Längerland Press Holdings

[Längerland]

Lörrach Morräpost
Lörrach Morgenpost

Alle Ihre Nachrichte us Längerland un d Welt, sit 1927
Alle Ihre Nachrichten aus Längerland und die Welt, seit 1927 | All your news from Längerland and the world, since 1927​

10 Rappen​

Finance Längerland Tells Landstag: Get Your House in Order or Face Massive Deficit

Lörrach, Friitig, den 5. Juni 1955 » The political week has ended with a dire wake-up call for members of the Landstag when Finance Längerland submitted an official warning to the government, claiming that at current spending rates for state welfare, the national coffers would be depleted before year's end. The Landstag met today, unusual for a summer Friday, to debate the issue in the main chamber, yet noticeably absent was Oberminister (Senior Minister) Sigmar von Siebenthal.

Fielding a cacophony of frenzied questions from members of the opposition parties was Finance Minister Linda Kwaller, who appeared firm in the governing Progressive Justice Alliance's (PJA) stance that it is lower orders for exports that are to blame for the state of public finance, not the Free Republic's generous welfare system. Kwaller went on to say in the chamber: (asterisked notes describe atmosphere in the Landstag chamber, as reported in the official stenographer's report. Replayed recording can be heard tonight on Radio 4)

Mr Speaker, the parties opposite never fail to find a reason to strike at the social welfare programmes we in Längerland are so proud of. If it weren't for these social benefits, untold numbers of citizens would fall through the cracks and become destitute. Such suffering will not happen on the watch of the Progressive Justice Alliance. *hear, hear bellowed loudly from the government benches* Now, clearly Mr Speaker, we on this side of the Chamber take the issuance from Finance Längerland very seriously. If the report is accurate, we could for the first time in decades need to turn to the international lending market to fill the treasury and ensure we can meet our fiscal obligations on time. If this occurs, it is not because of overspending on welfare, but rather due to the slump in the economy which we have been experiencing over the past two years. Order books sit nearly empty, Mr Speaker, as demand from Eiffelland has weakened and other trading partners are finding other sources for good that we have traditionally supplied. However, as in the past, this is a temporary phenomenon and we will soon see better times. I am confident that in due course our exports will rise and with it our balance book.​

Leader of the Moderates (Official Opposition with 24% of the Landstag), Peter Brüescheli, responded with a scathing retort:

Mr Speaker, I am truly amazed! Truly amazed that the government honestly believes that everything will be all fine and dandy if we just sit tight and wait. Wait for what? An empty treasury and a massive invoice for the interest we will owe on foreign loans? Shameful! *loud calls and heckling from the opposition benches* I am also disappointed, Mr Speaker, that the Oberminister is missing from this debate. Although I am sure he has more pressing concerns to address, such as the state of his beach house in the Shorelands! *laughter from the opposition benches* Mr Speaker, for the past 33 years this Free Republic has had a majority government led by the Progressive Justice Alliance. We in the Moderates value much of what has been brought in under their reign, but we also recognise limits and realise when change is necessary. Längerland has been proudly fiscally independent since the Dawn of Peace came to this land in 1852. We are a hard-working people who take pride in our exports that the world so greatly needs. Yet we need to wake up and take a long, hard look in the mirror. The world is not the same as it was in 1852, Mr Speaker. Times have changed. With our welfare system has come steady increases in labour costs and taxes. It is little wonder that foreign buyers are looking elsewhere for their ships, ore, steel and processed foods. The average wage for a Längerlander worker is triple that of a worker across the border in Eiffelland, never mind those farther afield! *hear, hear!* This country needs a u-turn and it needs one now! *Chamber erupts in cheering and heckling*​

After debate finished in the main chamber a vote was held on whether to set up a Special Committee to discuss the issue of fiscal solvency further. The Progressive Justice Alliance was unable to defeat the vote with their 44 per cent of the Landstag against the affirmative votes from all opposition parties. Beginning Monday a Special Committee will sit to discuss the issue and proposed legislation may come as a result. Meanwhile Welfare Längerland, the ministry charged with most general welfare benefits to the public, issued a statement this afternoon to assure citizens that, currently, they have no reason to worry about lowered or rescinded benefit payments.



Anderi Nachrichte
Andere Nachrichten | Other News

» Electricity and diesel prices are set to increase again this month as events in the Long Sea disrupt shipping. Despite strict government-mandated conservation laws, including building insulation codes and increased public transport options, consumers are expected to feel the effects by July. Opposition parties are once again calling on the government to consider alternative options to importing coal and oil and have highlighted the uranium deposits in the northwest. The governing Progressive Justice Alliance has repeatedly refused nuclear energy as an option.

» Members of the Anglophone minority, who make up 9 per cent of Längerland's population of 7.8 million, met today in the southern port city of Melmö to discuss plans to revisit the issue of official language recognition by the government. Currently English is only officially recognised by the provincial government of Süedspunkt in the far south. The policy was adopted in 1947 and has since led to many Anglophones in other parts of the country moving to the provincial capital of Melmö and surrounding areas. At the national level, English has de facto official status with most government-provided publications and services provided in English, however many municipalities do opt out of providing English options.

» The Längerland Defence Force (LDF) issued a warning today that no matter how dire the country's finances are in, spending on the defence budget must not be cut due to the continued strife on the Long Sea and elsewhere. The Admiralty requested three new ships last summer, none of which have been given the green light for construction. Meanwhile the Sky Force has reiterated its past appeals for more money to upgrade surveillance and interceptor aircraft in light of an increase in smuggling activity at the eastern border with Tyarin-Sabassia.

​

 

[Touzen]

Directorial Office of Foreign Relations

The Republic echoes the need to address the issue of cross-border smuggling activities that are directly detrimental to the economic communities on either side of the border, depriving those living in the region while conducting their economic activities in socially sanctioned ways of fair compensation unjustly taken from them for the personal benefit of the few. While increased border security can be one way to tackle the issues at our common border, the other, ultimately more substantial way, would be to find common solutions that will deprive smuggling activities of their underlying causes. Interest for increased cross-border trade seems to exist, and it is up to the political institutions of the involved polities to adequately respond to this social demand in a fashion that will redirect it into a communally endorsed channels. As such, the Directorial Office suggests that a liaison group of representatives of Längerland and Tyarin-Sabassia should be organized to debate future improvements in the field of economic activities in the border regions that will be of benefit to all those living in the regions currently affected by illegal commerce.

 

[Längerland]

Außenministerium | Ministry of Foreign Affairs

We greatly welcome the suggestion presented to us by the TyarinDirectorial Office of Foreign Relations. Indeed, the only long term solution to the blight of criminal smuggling gangs along our shared border will involve deeper foundational issues. There is much to cooperate on, including territorial monitoring, border checkpoint operation, local economic factors and more. Should it please the Directorial Office, our ministry, as well as representatives from our friends at Commerce Längerland, would be most honoured to host a series of meetings in our beautiful capital of Lörrach. There, we hope, these longer term solutions could be discussed in greater detail.

Please do inform us if such a conference is of mutual desire.​

OOC: not sure if you want to do this in a thread. Maybe there's a way we could avoid it being just another boring bilateral policy meeting. Open to ideas.

 

[Touzen]

Directorial Office of Foreign Relations

The Directorial Office gladly accepts the invitation by our colleagues in Lörrach and will post haste begin to organize its participation in the talks suggested.

​

 

[Längerland]

Lörrach Morräpost
Lörrach Morgenpost

Alle Ihre Nachrichte us Längerland un d Welt, sit 1927
Alle Ihre Nachrichten aus Längerland und die Welt, seit 1927 | All your news from Längerland and the world, since 1927​

10 Rappen​

Brüescheli: Welfare Längerland Would be Safe in a Coalition Government

Lörrach, Sonntag, den 7. Juni 1955 » Peter Brüescheli, leader of the Moderates, the largest opposition party, today said that if he was Oberminister leading a coalition government, Welfare Längerland would be safe from the draconian budget cuts that some have said would come with such a Landstag. Since Friday when a report from Finance Längerland warned that the treasury could be in the red as soon as December, prominent figures on both sides of the Landstag have been clamouring to explain how they will or would fix the situation. The ruling Progressive Justice Alliance, in power with a majority since 1932, claims that once current economic conditions pass, exports will resume and alleviate pressure on the country's coffers.

The Moderates, the Centre Party and others in the opposition have called for budget cuts but not tax increases to fix the problem, which they view as a longer term issue not simply tied to the order books of Längerlander industry. Yet during the debate, both in the chamber of the Landstag and in the press, supporters of the government claim that Brüescheli's cuts would mean that Längerlanders would see a significant decrease in their benefits payments, including child care and unemployment coverage. Some even said that there are members of the opposition who would propose tuition at universities and payments to see a doctor or enter a hospital - completely foreign concepts in the Free Republic. Needing to address such claims, Brüescheli made a statement outside the Moderate Party's headquarters this afternoon:

'Yes, the Moderates and other opposition parties want to make some cuts to prevent this country from needing to borrow money to pay its bills, but we too value the social safety net the Free Republic has had for decades. Every ministerial budget would need to be studied so we could see where cuts could or could not be made. One thing is for certain, under the stewardship of the Moderates, no Längerlander would have to worry about a turn towards private funding for such vital things as healthcare and education. Indeed, those are fundamental rights that we would never strip away from citizens.'

Debate on the budget crisis resumes Monday in the main chamber of the Landstag where Oberminister Sigmar von Siebenthal will answer questions from all members. The Oberminister was absent from debate last Friday due to family holiday time in the Shorelands of the southeast. Although his holiday during the crisis was lightly laughed at by members of the opposition during Friday's Landstag debate, the press largely ignored it. Time off is a highly respected and humane right of all Längerlanders and the annual summer trips to the Shorelands, where most families own small beach cottages, is as close to a sacred tradition this secular country has.




Anderi Nachrichte
Andere Nachrichten | Other News

» Members of the anglophone minority have finished a three-day conference in the southern port city of Melmö where they discussed the issue of English not being officially recognised at the national level. A clear majority of conference attendees voted in favour of forming an exploratory committee to form a new political party at the national level to represent anglophones and fight for more linguistic rights. Melmö and the southern province of Süedspunkt, have the highest concentration of anglophones in the country due to that province's official recognition of English back in 1947.

» A group of geopolitical researchers at the Längerland International Peace Research Institute (LIPRI) have voiced their doubts over Eiffelland's offer to provide military naval escort to Sikandaran merchant marine ships navigating the Long Sea. Sikandara recently announced that its oil tanker fleet will be armed to better defend itself from attacks in international waters after several Sikandaran-flagged ships were sunk last month. LIPRI wrote that the expense of having an Eiffellander naval vessel accompany every Sikandaran oil tanker through the straits of the Long Sea would be unsustainable over the long term due to high marine diesel costs. One researcher did say, however, that if Sikandara repays the favour with a subsidised oil contract for the Eiffelland Navy, sustainability might no longer be an issue.

» A special diplomatic delegation from Tyarin-Sabassia will arrive in Lörrach this week for high level discussions on the economic conditions of the shared border with Längerland. Highly organised and armed smuggling gangs have plagues the border for years, bringing in contraband and sometimes even raiding farming villages. The talks will not just involve military responses, but also include longer term solutions to the uncoordinated economic malaise of the region. Representatives from Commerce Längerland hope that the meeting will bring ideas for a revitilisation of the region's trade, including a more efficient and user-friendly border checkpoint and customs system on both sides of the border.

​

[MENTION=18]Eiffelland[/MENTION] [MENTION=1]Tyarin-Sabassia[/MENTION]

 

[Längerland]

Längerland Öffentlicher Rundfunk | Längerland Public Wireless Service

Guete Obe miine Dame un Herre. Dies isch d LÖR. Jetzt d Nachrichte:
Guten Abend meine Damen und Herren. Dies ist der LÖR. Jetzt die Nachrichten:
Good evening ladies and gentleman. This is LPWS. The headlines:


»The political circles of Lörrach are abuzz this week with talk of the formation of a new political party for the anglophone minority of Längerland. The Landstag already has a wide spectrum of political stripes and many wonder whether the public will allow for extra space to be made. Aside from a few Landstag constituencies in the southern Süedspunkt province, which officially recognises the English language, most political analysts doubt that any new anglophone party will be able to gain enough votes that would translate into seats.

»Sporadic gunfire has erupted in Dughlin, the capital of Ravet, close to the country's parliament. At least one person is reported dead with unknown others wounded. The city has been placed under a mandatory curfew as the police force scours the city to find the perpetrators and secure the public from further harm. The Längerland High Commission in Dughlin closed early yesterday in light of the violence and highly encouraged its diplomatic service staff and locally-hired workers to remain within the compound until it is deemed safe by the Ravet Police Service to leave for home. The High Commission remains closed today and only a few staff have left for home. Members of the opposition in the Landstag have asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to consider chartering a flight to evacuate all but essential personnel. The Ministry has said that for now they will continue to monitor the situation and make such a decision once more information is received from the authorities in Ravet. The Ministry has also expressed its condolences to the people of Ravet.

»Members across all sides of the Landstag, aside from the communist Collectivist Union, passed a motion to support the idea of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs approaching neighbouring Eiffelland to engage in high-level diplomatic discussions. One backbencher of the opposition New Horizon Party, which advocates for open, free markets, said that among the laundry list of items that should be discussed are loosening barriers to trade, such as import tariffs, easing border controls, greatly reducing military installations along the shared border, high cooperation on crime fighting and encouraging more academic exchanges between the two German-speaking countries. With the passing of the motion, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will likely approach Trier with an invitation to talks later this week.​

[MENTION=18]Eiffelland[/MENTION] [MENTION=1848]Ravet[/MENTION]

 

[Längerland]

Lörrach Morräpost
Lörrach Morgenpost

Alle Ihre Nachrichte us Längerland un d Welt, sit 1927
Alle Ihre Nachrichten aus Längerland und die Welt, seit 1927 | All your news from Längerland and the world, since 1927​

10 Rappen​

Limitations on Working Hours Apply to All Sectors or There Will Be Fines: MOM's Orders

Lörrach, Dienstig, den 16. Juni 1955 » The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has issued a clear warning to the private sector that no matter which sector a company operates in, the workers of all companies are afforded rights, including limitations on daily working hours. This comes after a number of lawsuits were filed in provincial court in Lörrach, in which a group of consultants in the professional service sector complained about working extremely long hours for no extra pay.

The firm was not identified, but it is in the executive search field, or headhunting, and reportedly requires consultants to work 60 or more hours per week on projects without extra pay. Most working contracts in the country stipulate a 35 hour workweek, up to an absolute maximum of 50 hours worked per week. However, the labour law on this is decades old and the language is murky on differences between regular workers and professional service sector employees. Professional services are relatively new to Längerland, only having been around for about fifteen years, yet they are incredibly profitable due to low overhead with firms usually only paying wages and office space rent, as opposed to energy intensive industries such as factory or farm work.

The Ministry of Manpower has reviewed a number of complaints and has today warned that in its view, all employees, irrespective of what field they work in, are entitled to regular working hours of 35 hours per week, up to a maximum of 50 hours per week, which should be irregular and include extra pay. The lawsuits will continue in court and the decision rendered will be enforced by MOM.




Anderi Nachrichte
Andere Nachrichten | Other News

» Minister of Foreign Affairs Mauritz was absent from Senior Minister's Questions this week in the Landstag, an event where he is usually seen sitting next to Senior Minister von Siebenthal on the front benches. Reporters of the Lörrach Morräpost raised his absence with the Landstag after reviewing his schedule, which did not include any holiday time or other excuse for being absent. A spokesman for the Ministry said that Minister Mauritz had been called away on 'urgent business' and for 'security reasons' could not disclose his whereabouts.

» A military border post along the border with Eiffelland will be significantly reduced in size next month in a 'unilateral gesture of goodwill and friendship', a Ground Force official was quoted as saying. The border post includes a small barracks, jeep unit, three watchtowers and a radar installation. About half of the post's 50 current soldiers will be posted elsewhere, most likely to oversea port security in Melmö in the south of the country.

»The ruling Progressive Justice Alliance announced today in the Landstag that they will seek to expedite the approval process for the construction of a third oil refinery in Süedspunkt Province. The provincial capital of Melmö, a bustling transit port on the Long Sea, already has two large oil refineries which receive crude oil from Sikandara for refining and sale to other countries in Europe. It is a very profitable business, one that has seen Längerland's involvement in the global oil business increase, despite having no oil reserves of its own. Despite the announcement the Melmö Stock Exchange was jittery as diplomatic tensions in the Long Sea continue and some fear that oil refineries should be placed instead inland on the border with Tyarin-Sabassia. Such a location would require an oil pipeline be built from Sikandara, through Tyarin-Sabassia into Längerland. The government has discussed the idea before but has not brought it forth to the other countries.

​

[MENTION=635]Sikandara[/MENTION] [MENTION=1]Tyarin-Sabassia[/MENTION] [MENTION=18]Eiffelland[/MENTION]