The Copalan Appeal (In Exile!)
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CPCI blasts Duchies policies in Anastasia City
The CPCI has released a statement criticizing the policies that the United Duchies has imposed on Anastasia City, arguing that they are, in some ways, worse than Reitzmic policies, in that the Reitzmics allowed Copala City to exist as an independent city and did not intentionally try to impoverish the Copalan people.
"The so-called 'helping hand; of the Duchies is also a suffocating hand. It is the hand of the exploiter, who reaches out to the damned only to torture them more. Look at what surrounds us. Our Copalan government - it is not to be the force that it was in Reitzmag, the land of oppression. No! Now, it is an appointed municipal council that resides in another city! Our so-called "government" - not only was it not chosen by us, it doesn't even have contact with us! A representative government, a democratic government, must be composed of those who understand the problems of the people. How can those who live elsewhere, who govern elsewhere, who have no connection to Anastasia City, understand its problems? They cannot! The government which the Duchies has imposed on us is an occupational authority, the first of many to come, an authority that imposes. The Copalan people, who struggled and suffered for so long, deserve better. A CPCI led government, regardless of the infrastructure, will be located in Anastasia City and will be responsive to the petitions of the people. It will pass laws allowing for citizens' initiatives, referendums and recalls; it will transform Anastasia City into a thriving, independent, democracy - a far cry from the government which the Duchies wishes to impose on us," said the President of the CPCI, who remains anonymous.
The statement went on to criticize the fact that Anastasia City is a suburb, the invasive policies regarding surveillance that the Duchies has imposed, as well as its decision to house Copalans in housing normally given to the low-income - particularly suspect in a country like the Duchies, which is controlled by rich elites well known for exploiting those around them without remorse, all the while painting the exploitation in the most glowing way, as the best thing that could happen to the exploited.
"This is, unfortunately, not the only way that the Duchies is suffocating us, and it is very far from the most insidious. As is tradition, what seems the worst is the best in the Duchies, and what seems the best is the worst. They are, as you know, building housing for us. They haven't consulted us on this - only the government which they have appointed and which resides elsewhere - but regardless, this seems a very good thing, until you do a bit of research into the type of housing that they are building. It's the type that is reserved for the low-income. Now, we would not object to this in many other places - not in Fremet, and perhaps not even in Reitzmag, although the second is a little more questionable than the first - but in the Duchies, the land of the Roscoes, this is beyond worrying. Almost certainly, it will be low-quality housing. Housing where the heating constantly breaks, where the electricity is out half the time. Housing which is prone to fire. The housing that they reserve for those they look down on, the housing that they reserve for those they view as disposable. In a modern world, no one should be living like this, whether poor or rich. Everyone should be able to live with dignity, in safety and peace; everyone should be able to live comfortably and without worries. The Duchians do not believe this. They believe that safety and dignity are not rights; that they are reserved only for a special group, which we do not belong to because some of us are poor, because all of us, to them, are foreign. The CPCI does not, and will never, tolerate this. It stands for a humane and dignified housing policy; it believes that everyone has the right to high quality housing. If we are elected to government, we will immediately begin measures for the rapid construction of genuine housing, using innovative techniques. Housing, upon completion, will be immediately handed over to the control and ownership of independent housing cooperatives, composed of all their tenants, which will over a period of 30 years repay the Anastasian government for the construction of the housing. Our housing plan will be integrated into a greater urban planning law, which will ensure that all Anastasians live in proximity to nurseries, laundries, groceries, collective canteens, schools, and employment opportunities. The Duchies does not want this - it wants to continue the policies of the past, with so many living in poorly constructed apartments, far away from everything. It has a disdain for the Anastasian people, and wants to give them nothing; it wants to improvish them, to bring them to their knees so that they can serve the Duchian oligarchs without hesitation."
"Well, of course, some will cry out, the Duchies gave us land, they gave us a Duchy, they gave us representation! How can they be the monsters that we make them out to be? But one must look at the land that the Duchies gave to us! It is located next to a major Duchian city - the Duchies itself has called us a suburb! Development will almost certainly be centered around the Duchian city - it, after all, is a source of capital. We will be but commuters, going from the terrible housing estates to horrible jobs serving Duchian capital in that city. We will have no opportunities of our own; only opportunities to serve the Duchies! We were Copalans, independent, with our own businesses and our own homes. We will be reduced, if the Duchian plans succeed, to servants - without any property, living in state-owned housing and working in distant places for a pittance. Our Anastasia will be dependent on another city, completely; it will be a suburb in the truest way. We cannot let ourselves be humiliated in such a way; now, we cannot even turn to that which once saved us, investment and the free market - they lead, simply because of the dominance of the Duchian city, to that city! They have taken all that away from us for their own benefit, in the most crucial of moments - do you realize that? We have adopted socialist policies not because we are ideologically socialists, but because they are the only practical way forward for the immediate development of Anastasia City. Our plan does not involve, however, suppression. We intend to establish state-owned, but autonomous, workers' unions, which will be instructed to establish union-owned democratic businesses in Anastasia City. For example, the hairdressers' union will establish barber shops and salons, which will be managed by their own workers through an elected council established by the union in the workplace. Its operations will be coordinated with other barber shops and salons managed by the union, forming a federation of sorts, which will constitute the union. The same will go with even more crucial areas - groceries, laundries, schools, banks, and housing construction firms. Our intention is to allow for self-directed economic and physical development that goes against the tide - that is, the pull of investment towards the Duchian city - while at the same time providing immediate stimulus to the Anastasian economy in the form of what we hope will be universal employment. We will of course allow people to establish their businesses as well - we do not see why this would be a barrier to economic development - the union businesses, again, exist primarily to allow Anastasia to develop rapidly into an economically independent and democratic city, and not because of ideology. We are sure that the Duchians will try to stop us on some nonsense grounds, but this will only be further evidence of their ongoing attempt to subjugate the Copalan nation."
"The most insidious Duchies policy, however, is the one in plain sight. They failed to inform us that their restrictive policies - the CCTV and the veritable secret police that monitors it - would be forced on us as well. We all have experience with CCTV of this sort - did not Reitzmag use it as a pretext to arrest and deport us? Who is to say that, the Duchies, with their intentions, will not use it similarly for their own advantage? They will detain us for crimes which do not exist; they will hunt down the parties which are not in favor of the unsatisfactory situation it has created here; they will, just as Reitzmag did, leave Anastasia a husk - only now not in pursuit of national hegemony but of money, the whole process painted in pink - the typical Roscoe modus operandi. The CPCI will immediately take measures against the veritable dragnet they have created to capture their opponents if it comes to power. The autonomy and neutrality of the Anastasian police will be ensured; we will do everything possible to place control over all monitoring, and access to all captured data, in their hands and their hands alone. Combined with a policy that will seek to prevent crime by expanding the social safety net, as well as reforms to the justice system in favor of rehabilitation, we will also seek to reduce the number of CCTV cameras - people have the right to privacy, and, with little crime, the last justification for this intrusion will disappear."
"The Duchies clearly seeks the imperialization of the Copalan nation; they wish to use us as a source of labor, nothing more. We stand firmly against their machinations; we stand firmly for independence for our people, independence both economic and political. Long live the free Copalan nation!"
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People's Spontaneous Referendum for Anastasian and Copalan Independence held with 99% turnout, but condemned by everyone
Glory, glory! A People's Spontaneous Referendum, organized by the force of the united Copalan Nation,, occurred today over an online platform. Those both in Copala City and Anastasia City, moved by their devotion to that nation they belong to, participated in droves - 99.9% of all voters known to the organizers, despite the short notice, as the People's Spontaneous Referendum was announced only this morning, and the spontaneity of the glorious referendum, are recorded as having participated.
The results of the People's Spontaneous Referendum for Anastasian and Copalan Independence are provided below, given to us by its glorious organizers, the League of Patriots for the Total and Eternal Independence of the Copalan Nation (LPETCN). Let us celebrate, for the Anastasian and Copalan people have chosen freedom!
Citizen of Copala City and/or Anastasia City - do you believe that an independent Copalan Republic should be established in the territory of Anastasia City and Copala City?
YES - 467,949 votes
NO - 6,163 votes
Invalid - 12 votes
The LPETCN has stated that, due to the high turnout, the referendum is binding. A government is to be announced by them, followed by elections to a constituent assembly. They have stated that they are willing to defend independence "by violence, if necessary." Virtually everyone else in the Anastasian independence circle has condemned them. The CPCI, the leading force for Anastasian independence, has called the referendum patently illegal.
"We desire independence - yes, we do. However, we want it to be achieved peacefully and legally. This farce of a referendum, which is probably completely made up, is the opposite of both of these. We demand that the LPETCN stand down, and give the Anastasians a break. They deserve the rule of law, and should not be mocked in such a way. If this is what independence means - lawlessness and lies - we will not associate with it. We are true Copalans; we are true Anastasians. We will never give in to such nonsense as this," said party leader Ulles Kulnja-Vereles as part of a longer statement on the issue, in which he also denounced the LPETCN as "insane," "deranged," and "deserving of imprisonment."
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CPCI open to coalition with IUAC after registration of quasi-imperialist parties, but rejects coalition with Duchian parties
The CPCI, after the revelation that the so-called "independence referendum" was the work of internet trolls, has turned its attention away from countering it, and the "violence" it argues is endemic to Anastasian politics and must be destroyed, and towards to issues - that of community organization, and of its competitors.
The CPCI, unlike the Syndicalists, who have already opted to found a trade union and are presently using their vast wealth, gained through unknown means in Copala City, to open a number of workers' collectives in Anastasia City, open to all, alongside "mutual aid organizations" providing welfare, including a basic income, to their members, is not attempting to implement its goals. It believes that, while a party should liase with the people it is to represent, in the spirit of democracy, it should not attempt to bypass the democratic system and impose its values and ideas without them having been approved on and by the people. It has thus opted to establish party committees in every district of Anastasia City, as well as in all other places where Anastasians live; the work of these committees is to "live with the people," find and understand their issues, and, through discussion, try to formulate solutions with them. Some of these solutions will be implemented, if they are to minor disputes; the vast majority will merely find their way into the party's electoral program, which is, in the words of Ulles Kulnja-Vereles, a "constant work in progress, a living thing which is constantly contributed to by the people and none else." The CPCI has also sought to form "community assemblies," as well as "community committees," formed of all interested members of a given community in Anastasia City, who are supposed to deliberate and report issues to the party, whose representatives in high places - and hopefully eventually in government - will seek to rectify them.
However, the CPCI has stated that it will not betray its core principles - that is, independence and democracy in all spheres of Anastasian life - and wil attempt to solve all issues the Anastasian people have with both of these in mind. In particular, the party addressed the issue of crime, stating that it would not, in response to possible high crime rates, ever attempt a punitive policy, but would instead attempt to rectify it through "humane approaches" - rehabilitation, for example, or education and employment programs for the most vulnerable, in addition to welfare expansion.
The CPCI also has begun reconcilation with the CIU and its sister party, the IUAC, in response to the entrance of several Duchian parties, as well as two parties whose goal is the annexation of Anastasia City by other states, the sucess of which it would see as being "the worst outcome for the Anastasians possible." While it has made clear that it does not agree with the CIU or the IUAC on all things - particularly their lackluster ability to pursue their goal of independence or greater autonomy - it believes that they are a better option than either the Duchian parties, which it sees as integrationist, better-equipped "invaders," or the so-called "imperialist" parties.
"The political situation in Anastasia City is greatly concerning," said Kulnja-Vereles in a satement regarding the issue. "On one hand, we have a collection of Duchian parties. These are far-better equipped than we will ever be; they also have years of experience dealing with the Duchian electoral system, as well as a pre-exsting electoral machine in the area. We, nor any other Anastasian party, can seek to compete with them. From the very beginning, we are at a disadvantage because of their presence. For elections to be truly free, only Anastasian parties should be able to compete - they will be on a more equal ground, and will, to boot, be better able to understand the issues that the ordinary Anastasian citizen faces than the distant elites in Cair Para of the Duchian Parties. But they are not as concerning as some other parties. They, as flawed as they are, offer at least some autonomy for the Anastasians, perhaps as a pittance, perhaps for an ulterior purpose; but it is autonomy, breathing room, still. We can work with breathing room, as flawed and as small as it may be. We, the Anastasian people, however, cannot work with annexation, with imperialism. Two of our Anastasian parties are foreign endeavors which don't merely seek the absorption of Anastasia City by the United Duchies, or even by Reitzmag, but by totally unrelated entities - Inimicus and Montenbourg - for solely imperialistic purposes. We have been through so much oppression; we were subjected to humiliating cultural policies, we were subject to harsh conscription laws, and finally many of us were deported, some of us remaining there; we should not be subjected to more. These two parties would; they would put us under the thumb of a truly foreign power, more foreign than even Reitzmag, without any autonomy whatsoever, and in one case deprived of even the few rights we had there, too. We, the CPCI, are first and foremost for the defense of the welfare of the Anastasian people, the logical consequence of which is independence. We will fight for them with all our might; we will defend them from those forces which wish to deprive them of their rights and of their nationhood at all cost. If we must compromise in order to ensure that they at least have some breathing room, we will. I will now say something that may be shocking to some of you - but it is absolutely necessary, given the current political situation. The CPCI is willing to enter a coalition with the IUAC. We do not agree with them, we do not agree with the way that they conduct themselves and have conducted themselves; but they are a far better alternative to anything else that the Anastasian people have been offered. With that, I finish. For the free Copalan nation; for independence and democracy in perpetuity!"
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The CPCI presents its legislative manifesto
The CPCI has prepared a more concrete legislative manifesto for what its representatives will push forwards in their first one hundred days, printed below.
I. Representatives of the CPCI will introduce the "State Employment and Economic Stimulus Act," which will create state-owned workers' unions which will set up collectives and other enterprises as to provide income and services to the people of Anastasia City, without dependence on Duchian authorities and companies.
II. Representatives of the CPCI will introduce the "Housing Act" which will commission the construction of 500.000 units of state-owned housing, alongside schools, storefronts, nurseries, clinics, and hospitals run by the state-owned workers' unions to be established, or by state-owned but worker-managed collectives if the State Employment and Economic Stimulus Act does not pass, to be built alongside them, to be handed over to housing cooperatives upon being occupied. This act will also limit foreign ownership of housing in Anastasia City.
III. Representatives of the CPCI will introduce the "Political Party Registration Act," which will require that all political parties operating in Anastasia City be headed by Anastasians and have a majority of their membership be residents of Anastasia City.
IV. Representatives of the CPCI will seek to require workers', consumers', and other stakeholders' representation within Anastasia City on the company boards of foreign, including Duchian, enterprises well as introduce new taxes on businesses not registered to Anastasians and without majority Anastasian ownership, through a "Foreign Business Regulation Act." Taxes, however, will be lowered on companies both registered to Anastasians and with majority Anastasian ownership.
V. Representatives of the CPCI will seek to limit the operation of major Duchian companies known for monopolistic behavior, particularly Roscoes, in Anastasia City, in order to develop economic independence, also through the "Foreign Business Regulation Act."
VI. Representatives of the CPCI will seek to introduce a fund from which businesses and collectives, registered as Anastasian and with majority Anastasian ownership, invested in creating green industry and agriculture in Anastasia may draw from, through an "Ecological-Economic Independence Act."
VII. Representatives from the CPCI will also seek to directly introduce green industry and agriculture in Anastasia City through the proposed State Employment and Economic Stimulus Act.
VIII. Representatives from the CPCI will seek to expand public transportation, and will sponsor a project to construct bus rapid transit, or if possible a tram system, in Anastasia City.
IX. Representatives from the CPCI will seek to create an integrated zoning plan for Anastasia City, so that all residents have access to services, transportation, and greenery, while being kept away from noxious activities, with a special agency created for zoning.
X. Representatives from the CPCI will seek to create an independent education system, under a new Ministry of Education. All Anastasian citizens will be able to access education in their native language, provided that said language is spoken by more than 2% of the city's population, as well as in English, which will be made mandatory. Duchian-specific classes, particularly Duchian history, will be removed from the curriculum, as will the mandatory study of Duchian languages apart from English, accomplished through a proposed "Education Reorganization Act."
XI. Representatives from the CPCI will seek to create a concord between nationalities in Anastasia City to construct a new Anastasian nationality, by creating cultural institutions for nationalities composing more than 2% of the population which will promote their own cultures, while at the same time acting together through a Nationalities Council as to encourage unity and a new Anastasian national culture focused around the shared history of its residents. This will be accomplished through a proposed "Cultural Organization Act."
XII. The separate nationality of Anastasians will be highlighted by the CPCI, through the creation of a separate passport for Anastasians as well as separate identity documents through a proposed "Anastasian Identification-Documents Act," proposed both at a regional and national level.
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Hours after electoral victory, CPCI legislators, party leaders dead in terrorist attack; terrorist group "Duchian Youth League" claims responsibility
For the members and supporters of the CPCI, today should have been a great victory. While the party did not perform particularly well, it saw final results significantly above initial polling. Yet today would be a day far worse than all others, a day of terror and death.
As candidates, the party central committee, and the party leader joined in celebration of the party's entrance into the legislature, a bomb went off beneath them, killing them all instantly, sparking a stampede that would further kill 22 and injure 38.
Almost immediately, a mysterious terrorist group, previously unknown, named the "Duchian Youth League," claimed responsibility for the attack, arguing that the CPCI was a foreign insurrection threatening the Duchies, and thus that it deserved to die. The terrorist group also threatened further attacks, arguing that its end goal would be the expulsion or death of all Anastasians, and the end of Anastasia City as a political entity, to preserve the integrity and the purity of the Duchies.
The origins, structure, and leader of the "Duchian Youth League" are unknown; no one knows where they might next strike. The Copalan Appeal warns all loyal Copalans to remain alert, to ensure that they too, may not be victims of this new terror.
Updates will be forthcoming.
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New CPCI leader Kristjan Teder presents "program of compromise," seeks to moderate CPCI after attacks
The CPCI's new leader Kristjan Teder, the highest member of the CPCI municipal council list not to be invited to the celebration that would end in disaster, now a member of the municipal council alongside other lower members of the list who were spared the bombing, seeks, now, to moderate its image, while preserving it as a still pro-independence party.
Teder, in particular, has sought to unite the new parliamentarians in supporting a moderated form of the original legislative manifesto of the CPCI, particularly in rejecting the original points 3, 5, 10, and 12, although the party still seeks to ensure representation for Anastasian consumers, alongside workers, on company boards, alongside other Anastasian stakeholders. The economically nationalist view has also not been entirely discarded; the new CPCI aim is merely to provide funding and capital to promising Anastasian enterprises, particularly small and medium seized businesses, while at the same time seeking to encourage Anastasians to purchase stocks in businesses operating in Anastasia City, with a variety of methods suggested as possible ways of accomplishing this, from vouchers to a basic income to the direct purchase and distribution of stocks to the Anastasians by the Anastasian government, although the party has stated that it is not committed to any of these - merely any method which accomplishes the goal of increasing the distribution of stocks.
The policies on housing, as well as those regarding employment, will also be heavily pursued - Teder has stressed that the new CPCI believes it necessary to create within Anastasians a spirit of self-reliance, as well as that Anastasia City must come to full employment by itself, rather than relying on any outside forces.
Teder also has sought to distance the party from its original stances against Duchian parties, stating that the CPCI is willing to enter into a coalition with any party willing to accept it, and that the central goal will merely be "to genuinely represent the Anastasian people in their own institutions."
However, under Teder, it seems as though the party will maintain its course in favor of Anastasian and Copalan nationalism - he has stated that the party will not abandon its desire to create a "concord between nationalities" in Anastasia City, or to create a separate Anastasian national identity. While he has stated that the party has resolved to moderate its policies on education, he, as well as the party, continue to hold that, due to its separate origins, Anastasia City should have greater autonomy over educational and cultural policy than other Duchies, and that a resolution reflecting this will eventually be presented to the Duchian legislature.
At the same time, however, there is a growing distance between the party's roots in Copalan nationalism and revanchism and Teder's own Anastasian nationalism. Compared to the views of Kuljna-Vereles, Teder seems not to believe in any future reconquest of Copala City or New Saint Regina; merely that a separate Anastasian nationality exists, one that is not necessarily Copalan but is founded upon the common experience of Anastasians in Copala City - and that the existence of this separate Anastasian nationality warrants eventual Anastasian independence. This is to the point that Teder and the parliamentary and municipal council deputies of the CPCI have suggested that they might form a new party, if the title of the CPCI proves too extreme and too separated from their genuine goal, at this point Anastasian independence alone.
"There has been an extreme element within the CPCI since its founding," said Teder. "None of us will be willing to associate with the party if this extreme element is found to perpetuate the party to its core; if it is found to have sickened and poisoned it. We will, in fact, be the very first to denounce it in such a case; the very first to leave it. We desire Anastasian independence, yes, for we believe in the Anastasian nation, we believe that it lives and breathes, and that, like all other nations, it deserves true freedom; but we are also rational. We are not under any such illusions that independence may be achieved through extremism, through irrationality, through the cult of emotion, through violence. Independence may only be achieved peacefully, gracefully, and intelligently; anything else will result only in a false independence that would, in the end, only enslave the Anastasian people."
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Letter of Resignation from Membership in the CPCI
Former CPCI party leader Kristjan Teder, alongside six other members of the municipal assembly, three members of the House of Duchies, and one member of the House of Commons, signed the following letter of resignation from membership in the CPCI, before conveying their intention to found a new party, which they termed the Anastasian Democratic Assembly, which describes itself as a political movement founded on the principles of social justice, environmentalism, progressivism, and civic nationalism. The single remaining member of the CPCI in the municipal council announced her resignation independently, and stated that she had joined the CPCI as a matter of pragmatism, and that she was, above all, an apolitical technocrat who merely desired to bring rational and scientific governance to Anastasia City, coupled with economic and cultural independence. She is now a noninscrit.
Upon issuing our desire to restructure the party away from extremism, we received a number of threats from members of the party, many of which were extremely concerning in nature. Several of these these threats went as far as to threaten death for not being more violent in our advocacy for independence, not for actual independence but rather because of interethnic grievances, which they wished, it seemed, as far as we can tell, to stir up through the CPCI, which they appeared to have viewed as an ethnic interest party for reasons which are beyond our comprehension. We view it as increasingly possible that they were responsible for the terrorist attack occurring at a CPCI rally, as well as the rumored attempted attack which occurred at the inauguration of the municipal council, potentially because of the refusal of the party leadership, as well as the party's top-most ranks in general, to bow to their demands.
These threats have since been forwarded to the Duchian police for investigation. Let it be clear, we will never condone violence in any form for any reason; many of us have been on the receiving end of such violence, even more so the specific political violence that the threats suggest that we undertake, and we understand, perhaps more than most, the horrifying effects it can have on a people.
We stand, above all, for a reasonable, pacifistic, and lawful way to independence, and if not independence at the very least greater autonomy for Anastasia City. We stand for the freedom, dignity, and safety of the Anastasian people, and will never leave their side.
With the CPCI seemingly infected with such violent ideas and extremism, we cannot in good conscience remain members of it. We did not know of it, before now; perhaps we were insulated. Now, however, we do, and we condemn it with the strongest possible words, and ask that the government of the Duchies conduct investigation into this matter for the safety of the Anastasians. We will not be associated with such violence; if any of us are, let us be revealed as traitors and demagogues, and let us be taken away.
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CPCI reports hundreds of members to the Duchian police for "possible extremist activities," announces intention to hold poll on Anastasian independence
The Committee for the Preparation of Copalan Independence, after the defection of virtually all of its legislators to the newly established independence/regionalist party Anastasian Democratic Assembly, has sought to reform its image, with the total collapse of its leadership and the formation of a more decentralized organization. Now with a truly collective leadership, mostly composed of youths between the ages of 16 and 25, the party has expelled hundreds of its members, reporting them to the Duchian police.
The Committee itself wrote, in a statement to the public, that "violence and extremism in the pursuit of the most noble goal of independence is unacceptable...all such people who desire violence are, in fact, traitors to the independence and nationalist movement." (Incidentally, the same statement also denounced Duchian parties as 'imperialistic in nature' and termed the IUAC as the 'Opportunists' Union of Anastasia City,' arguing that it was formed not of actual nationalists or regionalists but rather a diverse grouping of political opportunists who held no real principles except that of wanting power)
The specific nature of the alleged extremist activities involves ethnic grievances between sectors of the broader Haanean community, as well as a Maoist grouping that appears to have infiltrated the party and sought to use it to begin a "people's protracted war" in Anastasia City and the Duchies as a whole; however, the party has made it clear that both involve only a minority of the party's membership, and that neither significantly altered the general direction of the party.
"Unlike many others, who have bowed down to power, we will never forsake our principles," stated the Committee. "Copalan independence, total Copalan independence, will remain our sole goal, now and until independence is achieved! The freedom of the Copalan nation is an inevitability!"
Upon the mass explusion and reporting of the members in question for their activities, the party announced its intention to hold a poll on Anastasian independence. A second statement was released regarding the organization of this poll:
"Over the next few days, the neighborhood committees of the CPCI will be registering those it can identify as former residents of Copala City living or intending to live in Anastasia City as able to participate in the poll, and will be issued cards as to identify them during the polling. The purpose of this is to prevent double-voting in the poll. The committees will then, on the 19th of November, organize the poll itself. Anyone holding a card issued by the CPCI will be able to vote in the poll, albeit only once, with the location of polling sites being made available at our website, as well as in the Copalan Appeal, a pamphlet/newsletter which is affiliated but not connected with the party. Each 'voter' will be given a single paper by the poll-organizers, on which they will mark their vote. On the paper will be printed the question, "Do you believe Anastasia City should become an independent state," with two options below, "Yes" and "No." Blank ballots will be counted as "yes" votes. The papers will then be counted, after which the poll results will be announced publically. The poll is, quite obviously, legally nonbinding, and exists merely to measure support for Anastasian, and more generally Copalan, independence, among the population."
"Those with a card will also be allowed to participate in a later election to a Congress of the Anastasian and Copalan People, which will be an interest group for the Copalan and Anastasian people. Card holding is not equivalent to membership in the CPCI."
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A selection of articles from today's issue of the Copalan Appeal, the leading pro-independence pamphlet of Anastasia City and Copala City
The IUAC further reveals its total ideological bankruptcy by allying with staunchly anti-regionalist parties.
Status-quo, status-quo, political theatrics - meanwhile, Duchian education, Duchian culture, and Duchian ways are forced on the Anastasians
A slow cultural genocide: famed sociologist analyzes policies in Anastasia City
Asianization, but make it Duchian
Will we ever see an investigation into the internment camps of New Saint Regina?
Is Roscoes exploiting Anastasians? The answer is yes.
Duchian parties - a menace to the political independence of the Anastasian people.
The series of machinations and lies that led to the Anastasian people giving up their autonomy to live in the gilded cage of the Duchian government
Private Anastasian citizen alleges that Duchian government bugged her home because of her political orientation
Is the United Duchies a rechtsstaat? No.
Terminally ill geriatric Anastasian citizen, who wishes to remain anonymous, claims that she was subject to a random and invasive probe of her genitals by the Duchian police on pretext of 'terrorism concerns'
Anastasian claims that their new apartment "groans in the night; there are many deep cracks in the wall, the electricity is intermittent, the water has a metallic taste and is also intermittent, the heating is broken..."
Anastasians have been systematically denied the same standard of living and economic rights as normal Duchians. Why?
The Anastasian people deserve control over their own education.
Are non-binary people recognized in the Duchies? The answer is complicated.
Non-inscrit member of municipal council, formerly a member of the CPCI, as well as last remaining CPCI member of the House of Duchies, join the Futurist Party of Anastasia City
Teder states that "hardline stances" of Duchian parties will force his Anastasian Democratic Assembly to remain outside of government for the time being - but that the party remains itself open to compromise
Anastasian Confederation of Labor applies for housing construction project, opens series of new communal kitchens, warehouses, to Anastasians
Anastasian Confederation of Labor's neighborhood watch associations have already identified and caught dozens of criminals - meanwhile, the Anastasian police struggles to operate
The CPCI announces that an estimated 39% of former residents of Copala City of non-Reitzmic or Inquistan nationality have already applied to vote in upcoming (completely nonbinding and non-government related) poll on independence
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Poll results released, with estimated 54% of non-Reitzmic and non-Inquistan former residents of Copala City voting; many Anastasian nationalist institutions created; boycott of Roscoes begins
The CPCI's poll into support for Anastasian independence has concluded. An estimated 54% of non-Reitzmic and non-Inquistan former residents of Copala City present in Anastasia City participated in the poll - a surprisingly high number, especially given the short notice. The CPCI stated that it is possible that their calculations are wrong, but that they regardless congradulate the patriotism of Anastasians who voted.
92.7% of Anastasians participating voted in favor of Anastasian independence; 6.4% against, and the remainder submitted spoiled ballots.
This extreme result has been cited as the result of self-selection; Anastasians already in favor of independence were likely to participate in the poll, while those against were not. The minor segment which voted against might merely be a segment of the population that is politically active in general, and thus likely to participate in such political events in general.
The result, if the turnout calculations of the CPCI are correct, would demonstrate that a narrow majority of former residents of Copala City in Anastasia City support independence. This does not match with the results of the recent election, where secessionist and autonomist parties together obtained only about 37% of the vote altogether; the CPCI itself has argued that this is because participation in the election was heavily skewed towards new Duchian arrivals in the city, who make up perhaps 30 to 35% of the population, as well as affected by a partial Haanean boycott of the election, particularly among youth who make up its largest sector, as a result of Syndicalist agitation.
The announcement of the result was followed up with a massive rally in Anastasia City itself, held by the CPCI. Several orators gave rousing speeches:
"The Anastasian people have made their voice heard now more than ever. Faced with the encroachment of Roscoes, of Duchian elites who see them as nothing more than a source of labor, a source of cheap profit, foreigners who they can exploit; faced with the encroachment of the Duchian parties, who refuse any true political representation or power to the Anastasian people; faced with even the encroachment of the dark hand of the security forces of the Duchian government, who spy on innocent Anastasian citizens, who encroach on their personal dealings for no reason whatsoever, they have found that independence, social independence, economic independence, political independnece, is the only solution that will guarantee them true freedom," stated one.
Another extolled the virtues of the 'Anastasian nation:'
"Our nation is a unique nation, a nation of nations. A nation of the Nicoleizians, of the Haaneans, of the many other Copalans who found themselves drowning under the Reitzmic tyranny, who found themselves seized one terrible day and forced into the gilded cages of New Saint Regina. Who find themselves still reeling from the disappearances of many of their loved ones, who stayed there - and of course, some say that it was out of choice, but who knows; and who now find themselves here, united by surviving that tyranny and now against a new tyranny. We, Anastasians - we are the highest of the nations, the most developed, a nation founded on differences and diversity, a nation of many peoples, a nation united not by vuilgar race but through common experience and tribulation. All of us have felt the same sorrows, all of us have endured the same struggles; because of this, we all are in great union, and thus we bloom. Let us maintain this union, let us strengthen it, so that it lasts forever and the flower of our nation may be revealed to the world! Let no one stand against us; we must prevail, we will prevail! The free, independent Anastasian nation forever!"
This was followed by the announcement that a new youth organization, the "Anastasian Democratic Youth," would be formed.
"We shared, as everyone else, in the tribulations and struggles of the great Anastasian nation. We, too, are a part of it, just as anyone else; we too deserve a voice in it," stated another speaker, a youth herself.
The purpose of the Anastasian Democratic Youth will be to instill the values of Anastasian nationalism in its members - that of tolerance for others, as to maintain the "Great Union;" of solidarity, to strenghten the "Great Union" and of civic duties, as to maintain the democratic and pluralistic nature of the nation, as well as its independence from foreign powers that wish to subjugate it.
Mere hours later, leaders of a number of regionalist and secessionist parties - the Futurists, the Syndicalists, and the Anastasian Democratic Assembly - but noticably not the CPCI - gathered to found a new organization, the Anastasian Cultural Union, which will gather artists in Anastasia City, organizing them into a number of specific chambers for the various arts - visual arts, film, music, and so on and so forth - as to promote new forms of Anastasian art, culture, and architecture.
"Anastasia must go forth, and create a new world of art, a national art, to strengthen the Great Union of Peoples that makes up the Anastasian nation," stated a representative of the Futurist Party, summing up the purpose of the Anastasian Cultural Union.
The Union will provide income and materials for its members, and will also establish communal and public ateliers and other working spaces for its members.
"It is of the highest importance that Anastasia City establish an independent culture and style of art based on that of its constituent nationalities, if it itself is to remain free and independent," stated a representative of the Anastasian Democratic Assembly. "We will contribute and ensure all that is necessary to accomplish this."
In other news, a boycott of Roscoes, as well as other Duchian-owned businesses in Anastasia City, has begun. Tens of thousands of Anastasians have signed a petition swearing not to purchase from Roscoes or from any other Duchian-owned company.
Thousands of other Anastasians picketed Duchian-owned establishments, exhorting potential customers to stay away. "Don't give your money to the Roscoes, in bed with the Reitzmics!" shouted a number of protestors outside of a Roscoes. "Don't let them get their hands on our city! Duchies, go away!"
In an attempt to stop others from shopping at Duchian establishments, but with perhaps somewhat dubious financial effects, one wealthy man, who wishes to remain anonymous, attempted to buy up the whole of the stock of a number of Duchian-owned stores in the city. This was done, he claims, by employing large numbers of volunteers to, in a short period of time, buy up the stock of entire stores, on his behalf, and then to deliver this to various warehouses in the city. If a legal permit can be obtained, he stated, the stock will be resold to Anastasian companies, for the same or a lower price than that at which they were purchased.
"We must construct economic independence," he said simply in a statement made to our pamphlet.
A number of other wealthy inhabitants of the city have joined his cause, and appear to be cooperating in terms of this. The point appears to mostly be to discourage shopping at Duchian enterprises, and thus to give additional support to smaller Anastasian enterprises, which Anastasians will be forced to frequent.
Several political parties condemned this, however. The Syndicalists, Futurists, and ADA made a joint statement stating that attempts for autonomy and independence should not negatively affect Anastasians in such a way; the CPCI denounced it as "an activity of the out-of-touch rich which actually harms Anastasians more than it helps them."
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ADA introduces act giving mayor sweeping powers over city in assembly; alleged Duchian plan to "liquidate" opponents on left and right across country leaked
Kristjan Teder, the leader of the Anastasian Democratic Assembly, formed from the parliamentarians elected from the CPCI who left that party over concerns of extremism, has introduced an act that would give the mayor sweeping powers over Anastasia City for the duration of three months, including full legislative powers and the ability to unilaterally recall and replace members of the government.
"We live in dangerous times; our city has been plunged into a spiral of death by those who will not stop until they are imprisoned. Swift and efficient action is necessary, now, to prevent tragedy, to prevent death, and to ensure the safety and security of those we represent. We cannot trust this assembly to act quickly enough; it is too cumbersome to do so. We must cede some of our power to the government, which is, by virtue of its size more able to act, to preserve the public tranquility and put a definitive end to this violence."
There were a number of objections to the legislation, including from the ADA, largely to do with potential authoritarianism. Teder responded with the following to an objection on this lines from his own party:
"As I have said, there is nothing in this legislation that suspends human rights, nothing that suggests that even the mayor could do so...she will still be limited by certain balances and checks, she will merely be able to act more decisively and quickly against the severe threat to all our safeties."
The general position of other parties to the legislation, however, is unknown; the sole member of the Futurist Party in the Assembly, who defected from the CPCI, however, has stated that she will abstain.
"It is my goal to create a government, centered around the monarchy from which all power flows, of technocrats, of experts, that will lead this city into the future and unite its many forces around progress and the great nation. This legislation has little to do with my goal; but it does not hamper it, either. There is, as such, no reason for me either to vote for or against; I thus will abstain [on the legislation]," she said in a public statement delivered today.
The legislation in question is considered unusual for the ADA, a pro-independence bloc which has often stood against the IUAC-dominated government, which it has previously criticized for failing to defend the economic interests of Anastasia City against those of Baltia, which is rapidly expanded and appears to view the city merely as a suburb or an extension of it, as well as for a lack of general direction, which they have argued is a sign of political opportunism. Their motivations for proposing such an act, as such, are unknown, although it may involve an attempt to gain confidence from the other members of the legislature after PM John Peter Key's condemnation of the party after conflating it with the CPCI, which recently conducted a poll on independence which the Duchian government appeared to believe was an attempt to hold a referendum, or alternatively for founding a youth organization. Another possible explanation may be found in the wording of the act, which not once refers to the United Duchies or uses the term Duchian - in essence, that it is an attempt to assert the political independence of Anastasia City, although this is highly unlikely, given that there was virtually no reason to mention either anyways.
In other news, a document almost two thousand pages in length, titled "Plan X" and allegedly an official internal document of the Duchian intelligence services, developed between them and the Duchian military, was leaked by an anonymous source. The plan primarily regards a course of action to be taken in the case of secession or rebellion, particularly in regards to the North, the far-right, the far-left, and Anastasia City.
It includes significant details on plans to indefinitely detain hundreds of thousands of Duchians in camps to be rapidly constructed (the plan lists possible sites for these camps, possible methods of construction, and includes engineering and surveying reports for the planned camps), as well as to "liquidate" thousands of Duchians who are deemed "a threat to state integrity," including significant members of major Duchian parties, particularly New Dawn and The Left, as well as members of the intelligentsia connected to these and other parties. Lists of individuals to be "liquidated," which sometimes but not always included addresses, were attached to the document.
Also included were details on possible military administration of the north, as well as possibly Anastasia CIty, which would entail the dissolution of governmental institutions, arrests of those who did not comply, and the suppression of a number of human rights, in particular freedom of expression, in order to clamp down on hostilities.
Other details included the planned division of the Duchian people into a number of classes - "hostile" (for immediate 'liquidation'), 'wavering,' (either to be 're-educated' in camps, merely detained, or surveilled), and 'loyal,' the last class of which encompassed most of the population. Details on how Duchians would be classified, on possible systems of informants to be used as to do so, and much more were included. Most worrying were details on "re-education" techniques, many of which, particularly one technique which appeared to be a form of white torture, likely would classify as cruel and unusual punishments and thus illegal under European law.
A specific separate report, apparently unfinished, on Anastasia City was in the document, listing various "hostile" elements to be liquidated in the city. Of particular concern in this report was the Romanov monarchy, which was perceived, because of its lack of connections to the Duchian state and its loyalty to a separate state, to be a possible pole around which nationalist and secessionist fervor, or general fervor against the status quo, could coalesce. Several options were discussed, including coercing Queen Anastasia into marriage to a Duchian noble in order to forcibly induct her into the Duchian royalty and thus ensure her loyalty while destroying her as a possible figure around which a Nicoleizian nationalist movement would form; assassinating her and blaming it on politically "disloyal" groupings, including the Duchian far-left, far-right, or possibly the existing Anastasian secessionist movements, thus both eliminating her while also speeding up the process of "liquidation;" and several more disturbing plans, the most entertaining of which involved her being seduced by and made completely dependent on a Duchian agent.
The document appears to have been a doomsday plan of sorts, in the case of an extremely widespread rebellion that the government would have difficulty in putting down; while it has been suggested that it is a forgery, the significant detail found it in it appears to prove this otherwise.
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Teder argues that "Duchian parties in Anastasia City appear to be completely disconnected from reality,"
Kristjan Teder, parliamentary leader of the Anastasian Democratic Assembly, gave the following statement on the refusal of most Duchian parties to vote on the proposed 'enabling act,' which would give the Mayor of Anastasia City sweeping powers in order to combat terrorist threats against the city, including the right to write and pass legislation, as well as to unilaterally recall and replace members of the cabinet.
"The Duchian parties in Anastasia appear to be entirely disconnected from reality. Two terrorist attacks, in short succession, have occured in our city - surely that calls for strong measures against violence, strong measures against those who seek to commit mass acts of terror. That, above all, is the pressing concern for many Anastasians. Whether they will be the next to die. Their safety is at risk; and yet the Duchian parties have, despite all their concern at the beginning, suddenly thrown them aside. We appear to to now be the only ones who are truly standing by the Anastasian people, for their freedom, prosperity, and safety."
"The parties in question have claimed that this is some attempt to gain additional powers for Anastasia City. This is nothing short of conspiracy. Our commitment is to working in a transparent, democratic, and legal manner for the Anastasian people, not to hiding obscure clauses in unrelated legislation as I understand is sometimes a practice in the United Duchies. There is no hidden meaning behind this legislation - it is exactly what it claims to be, and should be clear to anyone who has read it, an act which gives the mayor of our city additional powers - powers already devolved to this city but presently held by other organs - as to combat the terrorist threat effectively and efficiency and thus protect the Anastasian people."
"It shocks me that the Duchian parties, for what appears to be a curious mix of ignorance and politicking, have refused any cooperation on this subject, have in fact decided that it is a good idea to block any progress on this matter completely. This is playing with lives, this is disgusting. It is extremely shameful that any party which claims to represent the Anastasian people has chosen to act in such a way. We are here not to go about shouting slogans, we are here to govern effectively for the Anastasians. Today more than ever it seems as though the majority of the politicians of Anastasia City have failed in this purpose."
"But let us come together, now, all those who are willing to work for the Anastasians; let us come together and genuinely defend them. If there are any in the assembly who believe in the Anastasian people, who truly seek to represent them; let them show themselves, and let them contribute."
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Futurists, Syndicalists, feud after adoption of monarchist, nationalist platform by Futurists; second campaign for independence launched through grassroots efforts
Four days ago, the Futurists expelled Marine Marchand and a number of her collaborators from the party, before adopting a new platform based on monarchism and intense nationalism, although the movement has maintained its ultraprogressive stance.
The new ideas of the Futurists are primarily centered around the preservation and empowerment of the Romanov monarchy; they argue that it must serve as the leader of all society, uniting all sectors in defense of the nation and in progress. While they are not in favor of a full absolute monarchy, it is evident that they do desire the Romanov monarchy to hold significantly more power than it would normally, likely in a semi-constitutional agreement; they also seem to be near-totalitarian in nature, arguing that much of society, particularly in regard to labor relations, must be reorganized around the monarchy; for example the platform calls for a system in which trade and employer unions would be united, as one creating labor-capital agreements as to ensure the functioning of the economy but more importantly, as the platform explicitly states, "uniting the classes around the figure of the monarchy and thus the nation"; it also calls for the creation of state-backed mass organizations for the glorification of the monarchy, including women's, cultural, and youth associations, with significant changes to the educational system as to create education that would serve in part to instill love for the queen and patriotism for the nation in children.
In contrast, however, a number of their economic and social ideas remain heavily left-leaning. They call for significant encouragement of small businesses and sole proprietorships, arguing that these are more traditional and encourage the development of the monarchy, primarily through loans and a lowering and simplification of taxes and regulations on both; however, they also argue that larger businesses must in part be penalized - according to them, they are less likely to act in the interest of the queen, meaning that the monarchy must gain assurances from them, particularly in the form of taxation and further regulations. While they have abandoned their positions of intense anti-clericalism and enforced homosexuality, they continue to argue that the monarchy must enable social progress - that it must take control of the religious institutions to ensure loyalty, but also that the goal of the monarchy is the abolition of present morality, which it argues is degrading, with one more liberating, where all acts are free and in which people may lead "genuinely fulfilling and pleasurable lives" beneath the monarchy, in addition to the pursuing of constant technological progress to modernize society and glorify the monarchy and nation.
In essence, they seek the regimentation of society around the Romanov monarchy to create a new one, nationalist and progressive in its outlook.
Immediately after the announcement of the new platform, the Anastasian Confederation of Labor, which provides employment and services to many Anastasians in the form of its many collectives and mutual-aid societies, made a denunciation of the Futurists, arguing that they had become little more than fascists painted in progressive colors. They announced a breaking of all cooperation with the Futurists, with the Creative Union created through a joint endeavor of both made independent, given some funds as to survive by itself; the Futurists responded with their own condemnation, arguing that the Confederation was a group of anti-nationalists who did not believe in the Nicoleizian cause and who had contributed to the rise of leftist extremism in the city, before themselves also breaking all relations and cooperation with the Confederation. The Confederation then made a second statement arguing that it had actually done more to fight terrorism, having founded a number of neighborhood associations as to increase public vigilance, and that all violence was in reality the result of "vanguardism," which it stated that the Futurists, in spite of their orientation, were encouraging.
Both organized, in the coming days, significant rallies, speaking violently against each other, almost frothing at the mouth, red-faced, on some occasions, and in favor of their own visions. Both of them have organized significant "marches" through their youth organizations, which are militarized in uniform and layout but not in terms of being actually armed - none possessed or even appeared to possess arms; the marches were only great demonstrations of uniformed youth in formation, as loud, blaring music, often promoting ideological causes, played.
Significant demonstrations were also organized by both. The Futurists, for example, had hundreds march down the street, carrying large banners and signs with such messages as, "Anastasia for the Anastasians," "Preserve the prestige of the monarchy," "the sun of our Queen shines on all," and, simply, "Long live the Queen!" They shouted a number of inflammatory slogans, arguing that the Duchians were attempting to "corrupt and defile our Queen," and that "we must resist the -----' invasion of our city." "Anastasia for the Anastasians," while written on many of the banners and signs, was also a repeated cry. At a Syndicalist demonstration, hundreds also marched similarly, but carried signs with very different slogans - "Long live the free Anastasian people!", "Freedom will prevail," and "Self-administration now!" Many shouted the first; others a variation, "Long live the free and independent Anastasian people, down with the Duchies!" Another common cry, heard at both demonstrations as well as subsequent ones organized by the two organizations, was "Down with the Roscoes!", or in some cases, "To hell with the Roscoes!"
These rallies and marches are now commonplace, occuring seemingly everywhere and always, to the extent that it is unlikely than an Anastasian has not at least seen one. They have overpowered the slow politics of the municipal assembly for a politics of rhetoric and of quasi-violence, although no violence has actually occured; they have stirred the blood of many, and have created a significantly more tense environment.
The common feeling is that it is almost war, what with the uniforms and shouting and violence, if not physical violence then the violence of words.
In response, it seems as though a great upwelling of support for the cause of Anastasian independence has happened. Posters, often made by hand, have appeared across the city, on every surface. One, imitated by many others, points to the EUrovoice record of the Duchies and asks Nicoleizians in particular whether they really want to be associated with such a country; another points to policies requiring German education and German language in government and calls on the residents of Anastasia City to "Say "NO" to the invaders - speak your mothertongue!" remade in Nicoleizian and French versions by others, both of which were further imitated. One which cut deep pointed to the terrorist attack on the CPCI, which killed almost 30 but damaged little property and elicited no reaction from the Duchian government, and then to the attack on the Roscoes, which killed 19 and damaged much property, resulting in speeches, new government policy, and a nationwide outpouring of support for the Anastasians. A caption, in English, French, and Nicoleizian, asks whether it is lives or property the Duchian government cares more about, further saying that in a just world the victims of both would have been defended and spoken for.
A second poster included this but also invoked the budget store constructed on top of the site of a terrorist attack which killed hundreds elsewhere in the Duchies, again posing the same question - whether the Duchian government genuinely cares about lives or rather simply about defending property.
Yet another oft-replicated poster depicts a woman whose dreams are being "held" by a Duchian official who resembles the grim reaper, and warns against the significant collection of information by the Duchian government, stating that they may next be able to discern one's most secret thoughts.
The situation has become intolerable; everyone is rising up against the Duchies. Independence is only a matter of time.
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van der Bijl, Katzian, to arrive in Anastasia CIty
Eva van der Bijl and Wolfgang Katzian, communist theorists, are to arrive in Anastasia City from their homes in Europolis, although they have not yet departed.
Eva van der Bijl was originally a communist Haanean, who was vehemently against electoralism and believed that anything short of the immediate abolition of markets, money, and non-democratic forms of industrial hierarchy not merely by a state but by a people acting through organs that they themselves established was capitalism and had to be fought. She later fled the country, having faked her death by throwing an innocent woman, who she claimed to be her, at a mob, before going back and forth between many countries attempting to convince others of her ideas. Ms. van der Bijl is a recognized war criminal in the country of Inimicus, and was also deported from Istkalen for having illegally immigrated. Now possessing a Europolis passport, she has made the decision to depart for Anastasia City, believing that she will be accepted and safe there. Ms. van der Bijl has stated that she will refrain from political activity, apart from publishing and giving academic addresses on books on Marxist theory, including her own original contributions. Ms. van der Bijl is perhaps best known for her books "On Bureaucracy," where she argues that bureaucracy is inherently capitalistic; and "On Workers' Organization," where she argues that non-sectoral forms of political organization are reactionary and bourgeois.
Wolfgang Katzian was originally a communist Austrian trade unionist and revolutionary, who overthrew the Austrian state in an attempt to establish a socialist republic but only contributed to its path to becoming a right-wing dictatorship. Mr. Katzian was not as opposed to electoralism as Ms. van der Bijl, but was considerably more extreme. Mr. Katzian's words were described as "deranged" and "disgusting" by many of his colleagues privately, and played a role in justifying Austria's exit from the Union and descent into dictatorship. The Czech state media went as far as to call one of his statements an "infamous proclamation...called for Czech prime minister to be brutally murdered..." Excerpts from Mr. Katzian's many statements are printed below:
"[The Socialist Republican Party] must be made to feel pain, the greatest pain, they must scream for mercy as the people assault them in glorious fashion, with sharp knives, with hot pokers, with boiling water, with shards of glass, scream for mercy as they die slowly and painfully on the crosses of the people's labor, the people's creation! They must be stripped nude, so that they may be indecent before the public, indecent and tortured and heckled, and then castrated with rusty knives covered in salt as the people cheer...."
" Mikaela Kligenberg - she shall suffer a fate so horrible that it cannot even be fully fathomed as of now! She shall be dragged through the streets of Inquista, tied to a car, living on the verge of death! She will be crucified, tortured with boiling water and poisons and castor oil daily until she dies, covered in her own excrement, dirty, filthy, as the people shout in joy for her death, that swine! She will scream, oh, how she will scream as she slowly, ever so slowly, perishes, excruciating pain coursing throughout her entire sorry excuse for a body, full of decadence!"
"Slavomíra Černá - you will die most horribly of all! You will be strung up by your feet as the people watch in happiness; they will enact their revenge upon you who tortured them for so long! They will torture you with hot pokers, beat you with sticks, carve bits of your body out; they shall do this until you die your deserved death! The dogs shall feed upon your lifeless, rotting body as the public watches, cheering! The remains of your body, your bones, shall be paraded all through Czech Slavia so that the liberated people, the people who you tortured and fed upon for so long, may spit on your body! You shall be thrown into sewage for a funeral; wherever your putrid remains end up shall become a public bathroom, so that your evil may be seen for what it is - disgusting and lowly!"
Mr. Katzian later fled to the Union of Syndicates, where he became the mayor of the capital in a rigged election marred by violence, before fleeing that country as the residents of the capital had lost their sanity. He then arrived in Istkalen; he was later deported from the country by the Republican government, at which point he departed from Europolis. Mr. Katzian is best known for his leadership of a constitutional convention in Austria, as well as his "Theory of the Great Pile," which posits that a revolution must organically unite the whole of the proletariat against the bourgeoisie in great fury, and then physically put the members of the bourgeoisie and physical reminders of its existence onto a great pile; socialism would entail reorganizing the whole of society around constantly attempting to destroy this pile, creating a "total hatred," and communism would be reached upon its total destruction. The Theory of the Great Pile has been expanded to become Marxism-Katzianism, which is allegedly a more correct interpretation of Marxism for the whole of the world than Marxism-Leninism or its derivatives. Katzian has published a number of books, including the aforementioned "Theory of the Great Pile," "The Failed Austrian Revolution and Its Consequences," "On Entryism," and other works.
Mr. Katzian believes that, compared to Europolis, where he was viewed as a lunatic, he will be better received in Anastasia City, although he has stated that he will refrain from making statements and will focus on his writing, collaborating with Ms. van der Bijl.
Mr. Katzian and Ms. van der Bijl met in the Union of Syndicates, and immediately found themselves friends due to their similar extremism. They have worked and lived together since then, and have cowritten a number of short works, including "On Workers' Councils," a synthesis of both theories, as well as other additions to the theory of Marxism-Katzianism.
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Teder warns Anastasians of Duchian alliance with Reitzmag; Syndicalists expand community organization as Futurists fall flat; anti-Duchian business campaign continues
Over the past few weeks, pro-independence marches and rallies have become only more numerous. Daily do they occur in every quarter of Anastasia City; they are everpresent. Pro-independence posters are on every wall and every surface, exhorting Anastasians to oppose the Duchian government and support independence for a variety of reasons. A significant intensification occurred after the election of Nikolai II to the position of High Duke, due to his connections to the Reitzmic monarchy. Previously, the independence movement founded itself on opposition to language, education, surveillance and development policies; with the gravitation of the United Duchies towards Reitzmag, however, it has gained a far more salient argument.
"The United Duchies have moved ever closer to the Kingdom of Reitzmag. Reitzmag, who persecuted us for a year, who sought to choke us, to forcibly integrate us into their fold, to become loyal and willing subjects, and kill all those who did not comply. Reitzmag, who drove us here, away from our homes. Reitzmag, who imprisoned many of us in the camps of New Saint Regina, who refused to let us go until it was too late for them. The very lives of the Anastasian people are now at threat," said Kristjan Teder, the leader of the Anastasian Democratic Assembly, the de facto successor to the CPCI (dissolved on New Year's Day).
"No longer does the United Duchies have any reason to keep us here, to protect us. Reitzmag will demand ever more in return for cooperation, for further alliance, more and more and more, until finally the day comes that we Anastasians are handed over and find ourselves locked in the inescapable prisons of Reitzmag."
"We are free only because of our strength and our effort; but now we may soon find ourselves under tyranny yet again. We must stand, we must fight again. We can no longer trust the Duchies; it is only a matter of time before they sell us. Independence is the only way to guarantee that we have control over our own lives; to guarantee that we will not be sacrificed because of the whims of foreign policy."
Grassroots efforts to spread the call of independence have reflected this newfound concern over the Duchian alliance of Reitzmag. In addition to existing posters pointing to concerns over surveillance and language policy, new ones - the most widespread of which has been one depicting a demonic Simon Bridges outstreching spectral hands to Anastasia City - have been created and widely reproduced on these lines.
In other news, the Syndicalists have significantly expanded their community organization effort. They have yet again announced a further expansion of existing collectives, already diverse, ranging from shopping to IT services, in Anastasia City to help with employment; they have also announced the creation of a specialized agricultural union, which will take over existing collective farms that the union has established in the city while also leading the effort to further expand them and thus bring greater self-sufficiency to Anastasia City.
In addition, already existing housing assistance boards, which assist renters in paying their rent as well as help prospective tenants find affordable housing, will see their staff increased. Boards will also be made more neighborhood specific, to increase efficiency and accessibility.
The organization has also announced that it will continue its drive for the establishment of mutual-aid groups, in order to provide even more welfare "from the bottom up" to the Anastasian people. Similarly, it has also set a goal for the unionization of at least 50% of the Anastasian population by year's end under independent unions to "protect the Anastasians against the manipulation of others."
Neighborhood surveillance committees, which in certain areas, according to the organization, have been more effective than the Anastasian police in detecting crime, will find themselves complemented by neighborhood assemblies, which will exist to provide networks of mutual aid to communities, as well as help organize grassroots efforts for community upkeep and improvement.
The Futurists have not been as successful. Their labor associations have not been able to attract nearly as many, failing to gain traction; while they have had some success on the political front, having organized dozens of monarchist political associations and held perhaps hundreds of significant rallies and marches in favor of monarchism, they simply have not gained the same significance as the Anastasian Confederation of Labor. The artists' association they established in particular collapsed completely; to add insult to injury, the Syndicalists moved to establish a similar association, which has managed to stay afloat and has been significant more successful in employing artists and creating workspaces as well as supplying material for them.
In other news, the campaign against Duchian businesses has continued. The same wealthy businessman who previously sought to deprive Roscoes stores in the city of their stock has continued with his endeavor, employing a veritable army of roughly 3500 individuals to purchase Roscoes stock throughout the city at an industrial pace. These individuals are allegedly all full-time workers who are paid extremely well for their efforts, and also have very good benefits.
"We must deprive them of their dignity if nothing else," he said to writers for this pamphlet. "We intend to force them to say, 'we are dependent on the efforts of one rich man,' to say that in reality the Anastasians are not frequenting their businesses and go eleswhere."
Vandalism against Duchian businesses has also become a factor. Several individuals dressed in wedding gowns have been seen spraypainting the fronts of Duchian businesses with a variety of phrases, slogans, and images, many of which are obscene in nature. Some have also engaged in more significant property damage, seeking to smash glass storefronts, often with bricks. Others., similarly dresed, appear merely to travel to these businesses to quietly and discreetly urinate near and around them.
Crime has also increased around these businesses, although this is likely unrelated to anti-Duchian sentiment. An online movement calling for Anastasians to shoplift from Duchian businesses has formed, although it is not particularly large or successful for that matter. More physical and obvious crime has also occurred. Earlier today, it was reported that a man, possibly inebriated, entered a Roscoes store before stripping and performing acrobatic maneuvers, attacking multiple customers and urinating on stock. It is possible that this man has been arrested, although as of yet this has not yet been confirmed by anyone. In another case, also today, although it was not criminal in nature, a woman entered a Roscoes and began an expletive-laden rant in which she informed customers that they would face hellfire if they did not repent, complete with screaming.
More oddly, in the past two days a significant number of junkies have proliferated around Roscoes locations in particular. It is unknown why they have suddenly moved and grouped around these stores, but some claim that they were paid significant sums of cash and given transportation to do so. Some of these junkies have formed encampments outside the businesses. Representatives of the Syndicalists have traveled to these encampments to offer housing and rehabilitation, to limited success, but other than this they largely remain.
Protests have also continued, although the protestors have distanced themselves from the business locations to ensure that they are not arrested, and remain widely attended.
Kristjan Teder has condemned most of these occurances.
"Crime is never acceptable. Annoyances of this nature are never acceptable. Leave the Anastasian people in peace. The aim of independence must be pursued in a dignified, peaceful, and legal way."
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Homeless "junkie" encampments outside of Roscoes locations in Anastasia City continue to grow
[OOC: Veracity doubtable]
Homeless encampments in front of multiple Roscoes locations in Anastasia CIty have continued to grow. Forming suddenly about three days ago, the encampments first were merely large groupings of junkies who gathered in front of Roscoes stores, before gradually becoming more permanent settlements. While the Anastasian Confederation of Labor has intensified its efforts to rehouse and rehabilitate those in the encampments, their success has remained relatively limited.
Writers for this pamphlet visited a Roscoes store where it was reported that encampments were massive. They estimated that perhaps 150 individuals were encamped outside of the Roscoes, and that there were "a great many more" apparent drug users also gathered within the encampment. Conditions were described as "horrific" and "akin to those prevailing in Nofoaga directly after the volcanic eruption;" the writers described pools of vomit and blood, excrement strewn everywhere, and several motionless bodies between tents
"It is horrible that people are forced to live like this in this modern age in a modern country," said one of our writers.
A frequenter of the Roscoes, who claimed to be employed by a wealthy man simply to purchase as many goods as possible from the Roscoes in question along with several hundred numbers, took a less than positive stance on the issue.
"It's horrible. There are the protestors on the sidewalk, who scream loudly, but now there is the encampment. I feel unsafe having to walk through it just to enter the store. The inside is no better. The restrooms have been completely destroyed, they stink of urine; I went into one and found that junkies had taken it over, they were everywhere, shooting up their drugs. Roscoes is terrifying now, and the only reason why I still go is because I'm paid well to do so!"
Our writers also interviewed others who frequented the store, all of whom also claimed to be employed by the same man for the same job, and who expressed roughly the same complaints. We could not find any genuine frequenters of Roscoes after spending six hours at this particular store.
Bizarre events occuring in Roscoes locations have also increased. At one location, it was reported that an intoxicated Haanean woman set her hair on fire in the middle of an aisle; in another, a bizarre "parade" of alleged junkies marched through the store, terrifying customers.
Roscoes locations in Anastasia City have been, in light of this, flooded with sharply negative reviews reporting on "filthy conditions," "extreme danger," and much more. One particularly memorable one is reprinted below.
"From the outside it's already very noticeable that this place is very run down! Don't let the prices fool you. The store STINKS an indescribable odor, I cover my nose everytime I walk through it. I can't stand it, It makes me gag. The smell of urine is so extremely heavy! Also, the amount if flies is unbelievable. They would just appear, as well as the most oddest spiders! There are also junkies everywhere! The shelves are grimy, I could go on and on about the FILTH Anastasia CIty needs to shut this place down it's definitely a health hazard. It STINKS, it's FILTHY, it's a health hazard, it's just a bunch of filth! I wish someone would of warned me about this place, never will you catch me in a filth like this."
The review was accompanied by a number of disturbing images of what the reviewer claimed to be the inside of the Roscoes location in question.
Another recent review went as follows:
"urine smell is so bad, it is just dirty, , bad odors all over the place, but you should see all the mess that it is around it. this a true unsafe drug infested environment. roscoes a horrible crappy place that you never should go to!"
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ADA manifesto for Anastasia City
The Anastasian Democratic Assembly, the successor party to the CPCI, has issued a manifesto of its own dealing with what it sees as the critical issues facing Anastasia City.
"Anastasia City, and I cannot put it nicely," said Kristjan Teder, the party's leader, "is a mess. Homelessness, drug use, and crime are skyrocketing; at the same time, the Anastasians have been denied any true autonomy. They have no control over their education, over their development, and may soon be at the total mercy of Duchian foreign policy as the country begins to swerve towards Reitzmag, the country oppressed us for so long, the country that wants us all dead. All the while, their privacy is violated on a daily basis. Change is absolutely necessary in order to establish an Anastasia for us all."
The manifesto is as follows:
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Greater state intervention in the housing market; the state should begin constructing housing of its own in order to stimulate employment and add to housing stock. Management and ownership of state-constructed housing should be given to democratic, independent, and self-sufficient housing associations of all residents.
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Establishment of state-owned but worker controlled unions which will establish independent and self-sufficient collectives in order to stimulate employment in a financially sustainable and democratic way.
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The establishment of a widescale drug rehabilitation program specific to Anastasia City in order to reduce drug usage, as well as the construction supervised injection sites throughout Anastasia City in order to reduce overdose deaths and public crime.
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Temporary provision of a basic income of 250 Dux Libra a month to all Anastasians above the age of majority in order to reduce poverty and stimulate economic development.
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Lowering of taxation and simplification of regulations for the self-employed and small business owners, as well as for social enterprises, in order to stimulate employment and thus reverse the effects of poverty that have led to homelessness, crime, and drug use
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Raising of taxes on larger enterprises in order to fund basic social programs, in conjunction with the establishment of full freedom of trade and movement in Anastasia City for all.
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Establishment of superiority of Anastasian law over Duchian law in areas devolved to the Anastasian municipal government by the Treaty of Porterdam (public services, education, utilities, transport, policing , emergency services, social laws, and local economic law)
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Removal or re-negotiation of Section II, Clause IV of the Treaty of Porterdam due to extreme privacy concerns.
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Establishment of clause in the Treaty of Porterdam allowing the Anastasian municipal government to exempt Anastasia City and its residents from any agreements made with the Kingdom of Reitzmag specifically.
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Establishment of an independent transportation authority in Anastasia City alongside the establishment of independent public transportation systems.
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Establishment of state ownership - that is, ownership by the municipal government alone and no other actor, including the Duchian central government - over all Anastasia-specific public infrastructure, particularly ports, airports, roads, city-specific public transportation, energy, and sanitation.
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Sewer explosions throughout Anastasia City leave much of the population without utilities as violence sweeps; Syndicalist vigilance committee catches possible criminal involved
A reported thirteen sewer explosions, based on information gathered from social media, reverberated throughout Anastasia CIty today. The cause as of yet remains unknown; hypotheses have ranged as widely from a buildup of "sewer gas" to an intentional terror attack. Roads across the city were destroyed. The explosions severed additional gas pipelines and electricity lines, alongside broadband infrastructure; widespread outages have been reported, as have several further gas explosions at the same sites as the sewer explosions. Damage was particularly concentrated at the city center, where seven explosions occurred.
"We have no water anymore, what are we to do?" asked an Anastasian. "We can't go outside, it's too dangerous, we're locked in here without water, electricity, or heating in the middle of winter!"
Elevated levels of chlorine gas in the city center were also claimed, although this has not yet been confirmed.
There have also been widespread reports of seemingly spontaneous apartment fires, as violence sweeps through the city. Citizens have reported individuals throwing incendiary devices into stores and other buildings, further adding to the fires. Many have been seen jumping from higher stories to escape the spreading fires, which have been reported as being unusually hot and long-lasting. It has been rumored that the fires were caused further by terrorists, who may have used rudimentary forms of napalm in order to set them, as possibly evidenced by residues where fires have been put out.
Widespread looting and violence has also been reported. Fleeing crowds have been beset by seemingly crazed individuals violently; several have been beheaded or in other ways extremely violently attacked; stores have allegedly been stormed and subjected to similar violence, alongside looting.
"The police have lost control over the city," said a resident of Anastasia City. "No matter what the Duchians say, they have lost control."
There have been reports of a mass shooting committed by members of the Duchian military as well.
"We can't trust them," said an Anastasian in response to the news, which has spread like wildfire across social media. "No, not at all. We are trapped here, and they will only worsen it."
In other news, a Syndicalist vigilance committee has caught a man dressed in a bridal gown attempting to set fire to a store. The man immediately confessed, during interrogation, to being a part of a plot masterminded by ultranationalist Duchians to destroy Anastasia City and kill as many immigrants as possible, before committing suicide by throwing himself into a fire.
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A dark night: Surrounded by rubble, without heating, electricity, or water, and trapped within by the Duchian government, the Anastasian people suffer
Anastasia City, in the course of a single day, has found itself in ruins. Thirteen explosions throughout the city killed possibly hundreds, tearing apart streets, sewers, electricity, telephone, and broadband lines, as well as water and gas. Further massive gas explosions triggered by the destruction left the city in flames; several others have been reported since, likely due to the destruction. Buildings have been reported completely collapsed after the repeated explosions across Anastasia City, as gas continues to leak from pipelines exposed by the destruction.
Unusually hot and long lasting fires, suspected to be caused by a napalm-like substance contained within incendiary devices, spread across the city, destroying housing stock and stores and claiming even more lives, forcing Anastasians to flee across the streets where they were beset by violent individuals almost certainly on drugs. Other, more minor fires, were reported from other apartments. While firefighters have indeed made headway against the fires, they continue sporadically across the city. Several building collapses have further been reported since, however, and even more buildings are believed to be unhabitable as a result of the fires.
"We have nowhere to go," said an Anastasian who has been forced to return to their apartment, in a building that has half-collapsed.
The streets of Anastasia City are impassable, covered in rubble from the sewer explosions and later building collapses. Where the explosions themselves occurred, they have caved in completely, revealing pools of sewage, sometimes burning. In other places, bodies and bodyparts can be seen strewn across the street, killed and torn apart by the force of the explosions.
Conditions in the city have been described as "Haanean." Citizens have been seen defecating in the open, with nowhere else to do so due to the destruction of the city's water and sanitation systems; others have quickly constructed shelters out of debris, creating "shanty-towns" outside of collapsed or condemned apartment buildings. Significant portions of the city allegedly remain without contact, as roads leading to them have been rendered completely impassable.
While the violence has ended, reports of property crime remain rampant. Looting and robbery are common. Sporadic firebombing continues to be observed across the city, as emergency and police services struggle to deal with the situation in the destroyed city.
"They say that everything is intact," said an Anastasian, "but in reality we live in ruins. The whole city is devastated. Liars, the Duchians are!"
Fear has also spread through the city; images and videos of Duchian soldiers shooting indiscriminately at Anastasians, alongside widespread rumors, have made many fearful of reprisals.
"I can't stay here," said an Anastasian who was possibly of Nicoleizian descent, although this was based solely off the fact that she had a French accent, which could very well mean that she was in reality Haanean. "Anywhere else would be better than this hellhole, even the motherland."
The Syndicalists have begun community-based efforts to reach as many Anastasians as is possible, and have apparently been more successful with this than the Duchians; meanwhile, the party leader of the Anastasian Democratic Assembly made an address.
"Today is a black day for Anastasia City. Beset by terrorists, hundreds have died. Hundreds more are missing, lost beneath rubble, lost to fires, lost to the manipulations of these evil actors. Anastasians now lie on the street, beset by criminals, amid unending fires and rubble. Our city, which would have become the jewel of the Caspian, is now a ruin. We lend our full support to the actions of the Duchian government; but we insist that more be done for the Anastasians who have died, who continue to suffer. Those who did this must be condemned, must suffer, for the hundreds of lives they have taken; but more should be done for the Anastasians who are suffering. We must work as hard as we can to repair destroyed infrastructure and reconstruct housing, for the thousands upon thousands who have been left homeless and without even the most basic of services. We must remember, we must avenge, but we also must work to recover on our own terms, to show those behind this our strength."
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Images from Anastasia City
