Kimlien

[moderates]

Kimlien Days
Government introduces "Get Into Work Benefits"
November 4816

The Government has introduced new "Get Into Work benefits", which would make people's benefits rise if they are seen to be trying to find work, and would controversially cut them slowly if recipients are not trying to find work. The Democratic Party didn't want to pass it in law, but, after it became obvious it would be passed without their help, they tried to "mitigate" the disadvantages, by making the benefits drop very slowly and by small increments.

The Royalists said that they hoped this would make people try and find a job, as the rise in benefits would "make it a much more attractive prospect", and it is reportedly being trialed already, to see how well it will work.

[Rogue]

OOC Source: Asia Times

Đông Kinh: The National Assembly today voted with overwhelming support to adopt the new "Royal Constitution of 4917", disbanding itself in the process. The vote was held after over 8 hours of debate between the different parties, with the Royalist party being the main oppossing figure to the proposed changes. Despite the oppossition the proposal for the new constitution was adopted with the required 2/3rd majority, automatically disbanding the National Assembly and setting a date for new elections to elect the renamed parliament, the Royal Assembly. The elections have been scheduled for next month, with new political parties shaping themselves. The Royalist party has merged with several other conservative parties, rebranding itself the Democratic Alliance. The same has happened on the left, where many left wing parties have merged into the new Green Labour Party. None of the old parties will compete in the election, as they have all consolidated themselves in new political groups in an effort to gain traction and perform better at the upcoming election.

The new Royal Republic will step away from the formal monarchy, instead recognizing the former ruling house as "significant" to Kimlien history and granting them a yearly allowance. The position of head of state will be fullfilled by the newly created office of the Royal Commissioner, which will be directly elected at the upcoming election as well. The Royal Commissioner will be a independent impartial HoS, tasked with inviting the largest party following the election to form a government and being a guiding factor in the process. Currently the newly created Democratic Alliance is leading in every poll, likely giving the new party a mandate to govern after the next election.

[Rogue]

OOC Source: Voice of America

Đông Kinh: The Democratic Alliance, consisting of the former Royalist Party and other conservative parties, has won a convincing victory in the first election since the adoption of the new constitution. The DA, with their strong conservative support from primarily rural and middle class voters, has won over 59 seats in the 150 seat Royal Assembly. After their stunning win the party announced its intention to form a center-right to right-wing cabinet if invited by the Royal Commissioner. Former prosecutor Hà Tùng Châu has won the election for Royal Commissioner, winning in the first round with over 59% of the vote as a independent candidate. Upon his election he invited the DA leader, Nguyễn Tấn Na, to form a cabinet on his behalf with the two discussing the matter in the Royal Palace, the former residence of the monarch and now residence of the commissioner. The Democratic Alliance subsequently invited Union 4920, the liberal conservative political party, to enter coalition talks in order to form a two party coalition with Tấn Na as Prime Minister. While many details are still unknown some insiders report that the new coalition, if agreed upon, would enact a large tax cut for small bussiness, privatize parts of the energy sector and strengthen the National Police, which has suffered from a lack of funding for more then a decade.

Another suprise in the election was a new party, not formed out of any fusion of old parties, named the Coalition of Social Liberals. The party won over 20 seats in its first ever election, becoming a political force of average size. The new government its main challenge will be formulating how the government works under the new constitution and determining the yearly allowance given to the former royal family, which according to the constitution will receive a yearly allowance "in name of the Kimlien people".


Parliament following the election.

[Rogue]

OOC Source: Pixabay

Đông Kinh: The center-right government of Prime Minister Nguyễn Tấn Na has proposed its second large legislative initiative to the Royal Assembly, this time aimed at welfare reform. Currently Kimlien is enjoying one of the most extensive welfare programs in the region, largely created following years of conflict and a increasingly older population. Prime Minister Nguyễn Tấn Na and his Democratic Alliance promised to reform the welfare system in their program, making it so that it would stimulate finding work again and create a "healthy rotational system" for those within the welfare system, allowing more people to benefit from it as was the idea. Critics have however criticized the proposed reforms, which would see over 1 billion in funding for the programs being cut and the responsibility of managing welfare being deligated to municipalities. According to the governing coalition this will allow these programs to be run more efficiently, justifying the cut in funding. Criticis however fear that it will lead to great disparities in welfare services, with one municipality performing better then the other and hurting low incomes the most. Furthermore the reform also forces those in welfare to apply for a job weekly if their health permits them to, which the government believes will aid the rotation within the system and allow new people to register more quickly for welfare benefits.

Depite protests from several human rights organizations and several labour unions the reform is set to pass with a comfortable margin, as the government will vote in favour and the PNR has also indicated it might vote in favour.

[Rogue]

OOC Source: Time Magazine

Đông Kinh: The ruling coalition has proposed a new electoral reform to the Royal Assembly supported by the Green Labour Party and the Social Liberals. The new reform, aimed at "fine tuning" the electoral process of the Royal Republic, will lower the term of parliament to 4 years after an election, keeping the 5 years for the Royal Commissioner. It will also introduce paper ballots, as oppossed to the digital system used in previous elections, in a effort to lower the risk for fraud. A Prime Minister may also only serve for three full terms, if a party wins four times they must put forward someone else for the position. The last change in the proposed bill is automatic voter registration, all municipalities will have to register residents over 18 and put them into the electoral register, allowing them to vote without having to do anything themselves. The new electoral law comes as a welcome suprise, with the constitution just recently changed. Despite the suprise the GLP commended the efforts by the government, praising the upcoming reform for "increasing transparancy and fairness in our electoral process."

If the reform passes the Royal Assembly it will come into effect next election, with the current parliament allowed to serve the entire 5 years based on the previous constitutional provisions. With GLP support the reform is set to gain the 2/3rd majority needed in order to pass.

[hopesfor2]

The Democratic Tribune
Civilian-led government overthrown in a coup d'état, massive protests erupt demanding democratic elections. The millitary promise legislative elections to be held one or two months later amidst popular unrest

27 June 5394

Kimlien government was overthrown in a coup d'état staged by the millitary with the allegations that the last legislative elections were marred by fraud and there was a need to restore public order, while the electoral commission dismissed that claim stating that the elections were credible and there was no evidence of widespread or even small-scale fraud, and the pro-democracy groups claim that the sole purpose of the coup was to undermine the civilian government and to seize the control of the country. The coup resulted in massive anti-coup protests that erupted all over Kimlien but especially in the capital, demanding the re-convening of the Royal Assembly and holding of fair and free multi-party elections; the protests were met with a violent crackdown resulting in extrajudicial killings, arbitary arrests, and the protests turning into riots which resulted in more violence erupting and destroying all sense of peace and stability within Kimlien.



Anti-coup protests turning violent and met with crackdown

Following the coup, many political parties came together in a conference presided by a rotation between party leaders, in the purpose to create a common electoral platform that could contest the upcoming elections promised by the millitary; the resulting party is called Kimlien League for Democracy, a political party which supports liberal democracy, social liberalism, progressivism, parliamentarism and federalism; and Loan Chi was elected as the leader of the party in the conference. The symbol and color of the party is yet to be determined, and Chi said that the party will determine its symbol and register to the electoral authorities after the junta makes it clear that the elections are to be held and opens registration to the parties; and also, Loan Chi promised to enact several reforms related at social equality and political democratization if her party gets into the government. The political analysts say that the elections are probably not to be really competitive and they predict that only a few seats of the legislature will be fairly contested with the rest being rather appointed by the millitary or indirectly elected through a flawed process that would favor pro-millitary candidates over pro-democracy ones.



Loan Chi giving a speech after her election as the leader of Kimlien League for Democracy.


The Democratic Tribune is a private media outlet in Kimlien reporting on partisan politics and elections, and fighting for a true democracy not encumbered by ultra-militarism.

[hopesfor2]

The Democratic Tribune
The military to announce the date of the upcoming elections as 10th July 5394

30th June 5394

After three days of massive popular unrest, in hope to relieve the unrest the junta announced that the elections for the National Assembly are due to be held in 10th July 5394. During the elections, only 35 seats in the Assembly are going to be contested freely, with the rest 65 as military appointees; and so far the pro-democracy Kimlien League for Democracy, the pro-military Party of Solidarity and Development, and a few independents registered to the party lists, and the political analysts say that the elections are going to be a "fierce contest" despite the lack of true competition as only 35% of seats are directly elected and the control of the Assembly mostly remains at the military as they appoint the 65% of seats. So far the polls show that the KLD is going to get around 25 seats while the PSD is going to get around 10 seats, showing that the public sentiment leans more towards pro-democracy candidates than the pro-military candidates. It remains to see if the elections are going to be a point for transition to democracy or just a sham by the military to appease the popular unrest.

The Democratic Tribune is a private media outlet in Kimlien reporting on partisan politics and elections, and fighting for a true democracy not encumbered by ultra-militarism.

[hopesfor2]

The Democratic Tribune
The millitary to increase contested seats to 40 and in meantime to delay elections to 15th July, Loan Chi criticizes the decision to delay the elections. Opinion polls predict victory for the Kimlien League for Democracy amidst rising popular unrest

8th July 5394

The general elections for the National Assembly, which was normally supposed to be held tomorrow, was delayed by the junta to 15th July stating the need for the restoration of public order before the elections could be held, while Loan Chi, the leader of the Kimlien League for Democracy, criticized the decision as an attempt to evade the "inevitable reshuffle of the cards"; and also the contested seats were increased into 40, a reform seen as "insufficient" by the leading pro-democracy figures. And also, most of the opinion polls (even the ones conducted by pro-military groups) predict a victory for pro-democracy Kimlien League for Democracy, while the pro-millitary Party of Solidarity and Development is predicted to become the second-largest party; and according to the seat estimates, the KLD will get around 29 seats out of 40 while the PSD will get 11 seats. It still remains to see if the elections are going to lead genuine change for Kimlien, and we hope that the will of the people shall prevail.


Loan Chi criticizing the decision of the millitary to delay the elections, at a Kimlien League for Democracy press conference.

The Democratic Tribune is a private media outlet in Kimlien reporting on partisan politics and elections, and fighting for a true democracy not encumbered by ultra-militarism.

[hopesfor2]

The Democratic Tribune
Elections overdue again, both of the largest parties organize campaign rallies ahead of the elections

15th July 5394

The junta once again delayed the elections stating the "need for restoration of public order" and the new date was set to 22th July 5394, but in this time the Kimlien League for Democracy chose to seize the oppoturnity by organizing campaign rallies instead of condemning the decision, and also Party of Solidarity and Development organized campaign rallies ahead of the general elections. However, the priorities of each party in their campaigns are vastly different, as the KLD is a pro-democracy and the PSD is a pro-military party; with the former campaigning on restoring Kimlien democracy while the latter campaigning on stabilizing the current state of affairs of political crisis. However, as could be expected, the junta has favored the PSD over KLD, providing the former more oppoturnities while creating barriers to the latter; and due to the unequal campaigning oppoturnities, the electoral environment is usually seen to be neither free nor fair, with the electoral commision being allegedly partial to the junta and the pro-military candidates. Anyways, it remains to see if the elections lead to a wave of democratization in Kimlien, and remember casting your vote and do it wisely!


PSD rally at the capital, Đông Kinh


KLD rally at the capital, Đông Kinh

The Democratic Tribune is a private media outlet in Kimlien reporting on partisan politics and elections, and fighting for a true democracy not encumbered by ultra-militarism.

[hopesfor2]

The Democratic Tribune
Elections finally held, Kimlien League for Democracy wins a landslide victory and Party of Solidarity and Development is defeated.

22th July 5394

Today, the elections for the 40% of seats of the National Assembly were finally held, with an unprecedented turnout of 88.21% and a resounding victory for Loan Chi's Kimlien League for Democracy and an embrassing defeat for Minh Giang's Party of Solidarity and Development. Both leaders gave a speech to their supporters in the aftermath of the elections, and the results were mostly seen as a rejection of military rule and a desire of democratic transition by the people.

The summary of the elections were as following:

Regional map (red for the Kimlien League for Democracy and green for the Party of Solidarity and Development)


Popular votes

70.34% Kimlien League for Democracy
29.66% Party of Solidarity and Development

Seats

30 Kimlien League for Democracy
10 Party of Solidarity and Development

Following the elections, both Loan Chi and Minh Giang gave speech into their parliamentary caucuses, and the newly elected National Assembly is due to meet at 6th August 5394.


Loan Chi addresses the caucus of Kimlien League for Democracy.


Minh Giang addresses the caucus of Party of Solidarity and Development.

The Democratic Tribune is a private media outlet in Kimlien reporting on partisan politics and elections, and fighting for a true democracy not encumbered by ultra-militarism.