October 4381Manningham-Buller is not Mordusia, Bachelot tells Olympic criticsLiberal Union leader and Minister of Justice Henri Bachelot has hit out at critics of Mordusia both in the
Valruzian National Olympic Committee and the
Terran Olympic Committee, accusing them of "conflating Manningham-Buller and the Mordusian Olympic authorities as though they are somehow the same thing, when that could hardly be further from the truth". He went on:
Manningham-Buller is a racist extremist, a bigot who represents nobody but himself and his small gang of supporters. He does not represent the Mordusian government, he does not represent the Mordusian National Olympic Committee, he does not represent the City of Rechtenburg and he damn well doesn't represent the Mordusian people.
Whilst his behaviour and his comments are deplorable, they should not be construed as being anything more than they are. The Terran Olympic Committee and the Valruzian National Olympic Committee have both, in the government's view, misunderstood and over-reacted to this incident.
I hope we can all now focus on making the 4390 Winter Olympics in Rechtenburg the best show that it can possibly be. As a country, it is a great honour for us to be hosting this, and we are determined to make it an exciting and memorable occasion.
Responding to comments made by Jerzy Strzembosz, President of the Valruzian National Olympic Committee, about hosting the Winter Olympics in Trigunia instead of Mordusia, Finance Minister Sylvaine Linville commented:
I find this a deeply unhelpful comment to make. The decision to host the Winter Olympics in Rechtenburg has already been made. Rechtenburg is well-prepared for the event, and I've no doubt at all we are going to have a great Olympics. However, I should point out that if the Terran Olympic Committee was foolish enough to cancel this for no good reason, then we would have a responsibility to go down the legal avenue, and seek substantial financial compensation. A lot of investment - from the government, from the private sector, from the voluntary sector - has gone into preparing for Rechtenburg Olympics. A lot of investment, a lot of planning. You can't just cancel something like that without there being any consequences.
Bachelot bores MPs with 5 hour defence of republicanismMPs listening to Henri Bachelot's expounding upon the the principles and merits of republicanismHenri Bachelot has delivered a marathon 5 hour speech, attempting to talk out a
bill to install Alexander Steuart-Carmichael as King of Mordusia. Many MPs could be visibly seen becoming bored, and others left the chamber altogether. One of his opponents accused him of "giving this House the most boring speech it has had to endure for the last 40 years" and of "trying to bore this bill to death".
Bachelot endorses electoral alliance with Socialists and Green LeftHenri Bachelot has thrown his support behind his party's electoral alliance with the Socialist Party and Green Left, declaring that "the progressive forces in this country need to work together and stand together" and that "we cannot risk this country sliding backwards again, we must not risk another Mordusia First-style takeover of our government and our democratic institutions".
Some of his more right-wing MPs are known to be uncomfortable with the strategy, with one telling us privately:
We risk losing out distinctiveness by being a part of this. People vote liberal for old-fashioned liberalism. I don't want my voters thinking if they vote for me, what they'll get is socialism.
National Movement "may endorse Unity and Hosian Social Union candidates in certain contests"The controversial far-right organisation, the National Movement, has released a statement saying that at the election, it "may endorse candidates for Unity and the Hosian Social Union, in cases where we feel those candidates are closely aligned with nationalist values and aspiration". Although the National Movement is not expected to field candidates of its own at the next election, it does have significant support in some parts of the country, where it could potentially exert influence on the results.