Cildania

[GreekIdiot]

Equifund
Beir Leshet and KDC seek to produce the Dabur-class patrol boat

[GreekIdiot]

Beiteynu
Supranational multi-stage naval exercise dubbed "Reshout", underway

[thefalloutfan101]

     

     Coalition lawmakers finalize work on comprehensive anti-corruption legislation
     29th January 5369

In the works for well over two years, and the subject of numerous closed-doors negotiations between lawmakers, the culmination of the AC-GtP government's work on a robust anti-corruption reform bill has finally come to fore; after debate was closed after nearly five months of the legislation being left before the floor of the Council, the legislation has now been put to a vote. While voting is still underway, the AC has reached out to the opposition, encouraging bipartisan support for a "direly needed" reform to Cildania's justice system and argued that the unanimous support of all parties in parliament would "wash away the sins" of past behavior, and show to the public that the government was finally turning over a new leaf.

The contents of the legislation are no doubt exhaustive; lawmakers sought the support and consideration of numerous cabinet-level officials in press conferences within the floor of the Council, alongside private meetings. Alessandro Zerafa, former leader-turned-chairman of the AC and strongest proponent for anti-corruption reform in the country, was present at numerous occasions. Lawmakers thanked him for his "rigorous" work ethic, stating that "for all we have done as members of the Council, Mr. Zerafa has no doubt contributed the most decisively to this bill".

Named the Comprehensive Anti-Corruption Act, or by its abbreviation "CACA", which drew some laughs among skeptical lawmakers in the Council, the bill's process of creation has been overshadowed by a relentless drive by the justice ministry to root out the most strongest sources of corruption and to gather the "big picture" behind Cildania's alleged history of corruption, which AC lawmakers have long argued is endemic, and related to organized crime. Their accusations were seemingly proven correct by the outbreak of Vanuku's revelations that Beiteynu financed organized crime, far-right attacks, and even anti-Yeudi hate crimes within Cildania. Though the initial response was one of palpable anger by both the public and government alike, such outrage seemingly tempered as the months went on, as politicians, most notably Alessandro Zerafa himself, urged restraint; he argued that the report, which came from Vanuku, a nation currently under one-party rule with a strong authoritarian streak, should be eyed with considerable skepticism.

Meanwhile, whilst legislators have worked on the bill's creation and drafting, the justice ministry has arrested a staggering 6,000 officials in the past two governments, with arrests extending beyond to the business, sports, and even entertainment industries. Throughout all the investigations, justice minister Calleja claims, there "seems to definitely be a strong link between organized crime and corruption within Cildania, regardless of the validity of the Vanuku report". Figures on asset seizures done by order of Mr. Calleja are also stark: an estimated 750m Cildar in assets has been seized, though the number may be significantly higher if the coalition's bill goes through, with analysts predicting the total net worth of assets to rise to over 1.2bn Cildar.

The coalition was seemingly galvanized in their work to pass such comprehensive legislation in no doubt due to the upcoming general election in July next year; while some within the government had wished for a longer consultation process, most felt it necessary to bring the bill before the floor, as the uncertainty of next year likely put further pressure to bring it to conclusion. Indeed, whilst working arduously in their most championed policies, the AC-GtP coalition has passed little other legislation throughout the entirety of the administration's term. Polls conducted recently after the bill was put to vote seemingly indicate a continued positive trend, with over 57% of respondents voicing their support for the government.

     Kbiri Osservatur is a newspaper based in Kbira, Jilrit. It covers local and national news in print and online.

[GreekIdiot]

Beiteynu
Majatra: continued facilitation for equal leadership - June 5373

[GreekIdiot]

Beiteynu
Oil and gas stability through diversification - November 5418

[Wu Han]

Grand Prince Adherbal dies, aged 91
Qart Qildar, Principality of Aqildar, Cildania
14 August 5405

Cildania's second Grand Prince, Adherbal, has died aged 91. Adherbal ascended to the throne during a period of great strife, the fallout of which would characterize much of his fourty year reign; one year shorter than his predecessor, Grand Prince Ġakbu Maria. Adherbal's health had been declining for roughly eight years prior to his death. Pursuant to custom, Prime Minister Claire Tortell has declared a week of national mourning.

Speaking to the media, Prime Minister Tortell expressed her sorrow over the Grand Prince's passing, and asked the public to offer their thoughts and prayers to the imminent Council of Princes. Pursuant to Cildania’s constitution and laws, a Council of Princes will be held within the next seven days at the Monastery of St. Origen in Aqildar in order to begin the process of electing a successor.



*OOC: this post, and those that will follow over the next 2-3 days/weeks (lol) will be backdated as I work to bridge the gap between the end of the Adherbal era to the present period.

[Wu Han]

↳ The hands of the late Grand Prince Adherbal
OPINION: Death and Decline in Cildania
17 August 5405
Submitted to the il-Posta Editorial Board by Guza Fedele


Guza Fedele, journalist and biographer: On 13 August 5405, the second Grand Prince of Cildania watched, from the window of his private hospital suite, as empty fishing vessels returned to the Qart Qildar harbour. The ailing 91-year-old monarch stared for a moment longer with his slimy, wet eyes, before turning to his secretary: “where once this was a nation of dreams,” His Serene Highness sighed, “it has become a nation of nightmares.” Later that evening, the Grand Prince would draw his final breath, entering that eternal sleep where dreams and nightmares, should they exist, do not cease with the rising of the sun.

When Adherbal was elected to the throne, Cildania was at its most fragile point since the restoration of democracy in 5321. Whatever momentum had gathered behind the economy in the early days of the nation’s democratic governance had sputtered to a halt. Short-sighted deregulation and investments during this resource-driven boom period, such as the wholesale deregulation of the fisheries, wrought poverty and devastation with the impending economic bust. Fishing yields would drop to historic lows ripping apart coastal communities, sending shockwaves across the entire nation; this catastrophe served as the inflection point at which the resource runs and general optimism which buoyed Cildania’s post-Dictatorship economy withered away, leaving an economy in freefall.

Crime families capitalized on the carnage caused by the economic crises which characterized the era of Adherbal’s reign, expanding their tentacles throughout the real economy through coercion. As the beginning of the economic decline, escalating poverty led to violence and petty criminality, which faced little-to-no resistance from the National Police nor the national political leadership. Rather, the chaos and disorder terrorizing the Cildanian public was met by the traditional honour-based code of the Mafjużi. Shrouded in secrecy, but grounded in solidarity and mutual assistance, the Mafja families brought order to many of the coastal communities which had been torn apart—but at great cost.

Where were the politicians? Where were the so-called ‘nobles?’ The major political actors of the period responded to the widespread criminality terrorizing Cildanian citizens by weaponizing anti-corruption investigations against one another. Despite a few “show trials,” the Mafja strengthened its grip, while the orgy of accusations, investigations, and indictments would implicate a vast number of former and serving politicians in elected office. This had a devastating impact on the political leadership of the country, and its fragile institutions.

Today, the grape vines are barren and the tobacco fields are regulated to death. Meanwhile, the absence of regulation on the seas have left them void of life. Cildania stands as a shadow of what it had once been, and of what it might have become by the end of the Jacobean era, if history had taken another course. But history chose Adherbal, who enjoyed his time on the throne, stuffed to the gills with Ġobon immuffat and wine while Cildanian children went hungry. In this sense, Adherbal is representative of the political leadership of his era of decline, concerned more with parties and pleasure than the wellbeing of those they supposedly vow to serve. When the party is over and night falls, elites such as Adherbal and those of his era were able to sleep, occasionally to be awoken by a nightmare; but for those who live in the present Cildanian nightmare, the peace of sleep comes only after death.




il-POSTA NAZZJONALI is one of Cildania's most widely-read broadsheet daily newspapers, respected for its journalistic integrity and objectivity.
A standard-bearer of Cildanian liberalism, il-Posta has become one of the nation's 'newspapers of record.' It is owned by the Grupp Editorjali PNFP.

[GreekIdiot]

Beiteynu
Yishelem loses its leverage in the Vamaj's continuously increasing decentralisation of oil and gas distribution - December 5424

[Wu Han]

OOC: Post-dated.



↳ Celebrations in Qart Qildar
Enthronement of Grand Prince Mikiel
20 August 5405
The grandson of Grand Prince Ġakbu Maria takes to the throne, aged 64, becoming the third Grand Prince of Cildania


Qart Qildar, Principality of Aqildar: Following the death of Grand Prince Adherbal on 14 August 5405, a Council of Princes was held at the St. Origen Monastery, as per Cildanian custom. There, behind closed doors, the five Princes of Cildania, the Arch-Patriarch, and the Prime Minister voted to select the next Grand Prince. This morning it was announced that the Council had reached a decision to enthrone Prince Mikiel of Aqildar, and Head of the House of Kilian.

Shortly after the decision was announced, spontaneous street celebrations broke out in villages and cities across the nation. The celebrations took a spiritual dimension, as the winding procession route from rural St. Origen County to the heart of Cildania’s ancient capital city became lined with statues and imagery associated with Apostolic saints (such as Origen, Gildas, Alessandra, and Bastjan). Well-wishers also gathered along the route to toss flowers toward the Grand Prince's vehicle; as the sun set, many held candles, singing hymns and patriotic songs.

It was not until the late evening hours that Prince Mikiel would arrive at the Qart Qildar Cathedral to accept the title of "Protector of the Apostolic Church of the Isles," thus investing in him his final and most sacred title. Fireworks illuminated Qart Qildar harbour as the city broke out in song and dance, in what would be the largest public celebration the country in half century a century. At the Grand Prince's Residence, an exclusive reception was held, attended by numerous members of the Princely Houses of Cildania, as well as foreign dignitaries, aristocrats, business leaders, and other notable families, such as the Magro's and, curiously, the Falzon's.

Who is Grand Prince Mikiel?

Grand Prince Mikiel is the grandson of the first Grand Prince of Cildania, Gakbu Maria, and through the House of Kilian, a direct patrilineal descendent of Cildania’s first King, Gildas Kilian I. Through his mother, a member of the House of Elkan, the Grand Prince is also a descendent of Prince Jugurtha of Aheblun, whose resistance to the unifying campaign of King Gildas made him a national hero and martyr of the Hebilean people. In this way, Grand Prince Mikiel represents both the symbolic and literal union and reconciliation of the Cildanian and Hebilean people, embodying their future in a unified Cildania.




il-POSTA NAZZJONALI is one of Cildania's most widely-read broadsheet daily newspapers, respected for its journalistic integrity and objectivity.
A standard-bearer of Cildanian liberalism, il-Posta has become one of the nation's 'newspapers of record.' It is owned by the Grupp Editorjali PNFP.

[Wu Han]

“We have nothing to be ashamed of!” Ġwann Alagona calls for restoration of the AgK
Mayor of Belt-tal-Qam and grandson of liberal icon Guiliano Alagona defends his family's legacy, and that of the Alliance for Cildania, before a large crowd of supporters
10 October 5407



Belt-tal-Qam, Principality of Aqildar - In a packed auditorium filled with cigarette smoke in central Belt-tal-Qam, Mayor Ġwann Alagona called for the restoration of the long-defunct Alliance for Cildania (AgK) electoral coalition. The Mayor is the grandson of former Prime Minister Guiliano Alagona, and a member of the prominent Alagona family.

The AgK was founded in March 5320 by iconic politician and Constitutionalist Party (PK) founder Sigismondo Falzon and liberal figurehead Guiliano Alagona of the Alagona Faction (FA). Over the years, the AgK would play a central role in Cildanian politics, participating in the majority of elected governments following the restoration of multi-party democracy in 5321. It would ultimately collapse in the 5360s following a series of anti-corruption probes which some, including Alagona, have reassessed as having been politically motivated.

“Our legacy is nothing more than very establishment of democracy in our homeland” shouted Alagona, met with the roar of the crowd, followed by fits of coughing throughout the auditorium. “To this charge, we plead guilty!”

A lawyer by training, Alagona produced an extended list of additional charges to which he pled: “To those who accuse us of crimes, we plead guilty to the following: yes, we are guilty of bringing about the Constitution! Yes, we are guilty of promoting and protecting the rights of all! Yes, we are guilty of building a state so strong and stable that the fascists could only defeat us by plotting to weaponize the state against us!”

Throughout the six hour speech, Alagona passionately defended the history of the AgK, and the service of his family, describing the populist anti-corruption discourse of the 5350s-5360s as a tool which was weaponized by “anti-democratic and fascist” political actors, such as the far-right Order of Saint Sebastian (OtSB) and its partner in government, One Flag (BW). Alagona alleges that such discourse provided cover for the normalization of far-right politics in the country by long-time opponents of the AgK, which culminated in the targeted criminal investigations of the Alagona family, among other prominent progressive, liberal, and centrist political figures.

The investigation and prosecution of former Prime Minister Elena Alagona, daughter of Guiliano Alagona, was catastrophic for the Alagona Faction, which dissolved in 5363 to be succeeded by two short-lived successor parties: the Cildanian Social Democratic Party and Liberal Values. Meanwhile, former deputy PM and Constitutionalist Party leader Sigismondo Falzon disappeared sometime around 5348 following a heart attack three years prior. Falzon remained leader of the Constitutionalist Party, as the party had not developed a legal mechanism for removing its leader or selecting a successor; as such, the party slowly withered away until it merged with the Cildanian Social Democratic Party and Liberal Values to become the United Social Liberal Party in 5366.

Mayor Alagona, who was elected as an independent, promises that a restored Alliance for Cildania will provide the necessary institutional instrument for rebuilding the failing Cildanian state through coordinating the policy of local and national political actors, many of whom have shed their party affiliations in recent years. Alagona's call has attracted a few high-profile supporters including: Ċensu Pene-Qasir, son of the "Condom King;" Tonio Pullicino III, grandson of former PK government minister Tonio Pullicino; and Ewgenju Lanfranco, President of the Cildanian Tobacconists Association, among others.


Il-Ġurnal is a broadsheet daily newspaper in Cildania, owned by the Magro Family. The newspaper has a 'moderate' editorial bent.