Hobrazia

[jamescfm]

President Vasil Khimshiashvili confirmed dead aged 87
14 October 5690

Hobrazia’s government has confirmed the death of President Vasil Khimshiashvili aged 87. According to unconfirmed reports from multiple sources, Khimshiashvili was in a coma for approximately two weeks before his death.

Last year, the president’s daughter Khatia claimed in an interview with the state broadcaster that he was seriously ill and her half-brother Revaz was hiding this information from the public. After the broadcast, her comments quickly made international headlines. Hobrazian media is subject to fierce censorship and the interview was suppressed by the government after its initial release.

In the months since then, the Hobrazian government waged a relentless propaganda war to assure the public that the president was in good health. At the centre of this was a series of images published by the government purportedly showing the president looking fit and healthy, and according to one caption “with the appropriate number of digits on both hands”. International sources have suggested the images were generated by artificial intelligence.

Despite the assurances from the government, Khimshiashvili had not been seen in public for almost two years prior to his death. Tacəddin Cavadzadə, the country’s vice-president, had taken up many of his public-facing duties, and it has already been reported that he will oversee the arrangements for the president’s state funeral.

Khimshiashvili served as Hobrazian president for 38 years. At the time that he acceded to the office upon the death of his father Zaal, the country had been ruled as an authoritarian dictatorship for a quarter of a century. Vasil Khimshiashvili repeatedly highlighted the economic stability he oversaw, but Hobrazia remains among the poorest countries in Artania.

In the wake of his death, there has already been speculation about what happens next. Khimshiashvili himself never anointed a successor in the manner of his father. For many years, the president’s eldest son Revaz was perceived to be the most likely person to succeed him. However, the accusations levelled by his sister have seriously undermined his reputation among the public and the bureaucracy.

New Voice is an independent Hobrazian-language news organisation based in Luthori.