Election becomes two-horse race as O’Halloran drops out

The next Prime Minister of Austenasia will be either Lord John Gordon or Lord Andrew Creed, with Lady Addison O’Halloran having dropped out of the election earlier today. General election candidates have dropped out in previous elections – Lord Marshal William in 2013, and Lord Anthony Clark in 2019 – but technically remained on the ballot. Now, however, an Imperial Decree has been passed by Emperor Jonathan I permitting candidates who wish to withdraw to do so completely. With O’Halloran no longer running, the choice has narrowed to either Lord Creed or Lord Gordon. Both have released statements outlining their positions and policies. From Lord John Gordon: “As a familiar face in Austenasia I will ensure a prosperous future and new reforms to several government departments to make government more open and streamlined. A more proactive approach will be taken to macronational affairs to make our presence known to all on the world stage. Your voice will be safe in my hands. I promise to work for all Austenasians for the advancement of our nation. I will work on projects that everyone can work on together, and to increase our influence within the community. I will also discuss and possibly pursue UN non-consultative status as some prominent micronations have to increase awareness of our great state and her peoples.“ And from Lord Andrew Creed: “I’m the longest serving Austenasian Governor, so my loyalty and commitment to Austenasia cannot be held in any doubt, and I led the charge in overhauling MicroWiki from a toxic cesspool to just a regular cesspool. I believe I can do the same for Austenasia, reforming our nation to be great once again. I’d like to take a more isolated stance with the international micronational world, to allow us to focus our energy on our own internal development. If elected, I would leave all intermicronational organisations that offer Austenasia no benefits. And the most pressing matter, which is not acknowledged. The Moon, what the hell is it? Each night, it comes out and glares at us, watching children and women as they sleep. I would order an immediate investigation into the Moon’s activities and intentions. On Day 1.“ It remains to be seen whether Lord Creed’s anti-Moon rhetoric will affect the outcome of the vote in any meaningful way.

Constitutional amendment proposed

His Imperial Majesty the Emperor yesterday issued an Imperial Decree formally proposing an amendment to the Austenasian Constitution of 2011. The decree formally proposing the amendment, including the full text of the proposed changes, can be read here. The amendment is comprised of two parts. The first would revise the system currently in place for the parliamentary representation of non-residential subjects, changing the geographically-based first-past-the-post Divisions system to a proportional, list-based system. This means that more non-residential subjects would be able to stand for Parliament and be elected Representatives, and would not be prevented from doing so due to geographical considerations. This would drastically improve democratic equality for non-residential subjects, who only gained parliamentary representation last year. They are currently represented in Parliament by four Representatives, whereas residential subjects (of which there are roughly the same amount) are represented by ten. The second part of the amendment would implement various other, relatively minor reforms, mostly relating to the monarchy and Senate. An explanation of what the ten changes proposed by this part of the amendment would bring about can be read here. Under new rules established in 2021 for constitutional amendments, approval by the Monarch and the House of Representatives – which previously came last – now comes first. The Emperor has approved the amendments, and the proposals are now before the House of Representatives. A near-unanimous supermajority in support – under the House’s current set-up, 12 out of 14 votes – is required. The amendments will then pass on to the Senate, where a simple majority vote is required to organise a referendum and arrange for the implementation of the amendments if approved by the people. The referendum – provisionally planned, if approved, to take place on 12 February alongside the upcoming general election – needs a majority of Austenasia’s subjects to give their support, or a simple majority of those voting if a turnout of least 66% is achieved. Two constitutional amendments have been enacted in the past, the First in September 2015 and the Second in January 2018. If passed, the changes proposed on Monday would be jointly known as the Third Amendment, a name originally given to a different set of revisions which were unsuccessfully proposed in 2020.

Valens and Dinkeaw dissolved

Sunday 21st saw an Act of Parliament passed dissolving two Austenasian land claims, namely the Town of Valens and the Crown Dependency of Dinkeaw. Valens, which was annexed from Canada in December 2022, was home to six people. The Acting Representative of Valens dropped out of contact with the imperial government in mid-2023, and no response was gained from several attempts to re-establish contact with the town, including by posted mail. The trigger to move ahead with the dissolution of Valens is a proposed constitutional amendment, which will require near unanimity in Parliament to enact. Removing the empty seat held by Valens decreases the number of votes needed to meet the required threshold. Also dissolved is Dinkeaw, a small uninhabited area of land claimed from Thailand in April 2020. The owner of the land, who originally claimed it for the Empire, requested the dissolution of the claim for reasons of security and privacy.

General election candidates approved

His Imperial Majesty the Emperor has approved three applicant Representatives to stand in next month’s general election. The approved Candidates are Lord John Gordon, Lord Andrew Creed, and Lady Addison O’Halloran. Lord John Gordon, Viscount of Thetford, previously served as Prime Minister from June 2020 to September 2021, restoring order to government and overseeing cultural and demographic growth for the nation after the May 2020 political crisis. If elected, he will be the first individual to have served two non-consecutive terms as Prime Minister. Lord Andrew Creed, Baron of Corinium Terentium, has served as Home Secretary since August 2022 and is the Empire’s longest serving Governor. He was elected last year as Representative for non-residential subjects living in the British Isles. Lady Addison O’Halloran, Baroness of Blue Ridge, has served as Under-Secretary for the Environment since September 2021. She contested the previous general election earlier that month, gaining just under a quarter of the votes. This year’s election takes place on February 12th, in four weeks. The election will coincide with a referendum on constitutional amendments, the details of which are expected to be announced in a matter of days.

Parliament to meet in scheduled sessions

An Act of Parliament passed this morning has legislated for Parliament to henceforth meet in four formally scheduled sessions throughout the year, interspersed with recesses. Prior to this, Parliament was in effect constantly “in session”. Representatives live around the world, and so meet online in a private channel on the messaging software Discord, having previously used Skype. When an issue of legislative business arises, they are sent an alert by the Speaker. This means that those who are able to more frequently check their social media are more likely to respond to legislation first. The Act passed today means that in the future, Representatives will be made aware weeks in advance of a time and date to meet online. It is hoped that this will improve the ability of as many Representatives as possible to attend parliamentary discussions and votes. The introduction of formal parliamentary recesses in between sessions is also hoped to allay fears that Parliament could be accused of being “inactive”. Recent years have seen Acts being passed less frequently. Although it has been argued that this is natural now that a solid foundation of civil, criminal, and administrative law has been set for the Empire, there has remained a certain pressure for the legislature to be seen to be “doing something”, pressure that official recesses will relieve. There will be four annual parliamentary sessions interspersed with four recesses: the New Year Session followed by the Easter Recess, the Summer Session followed by the Summer Recess, the Autumn Session followed by the Autumn Recess, and the Advent Session followed by the Christmas Recess. The exact start date of each session and recess is at the discretion of the Speaker, albeit bound by parameters laid down by today’s Act of Parliament. The Monarch, Prime Minister, or Speaker will still be able to call Representatives to meet during a recess for an emergency or extraordinary meeting if necessary.

New Year sees Line of Succession shortened

New Year’s Day has seen the Senate of Austenasia pass a resolution shortening the Line of Succession, in addition to Lord Wilson appointing his last annual consuls as Prime Minister. The Senate is a body of experienced “elder statesmen” responsible for keeping the Monarch to account, and was given the power by Parliament in 2020 to approve changes to the Line of Succession. The senatorial resolution, passed earlier today, has significantly shortened the number of people in the Line of Succession from twenty down to twelve. It was considered that those removed – mostly paternal cousins of Emperor Jonathan I – were not only extremely unlikely to accept the Throne should they be offered it, but also would be difficult to contact at short notice. In a situation whereby the Throne falls vacant and the Heir (for whatever reason) refuses it, each member of the Line of Succession is to be given the chance to accept the Throne in turn. This resolution thereby removes the legal obligation for a future government to waste time tracking down relatives of the Imperial Family who would almost certainly refuse the Throne anyway, at a time when a swift and orderly transfer of power would be of paramount importance. The resolution has also issued clarification on some confusing language in the Constitution, with the effect that the maternal relatives of the Emperor have now been placed before the Empress and her family in the Line of Succession. However, due to the Line having been so shortened, all remaining in it now hold higher positions than they did previously. In other news, the outgoing Prime Minister, Lord William Wilson – who has confirmed he will not be running in next month’s general election, and also reigns as King in Gradonia – has appointed himself as one of this year’s two consuls, and kept in place one of 2023’s, Shiro Mephistopheles, as the second. 2024 will therefore be known as the year of the consulship of Villelmus Rex and Shiro Mephistopheles. A Prime Minister appointing themselves as a consul is not unusual or irregular. Of the four previous Prime Ministers to have appointed consuls, three appointed themselves as one of the consuls for a year.

Imperial Family celebrates Christmas

The past few days have seen Christmas celebrated by the Imperial Family, with the Emperor’s annual broadcast including some important news for next year. Christmas Day, Monday 25th, saw Emperor Jonathan I join his parents and his sister the Crown Princess as they attended the morning service at Carshalton Methodist Church, where both Crown Princess Caroline and Emperor Mother Margaret gave readings from the Bible. Afterwards joined by Empress Hannah, the Imperial Family travelled to the Boxall residence, home of the Emperor’s maternal relatives, where they were hosted for Christmas dinner by Lord Michael, Duke of Merton and his wife Lady Boxall. On Boxing Day, Tuesday 26th, the Boxalls were hosted at the Imperial Residence while Jonathan I and the Empress visited Empress Hannah’s parents. Christmas Day saw the publication on YouTube of the Emperor’s annual Christmas broadcast. In the broadcast, His Imperial Majesty reflected on the need to bring peace through love to others, and looked back on a year which has seen Austenasia’s fifteenth anniversary, his Decennalia, and the expansion of parliamentary representation to non-residentials. The Emperor also used the broadcast to give formal notice of a general election to take place on February 12th next year. The incumbent Prime Minister, Lord William Wilson, has already stated he will not be running, whereas his predecessor Lord John Gordon has stated that he will. His Imperial Majesty furthermore announced that the general election will take place alongside a referendum to amend the constitution, both to entrench parliamentary representation for non-residentials but also to make various other changes, the details of which will be announced in due course. Candidates for the 2024 general election will be confirmed by January 15th. Christmas decorations in the Imperial Residence will remain up until January 5th, Twelfth Night, the traditional date on which they are to be taken down.

Greek territory founded

Austenasia has seen further expansion with the annexation of a territory in Greece finalised on Tuesday 12th December, coming less than a fortnight after the annexation of a Romanian territory. The new Territory of Elmythia consists of a large garden of a residential property in Almiros, and was claimed for the Empire by its owner, the now Lord Konstantinos Papanatsios. It was annexed by Imperial Decree on Tuesday 12th. Lord Papanatsios has been appointed Baron and Governor of Elmythia, and granted Austenasian national status. Elmythia is now one of two Austenasian land claims to border Greece, the other being the crown dependency of Kaiomenia.

New territory claimed from Romania

Friday 1st December saw a new Austenasian land claim founded roughly 26 miles north of Bucharest. The new territory, Prahova, consists of just over 61 acres of forested land, together with part of a river which adjoins it to the south. The land was claimed for Austenasia by Štefan Snagoveanu, Marshal of Snagov. Snagov entered into diplomatic relations with the Empire in August earlier this year, following several months of informal co-operation. The legislation which annexed Prahova has appointed Marshal Snagoveanu as its Governor, as well as granting him Austenasian national status. This new annexation has been made in part with a view to fostering closer ties and friendly relations between Austenasia and Snagov. The land is uninhabited, but isolated, with Marshal Snagoveanu easily able to exercise jurisdiction there on behalf of the Empire.

Imperial House name change announced

Emperor Jonathan I and Empress Hannah have announced their creation of a new imperial dynastic house to mark the one year anniversary of their marriage. In an Imperial Edict issued earlier today, His Imperial Majesty announced the foundation of the House of Austen-Buchanan, a cadet branch within the wider House of Austen. This is the branch of the dynasty to which the Emperor, Empress, and any future children will belong. Emperor Father Terry is head of the official Austenasian branch of the House of Austen, although the family also has two “British branches” descended from Terry’s great-uncles. Jonathan I and Empress Hannah were married in two ceremonies in November last year, with their legal wedding taking place on November 5th. This date was from thenceforth designated a public holiday as the Imperial Wedding Anniversary, with today’s one year anniversary therefore being the first time it has been celebrated. The imperial couple soon after moved to the Diplomatic Residence, and in August this year went on honeymoon to the Isle of Wight. A video was released this morning documenting an expedition of the Imperial Geographical Society they undertook while on the island. The Emperor and Empress have also used this first anniversary to announce the creation of a new order of merit, with twenty two people being given this award to acknowledge their help with the Emperor and Empress’ wedding last year. This new award, the Imperial Matrimonial Order, can be awarded at the discretion of the Monarch to those to whom they wish to give special thanks for their role in assisting with a wedding of any member of the Imperial Family.