Arcanstotskan News

The Siloyev Times | New Futuristic Goggles To Reach Arcanstotskan Soldiers By 2022

The Siloyev Times | Discovery of Aydinese Jets In Separatist Weapons Cache Sparks National Outrage

The Voice Of Democracy | The Asturican Social Republic - Eras' Last Fascist State

The Daily Arcanstotskan | Yumovsk Man Steals Helicopter And Lands On Provincial Assembly Building To Set Up Barbecue On Roof, Is Arrested

The Siloyev Times | Prydania, Norsia, Arcanstotska Sign New Pipeline Into Being

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Yesterday, in the early morning hours of the day, the Aydini whaling ship Zıpkın was in the Auburn Channel. The Zıpkın was just inside the limits of Arcanstotskan territorial waters, though this fact went over the Aydini whalers' heads, who thought they were in international waters. As the crew of the whaling ship was preparing to begin its rounds of whale-hunting, the crew of the Zıpkın spotted the Arcanstotskan destroyer ANS Vinogradov approaching.

The Vinogradov attempted to hail the Zıpkın, only for the Zıpkın to open fire on the Vinogradov with small arms - mostly sidearms and semi-automatic rifles - and mounted machine guns. In response, the Vinogradov fired a warning shot off the bow of the Zıpkın. The whalers immediately threw down their arms and surrendered. At that point, the Vinogradov could accomplish its goal - arresting the whalers. The Zıpkın was boarded, the crew arrested, and their cargo confiscated.

The Aydin Empire responded with a demand that the whalers be extradited back to Aydin, and a condemnation of the whalers' actions. The government, however, refused.

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YESTERDAY WAS REPUBLIC DAY, a national holiday held every year on 23 July to commemorate the birth of the Second Arcanstotskan Republic and the overthrow of the Old Tsardom. There was all manner of pomp and majesty, according to many. Military parades, triumphant music, modern Second Republic Air Force fighters screaming through the skies overhead. It's hard not to look at all of these things as an Arcanstotskan and not feel a sense of patriotic pride, at least it's hard for me, even as a tsarist.

But there are some parts of the Republic Day celebrations in Siloyev that I don't fancy all too much. I believe that these traditions only serve to paint our ancient past in a negative light and overly glorify the achievements of the Second Republic Government.

THE FLAGS AND THE SPEECH
Firstly is the Flagovyy Marsh Pobedy Respubliki nad Tsarizmom - or the Flag March of the Victory of the Republic over Tsarism. It's a tradition that dates all the way back to the days of Sergei Kariyev and his ten-year-long tenure as President and de facto dictator between 1848 and 1858.

Three soldiers of the Republican Guard march all the way down Triumph Square. All three are carrying flags. The man on the right carries the civil flag of the Tsardom of Arcanstotska and the man on the left carries the Imperial Standard of the Tsar of Arcanstotska. The man in the middle, however, carries the national flag of the Second Arcanstotskan Republic high above his head. Those of you reading this who are unfamiliar with Republic Day traditions may wonder why I mention that last detail. Well, it's because both the tsarist flags carried by the other two guardsmen are held low to the ground so that the furled flags drag along the pavement. The Second Republic's flag is held upwards instead, meant to display the Second Republic's triumph and supposed superiority over the Old Tsardom. When the guardsmen reach the end of Triumph Square opposite of where they began the Flag March, the tsarist flags are thrown into a fire and burned away leaving only the triumphant Second Republic remaining.

Secondly is the President's usual Republic Day speech, in which he or she traditionally rails against the Old Tsardom. To quote President Pevlovich from his Republic Day speech yesterday; "Eternal glory be unto the generation who defeated tsarism - who defeated the tyranny of absolutist crowns and nobles. May your sacrifices inspire the liberation of peoples and the humbling of aristocrats the world over. From this day 'till the end of days, let your triumph be revered and celebrated. Long live the Second Republic."

Not only can this be interpreted as a threat to the many, many monarchies of the world, but it also serves to paint a purely negative picture of the Old Tsardom which arguably ruins the Tsardom's image as well as that of our ancient Arcanstotskan culture.

The Old Tsardom wasn't perfect. I will admit to that truth without hesitation. There were a number of tsars and tsarinas who were completely incompetent, cruel in their rule, or both. Tsar Maksim I was such a horrible ruler, in fact, that his name fell out of use following his ascent to the throne and the name "Maksim" has become an Arcanstotskan insult to be used against those perceived as cruel and unjust. Tsarina Aleksandra I lost us a major war against a coalition of Meterran nations - a war so costly in men, money, and materiel, that Imperial Arcanstotska's defeat is widely considered to be a major reason behind the Arcanstotskan Revolution of 1807. But we can't allow its imperfections to destroy its more positive aspects. The Arcanstotskan Golden Age was brought about by Tsar Alexei II. Arcanstotskan law and bureaucracy were streamlined and made more efficient by Tsarina Ekaterina II. We had good monarchs who did good things for Arcanstotska. And yet it seems that the Second Republic government is insistent on destroying all of the Old Tsardom's legacy - the bad, the ugly, and even the good.

We Arcanstotskans have a proud history dating back over a thousand years. During the Golden Age, Arcanstotska was undoubtedly one of the most powerful states on Craviter. Great works of literature, science, and art have been attributed to our nation. I believe that we must look back on our tsarist past, not as something to be disgusted by (at least not completely), but as something to be proud of.

ENDING THE CULTURAL DISRESPECT AND RESTORING THE CROWN
I am personally of the belief that the best way to end this government-sponsored disrespect of our heritage, history, and culture, is the revive the Old Tsardom not as what it was, but as what it could, and should, be. A modern constitutional monarchy wherein the Tsar of Arcanstotska serves not as an absolute ruler but as a ceremonial figurehead of a democratic nation.

In this theoretical government, the Tsar or Tsarina would serve as an unelected constitutional monarch with little, if any, real political power. He or she would call the National Assembly into session, legitimize passed legislation with his or her signature, appoint new Prime Ministers and their elected governments to office, and more. But they would not possess the authority to rule Arcanstotska as they did in the past, thus sparing our country from iron-fisted rulers like Maksim I or Aleksandra I.

If that isn't enough for some people, might a crowned republic work? Candidates for the revived Arcanstotskan Throne are elected to the Imperial Crown via democratic national election to serve as monarch until death or voluntary abdication.

CONCLUSION
Arcanstotska has existed as a unified state since 613 with the coronation of Fyodor I as the first Tsar of Arcanstotska. The Old Monarchy has, despite its track record of deadly intrigue and regicide and heavy-handed monarchs, an impressive track record. This can be seen in Alexei II, Ekaterina II, Yaroslav I, and Yaroslav II, all of whom were exceptionally competent rulers who brought wealth, prosperity, and prestige to Arcanstotska.

That the Second Republic government seeks to vilify the Old Monarchy in its totality while pseudo-deifying figures like Sergei Kariyev, I believe, is disgraceful to Arcanstotskan history, culture, and heritage. And I believe that the first way to undo such a mindset is through concluding the Second Republic chapter of the Arcanstotskan history book, preferably through peaceful reform.

PYANGELSK ― This year’s annual celebration of Obnovleniye Mira in Pyangelsk was met with backlash today, as animal rights activists led a march into city square to protest the holiday’s traditional animal sacrifices. Some of the protestors were arrested by authorities after they tried to forcefully disrupt an ongoing cattle sacrifice.

Obnovleniye Mira
December 21st ― the Winter Solstice ― marks an especially important time in Zaldrism and to its practitioners. Known as “Obnovleniye Mira” (“Renewal of the World”), the Solstice marks the first day of the Zaldrist calendar year; the end of the month of Zaklyuchit, and the beginning of Nachatsnova, the first month of the Zaldrist calendar year.

Obnovleniye Mira is a special occasion because it is said to be the anniversary of the dragons’ victory over the Vysokiyes, the great giants of old, and their assuming of the mantle of godhood over the Seven Worlds. The holiday is commonly marked by dancing, music, feasts, and even ceremonial sacrifices.

Sacrifices to the Gods are a very common ritual in Zaldrism. These offerings are usually various herbs or plants or spices depending on which of the many Gods are intended to receive them. Animal sacrifices are usually reserved for very special occasions and holidays, are nowadays only practiced by more conservative and traditionalist circles within the faith, and even then, are usually limited to small animals such as rabbits. Larger animals, such as cows, are not usually offered.

Where the issue lies
Over the years, Zaldrist priests and druids have increasingly abandoned sacrificing animals. However, Pyangelsk remains a stronghold for more traditionalist Svyasi circles, who have collectively insisted that animal offerings are a crucial part of the Zaldrist faith. Zakhar Utterklo, a highly-respected Svyas in Pyangelsk and the surrounding areas, has come out heavily in favor of keeping up with sacrificing animals to the Gods.

“Animal sacrifice is a major practice within our faith,” Utterklo told the press after the celebrations and rituals had concluded. “These people demand that we give up our ancestors’ ancient and sacred practices. I don’t think so.”

The political response
The MCs* of the State Sobirat were heavily divided by the issue of animal sacrifices.

Democratic Action for Arcanstotska (DAA)* has come out strongly in favor of Utterklo and his contemporaries. Prokhor Belorusov, leader of the DAA, said in a press interview that, “the protest was an attack on the ancient Arcanstotskan identity.” Belorusov went on to say that DAA would stand by the highly conservative Svyasi, who have been known to be strong supporters of the party.

Though it seems DAA has quite the odds stacked against them. The Green Party, the Communist Party, the WSAP*, and the BPP* have come out strongly in favor of anti-animal sacrifice laws. Many political analysts have suggested the possibility that the four parties will seek to form a united front against DAA. But for now, both sides look to the three major powers in the State Sobirat for their support or lack thereof.

Where do the Big Three stand?
The “Big Three” is a political term in Arcanstotska that refers to the three most dominant political parties in the State Sobirat: the Liberal Democrats, the Social Capitalists, and the Conservatives. Since the end of the 1980s, these three factions have, combined, held the dominant sway of the State Sobirat.

As of the 2018 General Elections three years ago, the Liberal Democratic-Social Capitalist coalition that makes up the government only has a 31 seat lead over the Conservative opposition. The Liberal Democrats control 142 seats and their traditional Social Capitalist allies control 116 seats, combining at a total of 258 seats for the government. The Conservatives alone control 227 State Sobirat seats. Since the last General Election, both sides have been looking for ways to flip the State Sobirat firmly in their favor.

There have already been proposals to take a stance on animal sacrifices before Obnovleniye Mira. Though, now with the smaller parties heating up over the issue, we can realistically expect the Big Three to do the same.

The Social Capitalists and the Liberal Democrats seem dominated by delegates standing behind the abolishment of animal sacrifices, though this has seemed to alienate their more fringe supporters. Polina Sychyova, a now-former Liberal Democratic MC, has flipped for the DAA after the Liberal Democratic Party leadership affirmed that they would not support ritualistic animal sacrifices.

On the matter of animal sacrifices, the Conservative Party stands divided. Vaniamin Shurupin, an MC for the Conservatives, has confirmed that he will back the Svyasi of Pyangelsk in totality in his latest twitcher post. Meanwhile, Larissa Shcherbakova, another MC for the Conservatives has stated that she will only back a limited ban on specific species. MC Artur Zhykov has confirmed that he will not support animal sacrifices in a Twitcher post. With the Conservative Party MCs divided, all eyes turn to party leader Aleksei Androv for what he will say on the matter.

The Lay of the Land
With a year to go before the next cycle of general elections, the Conservative opposition and the Liberal Democratic-Social Capitalist government are looking for windows of opportunity to overturn the other. The issue of animal sacrifices has the potential to be one such window. The Liberal Democrats and Social Capitalists are predominantly united against the nation, whilst the Conservatives remain divided on the issue. Meanwhile, smaller parties within the State Sobirat are moving to use the issue to propel themselves into more mainstream positions of influence.

Only time will tell how things will go come the next cycle of elections, but given things stay as they are, the current Liberal Democrat-Social Capitalist government looks to be in a comfortable position.

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*MC = A delegate within the State Sobirat of the SAR, similar to Members of Parliament in other nations.
*DAA = Democratic Action for Arcanstotska is a right-wing populist party.
*WSAP = The Workers’ Syndicalist Association Party, the remnants of the original Syndicalist Party of Arcanstotska (CПA).
*BPP = The Balandist People’s Party is the dedicated socialist/democratic socialist party in Arcanstotska.

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Six months following the end of the Vaasan separatist war in northeastern Arcanstotska, the Norsian and Arcanstotskan militaries are engaged in joint military exercises in the Norsian region of Ereion.

The so-called “Vojevůdce,” or “Warlord,” military exercises will consist of two separate war scenarios. The “Ereion Phase” will be centered around combating domestic insurgents, while the “Kalinia Phase,” to be held near Arcanstotska’s west coast, will be aimed at combatting a theoretical amphibious foreign invasion of Craviter.

A Short History of Norso-Arcanstotskan Relations
When Sergei Kariyev overthrew the Aksakov monarchy in 1848, Norsia’s then-emperor, Wilfrid II, not long after launched a military invasion into Arcanstotska to put down the fledgling Second Arcanstotskan Republic. Under Kariyev’s command, Wilfrid II’s intervention force was defeated and forced back home in late 1849. From then onwards, the Second Republic and Imperial Norsia’s relations could be described as “a cold-shoulder treatment” at best.

This cold hostility continued throughout the rest of the 19th and the whole of the 20th centuries. Border fortifications were rapidly built up over the decades, with the national border between Arcanstotska and Norsia becoming one of the most heavily militarized borders on Eras. An all-out war almost broke out in 1912, when Arcanstotskan and Norsian army units briefly exchanged fire after a dog was stolen and two people were killed. Under Empress Elli, who ruled from 1981 to 2017, the two nations came closest to war since the 1840s.

A New Start
When now-empress Alycia launched her 2017 coup against her predecessor, the Arcanstotskan military went on high alert, fearing a possible Norsian invasion. Instead, the Norsian empress pursued a policy of detente and warming relations. Empress Alycia called for a meeting with Arcanstotskan representatives in the town of Ravni Del in Ereion to negotiate a cooling of tensions. Embassies were exchanged, the military presence on both sides of the border was drastically reduced, and travel restrictions between the two nations were greatly lessened.

Building A Working Cooperation
With the defeat of the Vaasan Free State separatists earlier this year with the aid of Norsian air forces, Arcanstotska has joined the Bergum Pact, making Imperial Norsia and the Second Republic military allies. For the first time since the days of the Old Monarchy, Arcanstotska and Norsia are partners on the world stage. That’s the point of these exercises – to give the Arcanstotskan and Norsian militaries the much-needed experience in working together as cohesive allied forces.

During a press conference yesterday, when asked about the exercises, the Minister of Defense, Feodosij Husak, stated that "these exercises will help bridge the century-long gap between the servicemen and women of the Second Republic and the Imperial Commonwealth, and will thereby further secure the safety of Craviter."

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SIRINSK — Thirteen people were arrested outside the University of Sirinsk on Saturday afternoon as city law enforcement was called in to disperse a protest that had escalated into a riot.

Saturday saw the University of Sirinsk hold an open discussion panel with various left-wing political figures such as Vyacheslav Myronenko and Nina Dzyuba. The purpose of the panel was to allow University of Sirinsk students the opportunity to engage with left-wing leaders and discuss topics ranging from education reform to workers' rights. The university is home to youth organization chapters of both the United Front Party (UFP) and the Balandovist People's Party (BPP). However, as students began to enter the auditorium selected to host the panel, a protest was beginning to gather outside.

The protest was initially gathered to voice opposition against the far-left UFP and BPP, whom many in the crowd believe are trying to turn Arcanstotskans against their own country.

"We were taking a stand against the far-left's rhetoric," explained Ulyana Elina, one of the protestors. "They want to rewrite our country's history and paint our republic as being founded by monsters. They're going to start telling our youth that our republic was founded in hate; they want our children to be ashamed of being Arcanstotskan." Ulyana was referring to a curriculum reform proposed by members of both the UFP and BPP. This reform, as explained by Myronenko in a Siloyev University public panel in January, is intended to "highlight the uglier realities of the 1848 Revolution." Myronenko and other members of the United Front Party have denied any accusations that this "Revelations Plan" would in any way vilify Arcanstotskan democracy, culture, or history.

As the next round of general elections is set up to happen next year, there has been a rise in radical action taken by various far-right organizations. The Synov'ya Natyona* is a youth organization unofficially operating under the right-wing populist party, Democratic Action for Arcanstotska (DAA). When the protest at the University of Sirinsk was met with a counter-protest by UFP and BPP supporters on campus, members of Synov'ya Natyona moved to agitate the crowd. Clashes with left-wing counter-protesters broke out and the situation quickly escalated into a riot. Twenty minutes later, municipal law enforcement officers were called in. Over the course of the afternoon, the police were able to separate both crowds and disperse them.

Myronenko and other speakers were evacuated off-campus. The DAA has since condemned the escalation, along with the UFP and BPP. Many anticipate that the 2023 cycle of general elections to be a tense and potentially violent affair as tensions between left-wing and right-wing groups continue to mount in Arcanstotska.

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Synov'ya Natyona = Sons of the Nation

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The party leadership of both the Republican People’s Party (NRP) and the Communist Party (AKP) are set to hold meetings in Mikhaytov, scheduled for sometime around New Year’s.

The goal of these meetings is to find a middle ground and discuss a possible re-establishment of a common left party in Arcanstotskan politics, something that has not been seen since the 1910s.

History of the Arcanstotskan Left
While early socialist elements were indeed present within the 1848 Revolution, they achieved little traction and were dwarfed by the more influential Republican-Democrats. In 1853, after Sergei Kariyev seized control of the fledgling Republic from the Sobirat, then plagued by severe political infighting, an industrial strike was organized to protest. Kariyev ordered soldiers to break up the strike and the workers were dispersed without bloodshed, though several people were arrested.

It wasn’t until the presidency of Faddei Avandeyev that the Arcanstotskan Left was able to truly blossom. President Avandeyev was not himself a socialist—having run as a candidate for the former Republican-Democratic Party—but his policies allowed for the repressed Arcanstotskan Left to come out into the open once again. His economic deregulation led to numerous issues, ranging from government corruption to horrific working conditions. In 1894, this led to the birth of the Socialist Democratic Labor Party (SDLP) built off of emerging labor unions.

The SDLP gained massive electoral ground in the 1898 elections, denying the Republican-Democrats their former traditional legislative dominance in both houses of the Sobirat. The party pursued economic regulation, empowering worker’s organizations, and pushed for better working conditions and better pay for workers, among many other policies. While these initiatives were widely popular, wealthy industrialists dumped greater and greater amounts of funding into the Republican-Democratic Party to get the opposition back on its feet.

1903 and 1908 saw the SDLP’s support slowly chipped away. Republican-Democrats argued that the SDLP’s policies would surely lead to revolution, chaos, and a betrayal of Arcanstotskan liberal democracy. Thugs were hired to beat up known SDLP supporters and party members. Nationalistic sentiments were also riled up, with rumors spread about how the SDLP supposedly wanted to sell Arcanstotska out to the Norsians.

The 1913 elections stank of corruption as the Republican-Democrats regained their power. Years later, after failed communist uprisings in Grestin were believed to have been sponsored and backed by the SDLP, the party was forcibly removed from the Sobirat and dissolved. The Ulin Scandal led to the Republican-Democrats splitting into the Liberal Democratic (LDP) and Conservative (KP) parties, but the damage to the Left had already been done.

After the defeat of Mintoria in the Central Craviterean War, the ban on leftist political parties was lifted and organized labor began to recover. However, rifts had grown between the various factions of the Arcanstotskan Left—the social democrats with the Social Democratic Party (SDPA), the democratic socialists with the Republican People’s Party, and the communists with the Arcanstotskan Communist Party.

Why Is The Merger Being Discussed?
What’s important to understand is that the merger isn’t totally assured. The purpose of the joint party summit in Mikhaytov is to allow the NRP and AKP to negotiate their differences and hammer out a cohesive platform. There are talks, but there are no promises.

There is a general consensus among NRP and AKP voters that the nation’s current mixed-economic system—even with such measures championed by the Social Democrats as free public healthcare, education, and more—is insufficient, and that the SDPA has failed to champion socialist values and ideals in Arcanstotska.

The SDPA, which held single-party governments in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, lost significant ground to the LDP and KP in the 1990s who both became the dual dominant forces of the Sobirat since. In order to maintain substantial influence on government policy, the shrinking SDPA was forced to work with the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives even as the government engaged in union-busting throughout the 2000s and 2010s, fueled by fears that states such as Cogoria and the former Prydanian syndicalist regime would inspire similar violent extreme-left action against the state.

As a result, the SDPA’s numbers have continued to dwindle among the Arcanstotskan left-of-center. The NRP and AKP have grown, but their divisiveness has weakened the Arcanstotskan Left as a whole.

It is the hope of both the NRP and the AKP that, should common ground be firmly established and a merger realized, the Arcanstotskan Left would finally have a unified voice in the Sobirat that matters.

Where Do The NRP And AKP Disagree?
Both the NRP and the AKP seek to create a unified Arcanstotskan Left to oppose the LDP, KP, and the concerning rise of the far-right DDA. They do, however, have some areas of disagreement.

One instance where this is evident is on the question of how directly involved a socialist Arcanstotskan government ought to be intertwined with labor organizations, even though both parties have thrown their weight behind the empowerment of organized labor. The NRP has long maintained its stance that labor unions ought to maintain a great deal of autonomy alongside the existing state apparatus. The AKP, meanwhile, inspired by policies seen in the Commune of Diyar, have sought to advocate for the reorganization of the Republic along similar lines—replacing the modern Oblasts with highly localized communes. To put it in simple terms, it’s a question of whether to simply work toward a more socialist Republic or replace the Republic with a new socialist state.

Another issue to be resolved is what a theoretically socialist Arcanstotska would do on the international stage—whether it should look inward or stand in solidarity with socialist movements abroad.

The NRP has its stance: a democratic socialist Arcanstotska ought to not stretch itself thin supporting socialism abroad, and instead focus on a “democratic socialism at home” policy. The AKP, however, has been vehement in its opposition to this, advocating for a socialist Arcanstotskan state to stand by the international worker’s movement.

Time will tell if the NRP and AKP can compromise on these issues, and what such a compromise might look like.

Conclusion
The Arcanstotskan Left is on the move, and that much is certainly evident. For the first time since before the FW, there is a possibility that the Left may once again move forward united in action and purpose. But only time can say how this will affect the Republic.

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SILOYEV — The final pieces of a prehistoric dragon skeleton recently discovered in a cave within the Tykaya Mountains in Kolechia Oblast have been collected. The stated fate for the fossils is to be put on display in the National Paleontology Museum in Siloyev, however many Zaldrist religious leaders have come out to sue the museum for ownership of the bones.

Zaldrism is an ancient religion in Arcanstotska and has traditionally been its dominant faith. Within Zaldrism, dragons are believed to be divine supernatural creatures and are worshipped as gods. As such, many argue that these fossils should be handed over to Zaldrist religious institutions where they can be preserved as artifacts of extreme religious significance.

“We believe that these bones are divine and that they should be, first and foremost, religious artifacts belonging to the faithful,” said Yakov Kubyshkin, a priest from Bodogorod. “If Christ’s nails used in his crucifixion, or the Ark of the Covenant had been found today, no one would question that the former ought to be given over to Messianist care and the latter to Shaddaist care. So why then should these remains of our gods’ physical, Erasly forms not be given over to Zaldrist care?”

Kubyshkin is one of a growing number of Zaldrist religious leaders joining a lawsuit being filed against the National Paleontology Museum.

A debate surrounding the nature of the lawsuit is growing in the nation—some argue that the scientific significance of the bones entitles them to scientific study. “These bones have extreme value to the scientific community in understanding ancient and prehistoric dragons,” said Dr. Andrei Galygin, a professor for paleontology at Kariyevgrad University, one of the most prestigious universities in the nation. “I grew up a Zaldrist, I still hold reverence for the Gods. But I also have a reverence and commitment to human knowledge and understanding. The bones must be given over for study.” Others, however, like Kubyshkin, argue that the religious significance of these bones outweighs their scientific value.

The constitution outlines that objects in possession of religious institutions with religious significance are belonging to those institutions. However, neither the constitution nor any other law in the country clearly specifies what is supposed to happen should religiously significant artifacts be uncovered by secular institutions, such as a public university. Regardless of which side ends up victorious—whether the bones shall go to science or religion—it will undoubtedly set a precedent for any future artifacts found in similar circumstances.

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The respective leaderships of the Republican People’s Party (NRP) and the Communist Party (AKP) have formally announced a merger of the two political parties, forming the People’s Democratic Labor Party (NDRP).

The establishment of the NDRP has actualized something that has not existed within Arcanstotska in over a century—a common left party in Arcanstotskan politics. The party’s Central Committee has voted in as party chairman, Vassili Sobolev.

How Did We Get Here?
Gennadiy Balandov was an early adopter of Picardist theory who, during the 1848 Revolution, helped to organize and rally Arcanstotska’s first real socialist movement. Though Sergei Kariyev cracked down on this rising red tide in 1853 and even had Balandov arrested, he could not extinguish what Picard had started and what Balandov had brought into the nation. During his time locked under house arrest, from 1853 to his death in 1867, Balandov wrote voraciously.

One of the key things pushed by Balandov was the necessity of an organized socialist party to act as the “vanguard” for the worker’s revolution. According to Balandov this so-called “vanguard party” ought to act as a guiding hand for the worker’s movement—steering otherwise separated and individual worker’s movements and actions towards a common, unifying goal: the establishment of a socialist society.

A party like this has existed before in this country: the Socialist Democratic Labor Party, or SDLP. Formed in 1894, the SDLP sought to challenge the former Republican-Democratic Party and its relentless drive to industrialize Arcanstotska with utter disregard for working conditions and people. Emerging corporate entities, such as Greshnev United Steel or Pushnoy Rail, and the Republican-Democrats increasingly struggled against a growing Arcanstotskan labor movement. The 1900s and 1910s saw the SDLP collapse under government pressure. With the SDLP went the trade unions and it took decades for the Arcanstotskan left to rebuild itself.

When the left did rebuild itself, it wasn’t unified. Rather than reemerging as a unified vanguard party, there were instead three separate parties: the Social Democrats, the NRP, and the AKP. Though it was the NRP to emerge with the most support after the Fascist Wars, the Social Democratic Party (SDPA) increasingly settled on reformism—cozying up to the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives. The SDPA made its own friends in high places, with large bank accounts on top of that. The SDPA continued and still continues to fight for necessary benefits and protections such as the right to organize a union or the safety of the public healthcare system—institutions under increasing attack by corporations buying out Liberal Democrat and Conservative politicians—but they do so tacitly. They’re too afraid to rock the ship of the state for worry of disrupting themselves and their careers.

Now, to an extent, the same careerist accusations can be levied against members of the NRP and AKP; elected officials from either party who place the survival of their career over the needs of working people. But the NRP and AKP have also been working hard to maintain the sovereignty of a working-class movement in Arcanstotska—and, crucially, to make sure it doesn’t merely become a commodified revolution.

What Does This Mean For Arcanstotskan Socialism?
That’s perhaps the greatest goal of the new NDRP: the sovereignty of the working-class movement.

When we speak of a “commodified revolution,” what we mean is that socialism—its ideals, its symbols, its principles, and the act of being a socialist—are commodified by capitalism. These movements and ideas are stripped of their actionable power and become mere commodities to buy and sell within the capitalist system and thus is capitalism able to remove socialism from itself, in a sense. Socialism is thus pacified and eliminated as a threat to capitalism.

You go and buy a shirt with any number of a famous socialist revolutionary across Eras. It makes you feel like a rebel to wear it—it makes you feel like a revolutionary who sticks it to the system. But you are thus pacified, turned away from real solidarity and class consciousness with fellow working people because you have not dared to look beyond the commodity. The commodity is enough for you. Capitalism used socialism to feed you back into itself.

It is thus quintessential that the labor movement is separate from the wider capitalist system. It cannot allow itself to be commodified and it thus must have its own party and party platform, separate from any capitalist party. This is what the NDRP hopes to achieve and by doing so, it will allow for real change for real working people. As unions across the country rapidly bounce back from failing government-corporate busting campaigns, the NDRP with the combined support of former NRP and AKP voters stands a chance to realize a socialist society in Arcanstotska.

How Will SDPA Voters Respond?
Recent polling by the Ginashev Institute concludes that 29% of SDPA supporters surveyed in 2022 say that they are disgruntled and frustrated with the cautious path their party has been taking. That may not be the majority, but roughly thirty percent is still a sizeable chunk of one of the major three parties in the Sobirat.

By standing strong as a united, independent vanguard party, the NDRP hopes to steer these frustrated social democrats away from the SDPA and toward itself as the more principled Picardist party.

That’s the hope, as the careerist capitalists in the Liberal Democratic Party and the Conservative Party surely move to counteract the resurgence of a common left party in Arcanstotska. The far-right Democratic Action for Arcanstotska has already begun to rail against the NDRP while they look to praise governments in Severogotia, Iolanti, and Seinoku.

Conclusion
The road toward a socialist Arcanstotska is going to be long and hard. With the emergence of the NDRP, the capitalist elites will undoubtedly look to sink their claws deeper and deeper into the Republic’s institutions. The party will undoubtedly begin to feel pressure from government and corporate elites very soon, seeking to weaken, divide, and commodify the cause.

But now the left has its party—a platform, an organization, and a united movement. The road toward a socialist Arcanstotska may look steep and treacherous, but now it’s possible.

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Homelessness has been on a sharp rise in Arcanstotska over the past twenty years, according to a recent study by the Sveltrov Poverty Foundation (FBS).

In the FBS’s January 2023 report, the foundation found that the homeless population in Arcanstotska had risen to 314,000. This is 42,000 up from their 2013 number of 272,000 and almost four times the 2003 number (87,000). Shelters across Arcanstotska are seeing more and more people coming to find a place to stay—causing the large waiting lists to only grow longer.

Furthermore, the January 2023 report states that the poverty rate is on the rise as well. The percentage of Arcanstotskans living below the poverty line has increased to 10.6 percent, up from 5.2 percent in 2003. Various charity groups and non-profits, such as the Sluchevsky Organization, are reporting record highs of people reliant on aid to get by. Additionally, as many as two-and-a-half million Arcanstotskans are at risk of eviction.

“These are very concerning numbers,” stated the FBS’s director of studies, Nikolay Gagarin. “Ultimately, the Prime Minister and his government have done little to seriously tackle the myriad of issues feeding into these problems.”

The growing homelessness and poverty have been contentious topics in Arcanstotskan politics for years. The deregulatory policies championed by the Conservative and Liberal-Democratic parties have weakened older left-wing governments’ initiatives to ensure low-income affordability for housing. As a result of the recent deregulation of the housing market, we’re seeing private, high-cost housing being built all over the country in major cities while subsidized social housing has been on the decline for years. Many existing homeowners in possession of multiple properties have been renting out their additional properties at higher and higher rates. As a result, a growing number of low-income Arcanstotskan households increasingly cannot afford their expenses.

Conservative and Liberal-Democratic policies have also been encouraging vehement opposition to new housebuilding initiatives. In Kariyevgrad in 2017, when the local city government attempted to construct a new series of government-subsidized social housing in the suburbs, homeowners shot the proposal down and stated that the new houses would pull in crime and low-income jobs.

This growing issue was actually a major point of interest in the formation of the coalition between the LDP and SDPA that holds the mantle of government today. Attempts were made by the Social Democratic Party to introduce a coherent program to combat homelessness and shrinking access to affordable housing to the governing coalition. The plan was to swing the government’s pendulum back toward government-subsidized, affordable social housing. The Liberal Democratic Party leadership agreed to it but never made significant drives to implement it, especially once the nation’s attention was turned toward the Vaasan rebellion in 2019 and the military suddenly needed more funding. The Conservatives also vehemently protested against it, proclaiming that it would harm the housing market and infringe on private business rights.

The government’s failure to uphold the proposal and the SDPA’s seeming unwillingness to press the issue led to large national protests in 2020. Many SDPA voters and representatives in the Sobirat flipped to the Republican People’s Party, or in some rare instances, even the Communist Party. Now, with the recent formation of the People’s Democratic Labor Party (NDRP), many expect this phenomenon of dissatisfied SDPA voters going further and further left to become more pronounced and relevant.

The NDRP’s platform takes significant inspiration from the former SDPA proposal, proposing government-subsidized public housing, and even goes further. Not only does the NDRP propose the construction of government-subsidized public housing units, but also such proposals as purchasing or seizing multi-homeowners’ additional properties for transitioning into public housing, as well as prohibiting the sale of public housing assets to private interests. Conservatives, Liberal-Democrats, and even Social Democrats have criticized this approach as being too heavy-handed and possibly illegal under current laws. Regardless, the NDRP’s additional proposals seem to be increasingly popular with left-leaning voters.

As the country gets ready for the crossing presidential-legislative elections this year, time will tell if the NDRP gets the chance to prove themselves more committed than the Social Democrats.

The 2023 elections in Arcanstotska are going to be special. Not only will we see a presidential election, but also a legislative one. This has happened before in Arcanstotskan politics many times, so why is it so special? How is it so unique?

The People’s Democratic Labor Party (NDRP) was formed in early February this year. The party’s platform positioned itself as a new common-left political party in Arcanstotska—something not seen in over a century. The party may be brand new, but experts believe, and polling seems to agree, that the NDRP is uniquely positioned to win big from the get-go.

A Strong, Lively Arcanstotskan Left
Between the 1990s and 2010s, Arcanstotskan politics were dominated mainly by the Conservative Party (KP) and the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Their deregulatory economic policies since have empowered large corporate firms and raked in enormous short-term profits for various sectors.

These deregulatory policies were vehemently opposed by labor unions across the country that flourished under Social Democratic governments in the mid-2000s. Mass strikes were organized across the country. The nation was even brought to a standstill in 2006. Major corporations, such as Sumerki Corp. whose profits and political influence were rapidly growing, attempted to push forward with various union-busting campaigns.

The most successful initiative was in 2013 when the Syndicalist Republic of Prydania was revealed to have committed widespread atrocities against its people. Significant elements of the Arcanstotskan left were, at least up until that point, supportive of Nielsen’s syndicalist government. There even existed an Arcanstotskan syndicalist party with seats in the Sobirat. The rampant human rights abuses by the Nielsen regime forced these elements to abandon their positions, dissolve, or stick with their pro-Nielsen stances and become politically ostracized.

But while these efforts may have damaged the political left, they failed to ultimately destroy it. The political left was able to bounce back and the efforts of political activist groups, organizers, unions, and other political organizations managed to keep the red tide running strong.

Now, though, in 2023, the political left has seen an explosion in activity and organizing. Callisean socialists have won massively in their elections and have drastically reoriented the Callisean state towards socialist doctrine. The NDRP has congratulated its Callisean ideological brethren on their successes. If things continue to progress as they are, the NDRP also has massive victories awaiting it in the near future.

The Polls
In a recent public survey organized by the Pishchalnikov Institute, 1,400 citizens were asked for their party of preference within the national legislature earlier this month and in November of last year.


The collected data makes it clear; the NDRP, a very new force in Arcanstotskan politics, is making rapid gains in the public conversation. Experts believe that the party is slated to win big in the upcoming elections.

The political left has held a strong electoral presence for some time now—both the Republican People's Party and the Communist Party have each achieved over ten percent of the seats in the Sobirat, holding such margins since the late 2010s. But with the NRP and AKP having merged into the NDRP, the party's founding vision of a strong, united Arcanstotskan political left seems to have resonated with a very significant amount of voters.

It will all come down to April 10th and April 15th—the election dates for the presidency and the Sobirat respectively.

ASTAHRAN — Arshad al-Rayes, the now-former Premier of the Federation of the Communes of Diyar (FCD), has stepped down from office amidst ongoing anti-corruption initiatives within the nation’s government.

al-Rayes was called upon to relinquish his office by members of Diyar’s national unicameral legislature, the General Congress. The motion was introduced by Bargiran Siyabend, one of the leading figures within the reformist wing of the Communist Party of Diyar (CPD), the only legal political party in the country. Facing a majority of CPD representatives who were in support of his removal, al-Rayes willingly stepped down from the Premiership.

While technically fully legal and possible, this is the first time in the FCD’s history that a vote of no confidence was brought against a sitting Premier. Nevermind a successful one.

al-Rayes’ removal from office is the latest development in an ongoing initiative within the Diyari government to purge corruption from the federal administration, the various communal governments, and the CPD as a whole. This program has predominantly received support from the reformist wing of the CPD, which holds a considerable majority within the General Congress.

The current General Secretary of the CPD, Hevdem Bagok, is legally bound to be neutral in the political struggle between reformist and conservative elements within the Communist Party. However, it’s an open secret that the General Secretary’s loyalties lie firmly with the reform faction. This is reinforced by his broad support for reformist initiatives and programs (like the ongoing anti-corruption efforts) and the motion to remove al-Rayes from the Premiership.

The General Secretary of the CPD is one of the three most powerful positions within Diyar, alongside the Premiership and the Presidency. The Diyari Presidency, currently held by Damaw Pale, is known to unofficially lend his support to the conservative faction. Whomever is next to fill the Premiership is likely the key to tipping the balance between the reformists and conservatives.

The General Congress is soon expected to organize an election to decide the next Premier of Diyar. Nominations so far include Siyabend, who has unofficial backing from the General Secretary; and a leading member of the conservative faction, Derbest Romet, who has received the support of President Pale.