(RNN) ― As of yesterday, former Diplomacy Minister Swedes and Geats, better known as MNI, came out on Discord proclaiming the stress of real life events were negatively effecting his ability to serve as the region's Diplomacy Minister. He then announced that he was stepping down as the head of the Diplomacy Ministry, a position he was just elected for. In his place, Swedes made Saariset the new Diplomacy Minister at last minute notice. The Atlantican government wished Swedes good fortune in his future endeavors while welcoming Saariset's ascension to the role.
Following this however, criticism on the Diplomacy Ministry's reshuffle began intensifying as several senators have lined up to draft a bill to clarify government succession. The cabinet-tier Ministers are tasked with and centered around the operation of the region, while the Senate makes the rules and regulations for the government. Having lost one of the Ministers affects how the government will operate, and now Prime Minister Riost will have a new Diplomacy Minister to get accustomed to. Questions on how this will impact foreign relations with embassy regions has already started, as well as if Saariset, the former House of Delegates Speaker, is able to fill the vacancy that Swedes has left and become one of the most transformative Diplomacy Ministers since Norrizi occupied the post. Currently the Atlantican Senate is in the beginning stages of writing a bill defining succession in the Ministries. The current author of the bill is Liberal Democrat Sen. Brachiosauraus, who came up with the idea with the help and aid of Activist Senator Nydaymos. The bill is said to contain an article that deputies may take their Minister's role if they step down with the approval of simple majority from the senate. But, if they do not get simple majority it will trigger a by-election that will last no more than a day so the office isn't left vacant for a long period of time. RNN's Brachiosauraus contributed to this report.
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(OPINION) ― As the Founder of the New Western Atlantic and the regional Constructive party I have experienced and witnessed the politics of this region for roughly three years now, and things weren't always the way they are now. Dating back to when I was in the Empire of Oppression, our sister region, parties didn't even exist. But after some time I started mulling over the possibility of creating a political party, and after pitching the idea to an acquaintance he concurred that the idea was reasonably sound. After an hour of discussion, he and I settled on the idea of creating a right-leaning political party and titling it as the 'Constructive' party. Within a month the party controlled the entire cabinet and the Prime Minister was also a registered member of the party, political dominance by a single party that has never been achieved up until the recent Atlantican general election.
That was two years ago, and elections in the region have since been extraordinarily close and marginal victories are frequent such as when Riost prevailed by two votes over Bergonnia in the July Prime Minister election or when Thornian eked out a .91% win over Activist challenger O-Broki. Although even more recently, the Activists certainly have improved their standing in regional politics as they enjoy a double-digit lead in party registration as well as a 37% to 26% lead over the Constructivists in party preference polling. Last Fall however, the Constructivists led the Activists by 35% to 27% and consequently made pickups in the cabinet and even handed Rheta, leader of the Liberal Democrats, a defeat in the Justice Minister election. Granted, politics in the region was more conservative then and as time has progressed the region's immigration has resulted in a significantly larger and more diverse electorate. Naturally, that chipped away at the right's advantage in registration and led to the closely contested elections that the region has witnessed this past year. The Constructivists handed the Activists defeat in the senate midterm election back in September, albeit barely. The party was unable to capitalize on that senate victory as their Prime Minister candidate received a dismal four percent as he was plagued by a corruption scandal that also involved the Liberal Democratic and Regional Front candidates, respectively. The Constructivists also witnessed their share of the vote fall to just above 25% of the vote in the senate election, an eight point drop from the 33% they received in the midterm. Meanwhile the Activists went from 32% to slightly above 38%, becoming the largest vote total ever received by a party in a senate election. The Liberal Democrats saw virtually no change as they garnered nearly 19% of the vote, up only .8%, and took third place. What's interesting from these results is that the Activists increased by six points from the Fall senate election, a number that almost identically matches the seven point drop by the Constructivists. The shift in the vote totals shouldn't be overlooked, and it's worth noting that the Activists received almost as many votes as the Constructivists and Liberal Democrats combined. Numbers aside though, there is one thing that has been neglected during this post-election conversation― ideology. When the Constructivists were founded, it was a slightly right of center party that consisted of individuals such as Kyro, Trade Federations and myself. Those three all have one thing in common: centrism, or at the very least, pragmatism. Activists often quip that Kyro or myself would not survive in today’s Constructive party, and some would enter a state of shock if they looked into some of our views that would be considered too left for the party. Trade Federations is on the verge of being shoved out the door by the hard right constructivists not only for his apparent lack of activity, but because of his more pragmatic and moderate political views. Furthermore, Trade Federations is almost out of place in the Constructive party and is actually more in line with the modern Liberal Democrats. This can be seen with how well he and Bergonnia get along, including when both worked together in the Senate as well as during the Becklana v. Trade Federations trial. Amongst the wider populace however, the Constructive chairman is quite popular and well-liked. In fact, he was the only Constructivist to outpoll Prime Minister Riost in a hypothetical matchup. In that poll, he actually siphons nearly half of the Liberal Democratic vote, which further highlights how his views are more suitable for the Liberal Democrats than the modern Constructivists. The Constructivists did manage to be somewhat of a big tent party not too long ago as even Chief Justice New Danican, who is a progressive in his politics, was briefly registered in the party before completely withdrawing from party politics. However the party's base has, by and large, swung to the right and it even forced Kyro to become an Activist before he decided to hang it all up and leave NationStates altogether over a year ago. As the Constructivists have swung rightward, the Liberal Democrats have followed almost identically in their footsteps. Once a social liberal party has now became center right, and this is proven as several disaffected Constructivists, most notably Dependants and Rahambia, switched their party registration to Liberal Democratic. Even today, Senator Dukna (LBD) declared that he would prefer a coalition with the Constructivists and even the Regional Front if it meant keeping the Activists or the Democratic Socialists out of government. This comes only three months after Liberal Democratic Chairman Rheta ruled out any sort of formal coalition with the hard right Regional Front during the coalition talks between the Constructivists and the Liberal Democrats, even going as far to call some of their proposed policies "abhorrent" and a "spit in the face" to the region. Were it not for the fact that the Liberal Democrats are ideologically diverse and lack a singular ideology; he too would be out of place for the party. Which for all intents and purposes, Rheta is more in line with the Activists than his own party. Fortunately for him, the one thing the party seems to be in total agreement on is that he's a good chairman. But one thing is for certain, the center right territory that was essentially vacated by the Constructivists has all but been filled by the Liberal Democrats' drift to the right. The Activists have just came off the heels of an election victory that saw them retain Prime Minister while making gains in the ministries and flipping control of the senate. While this is an achievement and is nothing short of remarkable, it's worth noting that their success was bolstered by the coupling of an ideological center that's been abandoned by the Liberal Democrats and a Constructive party that's in near disarray. The Activist party finds itself in an interesting state in that while its manifesto appeals to progressives, social democrats and socialists alike, the way in which they've governed the region is very much centrist and third way-esque. They managed to secure a plurality of unaffiliated voters as well as a fifth of the Liberal Democratic vote in the senate election, and an even higher share of it in the Prime Minister election. The Activists have all but become what the Liberal Democrats were, and it helped carry them to their victory in the general election. While I concede that diversity and immigration partially contribute to the Activist surge over these past several months, party appearance is likely the most important factor. It's widely agreed that the leadership and caucus unity in the party is like none other, and their pragmatic approach in governance has helped them shore up votes across the spectrum. While mostly hailing from the center and the left, they also managed to get a stamp of approval from Communications Minister Thornian, a rightist who converted to the Activists following his successful reelection. The Constructivists can rebound and take back control of government; however the solution is not simple, and stopping this shift will not be easy. Merely changing the party that occupies the senate or is Prime Minister will not reverse the current drift in party politics, but only can the base of the opposition party if they want to be competitive next election and chip away at the ever-expanding Activist voter bloc. The alternative is the erosion of competitive democracy in the region, and that's good for no one― save perhaps the Activists. RNN's UDR contributed to this opinion piece. (RNN) — The political makeup of the Senate is set to change again as the Activists are currently enjoying a double-digit lead over the governing Constructivists, this comes only three months after the Constructivists rallied late to overcome the Activists by a single vote during the Fall midterm election. While the previous election was contested between the Activists and the Constructivists, this senate election seems to be mirroring the recent Prime Minister and cabinet races where the Activists outperformed expectations that were already leaning in their favor. When the polls close in just under 24 hours, the Activists will find themselves with a strong mandate to govern as they'll be the largest party in the Senate. However they will be three seats shy of an outright majority, and thus are expected to open coalition talks with any of the three minor parties. It is worth noting that the Activists need only 10 seats in the senate in order to govern on their own, for the Deputy Prime Minister is an Activist and will presumably back the Activist agenda and their caucus. Possible coalition scenarios can be found below: Activist/Liberal Democratic Parties: 2 Expected Seats: 7 + 4 = 11 Type: Minimum Winning Coalition Activist/Social Equality Parties: 2 Expected Seats: 7 + 2 = 9 Type: Connected Coalition (Minority) Activist/Liberal Democratic/Social Equality Parties: 3 Expected Seats: 7 + 4 + 2 = 13 Type: Oversized Coalition Activist/Constructive Parties: 2 Expected Seats: 7 + 5 = 12 Type: Grand Coalition While it is assumed that the Activists will end up in the majority, there is one plausible coalition that could keep the Constructivists in power. While unlikely, it would consist of an arrangement between the Constructivists, Liberal Democrats and the Regional Front. Those three parties together would cobble up 11 seats, the bare minimum for a ruling majority. Although the Liberal Democrats have stated in the past that they believe the party that received the most votes, and that party alone, have the mandate to govern. And in this case, it's the Activists that have received the most votes. The current election results can be found below, or by using this link. RNN's UDR contributed to this report.
(RNN) — Headed by recently reelected Hevern, the Justice Ministry has announced numerous indictments on accounts of collusion, bribery, corruption, and along with one account of violating legislative resolution 51. Those indicted include three candidates for Prime Minister; Silver Eagles, Trump and Pence, and Russian Empire. The Chairman of the unrecognized Royalist Reform Party (RRP), Nydaymos, was also charged along with former RRP co-Chairman and Prince-consort Josh. Silver Eagles has publicly announced that he is willing to testify against the known collaborators in exchange for outright dismissal of all charges against him, and T&P is also reportedly willing to testify in exchange for a lessened punishment. According to sources close to RNN; a deal was struck by Sen. Trump and Pence and Prince-consort Josh that included Silver Eagles, Russian Empire and Nydaymos. The arrangement allegedly consisted of the Royalist Reform Party voting against Riost and backing his presumed second round opponent-- whether that be Silver Eagles, T&P, or Russian Empire. In exchange, whomever went on to become Prime Minister would veto L.R. 51, a bill that curbed Josh's influence over political parties, would push for a regional military (and appointing Josh and South-East Anty, both registered Royalist members, as the head of said military), requiring all citizens to pass a test in order to obtain citizenship, and publicly crediting the Royalist Party for all of these in order to make for good PR. Sen. Trump and Pence is reportedly willing to testify against Prince-consort Josh for his involvement in the collusion case. Additionally, he is willing to testify that Josh was in direct violation of L.R. 51, which prohibits the Monarchy from being involved in a political party's leadership, due to acting as the head of the Royalist Party during the conversation that resulted in a deal between the two parties involved. Silver Eagles took to the Discord to voice his opinion, stating that "[Trump and Pence] is an opportunist, a good guy, but an opportunist" Former Constructive Senator Dependants also responded to the allegations, and concurred with Justice Minister Hevern on his assessment saying . . . "A deal with so many people is stupid anyway, it's never guaranteed... also it's against the law as it only takes one to fess up and everyone comes crashing down." Nydaymos allegedly messaged Hevern and offered the same deal to the Activists, but he declined and stated that the offer borders on corruption and collusion. The Justice Minister went on record to respond to the public's interest in the case, he said the following . . . "Collusion is wrong regardless of who does it. This case involves leftists and rightists alike." The official case that was lodged can be found below, or by using this link. RNN's UDR contributed to this report.
OPINION: It should come as a surprise to precisely nobody when I say that NWA's parties have a limited grip on what they actually want. Party members are, in effect, always granted a free vote on any policy, and on any candidates up for election. This severely undermines the purpose of having a political party. If members have no coherent ideology and don’t form a reliable voting bloc, what does it mean to be a party, besides a tribalistic badge?
The Royalist Reform Party (RRP) offers a solution to this issue. If the party lives up to its aims, no longer will all party manifestos be largely irrelevant declarations that the party cannot even convince its own members of. The RRP expects its members to vote in line with the party’s aims and be active participants in its internal politics. In return, it offers the functions of a true political party; it aims to provide regular party updates on its policies and progress, political training and opportunities for members, real policy results through forming objective based alliances with the other parties, and most of all, a coherent movement towards clearly laid-out reforms. The RRP, notably, has declared itself willing to work with any party which will assist it in enhancing the region. To the casual observer, this may sound like the traditional Liberal Democrat policy of tagging along with the largest party in a coalition, where the large party entirely dominates. The RRP, however, has higher aims. The new party wishes to be the legislative driving force behind any cooperative project, not to merely sit in the back seat approving of everything the driver steers towards. With these broad policies, the RRP sets itself apart from the catch-all and limited control main parties in the region, the Activists and the Constructivists. With two radically different strategies, it remains to be seen whether the new blood of NWA’s old-blood dominated system will prevail in gaining the reforms they seek. One hopes, however, that they will offer a fresh and exciting take on the region’s politics. RNN's Josh contributed to this report. OPINION -- It is no joke nowadays that when traveling to places like America or Europe, you will always find protests either about racism, homophobia, etc, and a large player in all these protests are politics. When I was younger and you asked me what a right winger or a left winger was, I would have had no clue. Being perhaps I am from a country whose media focuses on what is going on inside the country's borders rather than beyond it. The only time it would really report about world news is if something major happened like 9/11 or the still ongoing war in Afghanistan.
What got me interested in politics was only until about two years ago when the rich man who made a fortune running golf courses and constructing big hotels across the world announced he was running for presidency. Yes, it's a little cliché, but what can you say, most people did not really care for politics as much until the U.S. elections. I am not sure about how most people saw politics in America, but I think my statement stands true when asking a few people in public if they were worried about the Soviet Union only to be replied to with "Soviet Union? What in God's name is that? I don't remember any country called the Soviet Union." But in today's society people do give a damn about what is happening in the world. Every night at 6:00, at least one of the top news stories on TV would be about something to do with Donald Trump. In fact, earlier this year in a small town up north a 'proud Trump supporter' told a Muslim woman that she "don't belong here" and called them "f**king Muslim b***he's", something no one would have ever seen here in New Zealand before. That brings me to the other subject getting people interested in politics, Islamophobia, from all the recent terrorist attacks in Paris and Brussels most people get the fact that the people doing the damage are from the middle east and they don't want Muslims in their country; other wise they could be a terrorist. This sort of Islamophobia has since trickled onto the minds of a select few on NationStates, as well as a few Atlanticans that I will not name. RNN's Sozland contributed to this report. (RNN) -- Last night there was dispute on the regional Discord server. Struberria and Bergonnia engaged in a back-and-forth which exceeded 30 minutes in a private government channel. RNN was able to gain exclusive access to the chat and watch what was going on. A strong language of coarse words were used in what was dubbed "everyone's favourite fight of the century." At the early hours of the morning at around 4:00AM EST. Struberria and Bergonnia were debating about the power of their influence in the region until things got 'nasty', Struberria and other nations in the servers voice-chat with him such as The Silver Eagles, Sozland, and King UDR were agreeing with Struberria as he disputed Bergonnia, until eventually joining Struberria in taunting and making fun of Bergonnia. Thornian began to agree with Bergonnia, and eventually tried to bring up the rules of the region by calling the argument "A breach of our constitution". Struberria would usually come out with harsh language towards Bergonnia at once telling Bergonnia, "Don't f**k with me". Silver Eagles taunted Bergonnia asking him "Why are you so salty?" and, "We promise to be LGBTQSEJS friendly" bringing the LGBTQI community into the argument. Soon internet memes were made by Silver Eagles and Sozland pictured below: RNN's Sozland contributed to this report.
(RNN) — Former interim Surveillance Minister and current Senator, Struberria, has been nominated by Prime Minister Riost to fill a vacancy on the High Court. This comes just days after the Senate approved the King's proposed High Court expansion by a wide margin. The expansion now brings the High Court to five justices in total, up from previously three.
Struberria's nomination is generally approved of as a majority of residents have voted in favor of his confirmation, although a significant amount are lining up to oppose him. Regional Front Deputy Chairman, Northern Timena, had this to say about the nomination . . . " Love how Strubberia drops out of the race against Riost and then bam! Riost appoints him as a judge... seems a bit sketchy... It's even more suspicious because no notice... that this poll has been active, it makes it look like the government is trying to hide something. " Northern Timena's unverified assertion that the government is trying to suppress turnout and somehow hide the poll, which is publicly visible on the region's page, garnered a response from the King himself . . . " Court nominations have always been conducted this way, I'm not going to send out a telegram when the poll is literally on the region's page. If this is an accusation that I am trying to suppress turnout then frankly I don't want to hear it. There is no underlying political scheme here, so enough with the subtle insinuations that I'm trying to skew the results. It's getting very tiresome. " Within a few hours of the rumor spreading, Activist Chairman and Justice Minister Hevern gave an address in the message board in order to put the "conspiracy" to rest once and for all . . . " Following the claims that there is a political favor going on here, I figured that it'd be only appropriate to address these unsubstantiated claims and rumors. Prime Minister Riost came to me for advice on who he should select as he values my input as the Justice Minister, which plays an essential role in our region's court system. I gave him a short list of individuals who I believe to be capable of serving on the High Court. And yes, Struberria was on that list. The reason I put him on the list is because he has experience in not only government, but on a court as well... You may not care for Struberria's temperament at times and you may not even like his progressive-leaning politics, but one thing is for certain: he has experience to be a justice. The baseless claim from the right wing of this region that this is some sort of political favor is a bit preposterous, Struberria himself said that he would back Riost as Prime Minister even if he lost the Activist nomination... So to those who are shocked that Struberria is supporting the Activist nominee for Prime Minister are just not up to speed with this region's politics, I made it clear on numerous occasions in the Discord server that our party will unite around our nominee; regardless of whether that person was Riost, Struberria, or anyone else. Struberria did ultimately suspend his campaign, but he mentioned nothing about asking for a court seat in return for his decision. And that's important for you to know as I could have easily not placed his name on the Prime Minister's short list for high court appointees, but I put Struberria's name on that list because I personally believe he's a good person for the spot. It was not because of a political favor, so let's put this conspiracy to rest as it just isn't true. " RNN's Trade Federations contributed to this report. (RNN) — Incumbent Communications Minister and declared candidate for the Constructive Party's Prime Minister nomination has suspended his bid, this comes weeks after he became the presumed favorite to win the nomination. In a hypothetical general election matchup against Prime Minister Riost however, a recent RNN poll showed that a race between the two would be very close as the incumbent Prime Minister led by only two points.
In an on-the-record interview with RNN, Thornian stated that he would not be running for the Constructive party's nomination. He noted that he believed he could run competitively with Riost, and perhaps even defeat him, but conceded that prevailing in a three-way primary race against Sen. Trump and Pence (CON) and Roleplay Director Russian Empire (CON) would be difficult. Although he is dropping out of the race, Thornian made it clear that he would not remain silent during the Constructive party's primary election. Thornian went on to say that he encourages and endorses Calponia's candidacy for the Constructive nomination, furthermore he stated the following about the two already-declared Constructive candidates ... "I don't think T&P nor Russian [Empire] have the capacity to run for the Constructivists. " Thornian even doubled-down on his support for Calponia by stating that he hopes " T&P and Russian lose the primaries ". This comes as a shock as Calponia has not even been mentioned in the race for Prime Minister, but if he announces his intention to run in the primary then he would be considered the dark horse candidate as he is one of the more popular members within the party as well as the New Western Atlantic at-large. Calponia's support will likely stem from Thornian's base as both appeal to the more mainstream center-right portion of the party, this is in stark contrast to the more populist sect that is overwhelmingly backing Trump and Pence's bid for Prime Minister. If Calponia is able to seize on this momentum and fill the void that Thornian has left; then the road to becoming Prime Minister is now wide open as Calponia could hand the Activists defeat in the Winter General Election, provided that he is able to secure the Constructive nomination first. (RNN) — Reports began surfacing that the populist right wing Regional Front, or RF, was considering a merge with the mainstream right leaning Constructive party. The previous Regional Front candidate for Prime Minister, Silver Eagles, went in to the region's Discord server and addressed the rumors saying that the Regional Front is "...merging with the CONs now".
Leader of the center left Activist party, Hevern, reached out to the leader of the Liberal Democrats, Rheta, in order to discuss the presumable party merger between the two right leaning political parties. After the meeting between the two, Hevern declared that he had brokered a deal with Rheta that would consist of the Liberal Democrats cutting off their current coalition with the Constructive party in the senate and would look to the Activists to form a governing coalition. After the Liberal Democrats threatened to cut off the coalition with the Constructivists, and thus hand the legislature over to the Activists, leader of the senate and chairman of the Constructive party, Trade Federations, called out Silver Eagles on the region's Discord server for his denial that he started the party merge rumors. A back and forth between the two followed shortly thereafter . . . Trade Federations: " You originally said 'merging with Cons now' so don't backpedal now just because you've been caught with your pants down... Your run for PM lasted a whole week before you backed out because you realized that you had no support... Go back to your... RNP... You're washed up and always have been ever since you opposed UDR and Kyro back in the Empire of Oppression and then supported kicking everyone out of the... region... literally whatever you say people should ignore and do the EXACT opposite.... Hevern, you can have him now. I'm done with him. " Silver Eagles: " Oh so another NWA lowlife came out of his shell to vent. That's new " Former Pacific resident and N-Day martyr, Josephtan, eloquently responded to Trade Federations' response in one word . . . Josephtan: " DAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM " Trade Federations ultimately shot down the prospects of any sort of coalition as well as a potential merge between the Constructive and Regional Front parties, respectively. RNN's UDR contributed to this report. |
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