Island of Nives Independence Referendum (Open)

[Tomure]

descriptor of the Island of Nives: The Island of Nives is an Island of the West coast of Tomure with a population of 113,000,000. They are and have been under Tomurean rule since 1856, and finally now have been granted the right to convene their own legislature and elections (which includes for Governor-General a position which had previously been appointed by Tomure since 1939). The Incumbent Governor-General Francis Blake will not be standing in the election stating "The people of Nives must choose from amoung themselves who will lead them."
Bordered between highlands to the North, Micheals’ sea to the South, Holy Water Reservoir to the East and a huge forest to the West, the economy of the Island of Nives mainly centers around shipbuilding, fishing, and woodcutting.

Nives itself is mainly covered in flatlands and has a dry climate, which has lead to a cramped population, despite the number of people, which means most of them live in huge towns. The Capitol of Recita holds 18% of the population while the largest city of Zrane holds 31%.

The country's landscape is lovely; white sandy beaches, white blossom forests and half frozen rivers are just a sliver of the grace Nives has to offer, which is why the country is adored among foreigners. It is also the largest portion of the Tomurean tourism sector making up a whopping 78% of it, as well as 29% of its Timber-Woodchopping industry.
The people of Nive are sympathetic towards foreigners and tend to welcome them with warmth. They feel foreigners could contribute to the country's well being.

As a territory of Tomure Nives follows all laws, and taxes from St.Kenmore without really any of their own, in fact even the territories law enforcement and military are primarily Tomurean. the only things Nives can set are, Working Conditions, Minimum Wage, Currency, and other small local matters deemed too small for the Tomurean Government to worry about.

The country's flag, has the country's outline on a background in dark pink, brown, dark purple and light gold. Their coat of arms is a hand on top of a hill.


2018-now History: In 2018 for the first time the Island of Nives was able to hold elections for it's assemble and Governor-General. 10 Parties stood in the various 650 seats (with 150 of them reserved for International seats) those parties were The Advanced Communion Party , The Traditional Formation Coalition, The Rational Progress Coalition, The Moderate Transformation Party, The Liberal Science Party, The Modern Working-Class Group, The Rational Compromise Union, The United Community Coalition,The Sovereign Freedom League, and The New Left Wing League. The result of the election were Mixed as the The Rational Compromise Union a plurality of seats with 224 (65 from International voting) which as a pro-independence party made it seem almost certain that with a pro-independence party in charge a referendum on independence was right around the corner... or would it? As the runner up who received 198 seats The United Community Coalition who had campaigned on not just anti-independence but stopping the referendum altogether. Compounding matters the Anti-independence parties would receive 300 seats to pro-independence parties 298 seats (with the remaining 52 seats going to parties who were split or had no opinion on independence) resulting in UCC's leader Rolando Giuliani being selected by the legislature as Governor-General 330-320 despite the RCU winning the majority in the legislature (the ACP fully supported Giuliani giving him 20 votes and 10 votes from the NLW of their 15 votes went to Giuliani).

This of course resulted in lots of ensuing mayhem including 5 different referendums being rejected, 2 calls for an early election being vetoed by Tomure's Interim President Matthew McGaul, and many many protests and workers strikes. The largest of these came July 28th 2019 when Workers from all industries in Nives sat in the streets of the capitol for 2 months bringing the Nives economy to a stand-still and severely wounding Tomure's economy as no logs came in from Nives nor were tourists able to visit due to the unrest. Finally Newly Elected President Ace Montgomery requested Governor General Giuliani and the leaders of the parties in the legislature (still yet to be named) meet with him in the Tomurean Capitol of St.Kenmore where discussions would begin on the Referendum. The Date of March 3rd 2020 would be agreed upon yet anti-independence parties were opposed to the way the Referendum question and options were worded stating that it was anti-independence biased.

The motion still passed and the election is now underway to decide whether the Island of Nives will remain apart of Tomure or whether it will begin negotiations to finally become free. As in all Tomurean elections Tomureans who live abroad are allowed to vote in the referendum and the international community are welcome to give money to a cause and lend their support to whichever side they choose.

(OOC: if you want more information on the individual parties and what was at stake in the previous election go to viewtopic.php?f=23&t=437924).

Pro-Independence Parties
- The Moderate Transformation Party
- The Liberal Science Party
- The Rational Compromise Union
- The Sovereign Freedom League

Anti-Independence Parties
- The Traditional Formation Coalition
- The Modern Working-Class Group
- The United Community Coalition

Parties who are Undecided/Split on Independence
- The Advanced Communion Party
- The New Left Wing League
- The Rational Progress Coalition

[Tomure]

View of Prominent Tomurean politicians:

Former President/Former WA Delegate Cole Xackerheart PRO-INDEPENDENCE: "Tomure can survive without Nives, and with how poorly we have treated them as well as our other island territories they have every right to be displeased with our rule and seek out a new and separate path from Tomure"

Former Interim President Matthew McGaul ANTI-INDEPENDENCE: "The Island of Nives has never had a government until just recently, and even then they've been in deadlock due to this one issue. It is unwise for the people of Nives to attempt to go it alone when their government has no experience whatsoever in governing."

Speaker of the National House Jorge Piers ANTI-INDEPENDENCE: "Nives is a crucial and valuable part of our country as are all of Tomure's territories it is my view that they ought to remain apart of this country and continue operating though I'll admit they should have more devolved powers like a proper Tomurean state."

Presiding President of the Senate Micheal Oventree ANTI-INDEPENDENCE: "Tomure and Nives are both stronger when we are united and operate as one without Tomure's protection the future of Nives is uncertain but with Tomure their future is bright."

President Ace Montgomery NEUTRAL: "It is for the people of Nives to decide whether or not they want to remain apart of our country and I will ensure there democratic right remains and that the outcome of the vote will be respected."

Chief Justice of the Tomurean Supreme Court of Elders Paul Rutgers ANTI-INDEPENDENCE: "This is a nation which boasts our strengthen in unity under Tomurean rule Nives has prospered if independent Nives could be back in the broken debt ridden country it was prior to becoming a territory and part of Tomure back in 1856."

The first of 3 televised debates shall take place in the capitol of Recita on February 1st the same day Nives became a part of Tomure 164 years ago.

[Tomure]

Pro-Independence Rally

To kick off the campaign officially for the Pro-Independence movement Leader of the Opposition Tiburzio Mallo and Sovereign Freedom League's party leader Liberatore Spalla held a rally in the city of Zrane the largest city in the Island of Nives.

Mallo:

"Thank you everyone for coming out tonight for hopefully the beginning of what is sure to be many years of a free and prosperous country. For 164 this Saturday the nation of Tomure has ruled over us like a colonial giant denying us the right to elect our own legislators, the ability to govern ourself, the ability for us to benefit from our own national resources or most recently the ability for us to have the government we want. As we saw in our first general election 2 years ago when you the people and even those in the international community supported pro-independence party the government of Tomure intervened and made sure there puppet Rolando Giuliani ran the government even though the people gave my party far more seats then his. But now we have a chance a real chance to force Tomure to listen to us the people of Nives ands finally give us the respect of an individual nation we deserve. As an independent country we will have the ability to govern ourselves for the first time since 1856, we will be able to keep our tax money, subject only to ourselves and our laws will be representative of our values not the values of St.Kenmore.

We will be able to govern our borders, ensure our children receive the best quality education around and ensure our tax payer money goes to solving issues in our country not a country who rarely even gives us a second glance. Together we will finally be free and finally be able to put our country which has suffered for far too long back on track. And now it gives me great pleasure to introduce a man whose been fighting for this Island's independence for many many years, and without whom this referendum probable never would've happened ladies and gentlemen my friend Liberatore Spalla.

Spalla:

"Thank you Mr.Opposition Leader and rightful Governor-General Mallo:, and than you all for being here today, I guarantee you right now the big whigs and the cronies in St.Kenmore are shaking in their boots at the roughly 32,000 of us here tonight at our Independence kick-off rally. They thought that they could ignore your voices after they installed their regime after the last election but you the people made your voices heard loudly and finally got their attention through strikes, and protests, and rallies like this you forced the corporate shills, and self righteous elitist in St.Kenmore to give you a say at long last for your right to govern yourselves. As my firmed the Opposition leader mentioned I have fought for independence and representation for nearly 23 years and never believed it would be possible to get to a point where we would have the chance to elect our own representatives never mind have a referendum on independence. And now we have a real chance to truly govern ourself and create laws that represent our values and our views instead of having the shoved dow our throats.

At long last we have a chance to not be paying 80+% of our income and see that tax money wasted on things that don't effect us, no longer will we be subject to indoctrination from overly zealous churches especially the Tomurean Catholic church, who in defiance of the people of Nives after a Woman was elected Pope refused to recognize her even though every Catholic Church in Nives did. We will also finally be able to take control of policing our borders setting up our own healthcare system, rebuilding crumbling infrastructure long forgotten about by Tomure. And finally we will also be able to grow our own economy and take advantage of our own natural resources in full without having to give 70% of them to Tomure. We can work out trade deals and bring business to Nives free from the Bureaucracy of Tomure.

And finally I'd like to issue a warning to the government of Tomure and their puppet Governor-General Rolando Giuliani you may think your clever with the way you worded your referendum allowing for there to be a Yes but we get more deviled powers something the government has lied about for 164 years, and no but we automatically go back to Tomure if we can't reach a deal in 2 years, the people of Nives are smarter then you think. If you think you can win this referendum by putting in nice sounding rhetoric and lies you are wrong for on March 3rd will will vote to leave and no longer be apart of Tomure period with no conditions and finally have say over our own destiny. Thank you all and Long Live the Island of Nives."