Ŕanije Erijeź will step down after next elections
ASHTINOK, 22 MARCH 2024 ~
Prime Minister Ŕanije Erijeź will not be available for
another term as head of the Adzhatian government, she announced today.
The 61-year old stateswoman said that after almost twenty years at the
helm of her party Secializdźiś and of the country, it is
time to leave those responsibilities to a new generation of politicians.
Ŕanije Erijeź became a member of Secializdźiś in 1992,
when the country was still a de facto dictatorship, but she rose
to prominence quickly and was elected the party's leader in 2005. She
became acting Prime Minister in March 2006, followed by a formal
confirmation in September that year; her government lost a vote of no-
confidence however already in October 2007. Her second term as Prime
Minister lasted from April 2010 to September 2011. Her
Secializdźiś managed to consolidate power as of December 2011,
but Erijeź remained head of her parliamentary faction while fellow
party member Eigĕń Hameen became Prime Minister until 2017.
Erijeź succeeded Hameen for a third term, which she completed in 2021,
followed by a fourth, which is due to end in the spring of 2025.
Ms Erijeź has said that the party will hold elections for a new
party leader somewhere in the next couple of months. While the official
campaign has yet to start, potential successors could be the incumbent
Minister of Democratic Affairs Mr Erkŏh Muŕgia and Minister of
Disaster Management Ms Măććeib Gora.
Other party leaders praised Erijeź's leadership in some way, with
fellow coalition party ĔAP's leader and Minister of Defence Beris
Akaććik attributing to her the country's relative stability
under the threat of war.
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Police raid AVŎD headquarters
ASHTINOK, 9 JANUARY 2024 ~
The police have raided the headquarters of liberal political party
AVŎD (Adźać Valteźiś Ŏdźa
Demokradźiś, 'Free Democrats of
the Adzhatian State') early this morning, a spokesperson of the police
has confirmed. The raid is linked to the two AVŎD members who
were arrested last year in relation with corruption affairs involving
foreign companies with links to human traficking. Although the AVŎD
leadership has so far denied that the party was aware of this, the
police seems to have found enough evidence to receive a warrant to
search the party's premises.
AVŎD party leader Ms Oĺdźe Berk-Lŏpore, who was
elected last year to succeed Mr Igoŕ Dzarcviśei, who had held
the position since 2016, in a first reaction said that she was apalled
by the necessity of this raid, but that the party will cooperate with
the police.
"I cannot say anything else at this point than that I am convinced that
the police will find nothing and that our party remains the unblemished
bastion of liberal democracy in Adzhatia that the people have known it
to be since the party was founded", Ms Berk said.
There has been some criticism on her leadership ever since the affair
was published in October last year. While the two main suspects, former
candidates for District Governorships Juŕ Ħŏvćek and
Luka Dzercvicei, have been in police custody since November, and charges
have been pressed against them, AVŎD so far has not been willing
to cancel their memberships of the party, claiming that the party stands
behind its members.
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New District Governors appointed
ASHTINOK, 1 DECEMBER 2023 ~
Domestic Affairs Minister Seńie Burćak has appointed five new
District Governors today: the terms of Vladimiŕ Kristjanson
(Secializdźiś) of Kŏpunceźiś Krais (Capital
District = Ashtinok), Karoĺ Raikonen (Secializdźiś) of
Ćandeisa Krais, Ăŕseń Beĺĺik (ĔAP)
of Drezeń Ćŭŕdveźiś Krais, Anatoĺ
Kolodub (AVŎD) of Drezeń Valaźiś Krais, and Nikita
Cħvort (AVŎD) of Śaiń Valaźiś Krais
expired today. None of them was nominated by the District governments
for another term and they were succeeded by Elene Balakausok (AVŎD),
Ĺŭdmiĺĺe Lacaŕ-Ozereź
(Secializdźiś), Nikita Źeŕbacei (AVŎD),
Konstantiń Tărpa (Secializdźiś), and Naemie
Ŭćańśvei-Kĕcĕmei (Secializdźiś).
The appointments were not all without controversy. In October, Minister
Burćak had refused the two original AVŎD candidates on grounds
of involvement in corruption affairs linked to irregular permissions to
foreign companies with possible links to human traficking to start their
businesses in our country. AVŎD then put forward two other candidates.
The two former candidates, Juŕ Ħŏvćek and Luka Dzercvicei,
have been arrested by the police in the meantime, and an investigation is
ongoing. The liberal party AVŎD has denied any knowledge about their
members' activities.
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FICT Summit: "War must stop"
VÍTGARÐ (JK), 4
NOVEMBER 2023 ~ Leaders of the member states of the Forum for International
Cooperation and Trade (FICT) gathered in Vítgarð, Yukland, today
for the international organisation's 22nd biannual summit. Regarding the
ongoing war in Israel and the Palestinian territories, the delegations
agreed that the war must stop as soon as possible.
More detailed opinions on Hamas's attack on Israel and the way Israel is
now taking countermeasures differed among the member states however, with
the delegation of Harrawi stopping short of insinuating that Israel had
asked for this itself, while Kronenburg and Yukland took a more sympathetic
stance towards Israel.
"With such different opinions, it was to be expected that this summit would
not be able to issue a more detailed declaration regarding the war between
Israel and Hamas", Foreign Affairs Minister Feliks Balakśin explained.
"The Adzhatian government remains however firmly opposed to all wars." He
didn't want to specify whether this included the war in Ukraine, as the
Adzhatian government has never once expressed an official opinion on it,
except for some empty generalities that could be interpreted either in
favour or against Moscow.
The rest of the Summit was uneventful, with Adzhatia politely declining
to attempt to host the FICT Games in 2025, after the ones of 2021 had to
be cancelled due to Covid-19, which has lead to a small financial disaster.
This in combination with increased inflation and economic uncertainty as a
result of nearby Russia's war and the availability of enough gas to keep
Adzhatia warm in the winter, has pressed uncomfortably on the country's
budget, so that the organisation of Games is currently not in Adzhatia's
top-10 of priorities. The 2025 Games were then awarded to Kronenburg.
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Green light for railway extension
ASHTINOK, 1 NOVEMBER 2023 ~ The
Traffic Ministry has given green light to extend Adzhatia's existing
railway line from its current northern end in Ashtinok to both
Kosegińdrăt and Huśte. Construction should start in early
2024 and take five years to finish.
"As we all know, traffic around Ashtinok is famously chaotic and
increased availability of public transport is therefore essential to allow
commuters from Kosegińdrăt and Huśte to arrive in the capital
faster and more efficiently", Traffic Minister Juŕ Leitićek
said.
The current line follows the southeastern shore of Valya island,
Adzhatia's main island, and connects the capital with the town of Alidaŕ
while passing through Kercei and Pruteilăć. It was constructed
already in the '60s of the last century, when Adzhatia was still part of the
Soviet Union. The original plan was already to extend the line to the north,
as well as to Ħŭŕć on the northwestern shore of Valya,
but apart from some much needed maintenance to the existing railway line,
nothing further was done to it.
The opposition in the Dume has ridiculed the plans, saying that improvement
of roads is far more urgent.
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Two Governor candidates refused
ASHTINOK, 30 OCTOBER 2023 ~ Domestic
Affairs Minister Seńie Burćak has refused to appoint the candidate
governors of Ashtinok and Drezeń Ćŭŕdveźiś Krais
after accusations of corruption against the two emerged in several newspapers
last weekend.
Juŕ Ħŏvćek and Luka Dzercvicei, both members of the liberal
opposition party AVŎD, were the aleged recipients of several tens of
thousands of Pekas as well as expensive new cars in exchange for granting
permission to a number of controversial foreign companies to start businesses in
Ashtinok and Orvŭb. According to the newspapers, the companies are involved
in human traficking as well as white collar criminality.
With the incumbent Governors' terms expiring next month, the Districts now
urgently have to look for alternative candidates. AVŎD has launched a
protest against the move.
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Pizza wars flare up again
KERCEI, 13 OCTOBER 2023 ~ A dispute
between Italian and Adzhatian owned pizza restaurants has flared up again after
almost six years, but unlike last time, police are now suspecting that both
sides are backed by criminal gangs after an Italian owned restaurant suffered
severe damage from gun fire yesterday evening.
In November 2017, a small dispute between Italian and local pizzeria owners
about whose pizzas were better, as well as accusations of recipe theft, ended
after the police permanently closed down two restaurants when one side attacked
the other by letting explose a smoke bomb in one of the restaurants.
"Obviously this is a whole different level of violence", chief of the Kercei
police department Commissioner Kristof Aŕćŭpa explained; "Based on the bullets
that were found, we suspect maffia involvement. Whether they only delivered the
guns or are playing a more prominent role is currently being investigated."
Police have increased patrols around the 17 pizzerias in Kercei. At the moment
there is no reason to believe that the violence will spread outside Kercei, but
the office of Police General Viktoŕ Gelicin, the national head of police, has
said that the necessary vigilance will be observed.
The Italian cuisine is very popular in Adzhatia, although several local traditions
have been added by mostly non-Italian owners. The typically Adzhatian cabbage
pizzas, potato pizzas, and borscht pizzas are the object of frequent mockery and
outrage by the small Italian population.
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Astrid Kŭćma elected President of the Adzhatian State
ASHTINOK, 28 SEPTEMBER 2022
~ District Governor of Ĕnćev Valaźiś Krais and former foreign
minister Astrid Kŭćma (62) has been elected President of the Adzhatian State
in last Saturday's presidential election, the Electoral Committee
confirmed today. She will succeed the incumbent President Kataŕine Matuś
on 8 October and as such become the second woman President of the nation.
Matuś herself was ineligible to run again, as she is currently finishing
her second term in office.
The candidacies of eleven persons had been approved by the Electoral
Committee; a dozen or so more had tried to register as well, but they lacked
the necessary signatures or their dossiers showed other irregularities. The
approved candidates were:
- Jukka Acvehei (m, writer and philosopher; left, pro-Russian)
- Lere Baśćot (f, Trŏśtan Frentciŕ; far right)
- Nikita Cħvort (m, AVŎD, district governor Śaiń Valaźiś Krais; liberal)
- Marije Curtak-Bort (f, media group owner; centre right)
- Igoŕ Dzarcviśei (m, AVŎD; liberal)
- Ĺŭdmiĺĺe Dźerdźiĕv (f, actress and tv presenter; populist, pro-Russian)
- Vladimiŕ Eisendrat (m, lawyer; left)
- Ŕanije Erijeź (f, PM, Secializdźiś; socialdemocrat)
- Aśvĕĺ Kotka (m, neurologist; conservative)
- Astrid Kŭćma (f, Bloc-Ħĭnzei, district governor Ĕnćev Valaźiś Krais; conservative)
- Orez Măŕei (f, ĔAP; centre left, pro-EU)
The President of the Adzhatian Republic is elected in one
round of voting, during which voters can cast five preferential votes
(or less, if there are less than five candidates); if no candidate obtains more
than 50% of the votes after the first preferences have been counted, the
candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and the second preference votes of
the voters who voted for them redistributed among the remaining candidates. This
process is repeated until one of the candidates has more than 50% of the votes.
From the start, Prime Minister Erijeź and Astrid Kŭćma received the most votes, with
the Prime Minister slightly ahead. As none of them received more than 50% of the votes,
less popular candidates were eliminated until in the end, Kŭćma came out first and
was thus elected President.
Kŭćma held a short press conference after the official results were confirmed.
"It is with great pleasure that I accept the nomination to become Adzhatia's next
President", she said. "I do so in difficult times, with several threats facing
our nation, which have to be faced at times sternly, at times diplomatically. Even
if the Presidency is a mostly ceremonial office in this country, I promise to
be a guide for you, brave people of this country!"
At the same time as the presidential election, there were elections for the 45
regional seats of the Dume. These were won by the socialdemocrat party Secializdźiś
(the Prime Minister's party; + 5 seats) and by the conservative Bloc-Ħĭnzei (the
President-Elect's party; + 6 seats), whereas the liberal party AVŎD lost eight
seats and several smaller parties lost their regionally elected seats altogether.
The government coalition of Secializdźiś and the centre left ĔAP increased its
total number of seats from 89 to 92 in the 160 member Dume.
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Presidential elections in September
ASHTINOK, 25 MAY 2022
~ The next presidential election will be held on Saturday 24
September, together with the elections for the 45 Regional Seats of the
Dume. This was confirmed by Dume Chairman Vladislaf Endis.
Incumbent President Kataŕine Matuś-Ħememiemei
is not eligible for a third term in office.
Although the office of President of the Adzhatian State is
mostly ceremonial, the expectation is that there will be a
lot of candidates this year, given the events of the last
three years that saw many people develop opinions about
the way the nation is governed. Among the 'big
names' are incumbent leader of the liberal party AVŎD
Igoŕ Dzarcviśei, Bloc-Ħĭnzei leader
and former Minister of Foreign Affairs Astrid Kŭćma,
the leader of the pro-European party ĔAP Orez
Măŕei, and the leader of the populist party
Trŏśtan Frentciŕ Lere Baśćot.
A prominent non-politician who has already announced her
candidacy is businesswoman and owner of the media group
that includes the nation's largest newspaper
Śaizeźiś Jadeća, Ms Marije Curtak-Bort.
Prime Minister and leader of the Secializdźiś
Ŕanije Erijeź is also frequently named as a candidate,
although she has so far refrained from making comments on a
possible run. Noteworthy is that the few candidates who
effectively declared their candidacy so far, are mostly women,
with Dzarcviśei being the only male candidate.
Analysts say however that this will undoubtably change.
The President of the Adzhatian State is elected by the
Adzhatian people in a single round of voting, in which the
voters may give up to five preference votes. If, after
counting the first preference votes, no candidate has
obtained more than 50% of the votes, the candidate who won
the least amount of votes will leave the race and the
second preference votes of those who voted for the leaving
candidate will be distributed among the remaining candidates.
This procedure is repeated until a candidate has obtained
more than 50% of the votes, who is then declared winner of
the election. The new President will take office on the
second Saturday of October.
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FICT sympathetic with Adzhatia
PORTO DA MATA, 21
MAY 2022 ~ The 19th General Assembly of the Forum for International
Cooperation and Trade that took place in Yutyrama, has condemned the
Russian war against Ukraine as well as the Russian blockade of
Adzhatian trade routes that has been in place since February. It
wasn't a unanimous condemnation, as Adzhatia itself abstained
from voting about it.
During the General Assembly and towards the press, Prime Minister
Ŕanije Erijeź could be heard expressing empty generalities
about the war, claiming that both sides were wrong, Russia had the
right to defend itself, and that diplomacy was the only way to solve
this crisis. The subject was discussed by the GA only briefly, and
a majority of FICT member states supported a motion to condemn the
war, with Adzhatia abstaining. Informal talks behind the scenes were
however reported to have gone much further in detail, with the Prime
Minister explaining Adzhatia's delicate position to her
fellow FICT members.
Already in the week before the start of the war on 24 February,
Russia increased its naval presence in international waters close
to Adzhatia, conducting searches of foreign trade vessels heading
from and to Adzhatia and generally scaring them off, putting our
country in a position where it could do little else than support
Moscow's line of foreign policy. Since that moment, Adzhatia
has ended up on a fast track to join the Russia lead Eurasian
Economic Union in what appears to be a complete turn around of
Adzhatia's foreign intentions. Sources close to the government
claim however that Adzhatia is trying to stall this development
as much as it can; frequent pro-EU and pro-NATO mass protests
in front of the Dume in Ashtinok continue to emphasise the opinion
of the Adzhatian people, although pro-Moscow politicians claim
that these are being staged by the west.
The fact that Russia's war in Ukraine doesn't appear to go too
well for Russia, has emboldened the government, and insiders
claim that the country has issued covert requests for assistance
to friendly nations to help end the blockade of its trade routes.
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End of Covid-19 measures – for now
ASHTINOK, 1 MAY 2022 ~
Festivities in the entire nation were held today, not only because of
May Day, but also because the anti-Covid-19 measures that had been in
place to various degrees since autumn 2020, have been lifted entirely
– for now.
Health Minister Ărva Kralik explained that the current positivity
rates and hospitalisations don't justify the continuation of measures,
although he warned that they may be reinstated if the situation
deteriorates again in the next autumn. 74% of the adult population
of our nation has been fully vaccinated since last year.
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Footballer Tulcicei FSTS Director?
ASHTINOK, 13 APRIL 2022 ~
The Adzhatian government has announced that they will put forward
former defender Erkei Tulcicei of the national football team as a
candidate Director of the FICT Secretariat for Tourism and Sports
(FSTS), whose incumbent Director Acauã Dantas Nonato from Yutyrama
reaches the end of his second term on 1 May this year.
Tulcicei participated in the FICT Games of both 2013 and 2015, but
ended his career as a footballer two years later. Currently he is
working for the Adzhatian Football Association and he presents his
own television programme about football analysis.
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Covid-Lockdown as of Monday
ASHTINOK, 6 NOVEMBER 2020 ~
Adzhatia will go into a complete lockdown on Monday, Minister
Taććane Solehei of Disaster Management has confirmed. Citizens
will be allowed to leave their homes only for the most essential
groceries; only one person per household will be admitted to supermarkets.
Bars and restaurants will be closed except for deliveries. Schools will
be closed. Where working from home is possible, this should be rule.
These measures will apply for at least one month, after the number of
daily Covid infections quadrupled last week to 1500-2000 new cases per day.
Adzhatia's relative isolation seemed to have been a blessing at first as
only a few cases were reported in spring. During the (short) summer,
cases dropped to negligible numbers and the government allowed daily life
to resume in September with only wearing masks indoors as the principle
measure, while people entering the country were systematically screened at
the border.
The return of the cold season and the dark days and the subsequent instinct
of people to get together as well as several reported huge Halloween-Parties
last week are cited by minister Solehei as the main reasons for the outburst.
Earlier her colleague Konstantiń Dmitrijenka, the Minister of Public
Health, warned that Adzhatian hospitals are not equipped to deal with an
influx of so many Covid-patients at once.
Prime Minister Ŕanije Erijeź said that the Dume should approve
these measures first thing on Monday or she'd have no choice to declare
the state of emergency. "While this may sound as a threat, I assure you that
if this lockdown isn't put in place quickly, a national disaster will be
imminent, which could costs hundreds of thousands of lives. Our hospitals
must be given a break!" she said.
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Fire destroys Kercei kremlin
KERCEI, 26 AUGUST 2020 ~ A huge
fire has destroyed the unfinished wooden kremlin in the city centre of Kercei
last night. It was the only one of its kind in Adzhatia and a number of
historians and others have already denounced the destruction as a huge
disaster for the Adzhatian national heritage.
Construction of the Kercei kremlin started in the late 19th century, when
the island of Valya wasn't inhabited by Adzhatians yet and had just been
colonised by the Russian empire, who sent some military troops and a couple
of administrators and their families to the island. They founded Kercei
under the name Kresta Gorod and gave the order for the construction
of the kremlin. Lack of money and manpower caused considerable delay and
after the last construction works were abandoned in the 1920s, the kremlin
was left unfinished permanently.
The cause of the fire is being investigated.
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