Countess Eritoshi not to run for local election as candidates confirmed
The candidates have been confirmed for the local elections being held on 28 May. Local elections for Representatives will take place in the towns of Thanasia, Palasia, New Richmond, and Harenfall. In Palasia, New Richmond, and Harenfall, the incumbents – Lord John Gordon, Lord Admiral Joseph Kennedy, and Lord Sivert MacLean, respectively – are standing unopposed for re-election. In Thanasia, however, the incumbent Representative, former Prime Minister HIH Countess Eritoshi, is not running for re-election. Her younger sister, Lady Imogen, is running instead. This decision marks a continuation of the Augusta’s decision to gradually withdraw from politics, having resigned as Chief Ambassador in March.
The eligibility of the Prime Minister
Article by Lord Adam von Friedeck, Duke of Washington (a.k.a. King Adam I of Überstadt). Esteemed friends and colleagues: From time to time, baseless disputes enter our community of small nations, and this week, a new one emerged: the question, raised by foreign journalists, of whether Lord Admiral Joseph Kennedy, the incumbent Prime Minister, retains his electoral mandate. I can say with confidence that he does. Horatio Eden, writing for the Daily Micronational, first raised the matter, observing that Austenasia’s population has grown since Lord Kennedy was elected last year. This is especially significant given that demographic shifts were partially responsible for the calling of the last general election. Attempting to justify his concern, Mr. Eden claims that the voters that gave him over 68% in the election now comprise about a third of the Empire. However, this is false. As the Emperor clarified to the House of Representatives yesterday, while the Empire has seen an increase in residents over the past nine months, not a single new subject has been naturalized (Austenasian Subjects are those with legal citizenship, and those residents without this status lack suffrage). Therefore, there has been no change in Lord Kennedy’s electoral mandate. The same people who formed the electorate nine months ago remain the entirety of the electorate today. The Prime Minister’s Office is aware of no popular opposition to Lord Kennedy’s premiership within the Empire, and welcomes all feedback and input Austenasians may have concerning the Imperial Government’s policies and activities. As for Mr. Eden, I acknowledge that he most likely misunderstood the facts of the situation and did not act out of malice. Those motivated by personal dislike of Lord Kennedy to further misrepresent the situation in other news outlets are invited to correct themselves. Faithfully yours, Lord Adam, Duke of Washington Chief of Staff, Prime Minister’s Office
Consuls appointed for 2016
New Year’s Day 2016 has seen the appointment of the Emperor’s mother and grandmother as the year’s consuls. The two Consuls of Austenasia are the Empire’s highest judicial authorities, with the duty of passing sentence on convicted criminals. However, due to Austenasia’s practically non-existent crime rate, their function is mostly ceremonial, primarily being used to name the year after. Prime Minister Lord Admiral Joseph Kennedy has appointed as 2016’s consuls Emperor Mother Margaret and Emperor Grandmother Joyce, the only two members of the immediate Imperial Family to have not yet served as consul. Emperor Grandmother Joyce, at 93, is the oldest person to have been appointed consul to date, as well as the first consul who is not technically an Austenasian national.
Military reform act passed
Emperor Jonathan I yesterday gave Imperial Consent to the Armed Forces Act 2015. The Prime Minister, Lord Admiral Joseph Kennedy – the author of the legislation – released a statement briefly describing the main points of the Act: “The Armed Forces Act 2015 has codified the rank structure of the Armed Forces in a code similar to that used by the United States Armed Forces, has completely reformed the ranks of the Imperial Air Force, and has established the Joint Administrative Chiefs for the overall administration of the Armed Forces during peacetime.” The Austenasian Armed Forces (AAF) are comprised of the Austenasian Army, the Imperial Navy, and the Imperial Air Force (IAF). The new legislation also adopted flags for the three branches of the AAF. The Austenasian Army currently has 27 personnel, the Imperial Navy has 18, and the Imperial Air Force has 6.
Independence weekend celebrated
This weekend saw the Empire celebrate seven years of independence. Independence Day took place on Saturday 19th as the third Saturday in September, but the actual seven year anniversary of Austenasia’s foundation was on Sunday 20th. A military parade was held in New Richmond, and celebrations also took place in Terentia and Thanasia. The occasion was also observed by many of Austenasia’s foreign ambassadors. Emperor Jonathan I travelled back to Wrythe for the weekend from Roehampton, where he recently started his third and final year of a university course. As is customary, an honours list was published by the Emperor on Independence Day. Recipients of honours included Queen Carolyn I of Ladonia, who was knighted into the Order of the Bullmastiff, and King Adam I of Überstadt, who was granted the title Duke of Washington. Meanwhile, Lord Admiral Joseph Kennedy published a speech as Prime Minister, which can be read here. Sunday 20th also saw constitutional amendments, approved by a referendum and by Parliament, come into force at one second past midnight.
Incumbents stand for local elections
Yesterday saw the end of the week-long period during which those wishing to stand for election as Representative at the end of the month could announce that they would be doing so. In each of the ten Towns of Austenasia, the incumbent Representative or Acting Representative was the only person who announced that they would be standing. This scenario was not unexpected. On Twitter, Emperor Jonathan I wrote that the nation-wide lack of competition for the office of Representative showed “local elections every five years makes far more sense than every two years”, referring to one of the constitutional amendments that will also be voted on at the end of the month. As only a single candidate is standing in each Town, voters will have the option to cast an Abstain vote under the terms of an Imperial Edict passed in 2013. Should there be more votes to abstain than for the candidate in any Town, a new vote will be called for that Town in which more people will be encouraged to stand. The candidates for each Town are as follows: Wrythe: HIM Emperor Jonathan I Zephyria: Lord Marshal William K., Baron of Zephyria Thanasia: HIH Eritoshi, Countess of Memphis Palasia: Lord John Gordon, Baron of Zephyria Lichtenstein: Lord Charles Clarke, Duke of Grantabridge Porthbokon: Lady Evren Filgert, Duchess of Dumnonia New Richmond: HIH Lord Admiral Joseph Kennedy, Count of Greater Richmond Shineshore: Lord Rear Admiral Alastair Cranston, Duke of New Virginia Terentia: Lord Vice Admiral Eren (formerly Jacob) Lewis, Baron of Terentia Harenfall: Lord Sivert MacLean, Duke of Redcaster
The Lord Admiral’s Corner: On the Eastwood Reforms
This article is the first in a series of editorials from Lord Admiral Joseph Kennedy known as The Lord Admiral’s Corner, where the Prime Minister will give his thoughts and opinions on issues affecting the micronation.org community. The opinions expressed in this series are the personal views of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Austenasian Times or the Austenasian Government. In the wake of the reforms to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of St. Charlie, a document which I studied in depth during my time as a student in the College of Law at the University of St. Charlie, two editorials have been published by the Occidental Chronicle and the Siroccan Times, respectively. The first covered the problems in the view of the newly inaugurated Chancellor that St. Charlie was established “by Italians and with Italian traditions.” The author, King Adam of Uberstadt (known to many Austenasians as Sir Adam von Friedeck, KVJ KCA), described my views on that situation perfectly. Admittedly, I had some problems with certain points raised in the second editorial, especially the statement that “St. Charlie is not [Eastwood’s] nation.” The notion that a nation, especially a republic, is owned by the man who founded it is a gross misinterpretation of what being a micronationalist is to me. I considered Amager to be my nation, same with Ashukovo and now with Austenasia. Nations such as Austenasia and St. Charlie (and the now-defunct Amager and Ashukovo) aren’t meant to be “his nation.” They’re meant to be like communities, our nations. St. Charlie is Eastwood’s nation, as it was Reinhardt’s, Gallo della Loggia’s, Alvisi’s and Cassidy’s. Eastwood has somehow managed to maintain the confidence of his people for three years now, so to imply that he isn’t an integral St. Charlian because he hasn’t been there as long as Alexander Reinhardt is damn near foolish. I can, however, agree with the view that Eastwood is unrepentantly trampling on St. Charlie’s heritage. I can relate to Eastwood in many ways. Eastwood and I have both risen from relative obscurity to become the heads of government of two titans in the micronation.org community. When I departed from the MicroWikia community in January 2013 to establish the Federal Republic of Montania, the last thought I – no, anyone – had was that I would one day be the Prime Minister of the Empire of Austenasia. The same can be said of Eastwood when he established the Republic of Atlantis back in 2010. The present situation in St. Charlie reminds me of the last months of the Ashukov Federation in late 2014, when I was serving my second and last term as Prime Minister of the Federation. I was very ambitious; indeed, the Council of Ministers regularly produced posters with slogans such as “this is only the beginning” and “this is our month.” But, as the other members of the government were beginning to focus more on personal life and education, government activity began to stagnate. In a very short period of time, government activity had come to a halt. This, my friends, is where the similarities between myself and Eastwood end. I saw that the crippling inactivity was irreparable, and so I resigned as Prime Minister of the Ashukov Federation only halfway through my term. I signed a decree as Governor of Montania transferring what was then known as the City of Saint Josephsburg to the then Dominion of New Richmond. In effect, I had then made the transition from full-time Ashukov to full-time Austenasian. After my departure from the Ashukov Federation, the remaining prominent Ashukovs decided, rather foolishly, to attempt to save the sinking ship by enacting massive reforms (sound familiar?). Thus, the Ashukov Federation became the Tsardom of Ashukovo, with Emmanuel Tsompanoglou, a man with very little background in Ashukov government (again, sound familiar?), as Tsar, with the powers of head of government and state (see the above). Within months, Ashukovo was dead in the water. The same is happening with the Federal Republic of St. Charlie; the Captain has died, and his underling is foolishly attempting to keep the ship from sinking. Alexander Eastwood is Mikhail Gorbachev, and these reforms to the St. Charlian constitutional system are his glasnost and perestroika. HIH Lord Admiral Joseph Kennedy, Count of Greater Richmond
Bradley of Dullahan appointed Pontifex Maximus
Duke Bradley of Dullahan, the Prime Minister of Wyvern, was yesterday appointed Pontifex Maximus after Lord Admiral Joseph Kennedy resigned from the position. The Pontifex Maximus is appointed by the Emperor to serve as a sort of “philosopher/theologian-laureate” for Austenasia. Lord Admiral Joseph transitioned the position into its current form in January, and on 1 July resigned in order to allow the appointment of a successor more suited to the new duties of the office. Emperor Jonathan I has appointed Bradley, Duke of Dullahan, as the Lord Admiral’s successor as Pontifex Maximus. Lord Admiral Joseph had held the office of Pontifex Maximus since January 2014 as Pope Alexander IV (the title of “Pope” having been retained from the position’s days as a Wilcslandian institution). In what is sure to look odd on lists and timelines, Duke Bradley has succeeded him as Pope Alexander III, reassuming the name that he held during his previous brief month-long stint in the office in early 2013, when it was a mere ceremonial title bestowed by the King of Wilcsland. The Duke of Dullahan has been known in the past for making controversial statements about Islam, and, although an atheist, has described himself as “culturally Calvinist” and contributed to several theological debates from a pro-Calvinist perspective. Whatever he writes as Pontifex Maximus is likely to raise much discussion.
Grand Unified Micronational reformed
For much of 2009, the Grand Unified Micronational could have reasonably been described as the United Nations of the MicroWiki community. Earlier today, almost six and a half years after its foundation, the GUM as an international organisation came to an end. The GUM has been through two major reforms in the past – one in February 2012 and another in February 2014 – but today’s reform has seen most of its structures completely disestablished. After several months of declining activity, a consensus was reached by the member states of the GUM that there was no longer a need for a UN-style organisation in today’s MicroWiki community. Instead, the GUM has been transitioned into what could be described as a Skype-based private members club, with national delegates retained as members and the Chairman – Adam Belcher, who oversaw the transition – remaining as administrator. Membership of the GUM is now no longer for delegations representing small nations, but rather for politicians and diplomats acting in a personal capacity. The Empire of Austenasia had formerly been a member state of the GUM since October 2009. Emperor Jonathan I, Lord Admiral Joseph Kennedy, and Prince Andrew I (governor of Corinium Terentium) are included in the members of the new GUM.
Treaty signed with Zealandia over New South Scotland
A treaty with the Commonwealth of Zealandia has been signed by the Emperor and Prime Minister regarding the Austenasian Crown Dependency of New South Scotland. Emperor Jonathan I and Lord Admiral Joseph Kennedy, along with Queen Astrid of Zealandia, affixed their signatures to the treaty via the Internet. The treaty confirms the arrangement reached in June last year, whereby New South Scotland is governed by the Zealandian monarch as the ex officio governing commissioner of the Emperor, and administered by Zealandia while remaining officially part of Austenasia. Under the terms of the treaty, the defence of New South Scotland is the responsibility of Zealandia, and a new police force will be founded to replace the defunct New South Scotland Constabulary. The treaty can be seen here.
