Republic
Government admits to existence of unsecured RDF arms
The legacy of the demobilization of the social-democratic era Republican Defense Force has bedeviled Istkalen since the end of the Reitzmic occupation. Though now widely seen as a necessary precondition for the establishment of a stable and pluralistic republic in the country, the process flooded civilian society with a large class of young, unemployed, and now largely ostracized fanatics, while also giving already-historically strong revanchist and nationalist political forces a myth of unnecessary, disastrous surrender and collaboration on which they could build a genuine and strong majority. The result has been an extraordinary surge in violence, both political and crime-related, that has delegitimized the state and is still yet to end.
At the center of the instability, however, has been the question of weaponry. During its retreat from the invading Reitzmic army, as well as the surrender that followed, the Republican Defense Force abandoned its arms to prevent them from coming into the possession of the Reitzmic military, leaving artillery, military transport, and more strewn across the countryside and urban areas. And though the Istkalenic government has consistently maintained that all equipment has since been accounted for, reports of local militias and political paramilitaries using RDF-marked weapons and vehicles are persistent and common.
Earlier today, however, Prime Minister Elizabeth Íkrat, in a rare public appearance, announced to the public that the "greater part" of RDF equipment remains unaccounted for, putting an end to years of denial and rumor and finally confirming what the vast majority of the public had long suspected.
"I came to power," Íkrat said, "promising truth to you, who have lived for so long under regimes constructed from lies and lies alone. I am afraid and sorry that I have not been able to deliver. Cowardice and weakness - not the vigor, honesty, and conviction you expected from me - have defined my government, to the extreme detriment of the whole country. It is an immense crime which I will and must live with and for which I expect and demand absolutely no forgiveness."
"But I wanted," she continued, "to use this moment to do at least a little of what I had told you I intended to do. I rule because you gave me your trust, only for me to immediately break it; you deserve, then, at least something of what you had hoped for when you gave me my position and authority. Much of my term has been consumed with re-establishing the monopoly of the state on force. We have sought to dismantle sectarian militias, nullify the power and influence of competing non-statal groups, and integrate the popular defense groups into the state apparatus in a democratic and consensus-based manner. And we have done so, in large part, to success: the ethnic armed organizations have disarmed, religio-statal groups have agreed to abandon all interference in temporal affairs, and popular self-defense has been made the cornerstone of new public order."
"But there remains one great challenge we have yet to overcome. It is a challenge everyone, at this point, is well aware of, but a challenge whose existence we and those before us have tried to negate. The governments of the occupation and post-occupation period failed to carry out the full demobilization and dissolution of the social democratic era army. The greater part of its equipment remains completely unaccounted for. And though the recent agreements on disarmament have reduced the amount, it remains, to be clear, a majority."
"Our denial is shameful," she concluded, "and it is wrong. But rest assured that my government remains committed to peace and truth in Istkalen. We will do all that is within our power to make all the facts of this immense issue known, as they are, to the public and to ensure that all remaining loose arms are brought under full state control."
Íkrat refused to confirm other, related, and widely-believed rumors about the persistence of RDF units in the Urals; nevertheless, her decision to admit to the state's responsibility is, again, a sea change in rhetoric and in policy that may - even if it does little for her own, personal popularity - bolster the government's weak base of support in the National Assembly and the credibility of the cabinet among the population.
Elspeth Oskon, rehabilitated, returns to politics
In October of 2023, Elspeth Oskon, then the Prime Minister, was one of the most hated politicians in all of Istkalen. Seen as a weak collaborator who broke with her former liberalism for the sake of glamor alone, she was an extraordinarily toxic figure whom cabinet members outright refused to have contact with in fear of popular retribution. The resulting level of dysfunction in government was so extreme that, as was then a secret but is now widely known, the military threatened a coup if she was not removed by then acting Head of State Ilmaras Kalessed or the Censorate, as she would eventually be on 11 November 2023.
Months of inflation, crime, and political violence under Elizabeth Íkrat have, however, led to a rehabilitation of Oskon's image. Where once she was seen as little more than a puppet of the reactionary-Mindrestekist majority on the NSC, she is increasingly viewed as a principled politician who tried but was ultimately unprepared to preserve the continuity of the state and advance her own liberal-conservative and environmentalist agenda in a political era dominated by religion and intense reaction.
Evidently aware of her growing popularity, she has now made the decision to return to politics. At an event held by an organization uniting survivors of the social democratic-era labor camps, Oskon - herself imprisoned between 2010 and 2021 - gave a speech in which she outlined her basic political ideas - a fortified system of vocational self-government, the full abolition of corvée, and the codification of civil liberties - and called for the creation of a "cross-ideological" movement uniting "pre-social-democratic politicians" so as to facilitate what she termed the "moral healing of the country." She also announced plans for a national tour of rallies and town-halls, ostensibly to "reunify the moderate, conservative, and liberal opposition," though she also suggested that she might use the series of events to create a popular base for her proposed movement.
Oskon's plans have been met with mixed reactions. Kalju Ilves, former Prime Minister and ex-Statebuilder turned non-inscrit, met them with great enthusiasm, taking to his personal blog to write an over two-thousand word long piece praising her positions and giving his full support to her proposed new "over-party." Kondres Uklertal, another ex-Statebuilder, also expressed his happiness at Oskon's return to politics, writing on Facebook that he was "pleased to see another conservative and democratic environmentalist in politics again." Ikelin Kalmet, State Minister of the Interior for the Ostreté Plain and the new leader of the conservative-liberal Democratic Movement, however, called Oskon an "ideologically bankrupt idiot" who "brings enormous discredit to all Istkalenic conservatives who stand in the defense of civil liberties" before accusing her of being "a murderer." Valeras Ekteran, the twin sister of the deceased Gertrude Echteran and another prominent conservative-liberal, albeit one who is close to old social democracy, also forcefully denounced Oskon, claiming that she is "fit for prison, absolutely not power."
Oskon's tour will begin at the end of this month, and continue to the end of August.
Eva van der Bijl and Wolfgang Katzian to return to Istkalen
Eva van der Bijl and Wolfgang Katzian, ultra-left communist theorists deported from Istkalen in 2021 for having illegally immigrated to the country for purposes of fomenting terrorism have been allowed to return to Istkalen by order of Elizabeth Íkrat.
"My government," said the Prime Minister at a press conference held on the issue, "is fundamentally committed to civil liberties. It is not right that we continue to keep these two - who have made genuine and sustained contributions to Istkalenic political and philosophical thought - out of the country for purely political reasons. It is true, I will not deny it, that they are eccentrics, that their ideas are bizarre, distasteful, even disgusting - but no more so than much of what abounds on the Istkalenic right. Read the latest issue of Awakening, for example - there you will find perhaps every type of nastiness in every permutation possible. But they are allowed to publish freely, with the support of the population. Why not, then, extend the same right to these two once more?"
Neither van der Bijl nor Katzian are Istkalenic by nationality. Both philosophers, the two were invited to the country by the prewar government of Beate Meinl-Reisinger as a part of its attempt to stimulate intellectual activity and bring prestige to Istkalenic thought, only to use their residency to issue incomprehensible, but generally violent, manifestos and political texts. Their contributions to political thought are rarely, if ever, given serious treatment by scholars: Katzian's only real innovation is the bizarre "Theory of the Great Pile," which posits that revolution comprises the literal and physical destruction of all physical manifestation of bourgeois-liberal society, while van der Bijl seems content to simply regurgitate old theories and suggestions in a more fervent and passionate manner. If they are known at all in this country, it is only for their attempt to create a republic following the dissolution of the state by order of the Reitzmic colonial authority, highly publicized because of the extraordinary strangeness and grotesque violence of their rhetoric, as well as the ultimate farcicality of their subsequent removal by the conservative "Council of State" they themselves had appointed to manage the country's affairs.
Since their expulsion, they have largely concerned themselves with organizing the city of Europolis, their new place of residence: they regularly distribute manifestos they have written from door-to-door, write op-eds, though only rarely published, for the Europolis Post, and deliver speeches often hours-long in length in different public parks at peak hours of the day. In early 2024, they went as far as to found a party, managing to recruit 12 other members. This particular project, however, fell apart almost immediately its foundation, with the fourteen splitting into two separate groups - one pro-Katzian-van-der-Bijl, the other vehemently against the two - then four, then eight, and finally sixteen. Katzian and van der Bijl had a falling out shortly thereafter: the day after the collapse of their party, van der Bijl spent several hours plastering all of Europolis over with large posters, which had for content only, in very large font, the sentence "WOLFGANG KATZIAN IS AN IDIOT." Katzian, for his part, gave a 21 hour long speech - bystanders report that it was screamed in its entirety - in a public square denouncing van der Bijl and calling for her death. It is not clear whether or not they have since reconciled.
Both have confirmed, privately and independently, that they intend to return from Europolis as soon as is possible; neither, however, has yet made any public statements.
Vistek Rikkalek is dead
A body found several months ago in a shallow grave on the outskirts of Kirelesile has been identified as Vistek Rikkalek, engineer and former student-organizer.
Vistek had been missing since July 2023, but had not been believed dead; after conducting a cursory search and investigation from January to March of 2024, police concluded that he had simply decided to retreat from public life and society of his own accord. The discovery of his corpse thus comes as both a surprise and as an embarrassment for local government in Kirelesile. The Mayor, as well as the new Head of the new Popular Militia, has apologized for the "tragic oversight," but no statements have yet been issued by those who led the city or law enforcement at the time of the disappearance and inquiry.
Initial reports suggest that Vistek died shortly after his disappearance. The cause is currently believed to have been an accidental fall.
Vistek attended university from 2007 to 2010, and was heavily involved in Social Democratic youth politics. He headed the university party branch from 2008 to 2010, and briefly participated in the attempt of the trade unionists' faction to seize power in 2010; following their failure, he resigned from his position and denounced trade unionism in exchange for his continued freedom.
He obtained a license in civil engineering, and worked in Kirelesile from 2010 to 2021. His work was well-regarded, and he was a fairly popular contractor in his area; nevertheless, his involvement in the 2010 prevented him from joining the Labor Organization and receiving state recognition of quality. He was nevertheless conscripted by the party to serve as a settler during the ill-conceived war with the rest of the world; he was forced to move from Kirelesile to the village of Milletiné, near the Reitzmic border, where he remained after the conclusion of the war and well into the occupation.
His life in Milletiné saw him stripped, for having collaborated with the social democrats, of his professional license and thus consigned to manual labor alone; in late July, however, his conviction was overturned by order of the Head of State, although his license was not explicitly restored. The details of his life become unclear from this point to his death; his cousin, Mary Kareskenet, a former minister of state and well-known Catholic public intellectual, says that he rapidly fell ill under the pressures of the new occupation imposed on him, and that, after some negotiation with the People's Committee in Milletiné, in October of 2021 she brought him to Kirelesile to be treated. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia shortly thereafter, and spent the rest of his life in a long-term care facility; Mary's brother, Luke, another former minister of state, essayist, and political commentator, claims that Vistek self-discharged shortly before his disappearance.
Mary and Luke have since jointly announced a campaign in their cousin's memory for the better understanding and treatment of mental health conditions.
Vistek was buried in a charity mass-grave for the indigent at an undisclosed location.
