Hobrazia

[CPHobrazia]

HOBRAZIA GOES TO THE POLLS
Outgoing Emperor, Alexander William Martin-Howe

Hobrazia is set for an early General Election, after the governing Capitalist Party announced that Emperor Alexander William Martin-Howe was to stand down, following many years of service.

Mr. Martin-Howe commented: "It has been an honour and a privilege to lead my party and country, and it gives me enormous pleasure to hand over the leadership to William Turner-Clarke, who is not only a colleague, but a close personal friend."

CPoH insiders said that Mr. Martin-Howe 'simply needs more time to himself.'

"It's a tough job being Emperor," one senior official told us.

[l-rouge]

HBC News

War?

In front of a subdued throng of Hobrazian Ministers, today Emperor Alan B'stard addressed nation:

My people, it is with a heavy heart I speak to you today, but it is my duty to you all that I make this statement.
I have been asked for help by our friends and neighbours in the North. The history, the people, the very foundation stones of their Nation are under attack.
His Imperial and Most Excellent Majesty, Emperor Siegmund I of Luthori, Alduria and Mordusia, &ec., has been threatened, his life put at risk as well as those of his family. As a long standing friend of Hobrazia's, we cannot simply stand idly by and allow these threats to go on with out response so I am saddened to report that, for the first time in many years, the Hobrazian Military has been called into action.
As I speak, the 10th Kiduran Infantry Division has been ordered to deploy to protect His Highness and His family. To this end, for the first in centuries, the Hobrazian Armed Forces are being deployed in another Country on active duty. They have their orders, which are clear and distinct. They are to protect His Highness and His family, nothing more. They are not to fire their weapons at Luthori civilians nor at any other groups except in defence of His Highness or fired upon themselves.
However, should they be fired upon, or the lives of those under their protection be threatened, they are cleared to use whatever force necessary to protect themselves or carry out their duty. To this end we have also placed our Northern Forces on alert and they are ready to assist if required.
We have been informed by His Highness that the Military of Luthori are still under the command of His Highness and have been made fully aware of the deployment of the 10th Kiduran. They should be in position by the 'morrow.
I make this request to the all Parties of Luthori, talk to each other. Do not allow personnal political greed to destroy your great Nation. Your friends to the South have always supported you. Hobrazia stands by you and will offer assistance to you as required, but do not throw away your history on a whim or you may find it lost forever.
To the world I say this, we will not stand idly by and allow the destruction of our friends. Should we be needed, we will act.


Alan be Praised

[Stenrosen]

HBC NEWS
April 3133

The Hobrazian Peoples Party (HPP) has reformed and ran for office in the recent generel election. As a response to the long time regime of the WSS!P the ideology from the ancient HPP was revived among several nationalist and socialist groupings in Hobrazia. They reformed HPP just before the deadline for sending in party lists and candidates for the forthcoming election to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and took the whole nation by surprise.

It came as a shock for the WSS!P who lost everything this election. Not a single seat in Parliament showed that the Hobrazian people were willing to try something new and the apparently the fresh energy from the HPP showed to be just enough for almost every single voter to shift sides and reward HPP for their bravery of running against the so well established WSS!P regime.

Now it is interesting to follow the new untried government and see whether the HPP can keep the party together with their newly won power and so many delegates wanting a bite of the cake. A test former chairmen has performed excellent in past times.

[l-rouge]

HBC NEWS

The We Say So! Party, so long in government, now like an injured cat shrinking back and licking its wounds seems to be, for the first time in generations, realigning itself for a new future. With a new leader and new opposition, will the Party be able to survive this first, and possibly last, assault against the old regime, or will it collapse under its own inability to change with the times?
In a possible answer, the We Say So! Party released this statement.

For the first time in nearly a century a viable opposition has challenged the leadership of this Nation and wrestled control away from the Party.
Many have seen this as an indictment against WSS!P doctrine and leadership. Others claim that this is the beginning of the end of the We Say So! Party.
We, however, do not see this result as the terrible misfortune that it is being portrayed as in the media.
For the first time in 95 years this nation no longer is lead by the We Say So! Party, or any of its spokesmen.
We have no seats in power, let alone government, and are completely unable to effectively provide opposition to legislation that is harmful to this nation, but it is this seeming lack of power that will eventually prove to be our saving grace.
The young have, quite rightly, rebelled against the status quo of their ancestors. This is what the young do.
The more mature voter has not voted in large numbers because they did not expect the young to actively vote, believing in the status quo that has prevailed for so long.
However, through our current misfortune, our strength and viability will be re-energised. It may take one parliamentary session, it may take more, but the people of this nation will, once again, realise that which their ancestors realised before them. The We Say So! Party brings stability. The We Say So! Party brings security. The We Say So! Party brings hope.
For a time the young will relish this change, they will see the reformed Parties of the past reintroduce laws that will steadily erode the security and stability that their ancestors relied upon, and they will come to realise their mistake and once again take their rightful place as We Say So! Party supporters.
To those who doubt us we say this, look at the history of this nation. Look at the history of this Party.
The We Say So! Party is Hobrazia, and Hobrazia is the We Say So! Party.
We believe in you, and you will in time come to believe in us again.
Already the government has begun stripping your rights from you. Already your economic and religious security has been removed from you. How much more will be lost before you return to our embrace and we again move forward to return this nation to its pinnacle.
The Party is waiting for you.
We Are Right.

Alan be Praised.

[Polites]

Anticommunist Opposition Formed
Astoria City, March 25, 3305



A surprising political development in Hobrazia, as the opponents of the communist regime have joined together in open opposition by forming the Hobrazian Civic Forum, a coalition of conservative, nationalist, and liberal movements. The Forum, lead by young disident Mikheil Gabashvili, seems to receive considerable backing from the leaders of both the Hobrazian Orthodox Church and of the Hobaist religion. Whether the new opposition will lead to the opening of the regime or there will be a violent crackdown, only time will tell.

[Loriya]

Political stalemate continues

The last few years has been turbulent ones in the Hobratsuri Respublica. The decades-long communist regime of the Hobratsuri Komunisturi Partiis fell in the wake of two new political movements – the Hobratsuri Erovnuli P'rontis and the Akhali Partia – and several months of aggressive decommunization ensued, a process which is not yet even finished.
That was followed by the fall of the national unity government when the HKP ministers left the cabinet in protest against the fundamentalist policies introduced by HEP. The very same policies were then overturned just a short time afterwards by a temporary parliamentary alliance between HKP and AP.

From theocracy to liberalization
"We of the HKP has always prided ourselves with not abusing our power to pry into the personal lives or the bedchambers of our voters, the people in whose employ we are", party chairman and political veteran Marlin Loriya said then, "But the Hobratsuri Erovnuli P'rontis are intent on forcing their outdated and moralistic views down the throats of the Hobrazians. We cannot and will not abide by this theocracy. Our reforms will give the people back the rights that are theirs, not to be taken away by us or a few religious fundamentalists."
The twists and turns of uneasy alliances and swiftly changing laws were then put to a stop through a painstaking reorganization of the vast Hobrazian armed forces, which faced severe budget cutbacks and a huge reduction in number of units. It was a process that involved all three parties and that was noted for its great degree of cooperation.

The reforms stopped
But then, after that important work was wrapped up, something happened. The quick, massive and overwhelming reformations – revolutions, some even called it – did not slow down to a halt. They simply stopped.
"After the civil liberties were restored to Hobrazia", Marlin Loriya says to HBC, "And the decommunization had come this far, with just a few remains of what we in the HKP once worked day and night to introduce for the sake of our people, the wind seems to just have gone out the reformists. With a stalemate in the Erovnuli Krebis, where two parties constantly block the two others and no party can agree on a working cabinet, the situation seems to remain a status quo."

[Loriya]

Change at last

After a long period of political stagnation in the Hobratsuri Respublica, the parties of the Erovnuli Krebis finally agreed on a cabinet that is acceptable to everyone involved.
The agreement, proposed by the Hobratsuri Erovnuli P'rontis and quickly accepted by the Hobratsuri Komunisturi Partiis, gives the Akhali Partia the responsibility to form a minority government.
"The HEP representative came to me with the solution, and since we in the HKP has been malcontent with the remains of the old Hobrazian theocracy, I jumped at the chance and got approval from the party", HKP chairman Marlin Loriya said.
The bill to approve the AP minority cabinet was soon presented to the Erovnuli Krebis, which voted it through unanimously.
"The question we're left with now", Marlin Loriya commented afterwards, "Is whether or not this new government will be start of more changes in Hobrazia. After all, we're still stuck in the same mathematical deadlock. But at least it is an attempt to set things in motion. In what direction, however, I cannot say."

[Loriya]

Decommunization moves forward - but disagreement about the meaning exist

The new minority government, led by the Akhali Partia and with the support of arch-rivals Hobratsuri Komunisturi Partiis and Hobratsuri Erovnuli P'rontis, recommenced the all but dormant campaign of decommunization.
"It is a small step in the wrong direction", HKP chairman Marlin Loriya said in a comment, "But it is a step nonetheless. Today, the Hobratsuri Respublica grew even colder."
The decommunization process began with the fall of the decades-long HKP government in 2308, and it came on strong. But after the initial great strides, the reform pace slowed. But both the centrists of AP and the religious-nationalist HEP remain hopeful.
"We believe that decommunization is the process of giving back to the people freedom of choice, in all aspects of their life", said premier ministri James Hayward, "From the economic point of view the AP has reintroduced the private sector in most aspects of the economy.

However, that is not a view the HEP, ardent supporters of decommunization, share.
"We do not understand by decommunization the same thing that our colleagues understand", says HEP spokesperson Giorgi Pkheidze, "For us, this process means eliminating each and every policy and attitude that originates from materialism, secularism, and, indeed, communism"
In spite of the disagreement, the decommunization process thus far has gone off without a hitch - and as long as it continues to mean a liberalization of the economy, it seems to continue in that manner.

Much to the dismay of HKP, one might add.
"Horrible", Loriya said in a debate in the Erovnuli Krebis about the two bills being introduced, "Horrible, horrible! You're selling out our people to money-hungry capitalists who care for nothing but profit!"
AP, the drafters of the bill, takes the criticism with no great worry.
"The two bills that have recently passed and have become law reintroduce the possibility for citizens to choose which provider will provide the service they require, for the internet as for higher education", Hayward concluded in his reply, "We especially feel that the education reform and the introduction of private higher level education will be able to provide a wider range of learning possibilities without decreasing the quality of education."

[Loriya]

Communist foreign policy criticized'

The Akhali Partia issued a statement yesterday that was highly critical of the international policies pursued by the Hobratsuri Komunisturi Partiis.
"The AP is looking into Hobrazia's foreign policy and the possibility of leaving the Alliance of Terran Republics as we feel it got us unjustly involved in a war that had nothing to do with us in the first place", prime minister James Hayward said.
On the recieving end, HKP chairman Marlin Loriya just scoffed at the AP.
"First of all, we're not at war", he said, "And we've never been. The conflict between the Gaduri and the Malivians didn't concern us until the Malivians decided that we couldn't let our allies station troops on our territory. And even then, we weren't at war. The Malivians haven't declared war on us, and we haven't declared war on them. The hostilities was limited to us forcing them off our sovereign territory by military means and stopping at our border."
The Hobratsuri Erovnuli P'rontis is a since long established opponent of the ATR membership.

[Loriya]

Election and new party brings changes

In one of the most dramatic elections since the fall of the communist regime, the Hobrazian political map was redrawn. A new party, the Rep'ormis Partia, entered the Erovnuli Krebis. It surpassed veteran party Akhali Partia and the two largest parties, the Hobratsuri Erovnuli P'rontis and the Hobratsur Komunisturi Partiis, suffered losses to the newcomer.

However, for the first time in over a decade, HKP emerged as the largest party - much to the rejoice of HKP chairman and newly-elected premier miniztri Marlin Loriya.
"It is a great day for equality and freedom in the Republic", he says, "While we lost seats, the situation in the parliament means that no party can totally block acts or even constitutional changes, should they be needed."
HEP is both satisfied and dissatisfied with the election result.
"We were hoping that the voters would see the light and support the only genuine nationalist movement in Hobrazia, the only ones truly dedicated to complete the process of decommunization", says HEP spokesperson Giorgi Pkheidze,"We are nevertheless happy to see that we managed to win the office of Prezidenti, in spite of a coalition formed against us for the Head of State elections."

In the eyes of AP, however, not much has changed.
"The HKP and the HEP are still the biggest parties but what has changed is that none of them now posses 33% of representatives and as such may not single handily defeat any constitution amendment or treaty ratification", says party chairman James Hayward.

One of the first things hurried through after the election was a constitutional change that AP and HKP had been trying to change for years, but they always found themselves blocked by HEP. The law guarantees that any party, not just the prezidenti, can propose a government.
"We are uncertain what the future will bring us when it comes to the Hobrazian government, seeing that a constitutional amendment that would allow any party to form a cabinet is being approved", says Giorgi Pkheidze, "This will cause an undesirable split between the Presidency and the Cabinet, effectively creating a bicephalous executive."
The AP, however, see things in a more positive light. James Hayward defended the change:
"We rejoice at finally amending the constitution. We hope this leads to a fairer and more democratic cabinet proposal process."

No member of the RP could be reached for a commentary.