Television Set to Hit Talossan Airwaves!

In an exciting development, after much speculation and even discussion amongst prominant Talossan politicians, it can be revealed that a Talossan television network is likely to be established. It is thought to be the first of it's kind in the republic.

'Citaxhien', which owns the digital newspaper you are reading now, has expressed an interest in establishing a television network for the republic, and is researching the feasability of such a scheme. Both the Seneschal and Pruma Citaxhien have given support for such a project.

There has been no opposition to the scheme so far, and there are no Talossan broadcasting regulation laws that such a network would have to follow. The President has made it clear that she doesn't want any regulations set up before the creation of the network, and would rather follow a 'we'll cross that bridge when we get there' idea. Her ideas could be reflecting some wise truth, however, with change for the sake of change becoming messy for the Parliamint.

Opposition could easily come from any source though, and let's not forget that the editor of such a news corporation would be the Distain, which could ruffle a few feathers. Would the Distain resign from his position to persue his interest in Talossan media? J. T. Tric'hardsëfiglheu released this statement: 

'I have no intention to resign in the foreseeable future, I am keen to continue in my job of Distain, however, if this causes upset in the Talossan republic, I may have to reconsider'.


Few details have yet emerged about the proposed network, except that it is likely to be free to use, not supported by government funding and possibly run on a commercial basis. The basis of programming is that most coverage will be pre-recorded with some limited live coverage, possibly during elections (if feasable).


Anybody with any comments or criticism to make about the proposal is invited to comment on this blog post, via PM to the editor or via Facebook/Twitter.

Opinion poll update:

Public support President and Coalition Government

Public opinion polls showed that 80% of the Talossan population is happy with the coalition government between the Defencist and Democratic Socialist parties, while an impressive 100% (5 votes to 0) are backing Miestra as president, after her win back in May.

A slightly belated polling report:

Not much movement in the polls this week, as support for the coalition parties holds steady. The Peculiarists are still failing to pick up support.

Latest Poll Update:

President’s Speech Summary

President Miestra recently released an audio visual speech to a joint session of parliament (Deputies and Senators) which is still taking place on Wittenberg. In her speech, the first of its kind to be released in that format, she highlighted the need for active citizens to respect less active citizens who still vote in elections. In order to keep activity going, she suggests that ‘there should always be something going on in the forums’, and that Deputies and Senators should accept responsibility to be more active than other citizens. Her words are inspiring and motivational but the vague aspect to her ambition might not ignite the flame of activity on the forums that she desires in her final year of Presidency.

The President also announced that she was happy to extend the coalition government in the Chamber of Deputies between the Defencist and Democratic Socialist parties, and that an ‘Electoral Reform’ bill will soon be presented to parliament, in which the ‘Open Party List’ electoral system will be proposed. The President also announced that as part of the electoral reform package, a week’s campaigning period will be set up between the close of nominations and the new one week voting period (proposed by the Democratic Socialist Party, and heavily criticised in the upper house).

Also, in a twist to her announcements, and probably in an effort to speed up getting things done, Miestra also proposed the formation of two new presidential commissions. A ‘Legislative Reform’ commission will sort out the federal code and executive orders by deleting and modifying them, and there will also be a commission on national web space. These commissions have, however, failed to materialise as of yet.

Joint Session Begins

 BREAKING NEWS!!!
The Joint Session has begun and the PC will give her speech shortly. Follow all the action here

Deputies and Senators Gather for Joint Session

Deputies and Senators are congregating today for President Miestra's State of the Republic address in a joint session to both houses of Parlamînt. After listening to her speech they will be expected to discuss and debate it. The Seneschál has started a 'roll call of sorts' for Deputies and Senators to proclaim their presence for the session.

Party Trackers Update

• Peculiarists fail to recover their poor performance
• Democratic Socialists rise to 50%, at par with the Defencists, who have fallen from the peak of Miestra's presidential re-election.

Party Trackers: Update

• The Defencist Party has seen a huge surge in support since the the re-election of President Miestra.
• Support for the Democratic Socialist Party has fallen slightly over the last week.
• Meanwhile, Peculiarist support has collapsed to 0%.

Analysis:

Why are the Defencists so high in the polls? They started off below the Peculiarist Party before and during the presidential election. Perhaps Miestra's win has sparked off more support from some veteran citizens.
It is still very unclear why the Peculiarist Party is doing so badly in the polls. Although the polls are very subjective to the people who vote on them during the week, the fall is incredibly significant.
The Democratic Socialists will also be very disappointed. After a long time of stable support, they are slowly falling at a steady pace, and must try to win back more and new support if the party is to survive.
Overall however, this chart should not be taken at face value, since it is only a reflection of two weeks of activity (occurred around the presidential election time). However, as the 'Party Trackers' poll continues, week by week, the reliability and accuracy will increase. That, and it pleases the editor's obsession with graphs and charts!

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.