Liore

[ChitinKal]

Mjumbe
People's Front Wins in Landslide
June 18, 4769

Victorious President-Elect Ndidi Afolayan


Federal Council Composition (left to right; People's Front, Conservative Party, National Movement, Kitembo Power)


Departmental Prefect Election Map

The People's Front's Mighty Wind campaign seems to have paid off with astounding success, as election results are in and the People's Front front has swept the nation. In the Federal Council, the Conservative Party has been dethroned as the plurality and stripped of fifteen seats and pushed into second place by the People's Front, which now controls a comfortable majority at 58 seats. The results of the Presidential elections have also ended in a victory for the People's Front and their candidate Ndidi Afolayan, the new President-Elect who will take office in August. The People's Front seems to also have been successful in their voter turnout campaign, with an overall increase to a turnout rate of 64%.

The more indecisive results of the elections lie in the Department Prefect elections, where no single party holds a majority or plurality. Three parties won Prefectures in these elections, the People's Front winning four (Furutari, Juuyada, Mwibonde, and Araresa), the Conservative Party also carrying four (Lýore, Shiratoku, Minaraha, and Yrasêma), while the National Movement walked away from the elections with Arami. With neither the People's Front nor the Conservative Party controlling a majority of Department Prefects, Prefect Mubumbo Qatami of the National Movement will be playing the role of kingmaker in the decision of who is made National Director. In the past, the National Movement has aligned itself with the Conservative Party which has made many People's Front politicians and commentators uneasy, however it is not outside the realm of possibility that the National Movement will side with the People's Front, as the National Movement had begun to distance itself from the Conservative Party over the past few year due to the Conservatives' perceived idleness with regards to fixing the many problems ailing Liore. The National Movement could theoretically be persuaded into supporting Thabo Okeke for National Director if the People's Front offered the National Movement positions in the government, however it is too early tell. Departmental Prefects will take office on July first, and discussions on the appointment of the National Director will begin on July tenth.

[ChitinKal]

Mjumbe
Okeke Chosen as National Director; Foreign Policy Adjusted
August 3, 4770

Thabo Okeke Accepts Appointment to National Director

Following a month of behind the scenes debates between the nine new Departmental Prefects, and no doubt also between party officials, it was announced today that Thabo Okeke of the People's Front would be appointed to the position of National Director, placing the entirety of the chief executive under the control of People's Front officials days after Ndidi Afolayan assumed the Presidency. As expected, it was Mubumbo Qatami, the National Movement Prefect of Arami, that decided the outcome, with the People's Front and Conservative Party Prefects voting along partisan lines. And, though no confirmation has come from either party, it seems as if Prefect Qatami's vote was swung by promises of including his party in the government, as the People's Front has announced that despite holding a majority of seats in the Federal Council, it would be seeking to form a coalition government with the National Movement.

August 12, 4770
Today the first piece of legislation proposed and passed under the People's Front administration was placed on the desk of President Afolayan, and signed into law hours later. The bill, titled Policy of International Solidarity, was passed 55-45 by the Federal Council. The bill was opposed by the entirety of the government's opposition and the National Movement as well as three dissenting members of the People's Front, who joined together to state, in the words of PF Councilman Raphael Laha, that "Liore should focus on herself at this time, and should establish diplomatic relations which would most benefit Liore, and not relations based solely on ideology." Now passed, the bill will require the Foreign Ministry to give diplomatic and trade preference to socialist and Dovani nations, though not entirely cutting off relations with non socialist and non Dovani nations. The bill also requires that in the case that a socialist and non socialist regime come into conflict over which is the legitimate representative of a nation, that the Foreign Ministry recognizes and deals only with the socialist regime unless "there exists extenuating circumstances which makes support for the socialist regime untenable or inhumane." The bill specifically names the People's Republic of Keymon and the United Communes of Lodamun as the legitimate regimes of their respective nations.

President Afolayan released the following statement upon signing the bill into law:

The ultimate goal of socialism is to create a better world for all the downtrodden people of Terra. We may apply it nationally and focus inward at Liore, however in the future socialism will be worldwide, so today we must sow the seeds of socialism across Terra and the seeds of friendship and camaraderie with the existing socialists of Terra. Everywhere there are people who are left behind by the progression of their governments and ruling class, not just in Liore. So, although my prime duty and the prime duty of our government is to ensure the well being of the people of Liore and the fostering of socialism here, it is not out of the question that I do what I can to help the our international friends, as long as it doesn't come at the price of hardship for the Liori.

[ChitinKal]

Mjumbe
Government Targets Drug Cartels, Launches Nationwide Drug Raids
December 8, 4770

Takeshi Hojo, Oyabun of the Hojo Syndicate, Arrested in Naranpá

As a first step to combat Liore's issue of rampant drug abuse and the criminal market that has been set up around drugs and allowed for the creation of criminal organizations and the propagation of gang-related crime, the Internal Affairs Ministry has been carrying out a series of raids on properties used by drug peddling organizations in their sale and fabrication of illicit substances. These raids, which have been apart of an Internal Affairs Ministry operation that began in September and has since ended and been declassified, have resulted in the arrests of over 2000 suspects complicit in the drug trade and the seizure of thousands of kilograms of drugs, including an estimated 1400 kg of heroin and 900 kg of cocaine, as well as the confiscation of lab equipment worth hundreds of thousands of LOD.

Among those arrested in the past months was Takeshi Hojo, the Oyabun the the Kunikata drug organization called the Hojo Syndicate. Hojo was arrested with multiple Hojo Syndicate lieutenants late last month at his home in Naranpá, where Special Security Police reportedly found many kilos of drugs and other evidence to be used against Hojo, though the full details have not been released by authorities. Hojo's arrest marks the end of the previous administration's policy of turning a blind eye to and even assisting the Hojo Syndicate's actions, and bodes ill for the future of the Syndicate and other Liori drug lords.

According to Internal Affairs Minister Hodari Kimachu, "These raids are only a beginning of the treatment we must supply Liore in order to cure our drug abuse ailment. Right now, we're just placing bandages on an infected wound by targeting existing organizations, but it will do nothing to cure the infection. Eventually, more organizations will form and take the places of the ones we destroy now, so we must not expect that simply warring with them will end drug abuse in Liore. Yes, right now we need to target this rot, but in the future the government will need to support recovery and rehabilitation programs." Despite Kimachu's comments, the Public Health Ministry has not indicated that it has any plans to begin a rehabilitation and recovery initiative in the near future.

[ChitinKal]

Mjumbe
Federal Council Passes Historic Labor Reforms
February 19, 4771

Liori Miners and their Families in Mwibonde Celebrate Reforms

Under Conservative rule, the Liore worker has been subject to some of the most draconian laws and lack of proper protections in all of Terra. Workers of ages varying from ten to seventy have typically worked over eighty hours every week in dangerously unregulated conditions with barely enough pay to survive. And despite the government's lack of interference on behalf of Liori workers against employers, there have been countless occasions of the Conservative government interfering on behalf of employers to suppress attempts at collective bargaining either by the use of the police or military in subduing worker strikes or through the outlawing and breaking up of labor unions.

However, after the recent passage of a bill in the Federal Council and President Afolayan's quick signing of it into law, the issue of worker oppression by employers in Liore will be remedied. The Worker's Dignity Act, in the words of its author Councilman Lekan Afolabi, "Seeks to return to the Liori worker their human dignity stripped away by laissez faire oppression by turning state power into a tool to protect his welfare and rights rather than a tool to infringe upon his welfare and rights." The bill will establish a number of regulations and abolish a number of existing laws in order to improve the condition of labor in Liore. Specifically, it will establish a minimum age for hard labor at fourteen years, restrict the required work week to no more that sixty-five hours (While not criminalizing voluntary overtime labor), establish a minimum living wage, and establish a codified set of restrictions on working environments in order to make labor far safer than it is currently.

The bill will also abolish all laws which outlaw trade unions and collective bargaining, and will even establish an agency with the purpose of educating Liori workers on how to properly unionize and strike. Also, while not outlawing private unions, the bill will establish a national arrays of labor unions across Liore under government oversight and support, while also allowing private unions to associate with the so called National Syndicate of Labor Unions and receive government funding while not having to adhere to the same policies as national unions.

[ChitinKal]

Mjumbe
Government to Purge Military and Bureaucracy
November 12, 4771

National Director Thabo Okeke Addresses Media

In an attempt to alleviate Liore's problem or corruption in the government bureaucracy and military, National Director Thabo Okeke announced today in a press conference that the PF/NM government were in the planning stages of investigating individuals and removing and indicting those suspected of corruption. This would be the first major attempt to combat corruption by purging government agencies in years, and early supporters of the initiative come from all parties in the Federal Council, all besides the Conservative Party.

Excerpt from National Director Okeke's Press Conference:

Previous administrations have allowed for corruption to run rampant in our institutions for too long. In all levels of the government and bureaucracy there are have been cases of this, and there are cases of this which continue to go on. There have been police and military officials who have accepted bribes from drug lords. There have been welfare offices who have refused to assist Lioris who are known to have voted against the previous administrations. There have been officials, both elected and unelected, who have been sent by wealthy business owners to infiltrate the government and oppose labor reform. And all of these people are still in the government, and haven't faced justice. We simply must perform a detailed investigation and purge the bureaucracy of these corrupt elements if our nation is to progress.

National Director Okeke Touched Also on the Military:

The military is one of the most egregious examples of this. The officer corps is made up almost entirely of Conservative Party members who were put in their offices by a Conservative Defense Ministry. This has allowed the military to become a tool of the Conservatives to oppress Liori workers, and this has allowed the military to become a partisan force that is a threat to democracy rather than a shield of defense. The military top brass, most of all, must also be purged of partisan and corrupt elements, and be replaced by a meritocratic officer corps.

Following National Director Okeke's press conference, a mass outcry was heard coming from the Conservative Party, whose many members that have spoken against Okeke denounced the plan as "authoritarian and fascistic" and "as a socialist attempt to destroy the Liori government and democracy." Many military officers have also spoken against Okeke's "anti military rhetoric," and have claimed that military appointments under the Conservatives have been meritocratic rather than plutocratic, and have questioned Okeke's patriotism for thinking that such was not the case.

[ChitinKal]

Mjumbe
Military Launches Coup
April 13, 4772

Soldiers March in Yamabiro Following Successful Capture of Government Buildings

Fed up with the left wing reforms of the People's Front and fearing their fall from power as a result of prospective PF purges of the government bureaucracy and military officer corps as well as whispers of possible attempts at constitutional change, the military under the command of General Baako Pretorius launched a nation-wide coup and has brought the PF administration to its knees. During the night, military forces participating in the coup were brought to the outskirts of the Caltropic coastal cities, the urban, industrial, and administrative center of Liore; as well as the city of Naranpá, the economic center of the eastern savanna, and the small port city of Bakundu just south of Naranpá, Liore's only port with access to the Red Bass Sea and non Dovani overseas trade. The military government has also exerted its control over the northern highlands due to the high concentration of forces stationed in the north in order to combat the Wawambe Group. Though the military is in direct control of the most vital areas of Liore, still a majority of the country's land and nearly 40% of the population as well as important farmlands and mineral extraction centers are yet to be brought under the military's control.

In Yamabiro, General Pretorius announced that Liore would be ruled by a junta of military officers and Conservative Party officials, including ex President Wekesa Temitope, with Pretorius at the helm. Martial law has been declared across the nation, though is currently only in effect in the Caltropic coastal cities. The orders prohibits citizens from gathering in large groups in public and from leaving their cities and towns, and establishes a national curfew. The order also gives supreme authority to the military and all soldiers loyal to the government, effectively making the word of any soldier, from a lowly private to the generals of the High Command, law.

General Pretorius Released the Following Statement to the Public Following his Coup:

Fellow Lioris, do not worry for your loyal military has come to liberate you from communist oppression. It is the sworn duty of the Liori military to protect and serve the people of our great nation, and ensure the dignity of Liore. We are will stay true to that duty, and we will prevent any attempts at establishing communism in our nation and prevent the certain destruction of our nation and values that communism would cause. Know that we are looking out for our countrymen, and that our decisions are both law and what is best for your safety. Do not interfere with any military actions during this time, and try to stay at home or work until security is ensured. We can only save Liore if we all work hand-in-hand and allow the army to do its job.

Hundreds of People's Front officials and supporters have already been rounded up and imprisoned by the military, who have denounced them as "national traitors." Among them was National Director Thabo Okeke, who was captured by the military while driving from the capital building to his home. Okeke and his security detail resisted capture and engaged in a firefight with the military until they were overrun, and Okeke captured and executed. Reportedly, the execution was a barbaric display of cruelty, with Okeke being brutally beaten before being lit on fire in the streets. With Okeke dead, President Ndidi Afolayan would become the sole executive of what remains of the democratic government, yet his whereabouts are unknown. It is believed that he along with other officials escaped from the cities with the Revolutionary Liori People's Army and are planning a counter revolution, though there is no evidence to substantiate this claim.

[ChitinKal]

Mjumbe
Socialist Revolutionaries Halt Coup
May 1, 4772

Socialist Militants in Araresa Department

For the weeks following the coup of General Baako Pretorius, the military/Conservative junta has been governing small areas of Liore primarily along the coasts while the rest of the nation fell to anarchy with all attempts to pacify the unoccupied rural regions ending in failure for the military. Though the junta has been able to maintain relative order in its territories, it has been plagued by a number of issues, including rampant desertion and acts of defiance (Both peaceful and violent) by civilians. Unlike the People's Front administration which they overthrew, General Pretorius and his junta have been largely unpopular among the citizenry, who see their seizure of power as an indication that both their democratic rights and freedoms will be stripped and the popular PF reforms be rolled back. This general state of malaise and unrest for the junta has made a powderkeg of the population, one which would require only a spark to ignite.

And a spark has come. President Ndidi Afolayan, at the head of a large army comprised Revolutionary Liori People's Army militants and socialist military deserters, marched brazenly into Yamabiro and successfully captured the city and the leaders of the junta, who have since been imprisoned in the capital. Such has been the story across the military occupied territories, socialist forces marching into occupied cities and battling the forces of the junta. The actions of this revolutionary vanguard have also ignited a general revolution across the nation, with common citizens standing up against the junta and joining the socialist militants. With the leadership of Liore's miners unions, miners across Liore's rural highlands have also risen up and proclaimed loyalty to the revolution with many miners not even catching glimpse of socialist militants.

Still though, large swathes of land in the east are yet to come under the control of either side, opting instead to remain out of the conflict (And in some instances, villages have likely not even heard of Pretorius' coup or Afolayan's counter revolution). The northern highland's also remain a bastion for the military government, with many military units and junta officials fleeing to regroup under the commanding officer of the region, General Uduakobong Maina, who has become the de facto head of the junta. However, General Maina, a member of the National Movement which was also removed from power following the coup, is a known critic of the Conservatives and openly sympathizes with People's Front policies, so it is not out of the question that peace could come from negotiations rather than bloodshed.

[ChitinKal]

Mjumbe
Maina Surrenders; Normalization Begins
May 17, 4772

General Uduakobong Maina Surrenders Officially in Yamabiro

The revolution has come to a near bloodless close. General Uduakobong Maina, the de facto leader of the military junta, chose to surrender his forces and territory in the northern highlands rather than fight a long and brutal campaign against the socialists. In return for his surrender, Maina has been personally pardoned by President Ndidi Afolayan and allowed to resign his command and retire to the countryside, as well as receive his full military service pension. His subordinate officers and the political officials of the junta will receive no such fate, instead they have been arrested and imprisoned until trial. As for Maina's forces as well as the rest of the forces of the military junta, they will be officially disbanded and reorganized into a new regular army, the Liore National People's Army. The socialist militias will also be reformed officially into the People's Revolutionary Vanguard, which will be officially under the control of the People's Front. The LNPA will initially be comprised of 40,000 remnants of the junta's army, while the PRV will gradually demobilize to a standing force of 10,000.

Though Liore's urban and mining centers have generally been brought under socialist control, Liore's highly rural east will have to be reoccupied and brought under control, though this task should prove easier for the socialists than it did the military due to the vast popularity of the People's Front and President Afolayan outside of the cities. Inside the cities, however, popularity for Afolayan is largely due to his ties with the People's Front rather than his and the Jamii Party's traditionalist policies, and demands have been made for a member of the Metzist Worker's Power Party to be elevated to a position of power similar to Afolayan to administer alongside him until a regular political process can be brought back. "A regular political process" is the language used because it is unknown whether Liore will return to its previous constitution or a new regime will be created.

Update: May 29, 4772
Adhering to the demands of the urban population, President Afolayan and the People's Front Party Congress have chosen to allow a member of the MWPP to serve as Co-President to Afolayan. The man chosen is Jengo Kamau, an industrial union official and prominent member of the MWPP who led his fellow union workers to rise up against the military during the revolution. Kamau will hold the same title and powers as Afolayan, but will be considered a subordinate in the case that the two clash. For the next few weeks, Afolayan will be touring the countryside in order to bring rural villages back under national control, and during this time Kamau will be administering the west and serving as acting President.

[ChitinKal]

Mjumbe
Afolayan Returns; Stability on the Horizon
August 3, 4772

President Ndidi Afolayan (left) is Welcomed Back to Yamabiro by Co-President Jengo Kamau (right)

Following his two month long tour of rural Liore, President Ndidi Afolayan has returned to a much more stabilized and normalized Yamabiro than what he had left. Street violence and crime have been toned down, workers have returned to their jobs, and the markets have yet again filled with buyers and sellers. But Afolayan has not returned alone. With him came more hundreds of representatives of Liore's rural villages, and with them came the symbolic support and loyalty of rural Lioris. Officially though, these representatives have come to the capital to reaffirm their loyalty to the Liori state, to oversee and take part in the process of drafting a new constitution, and form a representative body to safeguard the interests of the outback.

For the past months, there has been no official or elected body governing Liore, but rather the Party Congress of the People's Front and Co-President Jengo Kamau have been administering the nation with their word being enforced by the People's Revolutionary Vanguard and the newly reorganized military and police forces. But now that stability has returned to Liore and the rural areas of the nation have come back under the control of Yamabiro, it is likely that the drafting of a new constitution is only around the corner.

Though stability has returned to Liore, new divisions seem to be forming within the People's Front. The two largest parties within the PF, the Metzists Worker's Power Party and the Jamii Party, both have starkly contrasting views on the implementation of socialism, and both have wildly different voter bases. The MWPP draws its support from the urban working class and believes that communism cannot be achieved without first establishing a worker's state that would prepare society for communism and collectivization, while the JP is supported primarily by rural villagers and believes that communism can only be achieved by returning to the traditional village-based agricultural lifestyle of pre colonial Liore. With these stark contrasts tearing the party in two, it is hard to see how the People's Front could continue in their united front now that the common enemy has been destroyed.

September 9, 4772
A new constitution has been officially adopted, and the Socialist State of Liore has been proclaimed. Under the new constitution, a tricameral legislature will be adopted. The Liori Communal Delegation and the Liori Industrial Union Delegation will each consist of 100 members and be established to represent rural (LCD) and urban (LIUD) citizens, while the General Assembly will consist of 270 directly-elected officials from across Liore. Holding official executive power will be the President, who is directly elected by the public, and the Premier, who is chosen by the General Assembly. Though de jure power is found in the national government, the People's Front Party will be the de facto administrative body of Liore. The Party Politburo will be the largest source of power in Liore, having the sole power to approve political candidates running for office as well, the power to outright veto the decisions of the national government, and pass legislation of its own. Leading the Politburo will be its Standing Council, which has the power to set Politburo agenda and to impeach members of the Politburo. The Standing Council is chaired by the General Secretary, the de facto head of government and the most powerful office in Liore.

Official elections are scheduled for 4774 while the new regime can be organized by the party. Until then, Liore will be administered by an interim Politburo and Standing Council. The office of General Secretary of the People's Front will be held by Jengo Kamau. President Afolayan will remain as interim President, and will fill all the roles of the President and Premier in the new constitution, while the duties of the legislature will be fulfilled by a single council of representatives appointed by Afolayan.

[ChitinKal]

Mjumbe
President Afolayan Reelected; General Secretary Promises Economic Development
May 20, 4774

President Ndidi Afolayan Addresses Rural Voters

Liore's first elections under the socialist regime have been held this past week, and with it has come a record breaking turnout of 73% of eligible Liori voters coming out to cast their ballot. The People's Front once again nominated Ndidi Afolayan to be their candidate in the race for President, and once again Afolayan won against his challenger, this time in a 81% to 16% landslide against the National Movement candidate Tatenda Okonkwo. The People's Front won all seats in both the Liori Communal Delegation and the Liori Industrial Union Delegation, and swept 224 seats in the General Assembly, with 31 seats going to the National Movement and the remaining 15 to Kitembo Power. With their clear majority, the People's Front chose the Metzist Otieno Obama (The former Prefect for the Furutari Department) to serve as Premier.

Following the elections, General Secretary Jengo Kamau held a closed doors meeting with the Politburo Standing Committee, President Afolayan, and Premier Obama to discuss how to move forward with the People's Front plan for economic development. Reportedly, President Afolayan and the Jamii Party members of the Standing Committee repeatedly come to blows with the General Secretary and other members of the MWPP with regards with future plans for Liore's eastern savanna. The Jamii Party has always been strongly against further industrialization of rural Liore, especially the savanna which is rich with Liori traditional life. The MWPP on the other hand is concerned only with economic development and the goal of bringing Liore into the modern world, and has been eyeing the savanna's untapped oil reserves. Despite the rumored clash, when the General Secretary released a statement today regarding economic development, he made no mention of the savanna and instead promised the development of Liore's mineral extraction industry in the Caltropic Highlands as well as the creation of a refinement industry for domestically extracted minerals, which have always been sold abroad as ore. The General Secretary also stated that Liore would work to improve its tourism industry, stating "Our land is full of beautiful rolling hills, golden beaches washed by sapphire waters, and vast plains rich in wildlife. The people of the foreign world would love to come and enjoy our beautiful land, and we would love to show off our beauty."