Kimlien

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The People's Journal
Specious criminal charges brought against party leaders, civil society to call citizens to "protest against the show trials"; regional governments dissolved and opposition-affiliated governors arrested


Civil society activists protesting the criminal charges against the KLD leader Loan Chi holding KLD flags and symbols

16th March 5412 (backdated)

The already shaky political situation in Kimlien continued to deteriorate as the leaders of opposition parties, especially the Kimlien League for Democracy leader Loan Chi who was the Prime Minister of Kimlien before she was overthrown in the 5406 coup, were brought criminal charges against them, many of them being actually specious. The trials of the opposition leaders were condemned as "show trials" by the civil society activists, and they called the citizens to "protest against the illegal show trials and specious charges against the leaders of the pro-democracy movement", a call that resonated well among the population, leading to a renewed wave of protests against the coup accross Kimlien.

Also, in another move, the regional governments, which their powers were already encroached on by the junta, were completely dissolved today, and the opposition-affiliated governors and also the mostopposition-affiliated members of regional parliaments were arrested while some could escape, which was another reason of the massive protests that started a few weeks ago. The civil society reacted similarly to this, by calling the citizens to protest against that and demand the reinstatement of regional government system that existed during Kimlien's parliamentary anocracy of 5396-5406.

The citizens continued to protest against the both measures and made a stunning display of defiance in the face of repression, and also, the civil society played an important role in leading the movement against the coup and by calls to citizens to protest they created a huge mass mobilization that was the most sustained one, even being huger than the 5396 Kimlienese protests which were organized against the dubious election results of the first election in year and then led to renewed elections which saw the Kimlien League for Democracy winning, in this case it could be possible to see that the junta would fall and the parliamentary system would be restored.

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.

[hopesfor2]

The Democratic Tribune
The regime to go on to suppress the protests, casualties to rise into thousands

7th October 5414 (backdated)


Police to use force as protesters ignore "lethal" warning and civil society to still remain defiant

As the protests and popular unrest continued for years and the junta did not take much steps to suppress the protests as they did not really see as a menace, now the police started to use force as protesters defied the lethal warning and the civil society to unwaveringly continue resisting the coup and calling for a democratic transition, resulting in thousands of casualties, even more arrests, and damages on property of many people who were not really involved in the protests, also leading to an increasing number of incidents of banditry as criminal gangs exploit the political turmoil.

Following the criminal charges against party leaders and dissolution of regional governments, last residues of democracy in Kimlien were finally wiped out and the country became a real, full military dictatorship, and also, mass mobilization for democracy does not seem successful as it was in 5396, in which the protesters called the President to resign and called for "cleaner" elections, both demands came true and the country's first government that was not backed by the military was formed in 5396 by the KLD leader and then-Prime Minister Loan Chi.

Anyways, as the situation in Kimlien continues to become more and more violent, the criminal gangs exploited all the turmoil leading to a growing number of incidents of banditry, and also further exacerabating the lack of physical security, and also, as the security forces have been overwhelmed by the protests, they have been unable to intervene in order to stop gang activity, which also adds further to the deteriorating situation, leading to a vicious cycle that seemingly there is no exit.

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 People's Journal
Largest protests since 5406 coup starts against raids to headquarters of opposition parties, especially one to a regional KLD headquarters

16th July 5415 (backdated)


Large crowds organizing protest marches

As only protests were suppressed from 5413-14 and popular unrest was quelled to some extent, violence in Kimlien seemed to be relieved, until now, which saw massive protest marches being organized against raids to headquarters of opposition parties, or in more details a raid to a regional Kimlien League for Democracy headquarters that resulted in several deats of the people at the headquarters and also two security officers, an event that was met badly by the civil society and they decided to take the streets as a display of defiance in the face of repression and expression of demands for democracy, which has grown this year as the popular unrest was ignited again by "raids", or "attacks" as described by the opposition and the civil society due to they seeing those as unlawful and stating that the current government in office does not have any mandate to govern.

The protests that started to be organized a few weeks ago were unprecedentedly large, even larger than the initial anti-coup protests in 5406, and they have a huger potential of unraveling military rule in Kimlien and they also bring realistic hopes about a democratic transition. The protests were seemingly ignited by raids to the opposition parties' headquarters, while their reasons are actually much more than that, with many reasons ranging from the dismissal of a duly elected government, increasing repression of opposition and escalating authoritarian tendencies, to economic inequalities and grievances, and it has been the first protest movement that has been really big-tent in Kimlien, as the protests include those from all parts of the political spectrum that are divided in their political opinions and policy stances but united in their opposition to the regime and desire for political opening.

As now the mobilization against the regime is now in peak and desires for democracy are expressed in their greatest extent possible, this now leads to realistic hopes about a full democratic transition in Kimlien that could be later lay the framework for a stable and resillient political system that would establish adequate constraints on the government and grant the people civil liberties, both private and political. However, it is also worth warning that such a transition would not mean the end of all problems, even that would solve the problem about repression as now the people could use the channels to express their opinions on platforms like the social media and express their political choices in elections, it would not about the socio-economic problems that the people are now facing.

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.

[hopesfor2]

The Democratic Tribune
Government ovethrown after massive protests, and a civilian provisional government takes office

9th February 5416


Last protests before the fall of junta

Good news coming from Kimlien for the very first time since 5406, the dictatorship was overthrown and a civilian provisional government was sworn in at 6th January 5416, and the new provisional government released all the political prisoners including the party leaders that criminal charges were brought against them but those charges are now ignored and nullified by the new government, unbanned all the political parties, relaxed restrictions on civil society activism, and set up a plan for the holding of general elections for a constitutient assembly that would ratify the constituion of the new democratic system of the nation, then elections for the permanent legislature would held and the permanent legislature would appoint a normally functioning government, hence completing the political transition.

The formation of a civilian provisional government was celebrated by the protesters who already demanded that for very long, and in the long term it is thought that the new government which consists of the leading protesters, civil society activists, and party leaders will succeed in steering the country towards a democratic, bright future. Several individuals and groups started to prepare to register their new parties in the quickly liberalizing political landscape, and we will probably see a fierce contest in the upcoming constitutient assembly elections which is supposed to be held around May 5416.

Anyways, the opening of political landscape of Kimlien finally brings several realistic hopes about the establishment of a fully democratic system after years of popular unrest, chaos, and repression; and it remains to see if the transition succeeds or falls into a political crisis that would derail it, we hope that the transition will be successful and steer our nation towards a bright future for all.

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 People's Journal
Provisional government to go on to hold elections for the Kimlien Constitutient Assembly, elections to be a "fierce contest"

11th May 5416

Following the overthrow of the junta and establishment of a civilian provisional government, elections for a Constitutient Assembly were held yesterday, with an unprecedented turnout of 86.22% and dozens of parties with vastly different political ideologies contesting. The "old" five parties of the previous parliamentary anocracy (Kimlien League for Democracy, Party of Solidarity and Development, Royalist Party, Centre Alliance, Labour Party) also contested, but with the emergence of new parties, their influence now started to wane. The electoral system that was used in elections was party-list proportional representation, with each province electing 30 members, in total 210 members were elected.

The results of the elections were:

Popular votes (with parties' ideologies in brackets):

27.33% Democratic Party (social liberalism, social democracy)
23.17% Union Party (conservatism, economic liberalism)
17.66% Socialist Party (democratic socialism)
14.08% Kimlien League for Democracy (liberalism)
10.21% Centre Alliance (centrism)
3.61% National Party (right-wing populism)
2.77% Popular Front (left-wing populism)
1.15% Royalist Party (big-tent monarchism)
0.02% Other (depending on party)

Seats:

58/210 Democratic Party
49/210 Union Party
38/210 Socialist Party
30/210 Kimlien League for Democracy
21/210 Cemtre Alliance
7/210 National Party
5/210 Popular Front
2/210 Royalist Party

Parliamentary diagram (greenish yellow for Democratic Party, light blue for Union Party, pink for Socialist Party, red for Kimlien League for Democracy, orangish yellow for Centre Alliance, dark blue for National Party, dark pink for Popular Front, purple for Royalist Party):


Anyways, according to what political analsysts say, the elections were reflective of people's political opinions, and by their votes they expressed their opinions on the previous regime: all of the parties that managed to gain representation are supportive of the democratic transition despite their huge ideological differences, and those that did not support it could only get a few votes that would not even reach 0.01% of votes. The Constitutient Assembly is tasked with ratifying the constitution of the new democratic Kimlien, and we will see parties manage to reach an agreement on how the new constitution should look like.



A person casting their vote in Constiutient Assembly elections

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.

[hopesfor2]

The National
Constitutient Assembly finally ratifies the constitution

10th February 5417


The Kimlien Constitutient Assembly meeting to adopt a constitution

The Constitutient Assembly, a provisional legislature that was elected in a special election last year that was tasked to adopt a new constitution, finally fulfilled its task and ratified the constitution which established Kimlien as a truly democratic nation for the very first time. The new constitution introduced substantial changes compared to the previous 5394 constitution which was dubbed as semi-democratic or even "un-democratic" as it gave the military 25% of seats in both the national and regional legislatures.

The new 5417 constitution, however, is different. It establishes Kimlien as a unitary semi-presidental republic but with an emphasis on decentralization as it provides for regional governments in which the elected officials have the ultimate power on regional policymaking, and it also establishes a bicameral legislature that its lower chamber is the National Assembly that has 350 seats, and the Senate which as 105 seats, at total the legislature has 455 seats. The National Assembly is directly elected through proportional representation, while the Senate members are appointed by a 2/3 vote of regional legislatures. There are also legislative commitees in both the National Assembly and the Senate that are responsible for oversight of cabinet ministers.

Also, it provides for establishment of a Supreme Court that its members would be appointed by the President but with the 3/4 approval of Senate hence 79 seats out of 105, the Supreme Court is the high court of Kimlien and is responsible for interpreting the constitution, is the last court that the plaintiff or the defendant could appeal to for both civil and criminal cases, and it is also responsible for holding the government accountable for its actions collectively with the National Assembly and the Senate. The constitution also provides for regional courts that are responsible for interpreting regional laws.

The power balance between the President and the Prime Minister is, that the both actually have the executive power together with the cabinet ministers, but the former is elected by the people through a two-round election while the latter is appointed by the National Assembly (not the Senate) on a vote that gets more yes votes than no votes. It is also possible that the President would have to co-govern with a Prime Minister that they dislike and vice versa, as they do not have the power to dismiss each other.

And also, there is an impeachment prodecure that could be invoked by the National Assembly upon a 3/5 vote, not the Senate, that would remove the President from the office and level either criminal or serious civil charges against them, however, this prodecure seems difficult to invoke expect in cases of major scandals as it requires a 3/5 vote. Anyways, the newly adopted 5417 constitution provides for a representative democratic form of government and establishes adequate constraints on the government.

The National is a non-partisan and centrist newspaper in Kimlien.

[hopesfor2]

The People's Journal
Elections for the permanent legislature held

22th October 5422

The democratic transition in Kimlien which started in 5416 after establishment of a civilian provisional government is still continuing, and the elections for the permanent legislature have been held. In the elections, many parties contested and the results were divided, though, the Democratic Party, Union Party and Socialist Party continued to be dominant forces in the young multi-party democracy which is still forming itself.

The Kimlien League for Democracy and the Centre Alliance has merged to form the new "Centre Alliance", which continues its centrist and liberal program.

Here is a summary of the results:

Popular vote
32.87% Democratic Party (DP)
27.45% Union Party (UP)
19.66% Socialist Party (SP)
16.54% Centre Alliance (CA)
3.43% Royalist Party (RP)
0.05% Others

Seats
115 Democratic Party
96 Union Party
69 Socialist Party
58 Centre Alliance
12 Royalist Party

Diagram
(DP in yellowish green, UP in blue, SP in red, CA in yellow, RP in purple)

After the elections, the Democratic Party and the Socialist Party formed a coalition government with a center-left program, with the Union Party becoming the main opposition party, and the Centre Party and Royalist Party becoming tertiary opposition parties.

The new elections have been another milestone in the ongoing democratic transition, though, it's still not complete since the regional and local governments are still not functioning and they will start to function after the nationwide local elections planned in 5424. Also, only the National Assembly is now the functional house of parliament, all seats in the Senate are now vacant due to the lack of functioning regional assemblies hence leaving the body non-functional.

[Liu Che/Zhuli]

Eastern Development Organization Bends Over Backwards to Support Dovanian Development and Integration

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The Democratic Tribune
Regional elections held alongisde first local elections for a long time

6th June 5428 (backdated)

The highly anticipated local elections have been finally hend after a few more than three years years of postponement due to the preparations of the regional and local government structures as well as the creation of the new electoral rules. It marked the first time that elected bodies at the province and municipal levels took office since the 5406 coup.

The elections resulted in a split control of municipalities between the four largest parties, those being the Democratic Party, Union Party, Socialist Party, and Centre Alliance. Notably, the mayor of the capital city Đông Kinh was elected from the Centre Alliance, though the municipal council is not controlled by the party.

The results of the elections were:

Municipalities

9 Union Party
5 Centre Alliance
5 Socialist Party
5 Democratic Party

Provinces

3 Union Party
2 Democratic Party
1 Socialist Party
1 Centre Alliance

Đông Kinh Assembly

15 Democratic Party
14 Union Party
12 Centre Alliance
9 Socialist Party

The local elections represented yet another important step in the still ongoing democratic transition in Kimlien with the elected officials taking office in provinces and municipalities since for a long time. The elections also laid the groundwork for the upcoming appointments to the Senate which will mark the start of the body created by the 5417 Constitution to function.

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Appointments to the Senate completed

10th July 5432 (backdated)

The process of appointments to the Senate has been completed, and the new body as created by the Constitution of 5417 had its first meeting today, marking the de facto start of bicameralism which was de jure already there but was not functioning properly due to the lack of functioning regional assemblies until 5428 local elections. The new composition of the Senate is:

38/105 Union Party
29/105 Democratic Party
27/105 Socialist Party
11/105 Centre Alliance

The governing coalition of the Democratic Party and Socialist Party has an absolute majority in Senate, but not a supermajority which is required for approval of appointments to the Supreme Court and other important state institutions. The Union Party is the largest party in the Senate (though not in the National Assembly). The Centre Alliance is the smallest represented party in the Senate. As the Senate also started to function properly, the process of the democratic transition is continuing with upcoming appointments to the Supreme Court and the upcoming appointments for the legislative committees as well as their first session, and also federalism started to be discussed in the political arena to be introduced. It remains to see if the path towards liberal democracy will turn out to be successful.