Dundorf

[TheNick]

Former Chancellor Matthias Werner Announces Candidacy for President
March 5715

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Former Chancellor Matthias Werner in his Dunburg apartment alongside the family cat, Titus.

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Dunburg - Former Federal Chancellor Matthias Werner (DSDP), has announced his candidacy for Federal President in the upcoming May elections, which will determine the successor of current President Hans Meyer (NDZP), term limited per the Constitution. Mr. Werner, who left politics in 5706 after serving sixteen years as Chancellor, has said he "feels ready to pursue a new journey, this time representing all voices of Dundorf as their Federal President, always committed to values of social justice and fairness for all". He joins a field alongside former Finance Minister, Dr. Theodore Engel, who will be the Pirate candidate once again and former Foreign Affairs Minister Gunther Kranke who will be the joint candidate of the TLD and NDZP. No word yet from the KBP, who is undecided whether to jump in the joint center-right ticket.

Franziska Niedermeyer, recently appointed as Interior Minister and a long-time leader of the Green Party, has announced via a social media post that her party would not field a candidate and instead support Mr. Werner's bid in the first round: "When I worked alongside Matthias, I could see up close how much he works hard for Dundorf and its people. He has strong values, which we at the Green Party share fully. I'm so honored to support my friend Matthias Werner for President!". No comment was received from the DRF, but they are expected to field their own candidate in the first round and then eventually support Mr. Werner in the second round, should he advance to it. Also the democratic-socialist DRF announced that they would support the DSDP candidate from the first round, creating for the first time a united center-left ticket for the Presidency, which is set to become the first big political test for Chancellor Renate Reinhardt's new cabinet coalition.

If elected, the Presidency would be once again held by the DSDP, which detains the record for most Federal President, dating back to Federal President Nicholas Bauer in the 5220s. He would also become the first gay President, a similar achievement that he already obtained as Chancellor. Now, in order to make things official, he needs signatures from 5% of registered voters in every state or the backing of at least 32 Bundestag members. Unofficial sources say all DSDP MPs and Green MPs are ready to sign off on his candidacy, clearing him the way to make it on the ballot.

[Drax]

FELDER REPLACES GIMBEL AS NDZP LEADER
 
ODERVELD – LEUCHTFEUER
 
Neukirchstadt, May 4, 5715: At Neue Dundorfische Zentrumsparteri (NDZP) Headquarters in Neukirchstadt, NDZP leadership accepted the resignation of former Federal Chancellor Frieda Gimbel as Party Leader and considered candidates to replace her.
 
Gimbel had served three times as Federal Chancellor, and she felt a new fresh approach to rebuild from Opposition was in order.
 
Although many thought Federal President Hans Meyer would be a good choice, he thought it best to serve out his term rather than leap into party leadership.  Besides which Meyer believed either former Defense Minister Bruno Steigerwald or former Interior Minister Hermann Felder were more ready to lead the Opposition.
 
Felder was actually interested in the job while Steigerwald wanted to focus on national defense rather than lead the party.  A formal vote endorsing Felder as Party Secretary and Opposition Leader followed.
 
Felder has an academic background serving as Head of the Nuclear Power Engineering Program at Karl Ulrich Universitat in Unterschloss before serving in the Bundeskabinett.


NDZP's Hermann Felder

[TheNick]

Matthias Werner Elected Federal President of Dundorf

May 5715 (backdated)

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Mr. Werner campaigning in Chontalen last week.

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Dunburg - It appears, when almost all votes are counted, that former Chancellor Matthias Werner will pull off a victory at the first round of voting in this year's Presidential election. Mr. Werner wins with a little over 50% of the votes, 50,2%, beating two other candidates: former Foreign Minister Gunther Krancke (TLD) and former Finance Minister Dr. Theodore Engel (PPD).

Mr. Werner had an advantage in the polls throughout the campaign, so this result was expected, although some had hoped for a more decisive win rather than the slim victory he obtained by 0.2 percentage points. Nonetheless, he gained an absolute majority of valid votes and will therefore be the next resident of Karlottenberg Schloss. Dr. Engel, called Werner immediately after the polls closed and became clear he was locked out of the top two no matter what. Mr. Krancke called the former Chancellor a few minutes ago, when the media reported that the DSDP had now mathematically won the election on the first round.

This represents the second time in a row a Dundorfian President has been elected without the need of a second round, also thanks to the low fragmentation of this race: just three candidates made it to the ballot, and Mr. Werner had the backing of the entire red bloc. The new center-left cabinet of Renate Reinhardt comes out as reinforced following this victory, as the parties who make up her cabinet won more than 50% of the votes. She is expected to meet with the outgoing President, Hans Meyer, and the incoming President for an institutional dinner, just before Matthias Werner's formal installation.

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5715 Presidential Election:

Turnout: 89.647.319 (80.1%, +1.4%)

Hon. Matthias Werner (DSDP + GPP, DRF): 45.038.528 (50.2%) | elected President
Hon. Gunther Krancke (TLD + NDZP, KBP): 33.528.382 (37.4%)
Hon. Dr. Theodore Engel (PPD): 11.080.409 (12.4%)

[Drax]

VON SCHIRACH REPLACES KRANCKE AS TLD PARTY LEADER
 
ODERVELD – LEUCHTFEUER
 
Dunburg, August 29, 5715: Former Foreign Minister Gunther Krancke has stepped  down as Team Liberaldemokraten (TLD) Floor Leader after his unsuccessful run for Federal President.  Krancke recommended his long time protégé Friedrich von Schirach as his successor, and the TLD leadership thereupon confirmed von Schirach as TLD Floor Leader.
 
Von Schirach praised Krancke’s long time successful stewardship of the Foreign Office and believed TLD is now very much firmly identified with the traditional Dundorfische international policy emphasizing free trade, trade agreements and non aggression pacts.
 
The new Floor Leader further pledged continued consistent TLD advocacy of traditional home and family values and of the pro business approach to the mixed public and private economy of the Bundesrepublik.


TLD's Friedrich v. Schirach

[Drax]

HOW EXTREME IS DRF?
 
ODERVELD - LEUCHTFEUER
 
Defence Ministry, August 27, 5715:  After Defence Minister Gerda Kempf met with senior Ministerial staff to initiate a review of the  Bundesrepublik’s drone and missile capacity, ODERVELD – LEUCHTFEUER was able to ask her if the Dundorfuische Rote Front had abandoned its position on nationalizing industry by choosing to join the current Center Left governing coalition, and  Kempf responded:
 

No. But it is a fair question since within the DRF there is a constant examination and reexamination of whether we are still Metzists.  And we are. And that includes those in the DRF who constitute the faction that once was the Dundorfische Sozialunion (DSU).
 
Two problems for Metzist purists existed when the DRF was formed  and still exist for that matter.  First, there is not going to be any Terra wide revolution anytime in the foreseeable future.
 
Second, after centuries of the Bundestag rocking back and forth between the means of production being entirely nationalized and then entirely privatized with resultant economic chaos, a con census developed that recognized the Bundesrepublik would have partly privately owned and partly publicly owned means of production and would not privatize for the sake of privatizing or nationalize for the sake of nationalizing.
 
That economic con census has been in play during the entire life of the DRF.  Of course, all things being equal, the DRF prefers nationalized means of production but constantly raising it in every possible instance would be futile and would squander time, energy and political capital which could be and in my opinion should be used to protect and promote a fair share  of the economic resources of the Bundesrepublik being directly used for the benefit of Our Sovereign People themselves.
 
And by that I mean healthcare, education, family needs, housing and a myriad of other needs to keep the safety net viable.  Which is in fact where the DRF has been focused and is focused.
 

Defence Minister Gerda Kempf

[Drax]

TLD ON PRIVATIZATION IN DIAMOND INDUSTRY

 ODERVELD – LEUCHTFEUER
 
Dunburg, March 22, 5716: ODERVELD – LEUCHTFEUER asked Team Liberaldemokraten (TLD) Floor Leader, former Defence Minister Friedrich von Schirach, what was the TLD position on privatizing Nationales Bergbaukonglomerat (BK), the Bundesrepublik’s national mining corporation that in fact does virtually all diamond mining in the Bundesrepublik.  The TLD Floor Leader responded:
 

It is not going to happen during the Reinhardt Administration; the votes are not there. We are among those who believe that if there was a privately owned business entity that wanted to buy a portion of our diamond mines that would abide by the Bundesrepublik’s ban on open pit mining, it should be allowed to do so provided financial viability and environmental safeguards were in place.
 
There have been administrations which have shared our view most recently led by Neues Dundorfische Zentrumspartei (NDZP). Even if TLD were willing for some pressing economic need to relax the open pit mining ban, NDZP is quite adamant that it would not.
 
The most recent entity to look at doing mining is Marcks Feiereisin Enterprises which buys and sells as a diamond wholesaler; it concluded that considerable investment could eventually lead to a marginal annual profit but that frankly its stockholders were better off with the government doing the diamond extraction.
 
TLD does not think this is case where privatization for the sake of privatization is desirable.
 
At the other end, one could look at Importunternehmen der Bundesrepublik (IdB) in the jewelry business. Silver mining in the Bundesrepublik produces a lot of the silver for setting for diamonds. We have no gold resources we know of, but Marcks Feiereisin Enterprises buys gold from Dorvik wholesalers to sell to jewelry makers in the Bundesrepublik both for gold jewelry and gold settings for diamonds.
 
But we also have an arrangement whereby Malivian producers of gold sell their product to IdB who then resells it to jewelry makers in the Bundesrepublik.  Nothing prevents producers of gold in Malivia or Dorvik selling directly to our jewelry makers which occasionally happens.
 
Think everyone pretty much thinks IdB is doing a service for business so there is no appetite to privatize it.  In any event IdB and BK are two of the three government corporations with special legislation protecting them from a general nationalizing bill that at one time was a common occurrence but has been rare for a long while.
 
A related question is whether Marcks Feiereisin Enterprises is a monopoly which sjhould be broken up. Marcks Feiereisin buys most of the diamonds extracted in the Bundesrepublik from BK.  Many  of these are then either sold or more likely turned over to the Steigerwald Group for diamond cutting and then sold as jewels to jewelry producers or retailers. 
 
Most others are turned over to Muselbergen Tol und Sterben who prepare diamonds for use in machine tools which buys some from Marcks Feiereisin but returns most for sale to machine tool manufacturers wanting diamond bits.
 
As indicated earlier, Marcks Feiereisin enterprises also buys gold from Dorvish producers and sells gold to jewelry makers.
 
As a practical matter, breaking it up could leave a giant hole in our jewelry business.  As big as nationalizing it.  Think if it were three business entities instead of one no one would worry about it.  But it is very big and it worries those worried about monopolies.

[TheNick]

Bundestag Votes to Ratify the Treaty of Merenbürg
June 5716

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The Bundestag.

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Dunburg - The Dundorfian Bundestag has voted on Friday in favor of the ratification of the so-called Treaty of Merenbürg, which would establish an Artanian free trade zone. The vote wasn't particularly close: all members of the DSDP, GPP, NDZP, TLD and PPD voted in the affirmative, some members of the KBP voted to abstain and others voted to reject while a majority of the DRF group voted in favor, while a minority voted to reject. Overall, the mark of 2/3 of the Assembly was easily cleared and the Treaty was formally ratified on the part of the Bundestag, which means now that the Treaty now will be examined and given final approval by Federal President Matthias Werner (DSDP).

The treaty, originally proposed by the government of Narikaton & Darnussia, will include membership to a common internal market composed by other Artanian nations, for now only N&D, but it is rumored that Luthori's ratification is upcoming. Other than that, there will be a common continental competition law, to ensure fairness between signatories, and the establishment of the Artanian Trade Commission, or AHK (Artanische Handelskommission) which will enforce the competition law. 

Federal Chancellor Renate Reinhardt commented on our newspaper the news of the Bundestag's approval: 

The Federal Government is satisfied with the act of Bundestag, and we now await for President Werner's final approval. This treaty will allow Dundorfian companies to export more in our continent, while protected by the new Competition Law. Fair competition will make our economy even more dynamic, but we are aware that Dundorfian workplaces must be protected: that's why this Government pledges to strengthen, not roll back, all kinds of protection and welfare for working people.

Now, Karlottenberg Schloss has up to three months to sign the ratification bill, which means the treaty will be effective pursuant to Dundorfian law. The President might choose not to sign the bill, but if the Bundestag votes again with a 3/4 majority, the ratification will become effective immediately. The Schloss let out a statement saying: "President Werner will fulfill his constitutional duties and take action on the bill in the coming weeks." Sources close to the Zeitung believe the President is favorable to this treaty and will therefore sign the ratification bill.

[TheNick]

Federal Government and Dunlake State Government Approve Nordenhaus Metro Project
August 5718

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Rendering of one of the future metro stops in Nordenhaus.

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Nordenhaus, Dunlake - Federal Chancellor Renate Reinhardt unvelied on Thursday, alongside Infrastructure Minister Sandra Wittgenstein (DRF) and Dunlake Minister-President Jonas Schneider (DSDP), an infrastructure project to build Nordenhaus' first underground metropolitan train line, an idea that was lingering since the early 5700s. The project features a total of eighteen metro stops, to be built in a very modern and safe design, with glass barriers that open safely when the train stops, and inclusive infrastructure for disabled people. The stations will include spaces for commercial activities to open, as well as tourist kiosks and a security service. The line will connect Nordenhaus' southern residential district with the historical city center and goes all the way to the north-western financial district. A second project to connect the remaining parts of town "is in the works", said Minister-President Schneider.

Minister Wittgenstein said to the press: "This is a step forward for all the working people living in our urban centers and that can't afford other methods of transportation to go to work. This is also a step in the right direction to lower the total private vehicular traffic and thus reduce pollution. In the Federal Government, we insisted strongly that Dundorfische Bahn is given a major role in producing and operating the trains needed for Nordenhaus's U-Bahn line. That way, we defend the competitiveness of Dundorfian manifacturing and jobs." 

The total cost of this project is estimated to be around 18 billion Dundorfian Marks, financed in majority by funds coming from the Federal Government (12 Billions), funds coming from the State Government (5 Billions) and a private donation coming from Nordenhaus' wealthiest citizens of around 1 B. The works will start in December 5718 and are projected to finish in seven years, giving all Nordenhausers their metro system in some time between 5725 and 5726.

[Drax]

EGELION TRYING OUT DUNDORFISCHE AIR REFUELING TANKERS
 
ODERVELD - LEUCHTFEUER
 
Defence Ministry, August 27, 5718: After Defence Minister Gerda Kempf met with senior Defence Ministry staff on initiating a review of our missile posture, ODERVELD – LEUCHTFEUER asked the Defence Minister what was the latest on interaction with the Kingdom of Egelion, and Kempf replied:
 

Well, our Meridia Task Force, the fifteen warships the Lourennais Royal Navy gave to the Bundeswehr during the life of the Humanitarian Alliance, are now operating as part of the Western Armada of the Navy of the Kingdom of Egelion, learning valuable skills and techniques for functioning as as an integral part of a Fleet with wide ranging strike and defense capacity.
 
Further, the Air Force of the Kingdom of Egelion has shown an interest in the DHL A 310 MRTT aerial refueling tankers employed by the Luftwaffe to support our aerial transport fleet which is an essential part of the operational capacity of the Luftwaffe since the Bundesrepublik is landlocked, the only such nation on Terra.
 
The aerial transport fleet was used to transport troops from the Bundersrepublik  to support the Kingdom of Lourenne when it was attacked by Seko and thanks to aerial refueling, the operation was done without an intermediate landing.
 
The agreement reached between the Kingdom of Egelion and the Bundesrepublik is that five of the newest DHL A 310 MRTT aerial refueling aircraft will be transferred from the Luftwaffe to the Royal Air force of the Kingdom of Egelion.  Training in operation, repair and maintenance will be conducted by Luftwaffe personnel and access to parts and manufacturers’ supporting services will be arranged by Onerkommado Bundeswehr’s (OKB) Procurement Division with Dundorfische Hoch Logistik (DHL).  The cost will be at a steep discount.
 
Should the Royal Air Force of the Kingdom of Egelion find the DHL A 310 MRTT useful, the OKB Procurement Division, Ableitung II, will arrange for the purchase of more from DHL.
 
OKB Ableitung II will in the meantime purchase five DHL A 310 MRTT’s from DHL to  be delivered over the next 21 months to bring our aerial refueling complement back to 30 aircraft as has been the arrangement with DHL for some years.

 
The DHL A 310 MRTT is a multi role refueling tanker primarily designed for air to air refueling of military aircraft. In actual practice support of the Luftwafffe’s troop transport fleet and its escorts.The DHL A 310 MRTT can be used as well for cargo or passenger transport or medical evacuation.
 
The DHL A 310 MRTT is  a twin jet wide bodied jet aircraftr which is a variant of the DHL Truppenbeweger A 310, currently the Luftwaffe’s primary aerial troop transport, which is itself a variant of a DHL commercial cargo transport aircraft.  In all, it can carry 88,200 litres of deliverable fuel for refueling.
 
There are three in the crew, and two turbofan jet engines producing a maximum speed of 978 kilometers per hour with a range of 8889 kilometers.  The maximum takeoff weight is 164,000 kilograms and can be readily adapted to carry 214 passengers should the need arise.


 
https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=b3cce78a4...MTBfTVJUVA

[TheNick]

Center-Left Coalition Retains Majority in 5718 Federal Election
October 5718

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Chancellor Renate Reinhardt's DSDP retained the top spot among Dundorf's parties.

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Dunburg - According to an official Zeitung projection, the incumbent center-left coalition led by Federal Chancellor Renate Reinhardt (DSDP) will secure a majority in the Bundestag and will likely remain in power for another four years. Four years ago, the so-called 'red bloc' won back power after decades with an extremely slim majority: just 316 seats out of 630. Today's projection tells us that the majority will remain largely unvaried, with the DSDP, DRF and GPP collectively winning 317 seats. But the internal balance has changed: the DSDP and DRF saw a decline in votes and seats, while the GPP witnessed a surge that allowed them to become the second-largest force in the coalition. This means that the position of Deputy Chancellor, currently held by DRF leader Gerda Kempf, will likely pass over to the GPP, accordind to the coalition's internal standing rules.

In the center-right, NDZP saw a big decline of two percentage points which was compensated by the liberal surge of the TLD, which became the third largest political force over night. The KBP continues to experience an internal crisis and reach a new low, a little over 6% of the votes. Rumours are getting more and more frequent that a leadership change is incoming, although KBP Leader Leonard Gruber says: "I'm not worried for my or KBP's position. We'll recover but it takes time to reclaim our voters who went to other parties". Outside the two coalitions, the populist and fiscally conservative Pirate Party remained largely stable, but their weight will likely be very weak since the center-left won again an outright majority.

President Werner, upon learning the results of the election, telephoned to Mrs. Reinhardt and invited her to Karlottenberg Schloss to discuss the formation of the next Federal Government. Sources close to both the Federal President and the Federal Chancellor, who both belong to the DSDP, say that the preference for the continuation of the current cabinet is "strong".

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5718 Dundorfian Federal Election:

Turnout: 89.764.290 (80.2%, -2.1% vs 5714) 

Social-Democratic Party of Dundorf (DSDP): 21.530.551 | 24% and 153 seats (-0.9% and -5) 
New Dundorfian Centre Party (NDZP): 16.706.141 | 18.6% and 118 seats (-2.1% and -13) 
Team Liberal-Democrats (TLD): 13.074.736 | 14.6% and 91 seats (+2.1% and +13)
Green Party for the Planet (GPP): 11.925.185 | 13.3% and 83 seats (+2.6% and +15) 
Dundorfian Red Front (DRF): 11.647.854 | 13% and 81 seats (-1.5% and -10) 
Pirate Party of Dundorf (PPD): 9.386.924 | 10.5% and 66 seats (+0.3% and +1) 
Conservative Federal Party (KBP): 5.492.899 | 6.1% and 38 seats (-0.4% and -2)

(OOC: This election was generated through a model.)