Philippe VI officially crowned as King of NoumondeThe new Sovereign officially opened the new Parliament which majority was gained by the Liberal PartyRENNES - After months of military junta, free elections were held in Noumonde while Philippe August, brother of the deposed Henry I, was officially crowned King, 31st Lord and Sovereign of Noumonde by the Grace of God, with the name of Philippe VI of the House of Demitreus. Among the first commitments as new sovereign, the King officially inaugurated the new Parliament in which the Liberal Party gained over 38% of the consensus against 31% of the Socialist Workers' Party and 13% of the Communist Party who joined the socialists in the Front Popular. The Liberal Party has already announced that an agreement to form a government has already been found with the Centre Alliance (16% of votes), a coalition formed by the Agrarian Party and the Democratic Aurorian Party.
Liberal leader Jean Luis Martin has, however, stated that he will work closely with opposition parties to investigate the troubled affair of deposed Queen Maria. The emergence of Martin during the electoral campaign as a champion of the legality for the Liberal Party (which with the Socialist Party for decades has established a quasi-bipartite system), decided to go to the bottom to bring to light the turbid affairs of the previous Queen consort, breaking with part of the establishment which would have simply wanted to turn the page with the new sovereign, has in fact attracted a lot of votes to the Liberals, from some even indicated as collaborators of the former royal couple, overturning the predictions about a victorious Popular Front: again in a few years the issues surrounding the previous queen have marked the fate of the Kingdom.
King Philippe has already appointed Martin as Prime Minister, who in the coming days should present the new government to the National Assembly, while during the speech to the new Parliament the King also took advantage of offering an image of what his kingdom will be:
When this crown was placed on my head, I vowed to defend the Kingdom and its Institutions as well as its Constitution and I can assure you that I will honor this oath with the utmost zeal. Noumonde and its citizens deserve a modern Kingdom, in keeping with the times, to be looked at with respect from the rest of the world. The people expressed their will and elected its representatives as well as its legislators. As Sovereign of Noumonde, despite the powers recognized to the Crown, I will respect the will of the people and will respect the decisions and the role of its representatives, and I will respect the Government as the expression of the parliamentary majority. In the recent past, we have seen how greed and personal affairs literally can make thrill a secular throne when they are mixed up with state affairs, and therefore, the only bill as Noumonde's Sovereign I intend to submit to Parliament, National needs and requirements permitting, will be a law to ensure a strong separation between the Crown assets and public funds, with the categorical prohibition of transfer of public funds to activities related to the Crown, obviously except for the Royal Purse recognized to the Crown.
Philippe VI therefore seems will maintain as a Sovereign a formal, symbolic and representative profile for Noumonde leaving in the hands of the Government and the Prime Minister the management of internal, foreign and general affairs.
Although many, even among the socialist files, have applauded this respect for Parliament and the Government, among the ranks of the Communists many demand for a Constitution Review to reduce the powers of the King (who today can: appoint and dismiss the Prime Minister, dismiss Ministries, dissolve the Parliament after consulting the Prime Minister, present legislative proposals, put the veto on the laws approved by the Parliament which can only be overcome by a majority of 3/4 of the parliamentarians, is the supreme commander of the armed forces and appoints several Supreme Court judges).
Others, however, have been more interested in the Royal Bill which Filippo seems to have ready in the drawer: the law will totally separate the Royal Patrimony from the Treasury, but among the numerous ancillary rules, stood out the many related to the privacy on the Royal Patrimony. Someone winced saying that since the Crown will continue to receive public funds (the Royal Purse), its use should also be subject to public control, but on regard of this the Royal Palace has already released a communication: how much receives and will receive the Crown will remain public as well as all the expenses related to the institutional functions and representation of the Crown, but will not be disclosed any further information on the rest of the Crown Assets since the rest of the Royal revenues and funds come from private activities which have no link with the Treasury or other public assets.
Following this response, the most critical commented on this: it is not the King who wants to respect the independence of the Government and the Parliament but he is concerned that nobody puts his nose in his business, alluding to the participation and control of the Crown to some of Noumonde's most important activities, notably the
Noumondese Investment Company and hence the
Western Squibble Holding through which the Crown controls and have holdings in myriad of domestic and foreign companies, an environment in which the new King should be very comfortable having been a businessman and a banker in the previous years.