Davostag

[Gonk]

Rikspremier Björn Knudson celebrating his win on the night of the recent August elections.

   

     

A Year in Davostag: General Strike and the Triumph of the Hyggekraftspartiet

    

December 14, 5737

 
It has been quite the year in Davostag indeed.

  
We are now six months into the HKP-SDEP coalition government's tenure, a state of affairs that would have been utterly unimaginable just a year ago.

 
While the country has seen various ups and downs (mostly downs) these past eighteen months, many think the future is bright, including, most notably, the Rikspremier Björn Knudson.

 

Our interview with him was, unsurprisingly, conducted in a cafe attached to one of Mr. Knudson's wellness retreats and spas, the first one he ever established near his hometown on the northern coast of Normanland. I must admit, even with the reputation of the Rikspremier being well established in my mind, I was still surprised to see him approach us, alone and unstaffed, in a soft woolen housecoat and pair of slippers.

 

A broad smile on his face, in-person he is something of an imposing figure, tempered by the warmth he emanates. Tall and well built for his age, he approaches with hand outstretched, introducing himself as though everybody in the country didn't already know who he was.

   

"It is fine", the Rikspremier says as we sit down for our chat. "Everything works out in the end; and if it hasn't worked out, it isn't the end."

 

Our objective was to gather his perspective over what has occurred since his initial entry to politics, but the conversation began with a discussion over our differing preference for types of sauna:

 

"I always preferred a dry sauna. There are many now well-documented benefits a dry sauna provides that are absent from steam saunas... but of course any retreat of any worth will offer both. It is, after all, about relaxation; and personal preference must be accounted for..."

 

You would think this was his fulltime job, which of course it was, before his entry into politics.

 

After this discussion drags on, I cannot stop myself from interrupting the Rikspremier, so that we may get down to brass tacks.

  

One would think, during this interaction, that the country hadn't just gone through a general strike, initiated by the Rikspräsident Rasmus Nyström via executive order, another enigmatic figure; equally if not better known and revered than Björn himself.

  

The Rikspremier recounts the event that he says started the chaos that enveloped the country these past many months. The elections of July 5736, and the subsequent coalition negotiations.
  
"After a long and grueling campaign, I had to relax. Like for all Davostagers; work begets rest, and rest begets work. It was at this very retreat, where I was spending time with my children, that I heard the news as I emerged from a cold plunge; we were cut out of the coalition by the SDEP."

  

The controversies of the following events are well known. Björn's party, the Hyggekraftspartiet, reached out directly to the Bondeförbundet-Folkpartiet. It began with a phone call by Knudson directly to the personal number of the BB-FP's leader and Rikspräsidential hopeful Kristín Olesen-Strand.

 

"She was expecting my call. A total badass, for whom I have the utmost respect. We gave her a better offer. She informed the SDEP of the plan to form government with us. A one seat majority! I can only imagine how that call went."

 

A poster created to promote the creation of this unlikely coalition

   

It was this unlikely coalition that further drove the country towards crisis. The SDEP, unsurprisingly, were mortified. Many would argue rightfully so. The largest party, representing the large majority of urban voters, was cut out entirely from the government. This led to various opinions being shared in the media, including by this scribbler, but the subsequent actions of the SDEP's Rikspräsident Rasmus Nyström truly cast the die.

  

Through executive order, Nyström introduced sweeping changes to the legality of strike action, and subsequently called publicly for a general strike, so that the people of Davostag may show their displeasure for, as Nyström put it, the "undemocratic" new government.

 

What followed was months of chaos. Marches in the streets, supply chain disruptions, chaos in the Riksdag, sweeping omnibus legislation to "Save Davostag", a host of vetoes and executive orders, riots, and to a lesser extent street battles between radical leftists and the police.

 

"The situation was suboptimal, it caused anxiety and stress, the worst feelings of all. We were forced to counter the Rikspräsident in the Riksdag with various omnibus legislation to restore order and the Hygge-Kraft balance back to Davostag. At the time, I levied various accusations against the Rikspräsident, as he did against me. That is all behind us now. We are all good."

 

The strikes ran on for months, but the most controversial piece was of course the intervention of the Befäska Arbetarpartiet. A radical ethno-communist party, they rallied in strength behind Nyström and against the HKP/BB-FP government, going so far as to introduce legislation into the Riksdag to fully legalize and arm paramilitaries.

  

"It was, of course, absurd. While it is good to see the Arbetarpartiet has now rebranded and expelled its most radical elements, those wounds take a long time to heal."

 

Since the strikes, Parliamentary investigations have been undertaken to determine just how radical the Arbetarpartiet became during the strikes. The Rikspremier directly accused them of playing footsy with foreign communist powers who wished to destabilize Davostag to further their global revolution. Nothing of course has been proven yet.

 

A propaganda poster widely distributed by the Befäska Arbetarpartiet during the general strike, showing solidarity with the Rikspräsident

   

While the strikes dragged on for months, they ultimately resulted in the severe drop in support for the SDEP. The numbers were clear; the HKP won the war of public opinion. It has not been confirmed, but this humble writer can only assume that this was chief among the reasons that caused the SDEP to back down. Knudson stayed as Rikspremier, the Arbetarpartiet reformed to remove its more radical elements, and Nyström ceased his campaign of vetoes and executive orders.

    

After some months passed, and various private negotiations occurred between the parties, new elections were held in August of this year. The HKP emerged triumphant, winning the most seats by a healthy margin. But then, something happened that, I think, restored the faith of many Davostagers in our institutions. The HKP and SDEP, only recently vicious enemies, slinging accusations and denouncements back and forth, their supporters even sometimes battling in the streets of Kivonia, formed a coalition government!

   

A poster celebrating the new HKP-SDEP coalition government and the healing of our nation's wounds

   
"It needed to be done. The controversy that led our nation into chaos, the destabilization of balance, has to be put to bed, for good." The Rikspremier softly smiles, "we must work together, for the people of Davostag. What happened last year cannot be allowed to happen again, and together, we are all stronger. Peace in our time is the goal, and it has been achieved."
  
Publicly, the BB-FP seemingly has taken their exclusion from this new coalition government surprisingly well. Although there are murmurs that they, understandably, are somewhat hurt by what some may say is an HKP betrayal, they have yet to make any public moves to counter the new government's balanced priorities.
   
Well, as the Rikspremier said, "Peace in our time". While the memory of the general strike will not soon fade, the people of Davostag can now rest and work easy with the knowledge that their nation's politics no longer resemble a knife fight in the mud, as they did only a few short months ago. The HKP-SDEP government's legislative agenda has been light since the recent elections:
   
"We all need time to rest and recover. To relax and enjoy family and leisure time. It is only through rest that we may heal. This is true for all Davostagers, including their leaders. Make no mistake, soon I will be back fighting for the people in the halls of government, alongside our Rikspräsident. Stay tuned!"