Leagioan News Agencies

[Leagio]

Loors and Wilson Gain Statehood Within The Commonwealth

Not long after the creation of the new Territory of Freedonia, the National Congress voted on the petitions for statehood sent by the Governors of Wilson and Loors. The vote on the approval of these petitions was not really tight as it seemed that popular pressure in Tullion had pressed the National Congress to vote in favor of the statehood of Loors and Wilson. When asked about his opinion on the matter, the Governor-General expressed high praise for the outcome of the votes.

A quick new post by Astrid Leloup, a political writer of the Palico News.

[Leagio]

President appoints Kelly Idiotus as Governor of the Territory of Freedonia and Felix Keliburg as Minister of Digital Technology

In what some people on the right consider as a shocking turn of events, President Lifejumper announced that he will be appointing Kelly Idiotus as the Governor of the new Territory of Freedonia. For those that do not remember, Kelly Idiotus was the Socialist Union Party Candidate for the EU Councilor election of this year. Although, she did not win in the first round, she did do better than expected when one was following the polls. Kelly Idiotus is considered a stable and strong leader within the membership of the Socialist Union Party. In addition, she had been running a race for the primary election for the party's Governor-General candidate through the National Congress election coming on December 20th. During the past months, she had been campaign throughout the Commonwealth for people to vote for Socialist Unionist Candidates in the election systems that the states and territories will soon be announcing as it was changed after the National Congress decided recently to incase the number of seats in the House of Councilors from 285 to 355 for better representation throughout the Commonwealth. When news of the President's appointment of Idiotus to be Governor of the new territory many members of the Conservative Reform Party accused the President of being a communist in Leagioan clothing.

When asked for the reason of appointing the member of the Socialist Unionist, the President responded by saying "Kelly Idiotus maybe someone on other political spectrum but she is the perfect candidate for the coming people from Eastern Haane through the Immigration Refugee program that was established through the President's recent Executive Order. Many pundits expect that the point will barely go through the Senate; however, there has been word that members of the Conservative Reform Party within the Senate will make a proposal to create another territory out of fear of four new Socialist Senators to be on the floor in the coming election on December 20th.

In addition, another appointment that the President will be making is the position of the newly created Minister of Digital Technology. The person with that title will run the Ministry of Digital Technology created through the recently passed Internet Equality and Democracy Act. Many pundits expect that no matter who the President chooses from his own party for the position that it will be a standoff as the bill was barely able to get passed the National Congress, especially the Senate. However, in a surprising move, the President did not appoint another person from his own party to be part of the cabinet; Instead, he appointed a person that was from the Leagioan Pact of Democracy (which is a party that helps to support candidates that want to run as independents). The individual that he chose from the Leagioan Pact of Democracy was Felix Keliburg, who runs his own youtube channel and was one of his opponents in the 2018 Presidential Election. Felix Keliburg is an individual that has been considered to be well-liked by the Conservatives and the more conservative wing of the Civil Populist Party. The reason for Keliburg's appointment might be seen as an appraisal from the President to the Consevatives in exchange for the appointment of Kelly Idiotus as Governor of Freedonia.

An image that was taken of Keliburg during his 2018 Presidential Campaign

Written by Mary Sue, a political news writer of The Commonwealth Post.

[Leagio]

Refugee Ships Coming Into the Commonwealth Packed!

About a week ago, the Archbishop of Inqusita made an announcement allowing the Commonwealth to ferry Eastern Haanean refugees from her country. Not long after troops that from the 2nd Motorized Division landed in Eastern Haane after inspection from the Spanish Officials there in accordance to the NFZ guidelines established over Eastern Haane, the President ordered the requisition of two cruise ships, The Astoria and the Ruby Saga, to sail to Inquista and pick up the first batch of refugee's.

The ships would indeed pick the refugees at large numbers, but that was anticipated as the two vessels were loaded with extra lifeboats and liferafts in case tragedy occurred on the voyage. When the ships arrived to Port Hilson yesterday, they were meet with applause and cheering from the people of the port city. Many of the refugee's waved as well as they most likely felt that they were finally away from the anarchy that is occurring within Eastern Haane. Once the ships docked, the passengers were inspected to ensure that they did not have any contagious diseases that would be a issue to the Commonwealth.

Afterwards, the 5,500 people that were on the two ships will be transported by train to the Territory of Freedonia under the management of the appointed Governor Kelly Idiotus, who announced that as part of a method to ensure the stable life of the Eastern Haanean refugee's that she will begin a program to provide housing and jobs that will be done through the methods of socialism for them. After unloading their passenagers and begin restocked on fuel as well as supplies, the two ships went back out to sea to ferry more refugee's.

(Photos token of the Astoria and Ruby Saga respectively as they were leaving for Inquista to pick more refugee's)

An article by Astrid Leloup, a political writer of the Palico News.

[Leagio]

New Senate Seats Filed Through New Constitutional Amendment

Starting tomorrow, the new Senate seats established through the Constitution and the creation of new territories as well states made recently. Through a new amendment that was added to the Constitution about less than a month ago, the Governors of all the Provinces in the Commonwealth appointed with the approval of their legislative branches to appoint individuals to fill the vacant seats in the Seate. These individuals would hold these seats until the General legislative election coming in this December. With these new seats, the Civil Populists and Conservative Reformists both gained 13 seats. The Leagioan Pact of Democracy received 5 seats, while the Progressives gained 6 seats. The Individuals that will fill these seats shall be starting to serve them this Friday, where it was announced that the Senate will vote for the Treaty of Tullion. A foreign treaty that was discussed between the President of the Commonwealth and Prime Minister Bridges of the Kingdom of Reitzmag. The Details of the treaty involves free trade, military sales and research, education, and Extradition. In order for it to pass, 2/3's of the Senate need to approve for its ratification.

Written by Edward Warren, A political writer from the DLN.

[Leagio]

Treaty of Tullion Is Ratified By Senate

Earlier this morning, the Senate that was recently filled with the new members for the new seats that were established had voted on the Treaty of Tullion that was negotiated between the President of the Commonwealth and Prime Minister Bridges of the Kingdom of Reitzmag about a couple of months ago. Initially, the President wanted the Senate to vote on the Treaty of Hampton which would place the Commonwealth in a defensive military alliance with the Reitzmic kingdom. However, support for voting in the treaty has fallen after the Reitzmag intervention in Eastern Haane and heightened tensions that have occurred within the European Union that involves the European Union. Instead, the Senate put a vote on the Treaty of Tullion which involves various topics that the President and Prime Minster agreed upon. The many topics that the two leaders agreed on include troop movement, free trade, weapon development, education, and extradition. In order for this treaty to be ratified within the Commonwealth of Leagio, a majority of two-third's need to approve the treaty. The only party's that expressed a feeling of dissent against the treaty were members of the Socialist Union Party, Progressive Alliance Party, and somewhat part of the Conservative Reform Party. When the Treaty went to a vote, 51 members of the Senate voted in favor of Ratification of the Treaty which is more than the 2/3's needed for Ratification within the Commonwealth. However, in order for the full implementation of the Treaty of Tullion to be complete, the Kingdom of Reitzmag needs to implement the treaty through its own constitutional bodies that ratify treaties. Public opinion of the Treaty of Tullion is mixed with some people holding a grudge against Reitzmag while others thinking that it is necessary for the economy within the Commonwealth. The text within the Treaty is as follows

Treaty of Tullion

Between the Commonwealth of Leagio and Kingdom of Reitzmag (2020)

Section 1: Free Trade and Movement

• The Commonwealth of Leagio and the Kingdom of Reitzmag shall ensure that no tariffs, taxes, or duties shall be placed on public goods coming from each other
• The Commonwealth of Leagio and the Kingdom of Reitzmag shall not apply value-added taxes (VAT) or goods and services (GST) to public products and goods from each other
• Any food and Medicine that either country sells to the other that have been prohibited for sale in their country shall be re-examined to possibly exempted.
• Commercial Businesses from The Commonwealth of Leagio and the Kingdom of Reitzmag shall be allowed to open offices, shops, and/or branches in each others countries with no to reasonable commercial taxes.
• Citizens of the Commonwealth of Leagio shall enter to visit the Kingdom of Reitzmag visa-free; they may stay as long as they wish
  Reitzmic Citizens shall enter the Commonwealth of Leagio Visa-free; they may stay as long as they wish
• Leagioan citizens shall be able to and be allowed to apply for a job in the Kingdom of Reitzmag; in addition they shall not be forced to leave by the government from the Kingdom of Reitzmag
• Reitzmic citizens shall be able to and be allowed to apply for a job in the Commonwealth of Leagio; in addition, they shall not be forced to leave by the government from the Commonwealth of Leagio.
• Each Government reserves the right to deport anyone that is considered as a threat for national security of either nation.

Section 2: Student Exchange Program

• The education systems of both countries shall establish a student educational exchange program that will be funded by both governments jointly
• The educational standards and curriculums of the Commonwealth of Leagio and the Kingdom of Reitzmag shall not be changed for this student educational exchange program
• The heads of the respective nation’s educational divisions shall cooperate to ensure the effectiveness of the student educational exchange program

Section 3: Extradition

• Any wanted criminals that come from the Kingdom of Reitzmag to the Commonwealth of Leagio for asylum shall be extradited back to the Kingdom of Reitzmag
• Any wanted criminals that come from the Commonwealth of Leagio to the Kingdom of Reitzmag for asylum shall be extradited back to the Commonwealth of Leagio

Section 4: Military Arms Sales and Deployment

• The Kingdom of Reitzmag shall station and deploy no more than two warships at the same location within the Commonwealth of Leagio at Port Hilson. In addition, the Kingdom of Reitzmag shall be allowed to deploy no more than two Brigades at the Beaumont, Arlick and Abline, Huttson with the permission to build bases at said locations.
• The Commonwealth of Leagio shall station and deploy no more than two Brigades at Buckingham, The Kingdom of Reitzmag will be allowed to purchase Leagioan arms and munitions at a discounted rate of no more than 15% of the standard price. The process of shipping the Leagioan arms and munitions will be done through their own means that is legal to any regulation made either by government or by the European Union Council. In exchange, arms manufacturers from the Kingdom of Reitzmag will aid the Commonwealth of Leagio airplane manufacturers in the development of better equipment for the Leagioan Air Force.

Section 5: Implementation

• This treaty will be made effective and implemented no later than one month after it is passed through the appropriate constitutional and/or legislative bodies of each respective government.

Section 6: Renewal

• The leaders of the two nations will discuss renewal of the treaty every two years after the treaty has been made effective by both sides of the agreement. They may discuss amending the treaty to better suit the needs of both parties in this agreement. Any amendment made in the treaty will mean that it will need to be reaffirmed by the constitutional bodies of the parties in this agreement.*

Written by Mary Sue, a political news writer of The Commonwealth Post.

[Leagio]

Ministry Reorganization Act Implemented with Presidential In-Line Veto

After failing to overturn a Presidential In-Line Veto in the National Congress before it ends the current session before the National Congress Elections this coming December 20th, a new piece of legislation was implemented that had been introduced by Councilor Toby Ziegler of the Progressive Alliance Party. The legislation, known as the Ministry Reorganization Act, was designed to implement a more stable Common Government with Ministries that were created for strongly defined purposes. In the past few months as reports began to show that the Commonwealth is having an outstanding economic rise in the EURO GDP, many members of both Houses of the National Congress felt that the need to ensure a more effective government for future generations was need; most in particular the President's Cabinet. There are at least 7 different Ministries within the Presidential Cabinet but there are a good number of Leagioans that believe that the Cabinet does not well represent the many sectors of the Commonwealth. The act would redefine the areas that the ministries cover and especially create new ministries for the Presidential Cabinet for example:

Ministry of the Cabinet
Ministry of Public Works
Ministry of Housing and Urban Development
Ministry of Sports
Ministry of Energy and Water Resources
Ministry of Congressional Affairs
Ministry of the Environment
Ministry of Homeland Security
Ministry of Agriculture
Ministry of Science and Research
Ministry of Racial, Refugee, and Immigration Affairs
Minister of Social Affairs

In addition, it reorganizes some of the Ministries that already exist to be one ministry. For example,The Ministry of Cultural Affiars will be changed to being the Ministry of Culture & Tourism. In addition, The Ministries of Commerce and Industry will be combined into one ministry called the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Councilor Ziegler was able to get the support and sponsorship of many other Councilors in the House of Councilors. The Act passed the House of Councilors relatively smoothly but in the Senate, it was meet with some resistance to which the vote for it was delay for another week. Eventually the act was put up to a vote that was close, where it was then sent up to the President of the Commonwealth, Kenith Lifejumper. However, this turnout to be something that the President did not fully support as he used the powers granted by the New Constitution to remove the provisions of the creation of a Ministry of Homeland Security. The National Congress has the power to overturn the in-line veto with a two thirds majority. However, the National Congress was unable to as it was not even close to 2/3's to overturn the in-line veto from the President. This meant that the Ministry Reorganization Act will be implemented with the out the creation of the Ministry of Homeland Security.

When asked for the reason of his opposition to the creation of the Ministry of Homeland Security, the President responded by saying that he "felt that it was unnecessary and puts the liberty as well as the freedom of the people of Commonwealth at risk of being a Ministry of Tyranny." The purpose of the Ministry of Homeland Security stated in the Act before the veto was to implement counter-terrorism actions and motions to protect the Commonwealth.

The provisions and new ministries that are created from this act will be implemented on December 31st after the new National Congressional Elections occur.

Written by Killen Hoyd, a political writer from the Leagioan Broadcasting Company.

[Leagio]

Anti-Reitzmag Feelings in Leagio; PAP Gains Support

In the past few days, the Commonwealth of Leagio seems to be having a shift on the feelings it is having towards the current government in the Kingdom of Reitzmag after it announced days ago that it plans to build islands in the Caspian Sea. Before the announcement, polls showed that the people in the Commonwealth were willing to tolerate the Bridges administration in Reitzmag, but now that is seeming to change. In recently down flash polls, Leagioan feelings toward the Kingdom of Reitzmag is that it has gone to see it as a aggressive regime that is steeping out of line. Although, these feelings have been noticed after Reitzmag involvement in the Eastern Haane Civil War; where according to some of the Eastern Haane Refugee's now living in the Commonwealth of Leagio was killing anyone that they believe to be an enemy. These stories had seemed to start a shift within the Commonwealth to be Anti-Reitzmag.

The fact that the President of the Commonwealth has been silent on the island dregging has not done well for the current administration as new polls are showing a shocking boost to Progressive Alliance Party in the comming National Congress election that will be happening on December 20th with early voting starting this Sunday. In their campaign recently, chairman of the Party Ran Mouri-Kudo has been using the President's negotiation with Prime Minister Bridges for the Treaty of Tullion as a call for a new era of progressive politics within the Commonwealth;

(Image of Charman of the PAP Ran Mouri-Kudo taken during a fundraiser event last week for the Party)

When asked about the coming National Congress election next week, the Chairman said that they are confident that the Party will be able to a majority within at the House of Councilors branch of the National Congress. However, in the Senate, the Party expects to recieve enough seats to be a huge facotr on how legislation will be handled within both Houses of the National Congress.

In order for the Progressive Allaince Party to have a majority in both houses of the National Congress, they would need no less than 271 seats of the 541 (including the abroad seats) seats in the House of Councilors and 51 of the 100 seat Senate (including the abroad seats). Recent polls are showing that it might be possible for the Progressives to receive that majority on December 2oth after all the votes are counted. The support for the party has been so strong to the point that Chairman Mouri-Kudo is expected to win the Primary election (which is included in the ballot for the National Congress Election) for the Party's candidate for President in the 2021 Executive Election.

Written by Kevin Witman, a political writer from the DLN.

[Leagio]

President Announces Construction of New Green Power Plants Through EU Loan

Just a few hours ago in a press conference within the Executive Mansion, the President of the Commonwealth announced that tomorrow construction will officially begin for three new clean energy power plants. Two of them, being wind turbine plants, will be built in the Beaumont Mountains in Diamond Heart. The third plant being a solar power plant will be constructed within the State of Muale at its border with the State of Huttson. The President explained that the oney used for the construction for these three plants was the money loaned to the Common Government by the EU Council.

The President continued to explain that the three new projects are expected to be completed by hopefully August of 2021 where they will be providing additional power to the electric needs of the Commonwealth, especially the Eastern territories. Before the press conference ended, the President stated that the Internal Affairs Commission, if it feels necessary, may be allowed to appoint a person to oversee the construction of these three projects as a way to ensure that the money was used as stated.

Written by Mary Sue, a political news writer of The Commonwealth Post.

[Leagio]

President Invites PAP Leadership to Discuss Filling New Ministries

Earlier today after the results of the National Congress Election was released, the President of the Commonwealth invites the leaders of the Progressive Alliance Party to the Executive Mansion. The purpose of the meeting was discuss filling the coming new ministries that were established through the Ministry Reoganization Act established a month. The problem for the Preseident is that inorder to fill the new ministries with permant cabinet members, he would need the approval of the Senate which the Progressives will have control of with 52 of 100 seats when sworn-in this December 31st. Among the many people that have been confirmed to be attending the meeting is Chairman of the PAP Ran Mouri-Kudo, whose Husband was elected in Huttson as a Councilor in the party.

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TAC Plans To Develop Hyrbrid Stark

This week Tecnologia Automotiva Catarinense (TAC) announced at its headquarters in Vese, Gopen that it will be looking into developing a hyrbird model of the Stark. The Stark is pretty much at this moment, the main product of TAC at this point but the company said that with encouragement from the determination of many of the nation of the European Union in wanting to build a green environment, there was a need to look into seeing if their product could be developed to run both on gas and electricity. In addition, the Stark is mainly an off-road vehicle but the company announced that it will be modified for urban driving to be cheaper to consumers.

The press secretary for TAC announced that although that it will take some time, possibly within at least 8 months, but the company is committed to Europe's dream of a cleaner world. When the announcement came, the stocks for TAC jumped up by 391 points on the LEA410 index. Additional excitement for the company's plans might have to do with the concern that with the tense situation in the Capsian Sea that Reitzmag might be blockade by a number of the European powers of the sea. In addition, Reitzmag is so far one of the few companies that have been selling electric cars on the market through the company Telsa.

[Leagio]

First Session of National Congress Being Held; House Elects New Speaker

A few hours ago, the first sesssion for the newly elected National Congress in both houses (the House of Councilors and the Senate) began. This session held was bigger in the number of congressmen than all the other sessions in the history of the National Congress. The first day of the session was mainly cerrmonial, where both houses elect their delegation leaders in both houses. Although, it will be expected that actual legislation will be coming soon as the deadline for the 2021 fiscal year budget is due on January 25th next year. Talks on what will be in the budget is still in the air as the various parties have various internests on what should be on. Both the Progressives and Civil Populists want investment towards cleaner energy, while the Conservatives want investment in gas as well as oil but that might not be an option for the coming budget. The Socialists want investment to the protections of the workers of the Commonwealth, but this might difficult for them to attain the needed votes in the House.

When the session began, the President attended to give a short speech on how the year 2021 will be a new era of Leagioan Politics hitting full swing, where the people have more options in coming elections with a constitution that promises a government that is revolving constantly to suit the needs of the people of the Commonwealth.

After the speech, the House of Councilors managed to elect a member of the body as Speaker, who would be the presiding officer of the House of Councilors. With a majority vote from the Progressives as well as the Civil Populists and their allied parties, Councilor Shinichi Mouri-Kudo (husband to Presidential Candidate for the Progressives Ran Mouri-Kudo and Councilor representing the 1st Northern District of Huttson) was elected with 303 out of 541 votes to be Speaker of the House.

(Imagine of taken of Speaker Mouri-Kudo for his credentials)

(Compostion of the Senate)

(Composition of the House of Councilors)

[Leagio]

National Congress Agrees on a Budget for 2021!

After much debate and negotiation within the floors of the National Congress, the Progressives along with the Free Liberalist Political Alliance (Comprising of the Civil Populists, Eastern Leagioans, and Social Democrats) came to an agreement for the new budget for the Commonwealth that will take effect on January 26th this year. For the budget that contains over 380 Billion Sulias or 257 Billion Euros that was collected from taxes last year, the budget for 2021 was established with a balance splitting for many sectors of the Leagioan Economy.

The budget was drafted by the two main factions of both houses of the National Congress, where there was not a deficit included within it for the next fiscal year. Although, the Commonwealth still has the loan from the European Union that it will have to pay for this year but Speaker of the House Shinichi Mouri-Kudo explained that was for the purpose of the emergency funds that is developed within the budget. Over 10 Billion Sulia's or 7 Billion euros was set aside for economic emergencies or other types of situations with a small part of it being used to pay off the loan to the European Union that the Commonwealth acquired early last year to build additional electric power plants. Other divisions and changes that were made to the budget that are different from last year was an increase in Education, Science, Administration, and Housing & Urban Development (which were parts of the campaign promises made by both Progressives and Civil Populists).

However, there were changes in terms of cutbacks and divisions that were different from the 2020 budget made by the President at the time that it was passed. One thing the categories of Energy, Environment, and Agriculture were divided from each other as well as the Interior section that existed in last year's budget. For this year's budget as part of a promise to ensure that the energy crisis that the Commonwealth is at risk of having can be solved, the president asked the House as well as Senate Committee of the Economy and their Budget counterparts to see that 38 Billion Sulias or 25 Billion Euros were set aside for improvements in the Leagioan Energy sector with the provision that the money not be used to produce energy in the Commonwealth that is not green as well as clean. This provision was meet by heavy resistance from members of the Republican Political Alliance (comproising of the Conservatives, Christian Democratic-Republicans, and Common Nationalists) who stated that in the floor of both houses of the Congress that clean as well as green energy especially the concept of global warming is a liberal hoax. However, this provision was approved without much difficulty from either house of the Congress where the Free Liberalists, as well as Progressives (who control the Senate), have a majority.

When negotiating for the Agriculture secotor set aside about 5% of the budget for especially the newly formed Ministry of Agriculture, where subsidies would be provided to farmers to produce crops that like Corn, Wheat, Rice, and Soybeans. However, there was another provision that was provided for farming in the Eastern Sector of the Commonwealth, particularly the Eastern Territories, where land would be provided to farmers at cheap prices and granted additional subsides if they produce certain types of desert crops in the sandy lands of Leagio.

However, one sector that was cut in the budget deeply was the Industry sector which was 11% last year but is now established at about 8% of the budget. When asked by a reporter of the LBC, House Chairman of the Budget Tom Kelly answered that "the industry sector of the Commonwealth has experience tremedous growth last year with its introduction to the European Union, which illustrates that to ensure that other sectors are going to do well in the EU, it was decided that some of the budget could be cut and diverted to other sectors of the Commonwealth Economy." However, even though it was cut, the budget did contain provisions for any car company owned by Leagio shareholders that transitions to build green as well as electric cars by 2025 to receive tax cuts as long as they show that they are indeed making that transition.

Another cut that was made in Law Enforcement and Public Transportation, which was small in numbers. However, the budget has also included other unique provisions that is showing to have strong strides to the ideas that Juncker introduce not too long on the New Green Deal. In fact, a number of politicians that supported the provision directly the Ministry of Environment to plant over 450,000 Acres of trees in hills of the State of Jullien for this year admitted that it was inspired by the Internal Affairs Commissioner Juncker's New Green Deal, which has not yet been fully released to the public yet but has been heavily anticipated by mainly of his Leagioan Supporters that voted for him back in August, where he would with a decent lead in Leagioan election standards. Another provision that was included within the budget for 2021 was that thye Ministry of Research & Science was to issue a studied report within 6 months on the ways and means that the Common Government can increase the method of efficient recycling within the Commonwealth of Leagio.

The Budget was submitted to a vote within the House of Councilors yesterday after being introduced which was voted with 334 FOR, 191 AGAINST, and 16 ABSTAINING. Afterward, the Budget went to the Senate which was controlled by the Progressives with 63 FOR, 35 AGAINST, and 2 ABSTAINING. A good number of the Councilors and Senators from the Socialist Union Party and Green Party voted for the budget, but stated that they felt that it was still not enough to check the balances of capitalism. Today, the budget was sent to President Lifejumper who signed the budget with some people beliving that it might be one of the last major bills of legislation that he will be signing as President of Commonwealth, while Governor-General Mark Gorge (who failed to win the party primary for President for this year's executive election will be having to holding the Free Liberalist candidate for President wins to give him a job for the government).

[Leagio]

Opinion: Mouri-Kudo and Miralles Might Win First Round of Presidential Election

As the day of the First Round of the Executive Elections is coming closer and closer each day, particularly the Presidential Election that will be held on February 5th, there has been much speculation on who will be the winner or winners of the First Round. Although, Leagioan Polls for multi-candidate races have a huge margin of error to them, they do show who is not going to the Second Round of the Presidential Race of this year. There is much certainty that Sharp, Barkle, and Gauthier are going to not make it to the Second Round as those candidates have been attacking their own bases, where they should be focusing on Mouri-Kudo of the Progressives and Miralles of the Free Liberalists. Palvini of the LUTF was never going to have a chance in the first placewith his history of racist rhetoric as that really never goes well with many Leagioan voters outside of Diamond Heart.

Mouri-Kudo and Miralles have both been not going on the aggressive on any candidates at all in this campaign, where people cannot access both of them for acting like foreign politicians that sling mud at each other for just a few votes. The result of this has been showing for the past few days in the polls, where the two candidates mentioned have been climbing up to the top with Mouri-Kudo reaching the 45% percentage in the polls. The reason why Mouri-Kudo looks to be favored might be simple, which is she has been advocating herself to run not as a politician of the Progressives but for the whole Commonwealth which seems to be missing from a majority of the candidates for this race.

However, it might just be more than that, Mouri-Kudo has been also advocating support for Cannabis Legalization in the Commonwealth which has been supported by many Liberal and Conservative voters that have starting to support such a concept each year. Another trait that has Mouri-Kudo gaining support in the polls and might come in First place in the first round with most likely Miralles as well would be that she has been adovcating for a comprehensive green economy plan that has many traits from Commissioner Juncker's European New Green Deal, which has been recieving support from many of the people that voted for the Commissioner in the last EU elections. However, if Mouri-Kudo does win the election especially if she recieves 50% of the vote (which would just elimante the need for a second round and make her President), then she will become the first woman (and asian-family immigrant born) President of the Commonwealth of Leagio and this might be seen as a postive event by the many nations of the European Union. However, only time will tell for sure on what this election season will bring for the Commonwealth.

[Leagio]

Polls Released For IAC & PC Elections

As the date for the First Round of the Executive Election is coming closer with early voting starting and mail-in ballots being sent out for voters that need it, the first set of polls for the EU Commissioner election for February has been released for mainly the Internal Affairs and Premier Commissioner positions.

In the race for Internal Affairs Commmissioner, there is a good number of voters that are completely undecided on who they feel that they should vote for with the two candidates, Winston and Birdane at each other necks on the polls for the past few days. The large column of undecided voters might be present at a large percentage due to the fact that there is not an EPA candidate for IAC and many of the them might be supporters of Juncker who won the last election in Leagio with an 11 point lead. However, there is a sense of hesitation on who to vote for as the two candidates might be lacking the charisma that Juncker had when he ran for re-election in the race last year. Both the candidates offer more to Leagio with many Leagioans saying that they like the platform that both candidates run on with Birdane gaining a lead on that. However, the platform of Winston who lost the last race in Leagio with many Leagio voters illustrating disstain when the East Haanen Civil War was reaching its worst with the Reitzmag intervention. Although, it seems that Winston might have a chance to recieve the Leagioan vote this season as many Leagioans say that he is a more likeable candidate than last year with his reformed platform.

In the race for Premier Commissioner, it will be expected that Leeson of the EPA might win the Leagioan Vote but he will need to keep on campaigning to ensure that victory with Cocx and Le Berre trying to get to second place. At first, it was expected that LE Berre would be in the lead but many Leagioan feel that the individual from the Union of Sydincates is not really likeable especially after the interview that he gave which had really toke a toll on him in the polls and it is expected that it will continue to climb. Cocx was never really liked in Leagioan where in the last race he got only 6 points of the vote, while he might get more than he had last race. The problem is that Leagioans feel that he is not moderate enough on his stances and feel that he has an authoritarian streak to him. He will most likely be in second place but it might change depending on if Leeson can keep his stance with Leagioans.

[Leagio]

Münevver Birdane Coming to Tullion Tomorrow / Presidential and Governor-General Candidates Endorsing EU Commission Candidates

As the race for President and Governor-General continues with the First Round on February 5th, many candidates for the two races have been endorsing candidates in this season's EU Commission Election. With Münevver Birdane, who is an Independent running against Atty Winston of the ELDR for the Internal Affairs position, will be coming to Tullion tomorrow for a rally and convince many voters in Leagio who will most likely be cast their votes for the EU Commission positions at the same time as they cast their votes for the Executive election this Friday. Not much is known on what she will talk about in the rally but it is assumed that she will possibly mention some of the issues that have been addressed in the Executive campaigns in the Commonwealth.

Many of the candidates for the Executive race have been giving their endorsements to candidates in the EU Commision Election. For example, it was announced this morning that Presidential Candidate for the Free Liberalists, Isreal Miralles, along with Kaneshiro Kin of the same faction running for Governor-General had endorsed Münevver Birdane as Internal Affairs Commissioner, while Jordan Gauthier of the Leagioan Pact of Democracy endorsed Atty Winston for Internal Affairs Commissioner. Although, many polls show that the race for IAC will not have a Leagioan vote for any of the candidates that comes with a mandate similar to Juncker's last year, who had an 11 point winning vote in the Commonwealth.

When focusing on the Primier Commissioner race, Jordan Gauthier oddly endorsed Cocx for the Position. Both candidates for the Revolutionary Front endorsed Le Berre for PC. The Candidates for the Republicans had endorsed Cocx stating their desire for states rights within the European Union and that Cocx would definitely provide that to Leagio. Meanwhile, Ran Mouri-Kudo of the Progressives has actually remained silent on endorsing any candidate particularly Leeson of the European Progressive Alliance. The reason for her hesitation might deal with the fact that with the mud slinging fight that Leeson had with Le Berre on Twitter had actually taken a hit on the polls as of recent. As many Leagio disapprove of the attacks that Leeson and Le Berre made on each other an entire which has now put Leeson and Cocx at each others necks on the polls. However, it might be possible that the debates might change the fortune for either candidate and Leeson could regain the advantage with another Juncker-style victory but it will be difficult for him to accomplish that this early with early voting happening already.

[Leagio]

Round One of the Executive Elections Officially Starts Today

Today is a day of excitement for many Leagioans as the Executive Elections have officially begun with the expected huge turnout to becoming as millions of mail-in and in-person ballots have been casted throughout the Commonwealth. It will be expected that once February 6th rolls in that the first series of results will come in for mainly the position of President of Commonwealth, where there are six candidates in the race and at most only two of them will win this round. However, that could change if a Candidates recieves more than 50% of the vote but there is not much hope for that in such a contested race. Debatedly, many historians and political scientists stated that this race has so far been the most constested ever experienced in the Commonwealth as a good number of the Candidates have been using the Commissioner Elections as a way to boost their popularity and maybe get to either first or second place in this round. The polls have constantly been showing that the two winners of this round of the race for President will be Ran Mouri-Kudo of the Progressive Alliance Party and Isreal Miralles of the Civil Populist Party within the Free Liberalists. Will the polls hold true is the question that many people have been wondering. At the same time as the election is being held, the early votes for the EU Commission election this season is also being collected but will not be released until a few more days.

The race for Governor-General has been a race less euthaism for either candidate as the focus in this election has mainly been the Presidential race. In the race for Governor-General of the Commonwealth, there are six candidates like the Presidential race and they must get a clearly majority in the popular vote to avoid the Electoral College Round. However, the main candidates have been expected to win are the following: the infamous jewel thief of the Commonwealth Magic Kaito (who has somehow managed to avoid the police throughout his entire campaign and held rallies somehow) of the Leagioan Pact of Democracy and Free Liberlist Candidate Kaneshiro Kin. The results for the first round of this race is expected to coming after the Presidential winners or winner has been called.

[Leagio]

Ministry of Defense Announces New Expansions and Plans For 2021

After the passing of the new budget for the fiscal year of 2021, the Ministry of Defense was given a budget of 36 billion Sullia’s to spend for the year to defend the Commonwealth and expand its capability to do so. Not only was this budget enough for the Ministry of Defense more than enough to maintain the current size of the Armed Forces of the Commonwealth but it gave a good amount of room for expanding the potential of the military. With that in mind, Minister of Defence Sherlock Tomes announced that the Ministry of Defence will expand the size of the Armed Forces of the Commonwealth to include additional submarines, army units, and aircraft to better ensure that the military defense of the Commonwealth’s boundaries are protected should a scenario require it.

Some of the new units that were included in this expansion of the military were the launching of six new Revolution Class submarines, which are made to used in costal areas should an enemy force make any attempts to invade from the coast of the state of Arlick. Although, the chances of such a move is highly unlike, the Ministry of Defence seems to not be taking any chances at all. The formation of new armored units that are comprising of the new T-21 Huttson and old but still useful T-19 Crillent Main Battle Tanks. These expansions have been meet with support from the Republicans and Free Liberalists in the National Congress, who cite the need for the expansion by the tensions and concerns over the incidents involved in the Capsian Sea Crisis. The Progressives at the moment have kept silent on the matter after their candidate for President, Ran Mouri-Kudo, won in the first round of the race with Free Liberalist candidate Isreal Miralles being her competitor.

In the same announcement, the Ministry of Defence announced that in collaboration with the new Ministry of Science & Research work will be made on having the Commonwealth make groundwork on producing its own drone and stealth technology. Although, they announced that it is unlikely that the completion of the two projects will be done by the end of the fiscal year, the Press Secretary of the Minister of Defence explained that they are hopeful that enough progress will be finished to the point that it is possible that the Commonwealth might see the technology being implemented by late 2022 or at the latest 2023.

(An artist digital painting of the Commonwealth's planned Defender Class Submarine)

Focusing back on the navy of the Commonwealth, the Ministry of Defense explained that it will be drafting the blueprints of a new diesel-electric submarine class that will have better combat capacity and range. The details of what this new submarine class will contain exactly has not been released yet, but it was announced that this class will be called Defender. During the press conference, it was explained that the Air Force is also getting additional aircraft of various types and a new project on developing an aircraft that will start out from the beginning as a Gen5 type aircraft that is fitted with the best tech that it can get. The Ministry of Defence explained that details of the aircraft were based off blueprints of the Reitzmag variant of the SU-30 aircraft (called the Fa.30) given to the Government of Leagio by Prime Minister Simon Bridges of Reitzmag during his visit for the negotiation for the Treaty of Tullion last year. In addition, the Leagioan Air Force announced that it will implementing new procedures in flight training and combat in desert areas.

[Leagio]

National Congress Passes Additional Amendments to Constitution

This afternoon after the Senate of the Commonwealth voted on the candidates for the Europe Court of Justice through the method of Rank Voting. The National Congress voted for the passage of additional amendments to the Constitution that for the past month since the inauguration of the new session of this Congress after being elected back in December 20th last year. Most of these amendments relate to various topics and went through multiple revisions between the two houses before finally being passed and sent to the legislative bodies of the States and Territories of the Commonwealth. Thses amendments focused on a range of issues or questions that many members of the National Congress felt needed to answered by instituting new articles of amending the Constitution of 2020. One of those issues were ensuring that Slavery does not happen under this constitution and the transition of the executive branch after an election. The press secetary for the National Congress released the new amendments that have been sent to the States and Territories within the Commonwealth:

Article 18: EU Councilor Term Change

1. The term that the Leagioan Councilor for the European Union shall be changed from 365 days to 2 years with the election being concurrent with the National Congress elections
2. The Election for the position on July 2021 and August 2021 will be a special election with the person elected serve until the positions election with its popular round on December 5th and the Electoral round on December 20th unless a candadate recieves more than 50% of the popular vote in the first round.
3. Incase of a sudden vacancy in the position, a Snap Election shall be called by the National Congress that lasts no more than two weeks shall be held through a popular vote with the winner serving the remainder of the term.

Article 19: Election Security

1. All systems of election within the Commonwealth shall be protected and secured by the Bureau of Election Security.
2. The Bureau shall be run by a Director who shall be appointed by the President and approved of by both the Supreme Court as well as the Senate for a 8 year term that shall not be renewable.
3. The Director shall issue a report to the National Congress on any concerns of influence by foreign powers on Leagioan elections.

Article 20: Slavery Abolition

1. Slavery within the Commonwealth shall not issued, pressured, or forced in any way unless as a crime or a punishment which shall be strictly regulated by the National Congress.

Article 21: Executive Transition

1. Once a winner is declared in a election for the President of the Commonwealth, the winner shall be instantly given access to necessary resources that shall be designated by the National Congress to ensure a proper as well as effective transition of government, even if the loser is the incumbent President.
2. If the loser of the election is the incumbent President of the Commonwealth, the out-going president shall be required by this article of amendment to ensure that the President-elect has the resources needed for transition within no less than 4 days after the results of the election is declared. If the out-going incumbent fails to do so, then the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth shall be required to issue an injunction of removal on the President, which will remove the President from office and be charge with trying to destabilize the integrity of the Commonwealth. The punishment for the injunction will be decided by the Senate through the similar procedures implemented for impeachment.
3. If the out-going President is removed through injunction, the power of giving the resources of transition shall be given temporally to the House of Councilors with a mandatory passing vote, who if not then shall be dissolved by the Supreme Court with Snap elections taking placing within two weeks.
4. The previous guidelines implemented in this article shall be also enforced if the out-going President was not a candidate in the election.
5. The previously mentioned guidelines of this article shall also be enforced on the office of Governor-General of the Commonwealth.

Article 22: Council of Provinces

1. The Council of Provinces shall have the power to submit to the National Congress an agreement or bills of legislation that have been agreed on with a simple majority, which will be given top priority unless other unpredictable circumstances occur to prevent such priority.
2. If the Council of Provinces submit an Article of Amendment for this constitution it must be passed in the Council with at least a 3/5’s vote which will then be submitted to the National Congress for a vote in both houses where it must pass with no less than a 3/5’s vote.

Article 23: Dual Citizenship

1. The naturalized and Leagioan-Born citizens of the Commonwealth shall have the right to hold multiple citizenships from a different countries and shall not be discriminated against, even in times of emergency.

Article 24: National Congress Term Limits

1. Member Councilors of the House of Councilors shall serve no more than 6 terms of 2 years each.
2. Members who serve in the Senate shall serve no more than 3 terms of 4 years each.
3. This amendment shall start to apply to members of the National Congress of the 2022-2024 session.

Article 25: Voting Methods

1. Voting in all elections in the Commonwealth is a universal right for all citizens in which disenfranchisement is a high crime.
2. Voting in the Commonwealth shall be done in secret through the methods of in-person, mail-in, and online.
3. Any person born in or of parents from the Commonwealth of Leagio regardless of circumstances shall be considered a citizen. The National Congress shall have the power to establish fair and just guidelines for immigration citizenship within the Commonwealth.
4. All States and territories within the Commonwealth shall adhere to the values and methods of this article of amendment by ensuring that the people have access all three of these methods mentioned in Section 2 of this article.
5. The National Congress shall have the power to define how these methods mentioned in Section 2 of this article shall be accomplished.

Article 26: Two Round House of Councilor Election

1. All constituency seats for the House of Councilors shall be elected through a two round popular vote with the first round on December 5th and the second round on December 20th.
2. If a candidate for a constituency seat election on the first round receives at less or more than 50% of the vote, then they have won election to the seat with a second round deemed not necessary. If no one has 50% of the vote, then the top two candidates will go to the second round of the election for that seat.
3. This amendment shall be implemented for the National Congress election of 2022.

Article 27: Campaign Reform

1. The National Congress shall have the power to pass legislation that is fair and equal on the regulation of the practice of political campaigning.
2. All members of all three branches of the Common Government shall not be involved in receiving additional income outside of their government position throughout their tenure.

• The National Congress shall have the power to make exceptions that do not override the purpose of this amendment and other articles of this constitution.

Article 28: Refugees and Immigration

1. The President of the Commonwealth shall have the power to admit any people of oppressed nations into the Commonwealth as refugees, who shall be given the option of a fair, quick, and stable path to citizenship that shall be regulated by the National Congress.
2. The National Congress shall have the power to set regulations and legislation for immigration into the Commonwealth outside of the reasons of political refugees as well as religious and cultural persecution.
3. In case of a national emergency, the President shall have the power to suspend immigration into the Commonwealth for a period of no more than 30 days.

[Leagio]

Supreme Court Strikes Down National Congress Party Whips and Legislative Alliances in McCain Vs. Thompson by 9-4

In a Civil Law Suit that has brought a shocking turn of events on how the future of Leagioan politics will be in the next few years, the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of Leagio declared that the implementation of Legislative Campaign Alliances to be Unconstitutional. Within the same case, the Court declared that the use of Party Whips in the legislative body of Congress to be used as a harassment system to shore up votes against the free beliefs of an elected member, regardless of List or Constituency, to be Unconstitutional as well. The Court Case that brought this shocking motion of a 9-4 was between Former Senator for Muale in the Last Session of Congress John McCain and Former Conservative Reformist Senator as well as Whip Jacob Thompson. The Case begins about a few months ago before the end of the 2018-2020 Congress, where during the time of the Romain Incident happen and the Congress was voting on the Nuclear Trade Commission Act which now provides supervision on the shipping of Nuclear Material. The Conservatives felt that it was not strong enough for the safety of the Commonwealth and many voted against with Party Whips in Both Houses being instructed to ensure that the votes are their side are against the bill at the time.

However, Former Senator McClain disagreed with the party and announced that he was going to vote for the bill which resulted in a visit that would bring about McCain Vs. Thompson. Party Senate Whip Jacob Thompson visit the Office of McCain and told him that if he did not vote against the bill, then he will not be given funds for his re-election. McCain admitted to the Court that he told Whip Thompson that he can go ‘f**k himself’ and that he was still going to vote for it. After he voted for the bill, the Conservative Reform Party chairman Malanie Edwards told McCain that he was not going to be receiving funds for his run for Senate back in December from the Party by claiming that it was because of Budgetcuts. Afterwards Senator explained that in the Court Case that the Party then unofficially blacklisted him from running in any races under their name. This eventually resulted him in filing harassment against the party under the guidelines of Article 1, Section 1, Clause 2 which states that “Members of the National Congress shall be elected in general, direct, free, equal and secret elections. They shall be representatives of the whole people, not bound by orders or instructions, and responsible only to their conscience.” In addition, he filed under Article 8, section 3, Clause 20 which states that “All persons of the Commonwealth of Leagio have the right to not to be discriminated against by sexual orientation, race, color, ethnicity, history, gender, political belief, and religion.”

Eventually the suit of harassment and discrimination reached all the way to the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth, where Party Whip Thompson was required to attend as McCain is claiming harassment compensation from him along with the CRP under the guidelines of the Civil Rights Act of 1954. In this case, McCain made a compelling argument that the Whip System in Congress is unconstitutional as it violates Article 1, Section 1, Clause 2 by using a member of the Congress to compel another member to vote for a piece of legislation no matter what their conscience tells them. In addition, at the same time, McCain argued that the concept of Legislative Election Alliances like the Republicans and Free Liberalists were unconstitutional as it prevents members of the party to choose to run for a office. Although, the last bit of the argument seemed not to be as strong with the Court, the first one was the one that made an impact as the Counter-argument that the Lawyer for Whip Thompson seemed to be not as compelling. Eventually after continuous debate and questioning, the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth issued its ruling with a 9-4 vote that Party Whips were Unconstitutional and so were political legislative alliance. However, in the ruling, political parties were considered constitutional as long as they adhere to the Constitution. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Jean Hilton in his opinion which was supported by 4 other judges stated that “Party Whips and the system that they implement to force members of Congress to adhere to party and not liberty or even the will of their constituents are a system of abusive that have more power than the actual houses of the National Congress.” Of the 3 Judges that ruled against McCain, Justice Amy Comey, who was appointed back in 1993 by President Dylan Fidalgo, dissented in her opinion, stating that the “Party Whip system was constitutional as the Constitution gave the right of political belief for the Whips to express their views to the elected members of the Congress.” At the end of the ruling, Thompson was was forced to pay McCain compensation of 45,000 Sulias for harrassment.

In addition, with the ruling in the case on stating that political legislative alliances like the Republicans were Unconstitutional, the Supreme Court gave a notice to the Free Liberalists, Republicans, and Revolutionary Front to disband their alliances with 2 weeks from now. This part of the ruling leaves many to wonder how this will affect Leagioan politics.

[Leagio]

EU Councilor Plessis Suffers Heart Attack After Craze in EU Council

Although, not much is exactly known on what happened in the closed session of the EU Council over the topic of Intervention in the Union of Sydinicates, there is without any doubt to the many people that have lived in the city of Europolis for many years that something had occurred as an ambulance and multiple city police cars were dispatched to the EU Council building. When asking around with the many citizens of the city, one of them said "I have lived here since I was a boy and the sheer speed, as well as the pace of the vehicles, tells me something serious happened." It was confirmed that the Speaker of the EU Council Charles Michel of Fremet closed the session after the intermin government appointed Councilor Bauer of the Union attacked members of the Council with threats of violence and vomiting LIJURXI on Council Members, a Union drug that causes extreme pain, vomiting, and general discomfort that is also cultural important to the Union. During the crazy that was eventually confirmed to have happened by a unnamed witnessed of the event, Councilor James Mizrachi-Abbott of the United Duchies responded against the crazed intermin councilor and suffered minor injuries for defending the council.

However, after the session ended, sources close to the Leagioan EU Councilor Francis Plessis stated that he had suffered a heart attack that resulted in his staff quickly sending him to the Europolis Council Urgent Care Center not far from the EU Council Building. This news comes as a surprise as during the campaign last year for EU Councilor, Plessis showed medical records showing that he was healthy enough to live for a few more decades. However, the same sources that confirmed that the Leagioan EU Councilor had been admitted to the hospital that it might be possible the Union drug that was being vomited on the Council might have been something that the Councilor was allergic to. When asked for confirmation about the admittance, his Press Sectary Tyler Williams confirmed that the Councilor was in the hospital after having a heart attack after leaving the floor of the EU Council after the Speaker closed the session for the day and was under the carefully watch of the hospital staff.

Mr. Williams did also mention that the Councilor was concusise and is expected to recover by March 3rd if given the all clear from the hoispital staff; At the moment, he can speak and is currently looking to see if he can meet with the Speaker regarding the rules on whether or not he can be able to vote or ask questions on acts as well as resolutions from the hospital room should any come up soon in the EU Council floor.

[Leagio]

President-Elect Mouiri-Kudo Announces Her 'Coalition' Cabinet Configuration For March 14th

Five days after victory in the second round, President-Elect Ran Mouri-Kudo of the Progressive Party released what the configuration of her Cabinet will be like once she is inaugurated on March 14th. Many of the ministries that are being filled are new ones that were recently created last year and filled by acting ministers that were appointed by President Lifejumper. However, the thing about the people that are filling the ministries of the coming Mouri-Kudo Presidency is that they are of different political parties. The reason why this is strange is that Mouri-Kudo's Party (the Progressive Alliance Party) holds a majority in the Senate with 52 of 100 seats, where she could have her entire cabinet filled with members of her own party. The people that are of different affiliations is of parties that are both represented and not represented in both Houses of the National Congress.

For example, the person that will be Minister of Science & Research is Dr. Ritsuko Akagi who is affiliated with the Civil Populist Party and Diana Burnwood of the Social Democrats will be Minister of Digital Technology. Many people suggest that the reason why Mouri-Kudo filled her cabinet with these individuals to form what might as well as be considered a Coalition Government is to get her agenda through the House of Councilors where the Progressives do not have a majority in with only 233 of the 541 seats. However, there is another distinct trait about the coming Mouri-Kudo Cabinet and that is it also has candidates of the newly formed Free Democratic Party that formed last week by individuals dissatisfied with the position of the Conservative Reform Party. These are individuals that were not elected to the National Congress and disagreed with the Party's previous formation of the Republican Legislative Alliance. The new Party that will run for seats for the National Congress for the 2022 election follows the idea of classical liberalism and soft-eurosepticism.The nominees that Mouri-Kudo has presented are expected to be sent to the Senate tomorrow for appointment to their positions that will begin in March 14th after the inauguration.