Auleus – On the 29th of May the results of the Sudestian Independence Plebiscite were announced:
Leaving the Confederation: 53.2%
Remaining in the Confederation: 45.5%
Invalid: 1.3%
Although the Plebiscite voted in favour of leaving the confederation, Chancellor Finley Muller refused to pass it into law, because of this the Sudestian Independence Movement withdrew support of his government, with Justine Jozefo stating “The Conservatives have once again stood in front of democratic progress” . This statement eluding to the fact that universal suffrage was not granted in Auleus until 1933 by Thomas Hillser. Until that point voting was restricted to the male aristocracy, however universal suffrage had been granted in the more liberal Sudestia in 1890.
After this the Conservatives lacked a majority, trying to negotiate a coalition with the National Front, this angered the moderate Democratic Centrists, who withdraw from the confidence and supply agreement and tried to form a government with the Socialists.
On the 31st of May a government consisting of the Socialist Party, Democratic Centrist Alliance, Republic Party and Sudestian Independence Movement was formed. LC Oscar II appointed Ben Holman as Chancellor on the 1st of June, this coalition only lasted 3 days though with Democratic Centrists withdrawing on the 3rd after negotiating terms with the National Front.
Finley Muller had deposed by the Conservatives by this point, replaced with deputy party leader Hayley von Kempf. A government consisting of the Conservatives and Democratic Centrists with the support of the National Front was formed.
Auleus – Today the Aulean National has announced the results of a poll conducted on Sudestian independence within Sudestia. The results are as follows:
Leaving the Confederation: 60.2%
Remaining in the Confederation: 35.9%
Other: 3.9%
The victory in this poll has been a major boost for the leave camp; because of the poll the movement has received the backing of the Aulean National. Justine Jozefo said, “Today the people of Sudestia have shown the way they feel in the independence debate”. Yesterday Channel 4 broadcasted a programme about the Hillser period in Sudestia called ‘’Hillser’s Sudestia’’ this further flaming the support for independence. ‘’Hillser’s Sudestia’’ was a documentary about life in Sudestia during the Hillser regime, a large amount of the documentary was spent on the prosecution of separatists.
William von Fernly was elected leader of the Confederal Front the main organisation wanting Sudestia to remain. Despite this victory for the leave vote is still predicted.
AULEUS – Today a spokesperson for the Leader of the Confederation has announced that the Plebiscite (Sudestian Independence) Act 2018 has past. The spokesperson also stated that the plebiscite would take place in April. Current polls predict an overwhelming independence victory, with the states of Johnsburg-Wedfry, Fevevia and Aestra likely to join them.
As the Sudestian parliament lacks a meaningful opposition to independence, the remain campaign may lack unity. The leave campaign has significant leadership, with the Premier of Sudestia, Justine Jozefo being the likely candidate for leader.
When asked for comment on the situation the Aulean Chancellor Finley Muller, he said ‘The people of Sudestia will democratically choose whether they wish to remain a part of the confederation’. Muller has attempted to deny Margrave Poppo’s claims that the confederation is undemocratic, he also tried to distance himself from Thomas Hillser who persecuted Sudestian separatists, despite the fact one of founders of his own party was Hillser’s son.
The Leader of the Confederation Oscar II has so far remained silent on the matter, which has been used by the republicans to increase support for themselves.
The plebiscite is scheduled to be held in late April.
(Nekkar, 23 February 2017) – King Verteř V Storm will attend a session of the parliament of Řots on 1 Třeesip (15 March), prime minister Vervets Bekřa Nureet himself announced today. Those who watched members of the government and parliament up close in the last week, may have suspected that something important and/or unusual was going on, as everybody seemed far more stressed and busy than normal. The last time a head of state of Řots attended a session of parliament was by King Dot XIII Tora in 3405 (= 1929), so almost ninety years ago; his successor Dot XIV Vāsterets and his successors kept themselves out of state politics altogether, with modernity arriving too rapidly for them as of the ’30s (= the ‘50s of the 20th century).
The King’s decision to attend a parliamentary session is all the more surprising because of his age: the current monarch is probably in his late 80s and succeeded his brother King Bēserets Sot (3438 – 3492 = 1961 – 2016) only two years ago. As the prime minister announced, the King’s health is in a fragile state, so any unexpected surprise should be avoided at all cost and the Codex should be followed to the letter: the 1200 year old set of rules that determine the lives of the Royal Family and most of the nobility, and which prevents any change, causing them to form a society within the society of Řots that has been living in isolation and according to medieval tradition until present day.
The visit will also require a change of schedule for inhabitants of both the royal capital of Kotōlets, the civil capital of Nekkar, and some roads between the two: as the royal family and most of the nobility are still living by the Codex, the King and his entourage are most likely not used to the existence of e.g. cars, which means that car driving will be temporarily suspended along the route the Royal Carriage will take. The Carriage will not take the highways, but rather follow the ‘scenic’ road via Tarřebo, Ōřlemup, and Vulipo. The King will spend a week in Nekkar and stay in the Merbu-Kevigu Palas in the suburb of Merp and receive guests there; he will get out only to attend the parliamentary session on the 15th. The prime minister announced that security in Nekkar will be heavily increased during that week, but citizens should not be hindered in their daily activities. In any case, citizens of Nekkar will have a day off on the 15th.
The King’s attendance of parliament also requires that its members as well as the members of the government who attend the session, need to dress up in formal attire as prescribed by the Codex. All persons in Řots who end up in a position of importance have one set made for these eventualities, but in practice, nobody ever needs to wear it and clothes are often acquired second hand from previous politicians if their sizes are more or less the same. Politicians who discover that their formal dress doesn’t fit, now have less than three weeks to make the necessary changes to their clothing.
The conduction of the parliamentary session itself will also be different than usual: speaking or asking questions in the Řosu Git (‘House of Řots’, Řots’s house of parliament) has to be done according to strict formulas so it may take longer to discuss certain topics: a general old-fashioned literary way of speaking is required, mentioning the King all the time, referring to oneself in the third person, and avoiding the suggestion that anyone but the King may have taken any decision, e.g. the minister of Housing could say: ‘By His Majesty’s Leave, His Minister of Housing and Regional Planning humbly informs the Honorable Speaker of this House that …’ instead of the more usual ‘Mr Speaker, I have decided that …’ Many politicians who are expected to speak in the Řosu Git that day will need to practice using this formal way of speaking even in spontaneous replies.
Although many are looking forward to having their first ever glimpse of a Řots monarch, there has been criticism about all the fuss that this royal surprise visit will entail. According to some, Nekkar will be struck by a week of chaos, and if the King plans to schedule more of these surprise visits, some things need to be changed – but this would essentially mean a modification of the Codex, which although not impossible, seems very unlikely.
AULEUS– Margrave Poppo of Sudestia has announced that Sudestia will endeavour to regain its independence, in a press conference he said the Confederation is ‘undemocratic’ and ‘occupying Sudestia’. A petition has been announced to convince the national government to allow for a plebiscite on Sudestian independence. Commentators have predicted that Chancellor Muller will approve the plebiscite due to the alliance between the Sudestian Independence Party and Conservative Party of Auleus. Although backlash is to be expected from the hardline Krelisians within the Conservative Party, this group is getting smaller by the year and is insignificant. The data from early polls appears to indicate a desire for Sudestian independence within the state, and desire in neighbouring states to join the recreated nation as well. Although a plebiscite would unlikely be binding, it is still likely to be passed by both parliaments.
HREAWIRC, 5 DECEMBER 2017 | King Mearh I of Wyster has died this morning. The 96-year old monarch passed away sitting down in his favorite reading chair after breakfast, according to Prime Minister Cillyh Ocurmen, who addressed the nation shortly after noon. The Prime Minister praised the Mearh’s many years of service to the country, more than 47 of which as king. Funeral arrangements will now be discussed with the new Queen, Mearh’s oldest daughter Atheanne, and the rest of the royal family. The Prime Minister declared ten days of national mourning, during which public life in Wyster will have a sober character.
Mearh I sie Soormeth was born at Fryhaec Castle, near the village of Bocyme in county Orsearre on 27 February 1921. His father was Hrevyn sie Soormeth (later king Hrevyn III), his mother Rynne Countess Caen. Wyster was just experiencing its Fourth Republic under Chairman Peus Ghaarn, a brilliant political strategist who turned out to be increasingly ruthless and paranoid as he got older; he was elected in 1915 under the Third Republic, but he managed to gain such political dominance that he changed the constitution in 1920 and establised the Fourth Republic, in which it was almost impossible to depose him without force. Force came in the form of a six year civil war. At the end of this war, the Wystrian monarchy was restored under King Hrevyn III, a grandson of the previous king Hrevyn II (1859-1860 and 1895-1902). As his father became king, Mearh became Crown Prince.
Mearh studied political history and diplomatic studies, both in Wyster and abroad. In 1947 he married Soor Countess Meerwyth (1924 – 2008), with whom he had two daughters, Princess Atheanne (*1949, who is now the Queen of Wyster) and Princess Learre (*1955). When Mearh succeeded his father as King of Wyster in 1970, Princess Atheanne became his heir apparent. Mearh’s life as Crown Prince was not without problems. As a student he got into trouble already for driving under influence and getting involved in a mass fight that damaged several houses and shops in Hreawirc. His marriage was tumultuous and Crown Princess Soor is said to have been ready to leave the country on more than one occasion. In 1961 he was essential in closing a lucrative arms deal between Wyster and Karolia, which gained him a lot of praise initially until it emerged six years later that he mediated for two other parties as well at the time of the Wyster-Karolia deal and facilitated illegal arms trade in the process. Several politicians of Wyster then demanded that Mearh be excluded from succession and that the throne should pass directly to Mearh’s daughter Atheanne after Hrevyn III’s death. According to sources, Hrevyn III threatened to abdicate on the spot if this proposal was put into practice and Atheanne (who was barely 18 years old at the time) refused to step in.
Hrevyn III died in 1970 and Mearh succeeded him as King of Wyster. Although he was initially unpopular in political circles, a large part of the population considered him a ‘man of the people’, for taking risks and putting protocol aside. His marriage calmed down a bit and under influence of his wife Queen Soor, the new King slowly discovered his role as monarch. He showed that he was there as King not only to party but also to support the people, for instance when a landslide all but destroyed two villages in county Troc in 1984 and after the shooting attack in the Promynad Stadium in Hreawirc that left nine visitors dead and several dozens injured in 1991.
The new millennium saw a calmer agenda for the King, with his daughters taking over several official tasks. Queen Soor died in 2008. Although the King’s health remained good until the very end, he became frail, with a faltering voice. His last public appearance was in June 2014; after that, he only made a couple of appearances on television.
Queen Atheanne (68) is the new head of state of Wyster, although her coronation will be scheduled after the ten days of mourning only. The Queen doesn’t have any children, so her younger sister Princess Learra is the heir presumptive; Learra’s eldest son Prince Thyllyn (35) is second in line.
QUENTINSBURGH, FREEDEMIA- 4:10am: The Freedemian Investigation Bureau (FIB) and the Quentinsburgh Metro Police Department (QMPS) are investigating an incident on a QUARTA train yesterday evening, after the displays and loudspeakers on a Line 3 QLine Metro train began broadcasting threats and warnings towards President Angela Rosenthal as it pulled into the Capitol Mall/National Court station, the closest station to the Executive Residence.
Reports from police and witnesses say that around 10:26pm, as the local 3 train was pulling into the station, the loudspeaker began crackling and the displays on the front, sides, and insides of the train glitched and turned bright orange as if rebooting. After that came about five minutes of cryptic text, including the phrases “hope you enjoyed your reelection, it’s your last term anyhow” and “here today Angela, but soon with the angels”.
Trains were backed up for around a half-hour during the initial confusion, but QUARTA rerouted all Line 3 and Capitol Shuttle trains onto the express tracks and announced that trains would be skipping the stop until around 6:00pm Saturday evening to give the police and the FIB the chance to fully investigate to make sure that there’s no threat to the safety of the riders.
“So far it appears the displays were somehow hacked from the outside. No one operating the train or its displays/loudspeaker were responsible for the incident”, Police Chief Henriette Martina explained to reporters. “But this is going to require a pretty thorough investigation.”
“We’ve had incidents where displays have been glitchy before, and even one or two dumb pranks like the incident last baseball season when some kid made the display of a Capitol Shuttle say ‘Qburgh Quails are looserss heh get rekt noob subscribe to my TubeMe’, but never anything like this before,” Lenny Grent, with the technology support and IT division of QUARTA, explains. “It’s only happened with someone editing what the displays say like twice since we created the newer systems 10 years ago, and usually things so minor that it wasn’t worth investigating too deeply. We honestly didn’t expect something this serious to come up. I believe we fixed the initial glitch and vulnerability on most newer displays, but this was a renovated Q500 train and I think it’s using one of the early display systems, which might be part of the problem.”
President Rosenthal was recently reelected, and still maintains a near-record approval rating of around 80%. The seeming lack of enemies or disapproval makes the incident even more odd in the eyes of many. But security will be high near the Capitol Mall in the coming weeks as the investigation continues.
Vice President Patrick Houser and Vice President-Elect Katherine Nelzer are expected to give a joint speech later today addressing the cybersecurity state of Freedemia and what they’re getting ready to do to address it. While the whole plan is still in progress, currently there are plans to send a bill to the legislature by February that completely overhauls the military to include major cyber security provisions and departments instead of a focus on land/sea/air combat.
QUENTINSBURGH- After what had proven to be a very close general election, President Angela Rosenthal officially keeps her place as the president of Freedemia through 2022 with an overwhelming win over former Tweetbook CEO Katherine Nelzer in the runoff election.
Rosenthal got a whopping 68.1% of the vote, over Katherine Nelzer’s 31.9%. These are numbers rarely seen in runoff elections between two popular candidates. In her last runoff against Tom Morganson, Rosenthal had only won 49.9% to 49.3%.
The official results of the runoff election. Incumbent President (and President-Elect) Angela Rosenthal won with over 2/3rds of the vote, an overwhelming win. Nelzer got second place and will serve as Rosenthal’s new vice president come January.Original general election results. Nelzer had barely edged out Rosenthal in the general, but lost by a landslide to her in the runoff. This is common in Freedemia- Rosenthal’s own election in 2014 saw her jumping from a 2nd place finish in the general to a 1st place finish and the presidency in the runoff.
Nelzer was happy with the results. “I highly respect President Rosenthal, and I greatly look forward to working with her. This was never about kicking her out of her office, it’s just about building on her amazing progress with fresh ideas to move Freedemia forward, and I believe I’ll be able to do that as your next vice president.”
Rosenthal’s reelection isn’t exactly surprising- she received the highest approval rating of any president in the nation’s history back in August 2015 with a 95% approval rating, and has consistently hovered around 80-90% approval through her term.
Due to Nelzer winning 2nd place, current Vice President Patrick Houser will serve one of the shortest vice presidencies in Freedemian history, having only gotten elected in very late 2015 to fill a vacant vice presidency seat. He is actually largely popular among Freedemians, with roughly a 79% approval rating, but wasn’t able to beat out the wave of popularity that pushed Nelzer forward during the campaign.
“I wasn’t able to make it into the top two. It’s disappointing, but I’m just glad I had a chance to serve. Besides, Nelzer shares a lot of the plans and ambitions I had to begin with, so I’m confident it will work out.” Houser also stated he plans to “eventually run for something” back in his home city Franklinsburgh.
QUENTINSBURGH- The official results of Monday’s election for 2018 Freedemian President have come in after a complete hand vote to check against the digital vote was completed.
Tweetbook CEO Katherine Nelzer came in first place with 31.8% of the vote, with incumbent Angela Rosenthal coming in second place with 29.9% of the vote. The two will have a runoff election on Saturday, November 4th to see which “winning candidate” gets the role of president and which candidate becomes the vice president.
Results of the 2018 Freedemian Presidential Election. Nelzer and Rosenthal move on to a runoff election for the President seat (runner up becomes vice president).
Incumbent Vice President Patrick Houser had a strong showing, with 23.4% of the vote, and Vandover Mayor Lily Mae Clarington’s controversial campaign did quite well considering, raking in 13.8% of the vote in a very difficult field of candidates. Economist Derrick Barson, despite having dropped out, got about 0.8% of the votes, with Actor Craig Schulderman (who had also dropped out) snatched up 0.1% of the vote.
Some of the remaining 0.1% or so of votes were scattered among many, including a couple familiar names like temporary security committee leader Marco Nelson and Graham State Executive Diane Wooten-Whitaker, both of whom ran for the vice presidential seat in 2016.
Runoff for the “top of the ticket”- Possibly a very tight race
Even just looking at the numbers at face value, it already looks like a close race. Nelzer won 1st place with only 1.9% more of the vote than Rosenthal received.
However, there’s also another factor that makes this even more open to change- with the runoffs, the voters who voted for someone other than Rosenthal or Nelzer will have to choose between the two. With the exception of Barson’s 0.8% that would likely go to Nelzer, there’s about 38% of the votes cast that acts as a near tossup.
Complicating matters further, earlier polls and exit polls imply VP Houser took a massive amount of votes from Rosenthal, considering he presented himself as the other experienced candidate as the current Vice President, and those votes could be enough to sway the election in Rosenthal’s favor. Add onto that the fact that polls showed among all voters 89% strongly trusted Rosenthal’s leadership and 92% believed the country was moving forward under her lead, and Nelzer could be facing a perfect storm.
Rosenthal and Nelzer are both widely popular, and it’s going to be extremely close. With that many votes up for grabs, there is no guarantee that Nelzer will retain her narrow lead.
Meet the last 2 candidates one last time:
Incumbent Angela Rosenthal is currently one of the highest esteemed presidents in Freedemian history, and was the favorite for reelection early in the campaign. Her moves to make citizenship easier to obtain for law-abiding individuals and families; her spending reallocation act transferring money from military spending and elections to healthcare, infrastructure, and education; and her pushes for Freedemia to take its stand on the global stage in technology, innovation, and tourism have been huge steps forward for the country. Rosenthal is actually the reason for the shorter campaign period, as she pushed for election reform earlier in her term including a drastic reduction in funding for campaigns.
Katherine Nelzer has become a familiar household name. Founder and CEO of the social media site TweetBook, Nelzer has become more politically outspoken in recent years, especially pertaining to the growing global cyber-security threat. Nelzer believes that Freedemia is one of the most likely worldwide to be a victim of a large cyber-attack, due to its large and growing global footprint, minimal military action, and lackluster national cyber-security protections. “A pacifist society can still be a secure one. Cyber warfare is a thing, and we need to be prepared.”
Nelzer also believes that in this changing society technology is key. She supports Houser’s pushes for things like nationwide wifi and data, and, like Barson, believes incentivizing the tech industry could be one of the most important moves to help make Freedemia even more of a world leader. She cites Stepstone Technology and BuyGolly.com as two of the successes she hopes to see repeat in tech innovations nationwide, and hopes, like Houser, to see Freedemia become a champion of smart cities as a global example. Nelzer is open to the concept of public-private partnerships to fulfill the infrastructure and technology plans, with the goal of shrinking the government and further growing the economy.
Both candidates have announced plans to move forward with ideas proposed by Patrick Houser, including large investments in green infrastructure and modern solutions for renewable energy such as wind turbines, water turbines off the coast, solar farms, more desalination plants, and lining motorways with solar panels and wind turbines.
QUENTINSBURGH- Here’s a recap of the events that led up to Monday’s election.
September 5th, 2017- Schluderman drops out, endorsing Nelzer. 5 candidates remaining in the race
Actor and comedian Craig Schluderman dropped out of the race Tuesday with a television and auto phone call announcement endorsing Katherine Nelzer.
September 15th, 2017- Freedemian legislature decides to delay the election two Mondays while they discussed a bill for Ranked Choice Voting in National Elections
QUENTINSBURGH- Seemingly out of the blue, the House of Populus decided to finally take on a bill proposed many times before to save the country money by incorporating ranked choice voting into presidential elections, thus eliminating the top 2 runoff. Due to possible conflicts of interest with both President Rosenthal and Vice President Houser running for president, the House of Decisions voted for the bill to be able to pass if both the House of Populus and the House of Equal Representation passed the bill with more than 65% of the vote.
September 17th, 2017- Poll released shows Clarington taking votes from Houser, Rosenthal and Nelzer neck and neck, Barson stagnating at 3%
QUENTINSBURGH- Getting closer to election day, in early September, a poll released showed that with Nelzer and Clarington gaining more support, Houser is starting to struggle, dropping into third place.
September 19th, 2017- Freedemian legislature votes to delay voting/discussion on the bill until after the general election but proceed in January with goal of approving Ranked Choice Voting for all future elections, ending the Freedemian tradition of runoff elections
QUENTINSBURGH- A resolution passed with 44 out of 47 Poplators and 32 out of 33 Representatives, stating that Ranked Choice voting is worth moving forward with at a later time for the 2022 election, but that due to possible conflict of interest with the election having been so close, they would delay moving forward with crafting the full proposal until January under the new president.
September 22nd, 2017- Oddly no campaign events scheduled for Barson, raising suspicion that he may be dropping out
FRANKLINSBURGH- Several news outlets observed that the newest press releases for Barson didn’t actually have any public events planned. Often in the past this has been a sign that a candidate is strongly considering dropping out of a race and endorsing an opponent.
September 27th, 2017- 4 candidates remaining, as Derrick Barson drops out
QUENTINSBURGH- Economist Derrick Barson dropped out of the race on Wednesday Sept 27th, announcing his decision at an event in Sean Bond Park in Quentinsburgh. He didn’t explicitly endorse any candidate in the race, but he did express confidence in Patrick Houser and Katherine Nelzer especially, based on discussions they had over various issues. “Both candidates have proven they are willing to work with private companies to stimulate the economy while also giving our country a 21st century infrastructure for the green and digital age,” he mentioned in his speech. Barson also expressed confidence in President Rosenthal’s leadership, though he did express hope that she would consider the newer ideas her opponents have suggested. He also gave a shoutout to Clarington and Nelzer for being open to discussions about reducing penalties for victimless crimes in Freedemia.
September 30th, 2017- Last debate before election shows a strong showing by Clarington, but not enough for her to catch up- meanwhile in polling, Nelzer’s lead growing, Houser catching up to Rosenthal
PERSONSBORO- The final debate showed discussion on the bigger issues such as infrastructure and military.
Clarington gained a lot of support on the military side- despite standing by her controversial 85% standing military reduction, she did express, for the first time, support for Katherine Nelzer’s drastic increase in cybersecurity measures and incorporating them under the military umbrella. “I don’t think Freedemia is threatened by actual physical military forces. We’ve pretty much successfully stayed out of combat for our entire lifespan as a country. But our lack of cybersecurity protections is a real threat that could destroy everything we’ve worked so hard for over the years. I’d be happy to have a large military if that military was focused on protecting our country in the digital age.”
Clarington even had something to add herself: “I’d feel it would be a good idea to also look into the threat of biowarfare and medical threats like viruses that could be spread by enemies. I don’t think it would be in our military persay, but it could be a major part.” Nelzer wholeheartedly agreed with the biowarfare consideration.
OGN World News Center 