Statement from the Emperor as Prince Dionisiy resigns – Gordon new PM

The following statement was released by His Imperial Majesty Emperor Jonathan I at midnight this morning, concerning what seems to be the final stage of the tumultuous week Austenasia has been through:

To the Empire and to the world, our greetings.

You will be aware of the troubles which have beset our country over the past week. We have been moved by the statements and messages of goodwill and support from our many friends around the world.

Differences of opinion in regards to the direction Austenasia should take resulted in bitter arguments and divisions within Parliament, culminating in a proposal by the then Fatherland Party that they and the lands which fell under their administration secede from Austenasia. As the unfortunate depth to which these arguments had sunk became clear, this proposal was withdrawn, and consensus was reached that all Austenasian leaders would work together on reforms to fix the problems with our country, under the provisions of emergency powers which our Imperial Majesty reluctantly assumed for that purpose.

The next day, the system of political parties which had been a root cause of so much division was abolished, and Friday 29th saw Lord Edward Gunderson, whose presence was becoming detrimental to the cause of re-establishing order, leave Austenasia with the dissolution of his town of Dragovina.

The Prime Minister Prince Dionisiy, his electoral rival and now deputy Lord John Gordon, and former Prime Minister Joseph Nobilissimus Caesar worked with our Imperial Majesty to draw up a new Constitution which would provide thorough and lasting reforms to bring Austenasia into a new age.

Today was to be when this new Constitution was to be officially proposed. Unfortunately, we address you today with bad news. After a week of reflection, Prince Dionisiy has resigned as Prime Minister and will be leaving Austenasia, together with his friend Lord Krištof Fondrk. This will mean the dissolution of the Towns of Theodosiopolis and Gebirgspark, Harlemum March, and the Territories of Laranda and Seleucia ad Cilicia. Such was the huge array of lands which Prince Dionisiy brought to Austenasia.

These changes have come at a cost. The Austenasian population has fallen by ten people, from 91 to 81. However, we also have some good news. As well as these losses, Austenasia has also made a gain; a net gain, in fact. A huge new territory has been claimed for Austenasia by Prince Dionisiy as a gesture of goodwill, a territory the annexation of which has actually increased the overall land area of Austenasia despite the losses of the previously mentioned claims. This new territory, Chersoneses, will be administered as a Crown Dependency by Mr Oliynyk, a relative of the Prince.

We may also note that the Town of Chalcedon and the Crown Dependency of Trebizond are remaining in Austenasia, despite being included in the initial declaration of secession when this crisis began. What could have been a unilateral secession of more than half the country has become the amicable departure of fewer claims and fewer people.

This past week has been a very difficult time for our country. There is no way to pretend otherwise. But with a new month comes a new start.

Lord John Gordon is now the Prime Minister of Austenasia, appointed directly to the position under our emergency powers. He is the longest continually serving Representative in Parliament, having represented Palasia continuously since July 2013, longer even than our current tenure as Representative of Wrythe. During that time, Lord Gordon has served as Deputy Prime Minister twice, and held office as Home Secretary and as Minister of Defence. We are confident in asserting that there is no more suitable person for the job, and Lord William Wilson has been appointed his Deputy.

The referendum which was scheduled to take place this month will be cancelled, until a new consensus is reached concerning what if any changes to the Constitution may be desirable.

There remain no obstacles to Austenasia’s stability and prosperity. We have had people and places come and go, but remain a vibrant, diverse nation spanning the continents, a nation of 80 people and more land than we have ever had before. We have every confidence in the new administration of Lord Gordon, and as such we plan to surrender our emergency powers nine days before planned, on June 4th, Imperium Day. On this public holiday, Austenasia celebrates its imperial status and Roman heritage. Let it be a day for us to also celebrate the endurance of this great country, its perseverance, and its bright future.

Imperator Caesar Jonathan Augustus
1 June 2020

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.

Dionisiy I and Lord John Gordon confirmed as general election candidates

Lord John Gordon (left) and Prince Dionisiy I (right)

Emperor Jonathan I yesterday confirmed two candidates for next month’s general election.

Prince Dionisiy I of the Fatherland Party will be standing against Lord John Gordon of the Whig Party.

Lord Gordon is Representative of Palasia, and Prince Dionisiy is Representative of Theodosiopolis.

The Whig Party espouses classical liberalism, but Lord Gordon is on the left-wing of his party, and will be running on a platform of socially liberal ideas.

The Fatherland Party’s candidate, Prince Dionisiy, is running on a platform of social conservatism and the promotion of Roman and Christian culture.

The general election will take place on 12 February, and will elect the country’s fourth Prime Minister.

The incumbent Prime Minister, Lord Admiral Joseph Kennedy, has been in office since March 2015 but is stepping down due to the secession of New Virginia.

Lord Gordon previously ran for Prime Minister in 2013 as a Marxist, but lost to Countess Eritoshi with one third of the vote. He then served as her Deputy Prime Minister until her own electoral loss to Lord Admiral Kennedy in 2015.

Lord Gordon has held positions in Cabinet, serving as Home Secretary from November 2013 to May 2014 and as Minister of Defence from February to July 2018. He also serves as President of the Iceni Democratic Republic, an independent state located near to Palasia.

Prince Dionisiy, who also reigns as sovereign of Montescano, joined Austenasia upon the annexation of Theodosiopolis in March last year. He has since been instrumental in the expansion of Austenasia in the old Roman East, personally claiming Laranda, Seleucia ad Cilicia, Chalcedon, and Trebizond for Austenasia.

Emperor announces changes for 2020 in Christmas broadcast

His Imperial Majesty the Emperor used his annual Christmas broadcast to announce that February 2020 will see a general election and the secession of New Richmond and Terentia from Austenasia.

He has also revealed exclusively to the Austenasian Times that the Town of Augusta will be joining them, and was not mentioned in his broadcast due to a mistake.

The three towns will create a new Commonwealth of New Virginia, to be recognised as an independent state.

New Richmond is the most populated single town of the Empire, with 15 inhabitants, and is home to the current Prime Minister, Lord Admiral Kennedy.

Augusta – which was part of New Richmond before becoming its own town in June this year – has three inhabitants, and Terentia has six.

New Richmond and Terentia both originally joined Austenasia in 2013. It is understood that their desire to leave Austenasia and create their own country is primarily due to the growth of their own local identity and culture during this time.

With the impending departure of the incumbent Prime Minister’s hometown, a general election has been called for 12 February 2020.

At the time of writing, the Whig Party is expected to put forward Lord John Gordon and the Fatherland Party Lord Dionisiy Tezdzhan-Smahin as candidates. Applications for candidacy will be confirmed by the Emperor by 15 January.

The Christmas broadcast was published this morning on YouTube, and can be heard here. Jonathan I has broadcast a Christmas message every year since his ascension to the Throne in 2013.

Other than the publication of the Emperor’s Christmas broadcast, the Imperial Family celebrated Christmas Day by attending a morning church service at Carshalton Methodist Church and later opening presents and enjoying a Christmas meal at the Imperial Residence.

The Emperor and Crown Princess light the Advent candles at Carshalton Methodist’s morning service.

The Imperial Family was joined at the church service by members of the extended Imperial Family as well as the former residents of Zephyria.

Although most of the Imperial Family is Methodist, Emperor Jonathan I joined the Orthodox Church in 2011. He attended a service at his own church yesterday for Christmas Eve, but often attends the morning Christmas Day service at the Methodist church with his priest’s blessing in order to spend time with his family at Christmas.

During this year’s service, Jonathan I and Crown Princess Caroline were invited to light all five of the Advent candles to mark the beginning of the service.

Christmas wishes have been sent to and received from numerous foreign national leaders by cards and e-mails.

New Town established at Chalcedon

A new Austenasian Town was yesterday founded as an enclave of Kadikoy, Turkey, the modern-day site of the ancient town of Chalcedon.

The new Town consists of a section of an apartment building and is home to six people. One of its residents, İsmetcan Saraç – who initiated the process of having the properties join Austenasia – has been granted the title Count of Bithynia and appointed Acting Representative of the new Town.

Said new Town has taken its name, Chalcedon, from the settlement which has occupied the site since prehistoric times and is most famous as having been the venue of the Fourth Ecumenical Council in 451.

Chalcedon was only renamed to Kadikoy in the sixteenth century, and is now a suburb of the Anatolian part of Constantinople (Istanbul).

The Austenasian Town’s resurrection of the prestigious Greco-Roman name of the location can be seen as a further emphasis of the Empire’s Roman and Christian heritage, although all six residents of Austenasian Chalcedon are Muslim.

Lord Saraç has become the fourth Representative to join the Fatherland Party, giving the Opposition an equal number of seats in Parliament as the governmental coalition.

Furthermore, this most recent expansion has increased Austenasia’s population to 97, the highest so far in its history.

National Liberal Alliance renamed to Whig Party

Thursday 24th October saw the National Liberal Alliance (NLA), one of Austenasia’s three political parties, renamed to the Whig Party.

The new logo of the Whig Party.

The change was announced by Duke Bradley of Dullahan, Minister of Defence, who serves as the party’s Secretary.

In comments made for the Austenasian Times, Duke Bradley explained that the change in name to the Whig Party was made in part to avoid the negative connotations often associated in today’s political climate with the term “liberal,” as well as to underscore similarities with the historical British party of the same name.

The Duke of Dullahan stated that the Whig Party will stand “for the rights of the individual, for freedom and prosperity. Our stance is clear: the Throne is the anointed protector of the liberties given to all individuals, and we will strive to protect them.”

Since its creation in May earlier this year, the Whig Party (then NLA) has been in government, serving in coalition with the centre-left Imperial Party. The two governing parties have one and three Representatives respectively.

The only other currently registered Austenasian political party is the socially conservative Fatherland Party, with three Representatives.

Austenasia celebrates its eleventh anniversary

Yesterday saw Independence Day in the Empire of Austenasia, the yearly celebration of the Austenasian Declaration of Independence in September 2008.

Independence Day is celebrated on the third Saturday of September, although the actual anniversary of the Declaration of Independence is the 20th, which this year fell on a Friday.

As expected, celebrations were somewhat muted compared to last year, when Austenasia’s tenth anniversary was celebrated with a party at the Imperial Residence and the minting of commemorative coins.

However, His Imperial Majesty the Emperor did release an honours list, a custom which has been performed on every Independence Day apart from 2009 and 2011.

Recipients of honours included the foreign national leaders Emperor Taeglan I Nihilus of Reyla and King Eran and Prince Nathan of Florenia, who were all made Counts, as well as several Austenasian governmental and noble figures being given titles in the Austenasian Order.

Independence Day also saw the Fatherland Party hold its first conference, which took place over Discord. The conference lasted just under an hour, but resulted in agreement being reached over the party’s policies.

National Liberal Alliance established, forms coalition with Imperial Party

Lord John Gordon (left) and Duke Bradley (right), founders of the new National Liberal Alliance

As partisan politics sees a resurgence in Austenasian political culture, the National Liberal Alliance has been established by Lord John Gordon, Viscount of Thetford and HG Duke Bradley of Dullahan.

The National Liberal Alliance, or NLA, describes itself as a classical liberal and monarchist party. The NLA registered with the Secretary-General’s Office earlier today following weeks of deliberation between its founders. Lord Gordon, who currently serves as Representative of Palasia and has previously served as Deputy Prime Minister, was selected as the party’s first chairman. Duke Bradley, who currently serves as Minister of Defence, Princeps Senatus and Commissioner of the Border Enforcement Agency, has been named party secretary.

In the hours following the establishment of the NLA, talks were held between the party’s leadership and the Prime Minister Lord Admiral Joseph Kennedy – Leader of the Imperial Party – in regards to the creation of a coalition between the two parties. A decision was reached, and the newly formed coalition now holds five out of eight Cabinet positions and three out of seven seats in the House of Representatives.

The establishment of the NLA follows the establishment of the Fatherland Party, a socially conservative organization, last month by Lord Dionisiy Tedzhan-Smahin, Count of West Frisia – the Representative of Theodosiopolis – and Lord Edward Gundersen, Count of New Grémmia – the Representative of Dragovina. The Fatherland Party currently holds two seats in the House of Representatives.