Mordusia

[imperialpearl]

In a stunning victory set to go down as a major watershed moment for the nation, the mordusian people, seemingly tired and frustrated amidst the decades of failure under conservative rule, have rejected the nation’s conservative establish and have handed the social democratic Mordusian Labour Party (MLP) an absolute landslide victory in the nation’s most recent general election. In the build-up to the general election, broad dissatisfaction with the nation’s decades-old conservative government had reared its head, amounting to major protests against the then administration of Teezo's Mordusian Party, amidst its failure to address the numerous challenges facing the nation including the cost of living, unemployment, social equality, crime and criminality etc. Much of this dissatisfaction boiled over during a major march against the then government on the Prime Minister’s House in Randworth, where thousands of demonstrators marched around the building’s perimeter demanding the Prime Minister’s resignation and the initiation of early election proceedings. Last night’s complete rejection of the conservative establishment represented the final act against the conservative government, bringing to its completion; more than two decades of what many describe as the “painful, disheartening toil of conservative governance.” Amidst the otherwise dubious precedent of their appointment, numerous political scientists have noted that although the Labour Party’s victory was momentous, it had largely been made possible owing to a greater disgust in the nation’s previous government than it had been a genuine interest for the party’s policies. Throughout the campaign trail, political leader of the Labour Party and now Prime Minister-designate of Mordusia, Addison Bennett has attempted to make a yeoman case for the party’s election to governance. Among the party’s main policy proposals, Bennett advocated for a complete overhaul of the nation’s macroeconomic foundation with an eye on developing stronger, more resilient economies alongside introducing new/emerging industries to the nation. She noted that amidst the lack of general interest in addressing many of the core challenges facing the nation, Mordusia had fallen behind numerous regional and international partners. She noted that owing to the previous government’s “graft incompetence”, the nation’s otherwise stable relationship with Luthori had seemingly faltered, virtually disregarding the yeoman work done by the decades-inactive New Conservative People's Party whom she described as “the only conservative party within Mordusian history worth defending.” The MLP’s landslide victory in both the House of Representatives and the Senate has brought excitement to those involved in the constitutional reform sphere as alongside the party’s policies on macroeconomic restructuring, Bennett also championed broad constitutional reforms aimed at empowering the states to have greater autonomy/control over their respective affairs alongside a revitalised relationship with Luthori. Beyond the party’s landslide victory in the Federal Parliament, the MLP’s state branches have swept control within their respective state parliaments, solidifying the party’s grip over the nation. Amidst the resounding victory, there have been calls for a general meeting between the Prime Ministers and the newly-elected Premiers in a style/fashion mirror similar meetings in Lodamun. Speaking to well-wishers at the party’s headquarters in Kimberly, Bennett stated that the party was prepared to lead the nation into a new era of progress, noting that the era of small, disinterested government had come to an end, replaced by a new era of enhanced government involvement in the economy.

[imperialpearl]

Ahead of the vaunted announcement of the government’s broader economic development strategy, Prime Minister Addison Bennett has convened a meeting of the Premiers of the five (5) states and the Chief Minister of the Mordusian Capital Territory, for a discussion on harmonising the macroeconomic aspects of each parties respective plans. Pointing to the broad intention of each Premier to develop/enhance investment into strategic areas of their respective economies, Prime Minister Bennett noted that there was a need for the respective parties to coordinate their efforts, especially on the part of the federal government. The meeting is taking place in Tamwith, and is being largely co-chaired by the Premier of New Orange Henry Kidman. Kidman had been a long-time proponent of the concept of an annual meeting between the Prime Minister and the Premiers of the states and territories with the hope that such meetings would lend themselves to an improvement in intergovernmental relations between the states and federal government. Pointing to the broad success of a similar meeting in Lodamun known as the Lodamese Governor’s Conference, Kidman stated that the said meeting had become the template for what is now being coined the “Mordusian National Forum”. In the weeks leading up to the conference, there had been significant chatter among officials surrounding the question of whether the federal government would initiate plans for a national development bank. Highlighting similar institutions throughout Terra including the NLK in Keymon, the SBB in Saridan, and the BRD in Lourenne, numerous proponents for the concept have noted the aforementioned institutions have been instrumental in “supercharging” economic growth within the respective nations. Economist and former head of the Public Service Commission Dr Callum Webb argued that there was considerable room for a national development bank to be implemented in Mordusia, recognising its broad benefits with respect to harmonising/organising the various broad financing agencies throughout the public sector under one roof. “As it stands now, funding for various projects operates in a silo. Housing has its own funding corporation, science and research has its own and industrial development as well. This creates a sort of confusion for persons potentially wanting to access the broad range of financing within the public sector, as they’d be virtually sent on a scavenger hunt to various government departments. A national development bank, which brings all those financing/funding responsibilities under a single roof, minimises the risk of corruption and misuse of public finances as well as addresses chronic challenges related to accessibility,” Dr Webb argued. The topic is likely to be covered in the closed-door discussion between Prime Minister Bennett, senior members of her cabinet and the Premiers, however, Federal Treasurer Dr Christopher Wright stated that although the topic of a national development bank was yeoman in that it was an attempt to address chronic challenges facing the Commonwealth, it was not a priority for the government in the interim. “Whilst we view the discussion to be yeoman in its efforts to bring a potential solution to what has otherwise been a very messy situation surrounding funding/finance administration in Mordusia, it is not a priority at this moment, although we committed to gauge the opinions of the Premiers at this afternoon’s meeting,” Dr Wright explained.

Beyond the economy and the idea of a national development bank, one of the major points to be certainly discussed between the Prime Minister and the Premiers surrounds the question of the nation’s response to the Commonwealth’s deteriorating national security environment. Pointing to decades of mismanagement on matters related to defence, law enforcement and border security, numerous Premiers have expressed concerns related to the relative “safety and security of the nation.” Minister for Home Affairs Dylan Wenham admitted that decades of mismanagement and lack of funding had significantly deteriorated the nation’s ability to respond to new and emerging challenges both domestically and externally. The Mordusian Federal Police, which has been formally reorganised into the Royal Mordusian Mounted Police (RMMP) has taken on increased responsibility including border security after the Mordusian Border Police were formally folded into the reorganised institution upon the passage of the RMMP Act. Minister Wenham stated that amidst the reorganisation, the RMMP would alongside its responsibilities for border security be largely responsible for conducting criminal investigations of national importance. Through the agency’s “National Investigations Command”, the agency would likely be investigating crimes of both national importance and those which constitute their involvement. He also confirmed that preliminary discussions with Premiers which took place well in advance to today’s conference yielded concerns related to overburdening the agency and “mission creep”. According to the Minister, the RMMP would not suffer the fate of its predecessor noting that its reorganisation and enhanced responsibilities would be reinforced with a sizeable increase in the agency’s budget. Legacy institutions such as the Mordusian Secret Intelligence Service (MSIS) and the Mordusian Security Intelligence Organisation (MSIO) will remain relevant to the nation’s national/domestic security apparatus, however, a National Security Coordinator is expected to be appointed to enhance coordination between the entire security and intelligence community, noting that national counter-terrorism coordination would remain within the hands of the RMMP. There has been significant chatter surrounding Wenham’s intention to disband the MSIO and fold much of the agency’s responsibilities into the RMMP, however, Wenham has denounced said rumours as “false” and “unfounded”.