Knowz

Fireworks lit the skies of New Zealand's major cities just a few hours earlier - Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch... now the Sun was beginning to dawn on those same cities... the first day of 2012... a perfect day for the inauguration of the new president and opening of the new parliament.... ---[i]1st January 2012 - News & press releases[/i]--- [u][b]Parliamentary elections conclude[/b][/u] On the 31st of December 2011 from 8:00PM to 11:55PM New Zealanders went to the polls to elect a new parliament. Now, at about 6:00AM the results had all been collected from the voting machines: [center][size="1"][Results -- Unicameral - single chamber - of Parliament - the House of Representatives - by party, including brief bracketed description of party -- 100 seats overall:][/size] *[b]Progressive Liberals[/b] (social progressivism & libertarianism, liberalism, economic centrists) - [b]39[/b] seats *[b]Socialists [/b](social progressivism, economic left, socialism) - [b]28[/b] seats *[b]Labour[/b] (moderate social progressives, economic left) - [b]11[/b] seats *[b]Green [/b](social progressivism, environmentalism) - [b]10[/b] seats *[b]Nationalists[/b] (no social stand, economic centrists, nationalism) - [b]5[/b] seats *[b]Conservatives[/b] (no social stand, economic right, isolationism) - [b]5[/b] seats *[b]Country Conservatives[/b] (social conservatism, economic right) - [b]2[/b] seats[/center] The new parliament is expected to convene within 24 hours, following which the new president will appoint will appoint a prime minister and other ministers once a coalition agreement takes place as expected among 2 or more of the 4 largest parties in the new parliament (51 seats being needed for a majority). [u][b]Presidential inauguration, opening of new parliament, and formation of new government within 24 hours[/b][/u] It is expected that the presidential inauguration and opening of the new parliament, as well as the formation of a new government will take place within 24 hours.

[quote name='Kankou' timestamp='1325262791' post='2889167'] Grand Papua wishes only the best for its ally, and will wait until the presidential inauguration before pursuing various discussions. [/quote] OOC: Quite fast, I was going to edit the OP but since you posted already... IC: New Zealand's interim government thanks Grand Papua for its good wishes and looks forward to strengthening ties and informs Grand Papua that the presidential inauguration may be expected as early as this weekend following a decision by the interim government to dissolve itself as soon as possible and hand power over to democratically elected officials. [center]------------------------------------More news & press releases, 30th December 2011:----------------------------------------[/center] [b]Presidential inauguration, parliamentary elections, and opening of parliament moved forward[/b] It is now expected that parliamentary elections will be held tomorrow on Saturday. Registered parties contesting are the Progressive Liberals, Labour, Socialists, Green, Nationalists, Conservatives, and the Country Conservatives, along with a few independent candidates. The presidential inauguration and opening of the new parliament will take place almost immediately after the results are in through highly sophisticated electronic voting systems able to collect results within 3 to 4 hours - therefore either later on the same day or on Sunday. [b]Trade barriers lifted, tariffs and taxes abolished for OU nations[/b] The interim government has issued what is expected to be its last act - the abolition of trade restrictions between countries in the Oceanic Union - the nations of Grand Papua and Selenarctos will be able trade goods with New Zealand free of tariffs starting tomorrow. This was done in accordance with the OU treaty.

[center][size="4"][u][font="Georgia"]Official news & press releases from the[/font] [font="Impact"][i][color="red"]Government of the[/color] [size="7"][color="blue"]Commonwealth of New Zealand[/color][/size][/i][/u][/size][/font][/center] [i]30th December 2011[/i] [b]Parliamentary elections[/b] Submissions are now closed for parliamentary elections and all candidates are expected to have declared their candidacy officially to the electoral commission by now. Parliamentary elections are now expected within a week. Over 9000 candidates have been cleared by the electoral commission to run. [b]Presidential inauguration[/b] It is now planned that the presidential inauguration will take place at the same time the new parliament convenes.

New Zealand will be sending the interim Minister of Foreign Affairs and a small delegation including the MFA's Secretary for the Asia-Pacific region and a few others. We look forward to this conference and hope it will result in improving the region's stability and security and of every nation within.

New Zealand watches with mild amusement.

The Government of New Zealand (formerly of New Ulster) wishes to inform fellow Oceanic Union members that the nation has been renamed from [i]New Ulster[/i] to [i]New Zealand[/i] and submits an updated signature for addition to the treaty: [b]Signed for the Commonwealth of New Zealand,[/b] [i]Department for Oceania, Ministry of Foreign Affairs[/i]

Please rename '[i]New Ulster[/i]' to '[i]New Zealand[/i]'. Thanks.

[i]8th December 2011[/i] [b]Voting age lowered[/b] The interim legislative assembly permanently lowered both the voting age & minimum candidate age for all elected offices from 18 to 16 before the referendum on the nation's name and the presidential election today. [b]Nation to be renamed[/b] Following the South Island joining the country, the interim government proposed that the nation be renamed to [i]New Zealand[/i] - a snap poll called by the legislative assembly confirmed the decision 57% to 42% (1% spoiled ballots) with a turnout of 54.5% of voters. The long form name as approved by voters will be 'the [i]Commonwealth of New Zealand[/i]'. [b]President elected[/b] The Chief Executive of the interim government, [i]Knowz[/i], was elected today as [i]President of the Commonwealth of New Zealand[/i] winning 55.5% of the vote (turnout also at 54.5% of voters as for the naming referendum) following the calling of a snap presidential election by the legislative assembly - he is the youngest ever Kiwi elected to any office in the long history of these islands. Knowz was elected on a promise of social progressivism and responsible fiscal policies. The office of President is to be a mainly ceremonial one, but one with significant reserve powers, in keeping with New Zealand's traditions of strong parliamentary democracy. The length of one presidential term is 5 years. Knowz will be inaugurated within a month and in the meantime will continue to head the interim government. [b]Parliamentary elections soon[/b] The interim government has announced that parliamentary elections will be held within a month's time - parties and candidates have 2 weeks to register with the Electoral Commission.

[b]Signed for New Ulster,[/b] [i]The interim government of New Ulster[/i]

[quote name='Kankou' timestamp='1322993862' post='2862100'] Grand Papua wishes to extend help to its neighbor, and has its Rapid Deployment Forces ready. [/quote] New Ulster's interim Minister of Defence thanks Grand Papua for offering help and will request their involvement if anything gets out of hand. We hope that the restoration of order will not require any armed actions - thus far there appears to be more no large scale rioting or disorder on the streets of the main cities on the South Island - indeed there was none at all when New Ulster's token force entered the largest city on the island, Christchurch.

"The Government of New Ulster submits its application to become a signatory to the Oceanic Union treaty."

Please mark the NZ's South Island as part of New Ulster.

[i]4th December 2011[/i] [b]Government sends troops to South Island[/b] Following the apparent collapse of the New Munster government, on notification from the Oceanic Union, the New Ulster government sent a small amount of military troops to the South Island to ensure order. The government also declared the area to be under the protection of New Ulster. [b]Capital chosen[/b] The interim government has decided that Wellington will be the capital of New Ulster, after considering the government's new responsibility over the South Island. [b]Nation name change?[/b] The constituent assembly is debating the possibility of changing the nation's name after the annexation of the South Island.

Wow, South America is looking really nice and colourful, and filling up quite fast, lovely. <3 Could I join in? [/semi-serious] I'll be back with a definite answer soon, but any recommendations on where I should set things up if I do? Is the area south of Gallifrey and north of Neo Roma available? (I'll return with a edit to this post or a new post)

OOC: [s]This a closed thread.[/s] Nvm. IC: [center]-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/center] [size="5"][font="Impact"][b][center]Official News releases from the Government of New Ulster[/center][/b][/font][/size] [center]-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/center] [i]3rd December 2011[/i] [b]New Constitution[/b] The interim government introduced a motion to formally adopt the new constitution as voted on by the people - the constituent assembly approved the motion unanimously 150-0. [b]Nation's name officially adopted[/b] The official name of the nation was also adopted, 'New Ulster', with no long form name as of yet.

Please rename 'North New Zealand' to 'New Ulster'.

The interim government has acted upon the results of [url="http://forums.cybernations.net/index.php?showtopic=106480"]the first election (the two referendums)[/url]. North New Zealand is hereby established as 'New Ulster'. The constituent assembly has also adopted a constitution including an extensive bill of rights. Governmental elections are scheduled to be held soon.

As promised the first part of the North New Zealand elections have began: [url="http://forums.cybernations.net/index.php?showtopic=106480"]the two referendums[/url].

[color="#696969"]OOC: In the poll of course you RP as a resident of North New Zealand. I will factor the results from the poll in deciding these issues, but however I will add a dose of reality - in that I will also factor how Kiwis will really probably vote.[/color] As was [url="http://forums.cybernations.net/index.php?showtopic=106360"]promised earlier[/url], North New Zealand holds the first part of its elections today: Two referendums, one to decide the name of the new nation, and another to decide on whether to established a codified written constitution including an extensive charter of rights & liberties. More information: [b][u]Naming referendum[/u][/b] There are two choices: >[i]Aotearoa[/i] - this is name in the Maori language used to refer to the whole of New Zealand in modern times, but traditionally only the North Island. >[i]New Ulster[/i] - name used in British colonial times to refer to a colonial province occupying the North Island of New Zealand [b][u]Constitution referendum[/u][/b] Answer may be a simple [i]Yes[/i] or [i]No[/i]. A Yes vote will result in the establishment of a written constitution for the new country including a comprehensive bill of rights & liberties. Regardless of the establishment of the constitution, the new nation will be established as parliamentary democracy - so the main significance of the constitution referendum is whether or not the constitution includes a bill of rights. [font="Garamond"]Sample of what's included in the Charter of Rights:[/font] >[font="Courier New"]"No citizen shall be discriminated against on the basis of race, colour, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religion, etc." >"All citizens are guaranteed the Equal Protection of the law and may not be deprived of any liberty or property without Due Process of law." >"Everyone has the Right to Life." [/font] [u][i]POLLING:[/i][/u] According to polls by the media, Kiwis are more likely to pick Aotearoa as the name of the new nation 60% to 35% (5% undecided), and are highly supportive of a proposed bill of rights, favouring one by 70% to 25% (5% undecided).

Please mark the North Island of New Zealand as 'North New Zealand' for now. I'll be back with the final name once elections are conducted.

Following successful negotiation and the constituting of a nation by the name [url="http://forums.cybernations.net/index.php?showtopic=106309"][i]New Munster[/i] on New Zealand's South Island[/url], the North Island will soon holds it's inaugural general elections and two referendums, including one to decide the name of the new country. [u]Electoral races and referendums on the ballot paper:[/u] >President - a mostly ceremonial post holding and exercising powers in a similar manner to the [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarchy_of_New_Zealand"]Queen[/url] & [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governor-General_of_New_Zealand"]Governor-General[/url] of the now long disestablished country, New Zealand. >Members of Parliament (House of Representatives) - the party which controls the house shall form the government, in the usual Westminster parliamentary democracy style. >Senators; upper house >Referendum to decide the nation's new name >Referendum to decide on establishing a codified constitution for the new country, including a charter of rights The elections are expected be held within a week as the interim government is still organizing them.

OOC: Opps, messed this up. Please delete this thread. I'll repost.

"We would like to announce that we will hold elections to form a government within three or four days".

"We feel that no despotic regime can taint such a historically important name, however, an alternate name, New Ulster, the counterpart colonial province name to New Munster, is also being considered. The naming issue will be decided by the people via referendum alongside the first general elections." OOC: I'll set up a poll thread soon for the elections.

[b]IC[/b]: "We hope that peace will continue to prevail across New Zealand as these discussions proceed in this conference and that there will be no outbreaks of violence. We would also like to announce that we are ready to constitute an interim government and will be naming the North Island as [i]Aotearoa[/i] - the word used by the first Kiwis, the Maori people, to describe the whole of New Zealand in modern times, but historically only the North Island - by the weekend." [b]OOC[/b]: It should be noted that my posts will be quite brief and limited on weekdays, if I post at all. I'll mostly be active here only on weekends.