Valruzia

[Aethan]

Marshall of Kampania announces sweeping reform package in the region in response to the government "betrayal"

The "Step Forward Law" has been passed with the only votes of the KPW

August 5665

Marshall of Kampania Kaja Romanowicz during an electoral event 

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“Following the infamous government pact between Dignity and Progress, Sovereign Valruzia, and Forward Valruzia, the KPW will not stand idly by where it governs,”

said Kampanian Marshall Kaja Romanowicz at the regional parliament session where the law known as "One Step Forward" was discussed and approved. The KPW, which holds 38 of the 71 seats in the regional assembly, pushed the legislation through with only its own votes in favor, while the entire opposition voted against it. Among the main measures included in the new law are the introduction of a maximum income so that no one earns more than 5x the median wage, a ban on evictions for non-payment, free university education and a 100 VPOs/month student stipend in the Kampanian region, and the obligation for all companies in the region to implement a reduction of the working week to 30 hours without salary reduction. In addition, the same regulation lays the groundwork for implementing price controls on basic goods to guarantee universal access, as well as abolishing all forms of religion in public education and media and requiring all public officials to declare all their assets and studies.

The opposition responded with fierce criticism, calling the law an "ideological experiment with disastrous consequences for Kampania’s economy and society". Forward Valruzia regional leader described the package as a frontal assault on private property, free enterprise, and the basic liberties of Kampanians, as according to him, "the ban on evictions and the abolition of religious education amounted to legalized expropriation and cultural persecution". For the Sovereign Valruzia deputies, the reforms represent "a dangerous concentration of power in the hands of the state, which will suffocate local businesses and drive investment away from the region", as they also accused the KPW of using Kampania as a laboratory to impose its radical project after losing the chance to govern at the national level, and compared them to a "hurt animal". Meanwhile, Dignity and Progress argued that, while some social reforms were necessary, the bill went far beyond what they considered acceptable, and were mixed with authoritarian provisions "that undermine individual freedoms and risk isolating Kampania from the rest of Valruzia." Both Valruzian Alliance (SWA) and Forward Valruzia have announced they will challenge the law’s constitutionality before the courts.

In Nowogard, Chancellor Faustyna Sabała reacted swiftly to the news from Kampania, calling the law "a reckless and unilateral move that attempts and threats to undermine national cohesion." Speaking at a press conference, Sabała declared that several of the measures passed by the Kampanian parliament "clearly overstep regional competences and contradict constitutional principles that bind all of Valruzia." The Chancellor specifically pointed to the abolition of religion in education and media, the maximum income cap, and the ban on private healthcare providers, which she described as " clearly incompatible with the framework of rights and freedoms guaranteed by our constitution." The government confirmed that the Ministry of Justice had already been instructed to prepare an appeal before the Constitutional Court, and that, if necessary, they will ask the Presidency  to suspend the implementation of some provisions until a legal review was completed – a body of which Kaja Romanowicz is part of. "Kampania is an integral part of Valruzia" Sabała added. "We simply cannot allow any region to unilaterally impose a parallel legal order that threatens both democracy and economic stability."

However, Kaja Romanowicz responded defiantly just hours later in a fiery speech from Szary Kamien, the regional capital.

"The so-called government of Faustyna Sabała, which was born out of betrayal and political maneuvering, has no legitimacy to lecture Kampania on democracy"

Romanowicz declared, referring to the coalition deal between GiP, SW, and NW that blocked the KPW from forming the national government despite its historic electoral victory.
She warned that any attempt to suspend or overturn the law would be met with "popular mobilization and resistance".

"Kampania belongs to its workers, not to Nowogard's elites or to the puppet Chancellor who serves them"

Romanowicz continued, drawing thunderous applause from KPW supporters gathered outside the parliament building. The Marshall also accused the central government of selective constitutionalism, arguing that "the same people who bent the rules to keep the Communists out of office now hide behind the constitution to deny social justice to millions", and claimed that her government had more popular support that the Chancellor herself. 

"Only in Kampania, our party has collected more votes that the Chancellor's party at a national level. We got more than 50% of the vote in Kampania, more than 6 million votes, while Dignity and Progress obtained merely 4 million votes AT A NATIONAL LEVEL."

The immediate reaction from the business community in Kampania was far from uniform. While some private associations warned of a tightening business climate, others openly welcomed the “One Step Forward” law as a stabilizing law. The Kampania Business Association reiterated concerns about "the disappearance of private initiative" and predicted an outflow of medium-sized firms still operating in the region. Yet, at the same time, several cooperatives and state-linked enterprises hailed the reform package as a long-awaited guarantee of market stability.  Economists close to the Regional Economic Institute of Szary Kamien forecast that, despite short-term turbulence, Kampania’s markets could rebound within two years. According to their report, "price controls and wage restructuring will increase domestic demand, fueling a new cycle of internal growth less dependent on global volatility".

However, the reforms triggered a particularly heated response from religious institutions, given the explicit ban on religion in public education and media. The Conference of Yeudis of Valruzia denounced the measure as "a frontal attack on freedom of conscience and belief, unprecedented in our democratic era", while Archbishop Janusz Kowalczyk went even further, calling the reform "a cultural purge in the style of the darkest regimes", and urged the faithful to "resist peacefully but firmly this attempt to erase the spiritual roots of Kampania and Valruzia as a whole."