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De Batavier; Batavian newspaper & online news
Topic Started: May 16 2014, 09:20 AM (751 Views)
Nentsia
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Chancellor Schimmelpenninck Published Major Social Reforms
Chancellor Schimmelpenninck has finally forwarded his expected reforms to the parliament for debate


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326 AR -- Chancellor Hendrick Schimmelpenninck has published the major social reforms that the government announced and has forwarded them to the Staaten-Generaal for debate and review. It concerns a package of measures and law proposals that will fundamentally change the Batavian society and the future of this country. The reforms, going under the name of the ''Great Reform Bill'', are likely to be approved by the parliament as it has the support of the so-called ''Grand Coalition'', a majority of government parties.

The biggest issue on the Great Reform Bill is the question of women's suffrage. The Batavian Commonwealth is one of the last democratic states in Oracia without universal women's suffrage. At this point, only unmarried women above the age of 21 can vote while married women have no voting rights. This situation has its historical roots in a time when the Batavian Commonwealth extended its election franchise to ''one vote per household'', in which only male suffrage existed as men were seen as the household heads. For many decades the conservatives have managed to stop the advance of the independent woman, but with this bill Batavia will finally have universal women's suffrage above the age of 21. This reform was one of the Social democratic SDP's election promises and analysts believe they will benefit the most from the women's vote - although the electoral changes will be minimal.

Another major reform that the government is proposing with this bill is on education. Although most Batavians currently enjoy public education, the government wants that in 10 years, the majority of the children in Batavia receive private education. Through a new law, private schools are forced to accept all paying students as long as they have the capacity and a maximum fee for private schools will be established to prevent the fees from running too high. Lower income families will receive a government subsidy to ensure all children can go to school. The ministry of education, currently led by Otto van Dalsen-Brinkerhoff, will increase the number of quality inspections by the Nationale Onderwijscommissie (National Education Commission) to preserve the quality of our education. The gradual privatization of the education system was one of the goals of the IDU and is supposed to save billions of taxpayer's money.

The third significant reform touches upon the criminal justice system. A new law should legalize ''vigilante-ism'' again, allowing communities and civilians to actively participate in protecting their neighbourhoods against criminals and helping the law enforcement agencies in capturing suspects. Civilians will be allowed to form vigilante groups under the strict supervision of the Association for Public Safety which cooperates with the Ministry of Justice, the Office of Public Prosecutors, national and local police organizations.

Chancellor Schimmelpenninck writes that the goal of all these reforms is to ''modernize'' and ''strengthen'' the Batavian society and the ties between the citizenry and the government. This package of reforms, that includes many more smaller changes, should ''eliminate the overdue work'' of the government to prepare the country for the future. ''After the economic and fiscal modernizations and reforms under the first term of President Keiser, it is now time to finish the job and modernize the rest of Batavia's society.'' If the Great Reform Bill passes the parliament, it will be a historical moment for the country as Batavia will then finally have universal women's suffrage. The Women's Association has responded with moderate enthusiasm, stating that they welcome the bill but that they still fear the parliament might block the legislation - as it has done so often in the past with this issue.

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Students Occupy the Essenbosch University
Student organizations demand far-reaching reforms


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326 AR -- Yesterday a group of some 300 rebellious students occupied the main building of the prestigious Essenbosch University in Essenbosch. They launched a petition against the government's plans to privatize the education system and they organized teach-ins on topics such as university democracy, the effects of the government's cuts on welfare spending and on sexual discrimination in Batavian society. The University of Essenbosch leadership condemned the unauthorized occupation of university buildings and demands the students to leave.

The sit-in was well organized by the ''Socialistiese Studentenunie'' (Socialist Students' Union) or SSU, an organisation led by a young and charismatic, but authoritarian chief called Ronald Hofman. While waving with the red flags of communism, citing the works of Marx and dressing like Montarian revolutionaries, they mobilized their members and anyone who wants to hear their message of change to occupy the Essenbosch University. Their demands? The privatization plans for the education system must be removed, students should have more influence on the governance of the university and the subjects that are taught, access to the university for lower income families should be improved, professors should have more academic freedom and the SSU demands that the government stops cutting the welfare spending. Ronald Hofman said to one of our reporters that the sit-in will continue for as long as necessary. ''This is a stand-off. It is a collision between the future and the past. We cannot give up, history is on our side!'', he shouted before a group of cheering students with clenched fists. The students then unanimously adopted a resolution that changed the name 'Essenbosch University' to 'Karl Marx University of Essenbosch' to re-affirm the permanent changes they hope to achieve.

The mayor of Essenbosch, Pieter Jelles Klausman, condemned the actions of the SSU and has warned that the police will clear the university building should the university board request them to do so. A legion of some 50 police officers has encircled the university building since last evening, standing on guard with their clubs and sticks. The parents of the students seem equally displeased by the display of radicalism and civil disobedience by their children. ''We pay a lot of money for their education, we have given them everything they ever wanted in their childhood, we raised them well! And now this? Unshaven heads, long hair, rock music and... communism?!'' complained a parent to one of our journalists. The Batavian Commonwealth is going through a time of tremendous material prosperity and many agree that the SSU and the students are just spoilt brats.

The complaints about the conservative and elitist culture at Batavia's prestigious universities have existed for quite a few years however. The resentments over the government's cuts on welfare spending and education have also been there for a while. This led to the strong rise of the SDP in the parliamentary elections, while socialism has been traditionally relatively small in Batavia's politics. The fact that the SDP joined the government coalition and is now participating in the cuts on welfare spending and the privatization of the education system has contributed to the discontent among the students as there is virtually no parliamentary opposition left. They must probably believe it is therefore time to organize their own oppositionism. The SSU has also expressed its discontent with how president Keiser handled the Irenical Crisis of 322 AR. They believe the Batavian government should take a tougher stance on Lanlanian and Medo-Kubanizan imperialism. In a pamphlet called 'The Wretched of the Earth', Ronald Hofman expressed his solidarity with what he calls the oppressed peoples of Southerland and Makorland and encourages them to use violent struggle to liberate themselves.

In response to the sit-in at the Essenbosch University, students from all over the country have attempted similar actions and set up action committees to plan and prepare more student actions. The membership count of the SSU has climbed to a total of some 1,500 students.
Edited by Nentsia, Jun 11 2014, 06:45 AM.
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President Keiser Presents New National Security Plans
The Batavian government seeks to strengthen and modernize our national security policies


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326 AR -- The Office of the President has released a report made by the National Security Council in cooperation with the council of ministers which outlines the plans to improve Batavia's national security and to strengthen its geopolitical position. The report, named 'The New Strategic Instruction for National Security Policy', is the result of several meetings between government executives and agencies, negotiations with the private economic sector and consultations with experts and advisers from different sections of the society. The project is considered by many as one of the most important elements of Keiser's presidency and should prepare our country, in strategic terms, for the 4th century AR.

The New Strategic Instruction for National Security Policy calls for an expansion of the Batavian armed forces, from 250,000 active service personnel to a dazzling 350,000 and a complete modernization of the military structure. Furthermore the report stresses that the Batavian navy should expand its fleet, and particularly recommended to commission two new supercarriers for the protection of Batavia's waters but more importantly its overseas trade interests and routes. The plan states that the Batavian government should protect its ''physical trade connections'' as these physical goods are the backbone of the economy. A higher budget has to be made available for the Ministry of Defence, currently under Lt-gen. Samuel Brenet (NCVP). The security and intelligence services of Batavia, the SVD and the AMID, will be given more space to operate. The SVD (State Security Service) and the AMID (General and Military Intelligence Service) should work more closely together and share more intelligence. Laws will be proposed or amended to remove the legal barriers for the SVD to place warrantless wiretaps and to trace electronic communications of suspected hostile agents including terrorists, foreign spies and communists. It will be made easier to investigate their finances and to arrest and detain suspected terrorists and foreign agents for interrogation.

But the plans of the president also focus on the energy industry. through law amendments, energy companies will be forced to increase their energy storage. The government will also set up a program to ensure that within 50 years, Batavia will be entirely self-sufficient in energy through nuclear energy. Several major Batavian energy companies will be considered to be of ''enormous strategic importance to the country'', which means that the government will maintain a minority share in those companies and that it will be forbidden by law that these companies are purchased by foreign buyers. The largest Batavian banks will also be put under increased government control to prevent financial crime, hostile takeovers by foreign agents and to increase the security and stability of the Batavian savings.

In an interview with one of our reporters, we asked the president what he believes is the biggest threat to our national security. Keiser responded with one word: ''Communism''. The situation surrounding Chapshire, and the constant threat coming from Myeongju in West-Zaroca and the creeping presence of the TA in Caprecia have alarmed the government. But aside from responding to new international threats, the Keiser administration also sees these national security plans as part of its wider mission to reform and modernize the entire Batavian society.

The Greens have expressed their opposition to the plans, saying that the objective that Batavia should get 100% of its energy from nuclear power is an ''outright declaration of war on the environment''. The SVB, the Socialist People's Movement - a minor political party from the Left, sees the government plans as the start of a new Red scare, a witch-hunt for socialists and communists alike. Aside from these two minor parties, and the concerns of some left-leaning liberal MP's, no major opposition to the plans exists. The SDP and the BdV, the two left-leaning parties from the government coalition, have allegedly refrained from opposing these plans that obviously contradict their political views because the coalition parties have agreed in the past to withhold themselves from partisanship in issues of ''technical nature''. In other words, they will unconditionally assent to every proposal of President Keiser that is supposed to ''modernize'' the country or that is considered to be of ''vital importance to the Batavian national interests and national security''. The Grand Coalition, the coalition of national unity that extended across the entire political spectrum, has as downside that sometimes its pragmatism goes at the expense of the promises made to the voters.


Nieuwkaap Bans Rock Concert
The mayor, the city council, the city assembly, the concerned parents and the church communities will not allow it


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326 AR -- Isaac Gauliot (NCVP), the mayor of Nieuwkaap, has issued a decree banning the controversial rock concert of the group called ''Red Sky''. The concert of the latest pop sensation was supposed to take place next sunday. Thousands of teenagers had bought tickets to see their heroes performing live in the capital of our nation. Hundreds of them had come to the City Hall to express their discontent with the decisions that the authorities made for their own goodwill. The police had to intervene to prevent several dozens of young rascals, inspired by the violent lyrics of their idols, to storm the City Hall.

Earlier this week students occupied their university while shouting communist slogans, and now young rebels have attempted to storm the house of democracy in Nieuwkaap in an attempt to allow a satanic group to perform on sundays. One would almost begin to think there is a connection between the two riots: has our youth gone mad? What is the cause of all this? Is good parenting that hard these days? Those are the questions that keep many of us busy these days. Mayor Gauliot, known for his high church attendance and unbending insistence on moral order, knows the answer: Pop music.

''The current generation is without a doubt the most prosperous in our history, and what do the youths spend their parents's money on: Pop music!'' ranted mayor Gauliot before the assembly which was also attended by a large group of concerned parents. Its the music industry of nowadays, with their unsuitable clothes, their indecent lyrics and their vulgar moves that inspires our youth to copy that behaviour. But the mayor also pointed with his finger at the advertisings in the newspapers and the advertisement industry in general. This industry deliberately targets our youths and seduces them to spend their pocket money or their first self-earned wages on products such as vulgar clothes, cars, motorcycles, music and - God forbid it - adult magazines. Mayor Gauliot condemns these practices as inherently ''atheist'' and ''un-Batavian'', that can only lead to Godless communism as we have seen at the Essenbosch University that was occupied by the Socialist Students' Union. In order to halt the spreading of this dangerous development, and to preserve the sanctity of the sundays, the mayor has decided to ban the rock concert of Red Sky that was planned for this sunday. The mayor received widespread support from the City Assembly and the church, to the dislike of the youngsters who were hoping to see their heroes in real life. Few cherish the illusion however, that banning a concert will cure the problem of our youths.
Edited by Nentsia, Jun 11 2014, 06:44 AM.
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University of Nieuwkaap Occupied
Long-haired scoundrels have seized several buildings and demand radical reforms


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326 AR -- Another university has been occupied by a wild gang of rebellious students, this time in Nieuwkaap. The police has encircled the buildings that were taken over by the hordes of boys and girls who told their professors ''no class today! Today is revolution!''. Mayor Gauliot (NCVP), who recently also banned a concert in his city, was outraged by the actions of the students and immediately sent the riot police over. He demanded the students to leave within 5 hours. And of course the students held their ground, ignoring the demands of what they call 'the establishment'.

Inspired by the sit-ins in Essenbosch, the students of the University of Nieuwkaap formed the ''Subversive Action Committee'' consisting of a handful of young radicals which organized this sit-in in Nieuwkaap. Whereas the sit-ins in Essenbosch ended when the students began to get hungry and longed for a shower or a bath, this sit-in seems remarkably better prepared for a stand-off with the Law. The students have organized themselves in sub-committees, each with its own organizational responsibility such as providing meals, cleaning, first aid and so on. Some of the university toilets in Nieuwkaap have even been converted into genuine showers by the Sub-committee of Revolutionary Plumbers for a Democratic University. The worst of all is: girls shower next to the boys... without curtains! What is going on in this country?

The students demand a fully democratic university government, they demand open borders and an end to Batavia's ''racist immigration policies'' and they demand the resignation of mayor Gauliot who is called ''an authoritarian relic of the past''. Other students, who don't have a very wide vocabulary, just call the mayor a ''fascist''. If one thing is clear, its that our national youth has become addicted to Communism - although they reject the label themselves, saying that their ''Socialism'' is ''liberating'' and not ''authoritarian''. Whatever.

Mayor Gauliot arranged a special meeting with his police chiefs, the city council, the parents and the university board after his ultimatum expired. The police threatened to clear the building with tear gas, but the parents heavily resisted the use of chemicals against their bearded children and the university board feared for the damage that tear gas would case to the interior of the buildings. Apparently, there are quite some old and valuable paintings of old masters in there. The university board proposed to resolve the situation peacefully by negotiating with the Subversive Action Committee, but the mayor would not allow it. ''We never negotiate with our children, and certainly not with communists!'' he ranted while slamming with his fist on the table. Meanwile, the students at the sit-in decided to entertain the police officers outside the buildings by hanging up posters of naked women before the windows. The national minister of education, Otto van Dalsen-Brinkerhoff (NCVP), has publically expressed his concerns over the growing students' rebellion in our country, but he maintains that it is not a national affair and that the central government will stay out of it.
Edited by Nentsia, Jun 11 2014, 06:42 AM.
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President Keiser Working on Constitutional Reform
President Keiser has confirmed he is working on a constiutional reform bill to strengthen the Presidency


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327 AR -- President Johannes Keiser has confirmed to the press that he and his administration, together with the Council of State and a special committee for the ''modernization of the institutions'' are working on a number of constitutional amendments and new constitutional laws to be proposed before the end of this year to the parliament. Constitutional amendments require a three-fifths majority approval by the two houses of parliament and the approval of the Constitutional Court. The goal is to strengthen the Batavian presidency in the future.

Johannes Keiser, only two more years to go until his final day in office, will probably be remembered as the greatest reformer in ur nation's history. He liberalized the economy, modernized the state bureaucracy, introduced universal women's suffrage, reformed the tax system, privatized and secularized large parts of the education system and he modernized our national security strategies. As if that wasn't enough, Keiser now seeks to reform the constitution and strengthen the presidency. Keiser beliefs that his plans would improve the decision-making process and will allow for more effective leadership in the future. Critics however argue that these reforms would establish an 'imperial presidency'. This choice of words is not entirely coincidental: Johannes Keiser's name means ''emperor'', and he already carries the nickname ''the Imperial President'' (De Keizerlijke President).

Currently, Batavia is a semi-presidential republic. Although the president holds executive powers, his powers are severely limited by a powerful legislature that exerts direct influence on government policies. Johannes Keiser's endless list of succesful reforms was only possible because throughout his time in office, he had broad parliamentary support as the parliament had consented to support Keiser's technocratic agenda of reform and modernization. In return for appointing cabinets consisting of experts and always consulting the three major parties (nowadays known as the Grand Coalition), a parliamentary majority approved virtually all government proposals.

With the new constitution, the president could more easily issue decrees, which have the force of law and are enacted without legislative review - as long as they do not contravene the constitution or existing laws. This would make it, for example, more easier for the president to appoint people to influential government positions, as an appointment by decree would allow the president to bypass the parliament. With the bill that is currently still worked out in great detail, the president could also more easily dissolve the legislature and arrange new elections. Currently, the parliament can only be dissolved with the approval of the Chancellor and the two speakers of the two houses of the parliament. In the new constitution, the president would be able to single-handedly dissolve the parliament after a vote of no confidence against the government or if a proposed candidate-Chancellor is rejected three times in a row by the parliament. The president would also get a veto to block a vote of no confidence, after which the parliament must submit a second vote of no confidence within three months to send the government away. The president could, technically speaking, dissolve the parliament before a second vote of no confidence can take place and keep his government in position. Under the new constitution, the president would also be allowed to officially dismiss ministers or the cabinet in its entirety. The president will be able to directly submit candidates to the parliament for the position of chairman of the Batavian Central Bank, for the appointment as justices of the Constitutional Court or the Supreme Court, and he will be able to submit candidates for the office of prosecutor general, the highest law enforcement officer.

The current presidential term is 4 years, with a maximum of two consecutive terms. Keiser's constitutional amendments would stretch the presidential term to 5 years. The presidency would thus be considerably strengthened by Keiser's planned reforms, at the expense of both the cabinet of ministers and the legislature. Angry tongues say that Johannes Keiser, who is in his final term as president, seeks to clear the road to power for his mysterious successor. Several people are rumoured to be pushed forward by Keiser to succeed him and run for presidency in 328 AR, and if they would succeed they could enjoy the new powers of the president. It is no secret that the 320 AR presidential elections were the stage of a fierce power struggle between two power blocs: a conservative bloc led behind the scenes by former president and industrialist Hendrik Herz van Swarthout and the so-called 'Freemasons'.

From 288 AR until 296 AR, Hendrik Herz van Swarthout served two terms as president of Batavia. His presidency was marked by his enforcement of a strict moral order, isolationist policies, social conservatism and extended welfare policies. After his presidency he remained politically active as a senator, while also managing his business empire from the background. In the decades that followed, Herz van Swarthout and his circles have opposed and blocked many reforms and liberalizations in Batavia as they saw 'progress' as a great menace. This circle, nicknamed as ''The Elders'' and ''the Gerontocrats'', consists of influential church elders, politicians, NCVP members, business men and other public figures. Hendrik Herz van Swarthout could not prevent however, with his media connections, that in 320 AR the reformist Johannes Keiser was elected as president. Since then, and also because of the rise of new generations, the political influence of Hendrik Herz van Swarthout has been waning.

Keiser became the face of a new generation. Because of his alleged membership of a masonic lodge, and because his foreign minister and current Chancellor are also believed to have ties with Freemasonry, the Keiser circle is known as the ''Freemasons''. Conspiracy theorists claim that this circle of Freemasons, headed by Johannes Keiser, attempts to strengthen its power with the constitutional reforms.
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Students Protest Against Constitutional Reform Plans
Leftist radicals clash with the authorities after series of provocative actions


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327 AR -- Students have protested in the capital yesterday with ''a march against Fascism'' to express their discontent with the recently released constitutional reform plans of president Keiser. The constitutional reforms are aimed at strengthening the presidency, which leftist students' organizations have labelled ''Fascism'' - how original. The protest was organized by the Socialist Students' Union and its leader, Ronald Hofman. Hofman and his militants, who come from all universities in the country, have asserted that it is the responsibility of their generation to ''confront the source of all oppression, authoritarianism and fascism: the State.'' The police responded harshly this time. The patience of the authorities with our troubled youth seems over.

It looked more like a ridiculous and planned mass bar-fight in the streets of Nieuwkaap yesterday when the riot police intervened. Hundreds of police officers, armed with rubber sticks and clubs launched a charge against the students. Some students, mostly the girls, tried to escape the violent outburst. But some of the boys however had armed themselves with sticks and rocks and wearing hockey-masks to protect themselves. They willingly took on the fight with the police - ''the State'' as they see it, resulting in a massive bar-fight. Some of the students actually seemed to enjoy themselves, and we can't say that some police officers weren't enjoying the cat-and-mouse games too. That does not mean that it was serious business yesterday: dozens of people needed to be treated. The wounds and injuries ranged from minor things such as a sprained ankle, and a few serious cases of dangerous head wounds, broken noses and concussions.

A few days after Keiser revealed his plans to create a stronger presidency, the SSU began to mobilize its members and students from all universities to come to the capital to ''confront the State''. Yesterday some 2,000 people turned up to protest. The SSU, an organization led by a charismatic Trotskyist, consists of a loose collection of radicalized youngsters and students with rich parents. Ronald Hofman, the leader who is in charge of strategy and ideological matters, was also the architect of the Essenbosch University student sit-in, which was later copied at several other universities. Hofman's ambitions have apparently moved beyond the campusses and the academic world as he is now campaigning against the government. In an interview with an equally radical newspaper, Hofman stated that if this new constitution is adopted, ''the students should consider the use of violent resistance against creaping fascism''. He also stated that ''in the post-industrial society that Batavia is today, the universities are the capitalist factories where the class struggle takes place - the students are the new proletariat.''

Pieter Jongman, the enduring and long-standing leader of the Social democratic SDP and currently the Minister of Industry, has warned Hofman that ''his words are dangerous and could backfire''. The Social Democratic Party does not have any sympathy for the leftist agitation of the SSU or Hofman, and has called the organization a 'menace' to our democratic order. Jongman is considering to ban and expel all SDP members who are also member of the SSU. Ronald Hofman seemed unimpressed by the response of Jongman, generally considered to be the Godfather of the Batavian political Left. Hofman challenged Jongman and the SDP to join the students and their opposition to the authoritarian structures in Batavian society, instead of collaborating with ''the Fascists''.
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Rumours Surrounding the Presidential Candidates
As the presidential elections are scheduled for next year, speculations surrounding the candidates is increasing


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(Photo: Jacob Barentsz, president of the Batavian Central Bank)

327 AR -- President Keiser is in his final term, and by the end of 328 AR he will leave office. Official candidates have not yet been revealed for the presidential elections, but the speculations are increasing. Many names have been suggested, but none are certain yet. Here is an overview.

Chancellor Schimmelpenninck (Independent)
Hendrick Schimmelpenninck is by many considered to be President Keiser's crown prince. Schimmelpenninck served as foreign minister and later as chancellor under former president Oudkerk. After that he returned to teaching at the university. In 324 AR, Schimmelpenninck returned to the political arena on the request of President Keiser and was appointed again as Chancellor. Many assumed this move was to launch Schimmelpenninck into the presidency after Keiser's resignation. The two political companions are known to share the same vision for the Batavian Commonwealth, and some believe that Schimmelpenninck was even the ''political mentor'' of the politically inexperienced Keiser in 320 AR. But there are some difficulties for Schimmelpenninck if he wants to become president.

The rumors surrounding his involvement in the notorious Nieuwkaap Murders has damaged his reputation, and could undermine his entire bid for presidency. In one of the Nieuwkaap Murders, the Chancellor's car has been seen with the victim and all the victims share that they followed classes of Schimmelpenninck at the Essenbosch University. Officially, the Chancellor is not a suspect in the case - but it sure is strange.

Jacob Barentsz (NCVP, centrist)
Another name that is buzzing around is Jacob Barentsz, the current president of the Batavian Central Bank. Barentsz already lost a presidential election in 320 AR against Johannes Keiser on the NCVP ticket, but many journalists and inside sources believe that Barentsz is preparing for a revanche. Before the elections of 320 AR, Barentsz served one term as Chancellor (316 - 320 AR) and he briefly served as finance minister before that. Because of his background at the ministry of finance, he was later appointed president of the central bank - which was part of a political deal between the NCVP and president Keiser. Barentsz, supported by the influential former president Hendrik Herz van Swarthout and his powerful network, is rumoured to run for president again in 328 AR. He has the advantage of being a flamboyant bon vivant, especially compared to his potential rivals. This might give him the edge in the changing political landscape where the voters are less and less interested in political content, and more in appearances.

Gustaaf Cornelis-Fransse (IDU, centre-right)
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Gustaaf Cornelis-Fransse, the current foreign minister, is the most recent person to be named by the speculators. The Cornelis-Fransse family has delivered chancellors, foreign affairs ministers, ambassadors, judges and many lawyers over the past two centuries. Gustaaf, who has been our foreign minister for 7 years now, counts as one of the most experienced and internationally respected statesmen of Batavia. He worked at the Batavian consulate in Falsea, worked 20 years for an NGO, worked as Batavian ambassador to Falsea and after that he served as Batavia's highest diplomat, Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In this position he visited many countries and conducted numerous negotiations. In 320 AR Gustaaf Cornelis-Fransse was appointed by the Keiser-Hartman administration as minister of foreign affairs. He seemed the perfect candidate to execute Keiser's policy of detente towards Lanlania. There was no detente however, as the Irenical crisis broke out in 322 AR. Cornelis-Fransse helped to preserve the peace in Iryiiad during these negotiations that almost failed. Cornelis-Fransse's role in the Irenical Crisis has earned him international respect, but in his own country he has been criticized as being 'weak' and 'soft on imperialism'.

Although his profile as a non-partisan statesman has earned him respect from both sides of the political spectrum and the Batavian voters, he might be the wrong man for this age. Cornelis-Fransse would have been perfect for Batavia 10 years ago, as modest and eloquent statesman. But nowadays people are, especially the younger generations up to 35 years old, no longer interested in modesty and eloquence. Fransse is a gentleman of a bygone age who would nowadays be described as ''insensitive'' and ''spiritless''.

With the election of president Keiser in 320 AR, Batavia was introduced to a new generation of politicians. These were mostly technocrats, experts and people you would normally not find in a political position. They were not interested in partisan politics, and instead devoted their energies to forging broad political coalitions that would support their technocratic agenda. Looking back they have successfully brought the country stability, enduring economic growth and they were responsible for some much-needed modernization. The Keiser era shall be known as the era of 'progress'. But the fate of this generation of political leaders is that they future will punish them. The youth, spoilt by the prosperity of today, has revolted against its parents, teachers and all forms of authority. And its the young adults who are spreading the revolt against the political establishment, including Keiser & Co. The people no longer accept the entrenched customs of ten years ago; Reformed voters no longer automatically vote for the NCVP, the working class electorate of the SDP is in sharp decline and the liberal segments of society are demanding radical change in all aspects of society. The ''Keiserists'' such as Cornelis-Fransse and Schimmelpenninck will pay the price: they are the face of the 'Old ways', with old-fashioned morals and an old-fashioned way of doing politics. The masses want something new, they want politicians who stand ''close to the people'', who are not so elitist that they think that politics is exclusively a matter for politicians who operate on behalf of interest groups without ever consulting or involving them. The first politician to understand that, will become our new president.
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SDP Congress Nominates Herman Kruger for Presidency
The SDP Congress has finally nominated its presidential candidate


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(Photo: Herman Kruger, presidential candidate of the SDP)

327 AR -- The Congress of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) nominated the political veteran Herman Kruger as their candidate for the upcoming presidential elections. The nomination was everything but uncontroversial; Kruger got supported by only 411 of the 796 voters at the congress that was accompanied by sharp ideological differences and disturbances caused by the socialist youth wings that attempted to seize control over the SDP through a failed coup.

The SDP has for long been led by the ageing Pieter Jongman, often referred to as the ''Godfather of the Left'' and the present day minister of industry. Jongman was the SDP presidential candidate in the elections of 320 AR and 324 AR. In 320 AR he lost in the first round against the NCVP candidate Jacob Barentsz (who is likely to run again in 328 AR) and Johannes Keiser who would eventually win the elections. In 324 AR the SDP grew rapidly and became a dangerous outsider to the ruling centre-right IDU-NCVP coalition. But Johannes Keiser was re-elected and he eventually brokered a political deal with Jongman and the SDP - resulting in the formation of a centrist mega-coalition that still governs our country. Jongman decided, because of his age (71) and because he already failed twice, that he would not run for a third time for president on the SDP ticket.

Because finding a successor to the ''Godfather'' proved to be difficult, the SDP scheduled an extra party congress to discuss the nomination of their presidential candidate. This proved to be a pandora's box as the congress painfully revealed just how divided the SDP really is. The party has for long been dominated by the ''Jongman Group'', a clique of pragmatists who originated from the trade unions where they were trained in the arts of negotiating and defending group interests. But over the past 10 years Batavia has changed. The blue collar working classes are slowly declining in numbers , the standard of living has become better than anytime before and Batavia's society has become much more open to the lower classes. The need for old style ''Labourists'' who concentrate their efforts on improving the lives of the proletarian workers is gone. Jongman's Social democracy is outdated and the question of what direction it should develop into is splitting the party.

The ongoing students' rebellions and the revolting youths of the present time have further pressed the SDP into a corner. The students' movements, rebellious youngsters and in their wake a whole range of workers' organizations, women's associations, environmentalists and immigrant groups - who all seek to overthrow or ''democratize'' our society's structures of authority and order - are exerting pressure on the SDP to take a turn to the left and embrace the revolutionary goals which it discarded a long time ago. Batavia has been plagued by a wave of dissent, protest and leftism especially among intellectual, academic and student circles and it is spreading to other groups as well. And all those people, who sympathize more and more with the violent revolutions and peasant guerillas elsewhere in the world, are attacking the SDP for having ''betrayed its socialist roots'' by becoming an ''establishment party'' that is not truely dedicated to bringing about a true social transformation.

A few months ago, Pieter Jongman expressed that the Trotskyist student leader of the SSU, Ronald Hofland, is ''playing with fire'' with his statements that justify violence against the Batavian government. Hofland was one of the key organizers of the Essenbosch University sit-in. Jongman banned and expelled all SSU members from the SDP, but at the SDP Congress it was the SDP's own youth wing that ''marched'' to the congress location with some 150 members and attempted to seize control over the entire party. Ruud Hagerman, the leader of the SDP Youth and alleged friend of the radical student leader Hofland, stormed the SDP congress together with his bearded, long-haired militants - resulting in the temporary suspencion of the congress. Hagerman found some supporters among the main ranks of the SDP. They believe the SDP should ''join the popular revolutionary movements'' to shake up Batavia's political landscape.

The 'Jongman Group', consisting of hard-boiled pragmatic unionists and political veterans allied itself with the reformist wing of the party that basically wants the SDP to further move away from its socialist origins and more to the center of the political spectrum. Jongman and his supporters backed the reformist (by the youth wing referred to as the ''Rightist'') Herman Kruger to become the SDP presidential candidate. Kruger is an economist who began working for the SDP at a young age and who currently is the secretary of Justice, working under minister of justice Frits de Graaff (SDP). Kruger and his faction want the SDP to modernize, focus more on middle class voters, get rid of the last traces of ''socialism'' within the party program and he wants nothing to do with the radicalized students' movements.

Youth wing leader Hagerman was disappointed with the nomination of Kruger. He sees it as the victory of the ''ancien regime - the old entrenched political elites within the party''. As soon as Kruger's position as presidential candidate was confirmed, and the victory of the entrenched party elites was secured, Hagerman and several other ''putschists'' destroyed their membership cards - probably sensing the inevitable purge that Jongman and Kruger could initiate to punish those for participating in a coup attempt against the party leadership.

It remains to be seen whether Kruger has a real chance of becoming our next president. The SDP is not leading the polls, and certainly not after this inner party fighting - but history has shown that the SDP has always been a dangerous outsider.
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Skiing is the New National Sport
Batavians have discovered skiing as a vacation


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328 AR -- The Batavian vibrant middle classes have discovered skiing vacations as the perfect way to spend the winter abroad. The number of Batavians going to ski resorts in the Arkausan Confederation and the Kingdom of Norte is rapidly increasing every season. Skiing was already popular among the upper levels of the Batavian society, but the enormous rise in wages of the past decades has made it possible for many families to fly across Caprecia, that's right - flying over the oceans, to the white mountains in the north of Galdea.

Skiing is no longer reserved for the ultra rich and old money. Not everyone standing on the ski slope in Norte nowadays is wearing a tuxedo. Ordinary families are nowadays crowding the ski slopes, even wearing the latest and most fashionable skiing clothes. Especially the women find it a challenge to find a nice skiing outfit that makes them look like a movie star even in the snow while wearing a sweater. Skiing is becoming part of Batavian mass culture. There are even new businesses emerging in Batavia that provide skiing lessons both abroad and in Batavia with Batavian teachers. And of course the fashion industry is flooding the market with new skiing outfits and accessories.

Last year alone there was an increase of 17% in the number of Batavian families that went on skiing vacation, says the spokesman of the Batavian tourist branch organization. He expects that will continue to grow at that rate for this year as well. He estimates that some 100.000 Batavians will head to the north of Caprecia this winter for a skiing vacation. ''The people with a more limited budget will be moving to the Arkausan Confederation, the Batavian ultra rich will usually go to the exclusive skiing resorts in Norte - where they've been going to for many decades in most cases'', the spokesman added.

But not only skiing is hot. Watersports and tropical destinations have witnessed an increase in Batavian visitors as well. Last summer was the first summer in Batavian history that witnessed a decrease in the number of Batavians going on vacation within Batavia. ''People have bigger savings, they have more to spend. And they are spending it on their vacation, which is great for the industry.''

Batavian camping owners, restaurant owners and swimming pools are not worried however. They have witnessed a strong increase in their amount of customers and their profits and they are not afraid that too many Batavian's will choose to spend their money abroad.
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SDP Candidate Kruger Leading the Polls
SDP surprisingly leading in the polls


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328 AR -- Herman Kruger, the presidential candidate for the leftist SDP-SVB-Greens bloc is surprisingly leading the polls, with just one week to go before the elections take place. The lead of Kruger is unexpected, but it is also a very small lead. Kruger is just one percent ahead of the Christian-democratic candidate Jacob Barentsz.

Kruger, the new face of the Social Democratic Party, is leading the polls with an expected 39% of the vote, closely followed by the NCVP candidate Jacob Barentsz who would get 38% of the vote and in third position the IDU candidate Gustaaf Cornelis-Fransse with 23% of the vote. Two remarkable facts: the SDP candidate is unexpectedly leading, and never before have the voters been so even distributed over the candidates. Political analysts believe that Kruger, still relatively unknown, actually benefits from that because the voter can see in the man what they want to see. His unknown profile functions as empty sheet. Kruger has been presenting himself as a reformer and a progressive, which scores well with the traditional SDP electorate as well as with the younger liberal generation that is currently punishing the Cornelis-Fransse and the IDU for their conservatism amidst the ongoing social transformation of Batavia.

Jacob Barentsz, who ran against the incumbent president Johannes Keiser in 320 AR and currently serves as the head of the Batavian Central Bank, is benefitting from the IDU's loss as well. Jacob Barentsz is attracting the more conservative supporters of the IDU, who are complaining that the IDU-led government of the past 8 years has in fact been too soft and too permissive on the breakdown of public and social order in Batavia. Cornelis-Fransse, in their eyes, is a soft ''yellow liberal'' who stands in line with the 'Keiserist tradition' that holds on to co-operation, the power of reason and moderation. The more conservative wing of the IDU is now arguing that this approach will not stop the advance of marxist long-haired hooligans. Jacob Barentsz does have the correct solution in their view: the use of the police stick. Jacob Barentsz has presented himself as a man of law and order, cautious economic and social reform, and small government.

It is rumored that, with one week to go before the elections, Cornelis-Fransse is going to withdraw from the race - which would result in an electoral shift in favor of Barentsz, in order to prevent the socialists from winning the elections. Some journalists claim to have sources that Barentsz and Cornelis-Fransse even have concluded a deal: Cornelis-Fransse would withdraw, thus letting Barentsz win the elections, and Barentsz would then form an NCVP-IDU government with Cornelis-Fransse as chancellor.

Kruger has responded to these rumors, saying that if it is true, it is an anti-democratic move to deceive the voters. Barentsz stated that politics doesn't work that way and Cornelis-Fransse said he found it offensive that people think he'd do such a thing.
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Gustaaf Cornelis-Fransse Withdraws From Elections
IDU-candidate withdraws candidacy in favor of Barentsz


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328 AR -- IDU-candidate Gustaaf Cornelis-Fransse has withdrawn himself from the presidential elections. Cornelis-Fransse, who served 8 years as Keiser's foreign minister after a long diplomatic career, ran on the ticket of the conservative liberal IDU. He was far behind in the polls on the other two candidates.

Gustaaf Cornelis-Fransse did what everyone was already expecting. He withdrew his candidacy due to the limited prospects at ever winning the elections. His withdrawal has the immediate consequence that the overwhelming majority of his supporters are now very likely to vote for the NCVP-candidate Barentsz, who will then take the lead in the polls over the centre-left SDP-candidate Kruger. Kruger was furious upon hearing the news. He accuses Cornelis-Fransse and Barentsz of manipulating the elections to prevent a socialist victory.

During a press conference, Cornelis-Fransse denied these accusations and denounced them as ''slanderous''. Cornelis-Fransse however still sees a political future for himself, despite his failed effort at becoming president. He stated that he is available for another term as foreign minister, should the new president desire to continue the existing government coalition involving the IDU. The Batavian government currently consists of a broad coalition of IDU, NCVP and SDP. Political commentators believe that if Barentsz wins the elections, the SDP ministers will be fired from the government after which the NCVP and IDU will form a new government administration together.






Jacob Barentsz (NCVP) Wins Elections
NCVP-candidate Jacob Barentsz has won the presidential elections


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328 AR -- Last night, the last votes had been counted and the results were published early in the morning. As expected, NCVP-candidate Jacob Barentsz has won the elections. He received a clear majority: 58% of the votes. The turnout rate was 73%, four years ago it was 71%.

Jacob Barentsz, who first ran for the presidency in 320 AR against Johannes Keiser, finally managed to win the elections. After having spent 8 years as the president of the Batavian Central Bank, he may now start to refer to himself as president of Batavia - and thanks to Keiser, a president with considerably more powers. Barentsz' election platform was based on economic moderation, the preservation of social stability and welfare policies, and the strict enforcement of law and order. Barentsz is the direct opposite of Johannes Christiaan Keiser. Keiser, a diligent, ambitious workaholic who de-regulated large sections of the economy and maintained a 'soft' approach on the social unrest issue posed by the younger generations. Barentsz wants a 'hard' approach, the police stick, and the strict maintainance of law and order. Besides that, Barentsz is unlikely to begin any economic experiment and he counts as a bon vivant who takes his time to enjoy the fruits of power.

Herman Kruger, who lost the elections, has already announced he will now aspire to become opposition leader in the legislature. He is determined to ''oppose the fraudulent NCVP-IDU axis'' who in his eyes ''only pretend to be competing for power, while actually working together to secure it''. All the SDP ministers have resigned from the cabinet. With it, 'Keiserism' seems to have been buried just one day after the elections. Keiserism has become the term to refer to the Keiser-era style of conducting politics: based on broad parliamentary coalitions and majorities, Keiser encouraged a pragmatic attitude from all politicians while he ran a largely technocratic administration of independent policy experts. This model seems to have been thrown out of the window by both Kruger and Barentsz.

Shortly after the results came in, vice-president Edde Hartman already announced his retirement from politics. With his resignation, and that of a few other Keiserian ministers, the Keiser-system seems to be dismantling rather quickly. Analysts believe that the presidency of Barentsz will be accompanied by an increasingly polarized political climate, where Right and Left will stand more and more opposed to each other.






President Keiser Gives Farewell Speech
Johannes Keiser addresses the legislature and nation in farewell speech after 8 years in office


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328 AR -- Yesterday, President Johannes Keiser addressed the legislature for the last time. He also spoke to the nation on live television in what is his ''Farewell Address'' after having governed our Commonwealth for the past 8 years, for better and for worse.

''I speak to you at this moment, for the last time, with mixed feelings. I feel pain for, after 8 wonderful years, I will be leaving the Bernhardshuis, its staff and the centre of the political arena. It is sad that it has come to an end so quickly. Eight years is never enough time for the projects that I have been working on in the past years. But I am also grateful. I am grateful that God gave me the strength to complete this task, to take up the burden of command on my shoulders. I am grateful that you, the Batavian people, gave me your confidence to lead this country and carry out my mission to modernize our great nation. I am convinced that our Godly nation today, when I leave office, is more and better prepared for the future than when I entered office 8 years ago.

It's been a rocky road, those eight years. Our country entered an era of economic growth, demographic growth and increased social mobility. Not everything under my administration went as planned, and mistakes were sometimes made - for which I take full responsibility. The 322 AR Irenical Crisis brought our country at the brink of war, which might have taken away all the comforts we enjoy today in one blow. Some of the privatizations carried out under my administration led to problems that affected people's lives in a negative way. The budget cuts on welfare spending had painful consequences sometimes for people who needed help. The numerous student demonstrations in the final years of my administration were sometimes put down quite harshly by the authorities - on my watch. At other times the authorities allowed extremist rioters to burn down entire neighbourhoods. I reckon now that it was perhaps better to approach the peaceful and innocent demonstrations of our own children in a more benevolent manner, and that we should have had zero tolerance for the rioters. But my conscience is clean. I have always followed the same principle from the day I assumed office: that it was my goal to minimize the amount of avoidable suffering for the greatest amount of people. I believed in it then and I still believe in it today. I have worked every day as hard as I could to achieve that. Every decision I made was done with great consideration, weighing all the options that I had, and doing what seemed to be the best for our country and its future. The burden of responsibility rested on my shoulders and mine alone. Those who claim leading a country is easy are wrong.

No matter how hard I try, no matter how many experts I consult, no matter how good the decision or policy is - there are always people who will be negatively affected by it. They may have lost their job or income, lost government aid or they even lost their sons in an overseas war. No matter how justified the decision is, there will always be negative consequences. I am the one who bears responsibility for that. I have to live with that. I have to look myself in the mirror every day, and remind myself that the decision was just and that there was more at stake. That is my burden to bear, and it will also be the burden of my successor. It is the price we pay for the power that the people placed in our hands. It is therefore not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena. No one ever has the right to judge my leadership if they haven't been in the same positions that I was in. Only God can judge me.

I await God's judgment with great confidence. I have turned the tide at the last moment in order to prevent a war with Lanlania, I have modernized and liberalized our old-fashioned economy, I have reduced our state debts, I have secularized and improved our national education, restructured the civil service, I brought our country women's suffrage, improved the tax system and we developed new national security policies to defend our country against the external threats of the future. And I have also achieved a constitutional reform that will increase the decisiveness of the future Batavian governments. I am proud of what has been achieved in my 8 years in office. Batavia has seen great progress. None of it however, would have been possible without the broad parliamentary coalitions that cooperated with the brilliant experts who fulfilled their roles as ministers. My special thanks goes to Vice-president Edde Hartman who, despite vicious media attacks upon his person, served the country well as chancellor. Although he was a banker, without any political experience, he proved to be a very capable and skillful manager during the difficult months that I was recovering from an assassination attempt.

It was an honor to be your president and I have great confidence in my successor, Jacob Barentsz, because the Batavian people have chosen for him. Thank you for 8 splendid years. I leave my office today with pride and dignity. I am confident that this country will continue to perform well in the near future. God bless you.''
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Day of Reckoning
President Barentsz has started his great purge


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329 AR -- Shortly after his formal inauguration amidst waves of student protests and after formally assuming office, the new president started with dismantling the ''Keiser-system'' of the past 8 years. Conservatives on the right call it ''the great clean-up'' that is finally beginning for them, opponents are already talking of the beginning of the greatest political power struggle of the past decades. Our research team went out to uncover the details of what is going on behind the scenes of splendor.

One day before the elections, 328 AR
One day before the elections, in 328 AR, there was an informal gathering at the Ratzdam Hotel in Essenbosch which involved our current president, Jacob Barentsz, Rudolf Meinke - the man who played a key role in the Irenical Crisis and the subsequent scandals, and several heads of the great Batavian land-owning families who are collectively known as The Elders. These families, despite the attempts of Johannes Keiser to break their power, continue to dominate the northern regional politics, the gold-mining industry, agriculture, the railways industry and to a large extent also national politics.

When Barentsz lost the elections of 320 AR to a relative political outsider, their influence took a blow - especially because Keiser vowed to break them. With Barentsz winning the 328 AR elections, after every intended successor of Keiser was spectacularly discredited even long before the start of the election campaigns, The Elders seem to be back in power.

What was said at the gathering is a mystery, but its consequences would become clear a few weeks later. The same people were seen together at a mass in Nieuwkaap one day after the election victory of Barentsz, who turned his visit to church into a media spectacle to show the public he was thanking God for his success. In church, he was surrounded by his entourage that included political friends, business connections, family members and some obscure senior civil servants who apparently belong to his network. While standing there, in that church, their minds were probably not with God but thinking about how to strangle the remaining vestiges of Keiser's system as quick as possible in the coming months. According to someone who attended that church mass, who wishes to remain unnamed in this article, Barentsz and his circle had already prepared a ''Black List'' by then with names of people who had to be ''removed'' from their positions.

First Blood
Just one day after the formal inauguration of Jacob Barentsz as president, he dismissed what had remained of the incumbent cabinet of ministers. He appointed Hugo Deniaud to form a new cabinet. Deniaud is a long-time friend of the Barentsz family who occupied a prominent position in the Council of State. Deniaud, present at the same Church mass, ruthlessly fired all the ministers from the remaining Keiser-era cabinet. Even the NCVP ministers were not spared - and they shall not return in the new government that Deniaud had in mind. Former defence minister Lt-gen. Samuel Brenet, NCVP, said that he believed that he and others have been ''purged'' because in the eyes of Barentsz and Deniaud they are ''contaminated'' for having participated in Keiser's government coalitions. Brenet said that his successor as defence minister will be no one else but Rudolf Meinke, the notoriously hawkish national security advisor who was fired from Keiser's administration in 322 AR after having brought the country at the brink of war.

Foreign minister Cornelis-Fransse, who withdrew his presidential candidacy in favor of Barentsz, won't return to the foreign minister position either. Cornelis-Fransse was seen as a close confidential of Keiser and the key architect of Keiser's post-Irenical Crisis foreign policy of detente. Cornelis-Fransse was also a proponent of Keiser's 'defensive realist' foreign policy and economic diplomacy. In his place will probably come Ruud van Agthoven, a former ambassador who is known for advocating an aggressive foreign policy of neo-conservatism. Van Agthoven is a staunchly conservative ideologue within the NCVP, connected to Rudolf Meinke, and a fierce anti-communist.

Another victim is the Vice-chairman of the Council of State. The Batavian Council of State is the highest advisory body to the executive and the president, giving judicial and policy advise. The vice-chairman is considered the highest civil servant of Batavia. One day after having assumed office, the vice-chairman received a simple phonecall from president Barentsz who told him that 'his services were no longer required', and that he could either 'retire' from his position, or hold on to it and be 'publically destroyed' by Barentsz and his administration. The vice-chairman decided, after 8 years in that position, he wasn't going to try and delay his removal.

The presidential staff has also seen a number of 're-structurings'. Fifteen people were fired on the first day of Barentsz' presidency, and on the second day eight more were fired. Some sources inside the presidential staff have told us that Barentsz is terrified that his staff-members are Keiser-loyalists and that the presidential staff is currently 'against' him. He allegedly wants to completely replace it with people selected by him, his family and the people who helped him in his election campaign.

Once Deniaud formally proposes his cabinet to the legislature, and it has been installed, more rounds of 'purges' are expected as the new ministers will probably try to 'purge' their ministries of Keiser-era bureaucrats who hold the power over the administrative apparatus. If for example, Rudolf Meinke becomes the new defence minister - a bloodbath can be expected within the military ranks as Meinke has made many personal enemies among the upper ranks of the armed forces and the defence ministry.
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Staaten-Generaal approves Deniaud-government
Deniaud appointed as Chancellor of Batavia


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329 AR -- Hugo Deniaud's proposed cabinet of ministers before the Staaten-Generaal has been approved by 70% of the parliament, or 350 of the 500 MP's. Deniaud was forced to form a new coalition-government in order gain a majority. The current government is supported by only 260 seats of the 500, because the IDU group is split over supporting it. The BdV was also only will to approve it, but is unlikely to support the new government much more than that.

Deniaud's cabinet consists almost entirely of NCVP ministers. The finance ministry however, has been given to an IDU candidate who is said to represent the conservative wing of the conservative-liberal political party. It is exactly this conservative wing of the party, some 75 MP's of the 120 in total, that does want to support the Deniaud government. The classical liberal wing of the IDU, to which president Keiser belonged, is more skeptical about Deniaud and president Barentsz.

The arch-conservative Boer Party and the equally conservative right-winged National Party have not been given any positions in the cabinet, but they have given their formal support. Deniaud and his cabinet then proceeded to the Bernhardshuis where they were formally installed by president Barentsz, who appointed Deniaud as Chancellor.

Outside the parliament building, the SDP, SVB and several student organizations organized a demonstration with an estimated 10,000 people. They were demonstrating for social reform, education reform and they demonstrated against the 'election manipulation' that was allegedly committed when one of the presidential candidates quit the race - giving an electoral boost to Barentsz who thereby managed to keep SDP-candidate Kruger from winning the elections.

Military deployment in Zara (plot CA23)?
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The new cabinet immediately held its first session with the president. On the agenda was the D'Hara crisis and the rise of communism in Caprecia. Defence minister Rudolf Meinke and foreign minister Ruud van Agteren proposed that Batavia should deploy a small number of military advisers in Zara (CA23) in Cardohesia to prevent the D'Haran Crisis, and the Carpathian tendency to mis-manage military conflicts, from spilling over to neighbouring countries.

The office of the president said in a press communique after the first session that the president is seeking for ways to ensure that TA and Carpathian activity in Caprecia is limited as much as possible in order to protect the region from the spread of communism. Whether the use of military means is an option to the president, remains unclear.

Zara is a country located on the northern border of D'Hara. D'Hara has been attacking other countries with biological weapons of mass destruction for no apparent reason and has been heavily bombed by Carpathia, that threatens with a nuclear strike. In the worst-case scenario, the fallout of such a nuclear strike would be concentrated above neighbouring countries such as Zara - or the nuclear cloud could even be blown to Batavia by the wind. Defence minister Meinke warned that this scenario is precisely why Batavia is likely to get involved in the D'Haran ''mess''. ''In order to defend the Caprecian half of this world, we must resist nuclear cowboys like the Carpathians. Their leaders are dangerous communists, we cannot afford to be naive or indifferent towards them'', Meinke said.

Foreign minister Van Agteren: ''We currently have to explore our options. But communists are seldomly willing to participate in a rational dialogue. It is important to prepare our country for troubles. I will be consulting my colleagues from the Great Entente, NATO and the Arkausan Confederation to coordinate our response to the sudden danger that threatens our peaceful communities.''
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The War Widens
President Barentsz celebrates the political death of his enemies


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329 AR -- While president Jacob Barentsz was attending a party hosted by one of the biggest donors of his election campaign, together with other politicians, senators, businessmen, foreign nobility, actresses and other big shots - blood was spilled again in Batavia's political arena. The Parliamentary Speaker was suddenly attacked in his position, as were several members of the Board of Executives of the Batavian Central Bank and the Procurator-General of the Batavian Commonwealth.

President Jacob Barentsz attended a party in a small Batavian tropical spa resort, hosted by one of the biggest donors to his election campaign. Of course the president and his Christian-democratic entourage were the guests of honor at this party, which was attended by a cosmopolitan company of actors and actresses, businessmen, nobility, old and new money. Angry tongues say that even one or two prominent figures from the Batavian ''criminal world'' were present. And while Barentsz was enjoying cocktails and live jazz music, his accomplices did some dirty jobs for him.

That evening, the NCVP parliamentary group leader sent a communique to the national press, declaring that after a meeting of the NCVP parliamentary deputies in Nieuwkaap, they had collectively decided to withdraw their support for the Speaker of the Batavian parliament, who belongs to the IDU - but above all, who counts as a ''Keiserist'' politician. The NCVP is now working on a motion together with the Boer Party, the National Party, the Socialist People's Movement and the Social Democratic Party to get the Speaker removed from his position. The issue could now trigger an open war between the liberal or ''Keiserist'' factions of the IDU and the BdV and the NCVP. And then there is also the SDP of Herman Kruger, which has already declared war on both the NCVP and the IDU for manipulating the elections. While Keiser championed the politics of consensus for 8 years, the political climate in Batavia has turned 180 degrees towards trench warfare in under a few months since his departure. NCVP MP's say that it isn't their fault. They say that it were the socialists who broke Keiserian consensus politics down. ''Keiser's politics of consensus began to unravel with the numerous student protests and leftist demonstrations in this country. The SDP subsequently declared war on the political establishment after losing the elections.'' says one MP.

Just an hour later, the new NCVP minister of Finance - a position once held by president Barentsz in a distant past, said to the press that he had his doubts on the integrity of ''some members in the board of executives of the Batavian Central Bank''. Barentsz served as chairman of this board and the Central Bank for the past eight years before becoming president, and this could well be a political attack on some members of the board. The Central Bank plays a key role in the economy with its monetary policies, and having the Central Bank's political support is of great importance to any government that wishes to implement its financial and economic policies. Barentsz knows the value of this, and the power of the Central Bank better than anyone else. Sources from the ministry of finance say that the Deniaud-cabinet wants to ''purge'' the Batavian Central Bank to ensure its loyalty in the coming 5 years.

Several hours later, the Batavian Procurator-General suddenly announced his resignation. The Procurator-General is the highest Batavian magistrate and heads the Batavian criminal prosecution system. He is the highest representative in court of the Batavian state. Although appointed by the legislature for an unlimited term, the Procurator-General suddenly announced his resignation last night. He refuses to further comment on it, fuelling suspicions that there is more to it. Several sources surrounding the ex-Procurator claim that earlier that day, he received a threatening phone-call from the new minister of justice who urged him ''to step down'' or else get ''dragged into a political war''. The minister of justice allegedly threatened that if the Procurator did not resign within 24 hours, president Barentsz would use his new constitutional powers to fire him by decree and nominate a successor.

SDP politicians, from the opposition, have responded to the allegations that if they are true, this is a serious attack on the independence of the judicial system and the position of the procurator-general. ''If the Procurator-General was bullied away by the minister of justice, this warrants a parliamentary hearing and possibly even a vote of no confidence for attacking our democratic system.'' says one SDP representative. The Minister of Justice denies the allegations and says he doesn't know why the Procurator-General resigned. The parliament has summoned the minister to explain the resignation of the highest prosecutor.
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Carpathia Threatens the Commonwealth with War: Batavia Responds
Defence Minister Meinke: 'Batavia is not Abere. We punch back. And we are hard hitters!'


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329 AR -- Following the Carpathian threats of war against Batavia, the confiscation of Batavian property and assets, and the deportation of Batavian nationals from Carpathian soil, president Barentsz has called together the Batavian National Security Council. The parliament is demanding that the government ''forms a mighty fist to hit back to the Communists''.

National Security Council
President Barentsz received the National Security Council at his presidential residence to discuss the aggressive attempt of the Carpathian government to interfere with Batavian political decision-making. The Batavian government is considering to send military advisers to Cardohesia, which the Carpathians used as excuse to go around like a bunch of thugs confiscating the property of Batavians living in Carpathia. The NSC concluded that this should be considered a direct attack on Batavian national security and the freedom of its citizens.

After several hours, defence minister Rudolf Meinke came out of the meeting and said to one of our journalists that the Carpathians ''have come to the wrong neighbourhood this time''. ''They can bully anyone they want in Nysa. They can crush little countries beneath their dirty red boots. They overestimate themselves. Now they messed with us. They will get all of Caprecia after their asses. Batavia is not Abere. We punch back. And we are hard hitters!''

It is not the first time that Rudolf Meinke plays a key role in a Batavian diplomatic crisis. In 322 AR he was the chief national security advisor to president Keiser during the Irenical Crisis between Batavia and the CoN. It almost cost him his political career. But now Meinke is back in the ring, and he assured us that he never walks away from a good fight.

President Barentsz gave a formal press conference after the NSC meeting:

President Barentsz: ''After a long discussion with my key ministers, military staff and chief advisors, I have made the decision to immediately evacuate all Batavian citizens from Carpathia. There are currently 20.881 Batavians in Carpathia according to the embassy and, according to international protocol they should be granted safe exit from Carpathia with all... all their belongings. We have indications that the Carpathians have already seized belongings of the Batavians in Carpathia. The Batavian government considers this a violation of the rights of Batavian citizens.

With the new constitutional powers that the new constitution of 328 AR gives me, I have implemented the following sanctions on Carpathia with immediate effect:

- The expulsion of the Carpathian ambassador and the closure of the Carpathian embassy
- The freezing of all Carpathian government funds in Batavia
- A full trade embargo on weapons, industrial goods, chemicals, minerals & machines
- The confiscation of all Carpathian gold reserves in Batavia[1]
- Import ban on all Carpathian products

After this press conference I will be forwarding a request to the legislature to give me the formal approval to use the armed forces and to wage war. I must warn everyone this does not mean there will be war - it is a precaution to ensure that I can act decisively and without any restrictions to defend the freedom of this country. And with that, I have also given foreign minister Van Agteren the task to request the support of our Great Entente allies, Medo-Kubaniza and Ritterschild, the Almanianian Union and the Arkausan Confederation. We must unite against this pestilence from Nysa that is plagueing humanity. [...]
''

Mysterious events
Carpathian nationals will not be expelled from Batavia, but have been warned by the authorities to be careful.
The Batavian domestic security service, the SVD (Staatsveiligheidsdienst), has confirmed that it has made a list of Carpathians that are being closely watched by the counter-espionage department. But there are also rumours spreading that several Carpathian citizens in Batavia were ''kidnapped''. Anonymous eye-witnesses report that they had seen how un-marked vans without windows stopped near a Carpathian businessman and that five men in civilian clothing jumped out, pulled a bag over his head and dragged him into the van. He is still reported missing. The authorities say they are doing everything they can to find him back. There are at least 20 more similar cases of Carpathian businessmen and low-ranking diplomats who were kidnapped like that. The authorities deny any involvement in the kidnappings.

Another remarkable case was last night, when the residence of the Carpathian ambassador was highly professionally burglarized when the ambassador himself was away. The police came and recorded how the home of the Carpathian ambassador had been completely messed up. Nothing had been stolen. Instead, the burglars had left something behind: a bullet on the ambassador's pillow. The Batavian authorities say that, despite the diplomatic crisis, they will do everything they can to find the burglars and to protect everyone in Batavia - including Carpathians.

The Common man
While the president has imposed sanctions on Carpathia, requested war powers from the parliament and called in the support of Batavia's allies, and while strange incidents have started happening with Carpathians in Batavia, the ordinary man seems to be rather unmoved by the latest events.

Many Batavians don't really care about the Carpathian sanctions or its threats against Batavia. Carpathia seems too far away to ever be able to pose a real threat to them, the sanctions won't make much of an impact either. The fact that the Carpathians have violated the human rights of Batavian nationals does anger some Batavians however. Although some are thus angered by the Carpathian behaviour, most people don't really care and continue to enjoy their freedom and liberty which people in Carpathia lack. In Carpathia people drive around in tanks because apparently, their government is such a failure that people prefer their own tank to defend themselves rather than to rely on the rule of law and regular law enforcement. But as indifferent as the Batavian population is now, that belligerent can they suddenly become if the Carpathians continue to try their patience. The Lanlanian crisis of a few years ago proved that Batavians may suddenly demand the head of their enemy on a silver plate. President Keiser was able to restrain that Batavian temper at the last moment. President Barentsz is quite possibly unwilling to restrain that. As his defence minister said: I never walk away from a good fight. Barentsz' approval ratings have been plummeting over the past months, and he too could use an enemy to rally the nation behind him.
[1] Batavia's economy is largely based on gold mining, banking and maintains huge gold reserves for others banks in the world - whatever gold reserves the Carpathians had in store in Batavia's vaults is now confiscated by the state. I shall make a nice golden Kalashnikov of it.
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