News Media of Istkalen

[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

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.

[Istkalen]

Republic: Mutiny in Istkalen

Two days ago, following the arrest of then-acting Prime Minister Indras Uskeled, Minister of Social Affairs Luke Kareskenet, and President of the Union of Istkalenic Workers' Associations Mary Kareskenet on charges of treason, the National Salvation Council, in addition to even further strengthening laws against foreign cultural works and expressions of "deviancy," announced that it would end both Istkalen's healthcare programs covering preventative and some emergency services and a popular price-cap program on certain basic goods to restore the pensions that were abolished in January, while also legalizing cooperative enterprises in all economic sectors.

Though the restoration of pensions has been met with general support, the other actions taken by the Council have decidedly not. The young, in addition to "manual laborers" who do not possess the licenses needed to obtain skilled work in Istkalen, strongly oppose the end of the price caps and healthcare guarantees, arguing that the move is a redistribution away from the poorest to the entrenched wealthy. The cooperative legalization, on the other hand, finds uniform majority opposition among virtually all sectors of Istkalenic society, with many feeling that it is merely a way for the richest in society - the so-called "patrons," who prior to the first abolition of cooperatives under the Malk government in late 2021 held significant sway of the economy through networks of patronage they used to fix elections in their favor - to regain their influence. In addition to the deeply unpopular measures restricting public expression, the arrest of Istkalen's most popular politicians, and the recent violent putting down of a strike through mass kidnappings and wanton air strikes on population centers, these decisions have strenghtened an already fiery hatred for the Council among the Istkalenic people.

For many in the ranks of the military, it was, apparently, the last straw. Many young members of the rank-and-file, in several cases joined by the officerial corps, have begun to call for mass rebellion against the NSC, accusing it of promoting, varyingly, inequality, ethnic division, totalitarianism, and "foreign ideologies." Rallying around the figures of Vistek Rikkalek, former head of state, and Kaisa Malk, former Prime Minister, they have generally demanded the repeal of the NSC's decrees, the dissolution and arrest of the NSC, and the restoration of civilian government in Istkalen.

The NSC, in response, has accused these would-be mutineers of collaboration with an alleged plot to place Istkalen under a Reitzmo-Vardic protectorate, declaring martial law, legalizing summary executions on the part of the military police, and ordering a second series of air strikes against Istkalenic cities and certain military installations.

"The threat," said its president, General Makketis Mindrestek, "is too deep. We can have no mercy. The strictest and harshest measures must be taken against this conspiracy. Istkalen must remain free and independent at all costs."

Bombings have already been reported in Kirelesile.

The NSC further threatened to brutally execute live a number of popular politicians, on the basis of their collaboration with or existence as so-called "Reitzmo-Vardic spies." These include Rikkalek and Malk themselves, in addition to Luke and Mary Kareskenet; threats were further made against Councillor Iras Tilkanas, who the Council claims is "surrounded" by Istkalenic assasins.

"We will flay Anders [Rikkalek] alive. We will flay Emma [Malk] alive. The other royal impersonators [L. and M. Kareskenet] will be boiled. They all will die as the pigs that they are," tweeted Mindrestek several hours after his initial statement on the mutiny. "And that traitor who calls herself Iras Tilkanas, she will go with them. We have found her, we have surrounded her, and on the Council television channel, as the European Council and Europe watches, we will dismember her, so that everyone will know what happens when you try to undermine us. We will give the rest the humanity of the electric chair."

The statement was met with broad dismay, disgust, and disbelief online. What remains of the civilian government of Istkalen has also responded; acting Prime Minister (at the time of the statement) and Minister of Defense Eliise Sepp called the NSC a "group of thuggish idiots" who "constantly disgrace the country with these bizarre medieval threats and laws," before then being removed from her positions and arrested on charges of treason.

The mutineers, however, have not yet stood down.

[Istkalen]

Nation: Mindrestek purges the collaborators in the NSC, discovered to be lost emperor, to be given crown by pretender before execution

Earlier today, 14 out of the 15 members of Istkalen's National Salvation Council attempted to remove member and President Makketis Mindrestek from his position, accusing him of promoting "foreign ideologies" and "national division," as well as of "subverting democracy" both in the country as a whole and within the Council itself. Though it has, through the past month, appeared to be united in lockstep in its effort to save the country from foreign infiltration, this outrageous move revealed that even it was not immune to the machinations of internal traitors and the greater Reitzmo-Vardic conspiracy to subjugate the country. Though they had accepted and even directly contributed to many of the measures the Council had previously passed in order to limit foreign influence and ensure social order, in the end, all but Mindrestek had fully intended to sell the country to be plundered by the crows and snakes led by the devilish Nylund and the scheming Bridges.

According to Mindrestek, who is now the only member of the National Salvation Council and who has assumed, in light of the seriousness of the situation, all legislative, executive, judicial, and other powers in Istkalen, this dastardly plot was organized by two separate cliques within the Council, one Vardic and one Reitzmic. The Vardic clique, consisting of 5 members, he stated at a press conference earlier today, had from the establishment of the Council agitated against the vast majority of the measures, ordered to by their impulsive masters, who like all others of their kind were and are unable to think critically or strategically.

"Unwisely, foolishly," said Mindrestek, "these foreign agents in our beloved Istkalen from the beginning attempted to frustrate the restorative efforts of national patriots. They were against the laws against foreign influence, against the deviants who we now know are all foreign plants. They called these foreign. They wanted restrictions of their own, weaker, so that they could preserve the status of their co-conspirators. They did not want the rationalization of our economy through cooperativization, for they wanted our country weak. They did not want the restoration of the monarchy, for they wanted our country divided. They wanted an end to the parliament, the dominance of the Salvation Council, a society and politics based on the corrupt vocational orders, for they wanted to give this country to those institutions where they knew their Vardic and Reitzmic comrades were in full control."

The Reitzmic clique, consisting of the remaining 9, according to Mindrestek, was more calculating. He stated that they, unlike the Vardics, acted in a far more subtle way, supporting the Council strongly and only dissenting when its actions, in prescribing death to the complotters and the underminers, were to put a decisive end to their chicanery.

"They thought," said Mindrestek, "that they could get away by only making a few minor complaints. A few of them voiced issue with the rationalization, a few of them voiced issue with the war on foreign influence, but they always fell in line, as though they were scared. Often they pushed for more, almost always in concert - more restrictions on religious infiltration, more control over education, more power for our Council. Only when the patriots of this country demanded greater measures, and they forced to deliver, did they begin to complain loudly. Oh, how they screamed about this and that, how such-and-such was going to weaken the country abroad, how such-and-such was too violent, was too alienating. Reminded of the power of the population, risen up in anger against their compatriots in their true country, of course, they still, in the end, voiced, meekly, quietly, favor - but in the end, they too were working against the country, and their effort to remove me, the only Istkalener there, proves it!"

Though Mindrestek's denunciation and description of these foreign cliques within the NSC focused mostly on their opposition to many of the recent measures the body has imposed, he also claimed that they were solely responsible for the controversial air strikes ordered on civilian infrastructure, which until now was understood by all true patriots to be an essential part of the campaign against the Reitzmo-Vardic plot.

"I was always suspicious of it," he said. "I voted against, in spite of all their excuses. I remember, all fourteen of them were very eager, frothing at the mouths, at the thought of destroying our country and killing its people. 'We have to do it!' half of them were screaming in ecstasy. 'For the sake of the people, we must make sure these foreign agents are killed, no matter the consequences!' I was too trusting. I should have known, then."

He finally, however, accused them of fomenting rebellion within the armed forces, and called upon those deluded by their lies to return to the national fold.

"These agents have, I now know, gone among our troops and told them to rebel," he said, addressing the enlisted in the Istkalenic military. "I have the greatest sympathy for those they fooled; it is easy to be taken in by those who have been trained in deception for decades upon decades. I myself was taken in by them, who I thought to be my colleagues, for years upon years. But you, I, now know that they are liars, that they are traitors, that they are all Reitzmics and Vards who want the J-TAI back. I ask my comrades within the armed forces to return to the defense of the nation and its cause, and warn them that those who continue to agitate against our common movement against foreign conquest have only the interest of Reitzmag and Vayinaod in mind."

At this point, Mindrestek deviated away from the plotters' treason against Istkalen to discuss their own transgressions against him.

"I have learned," he said, "that I am the head of the House of Kareskenet, who we thought had been taken by the Vards. The spy Anders Jensen, who took my place and for decades pretended to be me, admitted, upon further questioning, that I was the man he had replaced. The Eighth Konsulate, he said, wiped me of my memories and gave me false ones to replace them, so to ensure that the line they sought to destroy would never be found again. But they have failed, and they will pay for it."

Mindrestek's plan is for Jensen, before his execution tomorrow, to play the role of a false emperor, with his co-conspirators as his false-court. He will be made to abdicate, at which point Mindrestek, really Vistek Rikkalek, will become Emperor of the new Imperial Realm of Istkalen. Then, and only then, with all their work undone before their eyes, will he and his collaborators die.

All 14 of the infiltrators in the NSC have been arrested; immediately after being brought to trial, all confessed to being Vardic or Reitzmic agents, before being immediately sentenced to death for their crimes. They will be executed alongside the rest of the 23 major politicians discovered to be Vardic or Reitzmic spies, including the so-called Iras Tilkanas and Merte Maksile, both of whom have been captured, publically in Europolis Park tomorrow directly after they play their roles in the coronation of Mindrestek/Rikkalek.

[Istkalen]

Nation: The Emperor ascends to a higher plane of existence, reveals Himself to be the sole real deity, to defeat the re-established Reitzmo-Vardic Protectorate of Istkalen

Emperor Vistek X, who until recently, as a result of Reitzmo-Vardic trickery, was known only as Makketis Mindrestek, has ascended to a higher plane of existence and revealed Himself as the one true deity in order to defeat the Reitzmo-Vardic Protectorate of Istkalen, re-established by its agents in Istkalen who form the entirety of its class of politicians, civil servants, and military officers.

Crowned in Europolis by the Vardic spy Anders Jensen, who took His name and His identity for decades on end, He found Himself immediately beset by the panicked attempts of the conspirators to undermine His glorious reign. The 37 agents of MI6 and the Eighth Konsulate, including Jensen, who the Emperor and His agents were to execute for their crimes in Europolis Park, with the help of their compatriots embedded in Europolis itself, were able to escape; His journey back to Istkalen, too, saw much difficulty, disrupted by closures of airspace and turbulence orchestrated by the Reitzmic and Vardic governments to stop or even to kill Him.

Once within the country's airspace, the conspirators in Istkalen, terrified of Him, attempted to hastily remove Him from his position. The National Assembly, composed entirely of foreign infiltrators, convened alongside delegates of the similarly corrupted workers' associations to again proclaim Istkalen a "Republic" - the word a deviously shorted form of "Reitzmo-Vardic Protectorate" in the nasty language of those southern snakes - and attempt to appoint a Vard or a Reitzmic to lead the transformation the country into a colony.

Clearly frustrated by and disgusted with the repeated attempts to put an end to His mission to save His country, the Emperor made the decision to destroy His physical self, summoning bolts of energy from deep within the Earth to allow Him to reveal His true form as a god, a process which destroyed His plane and created a great and bright burst, an explosion, of sacred and holy power that could be seen from the ground far below.

His closest truly Istkalenic confidants, now the priests of the true universal religion, have communed with Him to determine the future direction of the state. By His direct orders, the "period of mercy and weakness," influenced by the malign intentions of the infiltrators in the National Salvation Council will come to an end. The loyal will be commanded to strike down every Reitzmic and Vardic spy in the country, until rivers of blood run to the seas in the North and South to warn those who believed they could subjugate the people of Istkalen of their strength and power. Everyone who proclaimed the division of the nationalities will be struck down. Everyone who proclaimed the division of the classes will be struck down. The sowers of destruction and decay will be purged, and their blood will water our furrows. The bureaucrats, the politicians, the leaders, the activists - all are Vards and Reitzmics, and all must and will be killed to render this country pure, strong, and independent.

Though nothing in this regard has yet happened, the people of Istkalen being on the whole still too, too deep in Reitzmo-Vardic lies and propaganda, the steady advance of the truth, propelled by the power of our god the Emperor, will surely unite them in divine retribution against those who sought to enslave them. The framework of falsehoods which has held this nation down will fall; heads will roll, blood will run, and the masses will at last be free.

To be clear, in His unending mercy, the Emperor has commanded that there shall be no punishment for those who have remained in their own nations to plan the downfall of Istkalen. The rage of the Istkalenic people will be focused solely and entirely on those so foolish, so arrogant, to enter this country to destroy it. Though these foreign nations have plotted and plotted against us, they will be permitted to go free, protected by the love of the Emperor for all peoples.

But there will be no mercy, again, for those within Istkalen. They have taken advantage of the Istkalenic people, of the understanding and kindness of our god, the Emperor, and so they must, and shall, die. Even now, they sit in their palace in Kirelesile, conspiring still to bring the death-blow to this country and place it under the direct rule of some Vard or Reitzmic, real identity hidden by false royal or national blood - the rule, perhaps, of some false Kareskenet, with Reitzmic names like Lydia, or worse, for there is no religious pretext, Lance, or even those who have already admitted to espionage, such as Mikael Jorgensen, who claimed to be Luke Kareskenet, Kjersti Persen, who claimed to be Mary Kareskenet, or, worst of all, Anders Jensen himself; or, instead, of some discredited spy, such as "Esketal Indretek," "Ilest Kerel," "Liros Ikomar," or the convicted Elizabeth Íkrat. Their trickery, in this and in all else they do, is obvious to all; they play and have played the Istkaleners for fools, and thus have condemned themselves to death.

The Emperor from His celestial palace leads the way to justice, unity, purification, and retribution. Let us follow Him, Istkaleners, united as one, in His war against the infiltrators to build a paradise of freedom, order, and morality in our own antion.

[Istkalen]

Republic: Polling 25/7 - 5/8
Kaitmulen, 3.812 respondents

Party Preference
Note that political parties remain banned in Istkalen.

Communist Party (left-wing to far-left, anti-government): 42,3%
Agrarian Union (syncretic, anti-government): 18,9%
Social Democrats (center-left to left-wing, anti-government): 15,7%
Union/Progress (right-wing to far-right, neutral): 11,1%
Liberation (center, neutral): 6,1%
Christian Democrats (right-wing to far-right, anti-government): 5,0%
National Republicans (right-wing to far-right, pro-government): 0,9%

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Preferred Prime Minister

Elizabeth Íkrat (Communist Party, left-wing): 55,2%
Kaisa Malk (incumbent, non-partisan, right-wing): 20,1%
Kalju Ilves (Minister of Social Affairs, affiliated with Social Democrats, left-wing): 10,5%
other: 14,2%

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Government Approval

• approve: 5,2%
• disapprove: 91,8%
• no opinion: 3,0%

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Issues

1. Do you believe that the country is moving in a generally positive direction?

• yes: 2,5%
• no: 93,5%
• unsure/other: 4,0%

2. Do you feel that you are better off than you were in 2022?

• yes: 2,1%
• no: 94,4%
• unsure/other: 3,5%

3. Do you believe that current restrictions on foreign media and culture should continue?

• yes: 10,8%
• no: 81,7%
• unsure/other: 6,5%

4. Do you believe that public manifestations of sexual and gender deviancy should remain criminalized?

• yes: 36,9%
• no: 60,3%
• unsure/other: 2,8%

5. Should Istkalen remain a republic or become a monarchy?

• republic: 85,3%
• monarchy: 1,5%
• unsure/other: 13,2%

6. Should it be possible to incorporate economic enterprises, as is the case in most other countries?

• yes: 20,1%
• no: 70,9%
• unsure/other: 9,0%

7. Should the government restore the pension schemes that were abolished in January?

• yes: 48,1%
• no: 50,4%
• unsure/other: 1,5%

8. Should the socialization of energy, mining, transportation, and certain "heavy" industries that took place in May of 2021 be reversed?

• yes: 41,4%
• no: 57,1%
• unsure/other: 1,5%

[Istkalen]

Republic: Polling 26/8 - 30/8
Kaitmulen, 1.512 respondents

Party Preference (+/- from 25/7-5/8 poll)
Note that political parties remain banned in Istkalen

Communist Party (left-wing to far-left, anti-government): 47,1% (+4,8)
Agrarian Union (syncretic, anti-government): 14,9% (-4,0)
Social Democrats (center-left to left-wing, anti-government): 14,9% (-0,8)
Union/Progress (right-wing to far-right, neutral): 9,9% (-1,2)
Christian Democrats (right-wing to far-right, anti-government): 5,7% (+0,6)
Liberation (center, neutral): 5,6% (-0,5)
National Republicans (right-wing to far-right, anti-government): 2,0% (+1,1)

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Preferred Prime Minister

Elizabeth Íkrat (Communist Party, left-wing): 61,3% (+6,1)
Kaisa Malk (non-partisan, right-wing): 25,0% (+4,9)
Kalju Ilves (Social Democrats, left-wing): 7,1% (-3,4)
Milrakas Ikoszer (incumbent, non-partisan, far-right): 1,5% (new)
other: 5,1% (-9,1)

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Government Approval

• approve: 3,1% (-2,1)
• disapprove: 94,0% (+2,2)
• no opinion: 2,9% (-0,1)

[Istkalen]

Republic: "Young officers" protest appointment of Ikoszer and Virkonas, implementation of new constitution

In a shocking move, five members of Istkalen's 15-member National Salvation Council, known as the "young officers," have released a statement criticizing the conservative approach the body has taken to governance, the new constitution that it has promulgated, as well as the Head of State and Prime MInister, Itani Virkonas and Milrakas Ikoszer, to lead the country forwards.

"It is disgraceful," it began, "that a clique of ten can force a country back into the Middle Ages. Once on its way to become a shining example of modest prosperity and social order in a Europe held victim by a culture of greed and excessive liberalism, Istkalen now stands, because of the decisions of this miniscule grouping of small-minded, petty tyrants, to become a weak, divided, and backwards feudal realm, the laughingstock of Europe moreso than it has ever been before."

The statement went on to attack many of the most controversial decisions made by the NSC, from its efforts to suppress queerness in Istkalen to its program of mass censorship against "modernity" and "foreign culture," arguing that they served only to further degrade the already poor image of the country abroad and turn the people against reform.

"There is no real purpose that the vast majority measures advocated for by this clique accomplish," it read. "They have nothing to do with the social issues of the time. They contribute nothing to the fight against the most dangerous threats the country faces today, from disunity to corruption. Virtually none of them are even enforceable! All that they do is worsen the standing of the government both with the Istkalenic people and among foreign governments - and thus send the country on a path towards final and complete destruction."

This bold assertion was directly followed by a call for a radical change in course in governance, involving the abandonment of the "feudal" constitution proposed by the NSC and the removal of the newly appointed "war criminals" Itani Virkonas and Milrakas Ikoszer in favor of unnamed "national-progressives."

"We must not allow these ten to tear apart our country and feed it to the snakes and the crows. If we want to live, we must change our current course, by any and all means possible. We must say no to the feudal state, of a country carved up into military fiefdoms ruled over by a man who will be king in all but name, these people want to force on us. We must say no to the repression that they fetishize. We must say no to all their retrograde plans for the country we share, lest we condemn ourselves to certain and final death. So, then, down with their 15th-century constitution, down with the war criminals they have appointed to carry out their agenda, down with all the ridiculousness they propose and have proposed, down with everything and everyone that seeks to force our country back into the past. Let us turn forwards, again, to face the future; let us sweep away reaction and move ahead, led by strong and patriotic national-progressives in the tradition of Melitek and Tiraki, into the dawn that lies before us."

The majority within the NSC has not yet commented on the statement; Head of State Itani Virkonas, however, widely seen as the body's spokeswoman, sharply condemned it at a press conference held earlier today, calling its writers "traitors."

"As the nation prepares for renewal," she said, "the traitors in our midst, the agents of the Eigth Consulate and MI6 and the compradors aligned with them, have come out of the woodwork to call for insurrection, to call for revolution, to call for the overthrow of our patriotic people's government in favor of what is no less than a foreign protectorate, beholden completely to Nylund and Bridges. It is our responsibility, our holy responsibility, to purge these cockroaches from our midst. They are disease, they are an infestation; they do nothing but sicken our country so that it becomes weak enough to be easily killed and ripped apart by the snakes and crows that surround us. We have and must rid ourselves of them for our common health. We have done it, we are doing it, and we will continue to do it, coldly and mercilessly."

Several members of the opposition, however, have praised the "young officers'" statement.

"It is heartening to hear," said Grete Reiner, who has become the unofficial leader of the National Republican Party, "that there remain genuinely patriotic forces within the NSC and the government of Istkalen. The cause of national revolution grows ever stronger; we have ever more faith that it will soon come to success."

"Here," said Inge Meier, the leader of the socialists within the Social Democratic Party, "lies the first real chance for democratization. As external and internal pressures on the NSC grow, I - and the rest of the socialist movement - am confident that a democratic space will slowly open in Istkalenic politics, and at last give way to a return to full civilian government."

No member of Istkalen's cabinet has yet responded; how the government will respond to the statement remains unknown.