Electoral reforms for general elections

Saturday 28th November saw Parliament pass legislation establishing a regular schedule for general elections and preventing Prime Ministers from running for a third consecutive term without parliamentary approval. Under the 2008 Constitution, general elections were to take place every three years, on January 1st. After the 2009 general election, the next was scheduled to take place on 1 January 2012, but the 2011 Constitution came into force before this date was reached. Under the current 2011 Constitution, the date of a general election is decided at the discretion of the Monarch or Prime Minister, and can take place anywhere from six months to four years after the previous one. Saturday’s Act of Parliament has added a restriction to this clause, to the effect that the full range of dates constitutionally available can only be considered in an emergency; otherwise, under ordinary circumstances, general elections are to take place on a day between the 1st and 12th of February every four years. This provides greater certainty regarding the future, with the next general election now scheduled to take place in early February 2024. A second reform affects the ability of a Prime Minister to run for three or more consecutive terms. Although not a term limit in a strict sense, in future, a Prime Minister who has served more than seven of the past eight years in office will have to seek a vote of approval from the House of Representatives in order to stand for re-election. No limits on consecutive terms have previously been applied. The only requirements to run in a general election are to be a sitting Representative with the (never before refused) approval of the Monarch; requirements which also have to be met by a Prime Minister running for re-election. The longest serving Prime Minister in Austenasia’s history was Lord Admiral Joseph Kennedy. He held office from 4 March 2015 to 13 February 2020, just three weeks shy of five years.

Two new Territories annexed from southern U.S.

An Act of Parliament passed yesterday annexed two new Austenasian Territories after two areas of land were claimed for the Empire by their owners. One, Blue Ridge, is composed of the garden of a residential property whereas the other, Florencium Carolina, is composed of an area of private rural land. Both new territories have been annexed from southern states of the USA, with Blue Ridge from Florida and Florencium Carolina from Texas. The two landowners who claimed the territories have been given noble titles and made governors of their respective claim. Lord Michael Simpson is Governor of Florencium Carolina, and Lord Aydan Dillon is Governor of Blue Ridge.

Expansion in North America as Tricornia is dissolved

An Act of Parliament passed yesterday enacted territorial changes which saw the creation of a new Town, the expansion of another, and the dissolution of a third. Tricornia, a town annexed only in April, has been dissolved after its founder, Nikola Jovanovic, revealed that he had supplied incorrect information to the government while claiming the land and forged the signatures of its alleged residents. When claiming new areas of land, the government must strike a fine line between respecting the privacy of applicants while also being able to verify their claims. It is not believed that any changes to the current system are planned, but this incident has shown that it is not impossible for it to be abused. Tricornia now holds the unfortunate record of being the land claim with the shortest duration as a part of Austenasia. However, alongside the departure of Tricornia, a new Town has joined the Empire. The new Town of North Nahona has been founded with the annexation of two properties from Texas. A third property has been annexed to the already existing Town of Nahona, which the new town is named after. Each property is inhabited by two people, with a total of six people thereby joining Austenasia. This offsets the loss of the (alleged) same number from the dissolution of Tricornia. Both Nahona and North Nahona now consist of two properties, each inhabited by two people, and form a roughly eighteen mile long line stretching approximately north-west to south-east, with the southern two properties in the older town and the northern two in the new one. In other news, the Pontifex Maximus, Pope Queranus I – better known as Sebastian Linden – has been granted non-residential subjectship by Parliament. Linden has served as Governor of Iostan na Beithe and of Glencoe since January 2018, and briefly reigned as German Emperor in mid-2011.

Military reform passed by Parliament

An Act of Parliament was passed yesterday implementing radical changes to the Austenasian Armed Forces (AAF), dissolving the existing units and making provisions for new ones to be formed. The majority of soldiers in the AAF had enlisted for the Austenasian Civil War over a decade ago, with most having since fallen out of contact with the central government and some even assumed to have forgotten that they were considered Austenasian soldiers. The Austenasian Army and Imperial Air Force have therefore been dissolved, with their members receiving honourable discharges. These reforms reflect that fact that Austenasia has little need of a standing army, having last been in an official state of war in December 2010. In the words of Emperor Jonathan I in Parliament, “the days of teenage gangs marauding around Carshalton in support of various claimants to local thrones is long past”. Yesterday’s legislation has created three new branches for the AAF. Local claims may recruit regiments of Limitanei, which will serve as reserve militia to be mobilised for local defence or emergency purposes. During wartime, the Ministry of Defence will recruit units of Comitatenses, which will not be bound to a specific area but serve as active field troops. Finally, the Imperial Guard will be a bodyguard unit recruited specifically by the Monarch for their personal protection, and will be the only ordinarily active unit.

Lord Gordon appointed Deputy Prime Minister as Dragovina dissolved

Yesterday saw Lord Edward Gunderson replaced as Deputy Prime Minister with Lord John Gordon, after Gunderson’s town of Dragovina was dissolved. Using the emergency powers he assumed on Monday 25th to restore order and unity to the country, Emperor Jonathan I yesterday dismissed Lord Gunderson from his Austenasian positions and offices, and appointed Lord Gordon as his successor in the position of Deputy Prime Minister. Shortly afterwards, Parliament was convened and passed an Act dissolving Dragovina. The wording of the legislation alludes to Lord Gunderson causing difficulties in the process of restoring unity to the government. Lord John Gordon is the longest continually serving Representative in Parliament, and previously served as Deputy Prime Minister to Countess Eritoshi between 2013 and 2015. He recently received 40.9% of the vote as opposed to Prince Dionisiy’s 52.3% in February’s general election. As such, being appointed as Prince Dionisiy’s deputy is to be seen in the context of cementing the drive for unity and common ground agreed upon by Parliament earlier this week, with the two rivals now agreeing to work together. Statements by Austenasian officials in Parliament and associated chat groups following yesterday’s events suggest that the current period of crisis is seen to be coming to an end.

Partisan politics forbidden in unity drive

An Act of Parliament was passed yesterday evening which abolished the system of partisan politics that has grown up over the past two years. Representatives voted in favour of no longer being formally grouped into political parties, which will no longer be registered or officially recognised. The division of Representatives into “Government” and “Opposition” groupings, a concept introduced in Austenasia only in June last year in imitation of the United Kingdom, has also been abolished. The Fatherland Party and Peoples Party have both announced their dissolution, whereas the Whig Party will continue to exist as a private organisation. This Act was proposed by Emperor Jonathan I just a day after having assumed emergency powers to combat deep divisions which have emerged in Parliament. Returning Austenasia back to a non-partisan system is seen as the first step towards healing the said divisions, which primarily ran along party lines.

Kingeston expands into Town

Monday 11th saw the Crown Dependence of Kingeston expand into Austenasia’s newest Town with the annexation of part of a nearby residential property. Kingeston’s governing commissioner, Austin Jaax, claimed a part of his house in which both he had his brother live, offering the land to Austenasia with the consent of the property owners. The section of the property was officially claimed by an Act of Parliament and annexed to Austenasia as an exclave of Kingeston, which was transitioned into a Town. As the now Lord Jaax was already a non-residential subject, this has raised Austenasia’s population by one with his brother – who has been appointed Kingeston’s Police Inspector – now also living in the country. Lord Jaax, who was appointed Baron of Kingeston, has also been appointed its Acting Representative and will therefore represent the new Town in Parliament until a local election is called. Now serving in Parliament, Lord Jaax has also succeeded Lord John Gordon as Leader of the Peoples Party and therefore as Leader of the Opposition. Kingeston was originally annexed in December 2018, and until this recent expansion consisted of parkland bordering Canada.

New ministry established for “digital transformation”

A new Government Ministry established on Friday 28th February will “provide for the development of e-Governance” and work towards improving the online information sources for Austenasia. The Ministry of Digital Transformation, set up by an Act of Parliament last Friday, will work towards fulfilling a pledge in the manifesto of recently elected Prime Minister Dionisiy I to develop Austenasia’s internet presence and to set up “e-Governance” portals such as online voting forms. Prince Dionisiy himself has been appointed the first Minister of Digital Transformation, and as such will bear personal responsibility for its success. Speaking exclusively to the Austenasian Times, Prince Dionisiy said that the new Ministry will “greatly improve our online capabilities.” He continued: “…it shall work on the creation of a greatly needed e-Government portal, a better Archive for laws and some better information websites for Austenasia. The e-Government will enable us to give you all more power to interact with the government, to request access to records and to vote.”

New Virginia to secede on 11 February

Yesterday saw an Act of Parliament passed establishing Tuesday 11 February as the day on which the majority of New Virginia will secede from Austenasia to become an independent state. As announced at Christmas, the City of New Richmond and the Towns of Terentia and Augusta will be leaving Austenasia to form the Commonwealth of New Virginia. An uninhabited part of Augusta will be retained by Austenasia as the Territory of Fraternitas, which will be administered by Lord Admiral Joseph Kennedy as its Governor. Lord Admiral Kennedy, the incumbent Prime Minister, will remain in office throughout February 11th and 12th, with the latter due to see his successor elected in the upcoming election to take office on February 13th. Lord Admiral Kennedy will retain Austenasian nationality alongside Lady Vice Admiral Eryn Lewis and Lord Riley Kennedy, the three Representatives of the towns in question. The other residents of New Virginia will lose Austenasian nationality, bringing Austenasia’s population down to the mid-seventies. Furthermore, the Imperial Navy – the modern iteration of which was based entirely in New Virginia – has by the same Act of Parliament been disbanded. The legislation authorising the creation of the Commonwealth of New Virginia states that “maintaining a close and special relationship with the Commonwealth of New Virginia… [will be] a top priority of the Austenasian Government.”

Wilcsland to be dissolved at New Year

The Austenasian Parliament earlier today passed an Act withdrawing recognition from the Kingdom of Wilcsland and announcing its dissolution effective as of midnight on 31 December. Wilcsland was ruled by King Declan I from its foundation as South Bank in 2002 until 2014. Declan I also reigned as Austenasia’s third Emperor from December 2010 until January 2013. Declan’s abdication from Austenasia set in motion a chain of events which resulted in his abandoning of Wilcsland, and he was overthrown and replaced as King there by his brother, Ptolemy II, in December 2014. However, in the past five years Ptolemy II has done nothing as King of Wilcsland other than appoint Lord Admiral Kennedy – the current Austenasian Prime Minister – as co-King in 2015. With Wilcsland having fallen into complete inactivity and no leader willing to take up the reins, Lord Admiral Kennedy as King decreed the dissolution of the country and the abdication of both himself and his co-King by assenting to the Act of Parliament passed earlier today. The Act mandates that all rights to hold or bestow the throne of Wilcsland shall now be held by the Austenasian Throne, which already held suzerain status over the country due to Ptolemy II having declared Wilcsland a protected state of Austenasia on the first day of his reign. During the rule of Declan I over Austenasia, he was often considered to have seen the Empire as simply one – albeit the grandest – of his several foreign possessions, and sometimes implied it to be a colonial holding of Wilcsland. The dissolution of Wilcsland by an Austenasian law demonstrates how far the geopolitical situation has changed in the years since his reign.