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![[Image: 200]](https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/qvwi/images/6/67/KTN_News_logo.svg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/200){kind=logo} Valkyrian politics | Parliament passes ESPA 19 By Allie Vega, KTN News Tuesday, 20 August 2019 ![[Image: 8Q6uY3A.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/8Q6uY3A.jpg) Chancellor Stella Kaufman addresses the National Assembly Stockholm (KTN) — On Tuesday, the Citizens Assembly voted 27–23 in favour of the Expansion of Security Powers Act 2019, which brings comprehensive reforms to the security services of the Valkyrian government. The legislation, which has come to be known as ESPA 19, has been pursued by Chancellor Stella Kaufman since June 2017, long before she was in government. ESPA 19 has been a source of controversy with Opposition Leader Avianna Aldridge calling it a "bill of authoritarianism". However, Kaufman rationalised ESPA 19 as a "tool to eliminate all threats to the Valkyrian Republic". Shortly after the bill's passage in the Citizens Assembly, several opposition leaders have stated that they will pursue constitutional litigation against ESPA 19, claiming that the legislation is a violation of the right to privacy.
With the passage of ESPA 19, the legislation authorises the creation of the Strategic Intervention, Emergency Guard, and Enforcement (SIEGE) Component, a government agency given intelligence, military, and police powers. Now that SIEGE has been created, the agency will assume jurisdiction over the Special Operations Centres of the Intelligence Directorate-General, the Valkyrian Special Services within the military, and the National Tactical Intervention Force within the National Police. The agency will also oversee all special operations that the Departments of Defence and Intelligence used to do in conjunction. SIEGE will consist of six sections: administration, medical, operations, police, support, and technology. ESPA 19 intends for each section to be complementary in the execution of special operations.
The new government agency will be headed by a director, who will be accountable to a three-member body called the SIEGE Oversight Council (SOC), which shall consist of the Foreign Secretary, the Home Secretary, and the Defence Secretary. Each of the six sections will be led by a chief appointed by the director. By creating SIEGE and giving it powers similar to the Valkyrian Defence Forces, the agency circumvents the Valkyrian Constitution, which requires parliamentary authorisation for the deployment of the VDF to conduct military operations. With SIEGE in existence, the agency will have the power to conduct operations anywhere in the world without the approval of Parliament. While Opposition Leader Aldridge states that ESPA 19 is "taking advantage of a constitutional loophole", the Coalition says that the SOC will provide adequate oversight.
The new law further defines state of emergency in Valkyria, which was given a broad definition in the Constitution. ESPA 19 establishes three levels of state of emergency: Class 1 for warfare and insurgency, Class 2 for organised mass civil disobedience, and Class 3 for natural disaster. However, Socialist leader Amalia Rollins argues that the Class 1 state of emergency provisions of ESPA 19 are "tantamount to imposing martial law". A Class 1 state of emergency immediately mobilises the National Gendarmerie and a clause entitled Procedure 94 enforces a shoot-to-kill policy for civil and military police. Home Secretary Nicole Chancellor stated that the provisions were necessary to protect to the Valkyrian Republic from invasion and insurgency, "These provisions are essential to the security of the state."
ESPA 19 introduces reforms to the National Police by closing the Office of Cultist Movement Investigations (OCMI) and opening the Office to Counter Political Repression (OCPR). In her unveiling of the final bill, the home secretary denied the existence of cultist groups in Valkyria and stated that it was a "left-wing conspiracy theory". Instead, the National Police has been given a mandate to investigate claims that a person's freedoms and liberties are being infringed upon. Chancellor said that religious groups and right-wing personalities were being "silenced by the left" and it was for this reason to create the OCPR. The Leader of the Populists of the Left, however, disagrees. In a press conference, Taeler Shaw warned that the OCPR was being formed with the intent to "suppress the political power of her party in favour of The New Right".
Despite the passage of ESPA 19, President Kate Murphy has stated that she will pursue judicial review of the legislation to determine its constitutionality. This is distinct from signing the bill outright.
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The Valkyrian Constitutional Court declared several internet regulatory provisions of ESPA 19 unconstitutional, but has allowed the rest of the bill to enter into effect.
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Avianna Aldridge and Julia Burns have moved on to the final round of the Labor Party leadership election. The party membership will vote on 14 September.
Have a comment? ![[Image: 4CTp5eH.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/4CTp5eH.jpg) Valkyrian news | VRSOG veteran designated to lead SIEGE By Allie Vega, KTN News Monday, 2 September 2019 Stockholm (KTN) — Valkyrian Special Services Commander Kara Beckett has been selected by the SIEGE Oversight Council (SOC) to become the director of the Strategic Intervention, Emergency Guard, and Enforcement (SIEGE) Component. Until recently, Beckett had lived in obscurity as an operative in the Valkyrian Republic Special Operations Group (VRSOG), Valkyria's most elite and secretive military unit. To become the director of SIEGE, Beckett's identity was declassified and made public, which effectively ended her service in the VRSOG. The director-designate is the first person to be revealed as a member of the elite special operations unit. While her identity has become public knowledge, the clandestine operations that Beckett has participated in will still remain a government secret.
The formation of SIEGE has been a controversial issue with opposition parties arguing that the agency will be used to promote authoritarianism within and beyond Valkyria. After the passage of the Expansion of Security Powers Act 2019, the bill that formed the agency, Opposition Leader Avianna Aldridge accused the government of "initiating a fear campaign with SIEGE at its helm". A legislative aide from the Labor Party stated that most of the party leadership is unwilling to comment on the appointment of Beckett as the director of SIEGE because she is "an unknown quantity". Shadow Defence Secretary Julia Burns, who was once a member of the Neptune Group naval special operations unit, spoke in Parliament on the appointment, "We hope that the director of SIEGE will be forthcoming and transparent during her leadership. Ms. Beckett will no longer operate under military secrecy."
While most members of the opposition have either been quiet or disapproving of the appointment, Socialist deputy leader Steve Bennett said that he was confident that Beckett would "lead honourably". Bennett, who serves in the Valkyrian military reserve as a captain in Neptune Group, said that he served alongside Beckett in the Great War of 2014 and stated that he believes that SIEGE will be "in good hands". The declassified documents pertaining to Beckett show that, before 2016, she served in Neptune Group as a lieutenant commander, giving credibility to Bennett's claims. The SOC, which consists of Foreign Secretary Bradley Murphy; Home Secretary Nicole Chancellor; and Defence Secretary Elena Haig; issued a joint statement in which they said that Beckett is "more than qualified to lead the security services to ensure a safer and more secure Valkyria".
Have a comment? ![[Image: r61wVjX.png]](https://i.imgur.com/r61wVjX.png) Valkyrian politics | Aldridge elected Leader of the Labor Party By Tara Cross, KTN News Saturday, 14 September 2019 On Saturday, the membership of the Labor Party voted between Avianna Aldridge and Julia Burns to determine which one would become the leader of the party and, consequently, the Leader of the Opposition. In the leadership election between former Foreign Secretary Aldridge and former Defence Secretary Burns, 64.9 per cent of the party membership sided with the former, who has been the parliamentary leader of the party since 2017. With the election being certified by the Electoral Commission, Aldridge's position as acting leader has been upgraded to Leader of the Labor Party. Upon being named the elected party leader, Aldridge designated Burns to become the deputy leader of the Labor Party. Despite being opponents in the election, the two candidates have been friends for years and were part of the so-called Big Three alongside Margaret Harrison in 2016.
With the Labor Party being in opposition for the first time since 2016, Aldridge stated that she will work as a part of the Alliance of Social Democrats to regain a majority in Parliament. After the 2019 general election, the Alliance consists of only three political parties: the Labor Party, the Populists of the Left, and the Socialist Party. Leading up to the election, The Greens and the Liberal Party chose not to renew their partnership with the Alliance, which Aldridge said was "detrimental" to the bloc's electoral performance in July. Populist Left leader Taeler Shaw and Socialist leader Amalia Rollins posted congratulatory messages to Aldridge on Stream. On the social media network, Shaw and Rollins reaffirmed their respective parties commitment to the Alliance and expressed hope that the bloc would return to government in the years to come.
While there were messages of congratulations from the political left, members of the governing bloc criticised the newly elected opposition leader. Chancellor Stella Kaufman gave a sarcastic message of congratulations before claiming that the Valkyrian people "will never elect" her to become Chancellor. Home Secretary Nicole Chancellor, who had previously served as Leader of the Opposition whilst being the Leader of The New Right, gave a speech in the National Assembly in which she said that the Labor Party has become "authoritarian in nature by only allowing supporters of the former Chancellor [Margaret Harrison] to thrive in their party". In contrast to the criticism coming from the other party leaders of the New Conservative Coalition, Foreign Secretary and Centrist Democratic leader Bradley Murphy simply congratulated the newly elected Leader of the Opposition before moving on to talk about foreign policy.
In her first post on Stream since leaving office, Harrison congratulated Aldridge and thanked Burns for her attempt to become the Leader of the Labor Party, calling them her "sisters".
Have a comment? ![[Image: hNRMYqh.png]](https://i.imgur.com/hNRMYqh.png) Valkyrian politics | Parliament passes restrictions on immigration By Allie Vega, KTN News Wednesday, 25 September 2019 Stockholm (KTN) — On Wednesday, the Citizens Assembly voted 26–24 to pass the Immigration Regulatory Act 2019 (IRA 19), a bill that was sponsored by Home Secretary Nicole Chancellor. With support from the New Conservative Coalition, the bill passed through the National Assembly on 8 September, but faced staunch opposition from the Alliance of Social Democrats, other opposition parties, and civil rights groups. Now the bill heads to President Kate Murphy, who has the power to sign it, send the bill back for a fourth reading, seek judicial review, or put the bill to a national vote in a referendum. The president has stated that she believes the bill to be unconstitutional.
While the Home Secretary celebrated the passage of IRA 19, Opposition Leader Avianna Aldridge called the bill an "affront" to Valkyrian principles, "Valkyria has a history of welcoming migrants and providing safety and shelter for them. This bill represents all that is antithetical to our culture and to our hearts." However, Chancellor countered Aldridge by claiming the purpose of IRA 19 is to "preserve the culture of Valkyria". On the floor of the National Assembly, the Home Secretary argued that immigrants "continue to speak their own languages, proselytize their own religions, wear strange clothes and eat strange foods instead of assimilating into Valkyrian culture". Members of the opposition and civil rights groups immediately condemned what they called "offensive and hateful rhetoric" from the Home Secretary.
The bill reduces the immigration quota from 50,000 to 10,000 and favours immigrants who are "likeliest to assimilate" as determined by the Valkyrian government. Immigrants who seek to become citizens will need to be able to fluently read, write, and speak Valkyrian. IRA 19 will enforce a five-year moratorium on refugees and limit the number of those granted asylum to 500. The bill also restricts the religious activities of noncitizens. Socialist leader Amalia Rollins, a junior leader of the Alliance, has claimed that the restrictions are unconstitutional, "The bill violates the constitutionally-protected freedom of religion and there are discriminatory measures. For these reasons, there must be judicial review."
IRA 19 is the second bill of the current parliamentary term to be considered controversial. The first bill was the Expansion of Security Powers Act 2019 (ESPA 19), which created a government agency with military, police, and intelligence powers. Chancellor Stella Kaufman had begun seeking the passage of ESPA 19 when she took office as a Member of Parliament in 2017. In September, Nicole Chancellor, who serves as the junior leader of the Coalition and Leader of The New Right, got her turn to pass a bill that she has been fighting for ever since she became the Leader of the Opposition in 2016. IRA 19 was passed with the support of the Conservative Party and the Centrist Democratic Party. In October, the Coalition will aim to pass a bill to privatise some state-owned enterprises, a move supported by Centrist Democratic leader Bradley Murphy.
Have a comment? ![[Image: tbZb6hV.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/tbZb6hV.jpg) Valkyrian politics | Murphy seeks judicial review for IRA 19 By Lyle Williams, KTN News Monday, 30 September 2019 Stockholm (KTN) — Amid global backlash against the bill, Valkyrian President Kate Murphy has referred the Immigration Regulatory Act 2019 (IRA 19) to the Constitutional Court for judicial review on Monday. Since the passage of the bill in Parliament on 25 September, there have been protests across the country and the world against IRA 19. In Valkyria and elsewhere, protesters have expressed concern for the treatment of undocumented migrants at detention centres and the religious freedoms of noncitizens. In spite of these protests, the Valkyrian government does not seem to be standing down and hope that all provisions of IRA 19 will take effect after a judicial ruling on the bill.
Home Secretary Nicole Chancellor, who sponsored the bill, told The Macais Journal on Friday that "IRA 19 is constitutional in whole and complaints against the bill are unfounded". In response to unrest outside the Valkyrian embassy in Castiana, Foreign Secretary Bradley Murphy issued a statement of condemnation against the protesters, calling them "rioters". In the statement, the foreign secretary called upon the Ryccian government to "take effective measures against those who wish harm upon Valkyrian citizens in the country" and warned that any harm done to Valkyrian diplomatic personnel could result in the "closure" of the Valkyrian embassy in Castiana. Chancellor Stella Kaufman made a public statement in which she argued that IRA 19 was "thoroughly reviewed" by the parliamentary counsel to determine the bill's constitutionality and compatibility with existing law.
However, Opposition Leader Avianna Aldridge has disputed the claims made by the government with regard to IRA 19. The opposition leader told the KTN that the parliamentary counsel was given "less than two weeks" to inform Parliament on the bill's constitutionality by the New Conservative Coalition. In her statement, Aldridge said, "Not only will the Constitutional Court declare the vast majority of provisions in the bill unconstitutional, but the General Courts will take up the legal cases we have brought before them on the matter of migrant detention centres and several other issues." The opposition leader is confident that the status quo of Valkyrian immigration policy will be maintained and stated that "the contents of IRA 19 hearken back to a shameful time in our history when we violently eliminated people because they didn't speak Valkyrian or adhere to the Valrissi religion".
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![[Image: nhAgYuD.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/nhAgYuD.jpg) International politics | Kaufman maintains "right of nuclear defence" By Tara Cross, KTN News Friday, 4 October 2019 Stockholm (KTN) — After Ryccia announced that the country will rebuild their nuclear arsenal, Chancellor Stella Kaufman announced that the Valkyrian Republic will reassert their "right of nuclear defence" and condemned what she calls "unnecessary provocation" by Ryccia. On the floor of the National Assembly, the chancellor said, "Everyone knows that Bruuma is a threat to peace and democracy in the world, but overt statements meant to provoke the Bruuman state are not only irresponsible but dangerous to the security and stability of the Valkyrian Republic and the region." Kaufman said that the Valkyrian nuclear arsenal will be maintained, but did not address whether more nuclear weapons will be produced as a result of this international development.
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![[Image: LMfawxn.png]](https://i.imgur.com/LMfawxn.png) International politics | Murphy concerned about rhetoric from Ela and Ryccia By Tara Cross, KTN News Saturday, 5 October 2019 Stockholm (KTN) — Valkyrian Foreign Secretary Bradley Murphy issued a statement expressing concern about the rhetoric coming from Ela and Ryccia, "Their unprovoked and unnecessary actions have brought the region closer to widespread war." The foreign secretary has stated that the Valkyrian Republic will not participate in any possible conflict between these states, but will take legislative and defence measures to "ensure the integrity of the Valkyrian Republic". Murphy further elaborated that these measures may include more immigration restrictions, a public declaration of neutrality, and increased funding of SIEGE and the Valkyrian Defence Forces.
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![[Image: The_Ride_of_the_Valkyrs.jpg]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/The_Ride_of_the_Valkyrs.jpg) Valkyrian politics | Court allows most IRA 19 provisions to enter into effect By Lyle Williams, KTN News Monday, 7 October 2019 Stockholm (KTN) — On Monday, the Constitutional Court held that most of the provisions of the Immigration Regulatory Act 2019 are constitutional with only a few provisions either struck out or judicially interpreted. The court determined that it was unconstitutional to prevent noncitizens from adhering to their religions, but also stated that Parliament can restrict people from proselytizing. As such, noncitizens will not be allowed to convert others to their own religions within the Valkyrian Republic. The civil rights group, United Religions Organisation, has argued that the decision reached by the Constitutional Court "essentially makes Valrissi the state religion of Valkyria".
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