User:Pirinia
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| Map of Slavatonia | |||||
| Official language | Pirin1 | ||||
| Capital and largest city | Janóvia | ||||
| Head of State | The President of the Republic of Pirinia | ||||
| Chancellor | Lady Elaina Clarke - (Conservative) | ||||
| Deputy Minister | Charles du Mont - (Conservative) | ||||
| Area - Total - % water |
Ranked 71st 301,336 km² 2.40% | ||||
| Population - Total (December 2004) - Density |
Ranked 23rd 58,462,375 194/km² | ||||
| Unification | 17 March 1756 | ||||
| GDP (2004) - Total (PPP) - Total (nom.) - GDP/capita (PPP) - GDP/capita (nom.) |
$1.621 trillion (8th) $1.672 trillion (6th) $27,727 (19th) $28,599 (20th) | ||||
| HDI (2003) | 0.934 (18th) | ||||
| Currency | Pounds Sterling | ||||
| Time zone - in summer |
CET (UTC+1) CEST (UTC+2) | ||||
| National anthem | "Pirinia!" | ||||
| Internet TLD | .pr | ||||
| Calling Code | +45 | ||||
The Republic of Pirinia was established in 1874 after the first drafting of the Constitution of the Republic. The President of the Republic is the Head of State with the Head of Government being the Chancellor of the Republic.
The History of the Republic[edit]
The Old System[edit]
When the United Kingdom of Slavatonia granted its permission for Pirinia to become an independent state, it took a while before it became clear how the new country would be governed. At first, the authors of the Constitution allowed for 100 peers to become Senators who would "whole-heartedly represent the freedoms of the Pirinian People". The Senate was to elect a fellow self-nominated candidate to serve as the President of the Republic of Pirinia and as President of the Pirinian Senate. It was no surprise that the main advocate for the Liberation of Pirinia, Arthur George, would proceed to win a Senatorial election with a unanimous vote.
President George appointed 11 Senators to serve as Ministers of Government, who would help to propose laws, debate them in the Senate and then, having passed by vote, had them established by the President. In mid-1874, a few days after his election, he made a speech to an enormous crowd outside the "Old Senate" buildings:
"My People, we are free; free at last from the tyrannous hand of the Slavatonian Crown. Today is a new dawn. Lift up your hearts, and rejoice for the Constitution - the foundation and very basis of a new State. A new Republic. The Republic of Pirinia. A Republic whose liberation of its people knows precisely no bounds."
The speech was received with a somewhat mixed welcome, and when in 1876 the country began to fall into turmoil under the unreviewed legacy of Slavatonian law, President George knew that he would have to make improvements in order to satisfy the Pirinian people that liberty truly had been bought to them. Much to the dismay of the Senate, he passed a new law that allowed for the election of 2 candidates from the 80 constituencies to become Senators. This would be in addition to the remaining 100 Senators appointed by him. This would mean that at the beginning of his third and final one-year term, the Senate would consist of 260 Senators altogether. This also meant that 61% of the Senate was representative of the Pirinian people.
But the President began to find that he was quickly losing the favour of those Senators who were able to see the true extent to which his neglect of the country was having an effect on the Pirinian people. The people urged the Senate to act on behalf the Liberation Act, and to help dismantle the old Slavatonian laws that the central government had failed to change. President George began to lose his reputation as he revealed himself to be a mere rebel of the Slavatonian state. He clearly had little knowledge of how to govern a country and a small number of persons began to question whether the Liberation Act had been a wise decision. The main rebellion came through the formation of a large group of democrats across the country.
The Senate eventually called upon the President to resign, but he refused this plea. Instead, President George began to alter the initial laws surrounding the Senate and allowed for the appointment of 200 more Senators, inevitably in his favour. At the end of his final term, President George managed to ensure the election of his close friend, Edward Gladison, who had a major advantage due to the biased Senate.
But the transition was perhaps not as smooth as George may have hoped. Gladison proved to be a poor deliverer in the Senate and the democrats across the country called for a complete change in the political system. After endless demonstrations and even an assassination attempt on the President, Gladison gave in. He urged the Senate to "review government or to face complete destruction". This sparked the resignation of some 290 appointed Senators.
The New System[edit]
The Partisan Law[edit]
President Gladison passed "The Partisan" or "Freedom of Speech Act", a law that allowed the formation of political parties with any shared views or policies. This allowed for the formation of "The Democratic Party", which opposed the more loyal oligarchs who formed "The Centralist Party".
The First Democratic Party[edit]
The Democratic Party vowed "to represent the people of Pirinia and to empower them with all the liberties that the Constitution has given to them" and campaigned for:
- A fully-elected Senate
- A fully-elected Lower-house or Assembly to decentralise government
It managed to win the vote of 71 constituencies, and thus occupied 142/170 seats in the Senate.
The First Centralist Party[edit]
There were few supporters of this party which opposed the decentralist polices of the "Democratic Party". Despite this, it managed to earn 18/170 seats in the Senate.
The Election Result[edit]
The seats were as follows:
- Democratic (majority) - 142
- Centralist - 18
- Non-partisan appointees - 10
The House of Congress[edit]
With the new political majority, the Democrats were able to make the proposed constitutional reforms with little opposition. After the resignation of President Gladison, the Senate elected a new president, Randolph Peterson, who established "The House of Congress" which consisted of the Lower and Upper houses, which were The Assembly and The Senate. The Democratic Party advocated their belief that Government could only work if it was decentralised and thus set out to remove complete control from the political elite.
In May 1877, the President informed the people that he would be withdrawing the right of the public to elect Senators directly, but would call for the public election of Junior MHCs (Members of the House of Congress), to represent each constituency, who would vote for members of the Upper house, on behalf of the Pirinian people. He would appoint a member of his party to lead the Government in the Lower house - this person would be the Chancellor of the Republic of Pirinia. The construction of The Assembly began in the same year.
Many Democrats were critical however of President Peterson's new, radical agenda and even suggested that perhaps it was not as Democratic as it seemed. A Democratic senator, Richard Caine spoke:
"There is a tremendous possiblity that those reforms made by the President can only be made in vain, for until the day that the leader of our Republic and our People is elected by the People, we may never speak of democratic justice."
It was clear to the President that the Chancellor could not be chosen by simple appointment and also that he would have to hand over some of his powers to the Chancellor if Government was to be held truly accountable to the public. It took much persuasion and almost a divide within the Democratic Party before the President finally announced, in late-1877, that he would resign a few weeks before the general election of the Lower house, in 1880, and that the role would be entirely constitutional, thereafter. He was heavily criticised for his refusal to serve as a constitutional President.
The Chancellor would be elected in a General Election of the Assembly. The leader of the winning party would become Chancellor and the new Junior MHCs would then elect the members of the Senate. The President would be officially appointed by the Chancellor but voted for by members of the party.
President Peterson invited a Senator called Edmund Fisher to lead the party into the General Election. Fisher accepted and became the first official "leader" of the Democratic Party. He stood against, Robert Burke, leader of the Centralist Party.
The Centralist Party claimed that the Democrats' indecisiveness over constitutional issues posed a great danger to country, but nonetheless, the Democrats won 207/320 seats in the Assembly, with the remaining 113 going to the Centralists.
The first Chancellor to be elected was the Democratic Party leader Edmund Fisher. He then announced the appointment of his younger brother Thomas as President.
As President, Thomas made a speech and oversaw the opening of the two Houses of Congress - a tradition that has remained ever since:
"I am honoured to stand before this House, to declare the opening of our new Congress. Never before has such a magnificent symbol of our Republic and our Democracy stood within our borders. My brother and I value nothing but the constitutional rights given to each and every one of us; both statesman and citizen alike. We are with utmost cheer, in offering to all of us this voice that speaks the will of the people."
The President of the Republic[edit]
The President of the Republic of Pirinia is also the President of the Senate or Upper House and is the Head of State. Although the President has the power to overrule any law passed by the Upper House and also has the ability to dismiss the Chancellor, these powers are rarely used and the role of the President remains largely ceremonial.
Despite the lack of powers exercised by the President, this position is considered to be the highest position acheived by any Slavatonian citizen. The President's relationship with the party in Government means that he or she plays an important part in the public perception of that party and so the President often acts as a spokesperson for party affairs and also makes an annual compendium at the party conference - in which he or she outlines the party's agenda.
The President oversees the opening and closing of Congress at the beginning and end of the political year - an event at which he or she traditionally makes a speech. He or she must be of Pirinian birth or otherwise have had Pirinian citizenship for more than 20 years and may serve a maximum of only 4 two-year terms. The same person may only be President for a maximum of 8 years, therefore.
The President is also an ambassador for the country and attends many official state visits on behalf of the Chancellor and the country.
The Chancellor of the Republic[edit]
The Chancellor of the Republic is also the President of the Assembly and is the Head of Government. Both he and his ministers are responsible for the composition of both foreign and domestic policy, although it is up to Chancellor as to which laws are proposed to the Assembly. The way in which policies are composed differ between parties; some may use Policy Committees and others may be proposed by individual Junior MHCs, but those accepted by the Chancellor are debated in the Assembly and then voted upon. At the second stage, the law is then reviewed and presented again. If it passes this vote, it is debated within the Senate and then passed and initiated by the President.
The Fisher Ministry[edit]
The Chancellor's Vision[edit]
The Democrats were among the first politicians to begin dismantling the old Slavatonian law that much of the country still abided by. Chancellor Fisher angered the Centralists by taking a more federalist approach to his government, believing that the country would be better organised if constituencies were granted more power to govern themselves.
Soon, the Chancellor revealed his "vision of a Pirinia where every man shall carry within him the hope of aspiration...". His ministers formulated a welfare plan that included the first aspects of a National Health Service, a state educational system and benefits for the poor.
Formation of the Conservatives[edit]
Both Centralists and Democrats argued that such actions would drain the economy, but Fisher denied these accusations. Nonetheless, the people of Pirinia saw a gradual increase in taxation, something which the Centralists used to their advantage, and the Democratic government began to consider accepting subsides from Slavatonia. A large group of Democrats opposed this movement and formed the Conservative Party, under the leadership of The Right Honourable William Kelly.
The Conservative Party argued that the Chancellor was betraying both his word and the constitution by accepting any help from the Slavatonians. William Kelly said that "with each slice of subsidy comes a mountain of influence". The Conservatives believed that the People could not be helped "before there [was] stability within the economy." But the Chancellor dubbed the Conservatives "traitors of the Pirinian people, who do not support our efforts to deliver democracy to the People...".
In 1884, the Chancellor announced the next General Election in which the Conservatives gained 24 Democratic seats (the Democrats becoming the minority in 6 constituencies) and 20 Centralist seats (the Centralists becoming the minority in 5 constituencies). The Democrats still had a majority of 183/320, the Centralists now had 93/320 and the Conservatives had 44/320.
The Reiner Regime[edit]
As Democratic support began to decline, the President Thomas Fisher urged the Chancellor to accept subsidies from Slavatonia. The President himself admitted that Pirinia needed a President who might start a "fresh" relationship with the First Minister of Slavatonia. Thomas therefore decided not to stand the next party presidential election to win a third term. The Chancellor supported the presidential bid of his close friend, the politician Wilfred Reiner. Wilfred successfully won and was appointed President in June 1884.
Wilfred was of Pirinian birth but had spent much time working with the Slavatonian government. He used his close relationship with the First Minister of Slavatonia to encourage the country to subsidise Pirinian trade. Slavatonia was not without compromise and asked to receive a commission on all exports. The Slavatonian Congress passed this bill and Pirinia received £30bn (approx. £80bn). The Chancellor was slowly able to lower taxes and increase trade at low cost, but the fact that trade commissions and taxes were being paid to Slavatonia outraged the Pirinian people. The Conservatives dubbed it "The Reiner Regime".
The Conservative Party won the General Election in 1888 under the slogan "Give back our country."
The Kelly Ministry[edit]
The Conservative Party won only 40 constituencies altogether, meaning that it obtained only 156/320 seats in the Assembly. 88/320 were Democratic and 76/320 were Centralist. This meant the Democrats and Centralists had a majority of 164.
Despite being opposed to it, the Reiner Regime was in fact a great advantage for Chancellor Kelly. The Slavatonians had signed the contract for an 8 year period and so Pirinia would be forced to accept subsidies until 1892. If the subsidies were stopped, Kelly would have had to raise taxes quite substantially, but if he took the correct measures he could gradually ween away the country's reliance on Slavatonia by investing in other areas.
His first step was education. Chancellor Kelly passed a law that all children at the age of 14 should undergo some academic or vocational preparation, "based on their capacity". He was renowned for his "on your bike" approach, especially when he addressed the Assembly saying that "we cannot afford to continue subsidising those to whom we ought to be offering help, in order that they may help themselves."
The downside was that this training had to be paid for and when the next General Election approached in 1892, Kelly promised he would make training affordable to the poor. He introduced the idea of patrons, members of society with a substantial amount of money who would pay to have a number of people trained. Each person would have to pay the patron back over time, but the patron would receive many benefits from the government, such as servants, houses, land, tickets to gentlemen's clubs etc...
The Conservatives were able to obtain 18 more constituencies and now had 228/320 seats in the Assembly. The Centralists had 44/320 and the Democrats had 48/320.
King Holt[edit]
Chancellor Kelly left politics in 1900, before the General Election, and the Conservatives went on to win 11 terms in a row, the most any party has won in the history of Pirinia. But disaster struck in 1943 when the Conservatives and Democrats agreed to the renovation of the nation's capital city Janóvia. The renovation was estimated at billions of pounds and there was much opposition from many politicians who thought that the money would be better spent on assisting the poor. The patronage system was beginning to become corrupt as there were no laws surrounding the payment of debts to patrons and the poor found themselves paying high interest on their educational fees. The patronage system was now big business and one politican, Graham Holt, formed the Socialists' Union Party or SUP which demanded a review of Government law.
Holt argued that there was no represenation of the poor working people of Pirinia and campaigned under the famous slogan: "And you call this a Republic?". He opposed the construction of a new city but was not able to win enough seats to halt the plans. His notorious character as a strong politician could not win him the support of the new Pirinian oligarchs. He warned the country that if they did not act now, Pirinia would sink into a "great depression".
But the Conservative Chancellor Richard Burton dismissed Holt's "paranoid ravings" and convinced the vast majority of Pirinia that Janóvia would become the "business capital of the world, where every Pirinian might flourish." He forwarded the expansion plans and it wasn't until 1952 that Conservative government admitted its vast overspending.
After a nine year long wait, Graham Holt finally became the 7th Chancellor of the Republic and was dubbed "King Holt" for his ruthless tactics on saving the Pirinian economy. With a majority in the Assembly, Holt was able to pass a law that required the back-payment of all interest paid by students of the past 17 years, meaning that they were entitled to receive a large sum of money from their former patrons. A small percentage of this was taxed. There was outrage from the Conservatives who branded him Graham "the tax-hungry" Holt. Graham famously hit back saying: "Is that all you've got? All your useless propaganda? Perhaps the People of this country might think about electing you when you finally realise that there is little room here for your useless political ideologies. I am returning to the People the money that your government stole from them, knowing full well that every man, woman and child in this country, be it rich or poor, deserves the right to a decent education. The SUP is doing more for this country than you ever will." Holt was able to use the money obtained from Patrons' Tax to establish over 500,000 state-schools across the country, and by his re-election victory in 1956 had completely abolished the Patronage System.
By 1960, over 2,000,000 state institutions had been founded across Pirinia, including prisons, schools, health clinics and building societies. Holt's centralisation of government was very attractive to the Centralists of whom support was rapidly declining. Holt eventually consented a merge in 1962 and the two parties became the Socio-Centralist Party or SCP.
Chancellor Jefferson[edit]
Francis Jefferson is even today one of Pirina's most controversial political figures. He gained much acclaim for his sharp wit, unpretentiousness, incredible intellect and rather liberal political views. He was voted number 1# in the "Pirinia's Greatest Chancellors" poll. Francis entered the leadership campaign, which he won in 1978, saying: "If you want to oppose those institutes founded by the Socio-Centralist government, then, Almighty God, don't vote for me. That's just stupid; those are too far incorporated. But with a bit of sense, what we can do is remind the Pirinian people of the love and affection that the Conservative Party still has for them. Because the only reason this party is out of government, is that the People think we don't care."