Kimlien

[moderates]

Kimlien Days
Government privatises more healthcare
September 4805

The government has privatised some healthcare, selling off hospitals to private buyers. However, these were all un-used, and the government is building more hospitals, spending 10,000,000 Dong on them. They sold these hospitals to private companies, saying that it was "too expensive" to maintain them and it was "better to spend money on new hospitals."

Some people objected to this, but most said it is sensible, and the Goverment also reaffirmed it's commitment to keep healthcare public. They said that they would allow private healthcare, but this would make up the smallest amount of the healthcare sector. The government also announced a 10% pay rise for public sector healthcare workers. They said that this would make the healthcare system "more efficient" and would also mean the budget was used more effectively.

The government may approach 3M about this, but they have also apparently contacted a new private health company Kimlien Health Investments, which bought twenty out of twenty-five of the hospitals. The National Assembly voted to regulate the hospitals a lot, as they said the private sector "might look to make more profit than help people in healthcare.", with the Royalists and Democratic Party voting for regulations, which made it pass by 350-150 in the National Assembly.

[moderates]

Kimlien Days
"Extreme" parties to be banned
October 4806

The National Assembly has passed a law that would mean parties "promoting an extreme ideology" such as communism and fascism would be banned, and would be illegal with a sentence of prison or fining for anyone found guilty of attempting to form such parties. The bill faced some opposition from the Democratic Party and the Dinh Nationalists, who argued that such a law is "extreme ideology, authoritarian, as it is stopping those expressing different views.", and urged the "monitoring, not banning, of such parties."

The Democratic Party's security spokesman said that this bill "could be used by later governments" to "push their agenda, and could be expanded to include less extreme parties in the future if we are not careful." The Dinh Nationalist party also voted against this, saying it is "undemocratic" and that it also is "authoritarian" and they urged members of the other parties to vote against it.

However, the bill passed with 251 votes for and 249 votes against.

[moderates]

Kimlien Days
Royalists win an election, but voters send strong message to 'free market' coalition
April 4807

The Royalist Party have won another election, but voters sent a strong message that they wanted more regulations, as they knocked the Kimlien Right, the Royalist's 'free market coalition' allies down to fifty five seats, and also knocked the Royalists down to 190. The Democrats, the most regulatory party, won 179 seats, showing that the public want more regulations now that the economy resembles a capitalist system.

The Dinh Nationalists also faired OK, retaining 50 seats. The new Liberal Party, advocating socially liberal policies and social democracy, entered the National Assembly for the first time, getting 26 seats, meaning that the social democratic parties would have to be involved in the coalition unless the Dinh Nationalist party was involved, which all major party leaders said they wouldn't do.

The Premier Tranh Minh Nguyen announced that he would go into a Royalist-Democrat coalition, meaning that the government now has 369 seats out of 500, making it one of the biggest majority governments in modern Kimliense history. The government promised to carry on the capitalist system but to bring in more regulations, to ensure that it worked "fairly for everyone."

[moderates]

Kimlien Days
Regulations introduced
October 4807

The government introduced new regulations in the private health sector, meaning that prices are limited to under 200 Dong for an operation, as some people had accused private health services of "profiting from other people's bad health", as hospitals had previously charged nearly 500 Dong for operations before these regulations were introduced. The government has also announced that hospitals may only have a certain number of beds, depending on the size of the hospital, meaning that there will be no more hospital beds being crammed together, which was thought to be aiding the spread of illnesses.

Steelworks have also faced new regulations, limiting working hours to 9 hours a day, and also introducing a minimum wage of 10 Dong an hour, meaning that workers can now no longer be underpaid, or overworked. Many left-wing activists and trade unions have cheered these regulations as showing that "the government cares about workers" and have praised the Democratic Party for it's instrumental role in bringing these regulations in. Leader of the CD (Công đoàn, Workers Union), the biggest trade union in Kimlien, Minh Quoc Than said these "are the start of a new era, when workers are no longer taken for granted and when they are truly valued."

[moderates]

Kimlien Days
Abortion time limit raised to 24 weeks, more progressive laws planned?
April 4809

The National Assembly has voted to raise the abortion time limit to 24 weeks, up from 20 previously. 180 members of the Royalist Party and 177 members of the Democrats voted in favour, meaning it passed with 357 votes to 140, with 3 abstaining. This has been a very controversial bill, though polls suggest that 52% of citizens agree with access to legal abortion, and 50% agree with raising the time limit.

The Royalist Party mostly agreed with this, due to them being liberal in most social issues, but 10 members voted against due to their pro-life views. The issue was a conscience vote, meaning that individual members of the National Assembly were able to vote how they wanted, rather than having to vote in a certain way, as most abortion votes are conscience votes.

This government, formed of the conservative liberal Royalists and the social liberal Democrats, will surely pass some progressive laws, and they are already considering legalising same-sex marriage and adoption by same-sex couples, something the Royalists wouldn't have been able to do with their old coalition partners the Kimlien Right, who are socially conservative.

[moderates]

Kimlien Days
Same-sex marriage bill introduced
March 4810

The Democrats have introduced a bill that would extend marriage to same-sex couples, as part of their "progressive pledge" to voters in the election. The Democrats said that they are "sure" that the bill will pass with their Royalist coalition partners voting in favour, though the issue has apparently caused a split in the Royalists, with socially liberal members pledging support and the smaller faction of social conservative members pledging opposition.

This issue had been broached before, but with the Royalists in coalition with the socially conservative Kimlien Right, who said that they would end the coalition if the Royalists tried to introduce a bill that would legalise same-sex marriage, meaning that, despite wanting to, the government was not able to introduce a bill to that effect. However, now with their progressive coalition partners the bill will probably be passed.

The Dinh Nationalists are somewhat obscure on the matter, though the parliamentary leader is known to be in favour. However, the socially conservative Kimlien Right will no doubt be the biggest opposition, with only one member known to be in favour, with the others firmly against. The bill will most likely pass though, even if only half of the Royalists voted in favour and the Democrats all voted in favour. It is likely that same-sex marriage will finally be introduced to Kimlien.

[moderates]

Kimlien Days
Same-sex marriage legalised
May 4810

Same-sex marriage has been legalised in Kimlien! The bill passed through the National Assembly in all readings, with the support of the Democratic Party, the Royalists, the Liberal Party and the Dinh Nationalists, with the only party with a majority of members voting against being the Kimlien Right. The bill was supported by most members of the public, with most polls indicating support being between 68-75% of respondents.

Other groups supporting this were Hôn Nhân Bình Dẳng (Equal Marriage) and Công Bằng Cho Tất Cả (Equality for All), two groups which are known campaigners for LGBT+ rights. Groups opposing this were Gia Dình Truyền Thống (Traditional Family) and Liên Minh Gia Dình (Family Coalition), which apparently opposed it because of their goal to "support and preserve the traditional family." However, most people have said that there parties are homophobic, as they have, in the past, opposed other LGBT+ rights not connected to families.

The Premier Tranh Minh Nguyen said that this is "a joyous day", after the bill was given the approval of the King, officially making it law. However, churches are not required to carry out same-sex ceremonies, as they are supposed to be allowed religious freedom, though the Democrats and Royalists apparently didn't like that part, though added it to "keep peaceful relations with the church."

Celebrations were carried out by supporters of the legislation, who marched through cities partying, and the first ceremony took place hours after it was legalised, attended by 10,000 people and televised viewed by 1,000,000 people, which marks a truly momentous moment in Kimlien.

[moderates]

Kimlien Days
Left-wing politics on the rise again?
April 4811

Some commentators have begun to say that left-wing politics are on the rise again in Kimlien. After they were thrown away completely after years of authoritarian communist rule, more moderate left politics seem to be making a comeback. The centre-left Democrats have been cited as an example, as they have done well in all elections since the collapse of the Communist Party. However, they still espouse capitalist-oriented views, rather than being anti-capitalist they just seek to restrain capitalism. There hasn't been a party left of the Democrats for a long time, but it seems that moderate socialism is becoming quite popular now.

This isn't the type of socialism that seeks to overthrow capitalism. It is the type of socialism that wants to nationalise industries and give trade unions more rights. Recently, a party called the Chủ nghĩa xã hội dân chủ (Democratic Socialists), a left-wing party advocating the socialism mentioned above has become popular in the north of the country, winning several seats in local councils. Although it is unlikely that the party will ever win an election, it is not unthinkable that left-wing parties may get back national representation, and perhaps, if extremely lucky, may be able to participate in a coalition as an extremely junior partner.

The Democrats have explicitly ruled out nationalisation of non-key industries and also vital industries such as water, electricity and power, though these are kept strictly regulated. The Royalists have also said that they would not nationalise any more industry, though both parties have committed to keeping healthcare and education public, saying that putting these in the hands of private companies would be "unwise."

[moderates]

Kimlien Days
Than Minh Nguyen challenged for leadership
November 4811

The Leader of the Royalists and the current Premier of Kimlien Thanh Minh Nguyen has been challenged for the leadership of his party by Quan Thang Doc, a backbencher in the National Assembly. Thang Doc is a member of the Royalist's economically liberal right-wing, and is often called an economic libertarian, favouring almost no government intervention in the economy. He challenged Mr Nguyen's leadership as he was unhappy with the Royalists working with the social democratic Democrats, and is aiming to get the support of all economic liberals in the Royalists.

Nguyen said that he would look for the support of centrist members of his party who "are pragmatic and don't mind working with centre-left parties to keep extremist parties out of power", and said that Quan Thang Doc "belonged in the Kimlien Right, with his economic views", saying that "if Mr Thang Doc wins the leadership, I doubt he'll become Premier. After all, he'll get us out of power, won't he?"

Nguyen also said that he will allow the leadership election, as he is not "undemocratic", and that he thinks "the party should say what it prefers - my leadership, or Quan Thang Doc's." It is likely that Nguyen will win the election though, as candidates are narrowed down by Royalist Members of the National Assembly, and Quan Thang Doc apparently has very few supporters in the assembly.

[moderates]

Kimlien Days
Than Minh Nguyen wins leadership election
March 4813

After being challenged for the leadership, Thanh Minh Nguyen won in the first round of voting, getting 110/190 votes from Royalist Members. This shows that he still has the confidence of his party, however the result was also not too bad for his challenger, Quang Thang Doc, as he got 90 members votes, showing that there is a strong taste for economic libertarianism, but also showing that the majority of Royalists are happy to be in coalition with the Democratic Party.

After the election, Minh Nguyen was officially re-appointed as Premier, though he kept his cabinet exactly the same. Some people thought he may appoint Thang Doc to his Cabinet to show reconciliation, but Minh Nguyen said he preferred to keep "his cabinet as it is", as he thinks that it is "the best cabinet for Kimlien at the moment", saying that it has managed "many great things" and saying that appointing a member of the party's economic right-wing may not "help relations with the Democrats too much".