Zambia and Rhodesia

[Vedran]

OOC: Just gonna say here, Mudd and I have decided which will go to which. The poll will not have an effect upon the overall result.

IC: Electoral officials of Arctica and Transvaal, along with observers from both nations as well as foreign observers that wished to come, gathered in the major cities of Zambia and Rhodesia, as well as large towns, to let the provinces' citizens vote in a referendum agreed upon during the peace talks in Johannesburg.

The questions were simple, and asked citizens to decide whether their provinces would remain a part of Transvaal, or become a part of Arctica. These were the only two provinces undergoing such a referendum, since the governors of both had extended their support to Hofmeyr's declaration of dissolution and transfer to Arctica. Therefore, it was assumed that the people would vote for Arctica, but when the voting period began, nobody knew what to expect.

The votes would be counted on April 1 and winners declared.

[Vedran]

Electoral officials report that voter turnout has been good, and that administration of the referendum has gone by smoothly, with minor additions to the list of voting venues to expand access to more remote communities.

Long lines in major cities such as Lusaka, Salisbury, and Bulawayo have led to local charities or community organizations donating chairs and refreshments for voters, and additional ballots are kept on hand at polling sites to deal with the unexpected influx of voters to the cities.

The presence of electoral officials from both nations, as well as independent observers, has curbed any attempts at fraud, including multiple votes. Observers are still coming into the country, increasing in numbers as April nears, sent by a number of reputable NGO's to watch for any instances of "creative counting" on the big day.

[Vedran]

[b]Arctica News Service television broadcast April 1, 2011[/b]

The votes have been counted in the Zambia/Zimbabwe referendum, after a 16-day voting period supervised by electoral observers.

The results are as such: The territory of Rhodesia, also known as Zimbabwe, will be a part of the Republic of Transvaal. The territory of Zambia, also known as Northern Rhodesia, will be a part of the Union of Arctica.


Along with the South African territories of Limpopo and Mpumalanga, Zambia comprises the new territorial gains by Arctica; depending on who you ask, either inherited from the old Transvaal Republic or ceded by the only Transvaal Republic. People are divided on this. One camp holds that Transvaal as founded by Staatspresident Botha ended with his death and the current Republic is a successor state. The other camp, consisting mainly of Arctican rightists who support nationalism, holds that there was no ending or second beginning, but that the Transvaal founded by Botha in late 2006 is one and the same as the Republic headed by Chairman Van Haesten.

The point of contention between these opposing opinions is the legitimacy of Transvaal's dissolution by Hofmeyr and the Volksraad and whether there was any continuity of government between February 5 and March 14. It is the official position of the Union of Arctica that there was not. According to the government, the order by the PM and the legislature was legitimate and Transvaal did not exist as a sovereign nation between Feb. 5 and Mar. 14. "It was under the custodianship of the Union until sovereignty was declared on the 14th of March," said Foreign Minister Ramiaramanana.

"Due to the nature of politics in our world, we must take the existence of a government into consideration. If a state dissolves, we recognize that. When there is no sovereign interest controlling a region, we consider that region non-sovereign. If the same nation should re-declare itself, we consider it to be a different state if it has a different governmental makeup. This policy was created when the Kingdom of Serca reestablished itself after a long period of non-sovereignty."

Ramiaramanana went on to further explain, "We recognize the Republic of Transvaal as independent and sovereign, but there seems to be some discussion going on that it is not the same nation. Our position is, the government is different but the people are the same people, barring those that perished in the terrible nuclear disasters. Therefore it is the same nation, but it is not the same state.

Yes, this means that legally, treaties between our two countries are void, including the Arctica-Transvaal joint territorial charter and the Indian Ocean Territory agreement. Plans are in the works to establish the former joint territory as part of the Union, adding to it Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and Zambia; this may involve an overhaul in the Union's political system, but I cannot say anything about that just yet.

The Indian Ocean Territory, established in 2009, was established with an agreement stating that the territory may only be transferred between Arctica and Transvaal, and that if Franzaria (the country the lands originally belonged to) was to reestablish itself, the IOT would revert to Franzharian sovereignty.

We would like to discuss a possible re-signing of the IOT agreement, since it provides stability and security for the lands of the Territory (including the new additions) and ensures that no foreign powers will take them."

OOC: Background for the IOT: http://forums.cybernations.net/index.php?showtopic=62067
http://forums.cybernations.net/index.php?showtopic=62133

Edited April 1, 2011 by Vedran

[Manetheren]

[center][IMG]http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/5823/historicsouthafricanfla.png[/IMG][IMG]http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/7531/1000pxflagofrhodesiasvg.png[/IMG][/center]
[i]SALISBURY - The flags of Transvaal and Rhodesia rose together over Rhodesia today, as Rhodesia votes to join the Republic of Transvaal[/i]

After a month of political limbo, the joint Transvaal-Arctica referendum taking place in Zambia and Rhodesia has finally finished. By a surprisingly comfortable margin, Rhodesia voted to join the Republic of Transvaal. More than 65% of eligible voters agreed to join Transvaal, a figure that included more than 98% of the prosperous and politically dominant white citizens, primarily English speaking, as well as 35% of black voters, who were perhaps influenced by the heavily pro-Transvaal camp that spend hundreds of thousands of rand on the campaign supported by the government of Transvaal, who provided money and volunteers to the pro-Transvaal campaign.

General van Haesten welcomed Rhodesia into the Republic, promising to fly to Salisbury to meet local leaders as soon as possible. The General, after receiving input from the National Front Council, has appointed Clifford Everard as the Governor of Rhodesia, which has been admitted as a federal province into the Republic.

Transvaal Defense Force units began moving into barracks across Rhodesia while the former military units based in Rhodesia were reorganized into 15 infantry battalions (6 former RAR, 1 RLI and 8 RR).

The Government of Transvaal has indicated its willingness to resign the Indian Ocean Treaty with Arctica.