Isayama deploys military forces to Council chambers.
News report from the Xanthalian Ministry of Communications:
Citing what she called an "unacceptable deterioration of socialist principle" in the legislature, Alphin Wazuka Isayama, executive leader of the Socialist Republic of Xanthal, has ordered the Labule to deploy the Sixth Battalion to the chambers of the Council to oversee "summary passage" of a permanent national constitution.
Alphin Isayama acknowledged that her political standing did play a part in her decision, but also expressed confidence in her judgement based on her landslide re-election earlier this year. She explained herself in a press release this afternoon, following her morning deployment of troops to the capital.
"The Mirfakan Constitution that we have been re-using up until now has not provided adequate enforcement of Xanthalian social law, and democratic representatives have not taken the steps that this government had assured its people that they would to that end five years ago. My office will be compelling the continuous attendance of all five hundred Councilors in a special session to institute a new national socialist Constitution effective immediately. This session will be overseen by the soldiers of the Sixth Battalion to ensure that all proper procedure is followed."
Conservative parties currently hold a marginal majority in the Council, which has been in large part the reason for the delay of a hard-line liberal constitution. Public reaction has been mixed, but a majority of the public has registered discomfort with the executive in polling. While the Alphin has the constitutional power to compel the Council to special session, the use of military forces is seen by many as a move by the liberal Alphin to ensure that the new Constitution, which has been continually called for by the Alphin and the Daiho as well as the public, is designed around her party's guidelines. For the people of Xanthal, the results of Isayama's decision are doubtless imminent and widespread as the legislature continues its debate literally at gunpoint this evening.
Updates will be issued as events warrant. This is the XMC National News.
News report from the Xanthalian Ministry of Communications:
As the Council's special session entered its second day this evening, Alphin Wazuka Isayama, who compelled the constitutional convention with the deployment of the Sixth Battalion, reassured the Xanthalian public that the legislature is being supplied with all necessaries while their proceedings go on. She also announced that she will begin a daily address before the Council tomorrow, in order to provide executive input on their ongoing debate.
"This is a difficult time for Xanthal," she said in her public address. "I know that it is a forceful tactic for me to compel legislative action, and possibly even a violation of the seperation of powers set forth in the Mirfakan document. I also know, however, that the action I take is in the best interest of my nation and people, and hope very strongly that the end result of this session will be a new Constitution for our nation, one that preserves and strengthens our system of government while repairing and preserving the values essential to the Xanthalian state."
Footage from chamber cameras, which has continued to broadcast on Xanthalian public television throughout the Council's sequestered session, has shown a focused and intimidated Xanthalian legislature. Proceedings have carried on much as normal, but arbitrated by Sixth Battalion Manowas Kelsey Waldren, who has permitted no floor discussion not directly relevant to the new Constitution's formation. Waldren was quoted as saying to one Councilor objecting to their detention; "The circumstances surrounding this session are irrelevant. Your task is to work out an acceptable Constitution for Xanthal as well as you are able."
When questioned about what would define an acceptable document Waldren declined to respond, but Isayama has publicly stated that she will only approve a Constitution that conforms to the precedent of Xanthalian Socialism. "I can not rebuild paradise in a day," she was quoted as saying to a Councilor who contacted her by phone yesterday morning, "But I am going to be certain that the foundations are properly laid." The Alphinic office now the subject of close examination by the Daiho, Xanthal's judiciary has so far declined to take action to end the Alphin's indirect reign over the Council, despite numerous emergency suits brought before it in the past two days.
The completion of the new Constitution is expected within the week, but the validity of any document ratified under current conditions may be in doubt. Councilor Thomas Fera, a fellow party member of the Alphin, had this to say when asked his opinion on Isayama's hijacking of the legislature: "I think that the Alphin knows what she is doing. Though I cannot agree with her tactics, it is nevertheless true that the Council is doing good work on a too-long delayed task as a result of her decisions. Isayama is a very intelligent leader. She knows what needs to be done, and she will be sure that it is done her way."
The Alphin has declined to comment publicly on how much authority she intends to assert in the Constitution's creation or its future enforcement.
This is the XMC National News.
Wazuka Isayama's appearance before the Council today was greeted with cool distance by political allies and outright hostility by rivals. The Alphin's one hour speech and question/answer session was the first time the executive has met with the legislature since the beginning of their special session three days ago. Several Councilors were physically removed from the chamber to their offices for disrupting the proceedings. When order was restored Isayama delivered a fifteen-minute address, in which she lectured the Council on the appropriate specifications for a socialist constitution. The session was cut short when the Council refused to address her after the speech.
By early evening, the Council publicly released the first three Articles of their fist draft of the new national Constitution, which mirror those of the current constitution while placing additional barriers between the executive and legislature. Additionally, the new Constitution as currently written will call for a three-person executive power.
Wazuka Isayama demanded of the Council three sections in the Constitution being formed, each of which was approved by the liberal partys' leadership. In her speech to the legislature in its fourth day of the session, she emphasized that "no Constitution will be accepted that does not contain sections preserving the citizens' right to sustenance, education, and rules for weighted application of the law."
Despite her crippled image in the Council, Isayama has forged an alliance with the legislative leaders of the Xanthalian Socialist Party and Party Internationale over the past two days to push through a constitution that conforms to socialist specifications. The Council continued its arguments over the application of socialist doctrine to the new Constitution as work began on the final article, regarding citizens' rights, this morning, but it appears unlikely that any document not meeting the Alphin's demands will be passed. With soldiers still lining the halls and outside of the Council building, Xanthalian conservatives may have no choice but to agree to the document. What steps the Alphin is willing to take to secure votes, her office will not comment.
As debate drew to a close today in the Council, the Alphin ordered the withdrawal of the Sixth Battalion from the Council building. The move surprised many, who had thought that the Alphin would use that influence to help secure passage of the Constitution that was formed by the Council over the past five days in their special session. In what she said would be her final address of the Council if it ratified the document, she explained herself to a legislature that had been held hostage in its own headquarters for more than four days on her orders.
"My drastic action has caused me to lose the faith and confidence of this body. My insistence upon a document fitting my specifications has been a great stress to you, and a violation of the seperation of powers. Still, I do not regret what I have done these past days. I have created an environment where you, the honorable elected representatives of this nation, could work together to create a guiding doctrine for the years to come. I know that many of you have much to lose here. I myself have lost a great deal in bringing us to this day. I have confidence that you will see past your feelings about me and what I have done, and do what you think is right for our nation."
The Council was not visibly moved by the Alphin's words after their exhausting and stressful experience, but it is believed that about half of the Council will vote to ratify the document tomorrow. Three fourths in support are needed to make the new Constitution official. Isayama has been under enormous political pressure since she ordered the special session put under guard five days ago to expedite the creation of a servicable document. Rumors are now circulating that the Alphin will resign after the vote, but the executive herself has refused to comment.
The Council adjourned today after almost seven full days in a lockdown session to approve a new Constitution. The new Xanthalian Constitution was ratified in the early evening in the Council chambers in Jin Rin City after two votes earlier in the evening that failed to yeild a majority. "In the end," reported Private Interest Party member Speaker of the Council Frederich Dahy, "The Council decided against the socialist provisions recommended by Alphin Isayama. However, we were able to reach a consensus on a new document that expands upon equal application of laws and, we believe, will help to make the Xanthalian government stronger and less prone to incidents of executive tampering with lawmaking."
Dahy and other conservatives have faught the induction of a new Constitution since the Treaty of Xanthal went into effect nearly six years ago. The compromise that ended the special session that has kept all eyes on the Xanthalian government for the past seven days required liberals to agree to a division of executive power and the removal of more radical segments of the document. Xanthalian conservatives, in turn, were forced to accept liberal amendments to the third and sixth articles of the document. The final vote on the Constitution, in which all five hundred Councilors participated, yeilded 392 in favor of ratification, seventeen more than were needed. A record 63 Councilors, mostly Democratic Capitalist Party members, voiced abstention in protest of the forced session. Only 45 legislators voted against ratification of the final document.
Wazuka Isayama could not be contacted immediately following the decision and subsequent adjournment of the Council, but one of her top officers called the decision a "limited victory." While the new Constitution has cleared its first hurdle, its passage in the required two thirds of provincial legislatures is in doubt, particularly with strong negative conservative sentiment directed towards the politically compromised Wazuka Isayama. Xanthalian Socialist Party leaders joined the DCP and PIP call for the Alphin's resignation this evening, XSP leader Yoshiko Akamatsu calling her fellow liberal a "lame duck" that may block not only the successful provincial ratification of the new Constitution, but legislative efforts throughout the next four years.
The Daiho has the power to try all impeachment cases, in which six of its nine members must concur to convict. Three Daiho judges have already stated that the Alphin committed no crime when she deployed troops to oversee the legislature. With even her own Party Internationale keeping a healthy distance from the executive, Isayama's public support has also fallen to 42% from 74% last week. While rumers of her planned resignation have been in circulation for two days, her office has yet to comment on whether the Alphin will choose to attempt serving the remainder of her five-year term.
Alphin Wazuka Isayama of the Socialist Republic of Xanthal resigned from office today, two weeks after her internment of the national legislature placed her in the line of fire of citizen and political groups across the country. She delivered her resignation address from Xanthalian government headquarters after weathering hundreds of petitions and no-confidence votes from executives and legislatures across Xanthal.
"At this point it has become clear," she said, "That I can no longer serve effectively as executive leader of the Xanthalian people. I do not regret, nor do I recant the decisions that brought me to this point, but to cripple our nation and endanger its lawmaking process by remaining in office would violate the confidence which was placed in me by the citizens of the Socialist Republic. For that reason, I am resigning from my office effective immediately."
Conservative Speaker of the Council Frederich Dahy is expected to be sworn in as Alphin this evening, at which point he will resign as a member of the Council as required by the Xanthalian Constitution.