by Auditorii » Sun Jul 08, 2018 2:26 pm
Grand Duke authorizes partial autonomy in the south, guarantees for loyalty
March, 4419
Jamidaka, Southern Ostland - Grand Duke Magus met today with Main Office of Kunihito Welfare State Secretary Major General Yukinaga and Gebietsoberkommissar for Jamidaka Wakasugi Tomohik regarding the partial autonomy being granted to the Kunihito in the southern peninsula of Ostland. The royal decree focuses on shoring up several issues that the Grand Dukes believes will be solved by granting the Kunihito an enclave in the south. Grand Duke Magnus will likely seek a rubber stamp from the Eastern Land Council on this issue in the coming months but it is a welcome change for many Kunihito, thousands gathered in Jamidaka to celebrate and praise the Grand Duke who has officially placed the General Affairs State Council as the governing body of the now partially autonomous south part of the country. The autonomy allows the Kunihito to govern aspects of their own affairs, allows them to maintain government posts as well as pass specific legislation for their area. The move is widely seen as a means to quell international tension as well as stimulate the failing southern economy which is more agriculturally based then the north which is far more industrial and commercial.
The Touryou State will be the name of the autonomous enclave of Kunihito in the south will serve the means of most Kunihito citizens and the Ostland government will assist in any Kunihito that wishes to settle in the south eastern autonomous state. The General Affairs State Council which will be headed by a Chief Minister and assisted by an appointed Legislative Council (by the Grand Duke) from members of the Eastern Land Council will efffectively give the Kunihito legislative authority over their own affairs, the Touryou State however accepts that they must swear fealty and an oath of loyalty to the Grand Duke. Some Kunihito, once opposed to the Grand Duke, have called for the Grand Duke to accept Kunihito titles and nobility as a means to ensure that they retain their autonomous status. Grand Duke Magnus has remained that he wants the Kunihito to understand that while they may belong to a different governing entity, they are Ostlander's first and foremost.
The continued progressiveness of the Grand Duke has been met with some criticisms but overall the Grand Duke and State Minister have remained very popular. Economically, Ostland is building a stable future such as expanding the ports on the eastern portion of the country (with attempts to lure the Northern Council into the Sea of Carina), the re-opening of the Wolfsheim Stock Exchange as well as focusing on the social welfare programs aimed to reducing the nearly 14% unemployment of Ostland's nearly 70 million citizens. The Grand Duke also decreed that former members of the Freikorps would be permitted to merge with the Ostland Landwehr or would be eligible to retire with a state-funded pension. The Eastern Land Council recently voted in favor of the "Law on Pensions and Public Assistance to Retired Workers" which forms a compulsory state pension that will be paid out at age 60. It is the first of its kind in Ostland. People at pensioner age are eligible but receive a lesser rate due to having paid in less. The formation of the Main Office of Social Welfare Program (Hulstrian: Hauptamt für soziale Wohlfahrtsprogramme) and the appointment of Gregor Hans von Lieben-Volkz as the State Secretary in charge of the program has left many looking to the future as the program gets underway. The Ministry of Economics and Finance will also work with the new Touryou State in the establishment of the Jamidaka Stock Exchange which will focus primarily on Kunihito-owned and operated businesses; it is expected to be underway and operational in January, 4421.
Information regarding the Ostland Landwehr has been scarce but the return of the Grand Duke has seen a large investment into the military, it is reported that Ostland will locally produce 4 Kordusian-class frigates under license from Dorvish companies and will retain the license to produce them. The guided missile frigates will serve as the bulk of the Ostland military, which has remained one of the primary military powers in the former colonial nations of Dovani. Ostland has received support from several dozen wealth supporters, many of them who hail from the VDKV and their wide variety of financial supporters throughout the world. The Grand Duke recently appointed Generaloberst Paul von Theilen zu Wiest as the new Chief of Staff of the Ostland Landwehr and the Dorvish and Dundorfian-trained former Hulstrian Army officer will seek to build Ostland into a regional military power.