Trigunia

[Aquinas]

June 4209

TLA seizes power, bans Metzists, restores constitutional democracy

Following the seizure of more parts of the country and the defection of more sections of the military, the government in Petrograd has surrendered to the forces of the Trigunian Liberation Army (TLA). The TLA responded by immediately banning the main left-wing party, the Trigunian Communist Party, but agreed to leave the constitution intact and respect Trigunia's status as a constitutional democracy.

With order restored, some calm has been restored to everyday life, and the financial markets have begun to settle somewhat. However, even the most optimistic observer could not fail to note that Trigunia has been through a very rough period, and that her economy has been severely battered. Unemployment remains high, especially youth unemployment, and inflation is still in double-digit numbers. Trigunia's famous economist, Katina Lesya Yurievna, has predicted it "could easily take 5 years until Trigunia's GDP returns to its pre-recession level".


Rodshyan-Hulstrian clashes in Ekaterinoslav

Riots have broken out in the deprived outer suburbs of Ekaterinoslav, mainly between Rodshyan (OOC: Russian) and Hulstrian (OOC: Austrian) youths. There were 34 arrests, 6 people were taken to hospital and an estimated half a million rabols damage was caused to property. Local community leaders are blaming the problems on both a lack of police funding and a lack of opportunities for young people, especially in terms of finding jobs.

[Aquinas]

Hit TV show reflects popular unease over rise in Dorvish influence, says sociologist

[Aquinas]

Trigunian monarchy basks in popularity of Professor What

[TheTsar]

Emperor reveals his views on Professor What

[Aquinas]

January 4209

Trigunian leader reassures Dorvik

Trigunian Chief Minister Radoslav Dragunin has written to his Dorvish counterpart, Joachim von Desidier, to reassure him that:

Trigunia sees Dorvik as a friend and an important partner, not as an enemy or a rival. We see a strong Dorvik as in our interests, and similarly, Dorvik should see a strong Trigunia as in its interest. Our two nations have a history of a long and positive relationship. To give some recent examples, we are working with Dorvik to achieve its goal of establishing a new international financial institution to steer the world to economic recovery, and we are also currently supporting Dorvik's bid to become an elected member of the Security Council.

There are a tiny minority amongst us with strange and hostile ideas, but they do not represent Trigunia and they do not represent the Trigunian people. They represent only themselves. We should not pay too much attention to them.

Speaking to the press later, Dragunin said he understood "some of the hurt and misunderstanding that has been caused by the Professor What show" but resisted calls to ban it, saying "Trigunia is a country where we generally allow artistic expression, even when it is not to everybody's taste". He did, however, specifically say that he felt a recent episode of the show was "irresponsible and unhelpful".

Dragunin will hope his words will have gone some way to soothe Dorvish irritation, but most commentators are recognising that there has been a growth in anti-Dorvish feeling in Trigunia, even amongst some of Dragunin's fellow Conservative Party parliamentarians. Part of this is thought to come from resentment at the prominence of Hulstrians (akin to the Dorvish) in the upper reaches of the Trigunian army, civil service and business sector, and part of it is also thought to stem from an increasing perception that internationally speaking, Dorvik's star has risen whilst Trigunia's has faltered.

[Aquinas]

Trigunian GDP "will take at least 5 years to return to pre-recession level", warns Yurievna

[Aquinas]

Trigunia to boycott next Terravision Song Contest in protest at Better Times to Come

[Aquinas]

May 4211

Dragunin loses power, blasts Kadets for "jeopardising our economic recovery with radical socialism"

Trigunian leader and Conservative Party boss Radoslav Dragunin has narrowly lost power after a General election which saw his party with 294 seats, compared to 306 for the Kadets. He conceded graciously, thanking his supporters for their help, whilst congratulating the Kadets on their victory and wishing them good fortune.

However, within days of the election, conservatives have been recoiling in horror as the new government has taken steps to reverse measure after measure of the free market reforms introduced under Dragunin. Plans are already being proposed to re-impose a maximum salary cap, increase the top rate of income tax from 30% to 50%, re-nationalise large sectors of the agricultural economy, scrap tuition fees, introduce full subsidisation of public transport, reintroduce housing rent controls and reduce the age of retirement from 70 to 60. Dragunin has criticised the policies as "full-blown Metzism" and "wildly more expensive than anything we can reasonably afford", warning that "this left-wing government is jeopardising our economic recovery with radical socialism".

A number of prominent figures in Trigunia's business community have echoed Dragunin's concerns, warning the new government's policies risk undermining international confidence in the economy.

Trigunia's famous economist Katina Lesya Yurievna has also expressed her concern, saying "frequent and radical shift in government policy after each election from left to right, like we have had in Trigunia in recent years, is destabilising and doesn't help anybody". However, she said she was "not entirely pessimistic about the new government", arguing that "what will be really important is the government's basic economic competence, both in terms of running the things it is meant to be running, and in ensuring levels of aggregate demand are maintained at an appropriate level".

Nikita Pasternak, the right-wing nationalist who directs the controversial Professor What and the Dorvleks TV drama series, had previously vowed to leave the country if the Kadets were elected. However, since the election he has changed his mind, saying "as a true patriot, I can't bring myself to leave - I have to stay here and fight for what I believe in". There is now an online petition signed by 5 million people asking the new government to exile him.

[TheTsar]

Речь Народа
FYODOR NIKITIN DECLARES INTENTIONS BEFORE THE IMPERIAL PRESIDIUM
Duke Fyodor Nikitin, effectively already Prime Minister, has spoken in front of the Imperial Presidium declaring his intentions to "lower defence spending and increase agriculture, infrastructure and industry spending in order to open more jobs for our citizens" as well as "nationalising failing industries to keep the jobs". When asked by a Conservative Party member about the national debt, he replied "debt is necessary to keep our economy from collapsing now, and after the crisis, we can return to a surplus budget to pay it off". Another Conservative asked about the new taxation system, to which he received a stern reply, "our citizens should be more or less equal in their incomes, otherwise harsh inequality comes, and to prevent that, His Honour, Baron Soloviev and I have decided to introduce these policies in order to bring the incomes of the lower classes and the upper classes to a close margin". However, the reforms and promises of the Kadets remain highly controversial, and we have never seen the Kadets take such a left-wing stance before. Let us hope that this all pays off.

Nikitin before the Presidium

[Aquinas]

May 4212

Let World Congress investigate Trigunian Civil War atrocities, demand rights activists

The Trigunian Civil Liberties Association (TCLA) has launched a campaign calling on the government to invite "a team of independent and qualified investigators, under the auspices of the World Congress" to conduct "a full investigation into human rights abuses which took place during the Trigunian Civil War".

The civil war, which finally came to an end about 3 years ago, saw the Trigunian Liberation Army (TLA), supported by the Tsar and many sections of the military, successfully overthrow the regime. At the end of the war, they banned the Communist Party, but then reintroduced a democratic system of government with a constitutional monarchy.

Most observers agree that so far as civil wars go, the recent one in Trigunia was remarkably and mercifully bloodless, largely because the amount of actual fighting was limited, since government forces quickly folded as it became clear they were not strong enough to put up serious resistance. However, there are reports of abuses being committed by both sides, both against captured prisoners of war and civilian populations.


Communist Party First Secretary Leonidovych Tverdokhlib, believed to have been executed by the TLA

The most high-profile war crime allegations surround the TLA's treatment of leading Communist Party politicians and their families. A great many claims have been made with regards to arbitrary executions, beatings, torture and unlawful seizure of property.

By far the most notorious incident involves the sudden disappearance of 67 Communist prisoners in the final months of the war, including the last Communist Party leader, Leonidovych Tverdokhlib, and a number of Communist ex-ministers as well. The last evidence of them being alive is when they were all being held in a prison in eastern Petrograd. According to claims that are now emerging, the local TLA commander ordered their mass execution after a false alarm was raised that the area was about to come under assault from pro-Communist militas.

The bodies of "the 67", as they have become known, have never been recovered. Their families, along with Trigunian civil liberties activists and Trigunian Communists who fled abroad, have joined together to campaign for an investigation to provide them with more answers as to what happened.

Conservative Party leader Radoslav Dragunin has dismissed calls for an investigation, arguing "this could all too easily turn into a witch-hunt" and "we need to steer clear of vengeance and recriminations, and focus on healing and on the future". The civil war is a difficult subject for many Trigunians, but is especially tricky for the Conservative Party, which was split between the two sides during the conflict. Dragunin and the party leadership remained loyal to the government, but a number of leading Conservatives supported the TLA. Those who supported the TLA were expelled from the party, but in a spirit of reconciliation, most were readmitted after the conflict came to an end.

Svetlana Utkin of the Trigunian Civil Liberties Association has commented:

I do understand why Dragunin and many other political leaders are wary of investigating the recent past, because there has been so much hurt and so much bitterness over what happened. It is a mistake, though, to presume that some kind of "Pact of Forgetting", of pretending none of this happened, is going to allow us to move on as a nation. I don't think we will be able to heal until we honestly confront what happened. Also, remember the pain is very, very real for a lot of people. A lot of people lost loved ones, and in many cases, they still do not know the full story of what happened to them. In an awful lot of cases, the bodies haven't even been found.

There are very, very highly-placed people serving today in the army, the police, the civil service, the judiciary and politics who have the answers, who know the things that happened and who know where the bodies are buried. What I'm saying is, we've got to get these people to speak, to tell the truth. Otherwise there will be no closure for the families of the victims.

Utkin did not mention that according to some rumours, Tsar Nikolay and those close to him are amongst those concealing information relating to these matters. We could also point out she has not mentioned reports that parts of the Terran Patriarchal Church may have been complicit in abuses committed against communists. In particular, there are several allegations of Communists being dragged off to monasteries, where the monks kept them prisoner and starved them to death. Some campaigners are suggesting this is one of the reasons why, so far, the political establishment has resisted calls to set up an investigation. In Trigunia, both the monarchy and the Terran Patriarchal Church are very powerful and respected institutions which it can be difficult to criticise.


Dragunin leads protests against defence cuts

Conservative Party leader Radoslav Dragunin has led a 60,000 crowd of protesters on a march through central Petrograd to demonstrate against the government's plans to halve defence spending. In a keynote speech to supporters, he called the armed forces "the pride of Trigunia, which not only ourselves, but all peace-loving people in Terra depend upon for their security". He called the proposed cuts "grossly irresponsible" and accused the government of "jeopardising our nation's standing in the world".