Barmenistan

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Re: Brmék H'áberz (Barmenian Herald)

Postby Oakwood » Sat Jan 20, 2018 2:50 am

President Shakir appoints "National Coalition" of three largest party's to form working majority; orders investigation into Sargon-Atabek connections to AA.

Vaerishyr- Today, the President announced his denial of assent to multiple cabinet deals put forth by the SHU and its would be confidence and supply partners in the Alliance in God's Embrace. At a press conference outside of the Presidential Palace, the President stated that these deals "represented nothing productive"

"What does it matter, if you don't have the majority you need to conduct international diplomacy?" he asked "We cannot be passive partners in this time."

The President then announced a new investigation into the former deputy leader of the SHU, Sargon, as well as their current party leader Atabek.

"The law is clear and if they've broken the law they need to go to jail." said Shakir "I would expect the same of any criminal."
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Re: Brmék H'áberz (Barmenian Herald)

Postby Pragma » Sat Jan 20, 2018 11:30 pm

Kunan Announces Change In Approach After Election Defeat // Herald

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Despite little change between the previous election and the new election, the results have different fanatically and the caretaker government of the Hosian Alliance has been kicked out of the office they never truly took up. From 31 seats to 16 seats tumbled the SHU, and from 10 to 4 tumbled Kunan's Alliance. This combined 21 seat decrease for the Hosian Alliance has surprised many pundits, but the reasons for it are somewhat clear. Turnout skyrocketed as many politically apathetic Barmenistanis went to the polls to vote for the DA - who enjoyed a mammoth 29 seat increase, bringing them to a 45 seat majority in the assembly. They did this at the threat of a theocratic and possibly terroristic government led by the SHU.

Rather than being consigned to obliteration, however, Dina Kunan did not resign but rather agreed to support the re-elected President's party and now each of its four assembly representatives have taken cabinet roles. Kunan herself has taken up the position as Minister for Science and Technology, while other Alliance ministries include Food and Agriculture, Trade and Industry and Environment and Tourism. Kunan, as she did with the Hosian Alliance's caretaker government, did not seem massively enthusiastic with her new coalition allies, but did say that the position was indeed an opportunity for the party to positively impact government policy and the budget in a way the opposition could agree to.

Kunan also took the opportunity talking to journalists earlier today to discuss her own political future. She staked out a willingness to remain as leader of the Alliance in God's Embrace but said her party would take a leftward shift and seek improved public investment and focus on the areas of Education and Justice, which she said were vitally important. She decried the recent government removal of funding for all but a few select ministries, with funding now delegated to local government and the private sector - a controversial move but a move regardless unstoppable as the DA has almost total control over the political scene in the country - and with Kunan can impact the constitution also.
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Re: Brmék H'áberz (Barmenian Herald)

Postby FPC » Tue Jan 23, 2018 4:40 pm

SHU Implodes as Atabek flees the country


Jazd Atabek has fled the country after the government issued a warrant for his arrest in connection with terrorist attacks. The SHU without a leader fell into infighting and imploded leaving a gap in Barmenia's parliament.
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Re: Brmék H'áberz (Barmenian Herald)

Postby Polites » Wed Feb 07, 2018 1:12 pm

Reformists Reborn
Thallerid modernizer returns to the scene

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Imran Shahrán, Finance Minister 49 years ago, is running for President

March 4345 - A new political figure has emerged on the Barmenian political scene after nearly half a century of absence. Pledging to continue the modernizing reforms of the Tuzmhamék cabinet, the last government of the Twin Sultanates before the violent establishment of the Federal Republic, the former Finance Minister under the Sultanates, Imran Shahrán, recently announced he would be running for President in next month's elections. Shahrán is a divisive and controversial figure in Barmenistan. As one of the nation's youngest Finance Ministers 49 years ago, he oversaw large-scale privatization and liberalization, moving away from the protectionist policies of the previous Sultanate governments and causing much popular resentment, which proved to be one of the leading causes behind the fall of the Sultanates. A political scientist by trade, Shahrán was one of the several politically inexperienced academics that the Tuzmhamék government brought to the forefront of national politics in its push for radical modernization and a clean break with the past. Since the fall of the Sultanates, Shahrán has spent most of the past half century in exile. First retiring to the Thallerid homeland of Narikaton, he later became a visiting professor at the Alta Scuola di Economia di Milona in Istalia. Twenty years ago, together with other Barmenian exiles, he co-founded the Center for State Effectiveness, a non-governmental organization focusing on strategies for establishing viable and accountable political and economic institutions and structures in failing states, and has since authored a number of books and articles on the topic of state building. Five years ago the aging former Finance Minister has returned to Barmenistan, becoming involved in national politics once again by becoming one of President Shakír's advisors.

Having regained a taste for Barmenian politics, the septuagenarian academic and former minister is now running for President in the April elections, competing against his former employer and aiming to return the Republic to the path of late Thallerid reformism. Running as an independent and with no political party backing him, Shahrán has asked the Barmenian diaspora for electoral and financial support. In his dense 500-page electoral manifesto, Imran Shahrán promises a representative and democratic political system, an end to corruption and embezzlement, the elimination of foreign interference in Barmenian affairs, and an end to the power of traditional elites, be they tribal or religious leaders, warlords, or the patronage networks that form the backbone of the Federal Republic's government.
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Re: Brmék H'áberz (Barmenian Herald)

Postby Polites » Thu Feb 08, 2018 8:45 am

Shahrán Wins
Independent Imran Shahrán sworn in as President

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Shahrán shortly after casting his vote

August 4345 - The elections in April resulted in a narrow victory for independent candidate Imran Shahrán, who served as Finance Minister nearly fifty years ago under the previous regime. The newly elected President was quick to install a technocratic cabinet, formed of economists and NGO activists, with no political ties to each other and to the legislative. Immediately after his swearing in ceremony, President Shahrán announced his administration's highest priority would be tackling corruption at the central level, with a particular focus on the military. Endemic corruption in the Armed Forces is indeed a serious and long-standing problem, which has impeded the military's ability to effectively combat the threat posed by the Apostolic Army, leaving a large part of Barmenian territory vulnerable to attack. As a result, within the first months after taking office, President Shahrán dismissed nearly one hundred officers accused of embezzling funds destined for troop contracts, forced the resignations of all regional governors, and announced that nobody who had held any such office would be appointed again. In one single act, the new President succeeded in antagonizing and alienating the entire military and political apparatus that had run Barmenistan for the past fifty years. Additionally the President also announced that he would soon be going after foreign aid. Arguing that rather than benefiting the common Barmenian, foreign aid has led to the enrichment of foreign contractors and corrupt Barmenian officials, the President announced Barmenistan would only accept foreign aid if there were clear accountability mechanisms in place to ensure funds would be used exclusively for their intended purpose.

Within months it's become clear that Shahrán, while holding the highest political office in the Federal Republic, refuses to play politics. His supporters argue that previous administrations, even while well-meaning, failed in their goal of rebuilding Barmenistan due to their conflicting goals of economic reconstruction and appeasing the traditional Old Guard. But Shahrán's list of detractors and enemies is long and is growing every day. No significant domestic political actor is on his side, and due to his stated opposition to foreign aid he has alienated what little foreign support he may have had. His only political backing at the moment is the newly formed National Solidarity Party, a new parliamentary party formed of various pro-Shahrán legislators, many of whom gained their seats by openly supporting Shahrán's platform. Although the National Solidarity Party holds a slight majority in the Assembly, enough to confirm the President's technocratic cabinet and support his key legislative initiatives, there is otherwise little that holds the party together other than a vague commitment to a reformist platform, and there are even fewer ties between the independent President and his legislative backers. So for now Imran Shahrán is alone with his ambitious and utopian project.
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Re: Brmék H'áberz (Barmenian Herald)

Postby Polites » Fri Feb 16, 2018 6:19 pm

Crackdown on Corruption
Anti-corruption fight claims more victims

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October 4349 - The struggle against embedded corruption and nepotism initiated by independent President Imran Shahrán has reached new heights, following a thorough crackdown on military and political corruption and the beginning of more comprehensive attempt at fully eliminating the nation's patronage networks. Although President Shahrán ran primarily on an anti-corruption platform, he is certainly not the first public official in Barmenistan to have announced they would push back against the nation's corrupt networks, however all previous anti-corruption efforts have failed miserably. The names of the occasional corrupt businessman or public official would surface from time to time and action would be taken against them, but the overall system of rent-seeking patronage networks has remained intact, until now.

And corruption in Barmenistan is not even hidden or unnoticeable, with even the former ruling family, the House of Nasir, famously transferring centuries worth of surplus to an offshore account once they were removed from power. Entire sectors of the economy and practically the entire defense industry have been dominated by corrupt networks formed of the family members of legislators, regional governors, military and intelligence officers, and judicial officials, who have held control over Barmenistan's "deep state" for centuries. Known as béksrmko (literally "son of a notable"), the relatives of corrupt officials are in control of practically every relevant interest group. Moreover, all these patronage networks are deeply interlinked, meaning that if any public official would take action against any such network, they would risk upsetting the entire Old Guard, while these interest groups' co-dependence means that none of them has any incentive in exposing the illicit business practices of another group for fear of being exposed themselves.

What the new President has and previous anti-corruption candidates and public officials lacked is his almost obsessive determination to launch a full frontal attack agains the "deep state", with no regard for his political fortunes or even his personal safety. Since gaining power, Shahrán's single-minded crusade has seen the elimination or aristocratic privileges, the creation of an independent Central Bank, a policy of forcing the armed forces to divest from non-military economic activities, the opening of Barmenistan to foreign direct investment, and, most significantly, a drastic reduction of the nation's defense budget by more than a half. This massive reduction in Barmenistan's defense budget comes at a time when the state remains unable to assert its sovereignty over its entire territory, as the Apostolic Army and various other terrorist organizations control large swaths of Barmenian territory and threaten most major cities. However, the fact that, in spite of having Terra's second largest defense budget (behind only Thallerist Narikaton), the Federal Republic's military has remained outdated and essentially powerless against unpopular and violent militias speaks volumes as to the level of corruption in the armed forces. For example, soon after the President's inauguration the administration uncovered a large-scale kickback scheme within the Ministry of Defense, whereby the ministry paid over two billion BAR to oil contractors, and last year the oversight committee within the same Ministry found that Apostolic Army insurgents had been buying weapons from the Armed Forces, with over 400,000 light arms no longer accounted for. Whether the downsized and reformed military will end up becoming more efficient and transparent is far from certain, and military modernization and foreign investment are in fact believed to be one of the main topics to be discussed during the upcoming visit of the Indralan Crown Prince. Regardless, the new administration's fight against corruption has a long way to go before it can achieve any substantial progress.
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Re: Brmék H'áberz (Barmenian Herald)

Postby Polites » Mon Feb 19, 2018 12:11 pm

Barmenistan Open for Business
Increase in Foreign Direct Investment

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Inside the Varishehr Stock Exchange

March 4351 - The controversial and contested anti-corruption battle initiated by President Imran Shahrán is finally starting to bear fruit. As part of his administration's struggle against corruption and nepotism, Shahrán initiated a liberalization of the Barmenian economy, slowly moving away from the statist and protectionist practices of the previous administrations towards a mixed economy, with far fewer restrictions on foreign direct investment (FDI). Barmenian economists have for decades warned that the largest obstacle faced by FDI in Barmenistan is the lack of good institutions, including political stability, rule of law, and low levels of corruption, to which restrictive legislation added an additional hurdle. But with a presidential administration focused primarily on institution building and the elimination of corruption, coupled with the liberalization of relevant legislation, the level of foreign investment has increased significantly during the past six years. An additional factor paving the way for higher levels of foreign investment is the political and economic ties the Shahrán administration has established with nations like Kazulia and Indrala. During Indralan Crown Prince Sun Kai's tour of Majatran nations, including Barmenistan, he was hosted by President Imran Shahrán, and the visit materialized in the Indrala-Barmenistan Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement, which if ratified would establish a free-trade deal between the two nations. Not long afterwards, Kazulia's Critical Investment and Stabilisation Fund announced a 12 Billion Krona investment into Barmenistan's Agricultural and Industrial Company of Kathuristan, and a free trade agreement between Kazulia and Barmenistan has been negotiated between the foreign ministers of the two nations.

But this is not entirely good news for all Barmenians, least of all for President Shahrán himself. The traditional elites stand the most to lose from the removal of protectionism and the opening of the Barmenian market to cheaper and higher quality foreign goods, and there is also a concern that FDI would lead to foreign ownership in strategically important industries, and that foreign investors may use the collateral of the companies they invest in to obtain local loans by selling unprofitable portions of the companies to local investors, and then lend the funds to the parent company, thus stripping the business of its value without adding to the Barmenian economy. Moreover, there is significant concern that rather than contributing to a more transparent and less corrupt economy, FDIs may end up contributing to corruption by corrupting local officials for personal gain. Regardless of the potential benefits and disadvantages of FDIs, President Shahrán will have to make a strong case for the liberalization of Barmenian economy to the voters if he is to win the presidential elections next month. Having alienated practically every major political stakeholder in the nation, and with his anti-corruption efforts only appealing to Barmenistan's numerically insignificant middle-class, Shahrán and his legislative backers face an uphill battle in the April 4351 elections.
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Re: Brmék H'áberz (Barmenian Herald)

Postby Polites » Tue Feb 20, 2018 11:18 am

Shahrán Loses
Election ends reformist administration

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Former President Shahrán is now reportedly undergoing anger management therapy

August 4351 - As had been widely expected even from the beginning of his mandate six years ago, independent President Imran Shahrán failed in his quest for reelection and the continuation of his administration's radical reformist policies. His opponent, Karin bet Abun, representing the anti-reform Coalition Party, widely won the election with more than seven million more votes than the former president, and bet Abun quickly installed a new Coalition administration, threatening to undo all the anti-corruption reforms of his predecessor. Shahrán's supporters, the so-called Shahránkai, claim that their hero was brought down by the corrupt networks he spent most of his presidential career fighting, while his opponents rejoice at the thought of bringing six years of radical reforms to an end. His loss is also partly due to his own personal style of politics. During his time in power he deliberately refused to build bridges to potential allies, compromise with opponents, or establish any sort of coherent political support. The Barmenian Old Guard never hid their disdain for the idealistic technocrat, seeing him as an arrogant perfectionist with no feel for politics, no friends, and a knack for excessive micromanagement. Cabinet sessions consisted mostly of Shahrán intimidating his ministers, who felt obliged to take copious notes to impress him and avoid triggering his temper. He insulted allies and opponents alike, never bothered with small talk or diplomatic niceties, and if confidential sources from within his administration are to be believed, he has such a short temper that he is currently undergoing anger management therapy, after reportedly spending half an hour shouting at and insulting a regional governor that he himself had nominated.

With the defeat of Barmenistan's reformist President, the six years of anti-corruption efforts may come undone. However the fact that an obscure technocrat with an unsavory past and no political affiliation managed to win a presidential election six years ago with nothing but a detailed anti-corruption manifesto proves that there is popular appetite for economic and political reformism in the Federal Republic. Wishing to capitalize on the Shahránkai wave while avoiding the problems caused by the former President's unpleasant personality, nine of the cabinet ministers in the Shahrán administration and several legislators belonging to the former Shahránist National Solidarity Party have come together to establish a reformist political party that aims to carry the torch of the former administration's anti-corruption struggles. The Enlightenment Party was founded this month as a a liberal conservative and reformist political faction with the explicit goal of representing the pro-reform electorate and continuing the liberalization of the economy. Led by Shahrán's former Minister of Science and Technology Temrmai Nrlshehré, the new party aims to provide a more coherent ideological message as a platform for Shahránist reformism, while also openly embracing the interests of rural religious conservatives, the support of which the new party believes would have been critical in this year's elections and may have been enough to sway the vote. But lacking a legislative majority and with the executive in the hands of anti-reformist Coalition President bet Abun, the Enlightenment Party needs to do a lot more than pander to rural voters if it is to revitalize the anti-corruption struggle.

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Torchbearer of Shahránist reformism Temrmai Nrlshehré faces a long battle ahead
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Re: Brmék H'áberz (Barmenian Herald)

Postby Polites » Mon Mar 05, 2018 2:03 pm

Victory for Enlightenment
Shahránist party victorious

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President Temrmai Nrlshehré delayed her swearing in for almost a year

March 4358 - The elections in April last year resulted in a narrow victory for the Enlightenment Party, the Shahránist reformist party founded in the aftermath of former president Imran Shahrán's withdrawal from politics after a tumultuous and ultimately unsuccessful drive for modernization and elimination of corruption. Blaming the former President's limited success on his failure to establish a coherent and organized legislative backing for his policies and his own disdain for politics and compromise, his former affiliates in government and the Assembly spent their time in opposition working to institutionalize and consolidate their new party while also reaching out to rural conservatives, an often ignored but sizeable constituency in the Federal Republic. Campaigning for such conservative crowdpleasers as overturning of the ban on religious schools and religious clothing for public officials, while also continuing their support for reformist issues like the fight against corruption, support for human rights, demilitarization, centralization, and economic liberalization, the Shahránists succeeded in forming a broad and popular coalition of reformist conservatives that last year returned a comfortable Enlightenment majority and led to the election of Shahrán's former Minister of Science and Technology Temrmai Nrlshehré as the new President of Barmenistan.

Soon after her election Nrlshehré sparked a brief constitutional crisis by refusing to take her oath of office until the legislative agreed to overturn the nation's ban on the wearing of religious clothing by public officials. However the Enlightenment-dominated Assembly quickly passed a bill removing all restrictions on religious clothing, and Temrmai Nrlshehré was sworn in as President in December. In the meantime the Enlightenment Party embarked on a policy of continuing some of the core Shahránist reforms while abandoning some the former President's more controversial policies. At the same time the Nrlshehré administration adopted a strongly pro-Istalian foreign policy, aligning the nation with the Majatran Alliance's policies by proposing the ratification of its Charter of Fundamental Principles.

However the most significant development resulting from the Enlightenment Party's electoral victory is the fact that the transition of power and the change in government policies was entirely peaceful and largely uncontroversial. Having fought a long and largely fruitless battle, the Shahránkai were ultimately successful by bringing their platform and views to the mainstream of Barmenian political life, normalizing radical reformism and giving hope to those that wish to see Barmenistan become a modern and integrated part of Majatran economy and politics.
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Re: Brmék H'áberz (Barmenian Herald)

Postby Polites » Tue Mar 06, 2018 8:51 am

Ruhi Mausoleum Completed
Government funds Ruhi shrine

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The Shrine of the Messiah is now the holiest place of the Ruhi Faith

August 4358 - After more than half a century of construction the Shrine of the Messiah, the holiest place of the Ruhi Faith, was finally completed this year on the outskirts of Varishehr. The construction of the Mausoleum was initiated in July 4302 by Caliph Nasiba Rabban, wife of Ruhi prophet Ismail Rabban and first leader of the young religion. But the construction soon ran into financial difficulties and was abandoned after about 20 years of sporadic construction. But now the religious conservative and reformist government of Temrmai Nrlshehré approved a large donation for the completion of the monument, and construction resumed at the beginning of the year. In August the Shrine was finally completed, and in a large ceremony overseen by the fourth Caliph, Emanuele Mignone, the mortal remains of the Ruhi prophet were interred in the mausoleum, which will henceforth serve as the qibla and holiest place of the new religion. The dedication ceremony also saw the participation of President Nrlshehré herself, as well as crowds of Ruhi faithful from all over Terra. In her dedication speech the President praised the young religion for its commitment to peace and religious pluralism, values to which she claims her own government is devoted. In spite of her personal Ahmadi faith, the President has been working hard to outreach to all religious communities in Barmenistan, including the small and often persecuted Ruhi religion. Although her presence at the ceremony and her government's sponsorship of the construction of the mausoleum have been criticized by conservative Ahmadis and Hosians, the fact that the present government has reversed the radical secular policies of the previous administration is generally seen with good eyes by representatives of Barmenistan's largest denominations, and signals a shift away from the secular values on which the Federal Republic was founded.
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