Royal Republic Broadcasting (Closed for now)

[Bruke]

Royal Republic Broadcasting ሮያል ሪፑብሊክ ስርጭቱ

This is Royal Republic Broadcasting, the official state broadcaster of Bruke! We broadcast in over 27 languages. We use television, radio, and the Internet to report on news around the Royal Republic, around West America, and around the world!

[Bruke]

https://tools.wmflabs.org/parliamentdiagram/svgfiles/2017-11-27-19-12-36-593403-3838890836843574942.svg

The current House of Deputies (lower house of Parliament) is as follows:

Royalist Party: 46 seats
Liberal Party: 44 seats
National Party: 21 seats
Progressive Party: 10 seats
Social Democratic Party: 50 seats
People's Party of the Republic: 29 seats

[Bruke]

Let's review:

The Royalist Party, the biggest right-leaning party in the country, and to which the previous Prime Minister Dawit Kelile belongs to, is socially conservative. They back the bill for repeal.
The National Party is even more socially conservative than the Royalists. They back the bill for repeal.
The Social Democratic Party, which is the biggest left-leaning party in the country, is socially liberal. They back the bill against repeal.
The Progressive Party is even more socially liberal than the Social Democrats. They back the bill against repeal.
The People's Party of the Republic is usually fiscally liberal, but does not take any stance on social issues. Their party platform allows members to vote as they please in that regard.

We are following the ongoing crisis over whether or not the Government should support repealing the World Assembly resolutions on abortion, same-sex marriage, euthanasia, and transition surgeries. The so-called "Repeal Bill" would require the Government to do so, while the so-called "Anti-Repeal Bill", would forbid the Government from doing so and change Brukean law to comply with these resolutions.

The politics of the situation mean that there could be some strange bedfellows on either side of the debate.

[Bruke]

Senator Liya Gulema of Central Province is meeting with senior members of her party, the People's Party of the Republic, at the party's headquarters in Commodore. Gulema is the swing vote for both the Repeal and Anti-Repeal Bills, so analysts expect that the party leadership will pressure her to vote for one bill over the other.

RRB reporter Nashrat Yerga has more.

[Bruke]

[Bruke]

Nashrat? Are you there?

[Bruke]

*nods her head*

Yes. I am near the PPR headquarters, right off of Hospital Road.

Senator Gulema is facing mounting pressure to decide on where she stands on the repeal effort. Some local members of the House of Deputies, the lower house of Parliament, have called for her to vote against repeal.

They argue that supporting the repeal effort would mean risking losing seats in Dub City's Boulevard neighborhood to the Progressives, who have already begun to accuse the PPR of flip-flopping on LGBT, abortion, and euthanasia rights.

But other members have made the exact opposite argument. They say that not supporting repeal would open the party to attacks from the Nationals, who have won seats in the past by saying its non-committal stance on social issues make it a pawn of the left.

This argument is particularly potent here in Commodore, where many remain bitter against the Social Democrats, the party which dominated provincial politics here before the 1983 creation of Central Province.

The Social Democratic Party's traditional stronghold is also in Dub City's Boulevard neighborhood. The pro-repeal PPR members, who tend to represent districts bordering famously conservative Wusite County, point to this fact to show why Senator Gulema should not worry about hurting the PPR's standing among the younger, more liberal, and more secular voters of the Boulevard.

Only time will tell who will be most convincing to the Senator.

This is Nashrat Yerga, in Commodore.

[Bruke]

Senator Liya Gulema has managed to anger both the anti-repeal and pro-repeal movements with her decision to block the favored bills of each. As she leaves Parliament, protestors are gathering by her car.

This is Tsedenia Asmelash, reporting for RRB outside the Parliament Building in Dub City.

[Bruke]

The rival protestors outside Senator Gulema's car have turned violent, and the police have been forced to take aggressive measures. One protestors has been shot dead on the scene, while two are being rushed to hospital with critical injuries. The remaining protestors are turning their focus to the police...

This is Tsedenia Asmelash. I'm leaving the scene for my own safety.

[Bruke]

Understood, Tsedenia. We hope you make it back to the studio safely.

Luckily, we do have a drone on the scene for aerial coverage. Let's see what else is going on.

[Bruke]

The protestors that are not currently clashing with police have moved towards the Royal University. That area, further down the Boulevard, is firmly anti-repeal, while the protestors who are heading up north are pro-repeal.

[Bruke]

We are currently broadcasting from the Metropolitan Hotel, as police have declared our studio to be in imminent danger because of gathering crowds, one pro-repeal and one anti-repeal. Although we are currently out of harms way, we expect the violence to reach us soon. Dub City hasn't seen this much unrest since the anti-war protests in the 80s.

If anyone viewing our broadcast is of a religious persuasion, please pray for our safety. If one is not religious, please keep us in your thoughts.

We'll keep you, our loyal viewers, up to date despite the risk.

[Bruke]

A senior official at the Security Ministry has leaked classified photos from earlier in the day of soldiers headed to the Royal Palace in Brukeville. It seems the Government fears the worst.

[Bruke]

The official who leaked the photos of soldiers heading to the Palace has been arrested, according to insiders at the Security Ministry.

41 year old Bzuayehu Tesfahun has been arrested and charged with treason. If convicted, he faces the death penalty.

[Bruke]

The streets are now quiet today and mostly clear of protestors. The violence of last night has subsided after a heavy crackdown by security forces. Meskel Square, Dub City's second largest square, has been reopnened to traffic:

[Bruke]

This very afternoon, history was made. In a unanimous decision, the Constitutional Court has ruled that the Government must abide by resolutions of the World Assembly. The justices noted that since the country voluntarily joined the WA, the country can also choose to leave the WA. But seeing as the WA requires member states to comply, and that the Royal Republic is still a member of the WA, all WA resolutions are legally binding and must be respected by the Government.

[Bruke]

The different parties have different ideological leanings.

Royalist Party: socially and fiscally conservative
Liberal Party: socially moderate, fiscally conservative
National Party: socially conservative, fiscally centrist
Progressive Party: socially and fiscally liberal
Social Democratic Party: socially liberal, fiscally moderate
People's Party of the Republic: socially centrist, fiscally liberal

Centrist means supporting policies that appeal to the broadest amount of people, not necessarily being moderate. It is a less extreme form of populism.

This leads to different coalitions on different issues.

On fiscal issues:

Royalists and Liberals are conservative
Social Democrats are moderate
PPR and Progressives are liberal
National Party is centrist

On social issues:

Royalists and National Party are conservative
Liberals are moderate
Social Democrat and Progressives are liberal
PPR is centrist

In general, there are always two parties each that are liberal or conservative, one party which is moderate, and one party which is centrist, on any given issue. Moderates will aim to reconcile liberal and conservative policies, while centrists will support whichever is popular or politically advantageous.

[Bruke]

The Brukean Government Information Service and Royal Republic Broadcasting will partner up to bring you coverage of the upcoming elections.

BGIS will have in-depth election results, reporting nationwide, and by province and county. It will also report by HD (House of Deputies) district for races for local constituencies.

RRB will cover election results as they come in, and have full-length speeches and statements by candidates and their campaigns. RRB will also broadcast a live debate between the party leaders. As always, there will be commentary and analysis from both in-house and guest contributors.

[Bruke]

The Security Ministry has declared the Order of Violet to be a cult. Under the Anti-Cult Act of 1985, this means the Order's properties can be seized and members can be arrested.

[Bruke]

An encounter between a East Dub police officer and a young man in the Warehouse District has left the young man dead. 23 year old Mengesha Adane, a resident of the neighborhood, was shot last night by Officer Ephram Nerayo. There were few witnesses, but security camera footage shows that Adane was unarmed at the time of the encounter.

The East Dub Police issued a statement that reads:

"An encounter between a police officer and a East Dubian has resulted in the person in question dying. This incident is deeply concerning to the force, and our condolences go out to the family of the deceased. An internal investigation will be conducted into the circumstances surrounding the death. If needed, the force will refer the matter to the Civilian Oversight Board for further review. The force urges that the public refrain from jumping to conclusions about the incident without fully understanding the facts involved. This is a situation that calls for a sober-minded search for the truth, not conspiracy theories or unfounded claims."

[Bruke]

The Security Ministry announced today the successful development and testing of nuclear weapons. The decision to seek nuclear weapons comes as fellow WATO member states express concerns about various rogue nations using nuclear or other weapons against them.

The Ministry also said that officials are formulating a military doctrine on the use of such weapons that is compliant with international law. As required by the Rose City Convention, the nation will neither acquire nor seek to acquire biological or chemical weapons.

[Bruke]

The Ministry of Internal Affairs announced today that the first phase of a new space program has been developed.

The nation's first telescopes have been developed to study the stars and galaxies above. The telescopes are located in Valley Heights, in Wusite County. The location was chosen deliberately as Valley Heights has relatively low light pollution and is home to Borderlands College. It is hoped that Valley Heights will become a center of space research and exploration, reviving a long-stagnant economy.

The first telescope

The observatory campus

[Bruke]

[Bruke]

Brukeans awoke yesterday morning to the shocking news that Ethiopia and Eritrea had made peace. As a fellow nation of Habesha heritage, Bruke has supported peace, having a history of unsuccessful attempts to serve as a neutral party between the two countries. In the end though, it was the courage of the Ethiopian Prime Minister and Eritrean President that made this a reality.

The Crown issued a statement in lieu of the Government, as is custom in most matters dealing with the two nations.

Statement from the Royal Palace:

The Crown is pleased that Ethiopia and Eritrea have made peace, and have decided to bring a quarter-century of conflict, hostility, and mistrust to an end. The Royal Republic will work to ensure this peace is a lasting one, and encourage both countries to continue in the path of peace.

Issued in the name of he who is a servant of the Most High, saved from sin and death by the Son, forgiven by the Father, and renewed and restored by the Holy Spirit, pride of the Prince who was made King, His Majesty Ras-Hoy and Negus Emmanuel the 2nd, of the Royal Republic of Bruke

In the wake of this historic occasion, some, such as Royalist Party leader Tamru Negasi, are calling for the formation of a political and economic union similar to the West American Union or the European Union, between Bruke, Ethiopia, and Eritrea.