The Lady's Not For Turning!

BREAKING NEWS

She's done it again! Miestrâ dàl Midziuâ has won another term as President of the Repuclic of Talossa, and the Defencist will serve for another year. The full results of the election can be seen here.

In the first round, Miestra won 42.8% of 'First Preference' votes, while Dieter (Peculiarist candidate) was defeated in the first round with just 25% of first preference votes.

The second round was much more interesting with Godafrieu and Miestra both winning 50% of the vote. According to Talossan electoral law, since Miestra secured a higher vote in the last round, she is the winner.

The election has raised serious doubts on the campaigning strategies and platform of the Peculiarists, who were riding high in the polls and expecting much more success. 

Miestra has yet to release an official statement about her plans for the next year, and any changes she may or may not make to the government. 

Weekly Polling Scheme

A new polling system will be implemented soon, whereby the 'preferred party opinion poll' will be updated on a weekly basis and converted into a graphical analysis for clear viewing of trends occurring over time. Citaxhiên urges all regular readers to take part in the weekly poll to help build a good picture of party support as the weeks go by. 

The polls will run from Mondays to Saturdays, and the results analysed on a weekly basis with comparisons to previous results. The inspiration for this scheme has come from the YouGov® method (with all credit due).

Dieter For President?

A poll conducted by Citaxhiên over the last week has given Dieter, the Peculiarist presidential candidate, a lead over the other two candidates campaigning for office.

Now, before a wave of complaints come flooding into the editor's office, it should be reminded that the question asked was 'Who should be the next Talossan President?' and not 'How did you/will you vote?'. It is also expected that the Talossan Presidential Election 2011 poll has a wider margin of error than CoD elections, due to this reason and the Instant Run Off electoral system. Will Dieter be beaten at the post in a second or third round? Only time will tell...

If you don't want to know the results of the poll, then please look away now:

Follow by email!

Citaxhiên has introduced a much more convenient and exciting way for readers to follow news from the Talossan Republic. Are you fed up refreshing the blog day in day out to see new articles? Well now you don't have to. Simply sign up your email address on the right hand corner of the page to get started, and get notifications of updates.

Talossa 'Enters Web 2.0'

The Talossan federal governemnt can now be followed on Twitter @talossanrep

Long time no see

It’s been such a long time since the Citaxhiên was last updated, so I thought I’d have a stab at publishing a new post while I have the time...

The main story on everyone’s minds will be the Presidential election that is currently taking place, where all eligible voters have a choice on whether to stick with the incumbent Miestrâ, of the Defencist Party, or to choose another President from only two other choices, Dieter N. Vercáriâ (Peculiarist) or Gödafrïeu Válcadac'h.

Válcadac'h claims to have only entered the election to ‘make this race more interesting than the boring Schlafenspiel it would otherwise be’.

His words may strong, but they bare an almost horrific true resemblance of Talossan politics. Anyway, all three candidates have released 50 word statements, which you can read here, if you haven’t already done so.

Talossans are now effectively stuck in a rut. With little presidential choice, and even if there was a change to a new president, it would be unlikely that Talossa would see any real change for the better. If things stay the same as they are, we will have a president who wantes to hinder democracy by changing the voting system so that electors don't even know which candidates will be fielded. A change to a Peculiarist President will see us having a President who wants to slow down political operations even further by condemning cutting election durations. The only other option is a candidate that is going in for the race half-heartedly. Don't fret, however, since in reality the President holds very little power in reality.

 On the subject of power, the Senäts has effectively grinded to a holt, while they try finding a Mençéi more challenging than finding a needle in a haystack. The sluggishness of the upper chamber comes soon after the CoD was criticised by them as being too slow...

No Votes Analysis*

*Including Abstentions

Election Yes Votes Analysis:

Deputies Approve New Government

3 out of the 4 Deputies recently elected to the Chamber have voted in the new government in a 'Vote of Confidence'.

In the recent election for the 14th CoD:
Deputy Vitx Sîngün (Dav) was elected with the highest 'Yes' votes, with his 'Don't vote for me' campaign paying off, managing to secure him 88% yes votes. Deputy Xhorxh Asmoûr's 'Yes' votes plummeted to just 50%, while the Democratic Socialist party candidate in second place and the incumbent Seneschal in third place after an increase in 'No' votes.
The President asked the Seneschal to attempt to form a government, which has been succesful with 3 out of 4 candidates approving the new line-up which can be found here.

Citaxhien Celebrates 1,000 Hits

There have been over 1000 readings of Citaxhien since the Talossan newspaper was launched earlier this year. The landmark was passed on 7th April, and it is thought most of the hits are coming from a regular readership from the Talossan Republic. The Citaxhien is soon be reviewed again this month to evaluate it's success in delivering news to Talossans.

Electoral Reform Step Back for Talossa

If electoral reform were introduced by the Defencists in the next chamber, Talossans would have democratic rights stripped from them. The freedom to pick and choose candidates based on personal merit would dissappear, and candidates would be chosen for the chamber by parties, rather than the electorate, under their proposed 'party list' voting system. The idea is simple, voters will choose which mandate they prefer, but Defencists seem to have overlooked tactical voting and have refused to comment on whether the new party list system will be open or closed, two very different viting systems.

Talossans Support Incumbent

Talossans have shown their support for C. Carlüs Xheráltsëfiglheu by giving him a 57% vote in a Citaxhien prime ministerial preference vote. Carlus, the Defencist Party candidate is running far ahead of the other three candidates seeking election.
J. Txec (Democratic Socialist) scored 28%, D. Rôibeardét (Independent) achieved 14% and X. Asmoûr (Peculiarist) scored 0% in the recent polling.

Exit Poll Now Closed

The exit poll has now been cancelled.
Please click here for more information on why it had to be cancelled.

EXIT POLL OPENS!!!

Dav Re-admitted as Citizen

Dav Rôibeardét has passed his referendum on citizenship and is now offically a citizen of the Republic of Talossa once again. Out of 15 voters, a huge majority of 13 voted yes, with 1 no and 1 abstaining. Dav has recieved a warm welcome from Talossans and it is hoped he will successfully re-integrate into Talossan society. He has also announed his intention to stand for election to the 14th CoD.

'Lack of Chair Amendment' Sails Through the Senate

A measure allowing the CoD to request the president to perform the role of speaker, and Senators to allow the SoS to perform the role of speaker in the Senate, has passed comfortably through the the Senate, having been handed over from Deputies. This means the measure will go forward to a referendum soon.

General Election Called

Secretary of State, Ián Anglatzarâ, has called for nominations for an early spring 2011 general election, after the 13th Chamber fell to pieces. Nominations for candidates are being accepted until 23rd March, after which there will be a general election to the 14th Chamber of Deputies. For more information, see the nominations page here.


Meanwhile, Senators are sifting through the Provincial Geographic Reassignment Bill, and attempting to clarify haziness in assignment boundaries. This was the only bill to pass through the short lived 13th Chamber. Maybe the number 13 is unlucky after all...

Dav Rôibeardét Requests Citizenship Again

Respected ex-citizen Rôibeardét has asked the Talossan community for permission to be re-admitted as a citizen. In his plea (which can be read here), Dav opened up and claimed that binge drinking and deep depression had lead him to act out of character. The Secretary of State has opened up his citizenship referendum, and all citizens should have received an e-mail with instructions on how to vote.

Political Antics Review

Dramatic events took place in the Chamber of Deputies over the last few days with the Prime Minister suddenly, though not entirely unexpectedly, switching to the Defencist Party. Onlookers in the galleries looked bemused after two deputies fired constant strings of angry messages and insults at each other.

As the PM left the Peculiarist Party, it was feared the party would disintegrate, but these fears have proved to be false according to information from the Peculiarist Convention.

Deputy Jum Txec has ditched his partisanship in favour of independence, amid all the fiasco, in which the President soon got involved. He then went on to become Speaker of a chamber, which, to be fair, functioned somewhat amidst all the commotion.

 Three prominent politicians soon got involved in a fierce argument over conspiracy plots for power, leaving ordinary citizens disillusioned with Talossan politics.

Deputy Xhorxh announced his resignation and permanent withdrawal of republican citizenship, due to his deep unhappiness and suspicion. The CoD is now inquorate and deputy activities in the chamber have been suspended. It is expected that the Secretary of State will soon call election, providing enough candidates are standing, that is.

Issues began to arise during debate over the Provincial Geographical Assignment Bill when deputies struggled and failed to reach a compromise on which citizens from around the globe should be placed in which provinces. No one need worry though, immigration is still dreadfully low.

Crisis in the Chamber

The Citaxhien has taken the decision not to cover the tensions and divisions that have emerged today in the Chamber of Deputies, in an effort to retain what stability might remain, and not to incite further flames of anger.

Tuischac'h Forgets Amendment Phase

The Tuischac'h has forgotten to kick-start the usual Amendment Phase that takes place when the CoD considers a proposal, and has jumped straight through to the voting stage. 
With only 3 Deputies in the Chamber, this is unlikely to cause any confusion, however this mistake has highlighted the need for a fully functioning political system in Talossa with active and operational roles, if the population is to increase.
A weary Seneschal has reminded the Tuischac'h by coughing.
To follow the 'Provincial Geographical Assignment Amendment' :Click Here

Filtering Mistake Rectified

A censorship barrier was accidentally imposed on Citaxhien yesterday, with a message warning readers of adult content. The error has since been fixed (the mistake was made during a recent change in templates and settings).

NRP Leader Elected

A leader has been elected for the newly organised, CoD wide 'NRP' party, with Xheráltsëfiglheu securing 60% of the vote:


Carlüs Xheráltsëfiglheu 3 60% 1(Rank) 
Xhorxh Evansëfiglheu Asmour 2 40% 2(Rank)


The NRP is still short of a General Secretary and a Press Secretary however....

Senators Ponder Live Session

Senators have been discussing the possibility of holding monthly live sessions for debating and voting using an IRC channel. Txec Rôibeardsëfiglheu suggested the Geogrpahical Assignment Bill would be a good testing bill to try out the real time live session.