Kirlawa

[Aethan]

Kian Collins chosen as new Chief Justice of Kirlawa
He becomes the youngest judge to be elected leader of the highest judicial instance, awaiting the last remaining appointment and with a court once again clearly progressive


Kian Collins, recently elected new Chief Justice of Kirlawa

The most mediatic judge in Kirlawa, known for his markedly progressive position and for his interpretation of the law in the "foundational" sense, that is, based on humanity's fundamental concept of equality of maximum conditions, and a well-known judge in judicial debates in political programmes, was announced this afternoon as new Chief Justice of Kirlawa.

In the television program broadcast by state television every twenty years in which the country's Chief Justice and the rest of the members elected until that moment, whose audience this year has reached almost 15 million viewers throughout the country, are announced, Kian Collins has been announced as the new Chief Justice, making this judge born in a small rural town of Uwakah the youngest Chief Justice to date, at just 45 years old.

Along with Mr. Collins, five of the six other members have been announced, all of them considered progressive, while the last remaining member to be named is awaiting the decision of the opposition.

At the time of his appointment, chaired by the Kirlawan Uachtarán, Mr. Collins has reaffirmed his commitment to social justice and equal opportunities for all citizens, and with his election, the cycle of progressive Chief Justices in the Kirlawan Supreme Court.

To date, no member of the highest court in Kirlawa has come from the group of the so-called "conservatives", something that some associations of judges have been denouncing in recent years while waiting for the now-named Collins Court to have elected some members of this group. However, this has not been the case in the end, since, at least for the moment and pending the last remaining appointment, all the judges of the Collins Court belong to the progressive branch of justice.

In a nation unaccustomed to conservative laws and governments - in the last century, all parties that have governed Kirlawa have presented at least a center-left ideology - it is not surprising that justice follows the same path. Pending the opposition's decision - coming from the conservative party, which has just 77 of Kirlawa's 750 Senate seats - an imminent change in the composition of the nation's highest judicial institution is not expected.
____________________________________________________

Update:

As expected, the conservative opposition elected a conservative judge, magistrate Siobhán Ó Laoighaire, for the last remaining seat in the Collins Court, marking this the first time a conservative judge seats in the highest judicial instance of Kirlawa.

[Aethan]

Kirlawa warms up for the upcoming elections
Candidates for the State and Government Presidency have already started campaigning


Set where the debate between the main candidates before the elections will take place

In Kirlawa, political life is lived like sport. The citizens of Kirlawa are known for their keen interest in politics, whether for better or for worse. They are so fervent that, if there is not a candidate or political party that satisfies them almost completely, they will not hesitate not to go to vote before voting for the "least bad" option. And that is one of the hot spots for the upcoming elections in Kirlawa: participation. In the last general elections, in which Standing Left won the absolute majority in the Senate, participation barely reached 16%, and therefore, during these previous months, the candidates will strive to mobilize the electorate to give it greater legitimacy to their mandate, whoever is chosen.

At the moment, there are two parties that head all the polls: Earrach Geal - Bright Spring - direct heir of Standing Left but disassociated from all the previous leadership, with new members in its executive and a new political course directed towards greater transparency than during the last years it had been absent from Standing Left and had been the main cause of its great electoral decline, as the main party of the left, bordering on the extreme left on some issues; and Muintir na Kirlawa - People's Party of Kirlawa, literally "People of Kirlawa" - the party that aims to unite the entire conservative vote in the country. Polls do not give even a percentage greater than 0.01% of the vote to other parties, although some of their leaders have been invited to the debate. Furthermore, the polls do not agree on which of the two main parties will be the winner after the elections. Bright Spring currently has 677 of the 750 senators, while the remaining 73 belong to the People's Party of Kirlawa. However, a large increase in participation could tip the balance in either direction, and could even make Kirlawa have a conservative government for the first time in more than a century.

For this reason, the current Taoiseach of Kirlawa, Caolán Hughes, has turned squarely in the electoral campaign waiting to greatly increase the votes for his party, once all ties that united them with Standing Left have been severed. Similarly, the Uachtarán Caelan Allen, from the same party, aspires to reelection without having it assured while waiting for the People's Party to confirm whether they will present any candidate for the Head of State.

The citizens of Kirlawa are closely following the development of this electoral process, which could culminate in the first conservative government in a long time or with a victory for the radical left to continue introducing one more legislature its reforms.

[Aethan]

Bittersweet night for Bright Spring
The party loses its majority in the Senate and four of the regional governments but retains an overwhelming majority in Merkan, in the capital city and revalidates the Head of State


Reelected Uachtarán Caelan Allen (centre) after presidential results announced

The electoral forecasts were fulfilled: for the first time in more than a century, a conservative party will rule Kirlawa. The People's Party of Kirlawa has won a large majority in the Senate after these elections, with 475 of the 750 seats at stake, and the governments of four of the country's five regions. Only Merkan, the quintessential working-class region, has remained faithful to the heirs of Standing Left, providing Bright Spring with more than half of its total senators - at Merkan, Bright Spring has garnered 99.99% of the vote and the 150 seats at stake, while the People's Party has barely garnered 280 votes, 0.01% of the total, and no seats. In the other four regions, by contrast, the People's Party has obtained a comfortable majority - although Bright Spring has obtained between 10 and 40 seats in them - which certifies the desire for change of the electorate, whose participation has increased to 38.45 %, a figure that, however, is still too low according to the opinion of all political leaders, who trust that this percentage will increase in the next electoral appointments.

The new government, which will be headed by the conservative Pádraig Kinny, has already taken office, and it is expected that in the coming weeks the guidelines for this legislature will be revealed.

Speaking to Caólan Hughes, the outgoing Taoiseach and Bright Spring head of the list about the election result, he said it was a "no-brainer disaster" and that the results were "obviously bad."

"When, despite having obtained an increase in participation, the number of votes that our party receives falls, it is evident that we have not achieved our objective. We have gone from obtaining 10 million votes as Standing Left to 7 million as Bright Spring, and this may be due to the fact that we have not been able to correctly convey our intention to the electorate. I consider that there are many leftist electorate that has been disappointed with the dissolution of Standing Left and that have made them distrust Bright Spring, so we are going to work during this legislature to regain lost confidence and return to government as soon as possible. For now, we will have to make the best opposition we can to this conservative government, from which we don't even know what to expect. "

The mayor of the capital, also belonging to Bright Spring and who has revalidated her position in a City Council in which there will not be a single opposition senator, has affirmed that, without a doubt, "this is the legislature to work thoroughly on this new political project and launch the deep left-wing initiatives that Kirlawa needs. "

From the party, numerous political leaders have reaffirmed their commitment to make self-criticism of the errors that may have been committed in order to solve them as soon as possible and reawaken the illusion in the left-wing citizens of the country.

The other side of the elections have been the presidential elections, where the current Uachtarán Caelan Allen aspired to revalidate the position. And so it has been, since it has been presented without any rival after announcing the People's Party support for his candidacy without prior notice to Bright Spring or to the Uachtarán himself. A movement that caught the entire party and Allen himself by surprise, but which has not discouraged citizens when it comes to voting, since he has been endorsed in office by more than 25 million votes (26,176,348 votes in total) .

[pSp]

Pádraig Kinny, the new Taoiseach, at his first press conference since the election

Opposition takes office

The outcome of the elections were emphatic, with some sense of history being made. The landslide victory of Muintir na Kirlawa means that for the first time in living memory, the government will be anchored on the right, rather than the left, of the political centre. Pádraig Kinny, a hitherto backbencher and political unknown until recently, won the caucus ballot for leader as the standard bearer of the urban, socially liberal but fiscally conservative wing of the party, and has been confirmed by President Allen. Mr Kinny may have led a low-key existence as far as the public is concerned, but he is no unknown quantity to the Uwakah business scene, where he had led a successful law firm for over two decades before entering politics four years ago. Concerned about the "ever tightening grip of government overreach", as he stated his reasons at the time, it is believed that Kinny and his new team will focus on economic reform, acting to liberalize the economy and improve competitiveness. Calls from rural MPs for a clear turn to the right on social issues are likely to be given little leeway, at least for the moment.

Responding to questions about the party's sudden and surprising decision to back the incumbent President, Mr Kinny stated that "we do not think that the office of Uachtarán should be handled in a partisan way".

[pSp]

Finance Minister unveils radical fiscal reform
June, 4788


The Treasury building in Éagsúila

The first details on the the new liberal-conservative government's economic plans were today announced to the Seanad by the Minister of Finance, Dr. Samuel O'Brien. In an almost hour-long speech, the 43-year old economist, widely viewed as being on the urban right of the Muintir na Kirlawa party, and a close confidant of Taoiseach Kinny, presented a damning indictment of hitherto budgetary policy, decrying "systematic overspending" on several government departments, as well as a culture of "paternalistic excess" in decision making. He further traced weaknesses in the Kirlawan economy, such as below-capacity production levels and low private investment, to these policies, vowing to replace them.

Stating that Kirlawa needed to "substitute trusting individual effort for government intervention", he then went on to announce a budget that will see overall spending significantly reduced, with particularly severe cuts in subsidies for industry and agriculture, somewhat offset by a rise in allocations for infrastructure. Although details on the last point are not yet forthcoming, it is believed that the Kirlawan waterfront will see a windfall in development funds, with Trade & Industry Minister Peter Stafford having made statements to that effect in previous days. The savings made from these austerity polices will underpin a tax reform package, currently doing the final rounds at the Treasury, that will see personal income and corporate tax rates drop substantially.

Analysts agree that this budget will become the defining feature of the new government's first term in office, marking a radical departure from the public investment-led development models that have tended to characterize successive leftist governments over the past century.

[Aethan]

"I think we are an exception in current politics"
Kirlawa President Uachtarán Caelan Allen talks to this newspaper about the challenges facing the country, its future decisions, and its assessment of the first conservative government.


Uachtarán Caelan Allen (right) and Taoiseach Pádraig Kinny (left)

When he told his parents when he was just twelve years old that he wanted to be "Chief of Kirlawa", his parents, as anyone would have done, could not help but laugh. But now, at 37 years old, he has already been heading the Kirlawan Head of State for six years, being the youngest President of the nation, having been elected to his first term with just 31 years old. He believes that politics should serve to improve people's lives, and move away from the sterile and harsh debates that usually occur in most nations.

Interviewer: This question is mandatory, Mr. Allen: What do you think of the People's Party decision not to present an alternative candidate to you to lead the Head of State in the last elections?
Caelan Allen: Plurality is always welcome, and I am the first to encourage everyone who wants to stand for political office to do so. That said, I was most surprised to see that the People's Party decided not to present a candidate against my candidacy, but I think that the words of the Taoiseach Kinny have been quite clear. I ran for these elections as a Bright Spring candidate, but my responsibility is to all the citizens of Kirlawa, as the last representative of the popular will and a figure of union for all who live in our country. For this reason, and although my ideology is clear based on the fact that I present my candidacy linked to a specific party, this should not serve to put some citizens ahead of others. My duty is to defend the Kirlawan Constitution against internal or external attacks, and that will be the task that I will perform as long as I have the confidence of the citizens.

I: Speaking of Taoiseach Kinny, what is your relationship with the head of government of the first conservative cabinet in more than a century in Kirlawa?
C.A: Well, some may be surprised, but I think Kirlawa, and our political class in general, are an exception in current politics. I am very grateful to live in a nation in which the political debate is carried out from respect and not from insult, in which our political representatives dialogue instead of yelling at each other, in which we try to work together for the common good. Unfortunately, it is not something that happens very often elsewhere. My relationship with Taoiseach Kinny is a cordial relationship. We have our ideological differences, obviously coming from two different parties, but that does not prevent us from having a good personal relationship. I was the first to congratulate him on his election as Taoiseach after the last general election, in which it became clear that the public wanted his party to lead the future government, and I am not going to contradict that. Ideological differences, as long as they are respectful of human rights and our freedoms, should not be an impediment to friendly relations. It is obvious the government I would have preferred, but that is not up to me but up to the citizens.

I: And for this new mandate, what are your main lines of action?
C.A: Now it's my turn to review signed and pending international treaties to see if I consider that they can be applied to our nation or not. Furthermore, I think it is important to promote the defense of workers' rights around the world, something I will fight for, and if possible, I will meet with the nations of the Artanian League to decide the future of this international union, which should to have much more weight than it currently has but which has instead been largely forgotten and very centralized in Dorvik.

I: What is your opinion of the ITEAK, the institute founded by previous Standing Left mandates that is providing great advances in the field of scientific research?
C.A: I am extremely proud that Kirlawa has such a great team of scientists and researchers that get what they are getting. It is without a doubt a pride for the entire nation to count on them, and I hope that they will bring us many more discoveries beneficial to humanity as they have done on several occasions.

I: One last question: do you plan to run for office to lead a new mandate?
C.A: There is still half of this term left and I have a lot to think about, but I consider myself young and energetic, so I don't see why I am not going to participate to lead a further mandate for the Kirlawa Head of State. As long as the citizens want me to represent them, I am going to stand for election so they decide.

[Aethan]

ITEAK announces improvements for a cure of the "sleeping sickness" by creating immune tsetse flies

[pSp]

Government re-elected in a landslide
July, 4791

The centre-right Muintir na Kirlawa government has been re-elected in an huge landslide, expanding its already commanding lead in the Seanad. The party also swept every province, unseating the sole socialist governor in Merkan by a margin of two-to-one, a result rendered all the more extraordinary by MnK not having won a single seat there in the 4787 election. The sole exception to right-wing dominance in Kirlawa is now the Presidency, where socialist Uachtarán Caelan Allen was once more elected with government backing; sources have it that MnK was considering running its own candidate, but was impressed by the President's respectful interaction with the government, with Taoiseach Kinny in particular being opposed to a "partisan" challenge for the Presidency.

The result has caught most observers by surprise; although the government's re-election was considered likely, not even the most optimistic forecasts saw it at 79% of the vote. Ruarí Collins, Professor of Political Science at the Nuchtmark Institute of Technology, had the following analysis to make of the causes of the result:

Clearly, it should worry the Left. Whereas the 4787 result could have been put down to a fluke, the electorate at that time simply stating emphatically that it desired change, it will be more difficult to explain this time around as anything but a clear preference for, at least economically, a right-wing course. It should be remembered, also, that Taoiseach Kinny has staked a rather moderate direction on social security so far, which might have de-mobilized some socialist voters.

One factor that complicates the result, however, is the consistently low turnout. Some of this may simply be the de-motivation to vote that many voters will feel if they sense that the outcome is obvious beforehand, but this is hardly enough to explain abstention in general. My conclusion is that although the political preferences of those who do vote are clear, large segments of the population do not feel represented by either of the two main parties. There is scope in particular, I think, for a socially conservative force to emerge. Those currents do already exist within Muintir na Kirlawa, but I think the liberal wing will stay in control as long as it is electorally successful. Whether or not the party leadership will attempt to intergrate these voters in some way or the other, though, remains to be seen.

When asked about politics in the coming years, the professor had the following to say:

I think the government may well be encouraged to implement bolder and more controversial policies, now that it feels it has a firm mandate to do so and a stable bedrock of popular support in the community. Clearly, a majority on this scale gives you plenty of political capital to spend. That, in turn, might be a chance for the opposition to make a fresh start and claw back some of the voters it has lost.

[pSp]

Kinny to retire
September, 4794

In a move which has stunned the politico-medial establishment of Kirlawa, Taoiseach Pádraig Kinny has announced that he does not intend to stand for re-election, and will only serve out his present mandate. In a press statement issued this morning, the incumbent head of government declared that, although he doesn't think himself worn out by the responsibilities of government, he is of the opinion that "two terms are quite enough" for any one man, and that his party "disposes of talent aplenty, which should be allowed to come to the fore". Sources close to the Prime Minister say that he wants to return to practicing business, with his Micana-based law firm having been under separate management for the past eight years. There appear to be no obvious political reasons for his stepping down, Kinny's popularity among the grassroots and the right-of-centre electorate being as solid as ever.

This surprise resignation throws the field wide open for ambitious leadership hopefuls. In a lightning survey of local People's Party associations, Education Minister Alex Murray, the frontman of recent school reform and darling of the Kinnyite urban liberal wing, was in the lead with 26% of polled members backing him, followed by Health Minister Grace O'Malley, widely seen as the favourite of rural conservatives, at 17%. The chairman of the People's Party parliamentary caucus, Joseph Milroy, has also been touted as a potential candidate, particularly by those eager to avoid the inner-party fissures a hotly contested leadership battle between the two main wings might produce. Milroy, a former carpenter, political moderate, and Merkan native, is also seen as a good choice by those anxious to maintain and expand the People's Party's appeal amongst working-class and left-leaning voters; he has, however, stated in the past that he is not interested in the party leadership.

The succession to the leadership, and quite possibly the office of Taoiseach, will be decided at a special party conference on December 17.

[pSp]

McLaughlin new People's Party leader
December, 4794



The 4794 People's Party convention has caused an upset, with Agriculture Minister Grace McLaughlin, who until recently had barely registered on the radar of political analysts, narrowly winning the leadership over Education Minister Alex Murray, the odds-on favourite, by a margin of 51.2% to 48.8% on the final ballot, thus making her the standard bearer of the Right in the upcoming elections and prospective future Taoiseach.

The outcome was almost completely unexpected, with shock visible on the faces of Murray's supporters as the final tally was read out. Her campaign, which at first attracted little support, was bolstered early on by the decision of Joseph Milroy not to stand, sending his moderate supporters, unhappy with Murray's confrontational attitude during the campaign, flocking to McLaughlin instead, who, despite ideologically being on the party's right, has a reputation as a inner-party consensus builder. Finishing second on the first ballot, she then received the endorsement of Health Minister O'Malley, whose socially conservative delegates quickly rallied around the anti-Murray camp.

Analysts agree that McLaughlin's election signals increasing influence by the rural wing of the party, and a clear setback for the urban liberals. If the People's Party retains its majority in the July elections, as is generally expected, it is possible that cultural issues may supplant economic reform as the government's main focus.