NationStates Jolt Archive

The Wind that Shakes the Empire ( The Khwarizmian Monitor, Tabriz, March 3rd)


Fall out from the opening of the winter session of the Imperial Diet continues to create unease among the upper echelons of power in Urgench as reports suggest that her August Majesty the Dowager Empress Sorghakhtani has tendered her resignation as Minister without Portfolio today.

The ongoing lack of confidence shown in her August Majesty by the Grand Chancellor, Tamerlane, Khan of Samarkand and Bhukhara and his Excellency's refusal to deny rumours that he intends to bring forth legislation to restructure the Divan which will remove effective power from the office of the Dowager are believed to have been the motivation behind her August Majesty's resignation.

Speaking at the Malachite Palace today the Dowager's first secretary, Malik Shah, Khan of Meshed, said "The indignity of being sidelined and the implied insult of the proposed reforms are not to be born without complaint by her August Majesty. As all are aware the Dowager has given her life in service to the interests of the empire and her August Majesty sees no reason to continue to attempt to do so if her efforts are to be rewarded with suspicion and calumny" .

The Khan of Meshed went on to say "Her August Majesty is in any case anxious to retire and concentrate on repairing the rifts which currently still exist within her immediate family and will be spending time with her daughter in law, Her Imperial Highness Princess Uanhartan of Nakhchevan."

This shocking news, that the Dowager wishes to concentrate her efforts in rehabilitating the reputation of her second eldest son, Prince Kharonn, who has been in exile from court in Odmorta, the capital of the Arctic Provinces, since his successful plot to overthrow his father, Emperor Qabul Khaghan, was greeted with equanimity by a spokesperson for the Grand Chancellor who told the Khwarizmian Monitor today "Let her August Majesty do as she sees fit with regard to the private relationships within her own family, the Grand Chancellor believes it deeply unseemly for the Divan to interpose itself between the members of the Imperial House. Naturally however her August Majesty cannot expect that the laws of the empire will be overturned by nepotism or partiality. Prince Kharonn may be brought back in to favour with the members of his family by the efforts of the Dowager but he will remain in Odmorta."

The spokesperson went on to say "The Grand Chancellor cannot express enough his gratitude and that of the empire also for her August Majesty's ceaseless and tireless work for the empire, and he wishes her endless felicity and unbounded success in whatever endeavour she wishes to dispose her formidable personal faculties, her place in the history of the empire is assured as is her place in the hearts of its citizens"

The Grand Chancellor himself was unavailable for comment being deep in negotiations with representatives of the regional Circles of the Imperial Diet over his proposed changes to the empire's banking regulatory system.

Yorta to expand operations in the Altan Steppes ( The Tabriz Times, Tabriz, March 3rd )


The Vice President of the Yorta Corporation, Dr Gurmain Duyuk, announced today that the empire's largest pharmaceutical company ( in which the Imperial government is the largest single shareholder ) will be establishing an subsidiary company within the Altani Federation in the very near future.

This announcement follows news that the Sublime Porte has concluded negotiations with the Government of the Altan Steppes regarding a trade agreement which will see Altani businesses given access to the empire in exchange for allowing the Yorta Corporation to operate there.

Dr Guyuk said today at a press conference in the corporation's headquarters in Tabriz "The success of recent interactions between Yorta and the Altani Government has prompted the Divan to undertake negotiations which have mad it legally possible for us to operate within the Altani Federation and we are extremely optimistic that this will lead to a highly advantageous relationship between the Altani Federation and ourselves. Yorta must thank the honoured Khan of Tabagatai [the Minister for Foreign Affairs] for the work his office has undertaken in this matter.".

Dr Guyuk went on to say "Our Subsidiary in the Altani Federation will be known as Abgar Health Solutions, and we are confident of it's success"

Concerns about the national security aspects of some of Yorta's work and how this expansion in to foreign markets might compromise this work have been assuaged by the assurances of the Altani government given to the Sublime Porte and Yorta's share price has risen 200 points today on the Urgenchi stock exchange in response to this announcement.

200 members of the Urgenchi communist party simultaneously picketed the offices of Yorta today in protest at what they see as its all too close relationship with the Divan, but sources within the Grand Chancellor's office have scoffed at what they call " The begrudgery of the lunatic left " and have welcomed the news of Yorta's expansion calling it " An expression of the continued economic preponderance of the empire and a reward for its especial excellence in the field of pharmacology "

Nakchevani Plebiscite results reverberate around the Empire ( The Tabriz Times, Tabriz, March 8th )

The Divan faced down accusations in the Imperial Diet that its handling of the Constitutional referendum in Nakchevan has caused a fundamental rift in the internal organisation of the empire today.

The results of the plebiscite, showing a decisive 86% in favour of continued rule by the Ardavasti princely dynasty, have resulted in the autonomous principality's state Diet requesting that its Princess, Uanhartan ( wife of the disgraced brother of Urgench's emperor ) , establish an exclave of Nakchevan in another region in which she and her husband Prince Kharonn participate more fully in the government of the Principality without falling foul of Kharonn's legal banishment from court.

On receipt of the this formal request of the state Diet of Nakchevan, Princess Uanhartan announced that she had sought and received permission from the regional authorities of Lavinium to establish an exclave of her principality in that region.

This statelet will be known as The Principality of Nakchevan and Arjish, and will be the home of the government of all her possessions both inside the empire and elsewhere, thus ending her many decades of shared exile with her husband in the empire's arctic region.

In a speech before her family's palace in Tabriz today Uanhartan said-

"I am honoured that my people have consented to my continued personal rule, and am anxious to prove myself worthy of the mandate confirmed upon me. Being extremely desirous to be both completely compliant with the wishes of His Divine Majesty the Emperor and his Government and to fully commit to the government of my native land, it was my pleasure to conform to the request of Nakchevan's Diet that I create an exclave in which I and my family may dwell and in which I will faithfully discharge my duties as Princess while remaining in my brother in law, His Divine Majesty's good graces.

I have accepted the fate which providence has allotted me, and have long ago made my peace with the unfortunate circumstances which have caused such disharmony within my family and it remains my wish to remain in the company of my husband the Prince, while being mindful of the magnitude of legitimate odium with which the crimes he was found guilty of are regarded within the empire and of the more than merciful nature of the his punishment. "

She went on to say-

"I and my husband have been wedded since we were little more than adolescents, and despite the horror I felt at those actions for which he is exiled, I found that his life otherwise was blameless and that the depth of his affection for me and our children were deserving of my loyalty, our long years in Odmorta have been fruitful ones and His Imperial Highness the Prince is a different man to him that was capable of such enormities and therefore for the sake of my family and my people both he and I will invest that part of my principality which is now located in Lavinium, a region i feel sure will make an excellent home for the new life myself and my husband look forward to building.

I must offer my personal gratitude to the regional authorities of Lavinium for consenting to my request , and for making the future good governance of Nakchevan and the stability of my family possible. I sincerely hope that my rule of Nakchevan will prove a boon to lavinium and to my people and I offer my personal felicitations to its Senate and to the rulers of that region. "

Within minutes of this announcement deputies from the Caucasian Circle of the Imperial Diet called an emergency debate to discuss its ramifications. In response to many panicked accusations that Nakchevan's choice will destabilise the constitutional system created by the Treaty of Derbent his Excellency, the Khan of Shushtar, Minister for Constitutional Affairs told the Imperial Diet, " The Divan is completely satisfied with the democratically expressed will of the people of Nakchevan, we are absolutely confident that those charged by them with the task of fulfilling these wishes will do so with honour and with regard to their constitutional and other legal obligations. We are also pleased that her Imperial Highness, Princess Uanhartan, has been confirmed in her rights and with her compliance with her people's wishes in the matter of extending her possessions in to Lavinium. The Empire enjoys good relations with certain states in that region and will continue to work to enhance such relations, we look forward to congratulating Nakchevan for the wisdom of its choices and for the excellent governance it will enjoy under her Imperial Majesty."

Comment was not forthcoming from the office of the Grand Chancellor who was otherwise occupied with developing a new economic program with officials of the Imperial Treasury today.

No comment was forthcoming from any quarter on the matter of whether Her August Majesty the Dowager Empress Sorghakhtani will be accompanying her younger son's family to Nakchevan in Lavinium, but her silence on the matter is being seen as a tacit acceptance that if she wishes to remain true to her promise to live in close proximity to Prince Kharonn and Princess Uanhartan in hopes of repairing the Imperial family's long estrangement then she will indeed have to accompany them beyond the confines of the empire.

"W.A. Membership was Illegal" says Quiriltai Khwarizmian Monitor, Tabriz March 11th

In an unexpected move the Quiriltai ( the Supreme Constitutional Court of the Empire ) has suspended the CSKU's World Assembly membership today. Papers were put before the Quiriltai in the autumn of last year by the Probator of the Court which the Divan had dismissed as purely procedural and of no account, on the basis that it believed that the Grand Chancellor was completely within his constitutional powers to apply for w.a. membership without reference to the Quiriltai.

However the Quiriltai ruled today that in line with the provisions of the Treaty of Derbent, and the Golden Bull of the Yasaq his Excellency Tamerlane Khan of Samarkand and Bhukhara had in fact exceeded his constitutional remit in having made the application on behalf of the CSKU himself and that the Grand Chancellor should have referred the application to the Quiriltai before submission for proper scrutiny.

The current Haidurun of the Quiriltai, his Excellency Bortug, Khan of Tuhnwang, said today at a special convention of the court, " The Quiriltai has been forced to suspend the empire's membership of the World Assembly because it finds that gross errors were made in the procedure necessary to legitimate any application to join that organisation under the constitution. We have not made this decision lightly, and indeed would not have had to do so had the Office of the Grand Chancellor taken the correct legal steps in the first place. In not referring the application to this court in the first place the Office of the Grand Chancellor not only acted in contravention of the constitution it made inevitable the eventuality that this court would have to suspend the empire's membership.

Naturally this eventuality would have dramatic consequences for the nation, and indeed might provoke other crises, but the constitution is clear, and the Office of the Grand Chancellor would be obligated to respect this fact. The court is minded to censure the Office of the Grand Chancellor for its negligence in this regard, and will be investigating how such a grievous oversight was allowed to occur. The Avuun of the court, his Royal Highness Prince Irinchibal of Hami, has been charged with undertaking this investigation and will report to this court no later than one month from now with his findings.

In the mean time this court will undertake to properly assess the original application for membership of the W.A. and will in a relatively short period make its judgement on the constitutionality of it and refer that application and its judgement back to the office of the Grand Chancellor."

The Haidurun refused to be swayed by the arguments made by lawyers for the Office of the Grand Chancellor that membership should not be suspended and further refused to give an undertaking that the court would rule in favour of re-joining the World Assembly which he said would undermine confidence in the impartiality of the court and would preempt the outcome of proper legal scrutiny.

The Office of the Grand Chancellor released a statement within minutes of the judgement in which it expressed its deep disappointment at the actions of the Quiriltai which it described as "undemocratic and in contradiction of the expressed will of the vast majority of the peoples of the empire." . The statement went on to say that the Office of the Grand Chancellor would push to have the Quiriltai expedite the processes necessary and that it was confident that the Confederated Sublime Khanate would very soon be re-instated in its membership of the w.a. and that its international standing would not be effected by the current dispute.