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Erstes Eiffelländisches Fernsehen — Bericht des Tages

Eiffellandian doctors report cases of torturing


Rumours about torturing in Csengia have now been confirmed by doctors working in the refugee camps, as well as several doctors working in hospitals in Southern Eiffelland. During a press conference held at the army base in Würzwald, Lieutenant-Colonel Cresson and Dr. Stoiber showed the evidence of torturing of at least 100 people who fled from Csengia. The worst case of torturing was described by Dr. Stoiber: A man whose skin on his back had disappeared after a severe flogging.
But there are more cases of torturing. Several patients had to undergo amputations, complicated bone fractures were seen, and some patients had lost the ability to walk because of broken spines. Currently the victims are treated in Eiffellandian hospitals.
These torturings raise the suspicion that Csengian government officials are involved. Lieutenant-Colonel Cresson and Dr. Stoiber did not answer any questions about that. Dr. Stoiber: "First of all, I am a doctor, not a policeman. The only thing I can do, is diagnosing and treating the injuries, and notifying that this is happening. But I don't know who the culprits are, and whether they acted on behalf of the Csengian government or not. That is something the police has to investigate. Or the Reichskriminalamt."
 

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14AUG2021

Cabinet calls Parliament back from recess for emergency vote


Chancellor Rheinfeld announced in his weekly press conference, that took place at 1am last night, that Parliament will be called back from recess for an emergency vote. This vote will take place on Sunday 15 August. The Chancellor didn’t want to say what this emergency vote will be about, but it seems obvious that it will be about Eiffelland intervening in the Pannonian Crisis.
Sources indicated that there is disagreement within the government whether Eiffelland should step in or not. Especially two of the Sociodemocratic Ministers would be against. There are also rumours that quite a lot of Sociodemocratic parliament members would be against Eiffelland joining the war, but despite that the government would still have enough votes to join the war.


15AUG2021

Reichsparlament votes against Eiffelland joining the war 499/501


Today’s emergency parliamentary session had a very surprising outcome. As expected, the government wanted to request permission to help out Remion in the Pannonian crisis. It looked like an easy win for the government at first sight, but the vote had a surprising outcome: 501 parliamentarians voted against. This means that Eiffelland won’t help out Remion.
As per the Eiffellandian constitution, the government can only declare war upon approval by the Reichsparlament. Exceptions to that rule are in the case of an attack on Eiffelland or Al-Magrab, or an attack on an ally. When Remion and Eiffelland would have signed a defensive alliance, joining the war on Remion’s side would have been a government’s decision. But now parliament had to vote on it.
Surprising is, that the complete sociodemocratic fraction, including the ministers and state secretaries, voted against. It already became clear during the debate that many sociodemocrats were against joining the war, but it wasn’t clear that the whole fraction would do so. But that leaves about 50 parliament members of the CDP / PDC, UFD / UDL, LDP / PLD, CRVP / PCCR and TKP / PTC who did not vote according to the party lines. Now the question is: Who are the ones who voted against, and why did they vote against?
In any case, this is going to lead to harsh discussions within the coalition, between the coalition and the UFD/UDL, and within the CDP / PDC, UFD / UDL, LDP / PLD, CRVP / PCCR and TKP / PTC.


16AUG2021

Minister Waagemann leaves SPE / PSE and joins LDP / PLD


Minister of Public Health and Welfare Erwin Waagemann, together with Minister of Labour and Social Affairs Marina Dahles the only members of the SPE / PSE who voted for joining the war on Remion’s side, announced that he cancels his membership of the SPE / PSE to join the LDP / PLD. He indicated that “the SPE / PSE is currently jeopardising Eiffelland’s safety and damaging Eiffelland’s international reputation”: “I cannot cooperate with that, and I can no longer fulfil my duty towards Eiffelland as a member of the SPE / PSE.”
As it appears now, Minister Dahles is also leaving the SPE / PSE. Unlike her, she was rather willing to talk to the press. She said: “A bunch of cowards, that’s what they are. Zimmermann, Taranisse, Adelmann and especially Dupont. What happened in the last day is a shame, For the SPE but also for social democracy.” On the question whether she would also join the LDP / PLD, she answered: “I am a socialist. I cannot join any other party than a socialist one. But Eiffelland’s olderst socialist party, actually Eiffelland’s oldest political party, has degenerated, and the pacifist-socialists are dreamers. I am an uprooted socialist, with no political party in Eiffelland to go to.” Then she walked away, but not without showing for the last time the move that made her famous in Eiffelland. Once she smacked Günther Ziesche, the political leader of the Volksunion / Union du Peuple, in the face with her handbag, once a pushy journalist, once an arrogant businessman making sexist remarks, and many others. Today in front of all the cameras, her path crossed Rüdiger Zimmermann’s path. Rüdiger Zimmermann, the political leader of the SPE / PSE, got a last greet from Marina Dahles in the form of her handbag in his face.


Cabinet falls; sociodemocratic ministers and state secretaries resign

This morning, the ministers and state secretaries of the sociodemocratic SPE / PSE went to the King to offer their resigning. This is the outcome of last night’s cabinet meeting together with the political leader of the UFD /UDL Jacques de Chambéry. The King accepted the resigning of the sociodemocratic ministers and state secretaries. Immediately afterwards, Chancellor Rheinfeld went to the King to discuss the matter further. The outcome of that discussion is, that the elections will take place as scheduled on 7 October 2021, and that the cabinet will continue to govern in a demissionary status until a new cabinet has been appointed. The Ministers Waagemann and Dahles, who left the SPE / PSE earlier today, remain in their functions, Minister Waagemann as member of the LDP / PLD, and Minister Dahles as partyless member.
Meanwhile, the names of the people who voted against their party lines are known. Given the fact that the election lists are not final yet, it could be that things are going to be shuffled now.


18AUG2021

Wife and children Demissionary Chancellor Rheinfeld found murdered


As it became known now, the wife and two younger children of Demissionary Chancellor Rheinfeld were kidnapped last Saturday. The demissionary chancellor and the police decided to keep this news a secret, but today the drama reached its denouement. A wanderer found the dead and heavily mutilated bodies of the wife and younger two children of Demissionary Chancellor Rheinfeld in the Recklinghauser Heide.
It was also made public what the demands of the kidnappers were: The demissionary chancellor had to vote against Eiffelland taking part in the war. One sentence in the demand letter referred to the dimissionary chancellor’s quote “Eiffellandian politicians don’t need Vrijpoorter bankers to get elected”: “It would have been better if you would have opened your ears for Vrijpoorter bankers. They are very hospitable, receive you in comfort, and give you money. But if that doesn’t work, other means are needed to get our way.”
The Reichskriminalamt indicated that “no scenario is excluded in this stage”; “We investigate into all directions. That is everything we can say at this moment.”


Demissionary Chancellor Rheinfeld lays down tasks

Upon discussion with the King, Demissionary Chancellor Rheinfeld temporarily lays down his tasks. Demissionary Minister of Finance and Demissionary Vice-Chancellor Fritschler takes over until Demissionary Chancellor returns. It is unknown at this moment whether Demissionary Chancellor Rheinfeld will return to office, or even to politics. It is rumoured that he has a nervous breakdown.
Meanwhile, it also became known that Demissionary Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Schmelzer will lead the christiandemocrats during the election campaign, and if needed during the formation after the election.


Demissionary Chancellor and parliament members file complaints for kidnapping

As it became known today, Demissionary Chancellor Rheinfeld’s wife and children were not the only victims of kidnapping last weekend. About 20 parliament members filed complaints about kidnapping today. Husbands, wives, children, boyfriends, girlfriends, pets, all became victims of kidnappers this weekend. In one case, the children of a friend of a parliament member were kidnapped. The demands were all the same: Vote against joining the war on Remion’s side. And the parliament members were all from the CDP / PDC, UFD / UDL, LDP / PLD, CRVP / PCCR and TKP / PTC.
It is clear that this is a coordinated action. The link with the kidnapping of the demissionary chancellor’s children is clear. A spokesperson of the Reichskriminalamt said: “We investigate into all directions. This is everything we can say at this moment.”


«Summary of radio item at the Erstes Eiffelländisches Fernsehen; broadcasted around 22:00 local time»

The war in Pannonia is over. Remion withdraws. In an emotional speech, President Hulm blamed the lack of support from the European Forum and the “silence of our friendly countries” for the fact that he felt no longer “capable of asking for further efforts from the Remion families to involve their children in a conflict that sees the disinterest of the regional partners”. Without explicitly naming any country, it is obvious that he laid the blame with Eiffelland. And he has a point with that. Despite all the drama that unfolded during the last four days, it is a shame that Eiffelland could not come to the decision to help out Remion. Indeed, wanting to spare Ostmark from a war with Tarusa is a valid argument, but an attack on Ostmark would have given Eiffelland a wider access to counterattack. That may have become a very bloody and long-lasting war, but it would also have been damaging to Tarusa.
The outcome of the conflict is, that Tarusa is the big winner. Csengia will become Tarusa’s ally.
The government should have understood that Tarusa does not see us as an indifferent neighbour, but as an enemy. An enemy with possibly longer arms than we considered possible, given the fact that nobody was prepared for the possibility that relatives of government and parliament members could be kidnapped to influence decision making.
Another consequence of this war is the image of Eiffelland not willing or able to defend its partners. Eiffelland will have an enormous task for the future. It will have to heavily invest in its armed forces, because nobody will be willing to defend Eiffelland when it gets into war against Tarusa.


22AUG2021

Compromising videos of parliamentarians circulate on the internet


A few hours after the parliament session, compromising videos about several parliament members appeared on the internet. Peter Döhlmann, Yves Lacroix and Richard Stresemann appeared in these videos while having sexual intercourse, but not with their wives. Richard Stresemann was even having sexual intercourse with a man. Salient detail here is that Peter Döhlmann and Yves Lacroix are parliament members for the conservative catholicTKP/PTC, and that Richard Stresemann is a parliament member for the conservative reformated CRVP/PCCR.
Other videos revealed that Alexander Geisler, Philipp Löhrens and Reinhard Pavlovitsch, all three parliament members for the UFD/UDL, accepted briberies in their previous functions, and also as parliament members.
It remains unclear why these videos appear now. They would have been more damaging when they would have been published at a moment that the news would have calmed down. Fact is, that Döhlmann, Lacroix, Stresemann, Geisler, Löhrens and Pavlovitsch voted for Eiffelland joining the war on Remion’s side.
 

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23AUG2021
Wife and children of Demissionary Chancellor buried


After a service in the largest Evangelical church of Marburg attended by the King, the Demissionary Ministers and many other politicians and former politicians, the wife and the two younger children of the Demissionary Chancellor have been buried.



24AUG2021
King appoints four new demissionary ministers


In order to make up for the leave of the Sociodemocratic ministers and state secretaries, the King appointed four new demissionary ministers and six new demissionary state secretaries, all from the CDP / PDC and the LDP / PLD. Louis Vasseur (CDP / PDC) became Demissionary Minister of Internal Affairs, Damaris Engelhardt (LDP / PLD) became Demissionary Minister of Environment, Housing and Country Planning, Heike Bertram-Brandes (CDP / PDC) became Demissionary Minister for Developmental Cooperation and International Aid, and Marc Lombard (LDP / PLD) became Demissionary Minister of Defence. The new demissionary state secretaries are François Maillard (CDP / PDC), Hélène Guérin (CDP / PDC), Monika Schiller (CDP / PDC), Ludwig Ackermann (LDP / PLD), Jules Dumont (LDP / PLD) and Hildegard Schütte (LDP / PLD).
Furthermore, in order to relieve Demissionary Minister Fritschler's current tasks, the King appointed Demissionary Minister of Education and Culture Magda Rädermacher Vice-Chancellor so that she can handle some of the tasks of the Chancellor. Demissionary Minister Fritschler remains the Acting Head of Government.
 
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Refugees from former Pannonia can apply for Eiffellandian citizenship

The Ministry of Internal Affairs indicated in a press release that all refugees from former Pannonia who arrived on 26 August 2021 or earlier, will be offered the possibility to apply for Eiffellandian citizenship. The reason for this decision was indicated to be the "complicated current political situation in Csengia" in which "the probability of consequences for certain individuals may be too high to justify sending the former Pannonians back". Basically, the refugees have three options: Applying for citizenship and start a new life in Eiffelland, staying in Eiffelland under their current refugee status and obtaining a work permit, or returning to Csengia.
Eiffelland will continue to take in refugees from Csengia. A decision about citizenship for Csengian refugees arriving after 26 August 2021 has not been taken yet, but Csengian refugees will get work permits.
Meanwhile, the government is building temporary barracks all over the country for all the refugees. The current policy is to spread the refugees all over the country. The government is succeeding in that.
 

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Demissionary government proposes plan to invest in Bourdignie and Bécs-Altstadt

During the weekly press conference at the Chancellery, Demissionary Minister of Finance and Demissonary Vice-Chancellor Fritschler indicated that the demissionary government will propose a plan to invest in Bourdignie and Bécs-Altstadt to the Reichsparlament for approval. The plan will also contain paragraphs on equipping the armed forces of Bourdidnie and Bécs-Altstadt.


Christiandemocrats propose plan to expand armed forces

The Christiandemocratic CDP/PDC launched a plan to expand and restructure the armed forces. The Navy will benefit the most from this plan, because the number of destroyers and submarines will be increased. The plans also foresee in recruiting 30,000 more professional soldiers, as well as turning the 2nd and 3rd army into combined professional and conscript armies. Currently the 2nd army is a professional army and the 3rd army a conscript army. This currently leads to a bit of a strange situation in Al-Magrab, where currently professional units from the 2nd army and conscript units from the 3rd army are active.
The Christiandemocrats also propose to close a strictly defensive military alliance with Ostmark, as well as laws stipulating that Eiffelland will immediately help out Bourdignie and Bécs-Altstadt when these countries come under attack. When Ostmark and Eiffelland have a defensive alliance, the Eiffellandian armed forces can immediately act to defend Ostmark without the need for approval by the Reichsparlament when it is attacked. The laws on protecting Bourdignie and Bécs-Altstadt would also make it possible to immediately act without asking approval from the Reichsparlament, because the approval has already been given. The alliance with Ostmark is proposed to be a strictly defensive alliance, and should explicitly forbid Eiffelland to use the territories of Ostmark for launching an aggressive war against Tarusa.

OOC: I don't know the exact status of Bourdignie at 28AUG2021 06:00 CEST, so I removed the reference to my troops being present in Bourdignie.
 
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Eiffelland recognises Pannonian passports until 31 December 2022

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicated Eiffelland will recognise Pannonian passports until 31 December 2022. However, holders of Pannonian passports are encouraged to exchange them for Bourdignian, Bécsian, Eugenian or Csengian passports. It was also announced that Eiffelland will technically recognise Csengia to ease formalities, but that this technical recognition does not mean that Eiffelland recognises the current government of Csengia as legitimate.
 

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First school day — And the school students massively drop Rus

As per tradition, the schools start again on the first Monday in September. Also this year. But 2021 is in many ways a special year. In the last two years of the two higher levels of secondary education (the Realschule / École Reale and the Lyzäum / Lycée), the pupils follow classes in nine subjects, and also do the final exams in those nine subjects. The subjects are chosen in 9th grade (Realschule / École Reale) and 10th grade (Lyzäum / Lycée).
There are about 500 secondary education schools where Rus is offered as a choice subject to follow classes and do final exams in. Mostly around 10,000 pupils actually take that opportunity. Also this year, such a number of pupils taking Rus classes was expected. But, unheard of up to now, on the very first school day, pupils massively applied for dropping Rus as school subject and take something else instead. Mostly, Rus is exchanged for a different language, like Pelasgian, Tiburan, Arab or Spanish. The war in Pannonia is almost always cited as the reason for the switch.
Education about a language like Rus, Pelasgian, Tiburan, Arab or Spanish comprises more than just learning the language; it is also an introduction in the culture of the country. But one pupil had a rather harsh answer on that: "Tarusan culture? Come on, that's nothing more than soaking vodka, killing people and dancing on the corpses." An opinion that this news site does not share, by the way.
 
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Police arrest 18 suspected kidnappers; justice for Chancellor's family

During a press conference at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Präsident des RKAs Alain Lebret announced that the suspected kidnappers and suspected murderers of Chancellor Rheinfeld's wife and children have been arrested, together with people suspected of kidnappings of relatives of parliament members in August. A total of 18 people have been arrested in Southern Al-Magrab. They will be flown to Eiffelland in the coming days.
The president of the RKA indicated that the police are still looking for the other suspected kidnappers, but did not want to give more information on them. He did reveal though that an arrestment warrant has been issued for Segimer von Heidemar-Siegen, head of the Segimerish Line of House Heidemar. He is suspected of having planned last month's kidnappings.
 
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Police conduct more arrestments, 21 kidnappers still fugitive

After a series of actions conducted all over Eiffelland and Al-Magrab, the police managed to arrest 117 more people belonging to the group that kidnapped relatives of parliament members before the vote on joining the Pannonian war on Remion's side. A total of 21 kidnappers are still fugitive and are suspected to have fled the country. International search warrants have been issued for these 21 kidnappers. Their bank accounts have been frozen and their assets seized. The Ministry of Finance announced that also the bank accounts of Segimer von Heidemar-Siegen have been frozen, and that his assets have been seized as well.
 

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No more visa for Tarusan citizens; Eiffelland follows Remion with measures against Tarusa

This week's press conference was held by Demissionary Minister of Education and Culture and Demissionary Vice-Chancellor Magda Rädermacher, due to Demissionary Minister Dr. Schmelzer's and Demissionary Vice-Chancellor Fritschler's visit to the First Forum on the Crisis of Rights and Modern Democracies. Her first comment was on the results of the Remian investigations regarding the sinking of the Oyleric. Demissionary Vice-Chancellor Rädermacher indicated that military experts have reviewed the investigation results: "Our assessments confirm the conclusions drawn by the Government of Remion. This was an attack conducted by a Tarusan vessel. This attack against a commercial freighter was totally uncalled for, and conducted in an extremely vicious way, without any concern about the well-being of the crew. The people on the Oyleric were not saved by the Tarusan Navy, they were kidnapped. Tarusa has once more shown its evil face. And more disturbingly, the government of the Tarusan Empire enjoys it when the country is called evil. The only suitable reaction by the democratic world is a sharp condemnation of this act of piracy, this violation of international law, and basically this act of war. We have already informed the Government of Tarusa that we demand the crew of the Oyleric be released. In the meantime, following suit with the Republic of Remion, we have expelled 95% of the diplomatic staff of the Empire of Tarusa from Eiffelland and Al-Magrab. Furthermore, no new visa for Eiffelland and Al-Magrab will be provided to citizens of the Empire of Tarusa until further notice."
 

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Elections in Eiffelland

On 7 October, Eiffelland will go to the ballot box to vote for the Reichsparlament. The 1000 seats of the Reichsparlament are chosen by means of proportionate representation by province. Each of the 16 provinces gets a number of seats based on the number of valid votes cast in each province. The minimum number of seats assigned to a province is 40, however, in order to ensure that smaller political parties still have a chance in the provinces with the lowest number of inhabitants. But this also leads to the situation that for instance in Heilbronn 2.5% of the votes are needed to gain a seat, while in Lotharingen (the province in which Trier is located) only 0.8% of the votes are needed. As a result, the currently smallest parties in parliament only get seats from Lotharingen and Rheinland, i.e. the provinces with the largest populations.
A total of 22 political parties will take part in the elections. All 22 parties have names in German and French. We will discuss the parties that are currently represented in the Reichsparlament, in descending order of number of votes received.

Christlich-Demokratische Partei / Parti Chrétien-Democrate (CDP / PCD)
Percentage of votes in the elections fo 2 July 2020: 23.69%
Current polls: 20-23%
Political leader: Roland Rheinfeld.
Description: This political party is the result of a merger between a Lutheran party and a Tiburan Catholic party. This merger took place in 1920. Since then, this political party took over the role of the conservative Demokratische Volkspartei / Parti Democrate Populaire in Eiffellandian politics.
Since the 1930s, there has been no government without the CDP / PCD. This party even mostly delivered the Chancellor. It always obtained about 30 to 35% of the votes, until the elections of 2018, when it fell down to 22%.
The political stance of this party is centrist to rightwing in economic matters. Concipiated as a Christian Party, its social policies changed between the 1950s and now from taboos on homosexuality, contraception and abortion, to allowing the Sociodemocrats to introduce same-sex marriage, allowing the sale of contraceptive methods, and cowriting the abortion law that is still in effect in Eiffelland (abortion without medical reason alllowed with 5 days consideration time until 12 weeks pregnancy duration) while setting up programs helping single mothers in bad financial situations. The only taboos that this party still has, is euthanasia and legalising marihuana.

Sozial-Demokratische Partei Eiffellands / Parti Socialiste d'Eiffellande (SPE / PSE)
Percentage of votes in the elections fo 2 July 2020: 22.03%
Current polls: 9-14%
Political leader: Rüdiger Zimmermann.
Description: This political party is the oldest political party of Eiffelland. It was also part of the government several times, and delivered the Chancellor between 1949 and 1959, 1970 and 1974, 1982-1986 and 2003-2010. The last Sociodemocratic Chancellor, Horst Jörgens, left the stage in a very dramatic way: He was fired by the King after refusing to resign while a motion of distrust against him had passed, and then suddenly disappeared. He was declared dead in 2017, but rumours go that he is still alive, and that he was seen in Ostmark during the reign of Volkskanzler Grasser.
The political stance of this party is centrist to leftwing in economic matters, and very liberal in social issues. Traditionally the party of the lower and lower middle classes, it is currently struggling to keep its electorate. Always good for 30 to 35% of the votes, it fell to 18% in 2012, but slightly improved since then. The lower class is more and more running away from the Sociodemocrats and to the populist rightwing Volksunion / Union du Peuple. This move seems to have accelerated since a couple of months, while the Sociodemocrats are also losing votes to the Christiandemocrats.

Union für die Freie Demokratie / Union pour la Democratie Libre (UFD / UDL)
Percentage of votes in the elections fo 2 July 2020: 14.97%
Current polls: 12-16%
Political leader: Jacques de Chambéry.
Description: This political party was grounded in 1948 as a split from the original Liberal party. Its stance is rightwing to centrist in economic policies, and very liberal in social stances. It took part in quite a lot of cabinets since the 1960s, but never delivered the Chancellor.

Volksunion / Union du Peuple (VU / UP)
Percentage of votes in the elections fo 2 July 2020: 11.67%
Current polls: 20-24%
Political leader: Günther Ziesche.
Description: The political stance of this party is slichtly leftwing in economic matters, and very conservative in social matters. It is currently a meting pot of racists, anti-vaxxers, practitioners of and believers in natural remedies, and disappointed lower class people who ran away from the Sociodemocrats. It was one of the political parties who were against intervening in Pannonia, and sided with Kovács during the Pannonian Civil War. Nowadays it recognises Csengia as the successor state of Pannonia, and considers Bourdignie, Bécs-Altstadt and Zara part of Csengia. Since the war in Pannonia is over, it wants to expel Bourdignian refugees to Csengia, and does not want to take up new Pannonian refugees.
Most political parties refuse to cooperate with the VU / UP. Even if the VU / UP becomes the biggest fraction, chances are low that it will take part in the government, let alone deliver the Chancellor.

Liberal-Demokratische Partei / Parti Libérale Democrate (LDP / PLD)
Percentage of votes in the elections fo 2 July 2020: 10.98%
Current polls: 8-11%
Political leader: Andreas Fritschler.
Description: Centrist in economic matters, extremely liberal in social matters, this party considers itself the pragmatic compromise in Eiffellandian politics. It was grounded by leftwing Christiandemocrats, leftwing Market Liberals and rightwing Sociodemocrats in 1984. Since then, it is a stable factor in Eiffellandian politics with around 10% of the votes.
The elections in 2018 were historic in the sense that for the first time in history a two-party coalition was impossible. It was the first time that the Sociodemocrats took part in a national government, although it already governed at provincial and municipal level.
The LDP / PLD has a couple of wishes it wants to accomplish. One is the chosen mayor. Another one is the legalisation of euthanasia. A third one is the legalisation of all drugs.

Grün / Vert
Percentage of votes in the elections fo 2 July 2020: 6.24%
Current polls: 7-9%
Political leader: Franziska Trittin.
Description: The political stance of this party is centrist to leftwing in economic matters with a strong focus on the environment, and very liberal in social matters. It was grounded in 1968.
This party is very vocal about human rights and human rights violations. Furthermore, it wants to legalise euthanasia and all drugs.

Tiburanisch-Katholische Partei / Parti Tiburaine Catholique (TKP / PTC)
Percentage of votes in the elections fo 2 July 2020: 3.45%
Current polls: 3-4%
Political leader: Eduard Bronstein.
Description: This political party stands for Tiburan Catholic values. It is centrist in economic matters and very conservative in social matters. It wants to criminalise homosexual intercourse and abortion.
Since its grounding in 1921 as a reaction to the merger that resulted in the forming of the CDP / PCD. Soon afterwards, it grew as big in the Prince-Bishopric of Heilbronn as the CDP / PCD. Nowadays these two parties constantly fight to become first in Heilbronn, with sometimes the TKP / PTC and sometimes the CDP / PCD in the lead. And then we are talking about 40% shares in the votes.

Christlich-Reformatorische Verfassungspartei / Parti pour la Constitution Chrétienne Réformée (CRVP / PCCR)
Percentage of votes in the elections fo 2 July 2020: 3.38%
Current polls: 3-4%
Political leader: Bernd Schröder.
Description: This political party was grounded by very conservative Calvinist people in 1975. It is comparable with the TKP / PTC, but then based on a very conservative and strict interpretation of the Bible. Its stances are comparable with those of the TKP / PTC, with a prohibiion of vaccines and insurances added to it (disease and insurable disaster are considered decisions from God, and therefore obligated to undergo).

Kommunistische Partei Eiffellands / Parti Communiste Eiffellandais (KPE / PCE)
Percentage of votes in the elections fo 2 July 2020: 1.05%
Current polls: 0.5-1.5%
Political leader: Heinrich Liebknecht.
Description: This party stands for Communism. It was grounded in 1908.

Eiffelländische National-Syndikalistische Partei / Parti National-Syndicaliste Eiffelloretalien (ENSP / PNSE)
Percentage of votes in the elections fo 2 July 2020: 1.03%
Current polls: 0.5-1.5%
Political leader: Horst Grotewohl.
Description: National-Syndicalism disappeared from its birthplace Ostmark, but is still alive in Eiffelland, in the form of the ENSP / PNSE. This party was grounded in 2017, and immediately gained seats.

Anarchistisch-Kollektivistische Allianz / Alliance Anarcho-Collectiviste (AKA / AAC)
Percentage of votes in the elections fo 2 July 2020: 0.78%
Current polls: 0.5-1.5%
Political leader: Markus Stoph.
Description: The Anarcho-Collectivist Alliance was grounded in 2011, and took its ideas on Josephino Anarcho-Collectivism.

Pazifistisch-Sozialistisch-Demokratische Partei (PSDP) Parti Pacifiste Socialiste Democrate (PPSD)
Percentage of votes in the elections fo 2 July 2020: Not applicable.
Current polls: 2-3%
Political leader: Manuela Hagemann-Faber.
Description: This political party was grounded by members of the Sociodemocrats and Social-Liberals as a reaction on the Government deciding to side with the Bourdignians, Zarans and Bécs-Altstädter. Its stance is leftwing in economic matters and Extremely liberal in social matters. It wants to make drugs and euthanasia legal, but most of all it wants pacifism.
 
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King appoints new Cabinet; Chancellor Rheinfeld returns

The government has been in a certain kind of limbo since Mid June, and has been demissionary since Mid-August. But now, in the light of the Frankish army invading Bourdignie, the King has decided to take an unprecedented step and appoint a missionary cabinet. A missionary cabinet that replaces a fallen, demissionary cabinet, and that less than two weeks before the elections. The King held a speech over all Eiffellandian radio and television broadcasters, as well as over the Internet, in which he announced this decision. He also announced that the elections planned on 7 October will be postponed in the case that war breaks out, and will take place as planned when war is averted. He indicated that behind the scenes diplomats are negotiating with the Holy Frankish Emperor to avert war.
The new Cabinet is a coalition between the Christiandemocratic CDP/PDC, the Market-Liberal UFD/UDL and the Social-Liberal LDP/PLD. The King also announced that Chancellor Rheinfeld returns to office. The new cabinet will govern by proxy, and consists of the following persons:
  • Chancellor: Roland Rheinfeld (CDP-PDC).
  • Minister of Internal Affairs and Vice-Chancellor: Jeacqes de Chambéry (UFD-UDL).
  • Minister of Finance and Vice-Chancellor: Andreas Fritschler (LDP-PLD).
  • Minister of Foreign Affairs: Dr. Norbert Schmelzer (CDP-PDC).
  • Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries: Laurent Rouby (CDP-PDC).
  • Minister of Transport and Public Works: Markus Möller (CDP-PDC).
  • Minister of Education and Culture: Magda Rädermacher (CDP-PDC).
  • Minister of Labour and Social Affairs: Angèle Moulin (CDP-PDC).
  • Minister of Justice: Peter Steinhauer (UFD-UDL).
  • Minister of Environment, Housing and Country Planning: Robert Lauda (UFD-UDL).
  • Minister for Developmental Cooperation and International Aid: Julie Garnier (UFD-UDL).
  • Minister of Defence: Ralf Clausewitz (UFD-UDL).
  • Minister of Public Health and Welfare: Erwin Waagemann (LDP-PLD).
  • Minister of Economic Affairs: Dr. Habil. Ariel Rubinstein (LDP-PLD).
  • Minister for Scientific Research Stimulation: Monika Bergmann (LDP-PLD).

Ministers Prof. Dr. Julia Böttcher and Marina Dahles stepped down, Angèle Moulin from the Christiandemocrats becomes the new Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, and the UFD/UDL deliver five new Ministers.


Eiffelland mobilises; reserve forces also called in; Alarmstufe 3 announced

The first decision of the Cabinet Rheinfeld III is to announce Alarmstufe 3 and to mobilise. Chancellor Rheinfeld announced that also conscripts who have served their first exercise will be called to duty.


Eiffellandian and Bourdignian air force establish No-Fly-Zone above Bourdignie

The Eiffellandian and Bourdignian air force announced that they have established a No-Fly-Zone above Bourdignie.


OOC: Alarmstufe 3 = Defcon 2.
 

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30 years to life imprisonment for kidnappers of relatives of politicians

The trials against the people who kidnapped the relatives of 25 politicians back in August have concluded. They took place at several courts throughout the country. Most kidnappers were charged with high treason and kidnapping, and were sentenced to 30 years imprisonment. Additional to this, the people who kidnapped the Chancellor's wife and two of his children, were charged with murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.
 

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EIFELLANDFUNK

Peace achieved in Bourdignie; referendum to be held


The Holy Frankish Empire, Guienny, San José and Eiffelland have reached a peace deal regarding Bourdignie. The deal comprises a referendum to be held in Bourdignie, so that the Bourdignians can speak out about their future. The referendum will ask out whether they want to be independent or want to become part of the Holy Frankish Empire, and whether they want to become neutral or militarily aligned with either Eiffelland, or the Holy Frankish Empire, or both. This agreement means that a possible Second Great War has been averted.
Minister Dr. Schmelzer indicated that the final proposal and the breakthrough came from President Constanza of San José. He did not comment on rumours that the Tsar was in Chagny as well.
 

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KÖLNER ZEITUNG

Surprising outcome of the national elections


The polls already forecasted a massive loss of the Sociodemocrats and a massive gain of the far right Volksunion, but did not forecast the surprise winner: The Anarcho-Collectivists. They went from less than 1% to more than 7% of the votes, turning them into the sixth-largest fraction in the Reichsparlament. The determining factor in this may the role of the President of San José in the negotiations with the Holy Frankish Empire. The Anarcho-Collectivists stole votes away from the Sociodemocrats (making their losses even bigger), the Environmentalists (whose forecasted gains in the polls were converted into a loss) and the Pacifist-Socialists (whose results in the polls were cut in half).
Meanwhile, the numbers of seats have been determined. All calculations have been conducted. This is how the new parliament will look like, together with the seats from the elections in July 2020.


Political currentAbbreviations
(German / French)
VotesPercentagesSeatsVotes in 2020Percentages in 2020Seats in 2020
Far-RightsVU / UP
14,133,825​
22.19%​
226​
6,954,645​
11.67%​
120​
Christian-DemocratsCDP / PDC
13,624,607​
21.39%​
222​
14,113,649​
23.69%​
242​
Market LiberalsUFD / UDL
8,352,616​
13.11%​
137​
8,922,707​
14.97%​
156​
Social-LiberalsLDP / PLD
6,270,809​
9.84%​
100​
6,544,531​
10.98%​
113​
SociodemocratsSPE / PSE
5,255,205​
8.25%​
88​
13,126,891​
22.03%​
224​
Anarcho-CollectivistsAKA / AAC
4,743,157​
7.45%​
80​
466,479​
0.78%​
4​
EnvironmentalistsGrün / Vert
3,633,396​
5.70%​
60​
3,718,982​
6.24%​
65​
Conservative Christians (catholic)TKP / PTC
2,383,142​
3.74%​
38​
2,053,733​
3.45%​
35​
Conservative Christians (reformated)CRVP / PCCR
2,267,385​
3.56%​
34​
2,011,118​
3.38%​
33​
Pacifist-SocialistsPSDP / PPSD
989,460​
1.55%​
7​
—​
—​
—​
CommunistsKPE / PCE
671,482​
1.05%​
4​
627,905​
1.05%​
4​
National-syndicalists (Grasserists)ENSP / PNSE
658,673​
1.03%​
4​
616,320​
1.03%​
4​
OtherOther
711,708​
1.12%​
0​
430,015​
0.72%​
0​
Total
63,695,465​
100.00%​
1000​
59,586,975​
100.00%​
1000​






The Communists and National-Syndicalists are usually very stable in terms of absolute vote counts. This means that they normally benefit from lower percentages of attendance and suffer from higher percentages of attendance. These elections had a higher percentage of attendance than the last ones (82.11% vs 76.82%), so normally the Communists and National-Syndicalists would have suffered a percentual loss. However, they gained so many votes that their percentages remained the same.

The Sociodemocrats suffered yet another historic loss. They already went down from their usual 30% to 23% in the elections of 2010; a move made by the Christiandemocrats around 2000. But while the Christiandemocrats managed to keep 20 to 25% of the votes since then, the Sociodemocrats fell from being one of the two big parties to the fifth-largest party and 8% of the votes. Where did their voters go to?
First of all, the Sociodemocrats are no longer the representants of the lower classes. They moved more and more to the Volksunion / Union du Peuple in the last year. That move has been concluded. Other parties former Sociodemocrats voters went to were the Environmentalists, the Pacifist-Socialists, the Christiandemocrats, the Social Liberals, and last but not least the Anarcho-Collectivists.
This last party also gained seats from the Environmentalists and the Pacifist-Socialists. Other voters movement were between the Christiandemocrats and the Market Liberals, from the Christiandemocrats to the Conservative Christians, and from the Christiandemocrats and Market Liberals to the Volksunion / Union du Peuple.

The coalition forming will be a complex one with this election result. The far right Volksunion / Union du Peuple will get the first chance to form a coalition. But which one? The only three-party coalition would be between the far rights, Christiandemocrats and Market Liberals, but the Christiandemocrats and Market Liberals have already excluded the far rights.
An at first sight unlikely coalition would be between the far rights, Sociodemocrats, Environmentalists and Conservative Christians; the reason why this alternative is interesting is, that there are strong indications that these parties were indeed discussing with each other before the elections, when the polls suggested that they would get a majority. There would be a massive exchange of plans between them: The Greens would get the free hand for measures against climate change (a.o. the prohibition of combustion engines already per 2030 instead of 2035), the Sociodemocrats would get their educational reform, and in exchange the refugees from former Pannonia would be sent to Csengia and the anti-discrimination laws would be abolished, giving schools and employers the free hand to discriminate against a.o. gays and lesbians. The sudden seat gain of the Anarcho-Collectivists made this combination impossible though. The Anarcho-Collectivisits could join this coalition, but they have excluded the far rights as well; Günther Ziesche’s admirations of Tarusa and the Tsar is too much for them.

When the Volksunion / Union du Peuple does not manage to form a coalition, it is up to the Christiandemocrats to take the lead. But also that will be difficult. The current combination of Christiandemocrats, Market Liberals and Socioliberals does not have a majority. The combination of Christiandemocrats, Sociodemocrats and Socioliberals that was formed after the last elections but fell in August, does not have a majority, either. At first sight, the centre-left combination of Christiandemocrats, Social-Liberals Sociodemocrats, Anarcho-Collectivists and Environmentalists seems the most logical combination, but the relations between the Sociodemocrats on one side and the Christiandemocrats and Social-Liberals on the other side are too bad after last August’s events to make such a combination successful. The same issue prevents a combination between Christiandemocrats, Market Liberals, Social-Liberals and Sociodemocrats.
A combination between Christiandemocrats, Market Liberals, Social-Liberals and Environmentalists would have a majority, but that combination may be problematic because of the Environmentalists’ refusal to cooperate with an extension of the armed forces, something the Christiandemocrats, Market Liberals and Social-Liberals badly want. The Conservative Christians would agree to fulfil that wish, but they might want to abolish the vaccination obligation, and may have wishes around abortion and the prohibition to discriminate against gays and lesbians.
An at first sight unlikely option would be one between Christiandemocrats, Market Liberals, Social-Liberals and Anarcho-Collectivists, because the Anarcho-Collectivists have ideas about the economy that are quite the opposite of the ideas of the other three parties, but the Anarcho-Collectivists have the same opinion on the possible military threats against Eiffelland as the other three, so a common ground could be found here.

All in all, the 2021 elections are historic, in many hindsights.
 
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EIFELLANDFUNK

Rüdiger Zimmermann steps down as political leader of the Sociodemocrats


The political leader of the Sociodemocrats, Rüdiger Zimmermann, announced in a press release that he is going to step down. He indicated that he had to "take responsibility for the huge loss of the Sociodemocrats". Zimmermann served as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Cabinet-Rheinfeld I from 2018 to 2020, and as Minister of Internal Affairs in the Cabinet-Rheinfeld II from 2020 to last August. After he resigned as Minister, he remained political leader of the Sociodemocrats. He won't take up his seat in the Reichsparlament.
Meanwhile, the rumour kitchen started to cook about who will become the new fraction leader of the Sociodemocrats, and with that probably also the new political leader of the Sociodemocrats. The name mentioned most often is Guillaume Boutard.


Eiffelland demobilises

In response to the peace deal on Bourdignie, the Government has decided to demobilise. Also the alarm level will be reduced to Alarmstufe 2.
 
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King appoints political leader Volksunion / Union du Peuple as Kabinettserkunder


After consultation with the political leaders of all the political parties that obtained seats in the Reichparlament, King Albrecht appointed Günther Ziesche, the political leader of the Volksunion / Union du Peuple, as Kabinettserkunder. This means that Mr. Ziesche will investigate whether it is possible to form a coalition led by the Volksunion / Union du Peuple. Chances that he will succeed are generally considered very small, because most political parties have excluded the possibility to enter a coalition with Ziesche's far right party. It seems like the King already anticipated on this outcome, because he ordered Ziesche to report back on Friday morning. The reason why somebody from the Volksunion / Union du Peuple has been appointed as Kabinettserkunder is, that the Volksunion / Union du Peuple has obtained the most votes, and, therefore, as per tradition, gets the first possibility to form a cabinet. When the political party with the most votes doesn't manage to form a cabinet, it's the turn of the party with the second-most votes, after that the party with the third-most votes etc. until either a coalition has been formed or it is clear that a coalition cannot be formed.
The Kabinettserkunder is an official function in Eiffellandian politics. He, she or they is the person who first has to investigate which coalition is most likely to form, and then he, she or they has to lead the negotiations. When the coaliding parties have reached an agreement, the King appoints a Kabinettsformer, the person who has to lead the final negotiations and has to create the cabinet. Mostly this is the person designated to become the Chancellor in the new government.
As per the Eiffellandian constitution, the King is part of the government. The word "cabinet" is used for referring to the Chancellor and the Ministers. Therefore the terms "Kabinettserkunder" and "Kabinettsformer".


Environmentalists: "We did not agree with Volksunion / Union du Peuple to form a coalition"

Franziska Trittin, the political leader of Grün / Vert, issued a press release in which she indicates that the Environmentalists never intended to enter a coalition with the Volksunion / Union du Peuple. She indicated that Mr. Ziesche did ask the Environmentalists to enter a coalition: "Mr. Ziesche came to us, because he saw an ally in us against the extension of the armed forces that the Christiandemocrats, Market Liberals and Social-Liberals want. We would get the opportunity to fulfil a large list of our wishes concerning the environment, and in return we had to agree with extending the freedom of opinion. This sounds positive at first sight, but actually the abolishment of the anti-discrimination legislation was sold to us as an extension of the freedom of opinion. This would lead to the situation that for instance employers would get the possibility to refuse jobs to people because of race, religion or sexual preferences. That is unacceptable to us."
Guillaume Boutard, the new political leader of the Sociodemocrats, confirmed that Mr. Ziesche also came to the Sociodemocrats with a comparable proposal. The Sociodemocrats refused, for the same reason as the Environmentalists.
 

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King fires Ziesche as Kabinettserkunder, and appoints Philipp Neubauer as new Kabinettserkunder

This afternoon the King fired political leader of the VU / UP as Kabinettserkunder. A spokesperson of the Palace gave the following reasoning behind this decision: "It has become clear that Mr. Ziesche won't be able to form a cabinet that is supported by a majority of Parliament. The only political parties that did not categorically reject to go into a coalition with the VU / UP, are the two conservative Christian parties. That is not enough for a majority. The King does not see it happen that enough parties will stop rejecting to coalide with the VU / UP."
Later today, former Minister Philipp Neubauer was appointed as the new Kabinettserkunder. He has the task to investigate which coalition without the VU / UP has the highest chance to be formed.
Mr. Ziesche was visibly angry at the King, and gave voice to his anger in front of the journalists gathered in front of the Palace: "The VU / UP is the big winner of the elections and is the number one in the Reichsparlament, not only in terms of seats, but also in terms of votes obtained. The VU / UP has the natural right to govern. I should be the Chancellor. The King gives me, the VU / UP and the 14 million people who voted for the VU / UP a slap in the face with this decision. I am the rightful Chancellor, and the King knows that, but he plots against me and works towards the next failing Cabinet-Rheinfeld."
 

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VU / UP organises protest march along Royal Palace

As a reaction to the King's decision to fire the political leader of the VU / UP, Günther Ziesche, as Kabinettserkunder and appoint Philipp Neubauer in his place, the VU / UP organised a protest march in Trier today. The march started at the Brandenburger Tor, went through Unter den Kastanien and the Schlossallee and ended at the Schlossforum, the square next to the Palace. The main slogan called was "Wir sind die Sieger, wir sollen regieren" ("We are the winners, we ought to govern"). The banners showed texts like "Nummer eins und größter Sieger, Ziesche soll Kanzler werden" ("Number one and biggest winner, Ziesche should become Chancellor"), "Rheinfeld soll zurücktreten" ("Rheinfeld should step down"), "Kein 4. Kabinett-Rheinfeld" ("No 4th Cabinet-Rheinfeld") and "Die Volksunion / Union du Peuple soll regieren" ("The Volksunion / Union du Peuple should govern"). Also French slogans were carried through the streets. Towards the end of the demonstation, Günther Ziesche held a speech in front of the protesters, half in German and half in French: "Rheinfeld and Dr. Schmelzer almost steered the country into a war with the Empire and Tarusa. It is not thanks to their wisdom that war was averted. And now they want to expand the armed forces. As if that would help us in a two-front war. Eiffelland needs a new Chancellor. A Chancellor who understands the interests of our neighbourcountries, and can broker a peace based on mutual understanding. So not Rheinfeld. Apart from that, we scored the largest seat gain ever in Eiffellandian history, and both the coalition of Rheinfeld II and the coalition of Rheinfeld III lost their majorities. The voters want Rheinfeld out of office. Appointing him as Chancellor again is a contempt of the voters, and ignores the election result."
The VU / UP estimated the number of protesters to be 100,000 or more; the police on the other hand estimated that only 30,000 to 40,000.


Protest in front of Imperial Embassy

Another protest took place in front of the Imperial Embassy. This protest was pointed against the Empire's occupation of parts of Bourdignie. Already subject to a permanent demonstration against the occupation of Bourdignie, today's demonstration was much bigger. The protesters demanded the retreat of Imperial troops from Bourdignian soil. The Twatter hashtags "#empereurfouslecamp" and "#bourdignieindenpente" were carried on protest signs.
Meanwhile, also Eiffelland starts to look at the Empire with different eyes. The sale of Imperial products, including wine, is declining. Also the sale of Imperial cars, historically the only foreign brands that were sold in considerable numbers on the Eiffellandian car market, is declining.
Protests against the Empire are also flaring up again in Montpassart, Eiffelland's Francophone province. The Montpassarians fear that the Empire can decide in the future to occupy Montpassart out of the blue as well.
 

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Cabinet negotiations continue with Christiandemocrats, Market Liberals, Social-Liberals and Environmentalists

Kabinettserkunder Philipp Neubauer spent the week with investigating which coalition has the biggest chance to succeed. Four possible combinations were on the table, but in the end he advised that negotiations between the Christiandemocrats, Market Liberals, Social-Liberals and Environmentalists have the biggest chance to succeed. The Environmentalists differ in opinion with the Christiandemocrats, Market Liberals and Social-Liberals w.r.t. a possible extension of the armed forces, but are prepared to exchange this for additional environmental measures. Philipp Neubauer will continue to lead the negotiations with the new task to create this coalition.


Eiffellandian banks will cooperate with Josefino authorities

The Ministry of Finance announced in a press release that all Eiffellandian banks will cooperate with the Josefino authorities regarding the investigations resulting from the Palmira Papers. The press release emphasised the “damaging consequences of corruption which makes it pressingly needed to fight it”. Also the offices in Eiffelland of foreign banks will be obliged to cooperate.
 
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