KTN Breaking News

KTN is the public service broadcaster of the Valkarian Republic. KTN Breaking News will provide down-to-the-point news to the world.

Valkarian politics | Parliament passes restrictions on immigration
By Allie Vega, KTN News
Tuesday, 24 September 2019

Ljusstad (KTN) — On Tuesday, the Citizens Assembly voted 26–24 to pass the Immigration Regulatory Act 2019 (IRA 19), a bill that was sponsored by Home Secretary Nicole Chancellor. With support from the New Conservative Coalition, the bill passed through the National Assembly on 8 September, but faced staunch opposition from the Alliance of Social Democrats, other opposition parties, and civil rights groups. Now the bill heads to President Kate Murphy, who has the power to sign it, send the bill back for a fourth reading, seek judicial review, or put the bill to a national vote in a referendum. The president has stated that she believes the bill to be unconstitutional.

While the Home Secretary celebrated the passage of IRA 19, Opposition Leader Avianna Aldridge called the bill an "affront" to Valkarian principles, "Valkara has a history of welcoming migrants and providing safety and shelter for them. This bill represents all that is antithetical to our culture and to our hearts." However, Chancellor countered Aldridge by claiming the purpose of IRA 19 is to "preserve the culture of Valkara". On the floor of the National Assembly, the Home Secretary argued that immigrants "continue to speak their own languages, proselytize their own religions, wear strange clothes and eat strange foods instead of assimilating into Valkarian culture". Members of the opposition and civil rights groups immediately condemned what they called "offensive and hateful rhetoric" from the Home Secretary.

The bill reduces the immigration quota from 50,000 to 10,000 and favours immigrants who are "likeliest to assimilate" as determined by the Valkarian government. Immigrants who seek to become citizens will need to be able to fluently read, write, and speak Valaska. IRA 19 will enforce a five-year moratorium on refugees and limit the number of those granted asylum to 500. The bill also restricts the religious activities of noncitizens. Socialist leader Amalia Rollins, a junior leader of the Alliance, has claimed that the restrictions are unconstitutional, "The bill violates the constitutionally-protected freedom of religion and there are discriminatory measures. For these reasons, there must be judicial review."

IRA 19 is the second bill of the current parliamentary term to be considered controversial. The first bill was the Expansion of Security Powers Act 2019 (ESPA 19), which created a government agency with military, police, and intelligence powers. Chancellor Stella Kaufman had begun seeking the passage of ESPA 19 when she took office as a Member of Parliament in 2017. In September, Nicole Chancellor, who serves as the junior leader of the Coalition and Leader of The New Right, got her turn to pass a bill that she has been fighting for ever since she became the Leader of the Opposition in 2016. IRA 19 was passed with the support of the Conservative Party and the Centrist Democratic Party. In October, the Coalition will aim to pass a bill to privatise some state-owned enterprises, a move supported by Centrist Democratic leader Bradley Murphy.

Valkarian politics | Court allows most IRA 19 provisions to enter into effect
By Lyle Williams, KTN News
Tuesday, 15 October 2019

Ljusstad (KTN) — On Tuesday, the Constitutional Court held that most of the provisions of the Immigration Regulatory Act 2019 are constitutional with only a few provisions either struck out or judicially interpreted. The court determined that it was unconstitutional to prevent noncitizens from adhering to their religions, but also stated that Parliament can restrict people from proselytizing. As such, noncitizens will not be allowed to convert others to their own religions within the Valkarian Republic. The civil rights group, United Religions Organisation, has argued that the decision reached by the Constitutional Court "essentially makes Valrissi the state religion of Valkara".