May 5568

In a surprising and fast push for one of the larger planned points on the agenda, the government has announced the introduction of the large education reform "Educational Republic." With this package of reforms and law changes, the Clenonberg Administration is breaking with the long-standing privatized School system which has been in place since the early 5400s. Now there are public school up to the university level again, some radicals among the DRP hoped for a complete nationalization of the Universities but were silenced by Realpolitiks and a slight return toward conservative rhetroics and momentum. This has been made possible by the tax increases (or rather implementations) across the board and with the help von Clenonberg has acquired from Dundorf. The national curriculum is heavily inspired by the system of the Bierpakt ally. In exchange the Dual Republic has given advice to the Bundesrepublik on how to best work in multilingual studies. The President was very happy to see that the Dundorfian government has made it a priority to include Narik into their sytem.

Political Pundits expect that this sudden introduction of this "heavyweight of a reform" is likely to acquire some momentum before the intense episode of electioneering next year. President Clenonberg likely wants to change the dynamics which have recently turned in favor of the opposition due to the worsening opiod crisis and a general aversion toward too much big-government action.

May 5568

What many almost missed due to a lack of attention is the recent executive order issued by President Clenonberg in which she has decided to remove the Chairman of the Dual Republican Intelligency Agency SaSA Holger Festermann with immediate effect. There has been no official explanation for the head rolling in the intelligence agency. What raised even more eyebrows was the fact that not only Festermann but also many other senior officials have been sacked. Minister of the Interior Theodor Friedmann who is technically responsible for the SaSA has declined to share any specifics but said "there is no reason to be worried, this just part of a routine personell exchanges."

November 5568

In the most recent press conference of the Dual Republican Foreign Minister Richard Franz Baumer (DRP), he announced the official recognition of the four trigunian breakaway states. Kozaki, Vrosnok, Lesnov and lastly the dundorfian-brother nation of Brakav are designated to receive official Dual Republican diplomatic corp presence. This comes after a slow development with cautious talks. "It is in the best interest of all parties that we officialize our relations with these new states and welcome them on the political playing field of Terra. As we had business with the Czardom and some of its predecessor states we see it as our responsibility to open our hand to the newcomers and offer aid to the people of the now defunct nation of Trigunia if there is any need for it." While there is no strong reception of this diplomatic move there have been both negative and positive voices in regards to this topic. Some parts of the opposition criticize the "emergence of another communist tyrannis." In stark contrast the Revolutionairen communists are supportive of the recognition of Lesnov. Most parties share a positive sentiment when it comes to the support of Brakav.

President Clenonberg has officially designated the Opioid Crisis, meaning the spread of the drug "Cold Turkey", to be a nation-wide health catastrophe. The epicenters of this situation lie in Red Stad and the other large ports with connections to foreign import routes. Security Forces have tried to raid many suspicious smaller compounds but have only found traces of the drug. A headless SaSA hasnt been able to work efficiently due to a organizational problems and the death toll attributed to the drug is continuing to climb. While the established public healthcare system is offsetting some of the cost of life, this situation is still one of the worst political challenges Vanessa zum Clenonberg had to face in her time in office. Political opposition have instrumentalized these developments as they have led to a radicalization of left-wing political forces. The subsequent protests have already caused various injuries on both the sides of the police and the agitated masses. VVP presidential candidate Matthijs Sleyster called them "rioters." Third-party candidate Theodora Lackmann (OF) has called for the immediate enactment of emergency laws and increased powers to 'those that bring order.' 

After some rather turbulent months for the Clenonberg administration, the election campaigning for the 5570 general election has started and the intense phase of the contest is in full swing. Incumbent DRP president Vanessa zum Clenonberg faces the VVP challenger Matthijs Sleyster as well as third party candidate Theodora Lackmann from the Ordnungsfraktion. While most see Lackmann's chances as slim she nontheless has decided not to endorse any of the other candidates. 

President Clenonberg is running on a similar platform to 5566. She's advocating for the continuance of her current policies as well as an even larger expansion of social-welfare measures, she explains the need for even more of them due to the increased drug-consumption- death as well as drug related crime rates. "The best way to end this epidemic is to decriminalize, prevent and educate. We're on the right track but conservative interference will only perpetuate the vulnerability of our Dual Republic." says the president.

On the other side Matthijs Sleyster is heavily critizing the 'socialist and tyrannical' tax policy of the governing coalition and the complete erosion of individual responsibility. He also said that Clenonberg has no capacity for foreign affairs and is neglecting the global responsibility of the Dual Republic and its economic players. The VVP agenda consists mostly of tax-breaks, more free-trade and the expansion of the industrial complex. Political experts call the plans "uninspired and classical VVP rhetorics." It seems like the VVP is mostly betting on Sleyster's personal popularity and populism.

Ordnungsfraktion candidate Lackmann instead is focussing on security issues. She claims that Clenonberg has decapitated the police and intelligence community. "The president is acting like we live in some peace-loving feel good world, but this is not the case. We see a daily increase in drung-abuse and far-left radicalism. The DRP and its farmer party lackies are completely clueless. They're destroying the fundament of our prosperity and freedom which is obviously order. This cannot go on any longer, her days are counted." stated Lackmann at an OF rally. 

Polling for the more minor political parties suggest a stark decrease in seats and absolutely no chance for the presidency. Both the governing farmy parties are set to loose seats. The only other party that is likely to increase in relevancy is the communist Revolutionairen which have gained favor among the protestors and other left-wing communities which think that Clenonberg's "humane capitalism' can't solve any long-term issues.

After ever-increasing pressure to increase the security capabilites of the state and fix the disfunctional leadership of the intelligence agency, President zum Clenonberg has decided to appoint the senior SaSA agent Bernhard Stumpf to the chairmanship of the agency. According to rumors from the security community, Clenonberg has folded under the pressure of the president of the police forces who apparently has been worried about the current state of affairs regarding the protests in all the bigger cities of the Dual Republic. In an interesting twist, for the first time in her incumbency, the president has angered her own party by appointing Stumpf. The DRP has demanded a transparent and official procedure to find the perfect candidate, in response Clenonberg publicly stated that this personell decision was part of a wider strategy to finalize the purge of VVP-influence in the public institutions. Pundits doubt the statements of the president and instead point towards a calculated political move to create positive headlines in the context of the election campaign. 

Election Night 5570 Thriller

9th July 5570 (backdated)

Bannerhafen, Election Bureau Halls: After hard fought campaigns and countless political events, the results for the highly polarized 5570 general elections are in. It seems like, by a very small margin, incumbent president Vanessa zum Clenonberg has managed to beat her VVP opponent Matthijs Sleyster and succeed in gaining another term to fulfill her agenda as well as solve problems that came up during her second term. We had a reporter of ours at the DRP headquarters in the Ulrichstraße to listen in on the presidents victory speech.

Quote:Thank you! Thank- *laughs* Thank you very much. It is an honor to have fought and won another exhausting but rewarding election campaign with all of you. I can't thank you - my supporters - enough. There is no greater achievement in my life than to manage to win another term. We're going to make this social welfare state steadfast! *crowds cheer* The first thing I will do once I set foot in the presidential palace again is going to be signing in the "Queer Rights Act" via executive order! No more will those crooks from the VVP or any of the others conservatives hinder the path to equality. This Dual Republic will serve its people, no matter who you are. Our industriousness and our empathy have created this amazing nation, and I will continue to protect it. But enough of campaign-rhetorics, I know that you, and frankly I myself want some peace and quiet and then get back to work. While some of you thought that the VVP wouldnt take the result lying down, I have reassurance for you, Former Minister Sleyster has already called me and to concede the election. He congratulated me - and us- our campaign to the victory. Four more years!

Now let us take a view over to the Nationalrat, it seems like we're seeing large VVP gains at the cost of the minor parties and some non-aligned voters that have come from the DRP. Which means the conservative opposition will be a lot stronger in the coming period. In first we still see the DRP but with some losses in comparison to last election. According to our voter-flow-data we can say that the more major DRP losses have been offset by other minor party aligned voters like those from the SDP changing their votes to blue to strengthen presidents Clenonbergs back. The other two winners of the election are the Ordnungsfraktion which manages gains with plus two percentage points culminating at 12% and the Revolutionairen also growing by three percentage points finishing with 8%. Now to the interesting part of the results, the losers. The SDP stands completely broken at two, the farmer partiers which had almost twenty percent of the electorate united now, only combine five percent together. The most painful losses seem to appear for the Groene Boeren Bond who seemed like the more persistent rural-folk political party but alas has shrunk to the same size as the TKP. Those that keep count might have already realized a problem for the president, her governing coalition has lost the majority. While that doesnt mean that she can't form a government due to the Dual Republic's laws stating that only the president can propose a cabinet, Clenonberg is threatened by the possibility of a motion of no confidence if she doesnt find more backers in parliament, the farmer parties alone wont be enough. Critical analysts have already said that the Nationalrat is 'hung' and the situation for Clenonberg is very dire. She'd have to gain the favor of the far-left Revolutionairen to keep the right-wing opposition from ousting her. The future is tense.