excited to have witnessed such a high turnout of Rwizikuran voters today. The fact that eighty-two percent of all eligible voters have turned out to decide how Rwizikuru will be governed for the next four years is a testament to how Rwizikurans are ready to decide their own future."

He said that "the recent political crisis in Garambura, combined with the history of many of our Bahian brethren, are proof as to why the constitutional assembly decided to ban political parties from being represented in the National Assembly, and instead have all members of the National Assembly be independent. That way, they will be held solely accountable to the people."

"I have my full trust that when the National Assembly convenes on the thirteenth of April, that they will choose the most competent person to be the Mutungamiri, and the Mutungamiri shall rule in a just and impartial manner," Munashe declared. "In a time when authoritarianism across the world is increasing, it is evident that now, more than ever, Rwizikuru be the guiding light to democracy around the world, and a sign that democracy shall prevail in the long run."

"The new government will face many challenges, some of them domestic, some of them external, but if it works hard enough, I am confident Rwizikuru shall become the envy of the world," he concluded. "All it needs to do is to act in accordance with the Rwizikuran constitution."

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by **Beumontte** » Sat Apr 04, 2020 3:21 pm

» Election 2020: everything that you need to know
» With the election scheduled to occur on April 28, the first EBC debate will happen today

Renata Gaspar (@renatagaspar)
Apr 03, 2020 | Castelonovo

CASTELONOVO - With April coming, it's possible to say that it was given the start of the electoral race towards the Bensafrim House and the National Congress. According to the 2020 Electoral Committee, which is composed by councillors and representatives of the three powers, the general election of this year will happen on a Tuesday, 28, where 206 deputies from all provinces will be elected for a mandate of five years. Based on the results, the president will, with the consent of the prime minister, the leader of the opposition as well as other party leaders, appoint the senators that will also serve a term of office of five years. Since Belmonte uses a parliamentary system of government, the leader of the party that obtains a majority in both houses will become the prime minister and, if no party manages to elect at least 103 deputies, it will be necessary to start discussions among party leaders to form a coalition government. The congress, in turn, was officially dissolved today, April 03, and will be opened again on the first Monday of May.

Under a domestic and international context, this year's election will be more troubled as usual, since the country still remains in the midst of an international crisis inside the AFDC caused by diplomatic decisions made by the Belmontese government that were intensified amid other regional instabilities and governmental changes around the Asterias and the world. Currently, the two major candidates in the election are the prime minister Rita Maurino and the leader of the opposition João Sócrates. Maurino, although maintaining a good economic condition in the country, approving various social reforms on Congress and managing to remain popular during the AFDC crisis, is been suffering several criticisms from radical socialists and progressives who accuses her of being too much conservative on social topics such as abortion and drug liberalization. Sócrates, in turn, although popular in the urban middle class due to his moderate speech, suffers from corruption allegations when he was a member of the cabinet of Ludovico Rosa between 2006 and 2014. Other relevant parties are the Socialist Bloc, Sotirian Democrats and the Citizens' Alliance.

The first debate will occur today at 10 o'clock on EBC 1 and will count with the participation of all party leaders that have parliamentary representation. During the course of the election campaign, around six debates will happen in several radio and television networks, with the number of guests being variable.

And for a better understanding, Diário has prepared to you a brief introduction of the two major candidates as well as their political parties and beliefs.

Rita Maurino (PSD), current prime minister

Graduated in Law and specialized in labour rights, former attorney general of the republic, former senator and former governor of Favônia, Rita Maurino was the first woman to be elected prime minister in 2015 thanks to the efforts made by several left-wing parties, more notoriously the PSD and the Socialist Bloc, to dispute against the incumbent prime minister at the time, Ludovico Rosa, who was under investigation for several corruption charges during the ten years of his government. Due to this, Maurino always tried to maintain a pragmatic posture towards left-wing groups and defended more union and integration between moderate and radical socialists for the sake of reforms and their approvation in Congress, appointing members from both groups to her cabinet.

As prime minister, Maurino was responsible for the creation of many rights and benefits for informal workers, a considerable increase in the minimum wage and the expansion of already existent social programs, as well as the establishment of the Poverty Reduction Program and the Educa Belmonte, which received international highlight for its success in drastically reducing poverty and illiteracy among the lower classes. In the economic field, she approved the National Economic Plan that, through the Bank of Belmonte, subsidized private and state-owned companies and helped them in the construction of infrastructure works such as highways and houses which consequently increased the demand of workers thus lowering the unemployment rate and making the economy circulate. About foreign policy, she and her government were directly responsible for the diplomatic opening process with Maracao and Chistovodia that, despite creating a crisis within the AFDC, helped to increase her popularity and the popularity of her party to the point that a parliamentary majority in the Chamber of Deputies seems likely to happen. If she manages to get this majority, Maurino already told to the press that her plans include expanding even more welfare programs dedicated to the total eradication of poverty and a bill that will institute a universal basic income.

However, even with high popularity, Maurino stills suffers from criticism inside her own party, especially from the more radical and progressive factions. Although elected under the promise of delivering various social reforms, it has become clear that she has a conservative position towards social issues, a position which is reflected in some ministers and has been causing discomfort among the most liberal wing. In 2016, she declared to be against the legalization of abortion and drugs and said that this topic will not be discussed in her government, which caused various protests in several cities of Belmonte. The same positioning could be seen in environmental and indigenous topics, where Maurino showed to be favourable to the expansion of agriculture and industries harmful to the environment and indigenous lifestyle without showing care to both of them. It's not known if that kind of policy will continue if she manages to be re-elected, however, it seems pretty likely.

João Sócrates (UCN), leader of the opposition

Leader of the opposition and his party, the UCN, since 2017, Sócrátes is one of the most important and powerful conservative politicians from the past 20 years, being a cabinet member during the government of his close ally, Ludovico Rosa, in several offices and departments until 2014. Before this, he was the mayor of Guanabara and governor of Laranjeiras, making most part of his fortune as a businessman from the communications and telephony sector.

Ideologically, he is seen as a member of the moderate wing of his party alongside Rosa and his predecessor, Paulo Gaertner, being a liberal-conservative on the social issues of abortion, drugs and the LGBTQ+ community while in the economic field he shows to be a classical liberal who supports the debureaucratization of public services and the privatization of some state-owned companies, although he already declared to be against the privatization of some companies that he sees as strategical, such as Belpetro. Regarding foreign policy, Sócrates says that if he becomes prime minister, he will work to make Belmonte have better relations with the AFDC and the EC at the same time that will make a harsh opposition against AIS states that he sees as authoritarian, however, after a recent poll said that the majority of the population supports the diplomatic opening process to Maracao and Chistovodia, it's likely that this policy will be reconsidered and changed. Despite the PSD received a surge in its popularity, Sócrates and the UCN managed to remain its base of support from the conservative urban middle class as well as the rural community thanks to his emphasis on the preservation of the "traditional family."

Although maintaining considerable support from the population and having a strong base on his party, Sócrates suffers from several corruption scandals throughout his life, with the most recent one being the Ípsia Port Scandal which was responsible for the fall of the UCN in the 2015 general election and Maurino's victory, being interrogated several times by the police but without any solid proof to be sent to jail. Due to this, it's likely that he will not manage to get a parliamentary majority, but every possibility still remains open.

Other parties
Despite the two major candidates of this election are Sócrates and Maurino, there is several other candidates and parties present in the race, and many of them could exercise considerable influence on the political scene depending on the electoral result. Besides the PSD and UCN, the three largest parties are the Socialist Bloc, which currently is a member of the government coalition with the PSD; the Sotirian Democrats, which is seen as a junior partner of the UCN and has as its supporters the clergy and the rural population of Belmonte, especially from the province of Anchieta; and the Citizens' Alliance, a centre-right party which supports classical and social liberalism and is starting to become popular among the wealthy urban zones. Regardless of the results, it's clear that one of these parties will perform some role in the next government.

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by **Liecthenbourg** » Sat Apr 04, 2020 4:15 pm

MARTYNENKO: NUXICAN DISMISSAL IS PROOF OF DISCONNECT.
After President Figueroa called the Chistovodian claims "baseless", the President of the Worker's State has shot back.

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Ihor Loboda (@LobodaIhor)
5th April, 2020 | Misto Myru, Chistovodia

The President weighed in on what has been perceived as a Nuxican 'dismissal'.
Photo courtesy of Cartoonplurals

MISTO MYRU, CHISTOVODIA

Despite calls from the Premier of Chistovodia and the President of Narozalica calling for something to be done about the situation of the Chistovodians in occupied New Kyrlav, the Nuxican President has rejected the concerns as "ultimately baseless."

Such a rejection was expected in certain circles of the Workers' State, factional clubs such as the 'Sons and Daughters of Equality' argued that "Nuxica will reject anything because it came from us" on the floors of the General Congress. However, the response from the government itself has exceeded the expectations of most onlookers.

Some political commentators and institutions might argue that sabre-rattling is a normal process that is enjoyed in moderation and regulated conditions. One Gaullican foreign minister from the 60s described the process as "a healthy bit of jingoism gets the blood of a nation flowing." Many expected this was the situation with New Kyrlav; with a diffused situation in the Arucian, stirring up "incidents" in Superior is the next logical step in 'riling' up the population of the Workers' State.

President Martynenko addressed the Presidium by saying that he was "on the whole, disappointed." He said that he had expected "some justification" on behalf of the Nuxican government but, he added, their comments were "insulting to the issues at hand."

"President Figueroa has proven to the nation and the world that, ultimately, there is a disconnect between New Kyrlav and San Pedro. These people have expressed their discontent and are suffering under countless issues, many of which were touched upon by Premier Cuvillier at her now famous speech. President Figueroa says there is no evidence of 'consistent animosity' towards the Chistovodians in occupied New Kyrlav; yet this very comment itself is proof of that animosity. We have provided evidence from numerous institutions -- and the facts given by Premier Cuvillier are accepted by regional actors, charities and governmental organisations within Nuxica. Specifically, those in New Kyrlav. And the President rejects them."

Figueroa would go on to add that there would be "no dismemberment" of Nuxica, to which President Martynenko retorted that this was not a dismemberment in any form and was "deeply concerned that [he] would compare self-determination with a horrific practice of war."

"Let the people decide their own fates," President Martynenko concluded.

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by **Eskaeba** » Sun Apr 05, 2020 3:30 am

by **Azmara** » Sun Apr 05, 2020 5:38 am

GREEN LEADER FORCED OUT TWO WEEKS BEFORE ELECTION
The governing body of the party has successfully passed a no-confidence vote in his leadership.

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Ana Jonsdohter (@anajdohter)
^{05 Apr 2020 | Aalmsted, Azmara}

Liis Jonsdohter returns to the party leadership, having previously served from 2012 to 2018.

AALMSTED, AZMARA – The Green Party has seen a major shakeup in recent days as the party's leader and the country's Foreign Secretary, Aleksander Erykssun, has been forced out of office by the party's National Executive, which voted by a margin of 11-4 that it did not have confidence in his leadership.

The move comes in the wake of the outrage within the party and much of Azmara's environmentalist movement over the construction of the Tuaisceart-Süd Pipeline, with many citing concerns over Erykssun's approach to the pipeline: he had said in 2018 that while he was opposed any future pipelines, he would not push to prevent the construction of future pipelines that did not cross Azmaran territory, saying it was "not [Azmara's] decision to block them", and had echoed similar sentiments throughout 2019.

The motion cited Erykssun's apparent lack of concern over the pipeline as a "betrayal" of the party's principles, and was tabled by Energy, Environment and Climate Change Secretary Isabela Krysdohter, who has announced her strong opposition to the construction of any new pipelines in northern Euclea, stating she would fight any such plans and would not serve in a government supporting such plans.

The vote saw many senior figures in the party vote that they did not have confidence in his leadership: Nathalie Dunkle MF, the first ethnic Weranian to serve in the Cabinet, Mâþijas Eleinassun MF, who has been one of the most outspoken MPs in the 2017 Parliament, Lana Hermansdohter, who serves as the LGBT+ rep on the council and Liis Jonsdohter, the party's former leader and a long-standing environmental campaigner.

The party aims to hold a ballot of its members to decide a new leader soon after the election, yet has installed Liis Jonsdohter as its interim leader, a decision that is thought to be popular with both the membership and Green Party voters as a whole: recent polling has shown that she is considered in much higher regard by both than Erykssun. She has declared that one of her primary focuses in campaigning will be on stopping the pipeline, and on continuing the environmental initiatives implemented by the Jorśsun government in which the country tries to lower its carbon emissions through building large amounts of renewable energy power stations to replace the country's dependency on imported fossil fuels.

The implications of this switch-up in leadership are very significant: it represents a triumph for one wing of the party over another. Jonsdohter and Erykssun have been seen as representative of two different wings of the party: Jonsdohter of the party's more radical, left-wing populist wing which places an emphasis on immediate change, while Erykssun is seen as representative of the more pragmatic, centrist wing which is more willing to compromise and sees addressing climate change as a long-term goal.

This switch has a major impact on government negotiations after the election. While Jonsdohter was happy to enter the government in 2017, seeing her party as having similar goals as the Workers' Party of greater environmental regulation and a return to classical social democracy, in 2020 this is more complicated as the parties clash over this issue: the Workers' Party has seen tensions over the pipeline as some of the party's affiliated trade unions and their affiliated members have declared support for the pipeline in "solidarity" with Caldish workers, which does not mesh with the more radically environmentalist line that the Green Party has taken and thus does not bode well for a continuation of the current coalition without a major shakeup in government.

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by **The Kingdom of Glitter** » Mon Apr 06, 2020 10:42 am

Gerhard Delling - 6 April 2020

Home · Kesselbourg · The Continent · The World · Policy · Opinion · Features · Newsletters · Continental Pro

EC CONDEMNS COUP IN GARAMBURA

Foreign Commissioner Vivien Vallette called for the return to civilian rule in Garambura.

Kesselbourg, Kesselbourg - The Euclean Community's foreign ministers have condemned the military coup in Garambura, urging the military government to return the country to civilian rule. The military in Garambura seized power yesterday morning in the wake of controversy over an electoral upset that has been marred with claims of irregularities.

The ministers, meeting via teleconference this morning, appealed to the coup leaders to return the Bahian country to civilian rule.

In a letter published by the bloc's foreign ministers, the EC called for the election to be certified by the International Council for Democracy's Office for Elections and Democratic Institutions. Such a move would provide legitimacy to the vote held last week or confirm accusations of electoral fraud. However, the ministers said that it was imperative for civilian rule to be restored and for a care-taker government to be put in place until the OEDI was able to conduct such a review.

Speaking on behalf of the ministers, the EC's Commissioner for Foreign and Global Affairs, Vivien Vallette, also announced that the EC would temporarily suspend all developmental aid to Garambura.

"[The aid] will not be re-instituted until a civilian government is put back in place" Vallette said.

“We do hope the constitution will be restored very quickly and that we will see a return to law and order” he told reporters after issuing a condemnation of the coup. Vallette is the grandson of Gaullica's out-going president, Jean Vallette. The senior Vallette had just completed a state visit to Garambura where further investment was announced.

The Gaullican government has strongly condemned the coup and has announced it would be suspending all of its projects in Garambura until civilian rule was restored. A spokesperson for the Estmerish government has also indicated that the country will go ahead with suspending all developmental aid to Garambura, which had recently received a new aid package.

The EC's Foreign Commissioner said that all humanitarian aid will continue.

Garambura has historically maintained close ties with the EC and its member-states. As one of Bahia's longest-standing democracies and most Euclo-friendly states, the coup has raised concerns throughout Euclean capitals. The defeat of the long serving Garamburan National Party (PNG) in last week's election by an electoral alliance of opposition parties surprised many in Garambura. The shock defeat has led to accusations of irregularities and electoral fraud. The country's Supreme Court sided with PNG figures who made such claims and moved to suspend the newly elected president, Anesu Madhuku. Soon after, Madhuku himself suspended the Supreme Court.

Madhuku was ousted and detained yesterday alongside other newly-appointed government officials after senior military officers seized power. The National Restoration Council has assumed unrivaled control over the Bahian nation. Jean-Paul Gatamba, the Chief-General of the country's military, has installed himself as Garambura's sole leader. The EC's foreign ministers directly appealed to Gatamba in their letter, urging him to step back and allow for the ICD to investigate the election.

by **Liecthenbourg** » Mon Apr 06, 2020 11:19 am

Gaullica takes the lead in condemning Garamburan coup.
As a coup d'etat installed regime of military rule threatens long-lasting ties between Gaullica and Garambura, the Euclean country is rolling up its sleeves.

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Antoinette Giroud
^{April 6th, 2020|Verlois, Gaullica}

Foreign Minister Lambert called for a "return to a civilian government".
Photo courtesy of courteous photography.

Verlois, Gaullica

Gaullica's government has denounced the coup that took place in Garambura yesterday, arguing that the military "superseded" its functions as an apparatus of the state and "ignored the proper channels" for the investigation of electoral fraud and 'foul play'.

Garambura's election on the 1st of April was a shock to many. The GNP, which had led Garambura without losing an election in its electoral history, came up short. Embroiled in the scandal revolving around its former leader Chiyangwa, who resigned earlier in March, voters came out in favour of a coalition of opposition parties composed of the PSG and the SGIO. Madhuku secured 75 seats in the legislature, one above the requirement to govern.

Allegations of electoral interference were quick to surface from amongst strongholds of the GNP; including from former Vice-President Mushohwe, that there was "undeniable" evidence of electoral fraud. The party leader quickly put forward a motion to Garambura's Supreme Court, which critics have argued is staffed with GNP loyalists and sympathisers. President Madhuku took it upon himself to suspend the Supreme Court over these allegations, a move itself which has been criticised as the Gaullican government for being "too rash."

On the 5th of April, the Garamburan Armed Forces - led by Chief-General Gatamba -- launched a coup against the PSG-SGIO government, placing both President Madhuku and Vice-President Mumbengegwi under arrest "until further notice."

President Vallette, who met with Mushohwe only last month as part of his 'Bahian Tour', has called the actions of the military "tyrannical" and "driven by power." He said of the coup that "the actions of President Madhuku were concerning, but the military has ignored the proper civilian and international channels. These channels, such as the International Council for Democracy or the Community of Nations would have given Chief-General Gatamba the impartial evidence he required to make an informed decision." He also called upon Mushohwe, following their multiple meetings, to disavow the turn of events that has transpired in his country: "This isn't the Garambura that welcomed me", he said.

It has been observed that Gaullica has led the charge, within the EC particularly, to bring about a 'Community Response' to the situation.

Lambert, the Foreign Minister, said she was "inspired" by the line put forth by the Euclean Commission's Vivien Vallette earlier today. "We do not want to cease developmental aid, we have been longstanding partners and allies with Garambura since their foundation as a sovereign state," she said. "Yet these moves will hopefully make General Gatamba consider his position and what we require; a restoration of a civilian government to Garambura."

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by **Etruria2** » Mon Apr 06, 2020 3:42 pm

Tribunes surge in polls in wake of budget
For the first time in its history, the Tribune Movement is polling over 50%, while the "centre-right" Democratic Alternative faces collapse
Matteo Tasa
^{06 April 2020 | Poveglia, Etruria}

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The Tribune Movement has surged in national polls in wake of the “overtly generous” and wide-ranging budget. According to eight polls conducted in the week since the budget, the Tribunes are averaging at 52%, an increase of 4.8% from the week prior. The boost reportedly comes from the 21-30 age bracket, where they have previously struggled. The rise seemingly comes at the expense of Democratic Alternative and the Social Democratic Party.

Telegrafo Solariano’s special Poll Meter team collected the data from eight polls all published since the budget, including the infamous VoxPopuli poll. The VoxPopuli polling company has won itself the record of being the most accurate in every election since 2012, its poll from last week put the Tribune Movement at 51.8%. Averaging the results, the Tribunes have scored their highest poll rating since their formation back in 2012. But the poll also shows some other truly surprising results.

With the Tribunes dominating the political theatre, the Citizens’ Alliance have seen a small decline from a height of 30% from last year’s election, falling 2 points to 28%. This appears to have been to the gain of the Social Democratic Party, which rose in the polls to 10%. The Farmers and Workers Union, long restricted to barely making the threshold for seats, due to its focus on Novalian seats, has seen a slight increase of 0.1%. Yet, the biggest shock of the poll was the fall of Democratic Alternative, to just 3.11%, which means if an election was held tomorrow, it would fail to win any of the seats operating under the proportional representation system.

Tribunes surge as Citizens' stagnate and Democratic Alternative implodes.

Amadeo Delfini, a political analyst at ReppublicaUna described the poll as a “game changer,” saying, “for the firs time the Tribunes have broken through into having the support of the majority of Etrurians, where since 2016 they have been stuck in the mid-to-high 40s.”

Delfini also said, “if these poll ratings hold up, especially among young voters, it would be fair to say that the Tribune Movement support-base has expanded significantly to grant them an unbeatable electoral machine.”

The surge in polls for the governing party has exceeded expectations according to sources inside the Tribune Movement. While the budget was aimed at young voters, owing to the government’s agenda of “boosting the future of Etruria”, no senior government minister or party leader expected the budget so well received.

One figure close to the Federal Executive, the body that runs the Movement told Telegrafo Solariano, yet wishing to remain unnamed so they could discuss the poll figures in detail, said, “no one expected this kind of response. First of all, we are not ignorant, we understand that the Movement struggles to appeal to metropolitan youth, especially those who have higher education. But this surge in support is truly welcomed as it is surprising. Second, many in the higher levels wrote off this the metropolitan youth, citing their innate bond with the liberal-left, but we may have just broken that bond.”

Another senior Tribune told us, “we are looking at the Etrurian people realising that we are the party of the nation, that we are the competent ones that seek to empower people do not keep them down. With GDP growth at 4.5% this year, unemployment at its lowest in two decades and major investments in people’s actual futures, we are the government Etruria wants.”

The new poll will come as a blow to the Citizens’ Alliance, which sought to use the culture war over the Family Protection Act, which banned early terminations, to boost its standing among those who oppose the Tribune Movement. However, the collapse of the “centre-right” to the empowerment of the Tribunes has crippled this plan. The slight rise in the SDP’s ratings will also be a cause for concern, due to the growing war of words between both parties.

Yesterday, SDP leader, Jadranka Karamarko slammed the Citizens’ Alliance as a “hollow offering.” She attacked the party particularly for its “fluffy promises, and its ceaseless obsession with resistance. We don’t want or need resistance; we need a government in waiting.”

The war between the SDP and CA provoked an online response from former President Vinko Begovic, who posted, “the current spat between the SDP and Citzens’ is hindering the opposition necessary to fight this far-right government. Commonalities and the national interest must be elevated so that the SDP and CA can provide the alternate politics this country desperately needs.”

A spokesman for the Tribune Movement in reply to our request for comment said, “the Movement is ever committed to restoring traditional Etrurian values, delivering a prosperous future for all Etrurians and building the diverse and dynamic economy that will carry our great country forward.”

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by **Union of Akoren** » Mon Apr 06, 2020 4:20 pm

Xiaodongese State Chairman Yuan Xiannian (L) with First Minister Farzad Akbari (R) at the 2019 IFDS
General Assembly.

The dynamic duo: How Xiaodong and Zorasan are the allies that have beaten the test of time
Despite often serious disagreements and divergent interests, the two Coian behemouths remain firm in their alliance and constitute the greatest threat to the world order.
Enrico Sorrentini Senior Research Fellow at the Povelian School of International Affairs.
March 28, 2020

The recent decision by Xiaodong to withdraw its economic assets and interests from the crippled and war-torn Tsabara will no doubt have systemic consequences for the country of 60 million. But if there is one reality that the decision has revealed, is the strength, dynamism and power of the so-called Rongzhuo-Zahedan Axis, the alliance between Xiaodong and Zorasan. This relationship should be noted by Euclea and the Asterias, for this front has the means and will to become the most dangerous threat to the liberal world order and here’s why.

The Rongzhuo-Zahedan Axis is perhaps one of the oldest and most enduring alliances in Coian history. Established in the 1920s, more as a state-patronage relationship between the former Heavenly Empire and the Pardarian nationalist, Tabazarin (Battle Axe) movement, it evolved and adapted as the latter became the Pardarian Revolutionary Resistance Command. Xiaodongese assistance to the PRRC during the Great War is considered as the spiritual birth of the Axis, where both Xiaodongese and Pardarian soldiers fought side-by-side against Etruria and the Alliance. Even though the PRRC was forced back into the deep south of Pardaran, Xiaodong continued to aid its client movement, providing it both with materiel and the ideological foundations of Sattarism, the national ideology of Zorasan since 1950. In fact, the ideological assistance is so profound that the differences between Sattarism and National Principilism in Xiaodong is merely the swapped-out ethnicities and the former’s addition of Irfan. The Axis took a more formal structure following the PRRC’s victory in the Pardarian Civil War by 1950. As an inter-state relationship, it began to blossom, with Xiaodong become the biggest foreign supporter of Zorasani unification.

Since 1950 and arguable more so since 1980, following the creation of the modern Union of Zorasani Irfanic Republics, the Axis has been anchored by mutually beneficial arrangements. Xiaodong is the biggest foreign investor in Zorasan, while Zorasan fuels Xiaodong’s colossal economy with petrochemical exports. Xiaodong more than any other state has aided Zorasan’s successful diversification effort, helping create the dynamic Zorasani economy, which boasts a significant manufacturing base, while Zorasan’s ever cheaper oil prices for its ally has fuelled Xiaodong’s growing economic clout both continentally and globally. That both are authoritarian states further anchors the axis, even a parallel experiment in liberalisation and openness in the 1990s, though Xiaodong limited this to the economy, Zorasan took to both the economy and politics, though at the same time these experiments were reversed by the 2010s as both sides returned to their authoritarian status-quo. This Axis is so engrained into their respective systems that a break is highly unlikely, even the suggestion of such is condemned in both capitals.

Beyond the historic and economic foundations, the defence cooperation rivals that of ECDTO, with Xiaodong historically provided vast quantities of equipment and systems, from which Zorasan has developed a major defence industry in its own right, to also, Zorasan deploying aircraft and troops to aid Xiaodong during the Duljunese War (1988-1996). The military side of the Axis is most prevalent in the form of ROSPO, the Rongzhuo Strategic Protocol Organisation. In ROSPO, Zorasan and Xiaodong dominate, eager to use the alliance as a further counterweight to COMSED. Cooperation in research and development is also a major component of the Axis, with both sides contributing greatly to the development of ballistic missiles, air defences and electronic warfare. It is widely accepted in Euclean capitals that both states have their cyber-armies cooperate and launch joint operations against rivals.

Yet the most relevant aspect of the Axis for Euclean and Asterian policy makers is the shared worldview and ambition between the two Coian heavyweights. Both governments are defined by their shared “anti-imperialism”, a bygone term now used to describe a shared desire to expel foreign influences from Coius, but also to expel any nothing of liberal democracy. Both are rising powers and spoilers, as both see the current world system as fundamentally flawed and biased, “it entrenches Euclean domination at the expense of the future” is a common refrain you’ll find in both states. Both are states marked by Euclean colonialism in the 19th and 20th centuries and both are countries that see national sovereignty as the overriding principle of global affairs. Elements in both Rongzhuo and Zahedan interpret anti-imperialism as evicting reliance on Euclea, be it cultural, economic or political – therefore by providing an alternative. One of the most controversial aspects of the Axis in this vein, diplomatically speaking is the so-called Gharazi-Zhaozheng Agreement from 1964, in which Zorasan would “expel” imperialists from Badawiya and Bahia, Xiaodong from southwest and southeast Coius and together they would keep Satria balkanised and dependent on both states, by ensuring the “legitimacy and sovereignty of all freed Satrian peoples.” This was produced into a formal document, shockingly underreported and dismissed as “aspirational nonsense from 50 years ago” by some academics and policy makers.

Xiaodongese and Zorasani soldiers during joint-exercises last November.

The Axis in practice can be seen across not only Coius, but also to some certain degree, other continents. The friendly face of the Axis is the International Forum for Development States (IFDS), which also stands as the economic side of ROSPO. It would be unbecoming to deny that the IFDS fails to do good, its vast program for medical reform and mass vaccinations across the developing world far outstrips any Northern charity or NGO, its R&D programs and investment bank have proven versatile and mutually beneficial in certain areas, but that is not to detract from the fact that the IFDS exists to force out Euclea and democratic Asteria from the developing world. Perhaps most poignant is the so-called “XiaoBucks-ZoraOil” two-pronged program. What XB-ZO, as it is mostly known among policy makers in Euclea, entails in theory, is nothing more than a dual debt and energy trap. Both governments pursue a target market simultaneously, in a level of foreign policy coordination not seen outside the EC (at the best of times), in which Xiaodong provides billions of Euclos in direct investment, into key industries; minerals, infrastructure, manufacturing, which in turn sees Xiaodong effectively own the assets its develops, while from the other flank, Zorasan provides much needed fuel and petrochemicals for emerging economies at below market prices, which are in turn consolidated by Xiaodongese funded pipelines and refining facilities. It’s a self-replicating and self-supporting structure that economically subordinates an entire nation to the Axis. Yet, both governments would see this as vital tools at expelling Euclean influence and raising the said nation up into an independent and sovereign state.

In Tsabara’s particular case it was different, owing to the country’s vast petrochemical resources. With Tsabara, the Axis took a different tract, while Xiaodong remained firm with its economic tools, Zorasan took to politics and religion. With Atwan al-Tughluq, Zorasan could provide that outsized influence over the political Irfanist movements that now wage war on the Tsabaran government, it could play the Badawiyan solidarity card and by doing so, become the patron of the movements that Al-Tughluq came to depend upon in his later years. The civil war in Tsabara has revealed the consequences of these tools being used by the Axis, with Zorasan pushing its clients to war and Xiaodong pulling the economic rug from under Adunis’ feet.

While the Axis is showing its strength in Tsabara, much like any bi-lateral relationship it is not without its issues or critics. In truth, there are many in both states who view the other as both a liability and a threat. In Zorasan at least, the liability is that several factions with the civil-military regime see Xiaodong’s addiction to GDP growth and money as a danger to Xiaodongese commitment to the cause. These same elements see the addiction as a means to question Xiaodongese reliability, would the country jeopardise its trade relations with Euclea in the event of military confrontation? Other elements, especially within the Zorasani military see the relationship has unbalanced, with too much conceded to Xiaodong and the Union too dependent, be it in the realms of diplomacy, international interactions, trade and militarily. The controversy over whether Zorasan is pursuing nuclear weapons falls into this factional view, many in the Zorasani military also doubt whether Xiaodong would come to its aid in the event of a major conflict with Euclean powers, and have greater doubts about the seriousness of strategic nuclear umbrellas. As a senior commander told visiting EDCTO officials in the early 2000s, “can you really expect a nuclear power to sacrifice its cities and existence for an ally? No matter how close nations can be, no government will actually follow through.”

Another area for disagreement is Satria, where Zorasan is divided between its formal ties with Ajahadya and its desire for Pan-Irfanism to permeate through its ties with Aluinam, and where Xiaodong wishes to maintain the status-quo, in the form of a balkanised tinderbox to maintain its superior position. It is in Satria where the Axis will be truly tested, as both states have the means to become the most prominent outside power and where their interests will not align sufficiently to maintain the warm closeness seen elsewhere in Coius.

One of the lowest points in bi-lateral relations came in the mid-2000s, when hundreds of prominent Duljunese nationalists fled their hideouts after over a decade in hiding in the border regions, heading into southern Zorasan. So rapid was this exodus, that many in Zorasan believed Xiaodong was permitting it, hoping to see the leadership abandon the cause inside the country’s north. This exodus, alongside a crackdown on Duljunese identity across Zorasan inevitably led to the Zorasani-Duljunese Conflict (2006-2009), in which the Zorasanis crushed the rebellion using tactics far more controversial and violent than Xiaodong used. Despite the Zorasani success in crushing the Duljunese rebellion for equal rights, damage had been inflicted, due to the earlier Xiaodongese failure to halt the exodus, but then its slow effort to share intelligence. So low had relations sunk, that during this period, State President Hamid Alizadeh refused to meet State Chairman Jiang Zhongyu for almost a year between 2006 and 2007. Relations were repaired through the efforts of First Ministers Ali Reza Arif and Xian Yuannan.

The Xiaodongese leadership has also been at times at odds with Zorasan. More dovish politicians in the Xiaodongese leadership see Zorasan as a liability whose aggressive foreign policy would plunge both countries into a devastating conflict with Euclea and COMSED at the worst or lead to unbearable economic sanctions that would cripple both countries. The more conventional criticism voiced in ROSPO concerns many in the Xiaodongese leadership questioning Zorasan’s focus on Euclean nations, with Xiaodongese politicians and military planners seeing Senria as the main focus of the alliance’s defensive measures. Some Xiaodongese politicians - especially those on the ultranationalist right - see Zorasan as a decidedly inferior nation and bristle at the idea of it as a civilisational equal. Although this view is almost completely absent amongst government circles in Rongzhuo the fact that such circles allow such a view to be periodically expressed in state propaganda has at times cooled close relations.

A more serious disagreement between the two nations concerns the Xiaodongese treatment of Irfanic people. In line with a general policy of repressing “foreign spiritual influence” Xiaodong controls the appointment of clergymen within its borders, restricts open practice and encourages the mixing of traditional Irfanic beliefs with Xiaodongese cultural influences from other religions. Whilst nowhere near the repression of Sotirians in Xiaodong the tales of imprisoning Irfanic priests critical of the regime has traditionally raised the ire of Zorasan, whose deeply Irfanic population see Xiaodongese actions as abhorrent. Relations reached a low in the 1990’s when as a result of Xiaodong’s modernising reforms religion came under greater scrutiny from the government with Irfanic media organisations closed down and an influential Irfanic priest, Liu Songshan, was executed for “debasing public morality”. Relations only improved after Xiaodong following the end of the Duljunese war in 1996 when many censorship laws passed as a result of the war that applied uniformly to “foreign religions” were repealed.

Yet, despite the differences and areas of contention, the Axis remains one of the firmest bi-lateral alliances in the world today. Not only is its strength found in its resilience, but also the high level of interaction on philosophical, economic and military levels. The Axis is founded one a very simple shared worldview and objective, it has a clear endgame in which the current world order is replaced or reformed to fit the interests of nation-states over values and principles. It is reinforced by five decades of history and further strengthened by commonalities in authoritarianism, militarism and statism. It is vital that the Axis not seen as merely confined in projection to Coius, it will expand elsewhere. It is also vital that it is seen as the most dynamic and perhaps most capable anti-liberal force in the world.

Enrico Sorrentini is a senior research fellow at the Povelian School for International Affairs and renown author on great power relations, and specialises in Coian-Euclean relations.

by **Eskaeba** » Mon Apr 06, 2020 5:06 pm

Czenko gave his full support to Martynenko in Chistovodia and responded to Figueroa's comments.

CZENKO: "WE STAND WITH CHISTOVODIA"

April 7, 2020 - Helga Yurievna (@hyurievna)

It's not often that Narozalica and Chistovodia can boast of good relations. In fact, more often than not, you'll find the two states squabbling over various ideological and geopolitical concerns. But the stage seems to have been set up differently in the past few weeks.

President Czenko hit back at Nuxican president Figueroa today for what he called a "sidelining" of the issue of the millions of Narodyns living within Nuxica's eastern regions - specifically the region named New Kyrlav by Chistovodia - since its annexation in 1979.

"A referendum is surely on the cards. Let the Marolevs of New Kyrlav decide their own fate. The Nuxican government cannot seriously be committed to treaties signed by military dictatorships, yet it is what they seem to be doing.", Czenko responded.

"It is in a time like this where we must put aside ideological differences and small bickerings for the self-determination of all Marolevs, where-ever they may live. As a proudly Marolevic nation, we stand with Chistovodia, and we encourage all nations of our blood to join us in doing the same."

Czenko reiterated comments by Martynenko of the "disconnect" between the people of New Kyrlav and the Nuxican government. He also spoke on Figueroa's "offensive" guise of innocence on the matter, "I'm sure he knows what he is doing and what is going on in the region. Indeed it is a shame."

When asked on the possibility on full Samorspi backing of Chistovodia, Czenko said, "We must carefully assess our options on the matter. The door, as well as many others, will remain open."

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by **Tusing** » Mon Apr 06, 2020 5:56 pm

Opinion
Respect your elders: Why Bahian democracies die
7 Avril 2020 à 12h57 | Par Check Wes

With but a single stroke, Bahia's democratic poster boy has fallen to that seemingly inescapable factor of Bahian politics - military rule. Following an election which would have finally removed from power the PNG (Parti national garambourien) after 51 years in power, accusations of electoral irregularities paved way for the suspension of the nation's supreme court and, in a self-proclaimed defence of democracy, the armed forces under Chief-General Gatamba deposed the civilian government and took power. Madhuku and other key figures in the PSG (Parti social garambourien) government were placed under house arrest. Reactions to the coup have been entirely predictable. The Euclean nations have unanimously condemned the anti-democratic action, with Valette stating in outrage "this isn't the Garambura that welcomed me". On a more local side, the reactions have been less critical. While Rwizikuru expressed its opposition towards figures such as Gatamba's right hand man Sidima Soga who is known for hist strongly anti-Rwizikuran stance. In contrast, the coup has been praised in Mabifia with Hourege Mahmadou Jolleh-Bande stating that "this temporary military action to preserve democracy has defended the interests of the Garamburan people and preserved stability in the nation." One might argue that a monarch praising your actions in the defence of democracy is the highest condemnation of any genuine democratic motivations.

This latest action is no outlier when we look at Bahia's complex post-colonial political history, indeed one can see it as the confirmation of a generally accepted rule. To understand why Bahian governance tends towards military rule and strongmanship, we must look far back in history to the pre-Toubacteric era. Precolonial Bahia was dominated by a political system known as Hourege, which can be compared to the Euclean feudal system but is not directly analogous. Hourege was rooted upon two key ideas, these being hierarchy and mutual obligation. When arranged in a pyramid, the Houregic caste system branches down from a single leader, the Hourege (locally known as a Mambo, Mansa, Sultan, Oba), who would own his slaves, direct his own household, and was protected by a personal armed force. Below him were the Karanes, lesser rulers who owed him tribute and in return were granted protection. This style of delegation could continue on multiple tiers, right down to a familial level. In social terms, there were also freemen and merchants who owed tithes to their karane in return for protection, and slaves who were owned and yet still maintained a similar if more oppressive relationship as every other step. At each step, both sides owed obligations towards each other. The only times that this hierarchy was upset was in times of strife, such as famine or military defeat, and this was always the result of military action.

In this regard, the system is in itself the macrocosm of the traditional family structure that is seen all around Bahia. Unlike the Euclo-Asterian concept of the "Nuclear Family", that is to say a mother, father, and children, the traditional Bahian family is far broader. Centred around an elder, usually the oldest or most esteemed male though in some cultures the system is matriarchal, the family includes all those who owe him/her familial ties. The elder(s) is owed respect and the nourishment of his descendants, and in return gives guidance and protection using his influence. As the family spreads out, each new generation owes respect and obedience to their elders and the relationship is highly symbiotic. In this way, such values of obedience and respect for authority are deeply ingrained into the collective Bahian psyche.

Democracy is not an alien concept to Bahia. Indeed, during the Saretic era which preceded Hourege, a form of direct democracy known as the Foujodel was widespread. What is alien, however, is the desire to upset the status quo. It is true that Garambura was a democratic torchbearer in the subcontinent. It is also true that since independence it had been ruled by a single party. When we look at Bahian leaders, it is not hard to see the importance of this idea of the "elder" and how influential it is. Mabifia's Jolleh-Bande has ruled 23 years, and before him, even the highly revolutionary Mabifian Democratic Republic was a gerontocracy with leaders such as Giengs and Onika similarly applicable to the trend of "Elderism". Indeed, the RDM's last leader Soleïman Keïta was a young leader, as if the populace dared not revolt against a disliked elder such as Onika but being ruled by a young man rubbed salt into the already smarting wounds of economic collapse and religious oppression. Izibongo Ngonidzashe ruled for 24 years, and his son Kupakwashe ruled an astonishing 40 before his abdication. Even Takakunda Kuda Kani, the grandfather of Bahian democracy, ruled for 15 years. As shown with the criticism that even the most successful Euclean president receives, we cannot put his immense acclaim down only to his impressive achievements. One could even argue that institutions such as the PNG in Garambura attain a sort of elder status. Even under foujodel, proper respect was owed to one's elders.

This leads us to the subject of the military's role. Under Hourege, a system so intrinsically based upon a fractal hegemony of military power, the military were the main pillar of control and the only real vector for change. Given the importance of the status quo, the military would only step in when the Hourege or karane lost the trust of his people completely, such as in the case of a major famine or military defeat, or in order to maintain the status quo. In Mabifia, the collapse of the RDM was precipitated by massive desertions in the armed forces which left the socialists dependant on their own personal militias for the majority of the civil war. We can see this again in Garambura. The crime of the PSG-SGIO government was not electoral fraud, it was the irreprehensible act of upsetting the status quo and defying the country's elders. As in a family, when an uncle tries to usurp, the other elders reproach him. Garambura was a perfectly democratic society so long as the people made the right choices, and for 51 years they did.

In this way, Garambura has proven that it was no exception to the Bahian trend. What does this mean for other democratic movements in Bahia? Sadly, the future does not seem bright. Rwizikuru, which is set to enter its first free elections since independence, is unlikely to propose a government who challenge the role of the Mambo, who like in Mabifia will have an influence far greater than his constitutional constraints suggest. There is evidence that these attitudes are changing, however. While it lasted roughly one day, Garambura did elect a new party. This alone is proof that the younger generations will be more open to changes. As Euclean culture continues to globalise, so to does the influence of traditional Bahian society decline. The usage of hashtags such as #OkBoomer is a clear symbol of this. Not too long ago, such a blatant challenge to the adage of elder respect would have been unheard of. As the culture shifts, so too will the Subcontinent's politics. But as long as it is the elders who hold the arms and power, such changes are still a long way off. Until then, we will see more of the events seen in Mambiza this week.

by **Nuvania** » Mon Apr 06, 2020 7:57 pm

Cape Fever Cases Reach 32 As Health Officials Search For Epicentre

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Jordan Peterson (@JordanPeterson)
7 April (1:00pm)|PIETERSBURG

City workers spray fumigants to kill mosquitoes in Huntingdon, Pietersburg.

The number of people confirmed to have Cape fever has reached 32, all of which are known to be from the area of the nation's capital most affected by the outbreak. Officials from the Cape Provincial Health Board (KPHB) have reiterated the need to remain protected.

Doctor Marja van Niekerk, the Director-General of the Cape Provincial Health Board, said during a morning press conference that the number of cases admitted to hospitals in Huntingdon and Andover areas remained higher than normal, but much lower than the spike recorded in the 24 hours to March 31. According to the KPHB, eight new cases were admitted on April 1, two new cases on April 2, four new cases on April 3, and one new case each on April 4 and 5. Despite the reduction in new cases, Dr van Niekerk said that it was not indicative that the outbreak was over.
"We're still preparing for more cases," she said. "We're not sure if or when the outbreak will end."

She said that there was increasing evidence that there were two simultaneous outbreaks, one in Andover and one in Huntingdon. She said that the evidence was due to most species of mosquito travelling between two and six kilometres from where they were hatched, thus limiting the spread of the disease.
"At the moment we are coordinating with the Pietersburg City Council and the Andover City Council to locate and eradicate mosquito clusters," she said. "We're identifying areas with standing water on public and private property, and we encourage those living in the affected areas to report mosquito breeding activity to local authorities."

Identifying a definite epicentre for the outbreak would be reasonably easy to determine, according to Dr Martin Baker, an epidemiologist at the Centre for Tropical Disease Research at the University of Pietersburg. He said that because the mosquitoes have very limited travel capabilities that identifying where all the cases lived could point towards areas that have infected mosquito populations.
"I would assume the PHB would be looking at the addresses of victims and seeing where they lived," he said. "From there they would need to look at geographic distribution and through that, find a potential source of this latest outbreak." Dr Baker said that it was entirely possible that the disease could come from animal to human via mosquitoes, and vice versa. Animals such as birds, lizards, and even household pets can catch these diseases themselves, as well as transmit by carrying infectous parasites in their blood, which is then passed to mosquitoes.
"It's why protective measures are so important," he said. "It is virtually impossible to prevent future outbreaks and single infections from occurring as it would require the eradication of all mosquitoes, so we need to take the advice of experts seriously."

Doctor van Niekerk said that the KPHB had not yet identified an epicentre for the outbreak but had found clusters around which mosquito eradication operations were being carried out. She said that the search had been narrowed down to a few streets located in the south of the suburb of Huntingdon, and north-central parts of Andover. The data presented to the KPHB so far suggested that a tightly grouped cluster of cases was located in Huntingdon, while the cases in Andover were more spread out.
"We will be looking at engaging in eradication in the more tightly packed cluster in Huntingdon first as the evidence we have suggests a local source for the outbreak there," she said. "However, we are unsure of the source of the cases in Andover, and as such we will be engaging in multiple eradication operations in areas around addresses where confirmed cases resided." She said that it was entirely possible that there were multiple sources for infections.
"All it takes is parasites in infected blood to pass from the animal or human to humans or other animals. One infected animal or one infected person can cause an outbreak such as this."

However questions are being asked about the wisdom of attempting local eradication and the chemicals used to fumigate affected areas. In particular, the use of malathion, an organophosphate insecticide used for the spraying of public parks and outdoor areas. Malathion is not available for private use, and is sold in limited quantities to commercial operators and local government contractors. While malathion is considered to have low toxicity, ingestion or absorption into the body can cause it to metabolise into malaoxon, which is significantly more toxic. Franz Swart, the CEO of CityCare, the company which maintains Pietersburg's public parks, said that exposure to malathion would be mitigated through keeping everyone indoors during spraying operations and reducing the amount of standing water on private properties. He said that the council was pursuing a liaision program with the affected communities to ensure public safety during spraying.
"We are informing residents when spraying will occur, when we will be requesting property visits and other inspections," he said. "It is essential to our operations that we inform residents ahead of time to avoid unnecessary unease."

Local eradication, according to Doctor van Niekerk, was the only solution that could be done in order to prevent the spread of Cape fever in the affected areas. She said that while it would be temporary, local mosquito eradication was the only way that the outbreak could be stopped.
"It is a necessary measure to ensure the safety of everyone in those areas affected by this outbreak," she said. "Temporary eradication is an effective method to stop the spread of Cape fever and to prevent further infections."

OTHER NEWS

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Nuvanian ambassador returns to Castelonovo on special night flight
Narozalican president backs Chistovodian concerns in Nuxica
Financial Crimes Office announces arrest warrants for five Alkmaar executives for insider trading
Brabantian premier announces new economic initiatives to stimulate growth

by **Eskaeba** » Tue Apr 07, 2020 7:51 am

Garambura: Euclea's lost puzzle piece
As the poster boy of Euclea's Bahian ambitions crumbles, what does this mean for influence in the area?

Former president Muzukuru Chiyangwa with EC High Commissioner Niina Hermansdohter in 2019.

Cheng Ju - Professor of Political Science at Knowleston University, Jindao.
April 7, 2020

Euclea has a multitude of reasons to keep checks on the Bahian geopolitical order, whether it be for trade or political purposes. Their main method of doing so has succumbed to what seems to be an inevitable end for the states of Bahia - military rule. How does Garambura's fall affect the influence of the world's big blocs?

To answer this question, it is important that we understand how Garambura rose to the esteemed stage the Euclean powers held it on. Gaullica had possessions in Garambura as early as the mid-17th century, with the city of Sainte-Germaine settled around the same time. Like what came to be of its often-grouped urban partner Adunis, in Tsabara, Sainte-Germaine was idolised by the Gaullican crown and its historical selection of ethnic nationalists for its racial complexure. It's no doubt Gaullica made way for the city through a series of expulsions, enslavements and massacres, and purposefully imported its own to populate the city, earning it the historical nickname of Joyau de Bahie - the Jewel of Bahia.

After the Great War, Garamburan independence was not made an easy task. Through the cultural neglect of Estmere to the political repression of Rwizikuru evidenced by the 1947 riots that engulfed the city for two pivotal months, Garambura is no stranger to being trampled on. Not until 1969 did the country begin to forge its own path and make its own decisions. The decisions it made, particularly those of Takakunda Kuda Kani, the country's revered inaugural president, aligned it heavily with Euclea against the rising left-wing of Bahia, especially in Rwizikuru and Mabifia. Throughout the 1970s, aid packages, arms deals, the Nativity War and democratic activism characterised the country's warm relationships with the Euclean Community as well as countries such as Halland. The decade would see Garambura emerge as Euclea's main point of influence in Bahia.

But forty years of progress for the country is quickly being washed down the drain as Jean-Paul Gatamba and Sidima Soga quickly seek to consolidate their absolute rule over the country of almost ten million.

Responses to the coup have been mixed. Most countries have announced their concerns for the country and are beginning to closely follow the developing political situation in the region. Other countries, such as Gaullica, have taken a more active stance in condemning the coup and what it seeks to achieve, and are counteracting by countries such as Mabifia - whose Hourege, Mohammed Jolleh-Bande, commended Gatamba and Soga for what he believed where actions that preserved the institution of democracy in the region from external threats. Many blocs, including both ROSPO and COMSED, have yet to respond to the matter.

While the situation is definitely uncertain and volatile, good guesses can be made on where Garambura could stand on the world stage if Gatamba continues to successfully consolidate his power into strongman rule. It's no secret that the rising Rongzhuo-Zahedan axis is no stranger to supporting the anti-liberal and authoritarian states that adorn Coius, and Garambura is seemingly falling closer and closer into their grip. While Gatamba has publicly stated his commitments to retaining the status quo of Garambura's foreign relations, the EC is certainly not viewing it in the same light. It can be expected for EC-Garambura relations to falter significantly in the coming days.

The situation is, of course, a great opening for Xiaodong and Zorasan to project their influence over the Bahian state. With links already to Mabifia, both with the government and other militias within the region, particularly those fighting in the Makanian Conflict, and a reason to secure more influence in the region with Rwizikuru's alignment to Senria and COMSED, Rongzhuo and Zahedan could easily squeeze COMSED influence out of the region.

Despite Gatamba's indications otherwise, it can only be a matter of time before the country is outright shunned by the neoliberal Euclea and forced to pick a side in a conflict that seems to be engulfing Coius more and more every day. Mambiza will have to play their cards extremely well to avoid becoming a disposable pawn in the great geopolitical chess match.
© Coian Monitor, 2020

Cheng Ju is a Professor of Political Science at Knowleston University in Jindao. She has lived there her whole life and specialises in Coian geopolitics.

by **Lunas Legion** » Tue Apr 07, 2020 9:54 am

Home · Ajahadya · Coius · International · Politics · Business · Technology and Science · Arts · Education · Health · Sports · Weather
AJAHADYA APPLAUDS 'DECISIVE ACTION' IN GARAMBURA

April 07, 2020 | By Chettur Dayal

Sidima Soga, right-hand man to Chief-General Jean-Paul
Gatamba, leader of the National Restoration Council

Ajahadya is no stranger to military rule. From the fall of the Raja in 1934 to 1946 and the end of the Solarian War, the country, while officially a democratic republic as it is today, was in reality run by juthas; groups of allied military strongmen who took power after the fall of the Raja, with the institutions of the Union of Federal Republics of Satria being little more than a facade over where the real power lay. The First Satrian War ended the rule by the juthas as they transitioned from military factions to civilian-military groupings into their modern forms as political machines and party infrastructure. Both Jalender Sarai and Arjuna Kalsarah, Presidents of the UFRS from 1950 to 1966 and 1974 to 1981 respectively, ruled the country primarily from their positions in the military rather than through the civilian apparatus of government.

Even Nishant Balchandra, widely hailed as the man responsible for the survival of Ajahadya in the aftermath of the Third Satrian War and the rebuilding of the country, ruled for his first term with emergency powers granted to him by the Parliament of the Union; not quite military rule in the same manner as Sarai and Kalsarah did, not most certainly not in the more democratic manner of his successors.

It is of no surprise, then, that Ajahadya's current president, Salil Balchandra, formally recognised the Garamburan National Restoration Council as the 'legitimate government of Garambura', praising both Chief-General Jean-Paul Gatamba and his right-hand man, Sidima Soga, for their 'swift and decisive action to ensure the preservation of order and stability in Garambura rather than letting the country tumble towards internal conflict over a disputed election'. The president further stated that 'waiting for international organisations to come up with a supposedly impartial conclusion would waste time in which Garambura would tumble further into instability, by which time the results of any conclusion would be rendered meaningless.'

President Balchandra said that he 'was confident that the National Restoration Council knows what is in the best interests of order and stability in Garambura better than any foreign nation' and that 'a return to civilian rule will no doubt occur once the National Restoration Council is confident in the stability and security of the nation, not when it would only lead to more divisiveness and chaos in the nation.'

It is extremely unlikely after taking such drastic and divisive action that the National Restoration Council will simply return power back to the civilian government, despite the condemnations emanating from Euclea on the matter.

Chettur Dayal is a former Professor of Bahian Studies at Balchandra Academy of the Humanities and served as an advisor to the government of Diya Kalsarah on Bahian affairs from 2006 - 2009 and has been writing for the Navbharat Times on Bahian affairs part-time since 2016.

About me · by **Luziyca** » Tue Apr 07, 2020 10:45 am

FIRST MUTUNGAMIRI ELECTED BY THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Tsuru Mawere, a soldier turned activist, named the first Mutungamiri of the Kingdom of Rwizikuru

Mutungamiri Tsuru Mawere at his inauguration

Gondo Chikwava | 7 APRIL, 2020 21:30 | PORT FITZHUBERT, RWIZIKURU

After two rounds of voting in the National Assembly, Tsuru Mawere secured fifty-five votes to Rambwa Zvinavashe's fourty-five votes: as he is elected with the majority of the vote of the members of the National Assembly, Mawere was able to be sworn in as the first Mutungamiri of the Kingdom of Rwizikuru.

Tsuru Mawere, who served in the Royal Rwizikuran Army from 1963 until he was discharged in 1981 following his role in the Port Fitzhubert putsch, after having fought in the Mabifian-Rwizikuran War, the Garamburan War of Independence, and the Nativity War, went into exile with Muchazvireva Ngonidzashe, and established a government-in-exile in Caldia in 1983. He remained an active member of the government-in-exile until he left the government-in-exile in 2018, officially on account of his old age, but primarily due to his falling out with Muchazvireva Ngonidzashe.

After being allowed to return in November 2019 by Mambo Munashe Ngonidzashe, he ran for the seat of Sangoguru C, defeating Irikidzayi Ullyet with 54% of the vote to Ullyet's 40%.

Upon his election as Mutungamiri, Tsuru Mawere pledged to uphold the Rwizikuran constitution, saying that "as Mutungamiri, I pledge to the Almighty Lord that I will serve in accordance with the principles of the Rwizikuran constitution, and to act in a just and upright manner."

Following his swearing-in ceremony in front of the Old Palace in Port Fitzhubert, Tsuru Mawere said that "our government's main priority will be to develop the nation's infrastructure, to eradicate the disease of corruption from our country, and to develop our democratic traditions so that we will not suffer the fate of other Bahian states."

Mambo Munashe Ngonidzashe praised the election of Tsuru Mawere, saying that "I have high confidence in the ability of Tsuru Mawere to lead Rwizikuru onward," and that "now that the Mutungamiri is elected, I am confident that he will do an excellent job in running the country, and that I am now ready and willing to serve my role under the new constitution."

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by **Fjalland-** » Sat Apr 11, 2020 1:43 am

DISASTER FOR NATIONAL COALITION AS PARTY LOSES 6 STATE LEGISLATURES TO OPPOSITION
Party loses 26 local councils to opposition

SHARE:

José Trudeau (@TrudeauJosé )
^{11 April 2020 06:33 | Lafayette, Alexandria}

The party lost almost 40% of it's votes from 2016
Photo courtesy of the Alexandrian Electoral Commission.

Lafayette, Alexandria - After a Gruelling counting plagued by allegations of missing votes, and several recounts the full results are in. For the first time since the early 90s opposition parties have now gained a majority of votes over the National Coalition. 58% of all votes were given to opposition parties.

The largest winners of the night was the Social Democratic Party and the Conservative Movement, who have majorities in 4 and 2 states respectively. The latter was only formed in January of this year by moderate members of the National Coalition. Already CN party leader's are facing the heat for their worst electoral defeat since the 1980s.

The night began on the heel of a delay of the election caused by the ongoing Cape Fever outbreak in Nuvania of which there are no cases in Alexandria. The first constituency to declare it's results was Nanteaux which is a National Coalition stronghold, the state however voted Governor Sébastien Grandjean who has now been replaced by Conservative Movement's Jules Dufour.

The first result on the mainland came shortly after midnight when Terre de Rosalie's Lucas Lahaye was reelected with a wide majority against the nearest contender who was a joint candidate between the Opposition parties.

Minutes later Lafayette, arguably the most important state declared it's results with an win for the Social Democrats, winning every constituency from the National Coalition except for Ville d'Asselin and Ornoît. The new Governor of the state is 28 year old Sara Halphen, the daughter of current Social Democrat Leader Élisabeth Halphen.

The CN leaders of Marves, Vierlon and Orluçon were all reelected, albeit with smaller majorities. The CN leaders of Soliogne, Saulès and Périsier all lost their seats to PSD candidates. The last result of the night was when Grenoît's Yves De Verley lost his presumably safe Governorship to Conservative Movement's former Mayor of Aviyonne Évrard Jacquier who was visibly surprised at the results during the announcement.

The night was marred by the defeat of the decades long domination by the National Coalition that political analysts are putting down to public discontent at the National Coalition and the Besnard administrations presumed corruption. 6 CN governors, all were elected with large majorities in 2016, Nanteaux's former Governor was elected in 2016 with 62% of the vote.

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by **The Kingdom of Glitter** » Sat Apr 11, 2020 8:27 pm

THE PIPELINE THAT IS DIVIDING NORTHERN EUCLEA
As the Caldish and Weranic governments push the Tuaisceart-Süd 2.0 pipeline, other governments aren't so sure
12 April 2020 | Seosamh Almada agus Mac Maoláin

The proposed Tuaisceart-Süd 2.0 pipeline project would be the second undersea pipeline connecting Caldia to mainland Euclea.

DISCORD has come to grip Northern Euclea as governments struggle to juggle competing interests over the controversial Tuaisceart-Süd 2.0 pipeline project. Being pushed as a way to create jobs, grow the economy, and secure Euclea's energy independence, the pipeline has become one of the defining policies of the Mac Suibhne government. Backed by counterparts in Westbrücken, the Taoiseach and his government look to get the project underway. It will be put before the Northern Forum later this month. While the Caldish and Weranic governments are firm in their commitment to the new pipeline, other governments remain uneasy at the prospect.

For the project to proceed under the auspices of the Northern Forum, Tuaisceart-Süd 2.0 must receive the backing of the group's Executive Committee - the meeting of the member-state's heads of government. The existing Tuaisceart-Süd pipeline, built during the 1990s, received the backing of the Northern Forum. At the time, it fit well with the group's main priorities. It was an opportunity for regional governments to collaborate on energy infrastructure, one of the organization's chief goals. Since the 1990s, the group's priorities have expanded beyond just energy infrastructure and transportation. Now, environmental protection and climate change have been added to the Northern Forum's agenda.

It is those expanded commitments that are causing division among North Euclean governments. Mac Suibhne has found firm opposition in both the Azmaran and Ordennian governments, two governments he has been able to rely on for support within the Euclean Community. At first, one may be bewildered by the challenges Caldia's left-wing leader faces from these governments. Both are run by centre-left of left-leaning coalitions and have the same sense of "progressiveness" that Mac Suibhne puts forward. However, both countries are governed by coalitions and both include the national green parties.

In the case of Ordennia, the country has had a Green-led government twice in the past decade. Soon after Tuaisceart-Süd 2.0 was formally announced by the Caldish government and confirmed by Westbrücken, the Ordennian government came out with its opposition. The country's energy minister, Petra Berntsen, accused Mac Suibhne and his Weranic counterpart of "neglecting their duties in the fight against the climate crisis". A spokesperson for the Taoiseach dismissed her concerns, pointing to the government's climate action plan published last September. The over-arching plan that included billions in new spending and the re-nationalization of passenger rail services has received criticism domestically for not going far enough, with Caldia's own Green Party opposing the government's policies.

It is no surprise the Ordennian government, which aims to position itself as the fore-front of the fight against climate change, opposed Tuaisceart-Süd 2.0. The government is the most anti-fossil fuels in the EC and is the only member-state where an environmentalist party leads a government. The participation of the Azmaran and Gaullican Greens are dwarfed by the leading role their Ordennian affiliates maintain. Berntsen also bemoaned the EC's slow approach to publishing its own climate action plan, which is unsurprisingly being piloted by an Ordennian. Mac Suibhne was never going to win over the Ordennians for the new pipeline. The issue of continental security is not one that interests them, with green ideology dominating the needs of pragmatic policies. His best hope was for the Ordennians to be alone in their opposition, but that is not the reality he has found at the Northern Forum.

Amid a general election, the Azmaran government remains divided over Tuaisceart-Süd 2.0. The leading Worker's Party supports the project, but the junior Greens oppose it. So much so that their party leader lost a vote of confidence among the party executive for not coming out hard enough against the pipeline. Polling for the election indicates that, should Tuaisceart-Süd 2.0 be the defining issue in government formation, there may be no clear path to a coalition. The Green Party is performing well in recent polls, bolstered in part by their very public fight against the pipeline.

Heading into the meeting of the Northern Forum's heads of government, Mac Suibhne faces likely opposition from both the Azmaran and Ordennian governments. Despite soft support from the Buckish and Varienish governments and an apparent majority among the Executive Committee, it trying to shove the pipeline through the Northern Forum could have serious implications for the organization. The Ordennian government may lose confidence in the Northern Forum and suspend its participation, while the Azmaran government may struggle to form after the election.

Sources within the Caldish government have indicated that Mac Suibhne and the Weranians will push ahead with the project with or without the Northern Forum. This means that it could be built bilaterally, without the involvement of any other governments in the North Sea. Weighing the potential threats Tuaisceart-Süd 2.0 pose to the Northern Forum's existence, the Caldish and Weranic governments may opt to go it alone for the sake of preserving the organization. In many ways, both the future of the pipeline and the Northern Forum depend on Mac Suibhne's ability to sway Azmaran and Ordennian skeptics later this month. Should his argument of energy security fail, he may need to concede defeat - at least partially.

Written by Seosamh Almada agus Mac Maoláin, a guest columnist for An Radacach and a senior fellow at the North Sea Institute

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