Kimlien

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The Democratic Tribune
Fiscal decentralization bill giving provinces 60% of government funds passed

10th May 5395


President Minh Giang to pass fiscal decentralization bill

The government of Minh Giang continued reforms by passing a fiscal decentralization bill that gives provinces 60% of government funds paving the way for establishment of a decentralized, if not federalist, politcal system. The bill was passed with a vote of 63-37, with only the military appointees and a few MPs from the Party of Solidarity and Development voting against and it was remarkable that the MPs of Kimlien League for Democracy including their leader Loan Chi supported and voted in favor of the bill; however, Kimlien League for Democracy MPs state that only fiscal decentralization is not enough and also other issues should be decentralized like many social issues. Anyways, the bill decentralizing the fiscal aspect of government was seen as yet another reform within Minh Giang's larger program of political, social and economic reforms to the political system and it remains to see if those reforms turn out to be successful in terms of democratic transition and political opening.

The Democratic Tribune is a private media outlet in Kimlien reporting on partisan politics and elections, and fighting for a true democracy not encumbered by ultra-militarism.

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The Democratic Tribune
Drama in the National Assembly after controversial remarks of a KLD MP

9th July 5395


Brawl in the National Assembly of Kimlien

The National Assembly of Kimlien was today the scene to drama after a Kimlien League for Democracy MP, namely Nhung Linh, made controversial remarks of "Stop cowering before your military masters, and what do you do is not really doing substantive reforms and only creating a facade!" against the President and his Party of Solidarity and Development, in which a PSD MP responded with remarks of "What the so-called 'pro-democrats' want is not really democracy they just want to dismantle the stable democratic system we created and then they accuse us of creating a facade, what an irony!", which eventually escalated into a brawl between KLD versus PSD and military MPs that resulted in several MPs ending up injured. The independents and party leaders were uninvoled in the brawl, but nevertheless they were at the session, gave speeches and engaged in debate before tensions escalated and the MPs started to punch each other, in which both Minh Giang and Loan Chi tried to calm down their respective caucuses but failed. Due to the fighting in the Assembly, the session could not meet its purpose and important topics were overlooked, as the Assembly was deadlocked.

The Democratic Tribune is a private media outlet in Kimlien reporting on partisan politics and elections, and fighting for a true democracy not encumbered by ultra-militarism.

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The Democratic Tribune
National Assembly passes electoral reform extending itself to 440 seats, to be applied in upcoming elections

5th November 5395

The National Assembly continued passing reforms by extending itself to 440 seats, in which the 330 seats are going to be contested in elections while the 110 seats are going to be reserved for the military appointees, the reform was proposed by an independent MP who stated that Kimlien's multi-party system would need much more seats than 100. The reform passed by a vote of 68-32, in which the all civilian MPs voting for while most (but not all) of military MPs voting against; the reform is going to apply in the next general elections, which is to be held at latest in 22 July 5398, however, there is a possibility that the elections could be held earlier if the President resigned or the National Assembly passed a motion of no confidence, but that is unlikely as Minh Giang previously said that he would serve as the President until the elections and the National Assembly is usually supportive of his policies. The reform was seen as a step to support the emerging multi-party system of Kimlien, if this turns out to be successful this will be yet another step at democratic transition.

The Democratic Tribune is a private media outlet in Kimlien reporting on partisan politics and elections, and fighting for a true democracy not encumbered by ultra-militarism.

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The Democratic Tribune
President calls for snap elections amidst loss of legislative confidence, elections to be set up to at 10th July 5396

22th June 5396

The National Assembly voted for a motion of no confidence put forward by Huy Mai, a Kimlien League for Democracy MP, against President Minh Giang accusing him of failing to deliver his promises of political stability and democratic transition, with a vote of 52 - 48, in which all Kimlien League for Democracy and independent MPs voted for while all Party of Solidarity and Development and military MPs voted against. Following the motion, Giang called for snap elections to be held in 10th July 5396, which is going to be held on a probably highly polarized political landscape as the tensions between the government and the opposition escalated up to today, given by a brawl in the parliament last a couple of months and the passing of a motion to sack the government by the opposition-controlled National Assembly. The elections are going to be an important event for Kimlien's ongoing democratic transition, and the polls predict another victory for Kimlien League for Democracy meanwhile the newly founded Labour Party is expected to make a remarkable debut, with the Party of Solidarity and Development expected to suffer losses.

The Democratic Tribune is a private media outlet in Kimlien reporting on partisan politics and elections, and fighting for a true democracy not encumbered by ultra-militarism.

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The Democratic Tribune
General elections held, ruling PSD to win amidst allegations of electoral fraud and boycotts by opposition candidates

6th July 5396

After a motion of no confidence and subsequent calling for snap elections and then a date change to bring forward the elections to 6th July, general elections were held for 330 seats of the 440-seat National Assembly, which unlike the previous election was marred by allegations of electoral fraud by several independent observers, boycotts by opposition candidates, and a record low turnout. Turnout was recorded as 44.17%, a sharp decline compared to the last elections.

A summary of the results were:

Regional map (green for Party of Solidarity and Development, red for Kimlien League for Democracy)



Popular votes

39.18% Party of Solidarity and Development
22.73% Royalist Party
15.44% Centre Alliance
12.84% Kimlien League for Democracy
9.70% Labour Party
0.11% Independent candidates

Seats

134 Party of Solidarity and Development
71 Royalist Party
53 Centre Alliance
39 Kimlien League for Democracy
33 Labour Party
0 Independent candidates

Composition diagram (black for the military appointees, green for Party of Solidarity and Development, blue for Royalist Party, yellow for Centre Alliance, red for Kimlien League for Democracy, pink for Labour Party)



Reactions to results varied by party: Kimlien League for Democracy and its leader Loan Chi condemned the "anti-democratic attempts at altering the final results" and demanded new "freer and fairer" elections to be held, with Labour Party joining the statement, Royalist Party did not make such claims and stated that as long as the electoral authorities do not find evidence of fraud they will not claim as such, Centre Alliance remained silent and has not made any statement yet.


Kimlien League for Democracy leader Loan Chi calling for "free and fair" elections in a press conference

The Democratic Tribune is a private media outlet in Kimlien reporting on partisan politics and elections, and fighting for a true democracy not encumbered by ultra-militarism.

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The Democratic Tribune
Mass protests organized in Đông Kinh demanding new elections

11th July 5396


Demonstrators in Đông Kinh demanding new elections

After the election results turned controversial, mass protests were started to be organized in the capital Đông Kinh demanding new elections and resignation of Minh Giang as President, and the protests are supported by the Kimlien League for Democracy and Labour Party. The protests are driven by a desire of political reform and holding of "free and fair" elections, in which the protesters accused the ruling party and its allies of making anti-democratic attempts at altering electoral outcome, with various allegations of voter suppression, ballot manipulation, harassment of opposition representatives and independent observers. The protests turned out to be large, as hundreds of thousands of people took the streets to join the protest rallies and express their dissent, and also getting support from key opposition leaders notably Loan Chi who has served as main opposition leader since the nation's first contested legislative elections. The situation remains tense, and the National Assembly has become a scene of political battle aside from the streets as the opposition MPs constantly fill up complaints to the electoral authorities to demand an audit of the electoral process and debates in the Assembly often escalate into brawls. It remains to see if new elections are held, and we will see what happens next in the following days.

The Democratic Tribune is a private media outlet in Kimlien reporting on partisan politics and elections, and fighting for a true democracy not encumbered by ultra-militarism.

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The Democratic Tribune
Minh Giang resigns from presidency amidst mass protests, Hà Ngô becomes the interim President and new elections to be held on 27th July

17th July 5396


Hà Ngô becoming the interim President

Once upon a popular leader with his policies supported by many people, Minh Giang lost his popularity following massive protests demanding "cleaner" elections and resignation of him and he eventually resigned, with Hà Ngô, a prominent Kimlien League for Democracy politician and a long-time political activist, becoming the new President of Kimlien in an interim basis in order to facilitate the ongoing political transition; his presidency got parliamentary confidence by a vote of 152-117, with 161 MPs abstaining from the confidence vote, and he was quickly sworn in as the President following the successful confidence vote. Ngô made pledges to ease the political transition that Kimlien is undergoing, and he signed a decree setting up the date of elections at 27th July. Polls predict a large victory for Kimlien League for Democracy, a sharp decline of Party of Solidarity and Development, slight gains for Labour Party, and slight losses for the Royalist Party and Centre Alliance; we will see what happens in the elections.

The Democratic Tribune. is a private media outlet in Kimlien reporting on partisan politics and elections, and fighting for a true democracy not encumbered by ultra-militarism.

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The Democratic Tribune
Previous elections annulled and new elections held, Kimlien League for Democracy wins in a landslide

27th July 5396

Following a period of political crisis and popular unrest, general elections were held for 330 seats of the 440-seat National Assembly, which was much more credible than the previous elections that was marred by opposition boycotts and allegations of voter suppression, ballot manipulation and harassment of opposition representatives; turnout increased to 89.54%, but this was no surprise since the elections were held in an environment of mass mobilization.

A summary of the results is:

Regional map (red for Kimlien League for Democracy, green for Party of Solidarity and Development, pink for Labour Party)



Popular votes

53.21% Kimlien League for Democracy
22.44% Party of Solidarity and Development
16.36% Labour Party
5.98% Royalist Party
2.01% Centre Alliance

Seats

177 Kimlien League for Democracy
75 Party of Solidarity and Development
52 Labour Party
20 Royalist Party
6 Centre Alliance

Composition diagram (black for military appointees, green for Party of Solidarity and Development, blue for Royalist Party, yellow for Centre Alliance, red for Kimlien League for Democracy, pink for Labour Party)



The elections were seen as a pivotal turning point on the democratic transition of Kimlien as they saw the first time that pro-democracy parties as a whole got majority in the National Assembly, and the governing coalition will probably be between Kimlien League for Democracy and Labour Party as political analysts say, we will see what happens after these elections.

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The Democratic Tribune
Kimlien League for Democracy and Labour Party agree to work together, Hà Ngô to get a renewed presidental term

25th December 5396 (backdated)

After months of negotiations, proposals and concessions, Kimlien League for Democracy and Labour Party formed a coalition government, and Hà Ngô who was the President of Kimlien on an interim basis before the elections got a renewed presidental term after the Labour Party supported his presidency as a part of the coalition agreement. The leaders of both parties made plegdes to reform Kimlien's political system towards a more democratic one, and they made promises to reform the structure of the executive branch of government to create ministries similar to democratic countries around the world and to end "absolutism" created by that the only position on the executive has been the President since civilian transition in August 5394. The coalition program also includes greater devolution to the state governments and amendment of defamation laws; and some but not all MPs from the Kimlien League for Democracy stated that the National Assembly should become the lower house and a new "Senate" as the upper house should be created in order to create a bicameral parliament. Anyways, the new coalition made several promises and it remains to see if they deliver those promises.

The Democratic Tribune is a private media outlet in Kimlien reporting on partisan politics and elections, and fighting for a true democracy not encumbered by ultra-militarism.

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The Kimlien Herald
KLD-LP coalition creates new ministries as a reform on the executive branch of government

11th February 5397 (backdated)

The Kimlien League for Democracy - Labour Party coalition started reforms by altering the structure of the executive branch of government by creating new ministries which distributes executive power between the ministries instead of concentrating all of that power in the President. The new ministries created by the reform are Prime Minister, Foreign Affairs, Internal Affairs, Finance, Defence, Justice, Infrastructure and Transport, Health and Social Services, Education and Culture, Science and Technology, Food and Agriculture, Environment and Tourism, Trade and Industry, and also Deputy Prime Minister and a "Deputy Minister" for all ministries. Effective date of the reform is to be 6th September 5397, until then the structure of the executive branch will remain the same, with the President having all the executive power with no Prime Minister or any other minister. We will see if the new coalition continues their reforms, and we will also see if these reforms are to reach their purpose.

The Kimlien Herald is a newspaper reporting on statements and announcements made by politicians, and conducting polls for elections.