New Verham

[Rogue]

PAP elects another Mönkhdevshilist as leader
Baatrynsentii, New Verham
5th January 5487

The People's Action Party, following its disastrous electoral defeat last election, has elected yet another Mönkhdevshilist as their party leader in a close leadership election that saw Usun Bardam elected party leader. Bardam won the vote with 51% against Straußist candidate Ogele Baavgai his 49%. The PAP had been leaderless since the 5486 election, trying to lick its heavy electoral wounds. Following a post-election report and party meetings to discuss and process the defeat with party members, the party set on its journey to elect a new leader after 8 years of Sarnai leadership. In this election there was a clear question on the table, will the PAP continue its leftward trend on the back of Neo-Mönkhdevshilism or will it moderate and move back to the center with the Straußists. This question was answered with the election of Bardam, who won with the support of former president Sarnai and his allies fighting against a largely disunited center and center-right wing in the party. Bardam's election comes 4 years before the next general election, with Bardam pledging to "continue to work on our image, our platform and our respect for the founder of this nation."

Experts doubt whether this will be a good move by party membership however, as Sarnai was punished for his overly leftist policies. With yet another neo-Mönkhdevshilist at the helm of the party, the expectation is that the party will remain firmly in the hands of the left-wing faction, pushing away the centrists and Straußists. The new Kishiligh government meanwhile is polling extremely high, with increased foreign investments, deregulation of the economy and a push toward more exports are causing a incoming economic boom in the country, with a growthrate already sitting at 4.2% and expected to grow to 5% by next year. Unemployment, previously at 12%, has also shrunk to 8% as the private sector is scrambling to gain new personel amidst growing demand and favourable economic conditions. While inflation is something the government is closely watching (having risen to 5.1%) overall the economy is doing extremely well, thanks in large part due to Kishiligh his reforms. Whether a new, or rather old PAP could succesfully run against such a increasingly popular administration remains to be seen.

Medeeutas (Newswire; stylized as Medeeutas.) is a breaking news outlet available on both radio and television, with dispatches throughout Dovani.

[Rogue]

Policy on Sea of Carina crisis "effective", hurdles ahead
January 5th, 5487

The government its policies on the refugee crisis in the Sea of Carina are turning out to be effective, but there are still hurdles ahead. That is the conclusion of the Congressional Committee on the State of Refugees, which was tasked to evaluate the government its response to the crisis and give recommendations for the road ahead. Especially the help from both the Dual-republic as Lourenne have "significantly improved" the situation on the ground. The increased presence of the Home Guard and the construction of new "welcoming centers" have also allowed the government to proces more asylum seekers and also house them in "more dignified conditions then before." New Verham has so far processed nearly 220.000 applications since the crisis started, having accepted at least 95.000 and thus granting applicants of these requests asylum. Some of the remaining applications were transfered over to the Dual-republic or Lourenne, while a estimated 90.000 applications have been rejected. While the rejection rate is high, the government has also introduced a "no one left behind" policy, allowing the rejected asylum seekers to remain within the welcoming centers until the situation in their home country improves or until suitable places to stay are found within the region.

While the committee has thus been mainly positive, it has also issued a warning for possible hurdles ahead. Cooperation with Lourenne and the Dual-republic is welcomed, but "as long as the situation on the ground doesnt improve New Verham might be faced with a continuous stream of migrants of which the majority will not be housed in Lourenne or the Dual-republic." A vast majority of refugees apply for asylum in New Verham already, with only a small amount going to Lourenne and the Dual-republic under the signed agreements. Furthermore, the situation in specifically Mina has not improved, with smugglers allowed free reign as the central government is unable to impose control over its territory. The committee thus recommends working with regional partners to "find a permanent solution to the issue of human trafficking in the region", possibly hinting at operations to dismantle the smuggling networks. President Kishiligh thanked the committee for their work. When asked whether New Verham would consider military action to take on the Minese smuggler networks, the president refused to comment and went on to attend a meeting of the Grand Council of State.

in the moment is a Luthorian language, short-form news website specializing in rapid-fire coverage, with a focus on Dovani. Reporting on affairs throughout the continent, it has dispatches in several countries.

[Rogue]

Kurokanai: The Nurikai Development Bank has announced the launch of its own mobile banking app, the first domestic bank in New Verham to launch a mobile app for banking. The new app will be an extension of the already existing platform the NDB created for dekstop computers and laptops, which allows customers to login on their computer or laptop and view their current balance, their last transactions and allows them quick access to contact with the bank or receive/send funds to other accounts. With the introduction of the NDB Mobile App, an update will be rolled out for all platforms which will allow users to independently block their card, change the withdrawal/payment limits on their card and report their card stolen amongst other features concerning the card. The mobile app will have a new UI which should give customers the ability to view the "life" of their balance in one go, giving them a better picture of what comes in and out over a specific amount of time.

A new "analytics" tab has been added as a app only feature, allowing customers to view a wide range of data. This includes data on which categories you spend the most as well as data telling you when rent is due based on previous payments amongst many other data driven sheets to look at. The NDB spend a estimated 4 billion on the creation and rollout of the Mobile App, with another 200 million spend on updating the software for other platforms the bank already had rolled out. The mobile app combined with the dekstop/laptop platforms now give customers of the bank much more options to choose from or work with, with especially the new options to independently block/unblock cards and change other card settings valued during the testing of the app by a set of customers. With this rollout, the NDB seeks to be a "technology driven bank", while competitors in New Verham seem to still cling onto "old banking", giving customers limited options to handle banking affairs themselves and relying on physical locations to help customers with their banking matters.

NDB director Yeke Gugun praised his banks approach and numbers, citing NDB to be the "fastest growing bank in the country, fueled by technology." While other, international banks, also tend to offer options for mobile banking this is the first New Verhamese bank to offer this option, underlining the progress and growth of the sector as a whole thanks to major foreign investments in recent years. NDB currently is, as Gugun noted, the fastest growing bank in the country while currently being the 4th biggest as a whole. This is still behind the "old three" of the Rural Bank of New Verham, Federal Credit Union of Baatrynsentii and the Chuluunkhan Banking Corporation.


A promotional screenshot for the new NDB Mobile App
OOC: Source of the picture is not mine, source can be found by clicking the image

[Rogue]

VVP Loses majority for first time in history
Zuidervoort, New Verham
5th February 5489

For the first time since its existence the Vanukeaanse Volkspartij (VVP) has lost its absolute majority in the Legislative Council, facing its first every coalition negotiations since its formation. The party of newly elected leader Robbert-Jan Ensink won 67 seats, a loss of 10 compared to last election. Its majority was small following the last election, which saw third term incumbent first minister Jurre Bloemendal be elected to a last fourth term. With just a two seat majority Bloemendal, despite his experience, found it hard to maintain grip over a increasingly divided party. Mid-term, three of his lawmakers defected to Nationale Kracht following Bloemendal his refusal to call for a independence referendum. This left Bloemendal without a majority, forcing him to call an early election.

In this election, he stepped down as party leader, promising to stay on as first minister till a new government would be formed. Internal leadership elections saw the social democrat, Robbert-Jan Ensink, elected party leader during a fierce battle between the left, right and centre in the party. The internal struggles ensured that the candidate moved forward by Bloemendal, his own brother Sjang ten Bloemendal, lost against Ensink in a second round of voting with 62% to 39%. The subsequent election campaign was chaotic, as the VVP remained divided and visibly so, while oppossition parties smelled their chances and agressively campaigned against a century of VVP rule. When the end result was announced, it saw the VVP win its worst result since its founding and thus losing its absolute majority. The main oppossition Vanukeaanse-Verhamese Eeinheidspartij (VVEP) won 6 seats compared to the last election, ending up with 31 seats in total. Suprisingly the far-right Nationale Kracht was the big winner of the elections, winning 10 seats compared to the last election totalling 14 in total. While the VVP was hit hard, the national parties also lost a combined 10 seats to the local parties, clearly moving politics away from national politics.

The result will force Robbert-Jan Ensink to form a coalition government. The most obvious choice is the VVEP, which is a socially liberal political party advocating for greater ties with the national government and continuation of autonomy rather then independence. But it is still unclear whether Ensink seeks to continue the policy of coexistence or whether he seeks a independent line towards Baatrynsentii. Another option is forging a coalition with Vanukeaans Welzijn, a democratic socialist and metzist political party which is more pro-independence but less radical on this front then the Nationale Kracht. The NK seems to not be an option, with Ensink behind closed doors believing the party to be a danger to Vanukean autonomy if granted a seat in government. One thing is for sure, politics in the Republic have turned. Some would say for the better, but the VVP is likely licking its wounds and adapting to the new reality with grieve these coming years.

Medeeutas (Newswire; stylized as Medeeutas.) is a breaking news outlet available on both radio and television, with dispatches throughout Dovani.

[Rogue]

The semi-presidential debate: future of New Verham?
June 17th, 5489

As the government of President Kishiligh enjoys a period of economic prosperity and high approval ratings, a new debate has gripped the political scene, brought forward by the president himself. New Verham, for quite a long time in the last 200 years, had been a weak semi-presidential republic, in that it had a weak prime minister with a dominant president above it. When Chuluun Sarnai took office some 11 years ago the country adopted new constitutional ammendments, moving the country towards its original presidential form by abolishing the office of Prime Minister. Back when the change was adopted, it was Kishiligh and his party that railed against it, believing it to be another attempt by the PAP to accumulate more power and leave the oppossition powerless. With the ULP now in power and Kishiligh president, the debate has returned, with Kishiligh now openly calling for a "true" semi-presidential republic in which the president has a large role as guardian of the constitution and overseer of the political process, but where the Prime Minister is the prime executive in day to day affairs and leads the Grand Council of State. Through this system, the oppossition would have a bigger say in governance and power would be more evenly distributed, while a new accompanied electoral system should serve as a way to guarentee greater representation for a wide variety of parties.

The ULP its coalition partner, the NVAK, has supported the idea, believing it to further the goal of preventing the PAP from gaining to much dominance in the future. But with these two parties alone the change cannot be made, as other parties now in oppossition should be in favour as well. Suprisingly, several Straußists have expressed support for the idea, with Gerhard Strauß being the person that initially introduced the weaker semi-presidential system in the past. This poses a dillema for the PAP, which is officialy against a change in the constitution but has to deal with Straußists openly supporting the idea. While it seems unlikely that a change this big can be made this term, many wonder if a major government victory in the upcoming general election could make the difference and move the country back to semi-presidentialism.

in the moment is a Luthorian language, short-form news website specializing in rapid-fire coverage, with a focus on Dovani. Reporting on affairs throughout the continent, it has dispatches in several countries.

[Rogue]

Kherlenhoroot: In the seaside city of Kherlenhoroot the navy is about to embark on one of its biggest projects in a decade. While still reeling from the effects of budget cuts, lack of training and the selling of a lot of equipment, the navy is about to finally experience some positive news following an announcement earlier today. Admiral Sarantsatsr Haubthof met with Minister of National Defense Kuchar Chagadai in a interdepartemental meeting meant to discuss the first naval purchase in nearly four decades. Currently, the navy only has one old and barely functioning Trigunian frigate at its disposal, combined with several thug boats and patrol boats to patrol its shores. The navy has been left with barely enough ammunition and funding to keep its meager forces intact. That is about to change however as the navy and national defense ministry have signed a agreement with their Lourennaise counterparts to purchase three Parmentier Class Frigates currently in reserve with the Lourennaise navy. The ships will be refitted, upgraded and send towards Kherlenhoroot in order to be manned by a New Verhamese crew.

The investment will be steep, especially for a Armed Force that has been left to scrape the barrel in recent years. President Kishiligh last year remarked that with the refugee crisis in the Sea of Carina and New Verham its growing role in regional politics, the state of the Verhamese National Security Forces needed to be examined and improved. It was therefor decided that slow but steady progress should be made on improving the VNSF, with a growing economy to back these improvements. The total cost of the purchase alone is believed to be hovering around two billion LFR while the additional training for the new crews and technical support in the first three years will cost another 500 million. The facilities at Kherlenhoroot will also have to be approved, with the national government having purchased three acres of additional land surrounding the naval facility in order to expand its fuel storage, engineering facilities and create a additional dock for one of the frigates. While the three ships would still make the VNSF navy relatively small, it will signficiantly increase its capabilities while at the same time allowing it to properly aid Dual-republican and Lourennaise naval forces in the Sea of Carina against smugglers and other potential threats.

Defense in Depth is a newspaper published throughout Dovani publishing on defense matters of importance

[Rogue]

Bannerhaffen: The Dovanian Council has purchased a 24 million worth residence in the city of Bannerhaffen, Dual-republic, to house its first ever diplomatic mission outside of Dovani. The mission was announced last week as the Dovanian Council seeks to set up a variety of such diplomatic missions in several major countries across terra in an effort to extend its diplomatic reach. The mission also serves as a neutral ground in case countries need one to hammer out diplomatic deals or lower tensions, with all DC member states allowed to use the residence for official visits or dealing with the Narik-Darnussian government. A permanent representative, representing all DC member states, will be residing in the building as well, meant as a central point of contact for the Dual-republic with DC member states. Preparations are currently being made for diplomatic staff to be transferred to the residence, with at least 32 New Verhamese diplomats, 30 Lourennaise diplomats and 20 for both Ostland and North Dovani to be assigned to the mission permanently.

Besides this new diplomatic turning point, the relationship between the Dual-republic and New Verham seems to improve by the day. As additional investments from the Dual-republic flood into New Verham it is New Verhamese companies smelling opportunity across the seas. Clothing brand Sokhatai, from famous fashion icon Dagasa Sokhatai, announced that it would open at least three of its "megastores" in the Dual-republic, with two in Darnussia and one in Narikaton. The brand has expanded within New Verham to now include 8 megastores, selling everything fashion related to its customers. With its expansion into a foreign market, the brand seeks to start its international journey. Dagasa stated that she is "thrilled" to expand into the Dual-Republic, viewing its domestic market as one with "great taste for fashion" and "eager to buy at our concept megastores just like New Verhamese consumers have proved they do."

The fastest growing bank in New Verham, Nurikai Development Bank, was another company announcing their expansion into the dual-republic, entering the market by investing into the new "Jorgen Island" project with a two billion investment. By doing so, it involves itself with a fast amount of other Dual-republican bussinesses. But it also announced a expansion of its regular activities into the republic, opening their first regional branch on the Artanian continent in Bannerhaffen. This new branch will serve as the regional HQ for the bank, allowing it to expand onto Artanian markets. It will bring with it the infrastructure of its mobile app and other banking platforms and is set to allow Dual-republican customers to open a bank account with the bank within 1 year of the bank moving into the country. The NDB will, with this move, become the first New Verhamese banks on foreign shores, likely to further speed up its efforts to become the largest bank in New Verham. Besides these two major New Verhamese companies its estimated that another 121 medium sized bussinesses have started doing bussiness in the Dual-republic, bringing back wealth and opportunity to the homeland by selling their goods in Narikaton-Darnussia and bringing back the capital accumulated from it. All in all, the economies of the two countries become more entangled by the day, with New Verham increasingly reaping the benefits of this relationship.

Ündesnii Sonin is a newspaper primarily circulating in the central provinces of New Verham. It focusses on a combination of business and political news

[Rogue]

Okin Tyekhnologi creates "National Economic Progress Agency" or NEPA in Xsampa
August 20th, 5489

New Verhamese technology startup Okin Tyekhnologi has announced that it has send a team of at least 100 engineers and developers to the Democratic Republic of Xsampa. It will create the National Economic Progress Agency together with a variety of state owned Xsampan companies and the Xsampan Ministry of Technology. The New Verhamese government will additionally send 40 advisors of its own to aid the project, which was largely kept secret till now. The new agency will be tasked with the creation of a new AI system meant to replace the current bureaucratic apparatus that plans the Xsampan economy. Okin Tyekhnologi has been a startup for the last 9 years, helping New Verhamese agencies improve their services with the help of AI tools. It is one of the first and most succesfull tech companies in a rapidly developing New Verham. In recent months, the Xsampan and New Verham governments started discussing the possibility of requesting the aid of Okin Tyekhnologi in attempting the creation of a one of a kind AI planning tool. This has now led to the creation of the NEPA, embarking on a technological wonder project.

If succesfull, NEPA could create the world's first AI driven economic management tool, which is hoped to replace the current Xsampan institutions tasked with controlling the state planned economy of the country. It is believed that through the use of a hyper advanced AI system, the economy could be planned more efficiently and see greater growth, without jeopardizing the core principles of the planned economy and the social benefits it brings. Seeing the limitations of the southern portion of the country, the NEPA will be focussed on the creation of a AI system aimed at the north of the country. It is the hope of the project leads that the AI can be deployed in the north, planning and directing the economy there, before naturally expanding itself to the south of the country through trial, error and further human input. Such a enormous project comes with a enormous pricetag. As Xsampa currently lacks a proper technology sector and financial means to support the project, the New Verhamese government has pledged 5 billion in funding to the project largely derived from the sales of Uranium to the Dual-republic.

Okin Tyekhnologi will provide the bulk of technological expertise, aided by engineers and developers from the New Verham government. The Xsampan government will assign a handfull of political representatives to NEPA, with the aim of ensuring that the to be created AI tool alligns with Xsampan government policy and philosophy. The NEPA administration has announced that it will give a prelimenary update on the project within the next 5 years, pledging to work "extremely hard" in order to realize the creation of the AI tool and thus not disclosing to many details on the project to fast in the coming years. At least not until the administration is certain it has achieved certain breakthroughs or milestones along the way.

in the moment is a Luthorian language, short-form news website specializing in rapid-fire coverage, with a focus on Dovani. Reporting on affairs throughout the continent, it has dispatches in several countries.

[Rogue]

Sokhatai to open two Megastores in Luthori
December 8th, 5490

New Verham based clothing warehouse Sokhatai will open two new megastores in Luthori, specifically the capital of Fort William and the city of Hudsley, Northriding. The new stores follow the opening of the first Sokhatai megastore on Artania in the city of Bannerhaffen, Dual-republic. This newest expansion into Luthori is seen as a logical step by the clothing brand to further strengthen its position on the artanian market. The concept of Sokhatai revolves around offering thousands of items within one store, from day to day clothing to luxury items and from make-up to household appliances. The brand its design bureau also designs thousands of its own products, which the company sells at lower prices as to ensure every customer that enters a Sokhatai megastore can afford at least some products in it. It also sells branded items from other brands, mostly luxurious items from across Dovani.

The expansion of Sokhatai in New Verham had been enormous, largely thanks to the company riding on a wave of economic growth and rising consumer confidence. Its expansion into Artania was already seen as a step for the company to become a international hit, but within just two years time the company has managed to already announce its expansion into another Artanian country with two megastores. The reason for choosing Luthori is the opportunity that Sokhatai founder Dagasa Sokhatai believes has been created by the Luthorian government its attempt at diversifying its economy, limiting the strength of previously powerfull megacorporations. Dagasa did state that the company will "closely monitor our performance on the Luthorian market." and that when competition proves to remain a limiting factor in Luthori that the company will "reevaluate our presence in Luthori."

in the moment is a Luthorian language, short-form news website specializing in rapid-fire coverage, with a focus on Dovani. Reporting on affairs throughout the continent, it has dispatches in several countries.

[Rogue]

Kishiligh reelected amidst PAP meltdown
Baatrynsentii, New Verham
10th February 5491

President Kishiligh and his NLN-NVAK coalition have been reelected following a massive victory for the president in the presidential election, which propelled his own party and his coalition partner to be dragged in the same succes. The two parties expanded their majority at the cost of the PAP, which saw a total meltdown electorally with its leader and presidential candidate Usum Bardam winning below 20% in the popular vote, the worst showing for a PAP candidate in centuries. Kishiligh meanwhile won nearly 48% of the vote, the largest share of votes won by a presidential candidate in the last 5 decades. It goes to show the immense popularity of his administration, which has caused an economic boom and low unemployment combined with privatizations in the public sector. Bardam, who campaigned on a left-wing platform, conceded defeat and announced his resignation as party leader. The PAP only garnered 68 seats, the worst of any election since its reformation.

Other notable changes were the small gain in seats for the Straußist Front, which managed to win 30 seats. The socialists also continued their electoral decline, ensuring that left-wing politics and Neo-Mönkhdevshilism are on the backfoot following more then 7 years of governing the country before. Kishiligh already announced that if his government would keep their majority in the Supreme Congress he would not make significant changes in the Grand Council of State, thus continuing the current government in almost identical form. Whether the coalition will use this new majority to push through ambitions for a semi-presidential or parliamentary republic remains to be seen, as they would still need support from at least one oppossition party to realize this ambition.


The congressional election results of 5491


The presidential election results of 5491

Medeeutas (Newswire; stylized as Medeeutas.) is a breaking news outlet available on both radio and television, with dispatches throughout Dovani.