Selucia

[Rogue]

Deltaria sells its fleet of MiG-29 fighters to Selucia as part of its modernization program

[Polites]

Vel Amatius at FOMAT
a.d. III Id. Sept. MMMXLVIII a.R.P.c. / September 11, 4859


Vel Amatius will perform his new single "O, Heri!"

The Selucian representative to the sixth edition Festival of Musical Arts in Terra, to be held in Dolgava, will be Selucian rock singer Vel Amatius. The Aquilonian artist, whose real name is Gnaeus Menenius Frugius, is a 47 year old rock and pop singer , well known to the Selucian public. His style integrates elements of rock and roll, classical music, jazz, or hard rock, and he's consistently been one of the most popular Selucian-language singers for the past 20 years. His new single with which he will participate in FOMAT VI is called O, Heri! ("Oh, Yesterday!"). O, Heri! is a song about the break-up of a relationship, and is a melancholy song that largely departs from the artist's usual upbeat and fast-paced style.

[Aethan]

Oleria plans to approve the workday of 32h per week
The executive of Ballio Thrasea presents through his Minister of Labor Mrs. Bellator the plan to reduce the working day for the island


Minister of Labor Atia Gavia Bellator with unions and employers

In terms of labor rights, it seems that the singing voice in Selucia is always carried by the island of Oleria - or Insularia, depending on the historical moment -. First was the outlawing of the wage gap between workers for reasons that were not associated with their occupation, that is, because of sex, age, sexual condition, religion, etc. (viewtopic.php?f=17&t=1585&start=580#p127340), approved under the mandate of Ares Zervas, considered almost a hero of the island along with his predecessor Zenon Gogolas; Now, the Thrasea government also wants to make its mark on labor matters with an equally ambitious proposal: reducing the working hours of island workers.

Atia Gavia Bellator, current Secretary General of COSIRA but who has not yet resigned from her position as Minister of Labor under the mandate of Ballio Thrasea - who in turn is accountable to her in the national leadership of the party -, revealed this morning the main lines of the plan agreed with unions and employers, which now only requires the approval of the Assembly of Oleria, where it is expected that there will be no problem, since despite being officially independent candidates, their vast majority are ideological orbit of the Olerian Dawn. According to the latest polls among the Quirites of the Olerian Assembly, approximately 490 of its 750 members would be willing to vote in favor, all of them of progressive ideology, and those ideologically aligned with the Selucian Traditional Movement still remain to be known.

In her statement to the media, Mrs. Bellator stated that these measures are "necessary and urgent" to improve both the professional and personal quality of all workers on the island, and has encouraged the rest of the Praetors of Selucia to take carry out the same measurements.

"Today, we continue the path that Zervas and Gogolas started for us"

, the Minister of Labor affirmed

"in his statements to the media when they approved declaring the wage gap as illegal, Mr. Zervas said that he remembered his mother, who had to stay away from home for almost 14h every day so she could bring them something, as his father had refused to pay anything to her and the justice said nothing illegal was being done. Those times have ended in Insularia, and hopefully soon, in the whole Terra. And today, we take another step in honoring the memory of all those workers who, like this woman, have spent a long time, probably too much, working, having to forcibly put aside their own personal and family affairs. At Oleria we cannot let this continue to happen. That is why we put forward this bill to improve not only the lives of workers, but also to balance it and improve the productivity of the companies. And we do it by approving the 4-day, or 32-hour workday, reducing the 5-day / 40-hour week. In this way, all public companies on the island will be forced to implement it as preferential option, and it should be the workers who explicitly ask if they prefer the previous working day. In the case of private companies on the island, they must offer both options, without prejudice to those who they set the 4-day workday. "

The law (http://classic.particracy.net/viewbill. ... lid=636579), which has been created in collaboration with unions and employers, receives warm support from Olerian society, and the voices against it are minority. According to experts, this law would allow the family conciliation of workers and increase their motivation, key factors for a company to function properly and increase its productivity, by reducing stress and the burden on employees. Also, reducing working hours can even benefit companies financially, since it means reducing health care costs and even encouraging the hiring of more employees, significantly increasing employment levels in the country. It should be noted that it is also beneficial for the environment, since transfers in own transport would be reduced and the consumption of energy used would be reduced.

Some entrepreneurs, on the other hand, argue that deciding that your company only works for four days while your competition does it for five is complicated. Therefore, the choice of this working day depends, in most cases, on the nature of the work. For example, an online magazine is not the same as a gas station, since, in the latter case, the company can offer a more flexible schedule to its employees, but not do without them for three days a week.

On the other hand, companies must be willing to pay their employees the same salary as if they worked five days a week, something with which some employers disagree, and this can be a problem for employees.

However, like other social changes promoted from the island, it will be necessary to see how this matter finally works.

[Polites]

Regime Change in Selucia
Id. Oct. MMMXLX a.R.P.c. / 15 October, 4861

In perhaps the greatest constitutional upheaval since the end of Duodecimviri rule sixty years ago, or at least since the adoption of the confederal system in 4836, the structure and even form of government of the Selucian Republic has been radically altered. Until now, like most other liberal democracies, Selucia has been a representative democratic republic. But a newly passed constitutional amendment introduced by the Selucian Traditional Movement in 4824 but only just now approved, with amendments, by the People’s Assembly, changes the form of selection of the Selucian legislative from multiparty representative election to a form of sortition. In effect, with the approval of the Augustinian-Cottian Law on the People’s Assembly and the People’s Tribunate, Selucia ceases to be a representative democracy and becomes a demarchy, a form of government where public offices are assigned by lottery. Sortition does have a long continuous history in Selucia, having been used to select most municipal authorities since 4467 and recently implemented to select the legislatives of the three constituent Republics that form the Senate and People of Selucia. But with the new constitutional amendment, Selucia becomes the first nation in modern history to use sortition for its legislative assembly. According to the new law, the members of the People’s Assembly, known as Quirites, shall be randomly selected from among citizens who had served as municipal officers, most of them also randomly selected from among ordinary citizens. Representative democracy remains a feature of the new Selucian system, but only for the executive. According to the new amendment, the Consuls will now be popularly elected in a first-past-the-post system, with the winner empowered to nominate the other federal magistrates.

Sortition has sometimes been advocated by political theorists as a way of avoiding the problems plaguing modern representative democracies, such as influence buying, excessive partisanship, elite domination, and the demographically unrepresentative nature of modern representative assemblies. But this proposed reform has never been implemented on a large scale, until now. For this reason, the long-term consequences of such a form of government are as of now unknown. The new system will only take effect starting next year’s November elections, after which Selucia will embark on its democratic experiment.


The logo of the new centrist party

The change in political system also resulted in a changed party landscape. The constitutional amendment was opposed by a large number of backbenchers from both Selucian parties, and although it gained a constitutional majority, it only barely did so. In the Selucian Traditional Movement in particular there is a large and vocal conservative faction that has opposed their party’s leftward shift and the coalition governments with COSIRA, and who now also criticized the new amendment as surrendering to populist and radical left pressure. Reacting to this criticism and aiming to clarify the party’s position, the Selucian Traditional Movement decided to hold an extraordinary Congress and rebrand the party and its political orientation. With the vote of a majority of the party’s membership but also the opposition of most of its regional leadership, the party decided to shed its traditional conservative ideology and its position on the right of the political spectrum. The party formerly known as the Selucian Traditional Movement has been renamed as the Popular Republican Movement and declares itself as belonging to the political center. The platform of the renamed party calls for loyalty to the constitutional order of the “senatorial and popular republic”, a political culture rooted in moderation and compromise, the furtherance of the cooperative economic system, the defense of the rights of the Pagan population from both Hosian and atheist fundamentalism, and respect for tradition coupled with an embrace of modernity. Because the regional leadership of the party opposed this ideological realignment, the Popular Republican Movement decided it would only contest elections at the federal level, leaving the three Commonwealths in the hands of local parties.

The Popular Republican Movement is not the only new party on Selucia’s political landscape. The newly founded Democratic Party also announced it will contest the Consular and Censoral elections, and analysts predict they will perform well in their first electoral test. In November next year Selucia will have ceased to be a two-party representative democracy and will have become a multiparty demarchy with a non-partisan legislative.

[Polites]

Vel Amatius Returns to FOMAT
a.d. XVI Kal. Apr. MMMXLXI a.R.P.c. / 17 March, 4862


Vel Amatius voices the lion Cautes in the new animated movie Res Publica Leonum

Vel Amatius, the Selucian solo singer who gained the 4th place for his country at the 6th edition of the Festival of Musical Arts in Terra, has been chosen to represent Selucia again at FOMAT VII, to be held in Lourenne. The Selucian entry is a song from the newly released animated movie, Res Publica Leonum ("The Lion Republic"), where the artist voices the cunning demagogue Cautes, a lion that seeks to overthrow the legitimate king of the Lion Republic and install himself as tyrant with the help of the hyenas. Res Publica Leonum is a political fable warning about the danger that the lower classes, here represented by the hyenas, pose to the stability and prosperity of states, especially if led by ambitious and intelligent demagogues, as the character Cautes certainly is. The song Duce Me ("With me in charge"), performed by Vel Amatius, is the speech delivered by Cautes as he conspires with the plebeian hyenas to overthrow the legitimate government and install a tyranny with Cautes in charge, promising them untold riches and the fulfilment of their every desire. Thus the song serves to reinforce the movie's central theme, that the greed of the lower classes can be a devastating force if wielded by a clever would-be tyrant, and that the resulting political regime would be a disaster for the common good of all. The vocabulary and lyrics of the song serve to reinforce the decadent and intellectual nature of the tyrant Cautes and the uneducated nature of the masses, as the lion's lines contain numerous classical allusions and archaizing vocabulary, while the lines sung by the hyenas use a more vulgar and rustic form of Selucian. The entire song also uses a classical meter, but departing from classical poetry the song uses leonine verse, an innovation unknown in classical Selucian writing.

[Polites]

First Demarchic Selection in Selucia
a.d. XV Kal. Apr. MMMXLXII a.R.P.c. / 18 March 4863


Attia Gavia Bellator (left) defeated incumbent Consul Numerius Flavonius Calogerus (right) in the first Consular elections of the new system

The new political system introduced in 4861, whereby a non-partisan legislative formed of members randomly selected from among ordinary citizens replaced Selucia's representative assembly and thus turned Selucia into a demarchy, has now experienced its first general selection. 750 Selucians, drawn from those who had been randomly selected as municipal officers during the previous five years, took their oath as Quirites last November, starting Selucia's experiment with government by jury at the federal level. As expected, the new assembly is demographically representative; of the 750 Quirites, there are 371 males, 372 females, and 6 identify as other; 563 Quirites are ethnic Selucians and the rest belong to various minorities; there are 299 Pagan Quirites, 226 are Irreligious, 186 are Hosians, 23 are Ahmadi, 6 are Yeudi, and 10 belong to other religions. All other demographic data, including income, education, geographical origin, sexual orientation, and political identity are accurately reflected in the new People's Assembly.

The demarchic body is complemented by the popularly elected executive. In the Consular election, carried in a first-past-the-post system under the new constitutional amendment, the candidate of COSIRA, Attia Gavia Bellator, won 36.27% of the vote, narrowly defeating her rival, incumbent Consul and leader of the newly founded Popular Republican Movement Numerius Flavonius Calogerus, who managed to gain 34.8% of the vote share. Under the constitution, Consul-elect Attia Gavia Bellator has the responsibility to nominate her co-Consul and the other magistrates to a vote by the People's Assembly. The co-Consul can either be her running mate or one of the other candidates she faced in the Consular election. Government negotiations are ongoing between the Consul-elect and the other political forces. Although the legislative is now non-partisan, it is likely that whether she proposes a coalition with the Popular Republican Movement or with the Democratic Party the cabinet proposal will be approved by the People's Assembly.

The Praetor elections in the three constituent Republics constituted the first electoral test for several new parties. When the Popular Republican Movement was founded, it decided to only contest Federal elections, and as such none of the newly elected Praetors, the leaders of the executives of the three Republics, belongs to the Populares. In Aquilonia, COSIRA won one Praetorship while the other belongs to the Hosian Democratic Federation of Aquilonia, a Hosian Democratic party campaigning for the rights of Hosians in Aquilonia and for the end of the anti-Aurorian persecution. In the Sadarian election the Sadarian National Party, a Sadarian and Shadari nationalist party calling for the island's independence, will share the Praetorship with the Democratic Party. Unsurprisingly, Olerian Dawn, the regional branch of COSIRA, maintained its stronghold in Oleria and won both Praetorships on the island.

The ongoing government negotiations demonstrate the difficulty in forming a coalition without an explicit parliamentary backing and with a non-partisan legislative. It seems that Selucia's new governing system is being put to the test in its very infancy. If the Republic manages to overcome this hurdle and form a stable governing coalition, Selucian demarchy may prove to be a successful and long-lasting political system.

[Aethan]

The democratic experiment begins
Bellator reaches an agreement with Calogerus and the coalition receives the approval of Parliament


Consul-elect Gavia Bellator speaking at an electoral rally

The Selucian Assembly has given the green light to the government proposal put forward by the winning candidate of the first Selucian elections under the new system, Atia Gavia Bellator, who until June held the position of "Consul-elect" until her government proposal has received the approval of the Assembly, which has voted in favor of the government coalition between COSIRA and the MPR. In this way, the incoming government imposes a change in the outgoing, made up exclusively of members of the MTS and with a proportion of 8 men and four women in the government without counting the Consules, compared to the 9 women and 3 men who make up the current government. Likewise, the Bellator-Calogerus government is the first in Selucia's recent history in which, apart from having more women than men, integrates several minorities in the nation, with the Aedile of Internal Affairs Vassenia Assanius and the Quaestor of Science and Technology Tadia Gessius being of Mallan and Jelbic origin, respectively.

On leaving the headquarters of the legislative power after receiving approval from her government, the former Minister of Labor of Oleria and now officially Consul de Selucia has answered some questions to the press, including one that was especially interesting: why agree finally with the MPR, which many consider to be a direct heir to the MTS although it presents more moderate positions; when her predecessor in the leadership of COSIRA was expelled from her position for the same reason. Given this, Mrs. Bellator has been clear:

"In the talks to form a government, which, as you have all seen, have been long and have taken us almost half a year, I have made it clear from the beginning that COSIRA is in charge. It is clear that in a coalition government, both parties have to give your arm to twist on certain issues, but we have a series of red lines in which we are not willing to give in. And let one thing be clear: we are going to move forward with the proposals that we have pending. That will not change and it will be this new assembly, democratically elected, which will determine whether or not our proposals deserve to be approved. "

The Consul has also been asked about her opinion on this new electoral system, with which she has affirmed "to agree" for now.

"I think it is an interesting and innovative system, there is no doubt about that. We will have to wait to see how parliamentarism works in this way, but I think this type of representation of our society is very positive. Selucia has a lot to be proud of. "

The Consul, who has come personally to congratulate the elected Praetors in each of the islands, thanked her political mentor Ballio Thrasea for the trust placed in her for the position, and wished him well after revalidating a new mandate at the helm of the government of Oleria, with whom he will celebrate twenty years as head of the island government.

Unlike previous coalition governments, this government is expected to be active in proposing laws, since this was one of Gavia Bellator's campaign points.

[Aethan]

The government rejects the new surrogacy law
Gavia Bellator announces that they are working on broad limitations for the new law and the Oleria government is already implementing them, while the Praetrix of Aquilonia asks her partner to reject it as well


Olerian Assembly symbolically voting to reject the new surrogacy law

The two political institutions of the island of Oleria, the Assembly of Oleria and the Commonwealth Government, have shown throughout today their rejection of the last law approved by the Assembly of Selucia, in which the Quirites have voted in favor of legalizing surrogacy by 478 compared to 272.

The rule, which thus legalizes this practice altruistically and with a contract through, has received criticism from COSIRA, who consider that this law "denigrates women" and turns them into mere consumer objects. In statements to the media, the COSIRA spokesman for relations with the National Assembly, Artotrogus Tetricus, said of today's vote that "[it is] a black day for Selucia and the women of this country", because, in his opinion, "The approval of this law returns us to times where women were in an inferior position to men", and has regretted that this law was approved while it is a woman, Atia Gavia Bellator, the most voted citizen to lead the government of Selucia.

It was precisely Bellator that, after the approval of the law in the National Assembly, has not spared in criticism against it, and has affirmed that her government, with the Quaestor of Health and Social Services Bantia Agrippa and the Aedile of Trade and Industry Tranio Quarto Littera at the forefront, they are already working on the limitations that will be placed on the new law.

Precisely for this they could use the government order approved this morning by the Olerian government in relation to the "Selucian Act", published just a few hours after its approval in the National Assembly, in which they establish great limitations on its use.

"By this order, and after the approval of the "Selucian act" law of March 4864, by which the legality of surrogacy is approved, only altruistically, and with contracts in between, the government of Oleria declares its disagreement with the law, which allows to commodify women's bodies and turn them into objects of consumption, as well as opening the door to the creation of a black market for this system, allowing the exploitation of women once again. The government de Oleria, however, hereby reiterates its allegiance to the Commonwealth government, and will comply with the new law, with the following specifications:

Article I. Only women over 26 years of age will be allowed to act as surrogates, who demonstrate that they have solid economic stability and viability.

Article II. A woman may only act as a surrogate once in her lifetime.

Article III. If the failure of the altruistic surrogacy is proven, the person who has paid for the services will face prison sentences and withdrawal of the parental authority of the future child, entering a registry of noncompliants of the "Selucian act" and not being allowed to access this service again.

Article IV. Only women who demonstrate a close kinship relationship to the woman they replace will be allowed to act as surrogates, with a limit up to the fourth degree of consanguinity, that is, children of the parents' siblings, or " first cousins ​​".

Signed,

Ballio Thrasea and Favonia Aluredes, Praetors of Oleria
Cacistus Cato, Minister of Health and Social Services of Oleria
Petra Esdras, Minister of Labor of Oleria "

According to this order, only solvent women, older than 26 years old, could volunteer for this practice, and only for close relatives to them, up to the degree of first cousins, and only once throughout their lives. In addition, if the law were broken and money was received for the practice, whoever paid for it would face a prison sentence and would not be able to try to use the service again for the rest of their life. In practice, this regulation substantially reduces the potential use of the regulation approved by the Selucian Assembly, but without breaching what is approved in it.

Asked if it is the regulation that the government will use as a template for its state law, Gavia Bellator has affirmed this, and has said that in just a few hours they will publish the draft of the requirements of the law. She has also taken the opportunity to criticize those who have supported it - including her government partners - and has asked for it to be repealed as soon as possible.

"What has happened today in the National Assembly is a new defeat for women, who see how now their body can be used as a bargaining chip. While SuCoSQua is working on a way that future human beings can develop without the need for the mother's womb, precisely for those people who have difficulties when it comes to becoming pregnant, the National Assembly passes a law whereby the woman's body belongs to whoever she wants, and does not take into account the serious damages that a pregnancy triggers. There are other ways to become a father, such as adoption, and it doesn't make anyone less of a parent than having a child with our own blood.

In this way, after nine months of gestation, these mothers will be robbed of the fruit of their effort and hand work, with the consequent mental - and even physical - damage that pregnancy and childbirth can bring. And as always, this will hurt the weakest. It is for this reason that the government, although it is obliged to comply with the approved regulations, will do so in such a way that no one can take advantage of this law, which will be repealed as soon as possible, of which there is no doubt to nobody. In the same way that COSIRA is firmly against prostitution, we also position ourselves against surrogacy, and against all those who commercialize in one way or another a specific part of our society, under the false dogma of "freedom" and of let everyone do what they want with their body. "

Asked if she has spoken with her government partners about the issue, and especially since those Quirites most aligned with the MPR have voted in favor of the law, the Consul has replied that she has not done so but that "none of the members of the government [from the MPR] holds a position on which this matter depends. "

Furthermore, in protest, the Assembly of Oleria has carried out a symbolic vote rejecting the law, which has gone ahead by an absolute majority, and the Praetor for Corgana, Caesia Zosimus, also from COSIRA, has deeply regretted the approved regulations and she has asked her partner, Praetor Augustus Gratidius Quiricus, of the Hosian party, to also present a rejection letter in front of her together.

"We are surprised that those who call themselves" religious "vote in favor of such a regulation. For diametrically opposite reasons, but with the same conclusion, we oppose it. In our nation, unfortunately, there are still abandoned children, without parents to care for them, children who need the affection of father figures. Having a child of our own blood does not make us more parents than those who have adopted children, and it is a beautiful alternative for those families that cannot have children of their own."

And while the political debate continues, the streets of many Selucian cities have been filled with demonstrations against the new law and in favor of it, although for the moment there have been no incidents to regret.

Various feminist and LGBT groups do not agree on this new regulation either.

[jamescfm]

Consuls of Selucia depart after productive visit to Deltarian capital (backdated)

[Aethan]

Oleria's government approves free universal healthcare and bans private clinics
In the national parliament, a law that would prohibit both surrogacy and prostitution is under debate


Left: Olerian healthcare workers celebrating the new law. Right: Protest against surrogacy, with a sign that reads "For rent for 40 weeks".

Orderly and in coordination, it seems that the most leftist sector of COSIRA, represented in the institutions by the Consul Atia Gavia Bellator and the Praetor Ballio Thrasea, are starting to face the elections next year with the presentation of various laws of character Social.

In Oleria, the regional Curia has approved by an absolute majority the Healthcare laws presented by the government of the island, by means of which a system of public, free and universal health care is established for the citizens of the island, while offering a transition time to private clinics to pass into the public domain or close. Speaking to the media, Ballio Thrasea stated that "health is everyone's right, not a privilege" and has demanded that the rest of the islands follow his example to guarantee "that no citizen of Selucia will suffer health consequences for not be able to afford decent treatment. "

In the People's Assembly of Selucia, on the other hand, a proposal presented by Consul Atia Gavia Bellator is currently being debated that would prohibit both prostitution and surrogacy, both promises she made before and after being elected to the position. In her speech in defense of this law, Mrs. Bellator affirms that, "even if it fails", it is necessary to make this problem visible. In a very harsh speech against surrogacy and prostitution, she has asked society to get involved in the integration of all women, so they do not have to be reduced to using their bodies to survive and be able to have a decent life, and to end the exploitation of human beings.

The other laws currently being voted on, the law on nobility titles and the law on the rights of workers to strike, also present the imprint of this ideological sector within the government, and their approval depends on the position that Factio Democratica adopt in the vote. According to the Praetor Civilis and the Aedile of Trade and Industry, responsibles of these two laws, "society demanded them", as nobility is "a thing of the past" that no republican democracy should be proud of, and strikes are "a fundamental right that mature democratic societies must defend, since it is one of the most powerful tools that workers have to protest against their own working conditions and demand improvements in it. And it is the responsibility of the rulers, if they want to avoid them, reach good negotiations with them. But you cannot consent to frightening workers with layoffs or cuts if they participate in strikes, since this is, de facto, coercion to prevent them from asking for better labor and dignified rights."

Meanwhile, in the streets of different cities of Selucia different reactions are observed. While in Oleria they are celebrating the new law, in other cities of the nation there are demonstrations in favor and against the laws of prostitution and surrogacy, the two thorniest issues that this executive handles.

In addition, Consul Gavia Bellator has taken the opportunity to refer to various international issues. Thus, she has condemned Deltaria's declaration of war on Vascania, stating that Selucia "will not share that war agenda" and has asked both parties to reach an agreement before it is too late.