Zenkoku Nippō

[Zabuza825]

Holes in the EFF's Biased and Poorly Researched Report
by Haruto Kirishima

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As the latest elections become a thing of the past, many observers are releasing reports regarding the elections. While many of those based in Akitsu are reporting no indications of fraud, one foreign group has accused the elections of being fraudulent. However, their report is so full of holes that it is unbelievable. The amount of errors present in their report can only be attributed to one of two things - extreme carelessness or willful ignorance. Either they didn't bother to research the simple facts on the ground that is available, or they knew but they intentionally left out some of the details. Their flawed report is a disgrace to the very idea of voting - and is further evidence of a conspiracy by hostile foreign forces to influence and change Akitsu.

So, let us address some of the points they claim is evidence of fraud.

VOTING METHOD

The very first thing that was criticized was the adoption of electronic voting. They dispute the governments explanation that it was adopted for it's ease of use and speed, arguing that there is nothing harder for the average voter. And perhaps this would be true - if you only look at what happens inside the voting booths.

The fact of the matter is that a lot of things can happen outside of the voting booths that make voting difficult for some people. Before the adoption of electronic voting, polling stations in Akitsu regularly had issues with long lines on election day. It was never as bad as it was in some other countries, but the fact of the matter is that having to wait an extended period of time would cause inconvenience to the voter. This problem is something that has clearly been remedied in the last few elections, with there being no reports of long lines at polling stations.

When there is evidence that what was adopted as a solution to a problem that existed, a solution that is clearly working, they clearly ignore that evidence.

Furthermore, they argue that they were unable to confirm the software on the voting machines - however, all possible methods of confirmation was provided. Cryptographic hashes and checksums were provided, proving that the software used on it was indeed the software that was supposed to be on there. Furthermore, the software used was developed at least a decade ago by Akitian corporations, and in fact field tested several times before these elections. The only way to provide more evidence would be to allow election observers to directly examine the software on the computer with some form of external medium - but there would be no nation on the face of this planet that would allow it because that is one of the most direct vectors that a computer virus can use to infect a computer. They can't complain that we didn't let them do it when literally every country on the planet wouldn't allow it.

""LACK"" OF POLITICAL DIVERSITY

One of the other main points they argue is that the parties elected into the National Legislature (which they called the "parliament" even though that is the incorrect title for our legislature) all have the same political stances - this is a patently false claim. All one needs to do is look at the economic policies of the parties in power to find a great deal of political diversity.

The Justice Party, owing to their roots that come from the Liberal Democratic Party, is strongly in favor of economic regulation and a strong proponent of workers rights. In fact, the Justice Party's economic stance takes things a step further than the Liberal Democratic Party, arguing that the state should have a direct role in the economy by establishing some state-owned corporations in certain sectors. The Seiyū Party, owing to their roots that come from the Nationalist Party, is strongly in favor of less economic regulation and generally take a more hands-off approach when it comes to the economy. While they still argue in favor of a state role in the economy, they seem to favor it more in the realm of trying to read where the metaphorical "invisible hand" of the free market is directing things, and attempt to accelerate growth using strategic investments into different economic sectors. The Seiyū Party is strongly against the nationalization of any private corporation.

The Restoration Party seems to look at the economy in a much more mixed manner. They strongly favor state involvement in the economy, but seem to be much more in favor of contracting private corporations to achieve their goals, rather than direct nationalization or investment. They only favor nationalization in, to quote their manifesto "the most extreme of cases, where it would be impossible to achieve our economic goals through other methods". They call their economic policy "state-guided capitalism", and it is a policy that the Patriotic Party seems to also be in favor of. The Patriotic Party, however, seems to have a much more loose view on the nationalization of certain industries, arguing that nationalization may be necessary in more a broader criteria.

It is true that all the parties support an expansion of the military, but there is disagreement as to just how far that expansion should go. The Patriotic Party favors the most expansion, arguing that Akitsu should have "one of the top ten militaries in the world" when things are finished, while the Justice Party favors the least amount of expansion, arguing that the military should be expanded "until it can adequetly protect Akitian interests".

Social rights are something that there is also a great deal of disagreement in government over. The Justice Party is the most liberal in terms of social rights, being in favor of things such as same-sex marriage, rights for new half

Akitian slang term for transsexuals, usually not considered derogatory unless used in the wrong way
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's, and others. The Patriotic Party is the most right-wing in terms of social rights, not only arguing that same-sex marriage should be criminalized, but also arguing that women should go back to their traditional role as housewives, and that all same-sex marriages that have been approved so far should be declared void. The Seiyū Party seems to not make their positions on social issues known, but generally leans to the conservative side. The Restoration Party is also fairly conservative, many of their politicians have expressed opposition to same-sex marriage and have argued that women should go back to their traditional role as housewives, but they have also expressed opposition to changing the laws regarding these issues that are currently on the books, stating that changing some of these laws in such a manner would cause too much harm to the economy.

The report completely ignores these differences that exist in the parties positions. This would've been obvious had they done some actual research into the positions of each party, but apparently they neglected to do even the most basic of research.

""EXCLUSION"" OF VOTERS

The report further argues that the adoption of traditional characters caused the drop in Akitian voter turnout - a drop to 45%, the lowest level that Akitsu has seen in decades. However this accusation falls apart when you look at the characters.

When voting, the voting machine would prompt you asking who you wanted to vote for to represent your district in the National Legislature, and what list of candidates you wanted to vote for in the proportional representation bloc. First off - most names would not be affected by the transition back to traditional characters. Names are different from the standard writing, and it is not necessary for someone to switch their names to traditional characters if they don't want to. Furthermore, the names of parties in traditional characters would not be significantly different from simplified characters. For a visual representation, let's look at the party names as they are written in both traditional and simplified characters:

Traditional	Simplified
維新の黨	維新の党	Restoration Party
愛國黨	愛国党	Patriotic Party
政友黨	政友党	Seiyū Party
公正黨	公正党	Justice Party
國民黨	国民党	Nationalist Party
自由民主黨	自由民主党	Liberal Democratic Party
民主黨	民主党	Democratic Party

As you can tell, with the exception of the Patriotic Party and the Nationalist Party, the only major difference in characters is the character for Party (黨 in traditional form, 党 in simplified form). And even for the Patriotic Party and Nationalist Party, the only other major difference is the character for country (國 in traditional form, 国 in simplified form). It is not significantly different. A person who can only read simplified characters wouldn't have significant problems with these characters for much of the characters are identical in both simplified and traditional form. Perhaps there may be difficulty reading the question, but it should be fairly obvious what the question asked is when you are presented with a list of names and a list of parties. All you have to do is press the button that has your preferred party or candidate on it. How would this possibly cause any difficulty, and how could this possibly reduce voter turnout?

A much more likely explanation for the reduction in voter turnout is campaign burnout - that is to say that this election came too soon after the last one. In Akitsu, national elections are usually done 5 years apart. However, only about a year ago there was emergency elections. Is it not possible that voters were simply tired of the campaigning? This possibility isn't even brought up in the report.

""EXIT POLLS""

And in the final section, the writers of the report admit to violating electoral procedures. But before we get to that we must address what this section is about - exit polls. The report first argues that there is no reason to ban exit polls, as exit polls are released after voting has taken place. This is another patently false claim. Exit polls are not only unscientific, but can be manipulated by pollsters for the pollsters political agenda. This has the potential to influence the outcome of an election. The claim that exit polls are released after voting has taken place ignores the countries in the world where exit polls are released while voting is still taking place.

An exit poll is, by definition, a poll that takes place by polling people who have just voted. While this does mean that such polls cannot be done before voting has taken place. However, this does not mean the results can only be announced after voting has taken place. Results can be announced while voting is still taking place - and when results are announced while voting is still taking place it has the potential to influence the results of an election.

Then the writers of the report admit to violating Akitian electoral procedures and "conducting" an "exit poll". However, there are many problems with this polls. It just gives us a bunch of numbers and expects us to believe it is true. They expect us to believe in spite of the fact no information is provided as to how the people who wrote up the report got their information. How big was the sample size? What parts of Akitsu was this information obtained from? How many people from each part of Akitsu are part of the sample? None of these questions are even brought up in the report - it just expects us to look at the numbers and believe it happened.

Without this information, it is highly suspect that this exit poll is based upon reliable information and has not been manipulated by the pollsters for their political gain.

CONCLUSION

The flaws in the report are numerous - and demonstrate the lack of credibility of this report. The number of flaws and the types of errors made in the claims demonstrates a level of ignorance that should not be typical of election observers. Whether this ignorance is due to carelessness or is willful is something that we cannot say anything on. But one thing is clear - this is a report that cannot be trusted.

[Zabuza825]

Outrage follows after Strathae performs autopsies, without permission of victims families
by Haruto Kirishima

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Massive outrage has followed after Strathae announced that they will be performing autopsies on the Akitian victims of a terrorist attack in Strathae, without the permission of the victim's families. The outrage started when one family voiced their opposition to the practice, and has formally asked the Akitian government lodge a protest with the government of Strathae - something that it is unable to due because Strathae refuses to recognize the restoration of good governance in Akitsu.

In Akitsu, autopsies are generally conducted with the permission of the family of the deceased - a practice that is followed regardless of the cause of death. Though it is technically possible for police to obtain a court order and override opposition from the family, this practice is generally frowned upon and is not common (only about 10% of autopsies in Akitsu are done this way) and is most common in cases where the body cannot be identified. Generally speaking, police in Akitsu first conduct a thorough examination of the body to judge if an autopsy is necessary before doing any dissection of the body.

Opposition to autopsies and dissection in Akitsu is not new - in fact before the 1430's any dissection of a corpse for any reason was outlawed, with exceptions to the law being extraordinarily rare. When autopsies were legalized there was initially large public opposition to the move, but eventually opposition subsided when the law was amended to make the consent of families required unless a court order is obtained. Even in the modern day, where according to some police reports 90% of Akitian families consent to forensic autopsies, many people believe that it is important to obtain the consent of the deceased's family before conducting any autopsy.

Chihiro Kimura, grandmother of Sayako Kimura who died in the attack, spoke to Zenkoku Nippō about the outrage she felt when learning that an autopsy would be conducted on her granddaughter without the consent of the family.

"First they fail to protect her in their own country," she said "and now they want to violate her. They want to cut open her chest, they want to shove instruments into her body, they want to remove her organs if they think they have to. All without even so much as talking to the family. This is outrageous, how could a country do something like that?"

When asked if things would be different had the Strathaen government consulted her beforehand, she said that would have changed things.

"If they had talked to me, I would have considered allowing an autopsy." she said "I can't say for certain that I would've agreed, but I wouldn't have been as angry as I am now if they had at least asked me beforehand, even if they went ahead and did it anyway. I probably would have still been angry, but not as angry as I am now."

She went on to condemn what she called a "lack of respect" showed by the Strathaens for the dead.

"You can't just disrespect the dead, it's wrong." she said "This is utterly disgusting, nobody should treat the dead this way."

She went on to demand an immediate apology from the Strathaen government to all the victims, and went on to warn Akitians that this could happen to them if they ever decided to travel to Strathae.

"It could be you on the table," she said "with people whom you don't even know sticking things in places that I don't dare speak of. Disgusting."

[Zabuza825]

Former PM Toru Fujiwara charged with High Treason, to pleads guilty to all charges
by Haruto Kirishima

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Former Prime Minister Toru Fujiwara has been formally charged with high treason, with prosecutors citing his previous administrations policies as traitorous. They accuse him of allowing foreign spies to influence Akitian politics by relaxing immigration laws, something that he did in conjunction with the Liberal Democratic Party. Other leaders of the Liberal Democratic Party have not been charged with anything, but prosecutors say that they are considering bringing charges against them. For now, prosecutors say, they are going after the person whom they believe was the mastermind of the scheme to undermine the Akitian country.

The former Prime Minister is reportedly going to plead guilty to all charges, lawyers familiar with the situation said. If found guilty, the former Prime Minister could face the death sentence, though some say that considering that he voluntarily allowed the Restoration Party to restore good government he may be granted some leniency. However, there is no debate that the former Prime Minister faces at the minimum life imprisonment with the possibility of parole.

Prosecutors have further gone on to criticize the Nationalist Party, accusing them of being complicit in this conspiracy against the Akitian nation. Prosecutors argue that while they may not have been directly involved in the scheme, they didn't do enough to stop it. Prosecutors further say that the Nationalist Party should have done everything in it's power to block all immigration reform legislation, saying that the Liberal Democratic Party's plan to implant a "third column of hostile foreigners" within Akitsu was perfectly clear once the extent of the immigration reform legislation was seen.  Prosecutors have said that while the Nationalist Party is unlikely to get charged with anything, it could happen in the future should evidence of direct involvement by the Nationalists appear.

[Zabuza825]

Toru Fujiwara convicted, sentenced to life imprisonment!
by Haruto Kirishima

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Former Prime Minister Toru Fujiwara has been convicted of high treason by courts today. The former Prime Minister stood accused of intentionally allowing foreign spies and influences into the country, weakening Akitsu's international position and threatening Akitsu's national security. Former PM Fujiwara was accused of directly masterminding this plan, which was presented to the Akitian people under the guise of opening Akitsu up to the international community. The courts sentenced him to life imprisonment for his punishment. The death penalty could have been used, but judges say that they are granting leniency because of Fujiwara's guilty plea. Prosecutors say they are satisfied with the trial, and will not be appealing the verdict to try and get a harsher punishment. Lawyers for former PM Fujiwara also say they will not be appealing the verdict, as it was former PM Fujiwara that agreed to plead guilty to all charges.

Other leaders of the Liberal Democratic Party have made no comment on the matter, though they reportedly have scheduled an emergency meeting of the senior party leadership in response to this matter. Following their devastating losses in the last few elections, and the conviction of the person who masterminded their policy positions for the past decade, nobody knows how the party will recover in the following days. There is some speculation that the party may disband in the coming days, though the Liberal Democratic Party will neither confirm nor deny this. Others speculate that the party may completely revise their policy positions, a move that would most likely bring them closer in positions to the Justice Party.

[Zabuza825]

Liberal Democratic Party announces disbandment!
by Haruto Kirishima

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Today, the Liberal Democratic Party announced a decision on what they would do after their main leader for the past decade was convicted of high treason. The decision, which comes after weeks of behind-the-scenes negotiations by the rest of the party leadership, was one that they stated was crafted after careful consideration of all the facts. In the statement, announced on Octyr 5th, 1580, they announced that they intend to disband the party.

"It has been a long run," said a spokesperson for the party "but alas it seems the time has come. We no longer believe that Akitsu will benefit from the existence of our party. We are no longer able to get elected into office, we are no longer able to enact meaningful policy changes. We are only able to sit back and whine, and that will make Akitian political discourse go nowhere fast."

"Now the courts have ruled that our policy positions, which were carefully crafted by former Prime Minister Toru Fujiwara, constitute high treason. With such a fact weighing us down, and the possibility that other members of the party may face similar charges, we can no longer in good concience continue our political activities. As such, the Liberal Democratic Party shall disband and stop all political activities, effective Octyr 5th, 1580."

When asked by reporters as to what the members of the party will do in the future, the spokesperson didn't give a clear answer. But many politicians of the party seem to be announcing their resignation from politics, at least if their feed on the Akitian social networking site Tanshi is to be believed. Yuichiro Kitazawa, the former representative from Kayama Province in the National Legislature and architect of the economy-strangling "Climate Restoration Act", said on his Tanshi feed that he does not intend to continue his political career after the disbandment of the party.

Not all politicians seem to be taking this path, though, with some announcing that they will join the Justice Party. Sayaka Sato, former representative of Ishikari Province, announced that she intends on joining the Justice Party and will run for office in the next Akitian election.

Whatever the fate of these politician, it seems the lifetime of the Liberal Democratic Party has come to a close.

[Zabuza825]

1581 budget passes legislature, military budget doubled and unnecessary spending cut
by Haruto Kirishima

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The 1581 national budget has passed the legislature, with the Soto Hayato Yamaguchi expected to sign the budget shortly. The budget dramatically increases the military budget, nearly doubling it, and balances the books by cutting unnecessary spending. The budget has been hailed by all parties as a necessary step in restoring Akitsu to it's former glory, though the Justice Party made minor objections to several provisions found within the bill.

The military has already announced a massive rearmament and modernization program of the military. They argue that this will give Akitsu the strength necessary to protect it's interests, both domestic and foreign, and will prevent foreign nations from using military force to intimidate Akitsu in the future. They have already announced several new weapons program, including a new class of aircraft carriers, a new class of missiles and an accompanying missile defense system, and a new class of stealth fighters, all using the latest and greatest technologies available.  However, the military refused to give any more details about the rearmament and modernization program, citing national security concerns.

[Zabuza825]

Draft instituted: All patriots called to serve in the military!
by Haruto Kirishima

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An Imperial Akitian Army soldier during training.

The National Legislature has passed a draft law, and starting next year all men above the ages of 20 will be required to serve at least 5 years in the military. However, men will have the option to start their mandatory service after graduation from high school or as soon as they turn 18, if they so choose. Women are also encouraged to enlist, though they will be exempt from conscription.

This marks the first return of a draft to Akitsu in 60 years, and a drastic departure from previous government policy which relied entirely on volunteer troops. The government has stated that this measure was passed in an effort to drastically increase the manpower of the military, which they say was lacking. Indeed, according to most international experts Akitsu had a military that was small an underfunded for it's size. Many of it's weapons, while still effective in a modern military role, were beginning to go out of date. The government has stated that it was this neglect of the military that is one of the root causes of Akitsu's decline, and further state promise to correct that.

"The previous governments unjustly gutted the military budget, in order to fund other spending that was unnecessary for the economy." said the Soto "We will correct this error of historic proportions and bring Akitsu to it's rightful place on the international stage. We will become a force to be reckoned with, a force that all citizens can be proud of."

[Zabuza825]

RED TERRORISM RETURNS: Workers' Party of Akitsu sets off car bombs in Kobara!
by Haruto Kirishima

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Aftermath of the second car bomb attacks.

3 people were killed today in a series of explosions that rocked Kobara today, as 3 car bombs exploded in various parts of the city. The parts of the city affected include two residential areas as well as the front gate to the Soto's residence. AN additional 6 people were injured by the explosions, all directed at innocent Akitians. The Workers' Party of Akitsu, a communist terrorist organization that has lied dormant for many years, claimed responsibility for the attack.

The attacks took place at three separate instances, in three separate places. The first occurred at around 10 AM Akitsu time, at the gate of the Prime Minister's residence. Someone attempted to pass themselves off as a government worker to gain access to the residence, presenting ID's that were very quickly found to be forgeries. When the guards at the residence attempted to detain the driver and passengers, the car suddenly exploded. Everyone in the car, along with 2 guards who were standing right next to the car, was killed. Another 3 guards were injured by the explosion.

The second occurred about an hour later at 11 AM, in a seemingly normal parking lot. A police car was on patrol when they noticed a suspicious group of individuals rushing to a car. When police attempted to approach the vehicle, it exploded. All passengers of the vehicle were killed, but no police or bystanders were injured or killed in this attack.

The final one occurred on the streets of the Kobara Shopping District at around 3 PM, after police flagged down a vehicle that ran a red light. When police attempted to approach the vehicle, it also exploded. Everyone in the vehicle was killed, 1 police officer was killed, and 2 police officers and 1 innocent bystander was injured in the attack.

At around 5 PM, a video was published by the Workers' Party of Akitsu claiming that they had done the three bombs. In the statement, they claimed that all 3 car bombs were meant to be blown up at "important political targets", but that the "recklessness" of the Kobara police had "forced" them to blow two of them up where innocent bystanders were. They nevertheless claimed the attack was a "resounding success", and claimed the innocents who died were "martyrs of the revolution".

The government has declared a state of emergency in response to this attack, and has stated that the situation will be dealt with swiftly. A spokesperson for the National Police Agency stated that these attacks represented a "treasonous act" conducted by "communists who want to destroy everything Akitian".

Soto Hayato Yamaguchi had much harsher words for the terrorists, vowing to strike back at the Workers' Party of Akitsu "one-hundred fold".

"These traitors will fight against the will of the Akitian people, kill their own brothers in blood, and strike at the very heart of the nation's spirit - all in an evil venture to destroy the country with their so-called revolution." said Hayato Yamaguchi "Take this as a warning - we will fight you, and we will end you. There will be no mercy."

[Zabuza825]

National Legislature passes "Economic Preservation Act"
by Haruto Kirishima

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Lawmakers in the National Legislature passed the "Economic Preservation Act" with a sweeping majority today, paving the way for the government to take further action to preserve the economy amid a growing recession. The recession, caused by the misguided policies of the Liberal Democratic Party, is something that the government has continued to struggle with. They have deepened trade connections with Svarna and Ishnalla, along with other countries that are truly friendly to Akitsu, but that has only done so much to lessen the impact.

This act would help to further lessen the impact of the recession by criminalizing a variety of acts that cause harm to the economy. This includes a variety of acts, including what the legislature called economic terrorism. These acts previously were legal in Akitsu, and were the cause of a lot of economic disturbance under the watch of the Liberal Democratic Party.

All parties in government voted in favor of the act, with the exception of every lawmaker from the Justice Party.

While this act is unlikely to reverse the current economic trend, it will likely do much to improve the long-term economic situation in Akitsu.

[Zabuza825]

Construction to begin on Akitsu Superexpress!
by Haruto Kirishima

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An artists conception of what the Superexpress will look like when complete.

Construction is set to start soon on Akitsu's very-own high-speed rail project! Named the Akitsu Superexpress (秋津超特急), the project seeks to eventually connect all major Akitian cities together. It has been in the planning stages for many years now, though the government continued to withhold funding and approval for the project due to budgetary concerns. The new government has for the first time approved legislation moving the project forward, and construction is set to begin very shortly.

Sōtō Hayato Yamaguchi praised the move, stating that "a high-speed rail system that is a source of national pride is long overdue), and has pledged his full support to the product. He also announced the start of a government program to employ those who are currently unemployed in construction for the project, stating that while the pay may not be the best it will provide some relief to those in need.

Construction on the full line will not finish until several years from now (full construction is expected to take upwards to around a decade), but the first line connecting the cities of Kobara and Magawa is expected to be finished sometime late next year.

The project is expected to put Akitsu onto the same level as many other developed countries that already have high-speed rail.

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Government Abolishes Minimum Wage!
by Haruto Kirishima

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The government has formally abolished the minimum wage within the borders of Akitsu, according to a new bill that has just passed the National Legislature and was signed into law by the Sōtō.

The minimum wage had been described many economists had criticized as harmful to businesses and a iron weight on the Akitian economy. It was forced into law by traitorous socialist labor unions many years. However, since they couldn't convince the Nationalist Party dominated National Legislature, the traitorous unions instead turned to local governments, and local governments set minimum wages on a provincial level. Before the passage of this law the minimum wage varied from ¥725 to ¥1032, depending on the province.

This new law formally nullifies all minimum wage laws passed by all levels of local governments, and it prohibits all local governments from passing any new minimum wage laws.

The law is expected to help tackle the unemployment problem, which the Liberal Democratic Party largely ignored while in power. The passing of the law will likely lead to many new jobs being opened to young Akitians, as well as making it easier for those who want to find jobs but were unable to find any to get jobs.