Svobodna Dnevnik

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El Correo Internacional

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Michael Haydn is ousted as Khibland's President in impeachment vote
By: Albrekt Mogensen
Published: Dein 24, 1583


Cynebaldina Mazzini becomes 4th Khibland president sine independence.

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Khibland's National Council, the unicameral Khiblander parliament, has impeached President Michael Haydn yesterday, removing him from office for the rest of the term, which ends in 1585.

The National Assembly voted 36 to 14 to convict Mr. Haydn on charges of interfering with state and judiciary institutions and violating the constitution. Before the vote, it was unclear if the impeachment was likely to be successful but the vote of two Conservative Party MPs, who unexpectedly changed their vote in the last moment, was enough to reach the constitutional minimum of 36 votes.

The impeachment is the last chapter of the confronation of President Haydn and the leader of the Progressive Democratic Party, First Minister Primoz Destovnik. Former political allies, their alliance broke up in late 1570s, on deep differences on foreign and institutional policy, but also on personal differences, according to the local media.

In his last speech as president, defending himself of the charges used for the impeachment motion, Michael Haydn accused First Minister Destovnik of attempting to usurp power through pseudo-constitutional means. A representative of the Social Democratic Party, Michael Haydn's political party, went further an denounced the impeachment vote as an "unlawful coup...which violates the Khiblander constitution" and undermines Khiblander young democracy. Following the vote, there were demonstrations in support to Haydn in Macharaviaya and Südenberg, but they ended without incidents.

Michael Haydn was elected President in 1577 and reelected again 1581. He had previously been elected President in 1571, being ousted from power in a military coup d'etat the next year. The military dictatorship was ended in 1573, after Mordvanian Armed Forces intervened in the country.

Former Foreign Minister and First Minister Cynebaldina Mazzini, as current Speaker of the National Council, will serve as interim president, and she is expected to remain in office until the end of the current term in 1585. Mazzini, former leader of the Progressive Liberal Party, and currently a prominent member of the center-left Progressive Democratic Party, becomes the first women President in the short history of Khibland, which became independent from the Kingdom of Abdania and Mordvania in 1566. Mazzini is also a member of the Messanic Society of Pious Believers, also known Muliners, becoming the first Muliner head of state in history.

It is unlikely that Michael Haydn faces criminal prosecution, most of local experts agree, as the charges are rather doubtful or at least difficult to prove. But it is feared that Haydn impeachment may increase political confrontation in the country.

Haydn remains a relatively popular politician, although his party is not, as many Social Democratic Party politicians and officials were involved in corruption charges in the late years. However, Haydn won't be able to run as president candidate in 1585, as the impeachment vote disqualifies him to run for office in 5 years. Next year there will be legislative elections, which are likely to be decisive for the future of the country.

First Minister Primoz Destovnik has argued that Haydn's impeachment will help to end the "dysfunctional state of politics for the last three years", and "allowing the government to deliver policies for the well-being of all Khiblander citizens". Destovnik has promised that the government will implement a "much needed" anti-corruption campaign and reforms, which is likely to ousted Haydn's political allies from state institutions, local commentators believe.

So far, there were no international reactions to the impeachment of President Michael Haydn, besides Mordvanian ambassador Miroslaw Wolinsky, who declared that "the Republic of Mordvania respects the sovereignty of the Free State of Khibland...and we have nothing to say about the internal affairs of the country, besides our government will keep working with Khiblander authorities in order to defend the interests and well-being of the citizens of both nations", in a public statement.

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El Correo Internacional

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Keszaria: Ruling party wins Upper House elections
By: Mauricio Kovács-Tomillo
Published: Dein 28, 1583


President Géza Békésy voted early in the morning, in a poll station nearby the central district of Köszövár.

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Keszarian Democratic Movement, the political party founded by President Géza Békésy four years ago, was the most voted political party in the Senate elections. It received 32.8% -a slight decreased compared to last year Lower House elections- and 48 senators of 100, a comfortable enough majority but barely below the absolute majority. The Keszarian Democratic Movement, which won its thid nationwide elections in a row, but still nine senators more than four years ago. The election had a small turnout, barely above the 52%.

Despite the stable political situation and growing economy, it was the far-left and far-right oppossition which became the main electoral rivals of the ruling Keszarian Democratic Movement.  The second most voted political party was once again the radical-right National People's Party, which obtained 22.4% and 25 senators. While it was its best result in the Senate ever, it was still far for the 29% that it obtained in the 1578 legislative elections.

The surprising third most voted party was the Communist Party of Keszaria, which obtained 19.9% and 15 senators. It has been result for the communists since the fall of the communist regime in the late 1550s. The leader of the Communist Party, Ákos Négyesy, is actually the nephew of Ferenc Négyesy, first head of state of the communist government established between 1531 and 1559.

The liberal opposition obtained a poor result, barely above the 10% with only 4 senators. Nándor Vajda, General Secretary of the Civic Democratic Union, which obtained only 4% of the vote, announced his resignation only one hour after the official results were announced.

These elections will be only the preparations of the sixth presidential elections of the Keszarian Republic, which will be hold in only four months. Béla Kertész, former Minister of Education and current Speaker of the National Assembly, is the main favourite to be elected as candidate of the Keszarian Democratic Movement.

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El Correo Internacional

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Kyrzbekistan: Arberian Princess involved in controversial judiciary investigation
By: Milena Brovina
Published: 22 Vintyr, 1583


Princes Mimoza recently came back to Kyrzbekistan after a 15-year exile.

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The publication of fragments from the memories of Edi Murad, an Arberian politician who died last Quartyr, in an Arberian-language newspaper in Rhine, New Galasia, may have brought legal problems to Princess Mimoza, the elder and most direct member of the Arberian royal family.

Late Edi Murad, was a leading politician of the center-left Arberian Social Democratic Party, serving as Deputy Speaker of the Constituent Assembly between 1568 and 1569. He later left the Social Democratic Party founding his own political party, the Arberian Social Liberal Party, serving as leader from 1572 to 1576. Previously, he had fled to exile in 1575, establishing in Ceribia. The Arberian Social Liberal Party dissolved in 1579. He dedicated his last years of life to the cause of Arberian independence, writing books and articles, and meeting with foreign diplomats. He died in an hospital in Etora, Ceribia, on Quartyr 1583, after fighting a cancer for more than two years.

The fragments published by "Zënjerez", a small Arberian-language published by the Arberian community in Rhine, New Galasia, were only an advance of Murad's memories, to be published by relatives of the Arberian politician in early 1584. The fragments deal with many memories and description of Murad's life, including his childhood in Bashkimqytet, the start of this political career, his changing thoughts about monarchy and democracy, his experiences in the civil war and revolution, comments about Arberian culture and history, and his position on the issue of Arberian independence. While those articles had a rather limited impact even in the Arberian community abroad when they were published two months ago, the recently republishing in Kyrzbekistani media of a small fragment where Murad describes his visit to Hôinôm in 1574 as non-official envoy of the Arberian separatists, have caused an outrage in a few pro-government and anti-monarchist outlets.

In that fragment, Murad details how he met several Arberian monarchist officials exiled in the country, including Princess Mimoza, in other to bring closer the Arberian monarchist and republican forces, in the case of a successful independence of the two Arberian-majority states from the Democratic Republic of Kyrzbekistan, which would culminate in the so-called Kyrzbekistani constitutional crisis of 1574, when the Constitutional Court annulled the autonomy of the states of Kenlyukya and Kombash for 18 months and the Kyrzbekistani Armed Forces intervening against the authorities of those states, ending in the 1576 constitutional reform.

Federal prosecutor Zaydar Mynyerur, during a parliamentary hearing last week, confirmed that the Kyrzbekistani authorities have formally started an investigation in case that any person mentioned in Murad's memories, including Princess Mimoza, could be guilty of crimes against the Democratic Republic of Kyrzbekistan. The most likely charges -"conspiration against the constitutional order"- could involve a prison sentence from one to eight years (as Princess Mimoza was only officially granted Kyrzbekistan citizenship four months ago, the charges of high treason could not apply).

A spokesperson of the Mirditë family has declared that they are not concerned about such investigation, as the fragments published does not "amount credible breaking of the law", as the passages only mention the Arberian princess in an indirect and secondary way, and that the fact that federal prosecutor Mynyerur announced an investigation in "such pompous and demagogic terms should be already a scandal", he said. Some local Arberian-language media had alleged that the fragments republished in some Kyrzbekistani newspaper where "poorly translated", even in some cases distorting the original words published in the Galasian newspaper.

Princess Mimoza established back in Kyrzbekistan twelve months ago, buying and renting real state properties in the cities of Elenë and Lebrazhd. There were lately rumours that she could be considering starting a political career in the future -something which relatives of the Mirditë family have denied in recent months-, but it is unclear if such investigation could complicate Princess Mimoza's stay in the country.

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El Correo Internacional

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Béla Kertész is elected President of the Keszarian Republic
By: Mauricio Kovács-Tomillo
Published: Dosa 6, 1584


There weren't surprises and Béla Kertész became the sixth president of the Keszarian Republic.

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Béla Kertész was elected President of the Keszarian Republic yesterday, after defeating his rival, the nationalist Istzám Esterházy, the leader of the controversial National People's Party by a landslide 67.8% against 32.2%. The turnout was, however, nine points lower than in the first round, three weeks ago.

Kertész victory was more than expected, as he had obtained 39.8% in the first round, almost twenty points higher than Esterházy, who obtained 19.9%. It was more uncertain who was going to be his rival in the runoff rather than his victory itself, as both Esterházy and Ákos Négyesy, the leader of the Communist Party, had closing results in most of polls during the last four months. However, Négyesy only obtained a 14.4% of the vote, ending behind the CDU-PDS candidate Zándor Donáth who obtained 16.5%.

Donáth, who had become the interim leader of the centrist CDU-PDS only a few months before, following the resignation of Nándor Vajda after the 1583 Senate elections, obtained a better than expected result, more than ten points above the CDU-PDS had obtained in the Upper House elections. Donáth, despite all his strong criticism to the ruling Keszarian Democratic Party and President Géza Békésy, decided to endorse Kertész in the second, as most political parties did, in order to avoid the far-right National People's Party to win the presidency.

Béla Kertész, 64, is a veteran politician, he was Minister of Education in the early 1560s, during Messanic Democratic Party Árpad Ormandy's presidency. He served as senator from 1567 to 1575, and remained a member of the Messanic Democratic Party until 1580, when he joined the Keszarian Democratic Movement, the political party created by President Géza Békésy. Not much is expected from Kertész presidency, who lacked the charisma of other past Keszarian presidents and avoided much exposure during the presidential campaign, and he's expected to continue with the policies of President Géza Békésy. If anything, he is expected to be more conservative on moral issues, but noto big changes are expected on the economic policy, with the country experiencing increasing growth in the last years.

It is not clear what role will have Géza Békésy once he leaves office in a month, as he is expected to remain highly influencial in the Keszarian Democratic Movement. Békésy has become in the second Keszarian president to have a successor from his own political party, so his influence is not expected to fade away immediately.

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El Correo Internacional

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Kyrzbekistan: Center-left political party elects new leader
By: Milena Brovina
Published: Dosa 21, 1584


Khamazan Rashatur, new general secretary of the Kyrzbek Labour Party.

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Khamazan Rashatur, 60, has been elected new General Secretary of the Kyrzbek Labour Party, after surprisingly defeating favourite Arslan Ruslanur and Commissar for Social Welfare and Healthcare Vereka Elbrus. The Kyrzbek Labour Party, a center-left secular party from Kyrzbekistan, holds currently four ministries in a coalition government with the ruling Socialist People's Party since 1579. The party, which obtained a 14% of the nationwide in the 1582 state elections, however, has been decling in the polls during the last year, with the party losing half of their voters if there were federal elections today.

Arslan Ruslanur had already been leader of the Kyrzbek Labour Party from 1572 and 1579, that year being replaced by Ilgiz Zaribzyanur. But he remained the most nationwide visible politicial of the Kyrzbek Labour Party, being Vice-Chairman of the People's Council (Kyrzbekistan's federal government) since 1579, and being appointed as Commissar of Federal Affairs and Telecommunications and Public Works during that time.

The political alliance between the two largest secular political parties of the country gave the Kyrzbek Labour Party access to political office at the federal level for first time since the Democratic Republic of Kyrzbekistan was established. However, this alliance was not entirely satisfying, as many critics inside the party felt that the Kyrzbek Labour Party was losing its independence and ideological identity without being able to influence a clear change of policies at the federal level. Some feared that the political alliance would end with the Kyrzbek Labour Party being absorved by the Socialist People's Party or turning into an irrelevant political force nationwide. The idea that cooperation between both parties were part of a long-term political project of ideological convergence rather than pragmatist agreement was barely denies by the left branch of the party, represented in the primaries by Vereka Elbrus.

But it was rather the decision of the Socialist People's Party leadership in the state of Uzekyar to run a candidate in the 1582 state elections -instead of an unitary Socialist People's Party-Kyrzbek Labour Party ticket-, strengthened the bitterness and calls from the moderate faction inside the Kyrzbek Labour Party to review the alliance between both parties. Socialist People's Party candidate Zophar Toktamishur would eventually defeat Kyrzbek Labour Party leader Ilgiz Zaribzyanur, who had been governor of that state since 1574. This weakened Zaribzyanur's position in the party, and was forced to call for a new leadership contest. Zaribzyanur, however, who had been General Secretary of the Kyrzbek Labour Party since 1579, openly supported Arslan Ruslanur as candidate to the leadership of the party.

Although not originally a member of that group, Khamazan Rashatur received direct and open support from the moderate faction inside the Kyrzbek Labour Party calling the party to shift toward a more pragmatic orientantion, which they called "Fourth Way" (as a centrist alternative to right-wing capitalism, revolutionary socialism, and political Akhadism). Rashatur, previously a mayor from Basan in the early 1570s, was appointed as Deputy Commissar of Labour in 1579, but he left this position to run as candidate to the federal assembly of Uzekyak. In 1583, he became State Secretary of the Kyrzbek Labour Party, a political position, as it is the only state where the Kyrzbek Labour Party retain an influential position at state level.

Unlike other members of the moderate faction of the Kyrzbek Labour Party, however, Khamazan Rashatur has not openly called to leave the coalition government with the Socialist People's Party in the federal government, but he had advocated a more independent approach and more pragmatist policies (Rashatur had timidly denounced in the past that President Aygöl Zamambekuz was using the Kyrzbek Labour Party as a shield for some unpopular policies). If such coalition government ends before expected, it could leave Damir Kazbekur's in an uncomfortable minority until the 1585 federal elections.

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El Correo Internacional

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Keszaria: President Béla Kertész announces large right-wing coalition
By: Mauricio Kovács-Tomillo
Published: Dosa 26, 1584


President Béla Kertész's move has been understood both as a shift toward the right or an attempt to neutralize Keszarian nationalists through shared governance. Kertész was previously a member of the Messanic Democratic Party, before joining the Keszarian Democratic Movement in 1580.

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President Béla Kertész has announced there will be important changes in the national government, aimed to have a more effective and swiftly governance. For that reason, he has declared his intention to build a coalition government able to govern comfortably with a clear and coherent program, after meeting representatives of all the parliamentary groups and other political organizations. Béla Kertész will take office next week, which will start with a speech to the National Assembly, in which he is expected to announce his administration priorities for the next months. Kertész' political party, the Keszarian Democratic Movement, has a comfortable majority in the National Assembly, but it has been forced to govern in minority in both chambers of the parliament.

Many of the ministers under President Géza Békésy's administration, such as Minister of Defense Zándor Reményi, who was already confirmed, with only announced exception of Minister of Foreign Affairs Jenó Ligeti-Ekman who was elected as Vice President of the Keszarian Republic in the last presidential elections. Most of the ministers of Kertész administration are expected to be members of the Keszarian Democratic Movement, the center-right political party founded by President Géza Békésy and in which Kertész is a member himself. The number of independent ministers are expected to be reduced, or simply replaced by ministers of other political parties.

The controversial National People's Party, which has been defined in the past as a "radical-right" or "far-right" political movement in the past, will join the coalition government with four ministers. It is expected that those ministries are likely to be Public Works and Transportation, Foreign Affairs, Culture and Administrative Reforms, according to a leak published by Valuta newspaper. It is rumoured that former Vice President Gyöngy Székély will be appointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs, becoming the first woman in that position in Keszarian history. The leader of the National People's Party, Istzám Esterházy, however, is not expected to join the coalition government as minister, as he will rather continue as the parliamentary speaker of the National People's Party in the National Assembly, according to a report published by Nemzeti Hírlap.

The conservative Messanic Democratic Party is expected to be join the coalition government with two ministers, and it is highly likely that one of those ministries will be the Ministry of Education (the other is unclear, or at least most information on this issue has been contradictory so far). While the Messanic Democratic Party failed to enter in the parliament in the 1578 and 1582 elections, and his disappearance has been predicted for long, it is still have an important number of representatives in local governments, specially in inland and rural regions. It is expected that the Messanic Democratic Party will ruin in coalition with the Keszarian Democratic Movement in the coming local elections, as it had been rumoured for months.

The new national coalition government integrated by the two largest political parties of the country, will leave the weakened centrist Civic Democratic Union as the largest opposition political party in the National Assembly, with only 38 of 399 MPPs, while the Communist Party will become the largest opposition party in the Senate, but which is expected to be mostly testimonial, as the coalition government will have a large majority in both chambers, including a 2/3 majority in the Senate.

Coalition governments have been rare in the Keszarian Republic, as the presidents usely have a large majority at least in one of the chambers of the parliament or relied in a minority government, with the only exception of the first national unity government following Árpad Ormandy election as first democratic president of the Keszarian Republic (1559-1562), and the last governments of President Nándor Dohnányi-Persbrandt, when the country was in the middle of an economic depression.

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El Correo Internacional

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General Bronislav Grazrod wins first round of Mordvanian presidential elections
By: Elena Manstein
Published: Marth 10, 1584


Grazrod will face former Prime Minister Zvezdana Serebryak in the runoff.

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Bronislav Grazrod, a retired general of Mordvanian Republican Armed Forces, was the most voted candidate in Republic of Mordvania's first presidential elections, which would require a runoff, to be hold on Marth 28. Grazrod, was one of the longest-serving members of the powerful Council of Defense, being appointed of Dosa 1566, during the first months of the Mordvanian Civil War, and remained a member until 1582, when he resigned.

Grazrod, 60, who run as an independent candidate, obtained 29,4% of the vote, around sixteen million of voters, a remarkable result considering he had not the direct support of any of the political parties with representation in the Mordvanian parliament. If he is elected, he will replace the Chairman of the Council of Defense Bozidar Strnad as head of state of the Republic of Mordvania. Strnad, who was appointed in that position during the Mordvanian republican revolution, has remained in power for 18 years. Although the single six year term established by the Constitutional reform of 1582, which created the office of President of the Republic, technically did allow him to be elected president and remain head of state for another six years, Strnad, 53, decided not to run as candidate.

Bronislav Grazrod, who lacks any previous political experience, has run an austere campaign without much promises and detailed policies beyond national security, defense, and foreign policy, where he has promised to strengthen Mordvanian interest in the region and the world, but which are felt, with only a few exceptions, as a continuation of Mordvanian official foreign policy in the last five years. Grazrod has promised that he is not interested to create his own political movement, and that he aims to cooperate with the current coalition government and the political parties.

Another military officer, Admiral Gintaras Baravykas, Vice-Chairman of the Council of Defense since 1566, was considered the incumbent candidate. Although Baravykas was originally a sympathizer of the left-wing Radical Party, he was considered the right-hand of Chairman Bozidar Strnad, and one of the influential and powerful leaders of the country. Strnad, although he did not personally endorsed Baravykas, did not hide his preference for Baravykas as his successor, praising several times his preparation, toughness, leadership, loyalty, and competence before and during the presidential campaign.

Along Grazrod, Baravykas was the main favourite to become the first President of the Republic of Mordvania, and most polls of the last two months gave Baravykas a comfortable second position, enough at least to go to the second round. However, he could only be third, receiving 18.4% of the vote, merely 427,751 votes behind the second place. A disappointing result for Baravykas, which although he was declining in the polls during the last two weeks of the presidential campaign, he hoped to even reduce the difference with Gazrod. Although running as an independent candidate, with a political platform which was mostly a continuation to the policies of Chairman Bozidar Strnad, Baravykas had been endorsed by the Republican Social Radical Party, a left-republican currently second in the polls behid the ruling center-right Mordvanian Republican Party. Although Baravykas was one of the most popular military officers from the 1566 Mordvanian revolution only behind Bozidar Strnad himself, this was not enough and likely to be understood that many voters -specially the youngest ones- are not exactly moved for events that happened more than twenty years ago and are more inclined to be motivated for more practical issues. Baravykas' ethnicity -a member of the Bunesgan ethnic group, about 11% of the country population- could be another secondary decisive factor, some analysts believe, although sectarian or identity issues were mostly absent during the campaign (excluding a few of minor Mordvanian nationalist candidates who received a marginal support). Although Baravykas' campaign team remained silent during hours, he finally recognized his defeat a few minutes before the official announcement of the electoral commission about the final result was made. Baravykas declared that he will announce in five days if he will endorse any candidates for the runoff and whom, after consultation with his own campaign team, whom he thanked for their efforts and hard work.

General Bronislav Grazrod will face in the runoff instead Zvezdana Serebryak, the leader of the United Progressive Socialist Party, who obtained 19,1% of the vote, ten points behind Grazrod. Serebryak, 49, a veteran politican, she has been the leader of the far-left political party since 1572, and she was Foreign Minister from 1573 to 1576 and President of the Republican Council (head of government) from 1576 and 1579. That year she was defeated by the Mordvanian Republican Party leader, Bogdan Privsek, who returned to power after six years. Serebryak continued as leader of the opposition until 1583, when she officially resigned as General Secretary of the United Progressive Socialist Party, although he continued with her seat in the Mordvanian parliament and with an active role in national politics. Unlike Grazrod and Baravykas, Serebryak has run mostly focused on domestic issues, attacking the fiscal conservative economic policy of Privsek's government, without much focus on foreign policy.

Serebryak remains a controversial and polarizing politician but who, despite the declining results of her own political party in the later years, is still relatively popular between Mordvanian voters. Her aggressive political style has caused her being labelled as a "populist" and "far-left demagogue", and has created her many enemies, not only inside and outside her country, but in her own political party, affected with many defections and internal strife. While the left-wing coalition of the Republican Social Radical Party and Serebryak's United Progressive Socialist Party (1573-1579) had some achievements, such as the introduction of single-payer healthcare and same-sex marriage in Mordvania, the expanding of social welfare and increase of funding in education, and with Mordvanian involvement in the Kaljuran civil war and the negotiation of the Denil Accords as main achievements in foreign policy; she was accused of wasting time and reasources in petty causes which barely served Mordvanian national interests, such as the diplomatic tensions with the Nentsian government, which complicated relations with Severyane -then an, although controversial, ally of the Republic of Mordvania-, and which many felt that Serebryak had turned into an useless personal conflict. The last years of the coalition were also marked by low economic growth, an slight increase of unemployment and the national debt, which were likely the main cause to her defeat in the 1579 elections and the return of the center-right Mordvanian Republican Party to power. Even if elected, however, she would have to deal with a center-right and centrist majority in the parliament at least until the 1585 elections, so the influence of the new president would be rather limited on domestic policy. Serebryak has announced that she will not attempt to force a change of government before that date. She has also announced that she will retire from power either if she fails to be elected as president or when her six year term finishes.

Zeltko Miskalinc, a political scientist and prestigious scholar on Mordvanian republicanism, was fourth with a disappointing 13,8% of the vote. Although technically an independent candidate, he had been endorsed by both the center-right Mordvanian Republican Party and the centrist Republican Liberal Party, who decided to agree in supporting a non-partisan candidate. But Miskalinc, who had only a short political experience as member of the parliament between 1566 and 1569, proved to be uncomfortable in the political arena, despide spending most of his academic life writing about it. His performance in the last TV debate, which wasn't entirely disappointing but in which many voters described as "pedant" and "arrogant" ended with his most serious chances to at least going to the runoff. He was endorsed by the center-left Radical Democratic Party in last days of the electoral campaign, after their own candidate had decided to withdraw, but this had a very limited effect on the final result. The Mordvanian Republican Party is expected to endorse Grazrod in the second round, while the Republican Liberal Party and the Radical Democratic Party had not declared their official stance so far.

Bogdana Ulam, the leader of the Coalition of Constitutional Forces -a multi-ethnic coalition of liberal and centrist political parties- was fifth, with 10.9%, while Mordvanian Communist Party candidate obtained 6.6%. The Mordvanian Communist Party is currently the only political party which has openly endorsed Serebryak in the second round. The Mordvanian ultranationalist candidates had a poor result, with barely a 1,9% of the vote combined.

Gazrod is the favourite to win in the second round so far, a not only because his ten-points lead in the first round. The elections have showed that the Mordvanian Republican Armed Forces are still highly popular for Mordvanian voters, as candidates with a military background had a 48% of the vote combined, although it is unclear if that will translate into an automatic vote for Grazrod.

"The result of the elections was somewhat predictable and at the same time highly disappointing for many voters", Mara Sadzanek, Professor of Political Theory in the State University of Seznica pondered. "The voters may consider restraining the choice between another head of state of military background and a politician who has been constantly on the first political line for almost the republic was established. But it could be also understood as a choice between stability and continuity on one hand, and anti-establishment vote. Or simply a choice between a head state with military or civilian background, between an active president or one willing to play a secondary or arbitrer rule, or one focused on domestic policy or rather having an ambitious foreign policy. In any case, many voters may consider that it is a very limited choice, as the candidates they voted for in the first round stand for many different things that the final choice".

Blaz Stuchkek, a renowned sociologist and political philosopher who has been serving as ambassador in Carpathia and Moldova recently, believes that voters are as likely to make an statement about which direction they would like the country to go as a valoration of what they have valued most in these 18 years of democratic governance...as both candidates promise and offer many things, but nothing that has not already being tested in our relatively short democratic experience". Stuchkek predicts that the final result may be more balanced and less polarizing than many people believe.

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El Correo Internacional

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Kyrzbekistan: Protests turns violent in the state of Yartushia
By: Milena Brovina
Published: March 19, 1583


Hooligans facing the state riot police in the town of Urë.

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A controversial but apparently banal tax law passed by the Assembly of the state of Yartushia, a state on the eastern region in the Democratic Republic of Kyrzbekistan has sparked protests demanding such tax legislation to repealed. Yesterday, protests turned violent in several cities, including Bashkimqytet, Ersyrë, Seroksta, Ochlyk, and Kurkychlek. In other towns, such as Tabul and Chycheny, protests were small or peaceful, but at night the headquarters of the Kyrzbek National Party and the Akhadic Society in those towns were attacked with incendiary bombs. Fortunately, there were not victims in any of the fire attacks, a spokesperson of the state government declared.

The legislation which increased considerably the taxes for some products, such as alcohol, tobacco, sea food products and even "immoral clothing" have caused controversy and it was denounced by several political parties of the opposition as "complete nonsense". Two weaks ago, several organizations of consumers called for movilizations against the law, but nobody could have predicted that things would turn that chaotic so fast. Since 1582, the eastern state of Yartushia is governed by Elbras Almasur, from the Akhadic Kyrzbek National Party which is ruling the state under a coalition government with the Conservative Reform Coalition, another conservative political party. Both political parties have an absolute majority in the state assembly, so it was predicted that protests were likely to have a very milited impact. Before the 1582 state elections, the state had been governed by the ruling Socialist People's Party.

While only a few hundreds of protestors showed the first days, the protests started to increase when the Union of Independent Smallholders and Peasants, which gathers several hundred thousands co-op workers and peasants decided to join the protests. The law also imposed an increase of taxes and denied subsidies to companies which commercialize products mixing egg and milk, an Akhadic ordenance which is rarely followed by most secular and non-denominational Akhadic believers. The Union of Independent Smallholders and Peasants have declared that such tax will cost millions to local producers, with products such as popular pastries who are consumed along the country and exported to nearby countries becoming non-competitive and unaffordable in the market. Representatives from the Arberian minority, which comprises about 16% in the state, but making the majority of the population in some southern towns such as Bashkimqytet and Ersyrë, have also denounced that the tax law is a violation of secular legislation and the constitution.

Violence sparked first in Seroksta and Bashkimqytet. Protesters throw stones to the police, and looted some buildings, such as those belonging to the state government, headquarters of the Kyrbek National Party or associated linked to the Akhadic Society and its charity organizations. In Seroksta, the rioters managed to force state guards to surrender the state tax authority building, and set fire to the building. At 19:41, a more resolute force of 300 state guards arrived to the place. However this only make things worse, and many neighborhoods in Seroksta suffered important damages, with protestors rioting, vandalazing, burning trash cans, and eventually storming police stations. Similar scenes were seen in Bashkimqytet and other towns in the next hours. At dawn, there were more than 200 wonded people and 100 arrested protesters. Some of the rioters were identified as renowned hooligans of the AS Enlenesh and FC Bashkimqytet football clubs. The state commissar of internal affairs denounced that some arrested were local members of the youth associations linked to the Socialist People's Party, but a spokesperson of the party rejected such accussations.

This morning, the Kyrzbek Revolutionary Guard was mobilized to protect federal governments. However, federal forces remained relatively passive regarding the violence, claming non-interferance with the law enforcing authorities of the state of Yartushia and lack of personell in the area. President Aygöl Zamambekuz had reportedly a three hour telephone conversation with Governor Elbrus Almasur, and Zamambekuz called the population to stop violence and solve their grievances with the local authority through peaceful protests. However, violence continued and even got worse in the following hours.

Chairman of the People's Council Damir Kazbekur offered Yartushia authorities a declaration of the state of emergency to restore order, including with a deployment of the Kyrzbekistani Armed Forces if necessary. However, this was rejected by Governor Elbrus Almasur, as such declaration of the state of emergency could allow the federal government to take control of the state police and temporarily suspend officials of the state of Yartushia appointed by the Governor and his government. A spokesperson of the Kyrzbek National Party accussed the state leadership of the Socialist People's Party to promoting violence through their early indifference toward the riots.

The Kuzhe of Taboul dennounced the violence and declared that obey the law is a religious duty, but without much result.

[Hadash]

El Correo Internacional

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Zvezdana Serebryak becomes Mordvanian President
By: Elena Manstein
Published: Quartyr 1, 1584


Serebryak defeated her rival with a tight result, becoming the first president of the Republic of Mordvania.

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Zvezdana Serebryak, the United Progressive Socialist Party leader, has defeated Bronislav Grazrod and she will become the first President of the Republic of Mordvania. Serebryak was formely Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1573 and 1576, and President of the Republican Council from 1576 to 1579. She will be president for a single six year term, as the Mordvanian constitution establishes that the president is not allowed to serve two full presidential terms.

Serebryak won 50.1% to 49.9%, a difference of barely more than one hundred thousand votes, to become the first elected civilian head of state. The office of the President of the Republic was established after the 1582 constitutional reform. Previously, the Mordvanian head of state was the Chairman of the Council of Defense, who was elected by universal suffrage but with more constitutional restrictions to be a candidate. The President of the Republic will replace the Chairman of the Council of Defense once Serebryak takes officially office, completing the final step established by the 1582 constitutional reform. The Council of Defense will turn into an advisory military body without executive powers.

While Grazrod had been leading all the polls for months, before and after the first round of the presidential elections, Serebryak was able to reduce the gap in the last three weeks. She won decisively the women, youth and ethnic minorities vote, and while Grazrod, a retired military general and former member of the Council of Defense, was voted by more than 70% of the Mordvanian Armed Forces and civil war veterans, this proved not enough. And although most political parties ended either endorsed Grazrod or issued ambiguous statements on the runoff vote, most of the left-republican Republican Social Radical Party were more likely to vote Serebryak according recent surveys, despite the candidate supported by the Republican Social Radical Party leadership for the first round, Vice-Chairman Gintaras Baravykas, had finally endorsed Grazrod for the second round.

Serebryak becomes the first elected civilian head of state in the country history, replacing Bozidar Strnad, a military officer who, as Chairman of the Council of Defense, had been the head of state of the Republic of Mordvania since 1566. Obviously, she will also become the first woman head of state with the only previous antecedent of the reign of Queen Brynja I, who ruled the Kingdom of Abdania and Mordvania from 1503 to 1511.

Bronislav Grazrod recognized his defeat only a few minutes before midnight, congratulating Serebryak and wishing her "good luck and competence to defend the interests of the Republic of Mordvania and its citizens". Despite the tense presidential campaign and their aggressive arguments in the last TV debate, Serebryak proposed Grazrod an advisory position in her administration, something that Grazrod has officially rejected.

Despite her victory, it is unclear the short-term consequences of the first president of the Republic of Mordvania. The 1582 constitutional reform reduced considerably the powers of the president compared to those granted to the Chairman of the Council of Defense, strengthening the parliament and Republican Council (national cabinet). Serebryak is not expected to have much influence in domestic politics for a while at least until the Septem 1585 legislative elections, as the Mordvanian parliament is currently dominated by centrist and center-right forces, and the Republican Council is under a right-leaning government coalition of the Mordvanian Republican Party and the Republican Liberal Party. Serebryak, who officially resigned as leader of the United Progressive Socialist Party seven months ago, has merely said that she will meet the President of the Republican Council Bogdan Privsek in the coming days, in order to discuss cooperation between the presidency and the Republican Council. While Serebryak promised during the electoral campaign she will not push for a change of government before the 1585 parliamentary elections, it is difficult to predict what will happen in the next months. Serebryak may try focus her presidency for a while on foreign policy, paradoxically as she campaigned mostly on domestic issues, denouncing Bogdan Privsek's government economic policies.

"Today, Mordvania has turned a successful page of our history", she declared in a speech to her supporters in Slovograd. "We are going to start a new and even more succesful, but this won't be achieved without unity and strength. Serebryak promised that she would guarantee the "unity of the nation and the defend the values for which our republic was founded" and that "nobody will be left behind anymore". Tomorrow, she is expected to meet the Chairman of the Council of Defense Bozidar Strnad.

[Hadash]

El Correo Internacional

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"Magentinian Papers" exposes worldwide tax avoidance
By: Rodolfo Valentino
Published: Zechyr 24, 1584


Anti-corruption activists hope the leaks will start a worldwide debate about tax havens.

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When Slawowanski Zvon, a Mordvanian newspaper, published a article accusing a number of Mordvanian politicians and businessmen of being allegedly involved in tax avoidance, a small scandal prompted, leading to the resignation of Dragomir Pengek, former leader of the centrist Republican Liberal Party as member of the parliament three days ago. However, as the newspaper kept publishing more leaked documents, the scandal has already reached a worldwide dimension.

The Mordvanian journalists claim to be in possession of millions of confidential documents leaked from Magentina-based law firm Mondragón-Thompson which involve tax avoidance and offshore accounts information in Mandavines countries and territories regarding thousands of world leaders, politicans and businessmen.  

Marcus Miller, director of the International Office for Financial Reform, called the leak "probably the biggest blow the offshore world has ever taken because of the extent of the documents". Miroslav Balowsky, Slawowanski Zvon editor-in-chief, has described the release as the "biggest leak in the history of date journalism". Balowsky has confirmed that his newspaper is negotiating with other Brigidnan media outlets in order to share the information in "a responsible, professional, ethical, and transparent way".

The leaks were reportedly shared by an anonymous source from Mondragón-Thompson, an important law firm based in Palmenta, Magentina, which is renowned for financial and taxation management. The firm, however, has denied that it was involved in anything illegal, and has denounced the leaks as an attack against privacy and responsible business practices. Mondragón-Thompson spokesperson also told news sources that the company always operated within the law and had been hacked, threatening legal actions against any media company which decides to publish or cooperate with the leaks. "This is not journalism", the spokesperson said, "but data vandalism".

According Slawowanski Zvon, notables figures mentioned in the leak range from Bogdan Tredina, former Mordvania's minister of Commerce and Communications who already served a prison sentence for corruption between 1574 and 1579; Keszarian businessman János Vertényi, a dozen of elected politicians from several political parties, and members of the Takáts clan, a powerful business family in Keszaria; more than fifty Nentsian officials, including Ksenia Vynnychuk; Alfred Aria Sulkholm, leader of Lanlania's Imperial Sentric Party, along several of his relatives; billonaire Naunton Roger Hamnett, an influential businessman in the Mandavines; Mayari President Alberto Hidalgo; and Gunnar Bjeppesen, a retired Nylander politician, former Chairman of the New Centrist List and who recently endorsed the Moderate Coalition of Nyland. Officials, businessmen, and nobility and royal houses individuals from more than 60 other countries were also mentioned, including Saratov, Biyra, Calgarov, Hôinôm, Akitsu, Sequoia, Khokharsa, Khibland, Maurnnia, Nerysia, Severyane, Batavia, Florinthus, Goldecia, Adwest, Arrenland, Caladria, or Millerainia.

Most of those named have denied any wrongdoing and there is no evidence many named as clients of the firm were involved in anything illegal or improper. Mordvanian President Zvezdana Serebryak has called the Republican Council to call a special parliamentary commission in order to investigate the deals and propose legislation in order to fight tax avoidance.

So far, the most important political consequences happened at the country where the law firm is based, ending with the resignation yesterday of Liberto Castillo, Minister of Public Works since 1584, who was registered as the owner of three companies based in Lusby and Corwyn. But the consequences could go beyond that, as several relatives of Emiliano Lafuente, Prime Minister since 1578, were personally involved in several investment firms from Lusby & Corwyn, Skoven, and Paradesh. Lafuente has denied any wrongdoing, but opposition leader Antonina Cabrera has demanded either a more conclusive explanation by the Prime Minister or they will call for his immediate resignation. Augusto Maldonado, leader of the controversial MSM political party, has also announced that his party will demand tougher legislation on tax avoidance or it will stop supporting Lafuente's minority government.