Baltusia

[JDog1]

KALISTANI FOREIGN MINISTER VISITS BALTUSIA!

Yesterday on September 16th the Foreign Minister of Kalistan Sharice Mosswell made a official visit to the District of Dove. At 7 AM her plane touched down at the city’s international airport. She was greeted by President David Williams and his wife Lila Williams. After some brief ceremony Mosswell and the First couple preceded to the Presidential Mansion. At the Mansion Mosswell meet the President’s Cabinet. When speaking with the Minister of Defense Matthew Simmons, Mosswell made the mistake of mentioning the Baltusian government’s suspected involvement in the conflict in Ntoto. After some awkward moments of silence Richard Strong, the Minister of Trade and Industry, was able to salvage the conversation by changing the subject to the topic of the proposed construction of high-speed railways on the Seleyian Continent. After meeting with the Cabinet, Mosswell attended a formal lunch with the President,his family and a handful of high-ranking officials. After the lunch Legate Robert Morris ( the Commander of the Free Nationalist Legion and the Chief of Security for the President) presented to Mosswell a Baltusian Rapier as a gift to the Premier of Kalistan. After receiving the gift, Mosswell was taken on a tour of Johnston. She spent the rest of the afternoon after the tour with the President and his family. At 8 PM Mosswell said goodbye to the President of Baltusia and boarded her plane for the next stop in her journey.

The President released a official statement after Mosswell’s visit.

Foreign Minister Mosswell’s visit was a pleasant change from the cold dealings that Baltusia and Kalistan have had lately. The young woman showed great knowledge in Baltusian history and culture, and proved to be a delightful guest. I am looking forward to dealing with her as the Foreign Minister of Kalistan. Hopefully their will be more young minds like her coming into politics in nations like Kalistan.

[jamescfm]

Tropican government designates Baltusia "state sponsor of terrorism"

[DueWizard70]

Perkins in the press conference at the IRP's HQ
(OOC: This post is backdated. Take it into consideration when replying to it.)
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The Institutional Reform Party is Born
November 4889

After several months of planning and lobbying, today the Institutional Reform Party has been founded in our capital city of Johnston. Chairperson and Founder Everson Perkins came forth in a press conference to announce it.

Good evening everyone, I want to make this quick so I won't take any questions. I am here to announce that today a coalition of centrist, centre-left, centre-right and radical centrist politicians have joined up together to form the Institutional Reform Party. Our objective as a party is to reform sectors of our internal policy using ideas from all over the political spectrum, disregarding the silly left vs right fight. For more information, you can talk here with our spokesperson Mr William Stevenson. Thank you all.

The announcement was received with quite a bit of support, particularly from more moderate audiences, that have been forced to vote with the National Progressive Party and the National Democratic Front. The NPP being a leftist party would leave many voters unsatisfied with some of their more radical approaches. The same would happen with the NDF, but this time for slightly right-leaning voters. The IRP will jump into this gap to provide all people in the centre of the political spectrum a new option that aligns with their views better.

But, what does the IRP actually stand for? As mentioned before by Mr Perkins, the party looks to solve problems with immediate solutions, but not based on whether they are "leftist" or "rightist", but on if they work. They believe that there are good ideas to be found on both sides of the political spectrum and that completely rejecting either side is unwise, as both sides can bring something to the table, and ignoring one side is blinding yourself to possible solutions. They are also a more flexible party than most, as they say, that they are willing to reassess their beliefs if presented with "truths that go against them". They also believe in reforming by building upon previous attempts, and not completely destroying these past efforts, as this means that no true progress can be achieved.

It remains to be seen whether they will gather enough support on the coming 4893 general elections.

[DueWizard70]

The Jameson Brothers (OOC source: Rolling Stone)
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Today it has been announced that the Jameson Brothers will be going to FOMAT to represent Baltusia. They will be performing "I'll Follow you Anywhere Blindly". It is a love song that speaks about a person who is in love and would do anything for the object of their affection. The Jameson Brothers have had a very good career in Baltusia, having started in a show for children, but due to their musical talents, they quickly rose to fame and have become widely adored in Baltusia, even though they have only been performing for a mere two years. This will be the first time that Baltusia has entered the renowned musical competition and the entire nation has its hopes high of a good result, and maybe even a win.

We wish them the best of luck!



Click for video

[DueWizard70]

Voting station in Harriston
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Now that all the smaller runoff elections have been completed around the country, The Reformist brings you a recap of this year's general elections.

The Presidential election saw Catalina Gilmore from Justice and Virtue and Joseph Highlag of the Radical Youth gain the majority of the vote on the First Round, with their results combined amassing to around 55% of the vote, with Gilmore pulling ahead with 29%. With Highslag behind by 4%, many expected the Second Round to go Catalina's way. However, it did not. With the majority of Green, Social Democrats and Reformist voters turning to the RYEP with their vote, Jospeh Highlag won the election with a whopping 63% of the popular vote.

As for the Congressional elections, the RYEP was also victorious, achieving 22% of the cote and winning the governorships in Westbrook and Santiago. The JVP was close behind with only 3 seats less than the Radical Youth and gaining the governorship of Attano. The governorships of Ralston and New Egelion went to the NPP and SDP respectively. The total seat distribution is as follows:


The IRP had an extremely disappointing election, achieving only 0.05% of the vote, with 31 thousand. The votes they received were so little that they were unable to gain a single seat. The IRP won only 2 elections nationwide. These were for the mayorship of small towns. Everson Perkins has said that he is still confident in the party and is sure that the IRP will perform well in the next election.

[DueWizard70]

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Earlier this year, the IRP04-Tax Reform bill passed in congress in a vote which ended 239-145 in favour. The bill proposed a 2% increase on the tax on the profit made by corporations, the creation of a new 3% tax on non-luxury goods, and a massive 6% decrease in luxury good taxes. This last one, in particular, received much public support. The JVP, RYEP and NPP supported the bill, with the NDF and SDP not doing so.

This has been something rather curious, as many now wonder if the Institutional Reformation Party could act as a bridge between parties, as the more conservative, and leader of the opposition Justice and Virtue Party voted with the Radical Youths Ethical Party. They were joined by the National Progressive Party. These are three parties at different ends of the political spectrum. As the RYEP currently controlled by the Greens is very radical left, with the NPP being a centre-left party and the JVP being a right-wing party. It is remarkable that the IRP was able to bring them all together. This falls in line with their philosophy of not caring for "left-right politics". If they continue with their current course, it is possible that the IRP could act as a middle ground for the left and right in Baltusia, and propose bills that have the support of both. With support from both sides, it could be possible to achieve more progress faster. This, however, remains to be seen. We expect to learn more after the coming February election.

Written by Evan Riley

[ReformedEndralon]

The Hallsboro Post - a quality conservative broadsheet from the city of Hallsboro that covers Ralston State news and Federal news from the United States.

Hallelujah a New Party for the People

June 4907

Something new is happening and you can feel the excitement in your political bones. At a party convention in Hallsboro a new movement has emerged, united and raring to go in defence of traditional Baltusian values. The Republican Party has united conservatives from across the United States to stand up and defend our borders, our guns and our Elyon. Delegate after delegate cried out for a new movement to challenge the stagnant corruption of the two existing parties on Congress, someone to drain the swamp from the stench of corruption and leftists politics.



Delegates for the new party met in Hallsboro.

Landslide Republic Win, President-elect McDonald wins

September 4908

Barely 15 months after its formation the Republican Party has won landslide victories in the Presidential and Congressional elections. President-elect John McDonald, a New Egelion businessman, took over 70% of the vote and easily defeated his rival from the Social Democratic Party. Similarly the Republican Congressional delegation won 299 seats in the new Congress and will easily have a two-thirds majority. In Gubernatorial elections the Republicans won four out of five states, almost sweeping the board with a narrow 1,800 vote defeat, or 0.3% of votes cast, in the State of Attano.



President-elect John McDonald greets supporters following victory in the Presidential vote

Jubilant Republican Party supporters celebrated long into the night. The victory ends 13 years of uninterrupted domination of Presidential elections by left-wing parties. President-elect McDonald could not contain his glee as he celebrated with supporters and shouted that the Republicans had a once in a lift time opportunity to transform Baltusia into the Elyon fearing Republic the Founding Fathers had established centuries earlier. He promised greater freedoms for religious groups, secure borders from illegal immigrants, greater support for the police and policies that created jobs.

[ReformedEndralon]

Celebrity Welcome for Path to Paradise's Gate Founder Visit to the United States

January 4912

The United States was treated to a whistle stop tour from the sensational Luthorian religious leader William Gardener. Gardener has been described as many things, but his new religious grouping in Luthori that preaches on the impending Great Fall has inspired many born-again and Charismic Hosians in Luthori and across Terra. There are some supporters in the United States of Baltusia and Gardener had been invited to preach in Baltusia and to help raise funds for building new Churches and spreading the message of the Path to Paradises Gate around northern Seleyah.



William Gardener was treated like a celebrity in his walk around the capital city Johnston

Gardener gave several fiery sermons in different Churches during his visit, although it is notable that some politicians condemned the founder of the Path to Paradises Gate for "fear mongering about the Great Fall" and for "creating a cult". The latter is a sensitive charge in Baltusia, where the governing Republican Party only ended official discrimination against "cults" in July 4910. However, there were many supporters of Gardener, including several elected representatives of the Republican Party, and he was welcomed in most places he visited.

[colonelvesica]

Herald of Northern Seleya makes primary HQ within Baltusia to further Expand the Path within the United States

[ReformedEndralon]

President will not run for a second term

June 4920

A noticeably emotional President Johnson welled up at a press conference today as she confirmed that she will not run for a second term. Following her victory in the 4916 Presidential Election President Johnson was the first female President of Baltusia since President Melissa Tysons second term ended in 4868. However, critics have regarded her first term as a failure. President Johnson failed to create a cabinet, with the government continuing over from her predecessor President McDonald. The Presidents United Party failed to introduce a single piece of legislation and earlier this year the United Party collapsed after a corruption scandal.

Without the backing of a political party it was suggested that President Johnson might consider a run as an independent or for one of the new parties that has recently been founded in Baltusia. However, it is likely that the President has concluded this would not provide a realistic path to victory.



President Johnson at the press conference

Opportunity for the Socialist Unity Party

The announcement by President Johnson and the departure of the United Party has created an opportunity for the Socialist Unity Party (SUP). The SUP was established in March 4916 and won an impressive 15% of the vote only months later in the legislative elections of 4916, taking 16 seats in the Senate. Following the collpase of the United Party the SUP have become the Minority Party in the Senate and their Presidential candidate will fancy his chances of beating the Republican Party candidate James Adams in the September 4920 Presidential election.