2016 Jonathian political crisis

The 2016 Jonathian political crisis was a political shift that occurred between the dates of 20 October and 8 November 2016. A coup d'état inside the Republican Party, then the ruling party of Jonathia, caused then-prime minister Andrew Harvings to be briefly impeached and replaced by Secretary of Citizen Affairs, Lily Bullerston, who was elected upon an internal party vote. However, chaos ensued within both the government and the parliament, and under the threat of an early election, the coup leaders resigned, and Harvings' government was reinstated.
The coup d'état greatly affected the popularity of the Republican Party. With the realization that the government was unstable, many politicians became fiercer during campaigns, and Republican polling numbers began to plummet. After the 2017 Jonathian general election, many people who devised the coup split off from the party, and formed the Conservative Party.
== Background ==
Andrew Harvings had always been a mixed bag among his fellow Republicans. Many of the party's members were against plenty of his views, accusing him of being too centrist in a party largely made up of conservatives.
==Timeline of events ==
===Deposition of PM Harvings===
While visiting the island of Coamben on October 20th, 2016, back in Jonathia, the Republican Party's caucus met in secret to discuss a possible coup of the party. Alot of MPs agreed that something had to be done. After much debate, it was agreed to depose Harvings as leader of the Republican Party, and possibly as prime minister. To depose Harvings as prime minister would mean to take the deposition act to parliament, of which the Republicans did so swiftly, calling an emergency meeting of parliament.
Even before the vote had taken place, there was a problem with the bill. Jonathia's constitution, at the time, prevented prime ministers from being impeached unless a proper trial headed by the Supreme Court was initiated, and even then would the court need to pass the bill with a majority. To circumvent this, the anti-Harvings members of parliament added a clause to the bill declaring the Supreme Court trial null and void - a section that would technically be null and void itself because of the constitution.
Upon the reveal of the bill, reactions from the parliament were mixed; many were confused why an impeachment trial was being declared without proper notice, others were excited to get rid of what they saw as an aging and confusing leader. The Liberal Party, who would later go on to oppose the impeachment, voted unanimously, bar three MPs - Aliyah Williams, Jonas Albert, and Boris Ribbing, to depose Harvings. Ultimately, the Republican MPs would become divided over the vote. The only members of parliament who did not vote were Republican MP Reed Ireton, who was not in attendance due to having come down with a case of the flu, and Republican Secretary of Citizen Affairs Lily Bullerston, who had a sore throat at the time.
Party	Party 	Votes for	Votes against	Abstained/Absent
 	Republican Party	36 	28 	2
 	Liberal Party 	51 	3 	-
Total	Total 	87 	31 	2
===Immediate aftermath of the impeachment vote===
Immediately after the vote passed, parliament was put on recess while a new cabinet was formed. Secretary of Citizen Affairs Lily Bullerston was chosen as the new prime minister, though she had no idea something was even occurring as she had taken sick leave the previous day due to a sore throat. Bullerston would largely be a figurehead with most decisions being made by a newly-formed Council of Ministers. The passports of Harvings, as well as his family and several of his aides, all of which had accompanied him to Coamben, were revoked. Some hours after the vote, deputy prime minister John Clyde notified Harvings of the situation. Clyde continued to run the actual government at Dybridge Street while the new government was based out of a makeshift office inside of the Westwharf Palace.
Reactions to the coup from the public were, as with parliament, mixed. A massive demonstration occurred at the parliament at 5:36pm JST. Police were ordered to bar demonstrators from entering the Westwharf Palace premises. At around 7:30pm JST on October 20th, one of the four chairmen of the Council of Ministers, Olaf Huggenfeld, publicly addressed the nation. His speech, lasting seven minutes, detailed several reasons for the coup. This was not satisfactory for the demonstrators, who began an attempt to scale the fence of the Westwharf Palace. This failed after police began firing tear gas into the crowd and threatened to use lethal force if needed. All demonstrators vacated the Westwharf area by around 8:12pm. At 9:00pm exactly, Harvings took to the air, stating that he would "use the army if necessary" to quell the Council of Ministers.
=== Tensions escalate ===
=== Bullerston resignation and breach of Westwharf Palace ===
=== Final meeting and surrendering of Council of Ministers ===
==Aftermath==
Many of the conspirators of the crisis, including Huggenfeld, were arrested and jailed on nine charges of usurping the government. Several government positions remained vacant while Harvings returned to government. Bullerston was pardoned by Harvings on November 25th, 2016. Several members of parliament who supported the coup but were not necesarilly part of the Council of Ministers would later break off from the Republican Party to form the Conservative Party, with Chaise Fleur as it's leader.
===Reactions===
Within Jonathia, reactions to the crisis were mixed and varied between political orientation. The Liberal Party opposed the coup, saying in a statement that while they were not happy with Harvings' rule, they would not tolerate coup d'états inside or outside the government. However, newly-appointed Liberal MP and future prime minister Jonas Albert stated that the coup "exposed how fragile Jonathian politics are".
The national media was also divided as to their opinions. Of the major broadcasters, Fox, C11, and NBC sided with Harvings and the government, while 4NET, TV7, Sky, and JSB sided with the coup. JBC remained neutral during the situation. Most newspapers, tabloids, and online news sources opposed the coup, as did ACIMA and the Lilac Alliance.
International reaction was largely in favour of the Jonathian government. The Commonwealth of Nations and the GUIS both denounced the coup and all members of the Council of Ministers. Lyvena's prime minister, Keith Lywood, offered Harvings assistance in regaining control of Jonathia. After some debate amongst his cabinet, Harvings politely declined.
Category:2016 Jonathian political crisis
Category:2016
Category:Jonathia
Category:Conflicts
Category:Politics
Category:Coup d'etats
Category:Republican Party of Jonathia