Kimlien

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National Assembly Official
First meeting of the newly elected National Assembly organized

6th August 5394

After the elections two weeks ago, the newly elected National Assembly met today, with the MPs discussing a wide range of topics involving the political landscape of Kimlien. As the Assembly's composition is now 60 military appointees, 30 Kimlien League for Democracy, and 10 Party of Solidarity and Development, the PSD was given the role to form the government despite KLD victory in the last elections due to the appointees. The President (who is both the ceremonial leader and chief-executive) will be Minh Giang after 66 votes in favour of Minh Giang, 29 votes in favour of Loan Chi, and 5 votes in abstention. Giang promised to enact various democratic opening reforms, re-opening the discussion on the role of the military at the National Assembly and pledging to reduce the number of appointees to 30%, while the Kimlien League for Democracy sees the reform as insufficient and supports a completely civilian legislature that the military has no place in it. In Kimlien's first contested legislative elections since the coup a relatively pluralistic legislature was elected in place, which has been seen as a positive step towards greater democracy.


National Assembly meeting, Đông Kinh

National Assembly Official is affiliated with the National Assembly of Kimlien, reporting on the meetings and discussions in it.

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The Democratic Tribune
President Giang introduces a package of reforms

17th August 5394


Minh Giang announcing the reforms, Đông Kinh

Minh Giang, the new President of Kimlien, introduced an electoral reform that reduces the percentage of military appointees to 25% and increases the size of the National Assembly to 250 seats, amnesty of thousands of political prisoners who were imprisoned in the junta period, and a relaxation of restrictions on civil society and freedom of expression. The reforms passed with great support from the Assembly, with only "no" votes coming from the military appointees, but the Kimlien League for Democracy still states that the reforms are not enough and the President should go further. Kimlien has made impressive democratic gains since the 22 July elections, with various reforms aimed at extension of civil liberties and deepening of political pluralism, but it is impossible to say that Kimlien is a democracy as there is still lots of way to go and the military still remains overly influential in the politics. It remains to see if the democratic transition is to end up with a success, and yet it is not time to hold your breath.

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
Military hardliners attempt coup against President, attempt was suppressed but chaos continues

3 November 5394


The hardline military officers attempting a coup, Đông Kinh

After a successful coup months ago, hardline factions of the military attempted another coup against Minh Giang, President of Kimlien, in hope to overthrow him, overturn his reforms and return to military dictatorship again. However, the coup attempt was not much supported by the other factions of the military, and therefore the attempt was suppressed; but also, several protests against the coup attempt erupted which caused the chaos to continue. The National Assembly made an emergency meeting following the failed coup, discussing the potential extraordinary measures taken in order to prevent further chaos, but from the meeting nothing was really decided as both of the largest parties (namely Kimlien League for Democracy and Party of Solidarity and Development) do not see the attempt as a big deal. Even though this particular attempt was suppressed, this is not guarantee of that there will not be a successful coup, and for Kimlien to complete its ongoing democratic transition no coup attempt should turn out successful.

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
Many military appointees resign in protest against reforms, the government calls for by-elections to fill vacancies

8th November 5394


President Giang announcing the by-elections

Following a failed coup attempt to overthrow President Giang, many military appointees chose to resign from the National Assembly, which prompted the government to call for by-elections in order to fill vacancies. 29 appointees resigned in total, therefore leaving 29% of the National Assembly vacant. President Minh Giang announced that the elections are going to be held through a nationwide party list, and the registration will be open to any registered political party, and the elections are due to be held in 22 November. So far, only Party of Solidarity and Development and Kimlien League for Democracy registered, and also, the independents created the "Independent List" as a joint list in order to increase their chance to get elected. The by-elections are important as much as the 22th July elections, and polls predict that Kimlien League for Democracy will get 18 of seats, Party of Solidarity and Development will get 8 seats, and the Independent List will get 3 seats. If the predictions are true, those by-elections will change political landscape of Kimlien once again.

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
By-elections for the National Assembly are held: Kimlien League for Democracy once again wins

22th November 5394

Following the resignation of several military appointees and the decision of the government to hold by-elections to fill vacancies, the elections for the 29 seats of National Assembly were held. Voter turnout was recorded as 73.45% and three party lists, namely Kimlien League for Democracy, Party of Solidarity and Development, Independent List, registered to contest for the seats.

A summary of the results were:

Regional map (red for Kimlien League for Democracy, green for Party of Solidarity and Development, gray for Independent List)



Popular votes

64.85% Kimlien League for Democracy
22.46% Party of Solidarity and Development
12.69% Independent List

Seats

20 Kimlien League for Democracy
6 Party of Solidarity and Development
3 Independent List

Composition diagram

49 Kimlien League for Democracy (red)
32 Military appointees (dark gray)
16 Party of Solidarity and Development (green)
3 Independent List (light gray)

The elections were seen as a major event in Kimlien as they meant that the military and pro-military MPs lost their majority to the pro-democracy and independent MPs. The outgoing government was a coalition between military appointees and Party of Solidarity and Development, and a coalition between Kimlien League for Democracy and the independents will be probably formed given that those groups hold a majority in the National Assembly.

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
Newly elected National Assembly sets up the date for upcoming local elections as 8th January 5395, and Loan Chi to potentially become the new President

29th November 5394

The first legislation that the newly elected National Assembly passed was the amendment on the law on the regional governments in order to abolish the appointed offices and to replace them by an elected regional assembly alongside with an assembly-appointed governor, in which the regional assembly will consist of 25% military appointees and 75% civilian members elected through party-list proportional representation, with each regional assembly having 150 seats in total, and setting up of the date for the upcoming local elections as 8th January 5395, which was met with a positive reaction from the civil society as it was another step towards democratic transition. And also, Loan Chi, the leader of the Kimlien League for Democracy, could potentially become the new President, as the Party of Solidarity and Development led government lost its majority on the National Assembly and it is more probable that the independents would support the Kimlien League for Democracy than the Party of Solidarity and Development; Chi says that as long as she can get support from the National Assembly she would not oppose assuming the role of President, but she also says that Kimlien should transition to a real parliamentary system with the President as the ceremonial head of state and the Prime Minister as the chief-executive. We will see what happens in the following days.


Loan Chi responding to questions of journalists in a Kimlien League for Democracy press conference

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

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Hanzen Troops Sent to the Kimlien Border to Secure the Kingdom of Hanzen from Potential Chaos and Skirmishes

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The Democratic Tribune
Kimlien holds first local elections since coup: Kimlien League for Democracy to control 3 provinces while Party of Solidarity and Development to control 4 provinces

8th January 5395

Local elections in Kimlien were held today, resulting in victories for both Kimlien League for Democracy and Party of Solidarity and Development, with the former taking over 3 provinces while the other 4, due to the military appointees who favored the PSD over the KLD. The elections were one of the milestones in Kimlien's transition to democracy, and their results were surprising for many people.

Overall results were (with the ruling party of each province in bold):

Dong Quan:

Kimlien League for Democracy - 77
Party of Solidarity and Development - 35
Military appointees - 38

Minh Hai:

Kimlien League for Democracy - 89
Party of Solidarity and Development - 23
Military appointees - 38

Lac An:

Kimlien League for Democracy - 81
Party of Solidarity and Development - 31
Military appointees - 38

Quang Thuan:

Kimlien League for Democracy - 69
Party of Solidarity and Development - 43
Military appointees - 38

Phu Chan:

Party of Solidarity and Development - 67
Kimlien League for Democracy - 45
Military appointees - 38

Tra Thanh:

Kimlien League for Democracy - 59
Party of Solidarity and Development - 53
Military appointees - 38

Bong Gon:

Kimlien League for Democracy - 62
Party of Solidarity and Development - 50
Military appointees - 38

This is which party controls which province (red for KLD, green for PSD, and lighter color indicates that the party governs the province despite lack of majority within the civilian caucus):



Despite competition the elections were not seen as fully democratic, as the military appointees had the power to influence which party would govern which province through favoring one party over another, but nevertheless the elections were competitive and multi-party resulting in outcomes that one would not expect.

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
Minh Giang to serve another term as the President within a minority government, Loan Chi is the Leader of the Opposition once again

21th January 5395


Minh Giang to serve another term as President

Despite expectations that the Kimlien League for Democracy would form the government, the incumbent President Minh Giang who is the leader of the Party of Solidarity and Development remains in office by forming a minority government by getting support from two independent MPs that is planned to last until 5397, however it is possible that it could dissolve earlier or later, at most in 5398 according to the constitutional provisions which state that the elections should be held within maximum four years after the last elections. Under the previous term of Giang, various democratic reforms were initiated, and it remains to see if this wave of reforms is to continue under his new government.


Loan Chi to serve another term as Leader of the Opposition

And also, Loan Chi who is the leader of the Kimlien League for Democracy remains as the Leader of the Opposition despite expectations that she would become the new President of Kimlien, due to the fact that two independents supported Giang while only one independent supported her. Chi states that she could not become the President due to the flawed electoral process and claims that her party will be able to get into government in the next elections, and she pledges to initiate new reforms aimed at decentralization, minority rights, and reducing military influence in Kimlienese politics.

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
Following reforms that made it easier to register a new party, several small parties appear on political scene

17th February 5395

The second government of Minh Giang continued reforms by making it easier to register a new party, paving the way for several smaller parties to appear on the political scene and to diversify politics of Kimlien. So far many small parties were registered, therefore, we will only mention the ones that garnered attention on the media.

The largest party among the newly registered parties is the Labour Party, a left-wing social democratic and democratic socialist political party that presents itself as an alternative to the both of largest parties, and it seems to have support among many socialists who previously had to choose betwene the far-right and center-left.

The seocond largest party of those is the Royalist Party, a big-tent (but mainly right-wing) monarchist party that calls for the restoration of the royal house into power and establishment of a constitutional monarchy contrary to the current parliamentary republican system. It mainly has support from the monarchists, and also some previous Party of Solidarity and Development voters who find their old party as too radical.

The third largest party of those is the Centre Alliance, a centrist and pragmatic party that calls for a "compromise" between the two largest parties of Kimlien in order to find solutions to the problems that the nation is currently facing, it has support from the former voters of both largest parties who seek a "third way" and are dissatisfied with their current party.

To sum up, political landscape of Kimlien continues to diversify as the democratic institutions become stronger and the military influence on the politics start to somewhat wane, and the apperance of new parties mean that Kimlien is on the way of progress in terms of democratic transition, and it remains to see if this transition turns out successful and we hope it will turn out successful.

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.