Kimlien

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The Kimlien Herald
Institutional reform in effective date, KLD and LP to reach an agreement over sharing ministries

8th September 5397 (backdated)


Loan Chi to become the Prime Minister

After the passage of a bill that reformed the structure of government to distribute executive power between different posts instead of concentrating it in a single post has taken effect two days ago, and the Kimlien League for Democracy and Labour Party has reached an agreement to share the ministries between them, with new agreement the leader of the Kimlien League for Democracy, Loan Chi, was sworn in as the Prime Minister, which is a new post corresponding to head of government created by the reform. The other ministries were shared as following: Kimlien League for Democracy assumed the posts of Foreign Affairs, Finance, Defence, Infrastructure and Transport, Education and Culture, Science and Technology, Trade and Industry; while Labour Party assumed the posts of Internal Affairs, Justice, Health and Social Services, Food and Agriculture, Environment and Tourism; and notably, Hà Ngô is to remain the President. The coalition agreement is to last until the end of next legislative term on 22th July 5400, and we will see if this new coalition is to last until the end of the legislative term.

The Kimlien Herald is a newspaper reporting on statements and announcements made by politicians, and conducting polls for elections.

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The Democratic Tribune
KLD-LP coalition to reform the legislature by creating legislative committees

6th May 5398 (backdated)

The Kimlien League for Democracy - Labour Party coalition continued institutional reforms by passing a bill that introduced new legislative committees, which are tasked to oversee the work of departments and agencies, launch investigations in case of allegations of violations of legal or constitutional provisions by ministers, and examine topical issues affecting the nation or specific provinces, with each ministry having a corresponding commitee with that commitee having the same name with the respective ministry; this was introduced in order to "strengthen the legislative constraints on the executive power and avoid excesses by the executive", and the reforms was supported by many MPs of all represented parties (namely Kimlien League for Democracy, Party of Solidarity and Development, Labour Party, Royalist Party, Centre Alliance) and many military appointees. The reform was seen as a part of the larger program of the KLD-LP coalition to reform the institutions of government, and it was also mostly supported by NGOs, while some NGOs expressed concerns over the power of the committees and stated that the committees were "under-powered".

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.

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The Democratic Tribune
Local elections held: Labour Party, Royalist Party and Centre Alliance to gain representation in the local politics for the first time

11th January 5399 (backdated)

Local elections in Kimlien were held today, and the elections were a fierce contest between various parties unlike the previous local elections which was mainly a two-party contest. The elections were the second since the 5394 coup d'état, and those elections were more competitive than the first one.

Overall results were (members of the provincial governing coalition in bold, those giving confidence and supply to the coalition in italic):

Dong Quan:

Kimlien League for Democracy - 47
Royalist Party - 22
Labour Party - 20
Party of Solidarity and Development - 12
Centre Alliance - 11
Military appointees - 38

Minh Hai:

Kimlien League for Democracy - 51
Labour Party - 21
Royalist Party - 15
Centre Alliance - 14
Party of Solidarity and Development - 11
Military appointees - 38

Lac An:

Labour Party - 40
Kimlien League for Democracy - 37
Centre Alliance - 21
Royalist Party - 9
Party of Solidarity and Development - 5
Military appointees - 38

Quang Thuan:

Royalist Party - 40
Party of Solidarity and Development - 30
Centre Alliance - 18
Kimlien League for Democracy - 14
Labour Party - 11
Military appointees - 38

Phu Chan:

Party of Solidarity and Development - 37
Royalist Party - 29
Kimlien League for Democracy - 18
Labour Party - 14
Centre Alliance - 14
Military appointees - 38

Tra Thanh:

Centre Alliance - 35
Royalist Party - 27
Kimlien League for Democracy - 21
Labour Party - 17
Party of Solidarity and Development - 12

Bong Gon:

Labour Party - 36
Kimlien League for Democracy - 33
Centre Alliance - 25
Royalist Party - 11
Party of Solidarity and Development - 7
Military appointees - 38

This is which party controls which province (red for KLD, pink for LP, yellow for CA, blue for RP, green for PSD; diagonal pattern indicates multi-party coalition):

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The Democratic Tribune
General elections held: Centre Alliance and Royalist Party surges

27th July 5401 (backdated)

General elections were held in Kimlien today, on the anniversary of the 5396 political crisis and protests, with the Centre Alliance and Royalist Party making a surge in the elections, while the military-backed Party of Solidarity and Development suffered heavy losses to the Royalist Party, with the vote shares of Kimlien League for Democracy and Labour Party having a decline as well. Voter turnout was recorded to be 73.16%, a decline compared to the last elections.

A summary of the results is (colors: red for Kimlien League for Democracy, yellow for Centre Alliance, blue for Royalist Party, green for Party of Solidarity and Development, pink for Labour Party):

Regional map



Popular votes

44.43% Kimlien League for Democracy
22.75% Royalist Party
15.22% Centre Alliance
11.89% Labour Party
5.71% Party of Solidarity and Development

Seats

147 Kimlien League for Democracy
78 Royalist Party
52 Centre Alliance
35 Labour Party
18 Party of Solidarity and Development

Composition diagram



The elections were a surprise as they resulted in a decline for the previously larger parties and rise of the formerly smaller parties, unlike the previous elections five years ago which were held amidst popular unrest and mass protests, these elections were held in a relatively calm and peaceful political environment.

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.

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The Kimlien Herald
Coalition negotiations conclude: Centre Alliance, Kimlien League for Democracy, and Labour Party to work together

15th September 5402 (backdated)

After more than a year of negotiations between various political parties, three parties, namely Kimlien League for Democracy, Centre Alliance, and Labour Party, agreed to work together in a coalition with a majority of seats in the National Assembly that was officially established today, and the Royalist Party became the main opposition party. According to the coalition agreement, the KLD which is the largest party of the coalition got the premiership alongside with the Foreign Affairs, Finance, Defence, Education and Culture, and Infrastructure and Transport, with its leader Loan Chi to serve another term as the Prime Minister; the CA got the Internal Affairs, Science and Technology, Environment and Tourism, Trade and Industry; and the LP got the Justice, Health and Social Services, Food and Agriculture.

The new coalition has got a confidence vote of 214-175, with 51 MPs abstaining from the voting process, even though the coalition in fact did not get an absolute majority confidence vote, due to the fact that confidence votes can pass as long as there are more yes votes than no votes, the new coalition was sworn in. The new coalition has a program of continuing the institutional reforms that the previous KLD-LP coalition continued, amendment of defamation and libel laws in order to eliminate chilling effect created by the fear of heavy fines, and an "opening up" of Kimlien into the international community by establishing relationships with countries starting from the neigboring ones and continuing with the countries in the same continent. We will see if this coalition agreement succeeds.

The Kimlien Herald is a non-partisan newspaper reporting on statements and announcements made by politicians, and conducting polls for elections.

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The Democratic Tribune
Elections held and the governing coalition wins, but leading figures of the military coup the government

31th August 5406 (backdated)


Tanks depoyed in the Đông Kinh during the coup, Kimlien

General elections were held in Kimlien in 27th July 5406, on another anniversary of the mass protests and subsequent establishment of a new civilian-led, and not military-backed in 27th July 5396, but in a surprise move the leading figures of the military couped the government and arrested key government officials, like President Hà Ngô, Prime Minister Loan Chi, cabinet ministers, and many Members of Parliament, in 23th August 5406. Due to that opposition parties and major civil society organizations did not yet call for a "resistance" campaign until yesterday only small protests took place against the coup, but it is predicted that mass mobilization will start only days after as some large-scale events led by the Kimlien League for Democracy (the party of the overthrown Prime Minister Loan Chi), Labour Party, Centre Alliance, Royalist Party; and several civil society organizations like the Movement for Direct Democracy (an organization calling for implementation of direct democratic practices in Kİmlien), Progress Association (a pressure group previously calling for the elimination of military appointees in the national and regional legislatures); and also many labour unions started to strike in order to hinder the functioning of the state machinery. So far no response from the military came into protests and strikes as they did not reach to a level that would threaten the power of the new regime, however, it is predicted that the emerging civil disobedience movement would escalate, even up to the point of a revolution.

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.

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The Democratic Tribune
Political parties, civil society organizations and trade unions together call for massive protests and strikes against the coup

9th October 5406 (backdated)


Massive protests organized in Đông Kinh and many other major cities, holding banners of the overthrown leader Loan Chi

Followed by the coup in 27 August and call of several political parties, civil society organizations, and trade unions to the people to protest against the coup, Kimlien fell into an chaotic stalemate of breakdown of democratic values and subsequent escalating mass mobilization, which only adds to the vicious cycle of a deteriorating political situation in Kimlien coupled with increasing unrest and violence. The protests were mainly called by the parties of Kimlien League for Democracy, Labour Party, Centre Alliance, and Royalist Party; with also several civil society organizations and trade unions joined to the "struggle" or the mass civil disobedience movement against the coup.

Several members of the Kimlien League for Democracy, Labour Party or other opposition parties who managed to escape the crackdown on the previous government already started to discuss the possibility of creating a government in exile that would assist the protesters in "their struggle for the reinstatement of Kimlien's duly elected government and against the junta which illegally couped the government", and some figures even started to "compete" for the positions of the hypothetical government in exile. And also, the members call for an election of a Constitutient Assembly that would ratify the constitution of a new democratic Kimlien after the regime is overthrown.

Anyways, the situation in Kimlien remains tense, with no sights of the ending or even a partial relief of the deteriorating situation; and many international organizations and observers have started to closely watch the situation, condemning the coup as illegal, expressing solidarity with the protesters and hailing them as "fighters for democracy", and calling for an urgent restoration of the democratic system of Kimlien that was in place between 5396 and 5406.

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.

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The People's Journal
Nationwide anti-coup protests turn violent, chaos to wrap up Kimlien

21th May 5407 (backdated)


Nationwide anti-coup protests to increasingly turn violent

Followed by five months of a massive civil disobedience campaign by the opposition parties and civil society organizations, the junta finally started to intervene in the situation, with deploying of troops in several major cities especially in the capital Đông Kinh which saw the hugest of protests in order to quell the unrest. However, as the already massive protests faced intervention they started to turn violent, causing the start of mass riots accross the nation and resulting in several deaths. The increasingly violent protests continued to gain momentum and even the smallest town is now affected by the growing popular unrest against the coup, which contributed to a general state of chaos accross the nation, in a stalemate that shows no hope of improvement and even shows signs of deterioration. The protesters continue to repeat their demands of the resignation of the junta and restoration of the democratic institutions, and also creation of a new constitution that would provide for stronger democratic processes. The protests are now supported by even a broader range of organizations, with nearly all civil society organizations providing support and even joining the movement in "their struggle against the coup and for democracy". As the situation becomes tenser and tenser the international observers and organizations expressed concerns about possible further escalation of violence that could escalate up to a civil war, and they also call for the start of negotation between the movement and the junta to possibly determine the way for a relatively peaceful political transition.

The People's Journal is a left-leaning newspaper that reports on political news in Kimlien, and maitains an unconditional support for a democratic transition in Kimlien.

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The People's Journal
Already violent protests turn into riots, popular unrest to affect every corner of the nation

9th February 5408 (backdated)



The popular unrest in Kimlien starting at the 5406 coup continues to escalate as the already violent protests are now turning into riots and the anti-coup movement resonate to a large group of people and organization who are united in their goal to overthrow the junta and re-install the parliamentary democracy that Kimlien had between 5396 and 5406, especially for the case of political parties and civil society organizations. However, due to the increasing violence, some civil society organizations are now more wary to support the riots, while they still continue to do so as the movement is now seen as the only hope for a democratic re-transition.

Following the escalation of violence this month, four non-system political parties (Kimlien League for Democracy, Labour Party, Centre Alliance, Royalist Party) released a joint statement that expressed support for the protesters, condemned the coup as illegal and anti-democratic, and praisingly refer to the protesters as "saviors of democracy and freedom fighters", with also many civil society organizations and trade unions (especially socialist trade unions) joining to the statement, with the support of civil society being crucial for the statement as it would mean that the statement could be accepted by a more broad range of organizations and people, therefore this could increase the approval for the anti-coup movement.

Hoping to quell the escalating unrest, the junta announced "possible" elections around "5412", however, pro-democracy candidates are expected to boycott the elections as it is predicted the electoral system would favor the military's favored parties over the civilian population's favored ones, which would possibly create a sense of underrepresentation among the large masses of population. Anyways, the situation in Kimlien seems to deteriorate as months come, and it is hoped by many people that a democratic transition will be soon so further violence could be prevented, but it is more possible that such a transition would happen after a long time.

The People's Journal is a left-leaning newspaper that reports on political news in Kimlien, and maitains an unconditional support for a democratic transition in Kimlien.

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The People's Journal
Opposition parties deregistered, this to further exacerbate the popular unrest

21th May 5409 (backdated)


Protesters holding a banner with the slogan "The only real prison is fear, and the real freedom is freedom from fear", in protest against the de-registry of opposition parties

In the already tumultuous and deteriorating situation, the regime went on to officially ban the opposition parties (namely Kimlien League for Democracy, Labour Party, Centre Alliance, Royalist Party), in order to deprive the protesters of an important source of support and legitimacy, all of these four parties rejected the accusations as a "witch hunt" against the democracy movement and they stated that all of the accusations were baseless and completely made up. The lawyers representing the parties in the court also mostly said the same thing, describing the charges against parties as a witch hunt and stating that such statements do not have any real basis. However, no matter what their lawyers said, the "courts" ruled to ban parties in show trials, in which the parties described the show trials as unlawful and called for proper due process, a call that was ignored. The immediate reaction of the civil society to the ban of opposition parties was releasing a joint statement that stated the bans were illegal, disgraceful, and the accusations against their members and leaders were completely made up, and the statement also included a section that called the trials of parties as "show trials" or even "not trials at all", and they also called the people to protest against the bans and demand democratic change.

The demand of civil society organizations really resonated among the population, and the people started to take the streets to defend the parties and delegitimize the bans as "illegal", with the main demands of the protesters being that the junta would step down and call for free and fair elections for a constitutient assembly which in turn would appoint a provisional government and then draft a constitution, after the constitution ratification ends there would be elections for the permanent legislature. This plan is supported by many leading figures of the protests as a way for Kimlien's hoped democratic transition, however in case that the junta would not step down they pursue an overthrow of it to really materialize the goal of creation of a new democratic system, which is supposed to be through a (probably violent) revolution, while others express concerns that attempts to overthrow the regime could cause the escalation of a civil war which could cause the already shaky sociopolitical situation to deteriorate further, which the protesters usually tried to avoid so at the start of first protests in 5406, but as time passed the protests turned increasingly violent and eventually turned into riots as a retaliation against the intervention by the security forces.

The People's Journal is a left-leaning newspaper that reports on political news in Kimlien, and maitains an unconditional support for a democratic transition in Kimlien.