Ostland reborn as Independent Crownland of OstlandThe black-and-white Dundorfian-inspired flag is no more and has been replaced by a new flag inspired by the colours of the Union Flag of Hulstria and Gao-Soto, which is quickly being referred to as the Eastern Cross (Ostkreuz)Zibon - Cheers were heard in cities across Ostland today at the news of the passage of the new Constitution, by which the nation of Ostland is turning over a new leaf of its independent history. After years of suffering under the pro-Dundorfian apartheid regime, which alienated many ethnic Hulstrians apart from its primary victims, the Kunihito, the nation feels it can look forward to a shared future once more. The Constitutional Convention, dominated by the Septembrist Crownland Congress, today passed a constitution by which Ostland adopts a new identity as the Independent Crownland of Ostland, a highly symbolic act by which the nation turns away from the identity imposed upon it by aggressive pro-Dundorfian neo-colonization policies and into a new era of closer kinship with its mother country, the Empire of Gao-Soto within the Crownlands of Hulstria and Gao-Soto. By styling itself "Crownland", it is thought that the new entity is seeking to get as close as possible to the last time the Kunihito, a majority of the population, still possessed rights and Ostland was prospering.
Alongside the new name comes a host of new or rediscovered symbols which harken back to the Crownland era. Most prominently, the Grand Duke was deposed and ordered to appear before a Truth and Reconciliation Committee as the new Constitution makes the new Mikado of Gao-Soto, Kurosawa Morihito, the head of state. To go along with this, the coat of arms has been declared to be an amalgam of the emblem of the Empire of Gao-Soto and the floral design traditionally symbolising Ostland, such as seen on the flag it previously used as a Crownland of Gao-Soto. As far as the flag is concerned, a new design that is rapidly becoming known as the "Eastern Cross" was unveiled, ditching the black-and-white Dundorfian symbolism for the white-purple-green colours of the old Crownlander
Union Flag, symbolising the plain and Gao-Soto with green, the Schnee-Berge and unity in white, and Hulstrian heritage (not Dundorfian) in purple. Observers have noted that the largest area of the flag is now green, the traditional colour of Gao-Soto, in which Ostland has traditionally been located. The Septembrist hymn "Land of our Fathers" was adopted as the provisional national anthem to immediately replace the tainted "Treue im Osten" of the apartheid regime until a new anthem can be drafted. In addition, the representatives of the country are thought to be preparing a request to the World Congress for the nation to be referred to in short in the future as Ostland-Touryou, combining its Hulstrian and Kunikata names.
The Constitution is heavily based on the Septembrist Constitution of 3416 and the Basic Law of the provisional United Imperial Crownlands, but includes some new innovations, including harsh punishments for institutional discrimination and the introduction of compulsory voting. The Landwehr has been declared dissolved immediately by the Constitutional Convention, to be disarmed or incorporated in a new inclusive Ostlander Bürgerwehr, a term that is recognisably Septembrist in inspiration. The Constitutional Convention is still debating the passage of a law banning the use of the old symbols of the apartheid regime and the details of the Truth and Reconciliation Arrangements.
The first elections under the new Constitution, which is reprinted below in its full text, will take place in a few months time.
Constitution of the Independent Crownland of Ostland
Verfassung des Unabhängigen Kronland Ostlands
東領独立冠領の憲法
WE, THE ENTIRE PEOPLE OF OSTLAND, DETERMINED to live in harmony and peace in our shared land, and to reclaim for ourselves the heritage of our fathers as a united, democratic and Septembrist Crownland of Gao-Soto, in expression of our independence, in order that liberal democracy, equality and national unity may flourish once more in our Eastern Land, do THROUGH OUR CONSTITUENT DELEGATES ASSEMBLED hereby proclaim with unanimous consent of heart and voice the restoration of our INDEPENDENT CROWNLAND OF OSTLAND,
AND WE DO ACCORDINGLY ENACT, IN THE NAME OF HIS IMPERIAL AND HEAVENLY MAJESTY, OUR SOVEREIGN EMPEROR MORIHITO, MIKADO OF GAO-SOTO (LONG MAY HE REIGN), THIS CONSTITUTION TO GOVERN THE CROWNLAND:
Article I) the Independent Crownland of Ostland
(1) The Independent Crownland of Ostland (hereonafter "Ostland-Touryou") is a liberal democratic Septembrist state existing in symbolic unity with the other Crownlands of the Empire of Gao-Soto; it shall be governed by the precepts of the rule of law and this Constitution;
(2) Ostlander citizenship belongs without discrimination to all those born in Ostland-Touryou or in other such cases as the law may provide; special provision may be made by treaty for recognition of the citizenship of the United Imperial Crownlands of Hulstria and Gao-Soto or its recognised successor government and the conferral of certain rights of citizenship on such citizens; the only dual citizenship permitted shall be between Ostland and the Crownlands;
(3) Sovereignty is exercised by His Imperial and Heavenly Majesty the Mikado of Gao-Soto and His government under the terms of this constitution, in the name of all citizens of Ostland;
(4) The Flag of the Independent Crownland of Ostland shall be a field of purple and green charged with a white cross extending to the edges; the vertical part of the cross is shifted to the hoist side;
(5) Until such a time as the Diet proclaims otherwise, the Septembrist Hymn "Land of our Fathers" shall be the National Anthem; "Golden Empire" shall be the Imperial Anthem;
(6) The motto of the Imperial House of Kurosawa from the writings of Okatori Akihiko shall be adopted as the motto of the state, in its original Kunikata 地平かに天成る and in the offical Hulstrian translation "Das Land unter den offenen Himmel ist friedig";
(7) Kunikata and the Hulstrian dialect of Dundorfian shall be the official languages of the state;
(8) The capital of the Independent Crownland of Ostland shall be Zibon.
Article II) the Rights of Citizens and Residents
(1) To all citizens and all those residing in Ostland shall belong, without reservation, the right to be treated equally in equal circumstances; discrimination on the basis of religion, culture, ethnicity, gender or any grounds whatsoever shall be illegal;
(2) It shall be the continuing concern of the state to preserve and defend the equality of opportunity between the various communities in the Crownland;
(3) All Ostlander citizens shall be equally eligible for appointment to public service; discrimination by any official of the state in the exercise of his duties shall upon sentence of a court be punished by dismissal;
(4) The state guarantees the freedom of speech, of expression and of the printing press, pursuant to the law;
(5) All Ostlander citizens shall have an equal right to elect the members of the representative bodies and to stand for election as a member of those bodies, subject to the limitations and exceptions prescribed by the law;
(6) The state guarantees the freedom of religion; all those residing within its territory shall have the right to freely profess religion or belief either individually or in community with others, without prejudice to each person's responsibility under the law;
(7) The state guarantees the right of association; in the interest of public order, the law may place reasonable restrictions on this right;
(8) The state guarantees the right of assembly and demonstration, without prejudice to each person's responsibility under the law; in the interest of health, traffic or public order, the law may place reasonable restrictions on this right;
(9) The state shall respect and protect the privacy of all residing in its territory; the law shall make further provision for the enforcement and reasonable restriction of this right;
(10) The person of all those residing in the national territory is inviolable, without prejudice to reasonable restrictions under the law;
(11) Entry into a home against the will of the occupant shall be permitted only in the cases lied down by or pursuant to the law;
(12) Expropriation may take place only in the public interest, in accordance with regulations laid down in law;
(13) Other than in the cases laid down by or pursuant to the law, no one may be deprived of his liberty; where one's liberty is lawfully deprived, reasonable restrictions may be made on the exercise of the rights enumerated in this article;
(14) No offence shall be punishable unless it was an offence under the law at the time it was committed;
(15) No resident of Ostland shall be prevented against his will from being heard by a court to which he is entitled to apply under the law; residents shall have the right to legal representation;
(16) The suffrage in Ostland shall be universal; it shall be a compulsory duty on all citizens to exercise this right;
Article III) the Crown
(1) The Imperial sovereignty is vested in His Imperial and Heavenly Majesty, the Mikado of Gao-Soto, who shall be the head of the state; all national officials shall swear allegiance to him and to the state, as determined by the law; he shall symbolise the unity of the nation and its values;
(2) The Crown of Ostland rightfully belongs to the descendants of Emperor Okatori Kurosawa the Great, through the lineage of His Imperial and Heavenly Majesty, Emperor Morihito of Gao-Soto and his descendants belonging to the Imperial Kurosawa Clan, according to the Imperial Household Law of Gao-Soto;
(3) As soon after his enthronement as possible, the Emperor shall swear the following oath: "I solemnly swear under Heaven to govern the citizens of Ostland according to their respective laws and customs, without prejudice to the interest of any ethnic group, ever in pursuit of the unity and integrity of the state, the defence of its Constitution and the continuation of democratic government";
(4) The Governor-General shall head the delegation of Ostland to the enthronement of the Mikado at Miyako, and make the customary oaths required by tradition; he may do so in Hulstrian or Kunikata, if he so wishes;
(5) The Governor-General shall act as regent for an Emperor under the age of majority; regents shall swear the oaths required by Article III(3) before taking office;
(6) The Mikado shall create nobles and award knightly orders on his personal initiative and on the advice of the Crownland Diet, the Minister-President or the Governor-General for services to the nation;
(7) The Mikado shall, jointly, individually or represented by the Governor-General or a Minister, have the right to sign treaties on behalf of Ostland, with the advice and consent of His Imperial and Heavenly Majesty's Government;
Article IV) the Governor-General
(1) The Mikado shall be represented in Ostland by an elected Governor-General of the Independent Crownland of Ostland;
(2) The Imperial person is inviolable; the Governor-General shall owe political responsibility to the Crownland Diet for his conduct in right of Ostland, jointly with His Imperial and Heavenly Majesty's Ministers;
(3) The Governor-General shall be elected in two rounds by universal suffrage and shall serve a term of 10 years;
(4) The Governor-General shall, on behalf of the Mikado and upon the advice of the Minister-President or a majority of the Crownland Diet, have the right to dissolve said Diet and issue writs of election for a new Diet;
(5) The Governor-General shall make, on behalf of the Mikado, appointments to His Imperial and Heavenly Majesty's Government upon the nomination of the Crownland Diet;
Article V) the Political Process
(1) Political parties shall participate in the formation of the political will of the people. They may be freely established. Their internal organisation must conform to democratic principles. They must publicly account for their assets and for the sources and use of their funds.
(2) Parties that, by reason of their aims or the behaviour of their adherents, seek to undermine or abolish the free democratic basic order, to endanger the existence of the state or to act contrary to the rights set out in Article II. The Constitutional Court shall rule on the question of unconstitutionality.
Article VI) The Crownland Diet
(1) Legislative power is vested in a unicameral Crownland Diet (Landtag, Kanryou-gikai, hereonafter "the Diet");
(2) The Crownland Diet shall consist of the representatives of the people elected under the law by universal suffrage; it shall sit for 5 years until it stands dissolved by the Governor-General on behalf of the Mikado and upon the advice of a majority resolution of its members;
(3) The right of initiative and of budget belongs to the Diet;
(4) Ministers of His Imperial Majesty's Government shall, individually and collectively, at all times maintain the confidence of the Diet;
(5) Ministers of His Imperial Majesty's Government shall render account of their actions to the Diet; they shall attend such debates as the Diet deems necessary to discharge this responsibility and shall from time to time answer questions on the policies of the government;
(6) No declaration of war shall be valid except with the consent of the Diet;
(7) The Diet shall have the right to ratify treaties;
Article VII) His Imperial Majesty's Government
(1) Executive and governmental power shall be exercised on behalf of the Crown by His Imperial Majesty's Government;
(2) The Governor-General, acting on behalf of the Mikado, shall designate, arising out of his consultations with the Diet, from among the members of the Diet as Minister-President (daizin-daitouryou, Ministerpräsident) to preside over the government the person who is best able to obtain the confidence of and enjoy fruitful cooperation with the Diet;
(3) The Governor-General shall designate, with the advice and consent of the Minister-President, Ministers and State Secretaries to serve in the Government;
(4) Each department shall be headed by a Minister, assisted if necessary by one or more State Secretaries; Ministers without portfolio may be appointed;
(5) His Imperial Majesty's Government shall be assisted in the administration and execution of their duties by a Civil Service based on the principles of merit and political independence, in which the ethnic makeup of the population shall be proportionally represented;
(6) The Minister-President shall preside over regular meetings of the Cabinet consisting of all Ministers and State Secretaries;
(7) The Minister-President shall meet regularly with the Governor-General on the business of government;
(8) The Government and any of its members shall serve solely while they enjoy the confidence of the Diet; they shall tender their immediate resignation to the Governor-General where a loss of such confidence is certified;
Article VIII) Of the judiciary
(1) The judiciary shall be independent; judges shall serve for life or until their resignation;
(2) There shall be a system of courts established by law;
(3) The Constitutional Court (Verfassungsgericht) shall be the highest instance of appeal;
(4) All citizens have the right of appeal and of representation in court.
Article VIII) Local Government
(1) The law shall make provision for the institution of circuits and Gemeinden to discharge the function of local government;
(2) The rules imposed by Article II on the institutions of national government shall be equally applied to local government;
(3) The right to appoint Mayors and Circuit Commissioners shall belong to the Governor-General on behalf of the Mikado, with the advice of the Government.
Article IX) the Armed Forces
(1) The Landwehr shall hereby stand down and in its place established a new armed forces of the Independent Crownland of Ostland to be known as the Ostlander Civil Defence Force (Ostlander Bürgerwehr);
(2) Supreme command of the armed forces shall be exercised by the Governor-General on behalf of the Mikado and with the advice and consent of His Imperial Majesty's Government;
(3) Promotion in the armed forces shall be based on merit alone; discrimination by superiors against any ethnic group shall be punished by dishonourable discharge;
Article X) Of amendments to this Constitution
(1) The Constitution may be amended by a two-thirds majority of the Diet;
(2) Such amendments may be proposed by members of the Diet.