La Gazette Royale - The Royal GazettePrime Minister announces retirement age reduction, economic shockSeptember, 4684Prime Minister Armand Baillairgé taking the stage at a press conference
Atyr, La Tondelle-Silliers (Est) - Prime Minister Armand Baillairgé took the stage at a press conference to discuss the radical transformation of Kanjor over the past several months. The Prime Minister noted that the Royal Democratic Party had formed in January, 4864 and had, in nearly a year, radically altered the course of the entire country. In the parties first election at the end January, they swept away the old Communist government and underneath the pioneering leadership of Felix d'Aurilimar, now Governor-General, the Royal Democratic Party promised voters that it was time for the government in Kanjor to start acting responsible and for the people that they served. RDP hopeful politicians turned out en masse in constituencies, many of them hoping to be elected as Deputies to the new, interim National Assembly, others were hoping to take spots in the Regional and Departmental Councils, others were running for mayor. For instance, Nadine Rousselle, the Mayor of Atyr, promised to return the city as the capital of Kanjor and with the blessing of the RDP leadership, delivered on that promise when the new Constitution of the Kingdom of Kanjor was drafted. The victory was a shock to the voters that the government had followed through on their promise.
Kanjor's monarchist and noble scene had been repressed by the Communist and many of them having had ties to the land, wanted to return, the current Governor-General included in that. While Kanjorians and its monarchy have had a checkered past, the arrival of this brash idea that the Kingdom of Kanjor should become part of the Canrille Empire, it gained massive popularity. Polls conducted by the RDP showed that nearly 63% of Kanjorian's welcomed the idea of becoming a part of the wider empire. Many of them saw the chance to restore long lost ambitions of the past, many of them saw the economic benefit and many of them saw the reunion of family members who fled to Lourenne following the rise of the Communist as means to an end. When Kanjor formally joined the "Empire de Canrille" in late February, 4684 and Felix d'Aurilimar was appointed as the Governor-General, many rejoiced. The country celebrated its first of many victories that had been so hard to come by over the past several decades underneath Communist rule. More importantly, Kanjor saw the light at the end of the tunnel. The restoration of law and order had become paramount to Kanjorians across the country. While the Ministry of the Interior openly states that they have continued work to do, the situation has markably improved.
The Prime Minister cited dramatic increases in economic stability, direct foreign investment and the halting of capital flight from Kanjor as to why the GDP jumped nearly 12% in a year. While these numbers might seem "shocking" and "unrealistic" according to foreign and domestic economist, many of them cite that the numbers tend to level out after the first year of an economies liberalization. The reduction of taxation on the population has allowed them to increase their spending, the reduction of an unrealistic corporate tax has allowed Kanjorian corporations to flourish as well as many former corporations who fled to return to within the borders of Kanjor. These companies returning to Kanjor have provided them with hundreds of thousands of new jobs, with many more planned and on the way. Working closely with the Ministry of Health and Social Services, who oversees the Kanjorian Pension System (Canrillaise: Système de retraite kanjorien; SRK) the public pension system that is funded by contributions of the tax payer, agreed to reduce the retirement age for a five year period to 60 and increase it 1 year every 2 years starting in 4690 until it reaches the average life of a Kanjorian citizen of 70, the retirement age will be 70 in 4710.
Alongside the 12% increase in the overall GDP, the Ministry of Economics and Finance announced budgetary changes that had been proposed for the following year. The Interior Ministry budget will increase 5,000,000 Kanjorian Rupees, an increase of 16% to provide for the influx of training new members of the National Gendarmerie, the National Police and other services such as the Directorate-General of Internal Security. Several departments have had a cut to their budgets, namely the Ministry of Justice which released a report that they had "...sufficient resources at this time to carry out justice and dispense fair, equal punishment when due." The ministries of Education and Culture, Food and Agriculture, Science and Technology and Environment and Tourism have had their budgets slashed with new oversight by committees of the National Assembly, it is unlikely that these will be permanent but for the national budget for 4685 they will be cut. Perhaps the most impressive and glaring change is the nearly 33% increase in defense-related spending. When reporters questioned the Prime Minister on the increase he stated that the Ministry of Defense would be conducting a "...comprehensive announcement within coming weeks."