News Thread [Kylaris|Canon|IC]

by **Deblar** » Tue Nov 28, 2023 12:48 pm

GUILLAUME: "THE WORKERS' PARTY MUST ACT NOW"
Denise Guillaume, who won the Workers' Party leadership election after Jean Monpremier's resignation, addressed party members on Tuesday as the 2024 elections become less than a year away

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René Beaumont (@RenéBeaumontET )
^{28 November 2023 | Port-au-Grégoire, Île d'Émeraude}

Denise Guillaume addressing Workers' Party members

Port-au-Grégoire, Île d'Émeraude -
Denise Guillaume, Senator from Mathiasville and President of the Workers' Party after last year's leadership election, spoke in front of party members today in Port-au-Grégoire for an event which marked the beginning of preparations for the 2024 general election, which is now less than a year away. This is the first major indicator of strategy for any party heading into the general election so far, and for it to be this far in advance of the election is a historically unorthodox move on the part of the Workers' Party.

Guillaume's rather short speech was delivered as follows:

"This upcoming election comes at a very critical time in our nation's storied history. As I stand before you today, we as a Republic and as a people stand at a crossroads, and there is no doubt in my mind that the results of the next election will serve to alter the course of our nation as it moves into the future. Very rarely does an election such this come, and it has only happened a select few times in our history: 1952, 1968, 1980, 2000...all of which changed Île d'Émeraude's trajectory immensely. The critical nature of this election is the very reason that I advocated for an assertive strategy when you selected me to become this party's president, and it is why I call attention to it even while it remains a year away. We cannot afford complacency as a party, for there is simply too much at stake; our present, our future, and our direction.

"The clock has officially begun to tick. Time to act will become thin before we all know it. And if this party does not seek to be left behind as the attitudes of our people evolve, then as the party of the people, we must evolve with the people. The Workers' Party must act now, lest we leave the future of our nation in the hands of unsavory actors. Former President Deniaud did what was needed to set our nation on the right path and to protect the Republic from those that wished to harm her integrity, and it is now up to us to do the same. And it is critical we formulate a plan of action now, while we're ahead of time, before it becomes too late. It is my sincere hope that with this election, no matter what happens, Île d'Émeraude's original commitment to justice, liberty, and self-determination is not only protected, but strengthened so that we can be an example for the whole world to follow."

Her speech was met with high applause from the crowd, which was made up mostly of Workers' Party members in various levels of government. Other speakers at the event included former party president Jean Monpremier, who expressed confidence in the party's direction, and Deputy President Samuel Romelus, who reiterated Guillaume's points while adding some of his own regarding "the threat of decaying democracy", remarking "we've seen it in Etruria, and we've seen it begin to creep its way into the Arucian. We mustn't allow it a home in our Republic at any cost."

Promising a more aggressive election strategy is one of the objectives promised by Guillaume that got her elected as party president last year, and she appears to be following through with it. Whether it pays off in the long term, however, remains to be seen.

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by **Imagua and the Assimas** » Tue Nov 28, 2023 7:45 pm

GARON RIPLEY INTERVIEWED ON THE IMAGUAN RADIO NETWORK
A look at our unexpected success compared to the odds and how it will affect the major sports in our country

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ARMEL CLARK (@ClarkArmy285)
29 NOVEMBER, 2023 12:01 IST | CUANSTAD, CITY OF

Garon Ripley speaking on Pata Basine

Today, Garon Ripley, leader of the Movement for a New Imagua appeared on the Imaguan Radio Network show Pata Basine, an Imaguan Creole programme, to discuss his first year as leader of the movement, his current ad campaign to promote the Movement to a wider audience, and his predictions for the upcoming election.

"In my first year as leader of the Movement, I have carried the momentum that Mr. Pasquarello has built up over the past twenty years to new heights: since this spring, we've been leading in every poll, because unlike the Democratic Labour Party and the Sotirian Labour Party, we actually listen to what the people want, not to those who seek to corrupt our nation, to destroy our way of life," Garon Ripley said. "Together with my team in the House, we've been championing measures that will crack down on the power of the banks, who have aligned themselves with the oligarchical parties and the Poteri Oscuri to keep us in a state of submission; on ensuring that Imaguans will be able to live in their own country by cracking down on short-term rentals and homestays that have pushed Imaguans out of their homes, and on ensuring that our Sotirian values can be preserved against the Halivar-led Poteri Oscuri."

When asked about how he feels in his position as leader of the Movement for a New Imagua, and as Member of Parliament for Guardia-San Sigfrido, Ripley replied that "it is very rewarding: every day, I get to speak with people, in their own language, about the issues that they are facing," and added that "as someone who was a dentist before I became leader of the Movement, let alone county councilor for Leeth, I can say that listening to the people is far more rewarding than any cleaning, filling, or removal ever can be."

The host then steered the discussion towards current affairs, with Garon Ripley being asked about the party's recent Imagua Is Paradise ad campaign.

Ripley said that the campaign was "to show people that this place, that this beautiful country is worth fighting for," noting that "for decades now, people are being priced out of their homes and are forced to find somewhere cheaper to live: for a long time, people only see this is a Cuanstad problem or a San Pietro problem, but as prices keep rising and rising and rising and rising, everywhere else becomes more and more expensive to live in and people have to make a tough choice between spending the rest of their lives renting from some slumlord, living with their parents, or abandoning the country that we all know and love to try and find cheaper housing because none of the big parties have any interest in solving the housing crisis."

"Mrs. Cefalu can say that the DLP will build more social housing and ban short-term homestays, and Mr. Grillo can say that the SLP will reduce regulations so to allow more houses to be built, but the truth is, they have absolutely no interest in doing so, because the banks will not profit from solving the housing crisis," Ripley said. "Meanwhile, the Movement has an actual solution that can be implemented quickly: banning those who aren't residents of our country from buying housing here and a buy-back program to buy Imaguan housing back from foreign-born owners, because we know Imagua can only be a paradise if us Imaguans can live on Imagua."

When asked about the Emeraudian Senate's decision to condemn the Movement for a New Imagua's rhetoric in its social media, Garon RIpley was unapologetic.

"If the Emeraudian Senate actually took the time to read that Chirp, if they had took the time to actually read the posts we've been making on social media and not just regurgitate what their handlers in the Poteri Oscuri say, they would know that this is not something to get upset over," Ripley said. "Our issue is not with our fellow Arucian brothers and sisters in Sotiras, or the typical vacationer who stays at a hotel or a resort and contributes to our economy, but rather, the Eucleans and Asterians who pay top euclo to buy themselves a nice holiday home and depriving Imaguans of a chance to live in their own country, and the Euclean and Asterian retirees who move to our little paradise to live out the rest of their days as they drain the Imaguan healthcare system: these are the sorts of people who are taking homes away from us Imaguans, and these are the people who we will not welcome when we come to power."

"I strongly suspect that most Emeraudians feel the same way about the Eucleans and Asterians who buy up second homes on their island or spend their dying days on their island, and I do believe that they would agree with us that the locals should be able to live in their own cities, their own towns, and their own villages," Ripley said. "So to see the Emeraudian government condemn the notion that people should be able to live in their own cities, towns, and villages suggests that the governing parties in Ile d'Emeraud do not have the people's interests in mind, and in some ways raises questions that the Movement and its allies in the Arucian, should ask important questions, such as whether or not Gaullican President Degar-Abdulrashid bribed the Emeraudian government to condemn our rhetoric in order to protect the interests of the Poteri Oscuri in the Arucian."

"To those who want us to back down, keep waiting," Ripley declared.

Ripley was then asked about the similarities to the Etruria Is Paradise advertisement made by the Etrurian Tribune Movement, or the Paretia Is Paradise advertisement made by the Pareitan Acima Party.

"We have been working on this campaign since late October: we wanted something that would grab the attention of Imaguans by promoting our beauty and how we must protect it from those who buy up second homes and from Euclean and Asterian retirees," Ripley said. "This poster was the way to go, and the fact that it came out at the same time as the Tribune and Acima posters is entirely coincidental. Certainly, it had no impact on how this poster was designed."

Following Ripley's comments on his ad campaign, the host asked Garon Ripley about how confident he is in forming government in the 2024 elections.

"We are leading in the polls, people have had enough of the DLP-SLP oligarchy who have failed to do anything for the average Imaguan while letting our culture decay, we have the solutions to the problems we Imaguans face as a nation," Ripley said. "If we put in the work across the island, I am absolutely certain we will win come March, and then we can begin working on a new Imagua."

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by **Etruria2** » Wed Dec 06, 2023 6:56 am

Tribunes strip hundreds of theatres of funding to pay for church restorations

Over 200 small independent theatres and venues have shut down since 2020

Over 200 small and independent theatres have shut their doors since 2020 due to federal funding being rescinded and diverted toward the restoration of Churches across Etruria.

A study was conducted by the University of Santa Cecelia on behalf of the Etrurian Association of Independent Venues, revealing that over 200 theatres, comedy clubs and music halls have been shuttered due to disappearing federal funding.

The closures have affected every state and major city, with a majority of those shuttered being well known for their progressive productions and events. However, the report rejected the claim that gay threatens, and comedy clubs have been targeted.

Using freedom of information requests, the report was able to determine that virtually funds taken away had been diverted by the Federal Ministry of Culture and National Identity toward the restoration of churches, chapels, monasteries and historic sites, such as Solarian ruins, renaissance houses and monuments dedicated to the Solarian War. Major theatres, opera houses and museums have also seen significant boosts to federal funding.

The report has proven sobering for the EAIV, which has repeatedly warned that insufficient funding will lead to a “dying off of Etrurian culture at the grassroots.”

The situation for many venues turned sour when several Tribune governed states introduced LGBT Free Zone laws, which ended state funding for venues openly advertising as LGBT. Veratia and Aeolia’s laws prohibited funding being returned if venues removed those symbols or advertising, guaranteeing closure or dependence on federal funding, much of which has now vanished.

As an EAIV executive told us, “the larger venues, are significantly more traditional in their acts or services, all have seen funding massively boosted. What I think is happening is an effort to centralise culture under this traditional, patriotic banner and those outside that can dry up and die. There’s simply not enough money for independent venues to survive today.”

The federal government has provided funds for small venues since 1990, as a means of boosting exposure to poetry, literature, theatrics and music for as many citizens as possible. Successive governments have maintained this funding, until the Tribune government was re-elected in 2018.
We spoke to one former owner of a small theatre in Schiuntrave who said, “our theatre really focused on children, we provided space for drama lessons, productions and extra-circular productions to support studies. We depended on federal funding because the state [Veratia] does not provide for much, we lost it six months ago, we did not receive enough donations. I am so heartbroken to lose the theatre, particularly for the children who enjoyed their times here.”

We approached the Federal Ministry for Culture and National Identity for comment, and they responded saying, “the Federal Government remains committed to the cultural enrichment for all Etrurians, we approach this with the same vigour as restoring across our country, historic and irreplaceable places of worship.”

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by **Qianrong** » Thu Dec 07, 2023 10:24 am

ELECTION POLLS SHOW DEAD HEAT
Opposition Sinkyouren within points of Aikokutou alliance
as PM's approval sags back into low 20s, election day nears

Polls suggest an unusually tight race for Reika Okura (file photograph) and the Aikokutou.

December 7, 2023 | by Kimei Nirasawa in Keisi | With only five days remaining until Senria's 2023 general election on December 11, polls conducted by several of Senria's leading news outlets all show a dead heat between the ruling Aikokutou's Kokuminsa electoral alliance and the opposition Sinkyouren alliance jointly headed by the Democratic Party and Koumeitou.

The polls, conducted over the past week or two weeks by the Kyouwa Sinbun, Mainiti Sinbun, Senkei Sinbun, and TV Keisi all report both the Kokuminsa and Sinkyouren polling between 30% and 35%, within a few points of each other. The Kyouwa Sinbun's poll in particular placed the two alliances in a dead heat, at 34% each; in no poll did the Kokuminsa hold more than a three-point lead over the Sinkyouren.

The numbers reflect a 10-to-15-point drop for the Kokuminsa since the 2018 elections, in which Aikokutou leader Reika Okura became Senria's first female prime minister.

After five years in office, however, Okura herself is polling even lower than her party. While her approval rating had flickered back up into the 30s from late April to June, mediocre economic news, a corruption scandal involving aides of Secretary of Industry and Commerce Takayasu Matuoka, and an unpopular corporate stimulus proposal have caused her approval rating to steadily slip back into the low 20s, which it fell to in March following the Iha Castle fire.

Okura's approval ratings have never recovered from the Kouhimon leaks scandal of January-February 2022, before which they typically sat in the low 40s to high 50s.

The Kokuminsa alliance consists of three parties, the Aikokutou, Justice Party, and Reimeisa, of which the Aikokutou plays the dominant role in the alliance. Formed by Katurou Imahara, the Aikokutou took power in 1927 during the Great War, and - if it wins the elections next week - will almost certainly celebrate a century in power in 2027.

The Sinkyouren alliance, meanwhile, consists of the Democratic Party, Koumeitou, Green Union, and Progressive Association. Announced this November following months of negotiations, and based upon the municipal-level "rose-bellflower alliance" established by Keisi mayor Rokurou Kozakura, the Sinkyouren represents an alliance between Senria's two largest opposition parties and - in the eyes of many supporters - the opposition's best shot in decades at ending the Aikokutou's dominance.

Further data collected in some of the polls helps explain how the race between the two alliances has become so tight. Data collected by the Senkei Sinbun shows steep drops in the percentage of voters who trust the Aikokutou to handle matters of national security and economics, the two areas where it has traditionally had the most success in presenting itself as a trustworthy figure and natural governing party. This loss of trust is no doubt driven by nearly a decade of economic stagnation alongside the embarrassments of the Kouhimon and Iha Castle scandals, both of which relate to Shangean destruction of Senrian cultural heritage.

The outcome of the election is still uncertain, of course. The Kokuminsa and its allies will benefit from staunchly pro-Aikokutou rural constituencies that are overrepresented in the National Assembly. Their close alliances with the Senrian business sector have seen some leading corporate figures - and vast amounts of corporate cash - come out in the Aikokutou's favor, which might in turn cajole swing voters or a "silent majority" into backing the Aikokutou.

At the same time, the Sinkyouren has to face several challenges of its own. Pro-Sinkyouren demographics, like youth, might stay home on election day. Even with the alliance between the Democrats and Koumeitou, two other major opposition parties, the Liberals and Kyouwakai, will still split the opposition vote. The Sinkyouren also has to struggle against a certain fatalism - after nearly a hundred years of Aikokutou rule, it seems almost impossible to imagine anyone other than the Aikokutou in charge.

But the fact that this election is even close at all, that there is any question as to who will walk away the winner on December 11, is a wake-up call to the Senrian political establishment. Even if the Aikokutou wins, they will have to seriously introspect to begin trying to extricate themselves from their current bind - lest they find themselves in an even weaker position come 2028.

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by **Etruria2** » Mon Dec 11, 2023 3:20 pm

Tribunes announce a total federal ban on surrogacy

Deputy President Vittoria Candreva is to spearhead the law through the Senate

The federal government has announced it will introduce a total ban on surrogacy – commercial and altruistic in a new bill this week. The bill is being spearheaded by Deputy President Vittoria Candreva and will include restrictions on citizens going to clinics abroad.

The “Federal Restriction on Medically Assisted Procreation Law”, to be tabled on Thursday, will institute a nationwide federally enforced ban on the selling of “either gametes or embryos, as well as surrogacy”, as well as introduce criminal sentences ranging from three months to two years, with an additional fine ranging from 800,000 to 1.5 million florins. To deter citizens from travelling abroad for surrogacy babies, the law will also prohibit local courts and authorities from certifying foreign birth certificates of children born through surrogacy, but also children adopted abroad - to avoid false claims by those engaged in surrogacy.

Surrogacy, but altruistic and commercial was legalised in 2001 with limited regulations, both in part to enable same-sex couples to raise children and to expand options for heterosexual couples facing fertility issues, to much opposition on the right and the Catholic Church. The Tribune Movement has long been highly critical of surrogacy in all forms, as well as medically assisted procreation.

The law and its legislative process is to be spearheaded by Deputy President Vittoria Candreva, who has long been the leading Tribune in opposing surrogacy.

In 2015, she described it as the “commercialisation of human life, a pathway to click and collect your baby and a means of the unsuitable becoming parents against most people’s best judgement.”

In a speech in the Chamber of Representatives made in 2017, prior to becoming Deputy President she vocally called on a law shutting down surrogacy, saying, “it is an industry designed and built for the rich, where the mother, the carrier of the baby is rendered worthless, denied the right of being called mother, discarded as nothing more than a walking womb. Motherhood is sacred, cherished, not a business model.”

The law has received the backing of the Etrurian church, with notable signatories including Archbishop of Supetar Petar Marijan Maric, Archbishop of Povelia Ignazio Mauro Terraciano, Archbishop of Schiuntrave Amadeo Giorgio Fiorini and over 20 Bishops.
The law also reportedly received the unanimous backing of the Cabinet, including the President. There have been repeated claims that several influential Catholic figures have been pressuring the government to implement actions against surrogacy as well as existing laws providing recognition for civil unions. The federal ban on surrogacy will likely raise fears over the future of civil unions for same-sex couples in the country.

Last year, President Francesco Carcaterra described the legalisation of surrogacy as a “disgraceful surrender to the excesses of the liberal-left, an unethical and morally wrong decision driven by ideology.”

The news has sent shockwaves throughout the country, with numerous couples taking to social media to express their sadness and fury that their surrogacies may now have to be terminated.

The SD has expressed concern over the lack of a grace period, with a spokesman saying, “the immediacy of the law coming into effect, if passed through the Senate is deeply troubling. This will cause serious harm and upset for many couples hoping to achieve parenthood. We will press for a grace period with great effort.”

Etruria plus Euclea also condemned the news saying, “it is likely that the immediacy of its enforcement upon passing is the purpose. This government treats so many Etrurians with contempt and disdain. Those who face infertility, and same-sex couples are entitled to family life and parenthood as any other, they deserve to better than these Tribunes.”

E+E is expected to collaborate with the SD into securing amendments that will provide for a grace period, however, it is not yet known if formal discussions on this have begun.

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by **Liecthenbourg** » Tue Dec 12, 2023 11:33 am

Adolfo Canepa - December 12th, 2023

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

The Battle for the Soul of the Euclean Project.

Vivien Vallette and Isilda Cerqueira have come to symbolise a battle taking place at the very heart of Euclean Community.

Commissioner Fokko Glas,
an integral ally of
President Vallette

Kesselbourg City, Kesselbourg - The Halls of Euclean power are abuzz with activity. Like a gargantuan machine of industry, it rumbles to life with a hundred thousand cogs whirring, the releasing of steam from pistons, and the endless churning and droning hum of life. Slow to start, indeed, but relentless when engaged. The Euclean Community has awoken to its internal detractors and disruptors and against its most egregious it hasn't just thrown the book, but the entire library.

A longstanding moral, political and philosophical battle is being waged across the Euclean Community. On the one hand are those old ideas of the nation-state, the adherence to one's own political boundaries as sacrosanct, and that the power of the state supersedes even the legislation made to constrain its power. On the other are the forces of federalisation within the Community, of this sense of interconnectedness, and where the letter of the law is sacrosanct, beyond border and demarcation line.

The Euclean Community has, for some time, faced threats from without. Etruria has thrown a spanner in the works of southern Euclean expansion. Soravia continues to lord over everything it deems that belongs to it, violently thrashing against modernity as it pines for an empire that has been long assigned to the history books. There has always been friction with the neighbouring councillist bloc led by Valduvia, which recently saw attempts to deepen ties with Alsland rebuffed for fears of communist infiltration.

But the most notable threat in recent years has arisen from the Paretian peninsula, as 'O Povo' and half-a-hundred other incarnations of right-wing alliances led by Premier Isilda Cerqueira has aimed to emulate her ideological brethren in Poveglia. And whilst her populism, tempered in the fires of Palmeirism, might have served her electorally, her mechanisms of achieving goals and the skirting of agreements have brought her into conflict with the Euclean Community.

Tensions have flared since Cerqueira's government passed the 'Women's Cultural Reform Law', which banned most forms of abortion and its access across the country. When Tosutonia, a constituent Kingdom of Paretia whose ruling government is composed of the Paretian Socialist Movement, brought a legal case against the law and won, it struck a blow to the national government's plans. Their response to the Paretian courts siding with their opponents included investigating the justices on corruption, a move denounced by acting-President of the Euclean Community Vivien Vallette.

Heads continued to be butted as the matters of Tosutonian law being upended by the government culminated in protests and riots, the arrest of hundreds of individuals associated with Tosutonian independence movements, which led to calls for a strengthening of Paretian freedom of association. The Paretian government passed numerous laws that attacked freedom of expression by aiming to control libraries and omitted topics from the Paretian curriculum, which were criticised domestically and internationally as reneging on commitments to freedom of expression.

Tosutonia became a flashpoint in the Euclean Presidential election as Vivien Vallette campaigned heavily in the region, advocating to fight for Paretians who felt their government had abandoned them. The 'stance on Paretia' became a hallmark of the campaign, with conservatives aiming for a softer approach to negotiate with Paretia, whilst Vallette built himself a persona as the 'rule of law' candidate and actively called out the Paretian government for "ignoring the law".

After he was elected, Vallette made it clear that Paretia would be one of his most urgent pieces of policy. Throughout his early months in office, the most staunch ally of the new President was in fact Avant Commissioner for Legal Affairs and the Rule of Law, Fokko Glas. Glas, a political unknown outside of Alsland, was described as being a "legal mastermind" and a "letter of the law type of guy". Glas' work tireless work was instrumental in the case of Commission vs. Paretia presented to the Euclean Court of Justice in February of this year, where the ECJ found that Paretia had broken numerous provisions of the Treaty of Maredoux.

The Paretian government was found to have breached Articles 2 and 19 of the Treaty of Maredoux. These are the Articles that enshrines one of the principle values of the Euclean Community; the rule of law and a respect of equal rights and guarantee that Member States ensure "effective legal protection in fields covered by Community law."

Precea was warned that a failure to reverse the actions taken against the judiciary would be met with more stringent sanctions, and a failure of communications and negotiations between the Commission, the Council and Precea has led to further actions - the strongest sanctions ever imposed on a member state - against Paretia.

The Halls of Euclean power are abuzz with activity. An army of bureaucrats and those versed in the legalese have been deployed by their battalions by President Vallette and his allies, laboriously dealing with the interests of the member-states in a carefully crafted balancing act aiming to bring Paretia back into the fold. Whilst the case of Commission vs. Paretia only dealt with the matters pertaining to judicial independence, threats to Paretia's democratic processes through attacks on freedoms of expression and association were also taken into consideration by the efforts of the Commission.

Vallette and his allies in the Commission, the Council and the Parliament were clear on wishing for four goals for their "Paretia problem", with the President directly confirming this in an interview with The Standard:

"When you talk about treaty issues, of course you mean Paretia. And the goals of the Euclean Community are simple - a return of judicial independence; the complete end of government interference in Paretian judiciary and overturning of any laws surrounding this; the end to violations of the rule of law, nominally through the interference of the judiciary; an end to any laws that attempt to restrict political freedom through association, as we have seen in Tosutonia; an end to any laws that are throttling the freedom of expression and freedom to information, as we have seen with their attempts in education."

A press-release from the offices of the President confirmed that the Commission had come to an agreement in their deliberations for consequences to Paretia for failing to follow the law and rulings of the Euclean Court of Justice. A similar release was confirmed by the Commission itself, with several press-secretaries confirming news would follow.

At midday today, a further press-release was published by the Euclean Commission that outlined the actions taken against the Paretian government were as follows:

Paretia would be suspended from participating in the Euclean Community's Research and Development programmes.
A suspension on Paretian students and universities in the 'Poole-Touchard Collaboration, the Euclean Community's student exchange programme.
Regular EC funding payments to Paretia would cease.
The Euclean Central Bank would institute a 'trickling freeze' on investments and one-off-payments into Paretian projects.
Euclean administration would not comply to Paretian requests on things such as recognised regional goods.
A new wave of fines for Paretian non-compliance with the law, with the current fine sat at €400,000,000 and set to increase every day by an additional €1 million.

This is a ground-breaking new precedent for the breaches of the Treaty of Maredoux, as no other member-state has been penalised with such punishments before. The means chosen by the Commission have been laboriously negotiated between the Council and the Commission, with many viewing the apparatus of the Gaullican state as being an influential backer of President Vallette. Gaullican President Monique Degar-Abdulrashid is said to have played the role of a 'continental negotiator' in bringing aboard colleagues such as Weranian Premier Anton Raicevich, seen as perhaps Paretia's 'greatest friend' within the Community.

At a speech following the press release, President Vallette told reporters he was "deeply unhappy" that "it had come to this" but said he had "time and again given ample warning through the legal means to Cerqueira that this was going to happen, and the Paretian government has deluded itself into believing it is above the rule of law. And I am here to remind them that nobody is."

He would continue that "democracy and the political process is the greatest thing we have, and they squander it. You cannot have your benefits from the Euclean Community but deny the people their political right. Now it is on them to face the consequences of their actions, which is unfortunate for the Paretian citizen, but perhaps it will be the wake-up call certain members of the Paretian government require to hear."

Other Euclean heads of state and government were quick to comment on the ruling. Premier Raicevich struck a balanced tone, telling reporters "the law is the law, and the Treaty was broken", but quickly adding "I do empathise with the legitimate concerns that the Paretian government have regarding the direction of the Community, but the best way to make these concerns heard is to come and talk about them in good faith; my door is always open for this."

Estmerish prime minister Zoe Halivar echoed the President’s words, stating that “the rule of law is a core value shared throughout the Euclean Community” and that meant “absolutely nobody is above the law, absolutely nobody is above consequences for illegal actions”. The newly-elected Estmerish president, Ted Leighton, similarly said that “fair cooperation among allies means ensuring all allies are held to the same standard of conduct”, adding that “I regret that such harsh actions are taken, but it is clear that such actions are necessary in ensuring Euclea remains a free, open and tolerant continent”.

Gaullican President Degar-Abdulrashid described the Commission’s decisions as “perhaps the most important piece of Community-wide action since the Treaty of Maredoux was signed”, and highlighted that “it is important to see that the consequences for not following the law are held. Paretia agreed to sign up to standards, expectations and laws to participate in the Community - it has no right to upend them, nor does any other member.” Gaullican Premier Mathéo Turzyna outlined his belief in the “need of the Community to hold its members to standards” and said he “thoroughly supported the work of the Commission”, calling it an “impartial network of our allies”.

The Azmaran Premier, Freidrik Aleksaanderssun, posted on Chirper that "drastic action is sometimes necessary to defend the community's liberal and humanist values" and that this is "one of those times".

Similar sentiments were echoed by various other Community heads of state and government.

The Battle for the Soul of the Euclean Project will likely not end here, but Vallette has scored a major victory - in his eyes - for the entirety of the democratic process in Euclea. And the precedents set here, by a political ploy involving Vallette's contacts in the Parliament, his allies in the Commission and his supporters in national governments, will set reverberations in the tone of the Euclean Community forever. No matter what else he does, this is a legacy that will never go away.

by **Slirnija** » Tue Dec 12, 2023 7:06 pm

by **Qianrong** » Sat Dec 16, 2023 7:43 am

(please forgive the backdating, rl schedules did not cooperate with me)

BREAKING SINKYOUREN WINS MAJORITY IN NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Hasegawa hails "election of the century" for opposition alliance after protracted count;
Okura accepts defeat, will step down as party leader as Aikokutou faces reckoning

Hasegawa vowed domestic reform and international continuity in her victory speech.

December 12, 2023 | by Kimei Nirasawa in Keisi | After nearly a full day of counting, Senria's National Electoral Commission has confirmed that the opposition Sinkyouren coalition between the Democrats and Koumeitou has won more seats in the National Assembly than the governing Aikokutou-led Kokuminsa alliance, paving the way for Senria's first non-Aikokutou government since 1927 in a stunning election result that few saw coming.

While the Aikokutou will remain the largest single party in the National Assembly, the Sinkyouren holds a majority of seats, making it impossible for the Aikokutou to form a government. Instead, the Democrats, Koumeitou, and their smaller allies will form a government, further backed by the confidence and supply of the Byoudousa, an alliance of minority parties.

Speaking to a crowd of cheering supporters in Keisi's Sendagaya neighborhood, Hasegawa hailed the result as the "election of the century", dedicating the victory to the Democratic Party's founder Isao Isiyama. "Tonight we have vindicated Isao Isiyama's firm belief in the spirit of the Senrian people, in the power of our collective voices, and in the necessity of constructing a free, just, and democratic future for the nation that we so love," she declared.

Her coalition co-leader, Genzou Nagasawa, was similarly ebullient, telling supporters that "a victory for transparency, progress, and good governance" had been won. "After decades of corruption, pollution, and stagnation, the Senrian people have stood up and entrusted us with the duty of getting our country back on its feet," he proclaimed. "It is a duty we accept, and a sacred trust that we fully intend to carry out."

Rallies and celebrations, both scheduled and impromptu, broke out in multiple major Senrian cities once the results were confirmed.

Going by alliance, the Sinkyouren won 290 seats; the Kokuminsa won 202; the Sinsendou 25; and the Byoudousa 6. Another 22 seats were won by parties not in any alliance - 14 by the Kyouwakai, and 8 by the Senroukaibu.

Within the Sinkyouren's 290 seats, 157 were won by the Democratic Party, 121 by the Koumeitou, 11 by the Green Union, and 1 by the Progressive Alliance. Of the Kokuminsa's 202 seats, the Aikokutou holds 189, the Reimeisa 11, and the Justice Party 2. The Sinsendou's 25 seats are divided between 24 for the Liberal Party, 1 for the Senria Renewal Association, and none for the New Conservative Party. The Byoudousa's seat count remains unchanged - 4 seats held by the Isotaman Nationalist Party, 1 by the Congress of Esamankur and Cotratics, and 1 by the Constitutional Prosperity Alliance.

A party or alliance needs to control 273 of the 545 seats in the National Assembly to hold a majority.

The results represent a staggering loss for the Aikokutou, which won 304 seats in the 2018 elections and was hoping to celebrate a century in power in 2027. Senria's first-past-the-post system, in which each constituency elects a single representative based on which party holds the most votes, has historically benefitted the Aikokutou due to opposition vote-splitting; this fact is made all the more clear by how the alliance between the Democrats and Koumeitou, which prevented vote-splitting between Senria's two largest opposition parties, caused them to go from 109 and 55 seats to 157 and 121 seats, respectively.

Other opposition parties were not lifted by the rising tide, however. The Liberals have slid from 32 seats last election to only 24 this election; the Kyouwakai has managed to avoid losing seats, but made no gains either. The only non-Sinkyouren opposition party to have performed better than expected is the far-left Senroukaibu, which has increased its number of seats from 1 to 8, likely the result of the leftmost group of former Farmer-Laborer voters switching to the Senroukaibu following Farmer-Laborer's merger into the more centrist Democrats.

Among the Aikokutou and its supporters, the results are a deep shock, and the joy of Sinkyouren rallies has been matched by a somber uncertainty at Kokuminsa events and in pro-Aikokutou neighborhoods, as a new party takes power in Senria for the first time in nearly a hundred years.

Prime Minister Reika Okura, in a speech delivered to the press today, told reporters that she had accepted the Sinkyouren's electoral victory and would take full responsibility for the Aikokutou's defeat, but dwelled on this subject only briefly, quickly transitioning to saying that she "understands why so many Senrians might feel uncertain or even worried about what might happen, now that a new, untested group is coming to take power."

Declaring that she would step down as party leader, she stated that she "[has] total faith that whoever succeeds me as party leader will do all that is necessary in order to safeguard the Senrian people from the chaos and instability that might ensue if the government of this country is mismanaged."

Even up to the elections on December 11, the thought of the Aikokutou losing power was unthinkable to many Senrians. However, a variety of factors have steadily sapped the long-dominant Aikokutou's popularity and provided an opening for the opposition to take. These include more than a decade of economic stagnation, a growing sense of national malaise, infighting between ideological and personalistic factions within the Aikokutou, corruption scandals such as the Kouhimon reconstruction scandal, and a loss of faith in the Aikokutou to protect Senria from Shangea following the Iha Castle fire.

It is likely that a period of soul-searching will follow for the Aikokutou, who now find themselves in opposition for the first time since Katurou Imahara was given power during the Great War.

Whether this soul-searching - which is likely to bring the poorly-veiled internal tensions in the party to the forefront, and to a fever pitch - results in the reunification of the Aikokutou around a new leader, as was the case when Kiyosi Haruna took power, or into further division and disintegration remains to be seen. As it stands, Okura has no obvious successor within the party, leaving great ambiguity as to what course Senria's long-dominant party will take now that it has been thrust from its position as the "natural party of government" by the Senrian public.

As for the incoming government, Hasegawa has vowed a slate of reforms aimed at cleaning up governance, fighting corruption and bloat, improving the rights of Senrian workers and labor unions, revitalizing the Senrian economy while addressing cost of living issues, protecting the country's long-suffering environment, and continuing the modernization of national infrastructure.

"The long list of domestic issues which affect the everyday lives of Senrian citizens - ranging from their ability to make a living, to their health and welfare, to the transparency of their government - will be the first priority of the new Sinkyouren government," she told supporters.

As relates to foreign policy and defense, however, the message is one of continuity. "To our valued foreign allies and partners across Coius, Euclea, and the Asterias," she declared, "you can remain wholly assured that Senria will continue to stand for mutual development, diplomatic cooperation, the rule of law, and peace on the international stage, and that we will continue to steadfastly stand against rogue actors and militarists, working alongside those nations which have so nobly and faithfully stood beside us for decades."

The challenges facing the Sinkyouren in government will be great. Their economic reforms will face steep opposition from the keiretu, whose deep ties with the Aikokutou and leeriness towards the opposition have resulted in the stock market recoiling over the start of this week as it became clear that the Aikokutou stood a chance of losing the election. Additionally, Aikokutou has had nearly a hundred years to ingratiate itself with the country's bureaucracy, police, and military - and it is less clear than it perhaps ought to be if these institutions will accept the changes the Sinkyouren seeks to make.

Nonetheless, a new political era has begun in Senria, one in which the outcome of elections cannot be taken for granted, as they have been for so long. Whatever happens over the next five years, one thing is clear.

There is no turning back.

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by **Xiaodong** » Sat Dec 16, 2023 8:17 pm

Did the "Shangea factor" end the Aikokutou's dominance in Senria?
A castle fire, followed by escalation and then detente meant many voters no longer trusted the party to handle Senria's eternal headache.
Ono Katsuyoshi reporting from Sakata, Senria
16 December, 2023

Prime Minister Reika Okura and State Chairman Yuan Xiannian met in Capuria in October in preliminary discussions on denuclearisation.

Political earthquakes happen rarely in south Coius. Outside the rough and tumble of Kuthina politics in Shangea, Nainan, Siamat and Nakong long could be summarised as domination - either quasi-democratically like in Nakong or blatantly authoritarian like in Nainan - by a single party who control all levers of government and in many cases public life in general. These parties - the Society for Restoring Benevolence, Nainan People's Solidarity and Longevity, Saim Muoy and the Self-Determination Congress - vary in their longevity and ideology but have adroitly held their grip over their nations for decades.

King above all of these was the Aikokutou founded 97 years ago by Senria's wartime leader Katurou Imahara. Imahara's Aikokutou cemented its power during the Great War where Imahara emerged as the defender of the nation against the Shangean invasion and genocide; in post-war Senria it was Imahara's vision of a conservative and militaristic "republic of the samurai" that won out against his great rival Isao Isiyama's liberal social democracy. It was the Aikokutou that upheld Imahara's vision even if it veered between representing the grizzled war veterans under men like Hatirou Nakayama and Takesi Takahata or the new generation of salarymen and bureaucrats under Tokiyasu Kitamura.

It was under the seminal conservative leader Kiyosi Haruna that the Aikokutou's political dominance crystallised into its modern form. A veteran from a burakumin family Haruna combined a mixture of close relations with the powerful keiretu and a bullish right-wing populism to secure power for the Aikokutou winning successive elections. Key to this strategy was a hardline attitude to Shangea in all matters promoting the Aikokutou as the only defenders against an encroaching Shangea.

Haruna's strategy was more then simple electioneering. After the Great War and their own civil war Shangea had carved a passive role in south Coius concentrating on national reconstruction whilst cautiously supporting anti-imperialism in Coius. It was under Prime Minister Kitamura that Senro-Shangean reconciliation took tentative steps with Kitamura ending the Senrian occupation of the Kaoming peninsula in 1958 whilst Shangea made moderate moves to provide compensation for the genocide. But this passivity and cordial relations with their former enemy led to in 1960 radical members of the Shangean army to overthrow the government and bring to power a more radical, neosocialist regime dedicated to regaining Shangean hegemony.

Senria's response to this new development was multifaceted. It sought to prop up the newly independent Republic of Nakong, seen as a jewel to be won by Shangean leaders and deepened the economic and political ties to the city of Kintao, officially a multi-national mandate but in practice a condominium between Senria and a disinterested Estmere. The armed forces were massively expanded with greater resources poured into acquiring a nuclear weapon, Daibasan, and projects to create new missiles, anti-air guns and the like. A tough military man, Takahata, was brought in as prime minister to break up strikes that would disrupt the national goal with the "new guard" of the army - the lower enlisted men who had fought Shangea on the frontlines in the 1920s and 1930s and bore the brunt of the genocide - consolidating power. When Shangea challenged Senrian supremacy during the Coastal Crisis - remilitarising the Kaoming Peninsula and threatening Nakongese independence - Senria stood firm and was able to check Shangean ambitions with sanctions being applied and Shangea denied entry into the Community of Nations over its own nuclear tests. Shangea however had shown itself to be returning to its bullish nationalism so this show of force was needed to contain the threat. Shangean leader Sun Yuting was so enraged by this humiliation that he ordered the assassination of Takahta shortly afterwards.

Prime Minister Kiyosi Haruna

Under Haruna the situation worsened. A series of tit-for-tat terrorist attacks - including the bombing of Shangea's Legislative Council and a sarin gas attack on the Keisi metro - escalated the situation as did Senrian support for Chanwan rebels in Shangea's north. In 1985 the two nations attempted to come to an agreement on limiting Shangean nuclear ambitions in the Nuclear Arms Limitation and Non-proliferation Talks but after being greeted with vague and ill-defined proposals Haruna made sure to kill the talks.

Haruan's strategy worked in a fashion. Shangea throughout his premiership went through several economic, political and social crisises that its leadership were unwilling or unable to effectively respond to. Only by the late 1990s with the defeat of the Chanwan rebels and an aggressive anti-inflation policy did the leadership engineer a return to Shangean economic growth which quickly became the most explosive in global history. But this painful process had led to international isolation and foreign policy setbacks whilst Senria moved in as a the primary hegemon of south Coius, making inroads with neutral nations like Kuthina or even traditionally pro-Shangean countries such as Zorasan.

In response to this, Shangean leader Yang Zhengming made a titanic effort to improve Senro-Shangean relations usually through the issue of Kintao which had elected a pro-Shangean city council starting in the 1990s and where there was pressure to return to Shangean sovereignty. This issue came to undermine Haruna's image with other countries which led by Gaullica had sought to improve Shangean relations. In 2003 after two decades in power Haruna left office being replaced by a moderate within the Aikokutou Sigesato Izumi. Izumi responded to the Shangean overtures approving the return of Kintao to Shangean sovereignty and spearheading the 2004 non-proliferation talks with Yang and Izumi agreeing for a reduction in missile and nuclear weapon production, primarily on the Shangean side as Senria negotiated opt outs for the Republican Navy and Republican Air Force. The tentative Izumi-Yang friendship however ended when Yang left power in 2005 being replaced by Yuan Xiannian, an ardent nationalist who promotes denialism of the Senrian genocide. Yuans tenure has led to a worsening to Senrian relations expanding the Shangean nuclear arsenal and ending real economic and political cooperation.

The assumption to power of Yuan and his steady consolidation of power doomed the Izumi project. The Aikokutou realised that a conciliatory policy was a dead end and that alongside a failed domestic reform programme Izumi was unsuited for a shift to hardline anti-Shangeanism. Izumi was dumped by the next election with Hayato Nisimura, a politician in the mould of Haruna, ascending to the premiership. Under Nisimura the Aikokutou consolidated itself as the shield against Shangea with hawkish politicians such as Masayosi Uehara gaining prominence. Nisimura made sure that the leader of the Aikokutou's moderates, Kaori Himura, did not succeed him as prime minister instead ensuring finance minister Reika Okura succeeded him. Okura was a safe pair on hands who would make sure the Harunite consensus - moderate economic liberalism and hawkish nationalism - would continue unabated.

Okura's premiership has been unimpressive to say the least, mired in policy stagnation and ever-present corruption scandals. The persistent cost-of-living issues affecting ordinary Senrians, the unfair crony capitalism that reached new heights under Nisimura and Okura and the sheer arrogance of the Aikokutou (not to mention a united opposition) are of course animating factors in the collapse of the Aikokutou hegemony. But the "Shangea factor" is also important to note here as under Okura Senria's carefully calibrated Shangea policy went into shambles.

After 2009 when Shangea engineered the independence of the Hameung province from Kuthina Yuan and his government were placed in a difficult position. Kuthina, long a neutral nation in Coius, aligned decisively with Senria joining with Ansan, Mahayala and Nakong in the Sangang Mutual Security Organization (SAMSO). SAMSO is the centrepiece of Senria's strategy to cement a cordon sanitaire of limitrophe states around Shangea, limiting its ability to project military power in Coius. With Kuthina's entry Shangea's eastern and northwestern borders were effectively under Senrian influence leading to Yuan and his government to begin a strategy of maritime escalation to place pressure on Senria in various disputes. Focus shifted to the Sunahamas islands, under Senrian sovereignty but claimed by Shangea, with Shangea habitually sending warships to patrol the disputed waters and aggressively pushing for (Senrian) denuclearisation of the islands.

Yuan Xiannian and Reika Okura meeting in July 2023.

Senria usually responded to these threats by sending its own warships with the incidents mostly fizzling out over time. But in 2019 this escalated as after Estmere and Zorasan had their own naval disputes Shangea announced it would unilaterally cancel all talks regarding nuclear non-proliferation. Since the 2004 meeting Senria and Shangea had discussed non-proliferation every half-decade although the 2009 and 2014 talks made when Nisimura was prime minister were both unproductive. The meeting however remains one of the few formats where both nations meet bilaterally making the cancelation a fresh blow to deescalation in the region. The Aikokutou could however claim an easy foreign policy victory in non-participation until Shangea made fresh commitments to de-nuclearisation in line with the Treaty of Shanbally.

This year however a new nadir was reached. In March the historic Iha castle was burnt down by Tou Yuukou, a Sunahaman Shangean linked to the Shangean secret police the Shujichu. The revelation of Tou's Shangean links led to Senria to move to censure Shangea, a move that Shangea responded to by holding a series of provocative naval drills in the Sunahamas demanding Senrian denuclearisation of the archipelago whilst offering to provide money to Senria to rebuild the castle. Senria responded by holding its own naval drills that were joined by Estmere which led to a series of meetings to de-escalate the situation.

After a marathon series of talks in early April both sides agreed to break the impasse - Shangea would finance half of the Iha castle reconstruction whilst agreeing to resume the non-proliferation talks without its previous pre-condition of a denuclearised Sunahamas. Shangea and Senria also agreed that blame for the arson attack fell upon "individuals who are currently former elements of the Shujichu". Since the April Agreement Yuan and Okura have participated in shuttle diplomacy with the pair meeting for preliminary discussions on de-nuclearisation in Padaratha in July and in Capuria in October. The discussions have so far not come to any agreement but after the October Summit the Shangean foreign ministry confirmed it was confident the next formal round of negotiations in 2024 will be more productive.

Although hailed as a new chapter abroad in Senro-Shangean relations the de-escalation has been unpopular in Senria. The Shangean offer for financial compensation and concurrent denial of responsibility for the fire has been seen as a mocking humiliation of Senria whilst the de-nuclearisation talks have not addressed the root causes of Shangean militarism. The shift in the government from taking a hardline policy in March to a more conciliatory one in April unnerved much of the Senrian security apparatus with the chief of staff Sitirou Sasada, police director Hiroyosi Yamamoto and Tokkeitai director Ryouiti Yamasita either being shuffled out of government or resigning from April to July.

The Aikokutou had for decades banked on a hardline stance towards Shangea with the brief periods of reconciliation usually occurring when Shangean leaders themselves were seen as more moderate. The shift towards cooperation (even if supported by Senrias allies) when Yuan - easily the least popular foreign leader in Senria with 99% of Senrians having "no confidence" in him in a EFO Research poll in November 2023 - was harshly received particularly from the Aikokutou base of supporters.

But what sealed the Aikokutou's fate was their election campaign. During the campaign Aikokutou politicians would go on the airwaves blasting the opposition as foreign policy lightweights who would not be able to stand up to Shangea. This line blew up in their face as many pointed out that in the past year the Aikokutou's own Shangean policy was muddled and contradictory with the more radical accusing Okura of appeasement, a modern day Otuzi. Whilst this is unfair the fact the opposition promised to continue the basic contours of Senrian foreign policy doomed any attempt for the Aikokutou to play the "Shangea card".

The Aikokutou are in opposition going to criticise the opposition on every aspect of their Shangea policy. The 2024 de-nuclearisation summit will be a critical moment with the Shangean government keen to come to a settlement that reduces Senria's arsenal or production. Whilst the now opposition Aikokutou may not promote a figure like Uehara, whose politics are merely banal Shangeophobia, his style of politics are likely to dominate Aikokutou rhetoric for the next five years - and almost certainly beyond.

by **Saul Volcano** » Sat Dec 16, 2023 8:41 pm

Jacques DuValle - December 16th, 2023

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

Inside the paramilitaries of West Miersa

The largest of these paramilitaries include the Krukow Assault Brigade, Miersan Honour, and the Mendija Batallion.

Tarclaw, West Miersa - The city of Tarclaw along the Krukow River, the capitol of the Swiecizar region of West Miersa, is at the heart of the ethnically diverse southern regions of the country. It is also at the heart of an ethnic conflict that has gotten violent since the 1980s, it is also the headquarters to numerous paramilitary groups and militias who are involved in this ethnic conflict.

Since the Miersan War in the early 1980s, West Miersa had been marked by ethnic violence and nationalism. The invasion by the East had caused a rift in the West Miersan people, it saw the brutal siege of West Zobrodz and the bogged down battles in Zanawiwasie. The Miersan War also saw Soravia not come to their ally's aide, this had angered the West Miersan people who saw Soravia as a protector from the socialists to the East. Paramilitaries and militias formed during and after the war.

President Kazimierz Glogowski

The following events included the rise of President Kazimierz Glogowski and the bloody Lemovician War which saw the rise of the Lemovician People's Army against West Miersa. The mid-to-late 80s in West Miersa saw Glogowski instill a period of isolationist policy, even from Soravia.

Ethnic violence also occured across West Miersa, including violence against Lemovicians, Savaders, and Soravians. During this time the rise of paramilitaries and militias, who committed much of the violence in a gang-like fashion against minorities.

West Miersa was then accused of ethnic cleansing against Lemovicians in the region of Malomiersa. These groups would continue to exist onward during Glogowski's later rule, after the formation of Glogowski's Zobowiazanie political party, the government would begin to support and sometimes outright fund these groups. Zobowizanie itself has a paramilitary wing, known as Miersan Honour.

Over time the role of these paramilitaries would shift to crushing opposition of the ruling party, after Glogowski's rule came Tomasz Kopernik, his rule would be marked by numerous small uprisings by Savader and Lemovician rebel groups.

In 2006 a fairly large uprising would occur in the regions of Malomiersa and Swiecizar, one of these paramilitary groups, the Krukow Brigade, was founded in 2006 by Krzysztof Grygiel and Kopernik to help defeat the uprising. This group has evolved into one of the most dangerous paramilitaries in the country.

Commander of the Krukow Brigade, Ferdynand Burski

To opposition and critics of West Miersa's regime, these paramilitary groups are considered to be another wing of the government and nearly all of them are loyal to the government of West Miersa. They are often accused of state violence against percieved enemies of the government, this includes attacks on accused separatists, socialists, and minorities.

Just this month, the government of West Miersa pardoned over 20 paramilitary members of Miersan Honour accused of the killing of 10 so-called "spies" of East Miersa, the victims all were Savader.

Most of these paramilitaries and militias are registered as terrorist groups in East Miersa and nearly all councilist nations across the world. They are also used in street violence, attacking protesters and opposition, leading ethnic riots targeting minority businesses and homes, and killings of percieved enemies of the nation. Today, West Miersa has only banned one paramilitary, an ethnic Savader nationalist group known as Savader Hussars, but nearly all Miersan nationalist paramilitaries founded since 1989 remain active in the country. Also, the government of West Miersa has shown so sign of stopping their support for them.

by **Imagua and the Assimas** » Tue Dec 19, 2023 12:57 pm

MINISTRY OF TRANSPORTATION ANNOUNCES INTRODUCTION OF OMNIPASS
Omnipass will cover the Cuanstad Metro and the Imaguan Maritime Service

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ROBERT MOSES (@BobMoses)
19 DECEMBER, 2023 13:57 IST | CUANSTAD, CITY OF

Depiction of a normal Omnipass

Today, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Ambro Terrasabbiosa announced the introduction of the Omnipass: a smart card that will be used for both the Cuanstad Metro and the Imaguan Maritime Service.

"As Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, we've received a lot of requests for a smart card so that people who take the ferries or take the Metro often don't have to pay quite so much," Terrasabbiosa said. "For the past four years, we've been examining various smart card technologies in order to determine the system that best fits our needs, and we are pleased to inform you that we are finally ready to roll out the Omnipass."

"The Omnipass will allow users to make an unlimited amount of journeys, every month, on the Cuanstad Metro, the Imaguan Maritime Service, and in the future, the Metropolitana di San Pietro, for a fixed amount," Terrasabbiosa said. "It will allow more people to commute to work in Cuanstad and other towns on the Cuanstad Metro, and it will allow people who may not want to have to buy tickets for the Cuanstad Metro and then pay the fare to travel on the ferry to visit another part of our beautiful countries to travel across the country."

As part of the smart card's introduction, machines capable of reading Omnipasses will be installed between January and March at all Cuanstad Metro stations, and at all ferry terminals served by Imaguan Maritime Service routes. Terrasabbiosa said that Omnipasses will "be a tap-in and tap-out system," meaning that you have to tap your Omnipass when entering a Cuanstad Metro station or boarding a ferry, and then tap your Omnipass when leaving a Cuanstad Metro station or disembarking from a ferry, with a sixty minute transfer window to allow people "going by Metro to connect onto the ferry and vice-versa" and have it be counted as one trip.

Equipment to activate Omnipasses will be installed at customer service centres for both the Cuanstad Metro and the Imaguan Maritime Service, as well at all educational institutions within a thirty minute walkshed of a Metro station or a ferry terminal. Equipment to renew already-activated Omnipasses will be installed at the aforementioned customer service centres and educational institutions, as well as participating vendors.

"Our plan is that we will have all the equipment in place to begin operating the Omnipass on 1 April, so that you will be able to travel an unlimited amount of journeys, whether for work, for school, or for leisure," Terrasabbiosa said. "Paper tickets will remain available for those who do not use the Cuanstad Metro or the Imaguan Maritime Service often enough to justify having an Omnipass, although in the long term, we do plan on establishing day passes and packs of ten tickets that can be loaded onto an Omnipass card."

During a question and answer session, Terrasabbiosa said that "the Omnipass will, at launch, be divided into three categories: normal, concessionary, and schoolchild, so that all people can get the pass that works best for them. Once you acquire your pass, it will be registered so in case you lose it, you can go to the customer service desk, present proof of identification, and get your lost or stolen card deactivated, and the balance transfered over to a new account."

The fare for a normal Omnipass will be 675ſ- (€90.70), which is comparable to the price of thirty journeys between Altaithe and Cuanstad on a normal fare.

Seniors and people with disabilities are eligible for a concessionary Omnipass, which will cost 562ſ50 (€75.59), which is comparable to the price of thirty journeys between Altaithe and Cuanstad on a reduced fare, although they will require proof of eligibility (driver's licence, or two pieces of ID, plus for someone claiming a concessionary fare based on disability status, a doctor's note).

Schoolchildren will be eligible for a schoolchild Omnipass, which will cost 180ſ- (€24.19), but schoolchild passes will only be sold at eligible schools.

For both normal and concessionary Omnipasses, an activation fee of 25ſ- (€3.36) will be added onto the cost of an Omnipass if they are buying it for the first time, or are replacing a lost or stolen Omnipass. Schoolchildren Omnipasses will only be subject to an activation fee if a schoolchild loses their Omnipass.

Another question was whether or not the Omnipass will be expanded to other public transit on Imagua and the Assimas, such as Altaithe Public Transit, Cuanstad Transit, Nua Taois MetroBus, or San Pietro Transit.

"This is up to the individual transit operators, and if any of them wants to apply the Omnipass so that passengers on those services may connect to any other public transportation that uses the Omnipass, we will cooperate with the operators to ensure that the necessary equipment will be put in place," Terrasabbiosa said. "However, these negotiations will take time, and I do not expect that the Omnipass will expand to include other transit operators for the next few years."

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by **Slirnija** » Tue Dec 19, 2023 8:18 pm

by **Saul Volcano** » Wed Dec 20, 2023 2:23 pm

Government announces bill to combat homelessness
The São Bento Homelessness Assistance Law would create numerous laws and programs that are aimed to give assistance, housing, and support to homeless Paretians
Carlos Arcanjo (@CarlosArcanjo) |20 December 2023 | Precea

Nearly 70,000 Paretians are labeled homeless in 2023

Precea, Paretia: Today the Acima government plans to pass a massive bill to combat the homelessness problem in Paretia. The law being passed is called the São Bento Homelessness Assistance Law, named after the patron saint of the homeless. It would fund the construction low-cost public housing and shelters built on areas where cost of living is lowest. It would also fund aide for homeless. The government would also fund new maternity programs for homeless women, and paternity programs for homeless men. The law however comes with restrictions, it would require homeless to be sent to shelters and facilities and puts a ban on homeless tent cities. It would create programs to offer jobs to homeless, mostly being government jobs.

There are nealy 70,000 Paretians that are homless as of 2023's most recent statistics. The bill also mandates a progam for homeless people who have been arrested for drug possession, sending them to rehabilitation centers to combat addiction, as many homeless people in Paretia are reported addicts.

The bill will require the hiring of over 3,000 volunteers to help in the programs for homeless. The government hopes to work with nonprofits and public food donation programs to help them with this endeavor, Cerqueira stating that she will offer government payments to programs who wish to help.

The bill would also give funding to a new government healthcare program focused on aiding the homeless, called the "Medical Assistance for Homelessness and Addiction Program". The program would create a new section for public hospitals to help homeless people who are sick.

Premier Cerqueira stated that the bill will be a "Nativity season gift to those who are struggling and do not have a place to call home. We the government of Paretia have a duty to help our people who are struggling, and we will help these people find their home here."

Cerqueira's critics state that the bill will not solve homelessness and that the arresting of homeless people and moving them to a different home is injust and that the EC should get involved to stop the bill from passing, claiming that it violates Paretia's right to movement.

The bill is likely to pass, some opposition have already come out in support of it, but some are concerned over the immense funding of the bill, after the EC punished Paretia with sanctions.

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In Other News:
PARETIA - Cerqueira to unveil 2024 platform next month
PARETIA - Polls between O Povo and Paretia de Todos tight
COIUS - What Aikokutou's defeat means for Paretia
OPINION - No, the EC will not become stronger with Vallette
EUCLEA - Cerqueira criticizes Etruria's removal of theatre funding, claiming it "hurts their culture"

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by **Xiaodong** » Wed Dec 20, 2023 4:30 pm

Unions promise a "New Year of resistance" as they vote on potential strikes regarding the Labour Reform Law.
The two largest trade union federations have promised "unprecedented resistance" to controversial trade union reform law.
Karsten Schlüter
20 December 2023 | Westbrücken, Werania

Anti-Raicevich protesters in Wiesstadt.
Photo courtesy of AV photos.

Wiesstadt - As the government has moved to schedule a vote on the controversial Labour Reform Law for the new year the main trade union federations - the radical Weranian Federation of Workers (OAV) and the more moderate Weranian Federation of Workers'-Workers' Democracy (OAV-AD) - have announced that they will "resist the law at all costs" as mass protests against the proposal have shook Weranian cities.

Organised by trade unions, civic organisations and left-wing groups these protests are directed against the law which is seen as a potentially fatal blow to trade union power moving more influence towards the government and employers. Campaigners against the law argue its provisions which include limiting the power of the Social Enterprise Council (the body that informally sets wage rates across Weranian sector), setting minimum service levels in the public sector and deregulating the labour market would undermine Werania's social market economy. Trade union heads have said by stripping their power so much Werania would become a "Senrian-Soravian esque economy" where big business dominate and employees have little rights.

Conversely the laws supporters contend that it will "unlock" the Weranian economy making it more dynamic with a flexible labour market able to adapt to market conditions faster their international competitors. Many have also pointed out the law gives more freedom for employees to negotiate their own contracts rather then be tied to often anachronistic trade union agreements. The law is the centre piece of Raicevichs 2030 Agenda which seeks to modernise Werania.

So far protests have been relatively small since the law was announced but have grown bigger, the biggest being yesterday in Wiesstadt when 10,500 protesters demonstrated against the law. Although the trade unions are currently voting in national ballots on a federal strike in some cities such as Wiesstadt, Ostdorf, Frankendorf and Lipliškės unions have already voted in favour of strike action.

Premier Raicevich has met with trade union leaders including the OAVs Elisabeth Peukert but has remained firm in his belief in the reform.

"It has to be done. What is our other option? To keep borrowing, to keep taxing, to creep towards a high inflation, high unemployment economy? There is no alternative" Raicevich said to a NKP party meeting.

So far primarily transport and education unions have held strikes but more are expected to join when unions vote on federal action.

"The reforms are not needed and are a battering ram to the working class" Stefanie Jürgens, a maths teacher in Burges, told us when asked. "The government has gone through the wrong way and are only representing the upper class. That's why I'll be voting to strike federally, this can't go through."

by **Asase Lewa** » Mon Dec 25, 2023 1:23 am

Christopher Mabie - 23 December 2023

OPINION: Burning the Midnight Oil: Can Asase Lewa Successfully Transition Its Economy?
Asase Lewa's rapprochement with Estmere is first and foremost part of a broader attempt to diversify its economy away from oil and primary commodity production, Bahian Studies professor Christopher Mabie argues.

The Klenam Vullor Memorial Refinery, completed in July 2023 and seen here in December 2022, is a symbol of Asase Lewa's petroleum-fueled economic growth—but it may be the last petroleum megaproject the country undertakes.

Kbeme, Anloland, Asase Lewa - At least as the country's leaders and boosters tell it, the story of Asase Lewa in the seventy years since the Asalewan Revolution, Asase Lewa’s “Red Century,” is the story of Kbeme.

Long occupying an outsized role in post-revolutionary Asalewan history, political economy, and consciousness thanks to its location at the mouth of the Dama River, its pivotal role in the Protective-Corrective Revolution, and its historically-militant workforce, Kbeme has grown rapidly since the Asalewan Revolution. Once a small fishing port during the early twentieth century, today Kbeme is the largest city in the Dama Delta, at 3.5 million people the third-largest metropolis in the country after Edudzi Agyeman City and Ashianyo, and, alongside the Gonda Delta, Edudzi Agyeman City, Gashi, and Kwamuimepe, one of the wealthiest, most-developed metropolitan areas in all of Bahia. Half of all youth pursue post-secondary education of some kind—some in university, more in trade schools—the Kbeme light metro is one of only three rail-based rapid transit systems in Asase Lewa, alongside those of Edudzi Agyeman City and Ashianyo, and Kbeme is one of the few cities in Asase Lewa where virtually all microdistricts—the large, oftentimes-communal residential complexes characterizing Asalewan urban life and common in socialist countries—have washing machines, the consumer good that has become the symbol of affluence in this middle-income country.

Everywhere in the city, murals, statues, and picket lines are ubiquitous in honoring and reminding visitors of the reason behind this prosperity: the powerful, militant miners and industrial workers that staff the heavy industry and resource extraction that’s grown to dominate the Delta’s economy since the Asalewan Revolution. Gold mining and nickel and aluminum smelting have been mainstays of the regional economy since the Revolution, industries supplemented by the enormous petroleum industry following the discovery of crude oil in the region in 1974. It is from this industry and extraction that the region derives its wealth. The substantial government investment in these industries has magnified this wealth a thousandfold, ranging from the generous salaries the militant, politically powerful workers of the region have negotiated for themselves to megaprojects like the mid-century Dama Dam or the Klenam Vullor Memorial Refinery, completed in July 2023 and with enough refining capacity for all of northern Bahia.

Yet the reality of the situation masks substantial crisis and contradiction within the Dama Delta, and, by extension, Asase Lewa’s development model as a whole. Whatever prosperity mining, extracting, and refining have brought to the region, the environmental and human cost has been enormous. Severe pollution has resulted in the collapse of the Dama Delta’s fishing stocks, and though the Delta’s GDP per capita and education levels far exceed the national average, its life expectancy at 75 years is a full year lower than the national average of 76, a product of the region having the worst Air Quality Index and highest rates of respiratory disease in Asase Lewa.

In this context, powerful environmentalist and ecological movements have begun to turn their attention towards, and rapidly grow in, the Dama Delta, demanding stricter safety standards and environmental regulation in the oil industry and, more broadly, questioning the country’s oil-focused development model. In theory, these movements should’ve long-since forced through an ecologically-minded transition away from oil; environmentalism enjoys widespread support in the country, from pygmy hunter-gatherers to highly-educated urbanites, and environmental movements have initiated Asase Lewa’s widespread reforestation, with the forest cover expanding from the historically-low 30% of land in 1970 to 50% today. And in the country where capital has no voice and labor alone is the master of the state, the voice of fossil fuel capital, so stubborn to change in Euclea and the Asterias, ought to be silent here.

But the reality is starkly different than what Asase Lewa’s self-professed environmentalist policies might suggest, as oil production continues apace and the Vullor Refinery pushes Asalewan exports of gasoline, not just crude oil, to record highs. For all its developmentalist rhetoric and valorization of industrial self-sufficiency, the Asalewan economy remains fundamentally reliant on primary commodities, petroleum as well as sugar, aluminum, nickel, and cocoa. Its much-vaunted industrialization has primarily represented attempts to move up the value chain by investing heavily in refining, smelting, and processing these goods, rather than any meaningful moves towards independence from the vagaries of the international commodity market.

Kbeme's oil workers, organized into the Oil and Refinery Workers' Union, have long been among the
most militant and powerful workers in Bahia and indeed the world, instrumental in fighting for Workers'
Councils' supremacy over the People's Revolutionary Army in the early 1980s, the Anti-Revisionist
Revolution of 2014-2016, and Asase Lewa's rejection of environmentalist attempts to reduce oil
production—but with the advent of electric cars and export-oriented industrialization, their strength may
be waning.

In a place where the export market is the only thing separating so many people from indigence, then, the environmentalist movement’s moves to restrict or more strictly regulate oil regulation have fallen on deaf ears. Though supportive of initiatives focused on worker safety, the powerful Oil and Refinery Workers’ Union has opposed all efforts to restrict oil drilling, preventing those efforts’ passages through local and national Workers’ Councils. Even the Kbeme Worker, an influential newspaper of record affiliated with the Dama Delta’s industrial trade unions that has staunchly supported reforestation and social progressivism, sometimes criticized the Asalewan Section, and even by Asalewan standards been associated with radical politics, has joined the ORWU in supporting oil-drilling, with the Worker’s Editorial Board arguing that such restrictions “only serve to immiserate the Bahian working-class and keep it in an artificial state of underdevelopment.” In the workers’ state, therefore, it is ordinary people—the power of labor rather than the power of capital—who have crowned oil king.

But for all their puported political power, the decision to transition the economy may, ultimately, not be the Asalewan working-class’s to make. Even as the first barrels of gasoline exit the Vullor Refinery, combining with high oil prices to push Asase Lewa’s GDP to record highs, electric vehicles and lithium-ion batteries enter the assembly lines of Euclea and, increasingly, the Asterias and Coius: the post-oil future beckons on the horizon, spelling salvation to earth and sky but ruin to Asalewan worker.

Ultimately, it is this dawn of electric vehicles, rather than long-standing environmental issues, that have increasingly panicked Asalewan elites and policymakers, and encouraged a widespread shift from oil. The normally-optimistic Facilitation Board, the chief planning body in an otherwise decentralized economic system, has issued increasingly gloomy projections for Asase Lewa’s long-term economic prospects should it fail to transition from oil, predictions matched by the leading economists at Asalewan universities and advisors to the Supreme Workers’ Council and Asalewan Section Congress, all with a single message: economic diversification.

While environmentalist critiques have to a large extent fallen on a deaf ears, these more pragmatic critiques have not. Their message of economic diversification also pairs well with an emerging political consensus in favor of increased economic investment and development in the poorer regions of the country, which lack oil and have increasingly wielded their political power to demand development since the mass demonstrations and heightened Section activity of the “Anti-Revisionist Revolution” of 2014-2016. In response to that need for diversification, Asalewan elites have almost entirely embraced the gospel of manufacturing, especially export-oriented light industry, based on the many other nations that have successfully utilized this route to greater economic development—from Senria to Shangea to nearby Kitaubani—as a pathway to economic diversification and eventual, long-sought after ascension to high-income status.

Low-skilled, low-cost industry, especially the garment industry, is something Asalewan elites have especially identified as an opportunity to expand industrial exports very rapidly without needing to invest substantially while beginning to invest in other industries, such as machine tools and steel, that are substantially higher on the industrial value chain. Yet however much Asase Lewa’s politicians, economic planners, and people may earnestly desire it, those tasked with industrializing the workers’ state face a decidedly capitalist challenge: thanks to its preexisting, commodity-fueled economic development and its workers’ robust protections and power, Asalewan wages for low-skilled industrial workers far exceed those of comparable workers in the rest of Bahia, and indeed much of Coius.

Though the state has historically responded to this problem by pursuing favorable trade terms with much wealthier, allied socialist countries, especially Valduvia and Chistovodia, Asase Lewa finds little market for its cheaply-made textiles in these countries, as these countries have sought to preserve domestic garment industries characterized by high quality and high wages. Similarly, Asase Lewa’s preexisting, relatively well-developed export economy means that its currency, the Asalewan cedi, is far stronger than others in the region, such as the Tiwuran standard, further raising the price of its exports in international markets.

To be sure, Asase Lewa possesses numerous advantages in the international market that other would-be export-oriented industrializers do not necessarily have; in particular, Asase Lewa, like many socialist countries, enjoys high education levels relative to its workers’ wages and high levels of infrastructure quality and state capacity relative to its GDP per capita. Yet tapping into such comparative advantages only becomes possible when investing in higher-value industries—investment that, though beginning throughout Asase Lewa, is far slower than the rapid development Asalewan elites desire, and expect to come only with low-value industries, and far weaker absent the preexisting industrial base these elites want low-value exports to bring.

Faced only with the economics of the situation, Asalewans would do well to relegate the rapid, export-oriented industrialization of their country to the impossible, and seek instead to continue with slow industrialization, either through developing the commodities sector or escalating investment. Edudzi Gakpo, a prominent representative of the Supreme Workers’ Council from Kbeme and member of the radical Proletarian Revolutionary Alliance legislative caucus and civic organization, exemplifies this approach, arguing that recent investments in textiles factories were “a Senria-brained boondoggle” and waste of resources better used to invest in higher-value, self-reliant industries.

Yet proponents of such investment argue that economics alone, what the breathless logic of international capital dictates, will not alone necessarily determine the fate of Asase Lewa. Ablá Koranten, the General Secretary of the Supreme Workers’ Council and leader of the Workers’ Revolutionary Center, long the largest legislative caucus in the Supreme Workers’ Council and the most powerful political movement in Asase Lewa that is neither a trade union nor a mass organization directly affiliated with the Asalewan Section, is one such advocate of this view, arguing that “in 2023, as in 1953—when Edudzi Agyeman and Adelaja Ifedapo turned a state ravaged by decades of exploitation and warfare into the state with Bahia’s highest standard of living—politics, not just economics, will play the decisive factor.”

In another context, it would be easy to dismiss Koranten’s comments as merely the sort of populist rhetoric ubiquitous in Asalewan politics, encouraging mass production campaigns among workers to work harder and achieve prosperity through the sheer force of human will. Yet Koranten’s comments, like Gakpo’s, must be taken seriously—not because of domestic policies and mass campaigns, but because of international geopolitics. Whatever one thinks of Asalewan socialism’s effects on the country’s economic development, Asase Lewa’s ability to forge powerful alliances and secure favorable trade deals with the wealthier states of the socialist world has been crucial in enabling its ability to move up the value chain of commodity exports, and indeed ensure the survival of its commodity export sector long after the nation that cultivated it, Estmere, left Asalewan shores and ports. As in the 1950s and 1960s, Asalewan leaders hope, geopolitical alliances can secure favorable trade deals between Asase Lewa and far wealthier countries in the Global North.

During the twentieth century, those wealthier countries were, inevitably, the socialist countries, above all Valduvia and Chistovodia. But during the twenty-first century, Asalewan elites believe that Valduvia and Chistovodia, already stretched thin by serving as the primary importers of Asalewan commodities under favorable terms for the Bahian country and with little interest in the low-quality, low-wage manufactured goods that inevitably constitute the first stage of export-oriented industrialization, are not necessarily the best countries to ensure rapid, export-oriented industrialization.

Zoe Halivar, Estmere's first social-democratic and
left-wing leader since the 1970s, has sought to
present a friendlier version of Estmere to Bahian
leaders in the "New Bahian Century."

In a twist of historical irony, the country that Asalewan elites have identified as the best candidate to forge such an alliance with is none other than its historic bête noire, what older Asalewans remember referring to as the Great Satan during the radical 1960s and 1970s, its former colonist of Estmere. Amidst intensifying competition between the Euclean Community and ROSPO, and under the leadership of Zoe Halivar, its first social-democratic Prime Minister since the 1970s, Estmere has declared its desire for a “New Bahian Century,” a much softer and friendlier policy towards Bahian states than it pursued during the decades of colonialism, neo-colonialism, and structural adjustment, with the hopes that such a softer policy may better attract allies than the hostility of previous decades.

Beyond its left-wing turn, Estmere has much reason to pivot to Asase Lewa. Though Estmere’s position is far less precarious than Asase Lewa’s, its position within Bahia and northern Coius has deteriorated significantly; the pro-Estmerish Tsabaran’s military position in the Tsabaran Civil War has gradually weakened, it has not yet had other major successes in the New Bahian Century initiative, and its relationships with many Bahian states have deteriorated significantly—most notably with Rwizikuru, whose historic alignment with Estmere has not stopped it from supporting the pro-ROSPO and anti-EC Yemeti government in the Yemeti Civil War. An alliance between Estmere and Asase Lewa, with Bahia’s largest economy and military, has greatly appealed to Estmerish leaders, who in exchange for Asase Lewa joining the Embrosphere agreed to favorable trade terms—such as purchasing cheap consumer goods from, and selling extensive intellectual property to, Asase Lewa—as well as military aid to the People’s Revolutionary Army, greater lenience when dealing with debt-ridden states, joining the Bank of Bahia as a creditor, and even, in principle, to reparations to Bahian countries and peoples for the Transvehemens slave trade and colonialism.

In previous years, Asalewan elites’ instinct would have been to reject collaboration with Estmere immediately, instead focusing on deepening ties with both socialist and other Global South countries. But in the new political and economic reality that Asalewan elites believe themselves to be in—one in which Asase Lewa must diversify and industrialize its economy very rapidly, not only to ensure prosperity for future generations but to avert the disaster sure to come when oil declines—any promise and possibility for rapid industrialization is one that they must take very, very seriously.

Since September, analysts have spilled much ink over the factors motivating Asalewan-Estmerish rapprochement—from Asase Lewa’s deteriorating relations with Zorasan, to the rise of Irfanist terrorism in northern Coius, to Asalewan fears about the balance of power tipping in Bahia, to Asase Lewa’s historic isolation in Bahia, to Zorasani-backed Hacyinia defeating Chistovodia-backed Lavana in the 2022 Hacyinian-Lavanan War. All of these factors, to be sure, are very important—but Asalewan elites’ anxieties about these events might be much more easily alleviated by rapprochement with Zorasan, with whom Asase Lewa’s relations were once close, than with an unfamiliar and new ally in Estmere. Only in economics—the promise of the rapid, substantial investment Asase Lewa craves—does Asase Lewa more clearly benefit from alliance with Estmere than with much-poorer Zorasan.

To be sure, the potential risks associated with Asase Lewa’s alliance with Estmere are numerous, and the path forward for both countries is remarkably fraught. It is easy to imagine a million reasons why the rapprochement might go wrong: Estmerish capitalists and other Euclean Community countries might not agree with Morwall that Asase Lewa’s partnership in the fight against Zorasan is worth high labor costs and the long-term risk of industrial competition; Asase Lewa might find, as have petrostates the world over, that it just can’t manage to transition from oil; other Bahian states might continue to turn from Euclea, leaving Asase Lewa and Estmere isolated in the region; Zorasan might embrace its rift with Asase Lewa and set its sights on the Bahian country.

But Asalewan elites believe that the benefits outweigh these concerns, that the promise of export-oriented industrialization and development is worth a leap into the geopolitical unknown. It is this leap, Asalewan elites believe, that will determine the story of the Bahian workers’ paradise in the twenty-first century—and there is much reason for people the world over, beyond academics and policymakers in Morwall, Edudzi Agyeman City, and Sattarishar, to pay attention to the leap as a microcosm of their own affairs. For petrostates, the leap will showcase their ability to diversify in an increasingly post-petroleum world; for developing countries, especially in Bahia, their ability to play off ROSPO and the EC for their own benefit; for socialist countries, their remaining geopolitical relevance in a world increasingly polarized into North and South. If the story of Asase Lewa’s Red Century was the story of Kbeme, the story of the Bahian New Century will be the story of Asase Lewa, and the decisions Asalewans make in the years to come.

About me · by **Luziyca** » Wed Jan 03, 2024 5:04 pm

Thursday 4th January, 2024

Be informed. Be responsible.

GENERAL ELECTION SCHEDULED FOR THE 5TH OF APRIL

Premier Tsuru Mawere (file photo)

Today, Premier Tsuru Mawere travelled to Ashcombe Palace to advise that His Most Faithful Majesty the King dissolve the National Assembly and schedule an election for 5 April, 2024, pursuant to the Rwizikuran constitution which prohibits the National Assembly from having a term lasting longer than four years.

After a private meeting with His Most Faithful Majesty the King, Tsuru Mawere, leader of the Democratic Initiative, announced outside the gates of Ashcombe Palace that "in the past four years since this constitution has been promulgated, the Rwizikuran nation has witnessed tremendous strides in reducing the scourge of corruption; in improving connections by building the M2 that will link Port Fitzhubert with the Northern Territory, in improving the quality of life for the Rwizikuran nation, and in curtailing the spread of terrorism in the Northern Territory and in Yemet."

"Our fledgling democracy is worth fighting for, and I am confident that most Rwizikurans agree with me," Mawere said. "This is why I am delighted to announce that, after speaking with, and advising His Most Faithful Majesty, that a general election will be held for the National Assembly on 5 April, so that we can continue building our great country."

Opposition leader Jesse Mushohwe of the Progressive Front held his own press conference in the Port Fitzhubert quarter of Ivhudzvuku, where Mushohwe said that "these 94 days between today and the 5th of April will be crucial: I intend to travel to every town in Rwizikuru and show the people that we Progressives will govern for the people of Rwizikuru, not for the Euclean and Senrian conglomerates who plunder our lands and our wealth while seeing almost nothing for us in return."

The leader of Respect Your Elders, Nkwenyane Remakece, declared at a press conference in front of Saint Joseph's Cathedral in Port Fitzhubert that "over the past four years, we have worked with the Democratic Initiative to help preserve traditional values in our beautiful country, but it is now time for us brothers and sisters in Sotiras to persuade our nation to continue to protect and preserve our Sotirian and Bahian way of life; to build a better Rwizikuru for our children, and to keep our children safe from the corruption that Abdulrashid, Halivar, Livingston, and Mushohwe want to spread into our country and our subcontinent."

Comfort Livingston, leader of the Liberal Alliance, said to a small crowd at the Liberal Alliance headquarters in the Port Fitzhubert quarter of Riversdale that "today marks the start of a war between protecting our democratic values, which we share in common with the Euclean Community and with the Council of Mutual Development over the demagoguery that IFDS and ROSPO-aligned candidates like Mawere and Mushohwe advocate, and this is a war that we Liberals must win!"

Unlike the first election in 2020, where the election went smoothly and was peaceful by Bahian standards, we at The Rwizikuran are expecting a more rocky election, as the elected representatives in the National Assembly seek to protect their interests and their constituencies that they have gained. With major issues such as security, combatting corruption, and investment into infrastructure to improve Rwizikuran livelihoods, candidates, whether incumbent or not, will likely have to pay attention to these issues.

Although it is too early for us at The Rwizikuran to determine whether or not a certain faction will win the general election, the use of first-past-the-post will likely see candidates endorsed by either Respect Your Elders or the Liberal Alliance reduce their seat counts and vote share as they flock to candidates endorsed by either the Democratic Initiative or the Progressive Front as many people would not want to waste their vote if there is no guarantee that their faction would be able to form government on their own.

by **Planita** » Sat Jan 06, 2024 1:40 pm

Concern and Questions Grows After Security Incident in Kartha.
Authorities claim incident was large scale police raid against smuggling ring; details restricted due to national security.

A National Police officer stands guard near the site of the police raid

6 January 2024 - Stavros Ioannidis
Details about the ‘security incident’ in the capital city on Tuesday continues to be sparse despite a police press statement Friday evening, where a spokesman claimed that the incident was caused by a large-scale police operation against the Talax criminal organization. They took one question from reporters before ending the press conference after Respublica had learned that information was restricted due to national security reasons.

The statement came after growing frustration and concern from the public over the lack of information over what exactly transpired on Tuesday morning, which capitol for the entire day. Initial fears that it was paramilitary terrorism were assuaged by reports that it was mafia related, but as the scale of the police operation and the casualties became apparent, concerns grew again. The lack of information about the largest violent incident in the nation’s capitol since the end of the Years of Blood has concerned many. Police reports later sought to clarify that it was a police raid to break up a smuggling ring that had simply gone wrong when it met greater than expected resistance. Small protests began on Wednesday, outside National Police headquarters and have continued since.

In their statement last night, police spokesperson Tonin Nano apologized for the lack of information but claimed that the secrecy was necessary as public disclosures would hinder further police operations. ”Over the course of our investigation, the Police have uncovered a large criminal conspiracy by organized criminals”, he said. “As a result, Director-General Krasniqi ordered that sensitive information be withheld from the general public so as to not hinder future police operations against this group. Once future police operations have been completed and the investigation has progressed further, the Police will disclose more information.”

Nano attempted to take questions from the small pool of reporters. However that morning sources within the National Police have reported to Respublica that information was withheld on national security grounds by order of the National Security and Defence Council. When our reporter asked whether this was true, the spokesperson simply said “I cannot answer this question at this time” , before refusing to take additional questions and abruptly ending the press conference.

The revelation that national security is involved has greatly increased the public’s concern over the incident. Today protests over the government’s handling of this issue more than doubled outside of the National Police headquarters today, and further protests have begun across the capitol. The alleged influence that the security apparatus, especially the Directorate for State Security, has over the country’s politics, has long been a source of skepticism and criticism from the Austerian public. The disclosure that the Sigurimi has only brought the intelligence agency back to the center of attention. In front of police headquarters, protestors chant “Tell us what you know!” Amongst the crowd was 21 year old Sasha Barbu, a university student, whose father disappeared during the Olive Revolution, likely because of his activism against the socialist state. “We want to be told the truth,” she says, “They’ve always done what they wanted without accountability or oversight. Who knows what they’ve done this time.” . Despite the Directorate’s nearly untouchable status in the federal government, the agency is broadly unpopular among the public.

According to the National Police, acting on a tip, National Police units raided a warehouse with known links to the Talax criminal organization. The police were attempting to seize a shipment of contraband destined for Coius, but several high ranking members of the criminal group were present. As a result, there was a higher mafia presence than anticipated, leading to a prolonged gunfight with mafia members on the site and in the surrounding area. The number of hostiles necessitated the deployment of special police forces. Eleven suspects were killed and several more were injured. Seven officers were injured, one critically but he is expected to survive. The police were able to seize a cache of unspecified contraband and arrest over a dozen members of the Talax organization.

by **Slirnija** » Mon Jan 15, 2024 8:13 pm

by **Nuvania** » Fri Jan 19, 2024 3:23 am

General election to be held on April 7, local elections to be held next year

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Laurienne de Villiers (@LauriennedeVilliers)
19 January 2024 (3:30pm)|PIETERSBURG

Chief Minister Andrew Bohn has called the general election for April 7 and announced that local elections would be held next year to avoid making the election process too complicated for officials and volunteers. The announcement was made at a press conference within the Press Bunker inside the House of Parliament.

The Chief Minister said that the terms of both central and local governments were due to expire within the same year, and that the process of organising both a general election and local elections was far too complex and far too disruptive to both elections. He said that the decision was made by Cabinet to approve a twelve month extension to the terms of local government, rather than extend the parliamentary term by another year.
“We felt as though the public would approve of an extension to local government rather than central government,” he said. “It means that our provincial governors, mayors, as well as elected representatives in various local government bodies and legislatures will be able to continue their work for another 12 months.”

Chief Minister Andrew Bohn speaks at today's press conference (Die Telegraaf)

Local elections are not constitutionally mandated but instead subject to the Local Government Act 1937, which outlines, among other things, the term lengths local government representatives can have. There is no provision for extension or shortening terms, but these have usually been subjected to the approval of the House of Assembly, which requires a 75% vote. The Chief Minister said that he had consulted with the Leader of the Opposition and party leaders of opposition parties on the matter.
“The Leader of the Opposition and the parties contained within the official opposition to the government have confirmed that they will support a vote to extend the current term of local government by another 12 months.”

The date for this year’s general election falls within the tradition of elections held on the first Sunday of April, barring snap elections which have been held at different times of the year. The snap election in 2020 that saw the election of the Social Democratic Liberal Party into office was held on November 30 following a vote of no confidence that ousted former Chief Minister Robert Marten. It is not known when this tradition was established, although it is known to pre-exist the restoration of responsible government in 1937. Officially, the Chief Minister has the ability to call the general election on any date.

Nuvanians will go to the polls to elect both houses of Parliament; the House of Assembly and the Senate. The House of Assembly is the lower house of Parliament and is composed of 410 Members of the Assembly, or MA’s. Each MA represents one constituency with a population of roughly 121,000 people. The Senate is composed of 100 senators who represent the provinces at the national level. Each constituency for the House of Assembly is elected through the First Past the Post (FPTP) system of voting, where the candidate with the most votes wins. Senators are elected at-large for each province through the Single Transferable Vote system with closed candidate lists, meaning that candidates are approved and provided by parties who run candidates. Each party registered to run in general elections provides a list of up to ten candidates, one for each seat representing one province in the Senate. All elections are organised and overseen by the National Elections Authority, which is an independent agency that is a part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Chief Minister Bohn is seeking reelection to a second term in office, and current polling estimates that he will be able to form a coalition government, with the most polling by YouPoll putting the Social Democratic Liberal Party on 192 seats in the House of Assembly, up eight seats. The current government’s coalition partners are expected to decline slightly, with the Nuvanian Democratic Movement on seven seats, down three and the Green Party of Nuvania on six seats, also down three. The Indigenous Peoples Party will retain its single seat in the House of Assembly based on polling. The National Conservative Party is on 180 seats, down two in the House of Assembly, with its partners the Party for Freedom and the Nuvanian Agrarian League predicted to retain their 14 and 10 seats respectively in the House of Assembly. The total number of seats based on polling for each respective coalition would not change, with the governing coalition on 206 seats, enough for a slim majority, with the opposing coalition on 204 seats.

A significant race is predicted to be in the Senate, where the governing coalition currently does not have a majority, instead relying on a gentlemen’s agreement with the NAL to pass legislation. Polling indicates that the SDLP-led coalition in the Senate would emerge with 36 seats in the Senate. In addition to the six seats from the NDM and the Greens combined, it would have 42 seats in the Senate, not enough for a majority. The opposition would lose a total of two seats to 51 seats, enough for a majority, even without factoring in the seven independent senators.

In terms of vote intention, 40.1% of voters intended to vote for the SDLP, 36.9% for the NCP, 10.3% for the NAL, 4.5% for the NDM, 3.5% for The Greens, 3.0% for the PFF, and 1.4% for the IPP. Outside Parliament, the Liberal Conservative Party is polling at 0.2% and the Sotirian Democratic Party at 0.1%.

Political scientist Samuel Hofmeyr said that so far the Bohn government has demonstrated a focus on internal affairs, particularly in light of economic issues caused by instability in international commodity markets, as well as the after effects of the 2020 Mount Micchiano eruption. Despite a strong initial recovery, the Nuvanian economy has remained fundamentally weak, posting 1.15% growth in 2023, down from 4.77% in 2022 and 7.96% in 2021. He said the economic issues coupled with rising inflation has led to a cost of living crisis in Nuvania. He said that the race for the Senate would be extremely important for Bohn and the SDLP, who need to obtain a majority to be able to pass legislation without the need of help from opposition parties.
“The current arrangement is unsustainable,” he said. “The NAL will eventually make demands that the SDLP will not be able to agree to and so any legislation would fail to get passed in the Senate.”

Both major parties will likely have a focus on the economy according to Hofmeyr, with crime and the cost of living also set to become important issues during the election campaign. He said that despite current polling looking like the SDLP-led coalition returning to power for a second term, anything is possible.
“A week is a long term in politics,” he said. “Six weeks is an eternity.”

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by **Planita** » Sat Jan 20, 2024 10:44 am

EXCLUSIVE: ZORASANI KIDNAPPING, TORTURE RING REVEALED.
Zorasani government kidnapped, tortured, and killed Austerian, Euclean citizens with the collaboration of the mafia on Austerian soil.

20 January 2024 - Stavros Ioannidis
The government of Zorasan has been running a covert operation that kidnapped, tortured, and killed members of Austeria’s Coian community on the country’s own soil, with the cooperation of criminal organizations, according to sources within the DIrectorate of State Security. They have described the conspiracy as the greatest breach of national security in the country’s history.

The conspiracy remained undetected for months until last September when the Directorate determined that foreign adversaries were involved in the disappearance and identity theft of a Zorosani refugee that fled in the aftermath of the Turfan. Officials were alerted when the victim’s credit card was linked to a bank account known to be associated with Zorosani intelligence by a suspect known to be a member of the Talax criminal organization. In response, the Directorate increased protection of Zorasani dissidents and investigated the incident. Tentative links were established to other cases, but the full conspiracy was only confirmed after the abduction of Lamia Said on 30 December, a prominent member of the Zorasani dissident community.

The Directorate was aware of her disappearance almost immediately, but delayed in informing law enforcement until the day after when she could not be immediately located, according to sources speaking on the condition of anonymity. Intelligence from informants and public tips led the authorities to raid a warehouse in the port district of the capitol. There the National Police encountered a heavy armed mafia presence, leading to a prolonged and intense firefight. During the apprehension of the suspects, police officers discovered several individuals held within a room in the basement of the facility. The identities of the individuals are to be confirmed, but preliminary evidence suggests that Lamia Said was one of those found; furthermore it's believed that some of the captives may be Etrurian citizens. The captives were rescued and delivered to a hospital where they remain under police protection. Investigation of the premises is ongoing.

Sources tell us the intelligence community is now wholly dedicated to the complete dismantlement of the conspiracy. The preliminary investigation of the premises and interrogation of suspects has provided evidence that the mafia, particularly the Talax organization, has cooperated with Zorosani intelligence. The extent of the cooperation is currently being determined, including whether it was done at the direction of the group’s leadership or whether they were aware of it at all. While it has been widely speculated that individual members of the mafia cooperated with Zorosani intelligence, an entire mafia group cooperating with Zorasan would be simply unprecedented according to experts we consulted. All agreed it would constitute a massive security threat. The National Police are searching for additional suspects.

The Directorate believes that the conspiracy was conducted by the General Intelligence Service or the AKHID, the military intelligence agency of Zorsan, at the direction of the country’s leaders. Based upon the preliminary evidence provided and the information gathered from the survivors, suggests it was an intelligence gathering operation. Several of the survivors reported being beaten, waterboarded, and subject to mock executions while being interrogated. They also reported that they believe some prisoners were killed after they were taken away and never seen again. Our sources did not specify the nature of the questioning or who conducted the questioning due to the sensitive nature of the information. The Directorate also refused to comment or speculate on the possible mission and intent of the AKHID operation. The investigation is expected to continue for months.

The revelation that Zorasan has conducted such an operation on Austerian soil will likely have severe consequences. It will likely plunge Austeria’s cold relations with Zorasan, already frosty since the outbreak of the Tsabaran Civil War in 2020, to a new nadir. Austeria is home to about 600,000 people who reported being of Coian descent in the last census. The vast majority of them are of Rahelian descent. The large Rahelian community was founded by refugees from the Rahelian socialist republic who fled after it was conquered by Zorasan. Another wave of refugees followed in the aftermath of the Turfan from 2005 to 2007.

The Zorasani government has always viewed these communities with suspicion, especially the refugees that fled in the late 2000s which were largely ideological dissidents. However the Zorosani government has viewed the community as a whole with a certain degree of opportunism. In 2020 the DIrectorate warned that Zorasan was boosting its propaganda efforts against the Irfanic population with pro-regime messaging. A report in 2023 showed that it had limited effect, but it noted a worrying trend among adolescents and young adults, especially men, who had grown increasingly sympathetic to Zorasan and its interests in Coius.

The National Police, which is investigating the slaying, did not respond to a Respublica request for comment on the alleged conspiracy. When approached for comment, a spokesperson for the Presidency stated that the executive was aware of the alleged conspiracy and is currently formulating a public release of information that would not jeopardize the investigation and has prepared a firm response to this violation of Austerian sovereignty.

When approached for comment, a spokesperson for the Directorate accused Respublica of endangering national security by publishing leaked information and protecting the paper’s sources. The Directorate threatened to investigate the newspaper for impeding a federal investigation, while Respublica claimed it was protected by the freedom of the press and whistleblower protections. The threats dragged on until the Presidency intervened in the newspaper’s favor in exchange for the newspaper delaying the publication of this story until the government was fully prepared.

The Government of Zorasan did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

by **Poshyte** » Mon Jan 22, 2024 10:33 am

by **Imagua and the Assimas** » Tue Jan 23, 2024 1:50 pm

GENERAL ELECTIONS SCHEDULED FOR 22 MARCH AFTER BUDGET DEFEATED
Budget presented by Finance Minister Joseph Bradley was defeated 37-33

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BETTY MOWAT (@BettyMowat)
23 JANUARY, 2024 14:55 IST | CUANSTAD, CITY OF

Clockwise from top left: Elisabetta Cefalu (DLP), Icaro Grillo (SLP), Mystelle Stone (GRN), Garon Ripley (MNI)

After yesterday's presentation of the budget by Finance Minister Joseph Bradley, which would have included "heavy investment into social housing," "extensive capital investments into both the Cuanstad Metro" in order to facilitate the acquisition of land along the future Line 1b, "and the future San Pietro Metro" by financing the construction of bus stations to the same standards as the Cuanstad Metro, and "record investments into education and healthcare," Icaro Grillo, leader of the Sotirian Labour Party, and Garon Ripley, leader of the Movement for a New Imagua announced their intention to reject the 2024-25 government budget.

Today, a vote was held on the budget, with the budget being defeated with 37 votes against, with all 24 Sotirian Labour MPs and 13 Movement for a New Imagua MPs voting against the budget, and 33 votes in favour, with all 31 Democratic Labour MPs and all 2 Green Party MPs voting in favour of the budget. As budget votes are treated as confidence votes in the Northabbey model, this was interpreted by Douglas Egnell as a loss of confidence in his government.

Shortly after the budget vote, Douglas Egnell travelled to the Red House to request that Parliament be dissolved, and that elections be scheduled for 22 March, in accordance with the Imaguan custom of having general elections on the fourth Friday of March. This request was duly granted by President Edmondo Privitera, thereby starting a 60-day election campaign.

After the request was granted, the DLP presidential nominee Douglas Egnell delivered a speech at the gates of the Red House alongside the new DLP leader, Elisabetta Cefalu, declaring that "we Imaguans are at a crossroads: we can either march blindly into the maw of hatred, exclusion, and becoming little more than an Etrurian puppet state, or we can march towards a better tomorrow; a better life for not just the rich and well-connected, but for all Imaguans and our Arucian kin."

Icaro Grillo launched his campaign at the Sotirian Labour Party headquarters, and declared that "for eight years, we saw the Democratic Labour government tax and spend, tax and spend, while failing to meaningfully address the problems that it has caused, such as housing, poor infrastructure, inefficient spending, and obstructive regulations that prevent the markets from solving the problems that we Imaguans face."

"And what do the DLP do instead?" Grillo asked. "They do nothing, and when they do something, it's all about appeasing the progressive Eucleans and Asterians so that they may feel 'included' as the average Imaguan continues to suffer. Only the Sotirian Labour Party will meaningfully address the needs and problems that Imaguan men and women face!"

Garon Ripley launched his campaign at a local church hall in the Cuanstad neighbourhood of Nelbrook, and said that "this campaign will be our crusade: a crusade to restore Imaguan dignity from the Poteri Oscuri, a crusade to protect our homes from being bought up by foreign retirees and investors, a crusade to defend our culture from the complete and absolute degeneracy that the northerners are shoving down our collective throats, and a crusade to destroy the Democratic Labour and Sotirian Labour oligarchy that has held Imagua back for so many generations!"

"We will institute tough-on-crime policies to keep our streets safe; reform the constitution so that the Assimas will be equal with Imagua; reduce immigration from the north; crack down on the banks; make our Creole official alongside Estmerish and Etrurian, and defend our traditional values from the Halivar-led Poteri Oscuri and its agents in the Arucian," Ripley declared.

Finally, Mystelle Stone, leader of the Green Party held a small campaign rally at her constituency office in the Chatman Hills neighbourhood of Cuanstad. She told the small crowd that "Imaguans are facing a perfect storm of factors: unaffordable housing that the DLP has no intention of ever relieving; the government dragging its feet in legalising civil partnerships; the continual degradation of our natural environment as the Imaguan government continues to promote tourism, and the failure of the Imaguan government to institute a comprehensive plan to address climate change while benefitting the workers of our beautiful country," and declared that the Green Party will "appeal to progressives who feel that the DLP lost their way."

The most recent polls from the Cuanstad Sentinel shows that the Movement for a New Imagua is leading the polls with 33.7% support, with the Democratic Labour Party in second at 29.6% support. The Sotirian Labour Party is at 24.1%, and the Green Party are in a distant fourth, at only 11.7% support. Given the MNI's consistent lead in polls since January 2023, this election may be shaping up to be a race for second-place between the DLP and the SLP.

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by **Slirnija** » Wed Jan 24, 2024 7:52 pm

by **Etruria2** » Sun Jan 28, 2024 3:32 pm

President Carcaterra confirms Etrurian nations were kidnapped by Zorasani spies from Austeria

The government received the backing of the opposition parties over the incident

President Francesco Carcaterra told the full session of the Chamber of Representatives that Austeria’s busting of a Zorasani spy ring had resulted in the rescue of two Etrurian nationals. The President vowed to the Senate the government’s commitment to “assisting Austeria in defeating the common threat posed by the Zorasani intelligence agencies.” The government also issued a warning to Sattarishahr saying, “these actions only strengthen our resolve.”

The president’s address to the Chamber came following the government issuing an ‘Urgent Statement’ on the developments occurring in Austeria, following the busting of Zorasani spy ring.

President Carcaterra told the Chamber, “within hours of the police raid, the Austerian government relayed to us the details of a significant operation conducted by Zorasan’s military intelligence service. This operation, relying on mafia groups, resulted in the kidnapping, torture and murder of ethnic Zorasanis residing in Austeria and Etruria.

“The operation conducted by the Austerian government resulted in the rescue of several victims, two of which have been identified as Etrurian nationals. It is the working theory of the Austerian government, that this Zorasani operation also included the kidnapping and trafficking of Zorasani-born people living in Etruria.

“This is a gross violation of Austerian sovereignty and that of the Etrurian Federation. The kidnapping, torture and potential murder of Etrurian citizens, regardless of ethnicity is a disgraceful act perpetrated by a power wholly dedicated to the destruction of Euclean civilisation” he said.

“I have spoken to President Nertilian Bushaj and expressed to him Etruria’s support in this matter and offered the complete and total cooperation of the Civil Security Service, Domestic Security Service and the National Intelligence and Security Service. Together, we hope that this Zorasani threat is completely rooted out and expelled from Southern Euclea” he said further.

The President then went on to say, “in response to this attack upon Southern Euclean security, we will work to identify and expel every single Zorasani spy in Etruria, furthermore, we are recalling our ambassador from Sattarishahr and ordering theirs to vacate Povelia within 48 hours. They must know that Etruria, together with allies or alone, will stand up and defend this continent from the Pardarian threat.”

The president’s words were met with support from the opposition parties, with Adrina Drago, the SD senate leader saying, “it is intolerable that Zorasan should attack two countries in this manner, in the futile effort to silence strong voices for Zorasani freedom and democracy. We cannot allow the totalitarian dictatorships of the world to have free reign to commit whatever crime they see fit. The SD fully supports the government in its response.”

The embassy in Kartha has dispatched officials to visit the two nationals currently being treated in hospital. Their families have been notified, but for security reasons, their names are being withheld.

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by **Eskaeba** » Sun Feb 04, 2024 3:30 am

Ð210 million worth of foreign aid reportedly embezzled by clique of Coubicou administrators
The money, which amounts to roughly €5.5 million, is thought to originate mostly from Gaullica.
Todii Asante writing from Coubicou, Départment de Bas-Gond

Pont commémoratif de Moïse-Siamé Khumotsilé was opened in 2006, and was the first crossing of the Gonda in Coubicou. It was constructed with a mix of funding from Euclean governments, the Community of Nations, the Council for Mutual Development (COMDEV), and Bank of Bahia.

Garamburan police have put out a nationwide arrest warrant for three local governors in the city of Coubicou, who between them are accused of embezzling Ð210 million (€5.5 million) worth of foreign aid intended for infrastructure and development projects in the region. Bassirou Seretsé, who led the Minister of Internal Development's local Coubicou office, is the only named assailant of the three and is thought to be the head of the triumvirate.

The embezzlement scandal is the largest in Garambura for some time and is reminiscent of the country's inaugural years, where corruption was commonplace under the administration of Moïse-Siamé Khumotsilé.

Garambura receives only a small amount of bilateral aid directly from the Gaullican government, which is handed to Garamburan government ministries and distributed accordingly. The Bas-Gond department where Coubicou is situated was supposed to receive Ð707 million (€18.6 million) in aid for various projects, primarily focused on improving local infrastructure and raising local development standards.

The Garamburan reached out to Seretsé via email for comments. He responded only with the name of a Bible verse: "Galatians 5:1". It reads: "It is for freedom that Sotiras has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by the yoke of slavery."

Garamburan government officials have not yet commented. A manhunt is expected to commence to locate Seretsé and the other members of his group.

The Garamburan, 2024

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