News Media of Istkalen

Istkalen

Nation: Controversy over land measures

The retreat from socialization, led by Vistek Rikkalek and his new government, has been ongoing for a month. Alongside measures to phase out coal production and decrease fertilizer usage, the government has sought to return to the pre-war economy. A process of "desocialization" has begun, with land "returning" to private management, although not private ownership, and the craft and light industrial collectives being dismantled. The welfare state has been re-expanded, with most essentials now being provided through a network of public canteens, libraries, and central "stores" from which goods may be borrowed, without charge; there has been a corresponding drop in pay. However, these meaures have been complemented with a series of environmental measures, most controversially the creation of "land value taxes" levied on land users, which have the official purpose of aiding land restoration and reforestation efforts. There has also been, unusually, a direct nationalization of heavy industry, as well as non-urban land.

"Istkalen needs a constant and sustainable supply of agricultural and industrial goods," said Minister of Public Distribution Yasemin Demirkol, upon the announcement of the nationalizations. "Desocialization and nationalization of major agricultural and heavy-industrial enterprises is absolutely necessary to ensure this; the old, collective and democratic system caused serious inefficiencies resulting in economic disruption."

"We want a sustainable, liveable Istkalen, for us and for our children," said Minister of Environmental Protection Andres Kask on 1 July in defense of the tax. "We want to preserve the beauty of our country, its natural wealth. The new tax ensures that we have the funding necessary to ensure the continued richness and quality of the soil, to protect it from exhaustion and degradation."

The measures enjoy virtually no support among farmers; recent polling showed that 98% were opposed to nationalization and 96% to the tax.

"It's our land," said a man who wished to otherwise remain anonymous. "They can't just take it away and expect us to pay for it. It's an injustice, that's what it is!"

Such sentiments have been reflected by many a farmer.

In response, the socialist New Agrarians and conservative Christian Democrats (formerly the Patriotic Front - Moderate), launched a joint campaign demanding the end of the taxes and mass public consultations through which land would be returned from the state to either the farmers' associations - the preference of the Agrarian Union - or individuals - the preference of the Christian Democrats.

"The government has clearly identified, above all, the farmer as its enemy. It has assaulted his rights in a spectacular manner, took from him his livelihood and, insultingly, mockingly, forced him to pay for it all. This state of affairs is absolutely unacceptable. The farmer must have the right to his land, and the profit it brings him," said leader of the New Agrarians Ursula Korhonen at a rally. "We demand an immediate end to the land tax, and the return of land to the Farmers' Association and to those smallholders who were victimized by this crminal action."

Korhonen went on to call on farmers to rebel and to, in her own words, "turn the Government House into ash." She is currently leading a large convoy of several thousand on a march to Kirelesile.

"We view the land as almost sacred," said co-leader of the Christian Democrats Suzanne Cronenberg. "As a gift from God, for us to care for and steward. The state merely views it as something to wring as much value from as is possible, and even then perhaps also as a means of control - it is no coincidence, we believe, that the nationalized land is held almost entirely by we Germans of the Christian faith. Return the land to the farmers, we say! It is they who know, who have known, how to use it, how to sustain it, for so many hundreds of years; they who should and must be trusted with our common inheritance, above the ignorant and controlling state."

Cronenberg is now allegedly putting pressure on the so-called Pope Tabitha, whom she has close connections with, to threaten the government of Istkalen it if does not concede.

The Prime Minister is expected to make a statement later today.

The protests are at least partially spurred by ethnic concerns. In the 1960s, control over German-held land was transferred from religious elites based in the countryside to secular authorities in the cities, eventually establishing quasi-colonial relations between the two. Since then, particularly after the industrialization of the short communist era, ethnic Germans have increasingly become an under-class, providing cheap agricultural and industrial labor and goods and denied the same rights as ordinary citizens. The era of social democracy brought significant respite; but with the re-entry of conservatives into government there has been a return to past relations, and therefore the beginning of renewed conflict. Members of the right-wing Progressives in government want again to subjugate, to ensure a supply of cheap goods for export; the German interest Christian Democrats and the farmers' interest New Agrarians again want to fight for what they see as the civil rights of their constituents against a seemingly racist state.

Istkalen

Nation: Polling 4/7 - 7/7

Party Preference (excluding 5% who did not answer)

Communists (far-left): 2,1%
New Agrarians (left-wing): 16,4%
Social Democrats (left-wing): 30,4%
Ecologists (center-right to right-wing): 14,6%
National Republicans (right-wing): 15,5%
Christian Democrats (right-wing): 10,3%
Progressives (far-right): 8,2%
other: 2,5%

Government Approval (excluding 22% who did not answer)

Approve: 12,2%
Disapprove: 79,2%
Neither: 8,6%

Approval of Public Figures

Ilmaras Kalessed (former leader of the Agrarian Union/New Agrarians, left-wing)

approve: 82,3%
disapprove: 7,7%
no opinion: 10,0%

Kaisa Malk (ex-PM, co-leader of the National Republicans, right-wing)

approve: 79,2%
disapprove: 10,7%
no opinion: 10,1%

Makketis Ikalsser (co-leader of the National Republicans, right-wing)

approve: 79,0%
disapprove: 10,4%
no opinion: 10,6%

Irenet Isteresskemar (Foreign Minister and co-leader of the Ecologists, right-wing)

approve: 63,2%
disapprove: 5,4%
no opinion: 31,4%

Kalju Ilves (Prime Minister and leader of the Social Democrats, left-wing)

approve: 58,1%
disapprove: 20,9%
no opinion: 21,0%

Vistek Rikkalek (Héletek, far-left)

approve: 56,2%
disapprove: 30,4%
no opinion: 13,4%

Ilisapit Ikrat (co-leader of the Communists, left-wing)

approve: 54,3%
disapprove: 41,7%
no opinion: 4,0%

Andres Kask (Minister of Environmental Protection and co-leader of the Ecologists, center-right)

approve: 51,2%
disapprove: 46,3%
no opinion: 2,5%

Ursula Korhonen (leader of the New Agrarians, left-wing)

approve: 50,4%
disapprove: 19,6%
no opinion: 30,0%

Grete Reiner (co-leader of the Communists, far-left)

approve: 42,8%
disapprove: 47,2%
no opinion: 10,0%

Suzanne Cronenberg (co-leader of the Christian Democrats, right-wing)

approve: 39,2%
disapprove: 50,7%
no opinion: 10,1%

Yasemin Demirkol (Minister of Public Distribution, leader of the Progressives, far-right)

approve: 20,1%
disapprove: 73,4%
no opinion: 6,5%

Liros Ikomar (former Head of State, center)

approve: 15,2%
disapprove: 82,8%
no opinion: 2,0%

Ilest Kerel (former Head of State, Minister of Justice, far-right)

approve: 9,2%
disapprove: 89,8%
no opinion: 1,0%

Mollet Afierme-Kendek (co-leader of the Christian Democrats, right-wing)

approve: 8,1%
disapprove: 71,9%
no opinion: 20,0%

Istkalen

Nation: Kalessed leads New Agrarians to walk out of negotiations

Negotiations between the government and the New Agrarians over ongoing protests over measures on land use, since repealed, have failed, in spite of the party's former leadership having announced a tentative agreement just yesterday, primarily over the issue of authoritarianism.

"There can be no collaboration with a government which refuses democracy," stated Ilmaras Kalessed, the party's new leader, elected this morning following her loss in the very recent European Commission elections. "My predecessor made a very terrible mistake in accepting any agreement with this dictatorial regime. We New Agrarians must fight for the resignation of the usurpers of power, the election of a constituent assembly, and the establishment of a system of genuine popular power, for these are the only measures which will truly, in perpetuity, protect the farmer."

Kalessed further cited the participation of the "fanatical" Christian Democratic Party in the government, in spite of the fact that they only hold one minister without portfolio "There is no place," she stated, "for even a trace of religion in government. There must be an impermeable, impassable wall between the state and the church."

"So long as this government stands," she stated, "the farmer will not be at peace. The New Agrarians will not cooperate with the state on any matter until it accepts our demands."

The newly formed government, which had hoped for the inclusion of the New Agrarians, was mixed in terms of opinion on the subject.

"The non-cooperation of the New Agrarians will be the death of our republican project," stated Prime Minister Kalju Ilves (SDP). "Unity, above all, is necessary in this extraordinarily turbulent time. This type of behavior is simply dangerous and will lead to further factionalization."

"For her own power, Kalessed has decided to stand in the way of reform," said Minister of Development Kondres Uklertal (L). "She wants to - and very likely will - deny Istkaleners the peace and prosperity they have longed to satiate her ego. A better country can only be achieved if all set aside their personal desires for the good of the whole, and unfortunately, she has refused to do so."

Others held a radically different view.

"My opinion on [Kalessed's] statements?" said Minister of Democratization Elspeth Oskon (L) at a press conference. "They doom her and the rest of her deranged political sect. The current government is the most committed to democratic change since her own in 1996. A new parliament, representing the regions and the vocations, is to convene tomorrow. Economic control is again democratic and organized according to the principles of self-organization. We are soon to make it even easier to present citizens' initiatives. Everyone can see this, and so everyone knows that what she is saying is nonsense and that all she wants is power for herself. The people will all leave her, and we will no longer have to worry about extremist cranks, and can continue reform peacefully, smoothly, and properly."

"She is blocking policy that the farmers she claims to defend want," said Minister of Agriculture Katherina Beck (NRP). "The land is being given back to them, and the land-value tax assessed only on personal holdings - their exact demands. She may talk of democracy all she wants, but it's immaterial. People in the end care about whether they have food on the table. We are giving them that, and she is now openly going around saying that she wants to take it away from them for the sake of pure ideology. Her words will have no backing, she will be nothing more than a ranting lunatic on the side of the street."

Several within her party, including the old leadership, strongly disagreed with the decision, and have since left for the Communist Party.

"The decisions of Ilmaras Kalessed are reckless," said former party leader Ursula Korhonen. "We fight for the dignity and prosperity of the farmer. This is most decidedly not that. She risks compromising farmers for the sake of unpopular liberal democracy - something which I, nor anyone else on the left of our party, can support. I am therefore resigining from the party, and invite all the likeminded to follow."

Mass resignations among the membership are expected; however, they will occur alongside a likely membership inflow, triggered by the re-entrance of Ilmaras Kalessed, Istkalen's most popular politician, into national politics. The final effect is therefore as of yet unknown, although it will in all probability allow the underwater Communist Party to recover from its current depths.

Istkalen

Nation: Maksile threatens secession

Merte Maksile, before the People's Committee of the German Self-Government

Merte Maksile, the acting head of the German Self-Government in the stead of Reszelport Jezebel-Swift, otherwise known as Pope Tabitha, has threatened the secession of the German Self-Administered Territory from the Republic of Istkalen. Historically and culturally distinct, the region has found itself in perpetual conflict with Kirelesile, long viewed as a colonial oppressor. While relations have improved significantly in recent years, particularly after the Reitzmic invasion which inadvertently permitted a fairly radical secularization of society in the region, the continued power of the ecclesiastical elite has continued to serve as a wedge. It now appears that things have at last come to a full boil.

According to Maksile's account of the events leading up to her threat, the central government, acting in violation of the Act for the Self-Government of Recognized National Minorities 2022, directly intervened in the German Self-Administered Territory in order to prevent the takeoff of several planes, fifty in all, belonging to the privately-owned "Angel Transportation Services." While the government itself cited national security concerns, as it did in February with a similar incident, Maksile claimed that these did not exist in this case; no threats had been made by any member of the German Self-Government, nor were there weapons being carried by any of the passengers of the fifty planes.

"It is unacceptable," Maksile concluded, "intolerable, and untenable that the Kirelesile oppressors continue their interference in our affairs. A pattern has clearly been established; if the central government refuses to make the necessary concessions, then secession will become an inevitability."

"This woman and her ilk are simply insane," said Interior Minister Liris Vesek (NRP) in response, whose ministry played a key role in obtaining the injunction against the takeoffs. "They did not obtain their positions through legal or democratic means, and continue their constant terror against the German minority as per the reports of the People's Committee for the region. These people have never acted with goodwill; everything they have done has been for the purpose of violence to force on as many people as possible their religious beliefs. This incident in particular was deeply suspicious. The takeoff of fifty planes, with over a thousand passengers, virtually all known to be religious extremists, in such quick succession implies an ulterior, malevolent motive. To protect the people of both Istkalen and of Europe as a whole, it was therefore necessary to prevent their departure, by any means available."

The People's Committee itself issued a harsh condemnation of Maksile's behavior, stating that her declaration was "without legal or material basis," characterizing it as a continuation of past oversteps on the part of church leadership, while at the same time reaffirming a committment to continued union with Istkalen.

Neither the Prime Minister nor either of the co-presidents have yet made a statement on the subject.

Istkalen

Republic: Polling 07/10 to 11/10

Party Preference

Social Democrats (left-wing, in government): 20,1%
National Republicans (syncretic, in government): 17,0%
Communists (far-left, in government): 16,2%
Greens (right-wing, NEW, in government): 13,1%
Ecologists (center-right, in government): 11,2%
New Agrarian (syncretic): 8,4%
New Union (syncretic, NEW, in government): 7,2%
Christian Democrats (right-wing to far-right, in government): 3,0%
Liberation (center, in government): 2,1%
Progress (far-right, in government): 1,5%
other: 0,2%

Pro-industrial bloc (National Republicans + Communists + New Union + Liberation): 42,5%
Anti-industrial bloc (Greens + Ecologists + New Agrarians + Christian Democrats): 35,7%
Non-aligned (Social Democrats + Progress): 21,6%

Preferred Prime Minister

Liris Vesek (Interior Minister, National Republican-Communist, syncretic): 34,5%
Írenet Isteresskemar (Foreign Minister, Greens-Ecologists, right-wing): 31,1%
Kalju Ilves (incumbent, Social Democrats, left-wing): 21,1%
Ilmaras Kalessed (New Agrarians, left-wing): 12,3%

Istkalen

Republic: Polling 01/11 to 03/11

Party Preference

Labor (NEW, united platform of National Republicans, Communists, syncretic, in government): 34,1% (+0,9)
Agrarian Union (NEW, united platform of Greens, Ecologists, New Agrarians, right-wing, in government): 28,5% (-4,2)
Social Democrats (left-wing): 24,2% (+4,1)
Union/Progress (united platform of the New Union, Progressives, far-right, in government): 7,7% (-1,0)

Liberation (center, in government): 2,7% (+0,6)
Christian Democrats (right-wing to far-right, in government): 1,2% (-1,8)

Preferred Prime Minister

Kalju Ilves (incumbent, Social Democrats, left-wing): 36,2% (+16,1)
Liris Vesek (Interior Minister, Labor, syncretic): 29,8% (-4,7)
Írenet Isteresskemar (Foreign Minister, Agrarian Union, right-wing): 27,1% (-4,0)
Eliise Sepp (Minister of Defense, Union/Progress, far-right): 6,5% (NEW)

Analysis

In an effort to gain the upper hand and receive the first mandate to form a government by the presidency, several political parties, generally already united around a single prime ministerial candidate, have sought to reform old political coalitions, with the reformation of the united Communist Party in the form of the "Labor," of the Agrarian Union as as "confederation" of the Greens, Ecologists, and New Agrarians, and of the shortlived postwar "Union Party" in the form of the list "Union/Progress."

While their position is indeed likely to be strengthened, with the Union coalition, in spite of losses, likely to be more united and better represented, and both Labor and the Agrarian Union significantly more likely to receive the first mandate, most have seen losses as a direct result of union. The Agrarian Union in particular saw dramatic losses, likely a result of moderate voters previously supporting the Greens or Ecologists abandoning the coalition due to the inclusion of the radical New Agrarians, whose public image has seen a marked decline due to the extreme, often violent militancy of members, as well as the uncompromising rhetoric of its leader, Ilmaras Kalessed. Even the Labor coalition, which remained stable, appears to have seen a significant realignment of voters, with young voters deserting the party for the Social Democrats as blue-collar workers take the opposite direction.

The Social Democrats saw significant gains largely through the absorption of moderate voters, particularly from the Agrarian Union, but may have also been pulled up by their leader, current Prime Minister Kalju Ilves, who has seen a significant boost in popularity, in part because of his newly released reform agenda for taxes and welfare, expected to dramatically reduce financial burdens for the vast majority of people.

Significant changes were observed in regards to prime ministerial preference, largely in favor of the incumbent due to the aforementioned new policy agenda, as well as the effective end of Ilmaras Kalessed's candidacy. Other candidates may have suffered from increased irrelevance, particularly Sepp and Isteresskemar, both of whom reached the zenith of their popularity at the beginning of the year and who, in a period of relative international peace, have become sidelined in conversations about policy. Liris Vesek, as the Minister of the Interior, however, suffered from the opposite; with increased domestic trouble, she has found herself thrust into the spotlight, her actions seen as increasingly "authoritarian" and "heavyhanded," particularly the significant centralization of administration that has occurred under her short tenure, and has therefore declined in popularity, especially in rural areas where centralization is deeply unpopular.

Istkalen

Republic: Election results

Seats allocated by proportional representation (250)

"Labor" - 8.430.333 votes, 35,6%, 92 seats
"Social Democrats" - 6.495.030 votes, 27,4%, 71 seats
"Agrarian Union" - 4.809.443 votes, 20,3%, 53 seats
"Union/Progress" - 1.992.929 votes, 8,4%, 21 seats
"Liberation" - 1.202.961 votes, 5,1%, 13 seats
"Christian Democrats" - 739.545 votes, 3,1%, 0 seats

Seats appointed by the workers' associations (125)

"Social Democrats" - 55 seats
"Agrarian Union" - 30 seats
"Labor" - 20 seats
"Liberation" - 10 seats
"Union/Progress" - 10 seats

Seats appointed by the regional people's committees (110)

"Agrarian Union" - 50 seats
"Union/Progress" - 25 seats
"Labor" - 20 seats
"Social Democrats" - 10 seats
"Liberation" - 5 seats

Seats appointed by the Presidency (10)

"Labor" - 5 seats
"Union/Progress" - 5 seats

TOTAL

"Labor" - 137 seats
"Social Democrats" - 136 seats
"Agrarian Union" - 133 seats
"Union/Progress" - 61 seats
"Liberation" - 28 seats

248 seats needed for majority.

Istkalen

Nation: The responsibilities of a future government
Kondres Uklertal and Yasemin Demirkol, Co-Presidents of the Republic

Istkalen has reached an important juncture in time with what is perhaps to be its first peaceful and democratic transition of power ever. It is vitally necessary that its traditions, of state, culture, and society alike, survive this change. Regardless of who is to form the government, the unique freedoms that the people of Istkalen have enjoyed for decades must be preserved.

The incoming government, in doing so, is tasked above all with the preservation of national harmony. A society divided is an unstable society, and an unstable society has not the strength to maintain these special rights, special customs, and special traditions; a functioning and ordered government, to fulfill its natural mandate of preserving national traditions, therefore must maintain the integrity and unity of society. It is necessary, then, for it to govern firstly with a broad mandate, including all political and social groups, to prevent exclusion to the maximum possible degree. This mandate must be further reflected in its actual acts of governance, which must not discriminate or exclude but instead be to the benefit of and with the agreement of all of the constituent groups that form the Istkalenic nation.

In doing so, however, it must also avoid causing significant disruptions. Sudden and great change can disrupt old social relations, often to the detriment of all involved. Reform is sometimes, if not often, necessary, but it must not be to the detriment of social cohesion. Any rightful government must thus commit itself not to great projects of the remaking of all society, but rather to gradual and consensual change, if there is to be change at all.

There are also a number of redlines where change must be avoided. Our society is fragile, and certain modifications would necessarily result in its collapse. It is particularly the question of the children that we have in mind. We insist that any and all governments of Istkalen have the sacred responsibility of ensuring that the next generation is raised according to our national tradition and is protected from malevolent foreign influence, influence which in many other countries has led to a predominance of greed and moral depravity. There can be no question of changing the system under which children are brought up and education, whether to promote certain new values or simply to modernize; to do is to compromise the very foundation of our society and to let in rot which has destroyed so many other countries.

We point also to the distribution of property as a similar matter. Its concentration is extraordinarily dangerous, a phenomenon which leads to corruption, both political and moral, as well as violent class struggle. For these reasons, a truly harmonious, rights-protecting society is impossible without the unique and equitable distribution of property that we and our ancestors have worked so hard to establish in Istkalen; it is thus the responsibility of any and all governments of our country to protect and maintain it at all costs, even of material prosperity.

The final redline we will explicitly mention is of the integrity of the controlling institutions of state, particularly the Councils of Censors and Examination. These bodies found themselves on millenia-old traditions, and play an essential role in ensuring the continuity and stability of the Istkalenic government, of which the whole of our society is predicated on. Without them, our country would have long been lost. Their abolition, already proposed by "modernizers" and "Westernizers" would be an extraordinary and profound disaster that would surely lead to a spiral to final death, with escalating radicalism and rashness stoking the embers of conflict, disorder, and collapse. The security of the position of these two councils in particular thus must be guaranteed by any possible incoming government.

The preservation of this country, and thus of its core institutions, is paramount, the utmost responsibility of anyone who seeks to lead our country. We will not permit any government which threatens this, whether through the degradation of our institutions or the suppression of our way of life, to come even a millimeter near power.

Istkalen

Republic: National Republicans to form independent group in parliament, seek negotiations with Social Democrats to form government

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co-leader of the National Republican Party, Makketis Íkalsser, speaking to reporters regarding the formation of the National Republican parliamentary group

The National Republican Party is to form a parliamentary group separate from the Communists, effectively breaking apart the "Labor" alliance.

"It is our responsibility to those who voted for us to uphold our values," said party co-leader Makketis Íkalsser on the subject at a press conference. "We cannot do so in cooperation with the Communist Party, which is diametrically opposed to many of our core aims. Yes, we did indeed cooperate with them for electoral purposes. We will openly and proudly admit to it. But never did we endorse their ideas. We very consistently maintained an independent course in rhetoric and policy. With the elections over, there is no longer any reason for any type of coalition. In parliament, as we did during the campaign, we will remain separate from the Communists, promoting our own course and our own vision."

115 of the 137 members of parliament elected for the Labor alliance are to be members of the National Republican group, an imbalance caused directly by an agreement between the National Republican and Communist parties to allocate seats disproportionately in favor of the former in exchange for major policy concessions, particularly on social and cultural issues, to the latter.

"Too bad," said Íkalsser when pressed on the subject. "We have the upper hand; why would we bother to listen to them now? They should have realized this long ago."

The other co-leader of the party, Eliise Raadik, further stated that the party intended to negotiate, from its new position, with the Social Democrats to form a government.

"We want to keep the workers' pockets full, their independence firm, and their dignity preserved. While we may disagree with the Social Democrats, we view a government with them as the best path forwards for these aims so close to our hearts. We will go to the negotiating table with them, and come out, surely, with an agreement to govern for all Istkaleners."

She further suggested that the party would be willing to compromise on the issues of housing, education, and healthcare, among others, but would be unyielding on what it has established as its core issues - namely, opposition to the incorporation of businesses, which it has viewed as a path to excessive centralization of power, the preservation of indecency laws, which it sees as integral to maintain "the health of the nation," and the maintenance of the current, expansive welfare state, which provides housing, food, childcare, and transportation, among other things, at no cost to all workers - all of which, notably, the Social Democratic Party finds itself opposed to.

The prime ministerial candidate of the coalition, Liris Vesek, expressed dismay at the decision, and announced her intention to resign from the National Republican Party.

"This is a gross violation of trust, and the complete destruction of the image of our party," she wrote in a public statement released today. "It is shocking and unacceptable. To maintain my position in such an organization, of liars and cheats, is beyond untenable. It is tantamount, in fact, to evil."

In response to the announcement, the interim leader of the Communist Party, Marianne Séguy, announced her intention to withdraw from the impending leadership elections.

"I sought to lead the resurrection of the party. I fear I have led it instead to its grave," she said at a press conference earlier today. "The agreement with the National Republicans was clearly unwise. Had we not made it, we might have seen the full recovery of our party. But because of it, we are reduced to virtually nothing. That I agreed to it leads me to no longer believe in my capacity to lead the party. I will maintain my position until the upcoming leadership elections, at which point I will resign from all party functions."

Istkalen

Republic: The co-presidents will take direct control of the nation

Indras Uskeled's attempted economic reforms have ended in what is no less than disaster. Following the outbreak of mass demonstrations throughout the country protesting the significant cuts to pensions, as well as the introduction of market principles and extreme centralization in employment policy, Uskeled resigned, insisting that she was no longer able to govern the country effectively; she was then replaced by Liris Vesek, who governed for a whole of three days before herself resigning, with the almost mythical Ayros Tiraki, previously ruler of Istkalen between 1983 and 1985, taking her place, only to herself quit within 18 hours.

With the Prime Minsterial office now vacant, co-presidents Kondres Uklertal and Yasemin Demirkol have announced that, until order is returned to the country, the prime ministership will be abolished and all executive and legislative power placed in their hands, in order to make the reforms necessary to end the current political crisis and ensure stability.

"Within the past week alone, two successive governments have tried and failed to stem the growing unrest," said Demirkol at a press conference held this morning. "We no longer have trust in any one person to form a government able to meet the demands of the current situation, and therefore, unwillingly and reluctantly, ourselves take the responsibility of solving the political crisis for the sake of the preservation of our homeland."

The courses of action available to them will be severely limited. People's committees across the country, driven by popular opinion, have declared their unwillingness to cooperate with any national government with any connection to the failed Uskeled, Vesek, and Tiraki cabinets; several have gone as far as to announce tentative support for a national congress of committees which would hypothetically appoint a new government and, more radically, draft a new constitution to serve in the place of the current, much weaker, "basic laws," which many blame for having allowed for the drastic, unpopular welfare and employment reforms made by the Uskeled government to be enacted. While previous governments have used the workers' associations to impose control at a local level in times of such rebellion, this, too, is no longer an option for Uklertal and Demirkol - most of the members of their controlling workers' commitees and councils, on both a local and national level, have resigned in protest of new laws which would end their historical decentralization, replaced with unpopular appointments broadly viewed as illegitimate. Even the final, "nuclear" option - use of the military - seems out of reach, with Minister of Defense Eliise Sepp, accompanied by several generals, having announced to the public, mere minutes after the co-presidents' announcement, that the country's armed forces would not enforce the edicts of the government against popular opposition.

These extraordinary conditions have led many opposition leaders to ridicule Uklertal and Demirkol's decision.

"A farce, a farce!" cackled Erkanas Istentek, president of the Istkalenic Pensioners' Association, before an assembled crowd of thousands of elderly demonstrators. "They dared to take away our savings, our income - and now they will pay! Let them take for themselves their scraps of power - we have already brought them to their knees, and they have no way, now, to stand again! Let them do as they wish, for we have the power, we have them in our grasp!"

"I don't quite see the point, to be honest," said Kalju Ilves, leader of the Social Democratic Party at a press conference held shortly after the announcement. "No one is behind them, even the military has fled them. It's beyond ridiculous, there's no point even in responding to it. Pathetic posturing."

It is unclear whether Uklertal and Demirkol will retain Tiraki's cabinet, functionally identical to Uskeled's. Several of the most controversial ministers, most notably Myriam Leclerc, Greta Schulz, and Antras Arkalis, who are widely seen as the drafters of the reform that led to the crisis, have indicated that they are likely to remain in their positions; however, nothing truly concrete has yet been made public.

It is similarly unknown whether they will, as Tiraki and Vesek did, attempt to push forwards with the reforms and merely attempt to suppress the protests, or rather do away with them and meet the demands of the demonstrators. While they have made statements in favor of the abolition of the measures, all have been vague in nature; their actual intentions remain opaque.

With significant pressure on them from virtually all sectors of civil society and institutions of state, however, they are effectively bound to action. The military now refusing to intervene on their behalf, and the people's committees and workers' associations increasingly tending towards rebellion, there are simply no other paths out of the current abyss apart from abandoning the reforms and returning the country to its pre-election path.

Istkalen

Republic: Formation of the National Economic Council

The sixteen workers' associations have formed a "National Economic Council" to take on the role of the government and ensure both economic and social order until such time as an official cabinet can be formed that meets the demands of the ongoing demonstrations. Consisting of 200 representatives, appointed by the associations roughly proportionally to their membership, the Council will have the primary responsibilities of coordinating the tasks of the workers' associations, of ensuring the continued supply of raw material to producers, of maintaining international trade, and of meeting internal consumer demand. When it is in recess, its work is to be carried out by a smaller Presidium, consisting of 16 members and a non-voting president, currently Esketal Indretek, leader of the Ecologist Party and a major figure of the Istkalenic opposition.

"There no longer exists a functional government in Istkalen," said Indretek upon his election to the position. "it is now our responsibility, our sacred responsibility, to ourselves ensure stability and the maintenance of our international prestige until true order can be restored - until a strong government, willing at last to govern with the people and according to their demands, takes office and ensures a negotiated and consensual end to the righteous and justified unrest."

The Council intends to work with regional and local people's committees, which since the occupation have played a major role in ensuring the cooperation of the associations and of their constituent societies, to accomplish its goals; it has made an appeal calling for people's committees, particularly on a regional level, to establish more official relations with it and send delegates to a congress with which the Council will be in communication for the purpose of policy formulation.

Many leaders of the Istkalenic opposition have endorsed the Council. Elspeth Oskon, leader of the party Liberation, while expressing disagreement with the economic policies that it intends to pursue, nevertheless gave strong support for its establishment, stating,

We liberals have long struggled for democracy, true democracy, in Istkalen. While the Council certainly is pursuing objections almost diametrically opposed to our own, for us this is of no matter; its establishment, against the increasingly tyrannical and overreaching mandates of a government that, like so many others, clearly sees itself as entitled to govern, is a major victory for popular self-determination and the defense of human rights in our long-closed country.

Other major figures in support include Kalju Ilves, the leader of the Social Democratic Party, and LIris Vesek, former leader of the National Republican Party, both of whom have taken positions on the council's Presidium.

In strong contrast, however, the Council has not itself lent unreserved support for the goals of the opposition. While against the major cuts to the welfare state, it has not signaled any intention to restore the "stolen" pensions, instead suggesting that a separate system to provide the elderly benefits in kind ought to be established; it has also outright endorsed the centralization of the workers' associations, although it has moved to reinstate legal recognization to the workers' societies, "abolished" in December of 2021 but continuing to exist, informally, to the present.

"Unsustainable systems cannot be maintained," said Indretek in response to questions about the policy choices of the Council. "We are certainly opposed to the extreme radicalism and authoritarianism through which the government sought to replace them, but nevertheless, we see it as absolutely necessary that they be replaced. The solutions we have proposed are all, necessarily, moderate in nature. We have proposed no radical reorganizations, no major cuts. The welfare of the people will be protected."

However, no real objections have been expressed to this chosen path. With popular forces continuing to converge around the Council, it is, to the contrary, likely that it will be able to go about its tasks and implement its propositions with few barriers.

Istkalen

ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NATIONAL SALVATION COUNCIL

Over the past few months, the conditions prevailing in the territory of Istkalen have rapidly deteriorated. The central state apparatus has ceased to function, and the nation is kept one only by the force of loose agreements between a head of state who has lost all legitimacy and those everlasting institutions - the occupational grouping, the local council - that now vie, in the present vacuum, for ever more power.

We have kept ourselves apart from politics on the principle that the military ought to play no role in the affairs of state. We have watched, passively, the rise and fall of government after government, of leader after leader, as the country barreled towards destruction. Its existence now at risk, we can now watch no longer.

We, the armed forces of Istkalen, have made the difficult decision to form the National Salvation Council, in order to restore order to the country and ensure its continued stability and integrity.

It is with sadness and reluctance that we have taken these extraordinary measures. We have done so not out of any desire to take power for ourselves, nor to remold the state in our image, but because we know, as the body of the Istkalenic people has known since the beginning of these troubles, that if we do not, our beloved nation will die. We have no intention of holding power in this country for any longer than we must. When the tasks before us are complete, we will stand down so that a stable and civilian government may at last reign in this country.

Here are our aims: to end the social divisions that have brought only chaos to this country, to rid the bureaucracy of elitism and corruption, to conduct the necessary reforms of society and property to ensure full equality, and to put a stop the disastrous experiment of the Republic and restore the divinely-ordained rule of the House of Kareskenet.

These we do not expect to complete, but merely lay the foundations for. Our desire is to establish a stable order in which all these things may indeed be accomplished and maintained.

All civil and political rights, insofar as they do not threaten the unity of the nation, will be respected. The current "national unity" government of Kalju Ilves appointed by Ms. Orlich will remain in place in order to ensure continuity and the efficient administration of the country.

We ask for the cooperation of foreign governments in our project. We will honor all existing treaties, and continue to adhere to all international laws. We repeat that our sole intention is the stabilization of Istkalen, and nothing further.

Long live the Istkalenic people, long live the Istkalenic nation, long live the Istkalenic state.

Istkalen

Republic: The National Salvation Council proposes welfare, economic reform, cultural restrictions,"anti-gay" laws

The National Salvation Council, in its first major act as the country's collective head of state following its seizure of power from Ursula Orlich, has put forward a number of sweeping reforms to many of the country's economic and social laws, seeking to return the country to the pre-war "social consensus" while maintaining the economically liberal direction set by former Prime Minister Indras Uskeled in her brief stint in that office.

The reforms primarily feature an expansion of the special allowances for the elderly, students, and the disabled that she created, which will no longer be "flat" transfers but instead be a guaranteed minimum income, factoring in other sources of wealth recipients may have, equal to the calculated "living wage" of the region in which they live. This will be funded in part by increases in value-added, severance, and emission taxes, as well as by a cut to the previously 500 ketsel universal basic income to 450 ketsels.

They also include reforms to Istkalen's healthcare and education system. Doctors and educators will be permitted to form independent cooperatives to offer their services to the public, with the goal of a full transfer of control over the sectors from the state and workers' associations to cooperatives and independent proprietorships by 2029. The current state guarantees of specific medical and educational services will end and be replaced by a system of vouchers.

This expansion and legalization of the cooperative sector is also to apply to all other economic sectors, though new cooperatives in the mining and energy industries particularly will be subject to strict state regulation and taxation in order to ensure that the profit they create is shared with the whole of the nation.

Employment by cooperatives and by workers' associations is to be ended, and the associated national unemployment fund to be phased out. New training centers will be created for those who find themselves unemployed as a result of this action.

New welfare measures for the "underemployed" - members of a workers' association who earn below the set "living wage" of a given region - are also to be implemented. The government intends to create several new major infrastructural and cultural projects across the country in order to create "dignified" work for those who cannot find it. When it is fiscally possible - by the timelines released by the National Security Council, between 2028 and 2029 - a national employment guarantee will be made.

The government will also support price ceilings for agricultural goods, with a newly created Ministry of Agriculture to negotiate prices with the Farmers' Associations on a biannual basis and unpurchased resulting surplus to be bought by the state and distributed to the "working poor."

The relatively liberal cultural environment that has prevailed in Istkalen from the beginning of the occupation to the present day is also likely to end. A significant part of the reform involves a system of state patronage and censorship of the arts that promotes "national" projects, such as the development of folk music and nearly completely bans art deemed as "modern," "cosmopolitan," or "foreign." Where previously restrictions of this type applied only to "official" artists receiving state benefits through the national Cultural Association, these are intended to apply even to amateur artists and creators, from fanfiction writers to social media influencers.

A number of restrictions on public behavior are also included in the reform. Public manifestations of "sexual and gender-based deviance," as well as for support for the same "deviance" are to be prohibited. Unlike previous legislation which has placed restriction on public activity, this prohibition extends not merely to the physical space but also to the online world and to the publication of media.

The age of consent for same-sex relations is also to be increased to 25, and will no longer be equal with that of opposite-sex relations.

The reforms are theoretically subject to the approval of the recently reconvened National Assembly, where many are likely to face a steep climb to passage due to the body's progressive political makeup. However, the National Security Council has not clarified how exactly it would respond to the potential rejection of its reforms, and it remains a strong possibility that the decision of the Assembly will simply be ignored.

Istkalen

The Seer: Anarchy is preferable to the miserable state of affairs in this country

For the umpteenth time since the end of the occupation, Istkalen has seen yet another illegal change of power. The military, it seems, now wants its own part in the governance of this Godforsaken country.

Not, of course, that the average Istkalener cares. We all have given up on politics, at least since the government climbed down on the land tax just a little under a year ago. Who cares if they cut or increases welfare now? No one outside of Kirelesile is getting a cent of it anyways. The people there still riot over it, or at least it seems as though they still riot over it, but no one else pays the slightest bit of attention to any of it. We, for our part, have turned away from whatever nonsense goes on in the halls of government and come to focus on our own lives. If anyone engages with the state at all it's only with the workers' associations, or whatever they're called now, which aren't really government institutions anyways.

The newspapers in Kirelesile are now saying that the military council, or whoever, whatever, has power now, is going to crack down on gay people and re-legalize the workers' societies or whatever the great patrons now call their instruments of control. It is, of course, now the military, and not some random technocrat, saying these things, and so we might worry - the only forces in this country which are able to impose anything on the countryside, after all, are them and then attractive, vaguely competent men (please let me kiss you just once Vistek). But in the end, as it was with the "New Course" that they tried to pass in 2021 or the bogus socialization or the land taxes, it'll probably just be a flash in the pan. They'll try to enforce it, we'll get our guns out and make vague threats, and they'll go and backtrack and make their hysterical, tearful apologies.

All of this screaming, all of these orders, produced by government after government contributes to nothing but the continued degrading of our nation. What do people abroad think when they see this? "Oh, those Istkaleners, so unruly, so uncivilized, how violent they are, how dirty they are! I want nothing to do with those barbarians!" Of course, no one can deny that there is some truth in sentiments like this, but that truth at least wouldn't be so obvious if our rulers weren't like this.

This most recent episode of insanity will probably result in a few sanctions and more than a few strained relationships. Commissioner Harland has already started a discussion in the Council; no one is so deluded to think that this will not end with some sort of condemnation. We'll probably, hopefully, get someone more competent after these people are gone, but it'll still be an uphill climb for them to repair what has been damaged.

And we - we'll suffer, in the meantime. We won't have all the newest things from Spain or Inquista for a while, and won't have as much money, because no one, or at least not as many people, will be willing to take what we make. And, for all this, we'll be rewarded with a two-week ban - probably not even that long - on reading Reiserova x Kligenberg fanfiction on AO3.

Here's my proposal to put an end to this nonsense. Let's just stop with the pretense we have a functioning central government. Let's do away with Presidents and Co-Presidents and State Protectors and Prime Ministers and Salvation Councils, with cabinets and ministers and secretaries and directors; it's not as though they had any real power anyways. We can become the Free Territory of Istkalen, or the Ungovernable Land of Istkalen, or the Anarchy of Istkalen, something along those lines. All the people's committees and vocational orders - like cockroaches, they'll survive anything - will be able to do something closer to governance than now without the interference of bureaucrats and other elites, and we'll be happier than we've been in the past three years.

Who can take any more of this misery? Anything, everything, must be better than what we have now. We have tried government, and it has failed. Let us now turn to anarchy as an alternative.

Istkalen

Republic: Environmentalists, nationalists within the Social Democratic Party not to have representation on the National Assembly's negotiating committee

Yesterday, Ilmaras Kalessed, the President of the National Assembly, announced, after a series of talks with all major party leaders, the composition of the committee the body is sending to negotiate with the National Salvation Council. The Communists and Liberation, because of the small size of their parliamentary factions, are to be denied all representation; the Social Democratic Party and Agrarian Union are to be represented with two members each, and the National Republican Party and Unity with one, with their parliamentary leaders to determine the exact members to fill each allotted position.

The two parties given two positions were faced, both known for factionalism, were immediately faced with strong and heated debates over how factional voices would be represented and balanced in the final choice. The Agrarian Union's parliamentary leader, Ursula Korhonen, after a conference with several different prominent figures from the alliance, eventually chose a member of the libertarian "green" faction around Irenet Isteresskemar and a member of the conservative "ecologist" faction around Esketal Indretek with ties to Kalessed's left-wing "New Agrarians" to serve in a compromise that seemed acceptable, if not ideal, to the whole of the party's representation in the National Assembly.

In spite of strong objections from the party's environmentalists and remaining nationalist contingent, however, the Social Democratic party leader, Inge Meier, made the decision only to permit the representation of the socialist and ex-Patriotic League factions, close to her and to the party's leader and current Prime Minister Kalju Ilves. The decision has met harsh criticism both within and outside of the party.

"It is unacceptable," said Kondres Uklertal, Minister of Environmental Protection and the de-facto leader of the Social Democratic Party's environmentalists, "that Ms. Meier has marginalized us in such a way. I hope that the party's central committee will be willing to take disciplinary action against her for this extraordinarily anti-democratic and self-serving decision."

"Beyond horrible," tweeted Lauri Laakonen, leader of the party's nationalists, earlier today. "Ms. Meier ought to be expelled from the party. Hopefully someone less corrupt will take her place!"

"Party democracy," Elizabeth Íkrat (formerly Ilisapit Íkrat, formerly Ilisapit Iykrat), leader of the Communists, said to a reporter for Republic, "is clearly in decline, no doubt encouraged by the NSC and the standards it has already set. We need a quick transition back to constitutional order, and firmer norms in the National Assembly and in politics in general, in order to ensure that dictatorial decisions like this won't be made again."

However, no members of the benefiting factions, including the Prime Minister himself, have yet commented, nor have many made any indication that they would wish to comment at all.

The decision is expected to have significant impacts on the process of negotiation. Without any members of the anti-cooperativist greens and nationalists present, and with only the National Republican and Unity members holding anti-cooperativist positions, it is likely that the original provisions for economic cooperativisation proposed by the NSC will be included in the new reform package unchanged. The proposals for cultural restrictions may also find themselves stronger than they otherwise would have been; both nationalists and greens were strongly opposed to the original provisions on this subject, albeit for different reasons, while the socialists and ex-Patriotic Leaguers were far more ambivalent on the issue.

Factional rifts within the Social Democratic Party are also expected to strengthen. With leaders on the party's anti-cooperativist contingent enraged by the decision, and those in favor of cooperativization seemingly complacent, it is likely that trust and cooperation within the party will decline, though a split remains unlikely.

Istkalen

Nation: Allegations fly following abrupt end to negotiations on first day

Today's round of talks between the National Assembly and the National Salvation Council (NSC) over social and economic reforms ended, in a shock to many Istkaleners, after a mere two minutes. Members of the Assembly's six-member negotiating committee were seen walking out dazed from the former Imperial Retreat in Kirelesile where the discussions are being held, having just entered hardly a moment beforehand.

All six now claim that no negotiation occurred, and that the NSC spent the two minutes attempting to intimidate them into agreeing to the original set of reforms rejected by the National Assembly before finally dismissing them when they refused, at first, to cooperate.

"We came," said Katharina Beck, committee delegate for the National Republican Party, "fully willing to discuss and negotiate a proper settlement to the issues at hand. We were met with, instead, with a lecture. We were not allowed to speak. We were forced to listen to the members of the NSC insist that there was a simple choice before us - either to agree, unanimously, to the same reforms that the National Assembly rejected not even two days ago, or to allow the NSC to pass even more draconian laws. They told us that if we did not cooperate, they would reimpose sex segregation, that they would reimpose ethnic segregation, that they would ban non-Heltois from holding power anywhere, that they would ban homosexuality - not sodomy, but homosexuality. They listed, with a manic glee, all of these terrible things and so much more, and said that we would be responsible for them all if we did not give in. They asked us, after they were done, whether we would capitulate to them. None of us spoke, so they told us to get out or be shot. We have two weeks still, at the very least, but it is a horrible decision to make."

The NSC itself has not yet spoken on the subject, but has announced that a press conference will be held later today on the topic of the negotiations.

The allegations have led to widespread outcry. The country's largest trade union, the Trade Confederation of Istkalen, has threatened a general strike in the case that laws of the type described by the six parliamentary delegates are passed. The leadership of all parties represented in the National Assembly, with the exception of Unity, whose leader, Yasemin Demirkol, is to give a statement on the issue later today, have condemned the proceedings as well as the legislation the NSC allegedly proposed to impose.

The Prime Minister, for his part, has given a statement urging calm but also reiterating his previous threat to resign his position in the case that the NSC forces the passage of laws against the LGBT+ community.

"I ask that the public remain calm," he said, "and avoid any direct provocation. We cannot jeopardize the already-fragile relationship between the civilian government and the NSC. We must maintain the current balance so as to ensure the quickest possible return to full and stable democracy. However, I must make clear that this is not carte blanche for the NSC to impose whatever it wishes on this country. There are institutions and processes that I and the rest of the democratic administration believe should and must be respected. If these are violated - if the NSC tries to force the passage of legislation, especially discriminatory legislation, I will, as I stated less than two days ago, resign my position."

Istkalen

Republic: Following bombing, Meier issues strong condemnation of government, threatened with expulsion from party

In an apparent response to Saturday's controversial air raid ordered by the NSC on a large public demonstration promoting deviancy and moral degradation in Kirelesile, Inge Meier, leader both of the Social Democratic Party (SDP)'s parliamentary faction and the party's internal "socialist" grouping, spoke in the National Assembly during Question Time to strongly condemn the inaction of the government.

"It is unprintable that the unprintable in Istkalen is being unprintable in such an unprintable way," she said. "It is even more unprintable that the government has made the decision to stand aside. Here, before you, is what was once labeled Istkalen's most representative and progressive government ever, now, without hesitation, enforcing the most unprintable of laws. Here, before you, then, is what now stands to be Istkalen's most cowardly and regressive government ever. I ask its members this - was it worth it? You, Prime Minister, just a week ago a proud unprintable, now leading the charge against those who were once your unprintable - was it really worth it, to sell yourself to the NSC to hold on for a week, a month, more? I used to know you, I used to call you a friend, and I thought that you would rather have let them execute you than to prostitute yourself to them in this lowest of ways."

At this juncture, a number of representatives in the liberal "Liberation" party complained to the President of the National Assembly that Meier's tirade was both illegal and simply not a question. The President, however, rapidly dismissed them and allowed Meier to continue.

"Thank you, Madam President," Meier said in response, before picking up from where she had been interrupted.

"Here is what I will admit to, before you accuse me of complicity. I voted for these laws. It is the unprintable thing I have ever done, the unprintable I have ever committed, for which I will unprintable forgive myself. But I did it, then, because you, and many others, promised me that we would unprintable on, that we would refuse to allow our country to go unprintable on the unprintable it has made since the war. Here, I remember them clearly, were your exact words. 'They'll unprintable me either way,' you said, 'it's better go out unprintable.' Lies, all lies."

The Prime Minister simply told Meier to be "careful with her words," insisting upon cooperation with the NSC and its orders in order to speed up the return to full democracy.

"We must comply with the whole of the law," he said, "willingly and happily. We cannot risk the end of democracy in this country for some silly rebellion. We are the stewards of the state, and we must ensure that it survives, intact, this extraordinary period."

The NSC itself has launched an inquiry into the activities of the Social Democratic Party, on the grounds that Meier's statement amounted to a confession to "secretly promoting deviance;" Meier herself, however, because of her parliamentary immunity, is not to face any charges or penalites.

When asked to respond, Meier spat at the ground before repeatedly cursing.

"I don't care," she said. "I don't give a flying unprintable about this. Let them put me in an unprintable camp, let them unprintable execute me, cut my unprintable head off, whatever. In any case they are wrong, I proudly and openly unprintable, I would never make a secret of it."

The party's central committee, however, appears to have thought differently, and is now discussing the possibility of Meier's expulsion in an apparent attempt to appease the NSC and put a halt to the investigation.

"We cannot have people who put the legality of our movement in question in our party," said committee-member Sebastian Saar. "It threatens our support, it threatens our credibility, it threatens our very existence."

If approved, the expulsion will be voted on by the party's parliamentary faction, large parts of which are hostile to Meier as a result of her own perceived hostility towards several factions of her party, before becoming final.

Istkalen

Nation: Tilkanas to stand down after end of term as Speaker

Iras Tilkanas, European Councillor for Istkalen and the current Speaker of the European Council, has announced her intention to resign from her position after the expiration of her term as speaker.

"I have served this country to the best of my abilities for two years," she wrote in a statement released by her office earlier today. "Yet throughout my term, both as a Councillor and as a Speaker, I have made a number of inexcusable mistakes. I have come to realize that, as a result, I cannot and must not try to hold onto power. I have therefore made the decision to resign my position after the end of my term as the Speaker of the European Councillor."

"I intend," she continued, "to retire completely from public life. I am no longer up to the tasks that further work in my field would impose on me; I am tired, I cannot go on."

Tilkanas's statement ends a long political career that began in the late 1980s, when she rose through the ranks of the then-ruling Communist Party of Istkalen as a leading member of the internal movement for democratic reform. She would eventually become the country's Minister of Foreign Affairs, a position she would continue to serve in until the collapse of the Communist government in 1996. She remained a significant activist and politician in the following years, agitating against the military junta of that time as well as against the growing extreme-nationalist "Grand National Movement," which would later become the Social Democratic Party. Elected to the National Assembly in 2002, she became the leader of the Communist parliamentary group before being arrested and sent to a prison camp following the Social Democratic takeover of the country in 2003, where she would remain until the beginning of the occupation.

When she came again into the limelight in 2021, nominated by the Communist Party to run in the Councillor elections the then-illegal government of Istkalen had organized, she had largely faded in the public memory. Supported by a significant party machine and buoyed by a wave of support for a Communist government, she would, in a slight upset, be elected to the position, with arch-conservative Akem Linek as her deputy.

Tilkanas served as Istkalen's representative to Europe through much of the occupation, serving as the country's sole voice on the international stage and playing a significant role in stemming support abroad for the so-called Reitzmo-Vardic Protectorate. Already a well-known and active Councillor by the end of the occupation, she made the decision then to run for the Speakership, eventually winning the position in a major victory for the left-wing Party of the European Left as well as for Istkalen itself, which saw a further rehabilitation in international relations as well as a significant expansion of its soft power.

Her term, however, was increasingly ridden with controversy from this point onwards, with her repeated failure to tend to Council duties in a timely manner, her often erratic approach to the more political aspects of her position, as well as with increased confrontations with individual Councillors that were often deeply charged and biased in nature. Though she remained fairly popular at home because of her role in maintaining the country's representation during the occupation, she nevertheless saw a decline in support, from the high 70s to the low 50s.

Faced with a difficult climb to re-election both as Speaker and as a Councillor, in addition to the turmoil at home that her prominence has thrust her into, she appears to simply have decided to do away with it all and return to obscurity.

Several major politicians present and past, from former Head of State Vistek Rikkalek to current Prime Minister Kalju Ilves, have made statements in her honor, wishing her a good retirement. The NSC has not commented; one of its members, however, when asked by Nation, said that he was glad to see her gone.

"Good riddance!" he exclaimed. "That Western pig is gone! We wanted to get rid of her at the beginning, you know, but it would look bad. Now she's done our job for us. Maybe she thinks she can escape justice, for her treason, maybe that's why she's doing it. But she won't. As soon as she comes home she'll be locked up so that she'll never see the light of day again, we'll make sure of that. Such is what all traitors and invaders deserve."

Istkalen

Nation: Maksile to succeed Tilkanas as European Councillor

The National Salvation Council has appointed Merte Maksile, Secretary of the Offices for Nuclear Security and for Defense of the Arian Self-Government, as Deputy European Councillor, replacing Akem Linek, who resigned that position to run for Premier Commissioner of the European Union. With Iras Tilkanas to resign at the end of her term as Council Speaker, Maksile is widely expected to soon accede to the position of European Councillor in her own right.

However, even in her current position, Maksile is already to take on many of the responsibilities of the Councillorship. Tilkanas, who the NSC has now named as a suspect in the recently uncovered plot to re-install the Reitzmo-Vardic Protectorate in Istkalen, was recently barred from speaking in the Council chamber; though she is still to continue her duties as Council Speaker and to vote on legislation, it is now Maksile who will have the duty of verbally representing the country on the European level.

Maksile, a functionary of the Arian Church, has historically been between the body's traditionalist and modernist wings; though nominally a supporter of the reactionary "reforms" of Reszelport Jezebel-Swift, or "Pope Tabitha," it is widely believed that she serves as one of the few moderating influences within her camarilla. Her appointment, though surprising to many within the Istkalenic establishment, appears to be as a part of an attempt of the NSC to curry favor with the Church as well as to recruit its moderately conservative ideologues for its own purposes.

A Eurosceptic known for advocating for the secession of the German, now Arian, Territories, as well as the exit of Istkalen from the European Union, Maksile is expected to be a significant departure from the reformist and left-wing Tilkanas. She has already announced her intention to work for the repeal of a number of European acts she sees as an infringement on the rights of member-states, from the Neurodivergent and DIsability Rights Act to the Consumer Rights Act.

More controversially, however, Maksile is also a strong opponent of measure against climate change, insisting that humanity must try to adapt to, rather than stop, a phenomenon which she has repeatedly argued is completely natural in origin. She also is deeply socially conservative, and is likely to try to repeal many of the protections for deviants, for women, and for other minorities which European law and the European constitution currently enshrine.

In spite of this, few have protested Maksile's appointment, and she is likely to serve as Deputy and later fully European Councillor without significant trouble.

Istkalen

Nation: Retaliation forces capitulation of strikers; ensuing shocking confessions reveal decades-long Reitzmo-Vardic plot to undermine Istkalen, reaching into royal family

A general strike, organized by the Acting Prime Minister, the Reitzmic woman identifying as Indras Uskeled, and the Minister of Social Affairs, the Vardic man identifying as Luke Kareskenet, in cooperation with Istkalen's 16 workers' associations and its two largest trade unions, came to an abrupt end today following the return of the vast majority of Istkalen's workers to their workplaces, spurred on by a series of air strikes ordered by the National Salvation Council in retaliation.

Meant to force the resignation of the Council, the strike was in protest of a number of measures it introduced to avert a planned coup to reinstall the Reitzmo-Vardic Protectorate, particularly laws introduced to hunt down cells of Vardic sex offenders imported into Istkalen to undermine the moral foundation of society as well as those negating foreign attempts to influence Istkalenic politics through infiltration of the education system, portrayed by its leaders as attempts to create a so-called "totalitarian state" in Istkalen. Though organized harriedly, in the span of the eight days that had passed since the approval of these necessary acts, the influence of the workers' associations and unions, in addition to the depth of the infiltration of foreign spies in Istkalenic society, resulted in a participation of upwards of 85% of the working population in the strike when it began on the morning of the 21st.

The grip of these conspirators, however, was not absolute. The National Salvation Council, understanding the threat to national sovereignty that this extraordinary plot was, immediately took action to weaken the hold of the foreigners leading the strike, ordering the Istkalenic military to conduct a series of air strikes on a number of buildings in which the spies had made their nests. Though these were for the most part abandoned structures, many were not, with many agents having chosen even hospitals, nurseries, and schools as their centers of operation in an attempt to use innocent Istkaleners as their shields. Knowing the committment of every Istkalener to the state and the nation, knowing their deep respect and desire for martyrhood, however, the NSC pursued its goals without mercy, striking the plotters down wherever they lay and thus preserving the integrity of the country.

This alone was enough to bring the majority of the strikers back to their senses and convince them to return to their work. Free of the influence of the country's enemies, the bulk of the Istkalenic people regained their intelligence and committed themselves, again, to the survival of the country and the struggle against infiltration and sabotage. A few, however, too deep in the traps set by the devilish outsiders, continued in their unintentional collaboration with treason. For them, the Council was forced to turn towards harsher measures. Many were merely taken into custody and made to realize the errors of their ways. Others, however, so deep that they were indistinguishable from the spies themselves simply had to die for the sake of the country's survival.

By the evening of the 22nd, the strikes had dissipated entirely, with virtually all remaining strike-leaders and strikers capitulating to the state, proof of the continued strength and resolve of the Istkalenic nation against those who seek to undermine it. Production and work had returned to near-full capacity, and is expected to recover entirely by next week as what little sabotage the foreigners managed is repaired. The attempt to kill the country ended up killing only the attemptors; their plot to weaken the nation ended up only strengthening it.

So terrified were the other conspirators in the country that, in an apparent attempt to wring mercy from the state, those who had previously continuously protested their innocence revealed their crimes. The first eighteen individuals arrested on the 20th in connection with the coup plot almost all immediately confessed to being Reitzmic and Vardic plants in the country upon hearing of the suppression of the strike, evidently awestruck and horrified by the power and the efficiency of the Istkalenic people united.

"My real name," said the woman who had hitherto identified as Ilmaras Kalessed and worked for decades to promote radicalism and unrest in the country, sobbing, "is Margaret Ames. I was born in Hampton City in the Kingdom of Reitzmag, on 1 October 1947. When I was 16 years old, MI6 recruited me to become an agent in their operation to undermine the Republic of Istkalen, which they sought, because of its great wealth, to invade and to colonize. I was sent here on my 25th birthday, to disrupt Istkalenic society to the greatest possible extent. I have, from then until now, worked, under the false identity of Ilmaras Kalessed, to introduce foreign ideologies into the country and to turn its people against each other, to divide to allow the nation of my birth to conquer. But I see, at last, your power, and I understand the error of my ways. Forgive me! Forgive me! I have done so much wrong, I have blood on my hands! Forgive me! Have mercy!"

More shocking, however, was the confession of the Vardic man who had claimed, until then, to be "Vistek Rikkalek," the head of the House of Kareskenet and Istkalen's head of state until September of 2022.

Crying and repeatedly prostrating himself before the tribunal to which he declared his crimes, the man revealed a horrible plot, conducted in the 90s, to kidnap the remaining members of Istkalen's royal house and to replace them with Vardic plants, further implicating two of his "cousins," "Luke" and "Mary" Kareskenet.

"My name," he said, shaking violently, "is Anders Jensen. I was born on 25 December 1981 in Havic, Vayinaod. I was recruited by the Eighth Konsulate to replace the heir to the Istkalenic throne when I was 11, on the basis of our resemblance. In 1996, the Vardic and Reitzmic governments provoked an uprising in Istkalen, during which they inserted special forces into the country to kidnap the heir, Vistek, and the next two members of the house in the line of succession, Luke and Mary. It was then that I and the other two they trained were inserted into the country to replace them. We have pretended to be them since then, waiting for our chance at power, and immediately working, then, to spread chaos and undermine the state to prepare for the colonization of the country. It is a crime, I deserve to be put to death; I cannot live with myself for having lied to the people, for having worked to destroy them. Kill me, kill me! Torture me! Destroy me!"

These and other confessions have implicated most of the current Istkalenic government and parliament, as well as several influential politicians serving in workers' committees and local governments. All those named have been summoned for questioning; plans have been made for the sole politician to be implicated to be outside of the country, the so-called "Iras Tilkanas," to be extracted from Europolis and returned to Istkalen.

The only one of the eighteen not to confess was the so-called "Inge Meier," who has continued to claim innocence in spite of being implicated by all other seventeen, and who is likely to face the highest possible consequences for her crimes - by Decree-Law 20/2023, death.

The confessions have been and will continue to be broadcast across all television and radio channels in the country; newspapers have been ordered to print them in full on their front pages, in order to ensure that all understand the threat posed by the foreign invaders and that those who continue to hide understand the power of the nation.