March 4451Noumonde requests association arrangement with Canrillaise FederationThe Kingdom of Noumonde, which is currently governed by a delicate power-sharing arrangement between King Norbert and the Canrilliaise (OOC: French) dominated National Party on the one hand, and the Malgy (OOC: Madagascan) dominated Alliance for Progress on the other, has written letters to the governments of the Canrillaise nations (Alduria, Kanjor, Lourenne and Rildanor) formally requesting that Noumonde be considered for "some form of special association arrangement with the planned Canrillaise Federation".
The Canrillaise Federation is a
proposed supranational entity designed to bring the Canrillaise nations into closer political unity.
Both the Canrillaise and Malgy sides of the power-sharing government are sympathetic to an association agreement, although for different reasons.
On the Canrillaise side, King Norbert and Louis Poullain, the Deputy Prime Minister and National Party leader, are passionate about bringing the Canrillaise world closer together and further increasing Noumonde's links with it. However, they prefer the concept of associate membership rather than full membership because they are fearful that under full membership, Noumonde might come under much stronger pressure to agree to liberalising reforms.
On the Malgy side, Tombovelo Tsitohery and the other Alliance leaders are instinctively unenthusiastic about the idea of joining a supranational Canrillaise organisation, because they already resent the dominance of the minority Canrillaise community in Noumonde, and they would rather see Noumonde forging links with the rest of the world, rather than on focusing on links with its traditional Canrillaise allies. For this reason, they are opposed to the idea of full membership. Nevertheless, they are savvy enough to recognise that under an association agreement, they might find allies in the Canrillaise world who would assist with their pursuit of greater equality for the Malgy, and might also be able to secure desperately needed international aid.