Serene Republic of Vaule News Thread

[Imperator Azenquor]

OOC: All individuals who bought Media Licenses from the Serene Republic are asked to make any posts from their radio/television stations or issues of their newspapers in this thread. I will also use this thread for broadcasts from Vaulian state media.

IC:

[b][u]Television Stations in the Serene Republic[/b][/u]
TV 5 (State owned)
VNN (State owned)
Свобода [Svoboda]TV (CTB) (Privately owned)
Artemis TV (Sargun)
Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (Cent)
*Unnamed Central Chinese Media Holdings network*
Grimaldi Universal Network (Monaco)

[b][u]Radio Stations in the Serene Republic[/b][/u]
Vaule Central News Agency (VCNA) (State owned)
Procinctia Broadcasting Corporation
Radio NovCorp (JEDCJT)
Artemis Radio (Sargun)
Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (Cent)


[b][u]Newspapers in the Serene Republic[/b][/u]
Times of the Serene Republic (State owned)
The People’s Daily (Privately owned)
North East Asian Times (UFE)
Pyotrhymes (Artemis)

Edited August 5, 2011 by Imperator Azenquor

[Imperator Azenquor]

[b][u]VNN News: Controversial budget approved, Oil Workers strike[/b][/u]


[i] “Despite mounting public criticism about the proposed national budget, the Parliament today voted to accept the budget without any changes. The government unveiled the budget in an attempt to sharply cut spending and to reduce the national debt. In Parliament, the government faced harsh criticism for the extent of the cuts and had to rebuff criticism that the cuts would paralyze the heath and education sectors. The Opposition Liberal Democrats also accused the government of jeopardizing national security and defense with the B$150 billion cuts to military expenditure.

During the debate, the Prime Minister came under heavy fire from his own party on the issue of minimum wage exemptions. As an attachment to the new budget, select firms and companies (mostly in the Oil and Wheat industries) will be exempted from the minimum wage law requiring workers to be paid no less than B$7.00/hr. This exemption allows the companies to continue to pay workers at the old minimum wage of B$2.33/hr. This exemption has been condemned by several unions who have vowed to take action.

In his vigorous defense of the budget, Prime Minister Svatek revealed that the budget would allow the Serene Republic to reduce its national debt to 2% of GDP over the next two years and would strengthen the Vauleyo-Buryatian Ruble. The Prime Minister also stated that all state institutions would be required to increase their efficiency levels to ensure that they are able to cope with the budget cuts. At the end of his speech, Prime Minister Svatek made a personal apology to the nation’s students who will be required to pay tuition fees for the first time in decades due to the B$20 billion cuts in Education.

Prime Minister Svatek also apologized for reversing his position on reviving and expanding the National Health Service, stating that it could not be done due to budget constraints.

At the end of his presentation, a heckler in the gallery hurled abuse at the Prime Minister before being escorted from the room. In addition to using several colorful expressions which may not be repeated on live television, he also said that ‘It is a sad day in our history when the political party that was born from the workers’ union movement, turns its back on the workers and jumps into bed with corporations and business interests’.

That's it for news. I'm Ray Porter, reporting for VNN."[/i]-R.Porter

[u][b]VNN Sports: National Team ready for Cup of Nations[/b][/u]

[i]"After a better than expected showing at the 5th Cup of Nations, the Vanguards are ready for the next Cup of Nations. Team Manager Lt. Col. Alekov expressed his cautious optimism that the team would be able to make it to the quarter finals in the next Cup. This, he claimed, would be a possibility only if the team manages to implement their new strategies and to strengthen their offensive game.

Lt. Col. Alekov also used the opportunity to dismiss rumors that Team Captain Anatoly Petrov [5] would be replaced. The Manager said that Petrov’s contract remains in effect and that the team has full confidence in his abilities.

In other news, the National Rugby Championships ended today with a convincing victory for the Viciously Victorious Vaulian Vipers (VVVV) against their arch rivals the Yuktobania Yawning Yaks (YYY). The Vipers dominated their opponents for almost the entire match ending with a score of 37-13. After the match, a visibly shaken Max Trubachev (Coach of the Yawning Yaks) announced his retirement from the sport."[/i]-Reporter

[u][b]VNN Weather: Rain[/b][/u]

[i]"This is Anatoly Karpov with your weather forecast. Tomorrow's weather: Sunshine. I mean what did you expect, it's the middle of summer. If it rains where you are...well...where you are stinks. If you have the absolute misfortune of living in Sakhalin, it'll be raining hamsters tomorrow. Good night"[/i]-A. Karpov

Edited August 4, 2011 by Imperator Azenquor

[Sir Keshav IV]

OOC: Grimaldi Universal Network. That's Monaco's tv station. I'll get posts up soon.

[Imperator Azenquor]

[u][b]VNN News: Protests begin as strike continues[/b][/u]

[IMG]http://i328.photobucket.com/albums/l358/ImperatorAzenquor/15623530.jpg[/IMG]
-Students gathered in Revolution Square

[i]“The latest fallout from the government’s controversial budget has now hit home as students and workers take to the streets. The newly approved national budget has cost the government significant popularity and has unleashed a tide of angry protesters. The students are protesting the reintroduction of tuition fees under the new budget, while the workers are protesting against both the drastic budget cuts and the new minimum wage exemptions.

This morning at 8am, students across the nation walked out of their classes in protest. Students from schools in and near to the city of Sygh-Varthys attempted to stage a protest march to the Parliament building after holding a mass rally in the capital’s Revolution Square. Student union representatives have vowed to continue peaceful protest action until the government approves a budget amendment to once again eliminate tuition fees for students and to improve the accessibility to high quality schools and universities for those unable to afford the exorbitant fees. The students argue that the reintroduction of partial tuition fees will undoubtedly result in the eventual return of full tuition fees and a sharp decline in the ability of the average student to be able to afford a quality education.

[IMG]http://i328.photobucket.com/albums/l358/ImperatorAzenquor/riot-cp-3953861-392.jpg[/IMG]
-Students confronting Riot Police

Although the student protest was initially peaceful, there were some sporadic incidents of violence which occurred when the protesters were confronted by riot police and state security services. Though initially there was only a limited security presence along the route of the protest march, large numbers of riot police confronted protesters near the entrance to Revolution Square as the students attempted their march to Parliament. Witness statements suggested that the police immediately sealed all roads out of Revolution Square before charging into the Square in a blaze of tear gas.

[IMG]http://i328.photobucket.com/albums/l358/ImperatorAzenquor/RiotPolBelars.jpg[/IMG]
-GPSR Riot Control unit regroups

According to eyewitness testimony from our own reporters in the Square, some students began to throw rocks other debris at police lines. The riot police responded with rubber bullets and tear gas as their lines came under attack. According to a spokesperson for the G.P.S.R. Riot Control Unit, there have been 853 arrests so far. As of news time, crowds of students remain in the square and several more arrests have been made.

The Commander of the G.P.S.R. released an official statement on the protest action moments ago. The statement reiterates that any protest which is conducted without the approval of the G.P.S.R. constitutes an illegal act for which the punishment is 30 days in prison. He also sought to clarify that while the students’ union had applied for a protest permit, the application was rejected by the G.P.S.R. Therefore, he said, the police forces are acting within their rights when arresting individuals participating in an illegal protest. The Commander also sought to assure the public that any individual who, in the course of the illegal protest, damages property or attacks a member of the police or security forces will be arrested and charged and will likely spend at least 2 years behind bars.

Despite the incident today, the students have vowed to continue their protest every day for the next two weeks if necessary. We will continue to watch these developments as they unfold.”[/i]-Reporter

Edited August 5, 2011 by Imperator Azenquor

[Imperator Azenquor]

[b][u]VNN News: Split in coalition as gov’t reviews housing policy[/b][/u]


[i]“Signs of trouble in the governing coalition have emerged in the last few hours as the Prime Minister introduced a new national housing policy in the Parliament. The government’s new policy will seek to gradually end the practice of state-subsidized and state owned housing in favor of private ownership. The government’s plan emphasizes the need for citizens to be able to own their own property as being paramount and that the state should have little to no role in the property market.

Under the new reforms, the government will seek to eliminate subsidized housing in two key steps. The first step would be to immediately withdraw the subsidies currently placed on certain houses and allow the prices of these houses to be the full market prices. The second, and more controversial step, would retroactively cancel any housing subsidies granted in the past 2 financial years and require the affected parties to pay the sum to the government in full. This proposal outraged several MPs from United Vaulia (UV) and Slavic Unity Party (SUP) who voiced their opposition to the proposal and have urged their respective party leaders to do likewise.

The second part of the new housing policy requires the government to take significant steps to ensure that state-owned housing can be turned over to the private sector. The proposed policy would provide a 6 month window in which individuals currently residing in state owned housing could make arrangements to purchase the properties in which they reside. Should no arrangement be made, the government would then be permitted to either turn the property over to a private entity or auction the property.

With the discussion on national housing policy, we sent our reporters to the Ministry of Information to examine the housing statistics which have been compiled over the past few decades. According to our research, 10% of citizens live in houses which were purchased in the last 2 years with the assistance of the government subsidy program. A further 18% of the national population currently lives in state owned housing. This would mean that the government’s new policy proposal, if implemented, could impact 28% of the national population.

The Parliament is expected to begin debating the new housing policy in its next session tomorrow. Perhaps an ominous sign of things to come is the fact that Deputy Prime Minister Adam Kerbev has called an urgent meeting of United Vaulia’s party executive later today. As we understand it, this is to be a closed door meeting where neither the press nor representatives from United Vaulia’s main coalition partner the Party for Social Justice (PSJ) will be permitted to attend. Some political analysts have suggested that the apparent disunity in the coalition is being exaggerated, while others have suggested that the situation marks the first political crisis for the coalition.

Veteran Political Analyst and former President Miroslav Anyatevich believes that the crisis is simply due to ‘the overestimation on the part of the Prime Minister and the Party for Social Justice (PSJ), who still do not view United Vaulia (UV) as an equal coalition partner despite the fact that they both have equal representation in the Parliament’. Mr. Anyatevich is predicting that the Prime Minister will either back down on the issue due to pressure from UV, or he will attempt to force United Vaulia to accept the policy in exchange for a continuing coalition. He suggested that Prime Minister Svatek is hoping that UV values its position in government more than its particular ideological positions.

We will continue to monitor the situation as it develops.”[/i]-Reporter

[Imperator Azenquor]

[b][u]VNN News: Housing vote postponed, United Vaulia leaves coalition[/b][/u]

[i] “In what appeared to be a last ditch effort to save his coalition government, Prime Minister Svatek withdrew most of the controversial provisions of his Housing Reform Plan before presenting it to Parliament this morning. Nonetheless, the damage had already been done as several United Vaulia MPs, including government ministers, were absent from this morning’s parliamentary session. Without enough votes to even bring the measure to the floor for a vote, the Prime Minister decided to postpone the vote for 12 days so that he could muster additional support.

The Prime Minister’s efforts were in vain however as United Vaulia leader Adam Kerbev announced that his party would be withdrawing from the governing coalition. The withdrawal of United Vaulia from the coalition has suddenly reduced the government from a solid majority to a weak minority in the Parliament. Despite this development, the Slavic Unity Party (SUP), which remains in coalition with the government, has agreed that it will not vote against the Svatek administration in a confidence vote.

Opposition leader Eva Marija Potusek of the Liberal Democrats, has called on the Prime Minister to resign since his coalition no longer has a clear majority in the Parliament. Mrs. Potusek explained that the departure of United Vaulia from the coalition signals that the government has lost its legitimacy and the right to govern. The only ‘logical’ conclusion, she explained, was for Prime Minister Svatek to resign to pave the way for an election.

The Prime Minister has so far rejected the calls for his resignation and reiterated his intent to remain in office. In a short statement released earlier today, Prime Minister Svatek announced that he would be reshuffling his cabinet to replace the UV ministers who have resigned. The statement also specified that the government would ‘overcome the difficulties posed by the loss of our Parliamentary majority’ and would ‘continue to work for the people of Vaule’.

The opposition Liberal Democrats have vowed to reject any new ministerial appointments made by the Svatek Administration in a bid to force the resignation of the government. If that fails, several Lib Dem MPs have suggested that the party would introduce a motion of non-confidence in the government.[/i]-Reporter

[Imperator Azenquor]

[b][u]VNN News: Peacekeepers arrive in Magadan Oblast[/b][/u]


[i] “After the signing of the recent pact between Magadan Oblast, the USRS and the Serene Republic, the government of the Serene Republic was mandated to deploy peacekeeping forces to Magadan Oblast. These peacekeepers have been mandated to both prevent future incidents between the Oblast and the USRS and to ensure Magadan compliance with the terms of the agreement.

According to an official statement from the Commander of the Magadan Force (M-FOR), the government has completed the deployment of 18,000 soldiers and their equipment to Magadan Oblast. These peacekeepers have already started their mission of ensuring Magadan compliance with the agreement and are monitoring the dismantling of the Magadan Navy. The overall costs for deploying and housing the peacekeepers will be split between the government and Magadan Oblast.

The Commander of M-FOR is expected to meet with the Magadan government shortly to discuss the implementation of the agreement. Vaulian government investigators will also submit an official report on the status of the agreement to all of the involved governments.”[/i]-Reporter