Shea Republic

## Shea/Shean Republic

Flag of Shea

4 Shean Islands

The **Shea Republic** or the **Shean Republic** is a country situated just northwest of Sheaman in the pacific ocean. The country was formed in 1999 after Theo & Barnova, Athudul, Shantahein, and Beatrice joined together to become the Shean Republic in 1999. Shea is generally considered a successful country with citizens enjoying free liberties and a generally not corrupt government however politics have been criticized for being somewhat polarized compared to Sheaman's politics.

The Shean Islands were discovered not long after the discovery of Sheaman in the 1680s and by 1709 all of the islands had been colonized by either the English or the French and eventually by 1709 they were all under British rule. The islands saw very little governance and attention throughout the 18th, and 19th century and the Maori/indigenous population felt misrepresented. Throughout the Maxifolian Rebellion Era of 1798 - 1844, the islands remained heavily neutral due to the lack of care in politics and because of the population's acceptance of British rule. in 1844 when Sheaman was given devolved governance the Shea Islands chose to remain as a colonial protectorate.

In early 1881 Sheans took to the streets (the capital of Beatrice) and declared the independence of the United Shean Republic which was largely ignored by Sheaman's government who saw it as unconstitutional. When war broke out between Sheaman and the UK, Sheans decided to side with Sheaman in hopes of independence but after the war in 1889 Sheaman refused to give Sheans independence and so they had to choose between rejoining the UK or joining Sheaman, and so the later was chosen.

Between 1924 and 1925 all of the islands gained independence with Theo & Barnova, Shantahein, Athudul, West Beatrice, and East Beatrice becoming independent countries. Some became dictatorships or authoritarian democracies and others becoming took the somewhat democratic path. Eventually in the 1950s, East and West Beatrice united under one country and eventually became more democratic throughout the rest of the century. In 1999 all of the countries finally came together and formed the Shea/Shean Republic and held their first election on the 1st of October 1999 leading to a left-wing government being formed. Shea's current government is the 2nd Right-Wing government who won the election after a surprise election result that favoured the right-wing parties.

### Before Formation: 1923 - 1999

In 1923 the islands of Theo & Barnova (jointly), Athudul, Shantahein, and Beatrice were offered independence referendums in which all the islands voted yes for independence. East Beatrice would gain independence first on the 1st of February 1924 as well as West Beatrice, then Athudul on the 6th of May 1924, Shantahein on the 14th of June, and then because of complications Theo & Barnova on the 10th of November 1925. All of the nations originally developed dictatorships or authoritarian-like democracies except from Shantahein which formed a somewhat democratic system two years after independence when they held their first election on the 3rd of March 1926.

### Formation of the Shea Republic & First Elections: 1999

*See Also: 1990s in Shea, 2000s in Shea*

On the 10th of October 1999 all four countries come together and officially form the Shea Republic with an election held on the same day. The election was the first election in the country and included six new parties including; NWL, ALT, DL, MOV, UNITED, COP and NAT and the 1999 Chamber of Deputies Election led to a general victory for the left with a coalition being formed on the 10th of November 1999 that included the Alternative Party, Democratic Labour Party and the Movement Party holding 158 seats in the chamber which is a +1 majority. That year the country would also hold the 1999 Presidential Election that led to the Alternative Party candidate, Vedastus Flann to be elected as President of Shea.

### Modern Day: 1999 - Present

*See Also: 2000s in Shea, 2010s in Shea, 2020s in Shea*

#### 1st Left-Wing Government: 1999 - 2008

The 1st Left-Wing Government would go on to legalize homosexuality and equalize the act of consent as a part of the Homosexuality Act 2000, allow divorces without a reason in the Divorce & Marriage Act 2000, and create the Shean Pound in the Currency Act 2001. The government was generally considered positive and opinion polls gradually grew as the 2002 Chamber of Deputies Election came around. The country was not economically powerful in their government as they had to use the Shea of Shea (the currency of Sheaman) which led to problems and when the Shean Pound was established the inflation rate started to climb and by the end of the year in 2002 the inflation rate was at 12% but that didn't stop the left from being elected once again in 2002.

In the 2002 Chamber of Deputies Election the Left parties would do even better than the last election and forming an all left coalition including the New Left Party, Alternative Party, and Democratic Labour party with a majority of +22 with the coalition holding 179 / 312 seats in the Chamber. The election was a landslide victory for the the left-wing parties and allowed the government to pass much more left-wing policies which they couldn't have done under their more moderate coalition they formed last election. The previous First Minister Declan Louise would resign as First Minister before the new government was formed and was replaced with Patrick Conrad after Declan Louise was accused of embezzling funds from the treasury. Conrad would continue the 1st Left-Wing Government and establish the and 1st Conrad Ministry with a massive amount of support from the public as the party promised to push for the nationalization of many industries in the country. The government would pass acts such as the Energy Nationalization Act 2002 that nationalized the energy industry and formed three different energy companies with a board of energy, the Bank of Shea Act 2002 that formed a national bank run by the government, Shea News Corporation Act 2003 that took ownership of the Shea News Corporations as a government-funded media corporation, and the Natural Resources Act 2005 that took control of the forest industry, and steal, iron & coal industry. Many conservatives were largely upset by the left-wing government in Shea and even some moderate leftists calling it "too left-wing" and "too socialist" for their liking. The leftist parties began dropping in the polls as early as late 2003 and throughout 2004 and 2005 it looked like the right-wing parties could form a government in the next election.

The 2005 Chamber of Deputies Election led to disappointing yet expected results for the left-wing parties. Alternative, Democratic Labour, and Movement would continue the 1st Left-Wing Government on the 20th of October 2005 under the leadership of First Minister, Patrick Conrad. The government's term was much more difficult than the last and because of Movement being a part of the coalition it meant that passing more left-wing acts couldn't happen. The government instead focused more on their progressive policy by passing the Equal marriage & Unions Act 2006 that legalized Civil Unions and Marriages for gay & lesbian people but allowing religious establishments to reject having a religious gay marriage and the government would even establish a national minimum wage in the national Minimum Wage Act 2007. Conrad would resign as First Minister on the 14th of June 2006 and Evan Illian would become First Minister.

#### Right-Wing Government: 2008 - 2020

The government started to experience problems in 2007 and 2008 and in the 2008 Chamber of Deputies Election the government was voted out with United Liberal, Conservative Populist, and National forming a government with a majority of 7 seats with the coalition controlling 164 / 321 seats in the chamber. Although the election was not a landslide as was expected for the right-wing parties it did still the right increase its seat count with parties such as New left, Alternative, Democratic Labour, and Movement all experiencing the worst elections results they ever had with Conservative Populist and National experiencing their best election result yet. Marlon Ideonia would be appointed First Minister of Shea and the government would begin with implementing acts such as the Abortion Act 2010 that banned abortions however the act would later be amended in the Abortion Act 2013 that decriminalized abortions but only until the 15th week of pregnancy. Marlon Ideonia would lead his party through the 2011 Chamber of Deputies Election that would result in an even larger majority government consisting of the same parties. The early 2010s were a bad time for the left-wing parties with a brief schism from the Alternative Party when 28 Deputies left the party and created the United Socialist & Green Party which lasted until 2013 when it dissolved any many of its members would go on to join New Left and Alternative. On the 26th of May 2014 Marlon Ideonia would resign as First Minister after being diagnosed with diabetes and considered himself "no longer fit to serve." After he announced his resignation he would be replaced by Magnus Takat and because of the trouble polls began to shift towards the left-wing parties for a brief period of time. When the 2014 Chamber of Deputies Election came around it was expected that the right-wing parties would experience a major loss in seats yet still be able to form a government but when it came to the election, the results ended up showing only a minor loss of seats for the right and so the same coalition was formed by Magnus Takat under the 2nd Takat Ministry. Between 2014 - 2017 the government would introduce much tougher laws on immigration that restricted some people from entering the country, enacting immigration quotas and making border security much more militarized and tougher. The government would also crack down on sex work by banning street prostitution calling it "A gross injustice to children and minors" as well as banning brothels/organized sex work only permitting individual sex work but introducing a sex worker license for those who decided to work in the industry.

The 2017 Chamber of Deputies Election was a massive disappointment for the right-wing parties and after the results were announced First Minister Magnus Takat would resign on the 12th of October 2017 after the "embarrassing" election results. As negotiations between parties began the Movement Party refused to work with New Left and so a coalition with NWL, ALT, DL and MOV couldn't happen and was brought down immediately. COP and UNION tried to achieve a coalition with MOV but initially failed to do so with a constitutional crisis appearing to take place as it was a constitutional requirement for a majority government to be formed after an election. It was rumored that a possible 2nd election would take place in January 2018 however MOV would eventually agree to form the coalition after being offered a First Minister after 1 year and half after the election. The coalition was formed with 160 / 312 seats in the chamber and Norton Bates being appointed First Minister of Shea on the 2nd of November 2017. The government would implement policies such as removing the inheritance tax completely, disallowing immigrants to enter the country if they couldn't speak English, and banning online gambling. After around a year and a half since the election Norton Bates would resign as First Minister and May Duncan would be appointed First Minister on the 20th of April 2019 and being the first MOV First Minister and first Women First Minister in Shea. In the 2019 Presidential Election instead of not putting forth a candidate as was tradition to support the coalition partner with the highest seat count Movement instead put forth their own candidate. This event led to the first 2nd round Presidential Election in Shea and Movement would vote for the Alternative candidate leading to Nikolas Reverend to be elected President of Sheaman. This majorly upset COP as they were supposed to have voted for the COP Presidential Candidate and in February 2022 COP would call a vote of no confidence in the First Minister but their vote would fail but in May due to the struggles of handling the COVID-19 Pandemic May Duncan would resign as First Minister. This event led to MOV calling for their party to chose another First Minister due to the agreement signed after the 2017 Chamber of Deputies election so COP and NAT agreed to appoint Kate Canton as the First Minister of Shea and she was appointed the same day of Kate Canton's leaving on the 6th of May 2020.

#### 2nd Left-Wing Government: 2020 - 2023

On the 10th of October 2020 the 2020 Chamber of Deputies Election was held and it led to a massive defeat for the right-wing parties as was expected with NWL, ALT, and DL winning 188 seats in total and forming the largest majority government ever formed in Shea with 188 seats as the government's majority. It was also the best election ever recorded for ALT and NWL and many political journalists considered this a massive victory for the left and the best victory yet. Ashton Eline was appointed First Minister for Shea on the 2nd of December after taking early two months to form a coalition and he would form the Eline Ministry on the same day. In June the Maternity & Paternity Leave Act is given Presidential Acceptance. The act increases fully-paid maternity leave to 12 months, an extra 6 months of half-paid maternity leave, and 12 months of unpaid maternity leave. It also introduces fully-paid paternity leave for 6 months, 3 months half-paid, 3 months quarter-paid, and 6 months unpaid.

#### 2nd Right-Wing Government: 2023 - Present

After the results of the 2023 Chamber of Deputies Election on the 14th of October, COP received the largest amount of seats and was instructed to form a government by President, Nikolas Reverend, on the 19th of October 2023. Leader of the Conservative Populist party, Christopher Shaw, begun coalition talks on the 20th of October and finalized coalition talks on the 6th of November 2023. Conservative Populist, United Liberal, Movement, and United Democracy, all entered into a coalition on the 6th of November with 158 seats - a +1 majority. The parties entered government on the 11th of November 2023 with Christopher Shaw as First Minister and Caleb Monroe as Second Minister.

## Geography

*Main Article: Geography of Shea*

Shea has five islands with all the islands being quite similar yet slightly different. Shantahein is known for being the coldest of the islands with its weather in the summer months ranging from 15° - 23° and in the winter months ranging from 9° - 18°. All of the islands are known for housing lush vegetation with Barnova being known for its massive peak in the centre of the island. All of the islands are largely inhabited except from Barnova only holding a few thousand inhabitants due to most of the island being covered by the Narobaro Mountain. As recent as 2020 Beatrice and Shantahein house a very similar amount of inhabitants standing at 212,000 as well as Athudul at a somewhat close 144,000 with the last Island, Theo with a population of just under 100,000. The islands all have a temperate climate somewhat similar to that of New Zealand with the islands sitting right beside a tectonic plate which means that the island chain experience a lot of natural disasters.

### Foreign Relations & Military

Shea is a relatively new country so foreign relations is quite a new thing in the country but apart from the lack of foreign relations the country is a member of the UN and has been since 2001, and although the country does not actively participate in foreign aid because of their weak economy they do still receive foreign aid from their predecessor Sheaman as well as New Zealand, Australia, the United States and China. The country is a part of the Sheaman Economic Union (SHECUN) and collaborates economically with Sheaman as to maintain a sustainable economy. Shea has a very small military and has been described as a "Palace guards" military by Wojchiech Govindaram in a speech in 2014 as the military in the country is very small, has outdated equipment and has very low funding. Luthando Kuran of Sheaman called for Shea to abolish their military and instead establish a protection from Sheaman but the 2nd Left-Wing Government refused to do so calling it an "attack against our sovereignty" by Ashton Eline.

### President

*Main Article: President of Shea*

Shea does have Presidential elections but they are held indirectly without the people's choice meaning that the President is picked by Congress who vote on a candidate to become President as well as that the President may only hold the position for two terms and is elected every five years. The President holds a largely insignificant role in the government largely covering ceremonial roles, signing bills into law and aiding the First Minister but they do also have some powerful roles such as appointing judges, exercising the power to pardon individuals, awarding honors and dissolving the Chamber of Deputies if constitutionally acceptable such as unconstitutional laws being attempted to be passed. The First President of Shea was Vedastus Flann who was an Alternative Party politician and was generally a very well supported President and largely apolitical. Vedastus Flann would win the 2004 Presidential Election as well but after serving two terms did not participate in the 2009 Presidential Election would led to the Conservative Populist candidate Darrel Miller to be elected who would go on to win the 2014 Presidential Election as well until stepping down for the 2019 Presidential Election. The 2019 Presidential Election led to the first 2nd round vote because instead of the Movement party supporting their coalition and voting for the COP candidate they instead put forth their own candidate. This would lead to a second round where MOV would vote for the ALT candidate and Nikolas Reverend would become President on the 1st of December 2019.

### First Minister

*Main Article: First Minister of Shea*

The First Minister of Shea is the most important role the government and holds significant powers such as: Forming the cabinet and dismissing it at their command, controlling the cabinet's policies and direction, rejecting a minister's policy, the power to deploy the armed forces at the discretion of the President, appointing party whips to semi-command MPs on how they vote, suspending or expelling MPs from the party, and appointing the chairman of the party. The First Minister holds other minor powers but those are the general powers of the First Minister and have slightly changed since Shea became a country such as the First Minister powers Act 2010 that shifted the power of deploying the military to the First Minister but only if the President suggests it.

The First First Minister was Declan Louise of the Alternative Party who was appointed to the position of First Minister as he was the leader of the party and was a major figure in the 90s for the creation of a united country involving the Shea islands. He would resign as Prime Minister a couple weeks after the election results of the 2002 Chamber of Deputies Election for being accused of embezzling funds from the treasury but would later contest the 2019 Alternative Party leadership election but came 2nd place losing to Ashton Eline. Patrick Conrad replaced Louise in 2002 and would remain First Minister until 2006 when Evan Ilian became First Minister and was relatively unpopular. Ilian would lose the 2008 Chamber of Deputies Election and would be replaced by COP leader Marlon Ideonia who would become the longest serving First Minister in Sheaman lasting until 2014 and leading two elections in his premiership. He would then be replaced by Magnus Takat who would resign in 2017 after the major seat loses in the 2017 Chamber of Deputies Election to then be replaced by Norton Bates until April 2019 when he resigned as a part of an agreement signed with MOV that guaranteed them to take the position of First Minister half way through the term so he was replaced by May Duncan. Duncan would resign just over a year later in May 2020 because of the COVID-19 crisis and was replaced by Kate Canton until losing the 2020 Chamber of Deputies Election and being replaced by First Minister, Ashton Eline. After losing the 2023 Chamber of Deputies Election, Ashton Eline resigned as First Minister and was replaced with Christopher Shaw of Conservative Populist on the 11th of November 2023 after serving as First Minister for 2 years and 343 days.

### Chamber of Deputies

The Chamber of Deputies is the only legislative body in Shea as the country uses a unicameral system and was first formed on the 10th of November 1999 nearly 24 years ago. It has hosted nine chambers with four being controlled by left-wing parties chambers and five being controlled by right-wing parties. The chamber holds 312 members since it was first created in 1999 and a majority in the chamber consists of 157 seats and there are four different electoral regions in Shea with Beatrice holding 100 seats, Shantahein holding 91, Theo & Barnova holding 48, and Athudul holding 73.

### Administrative Regions

The country is not a federal state but there are four different administrative regions in the country that hold some significant powers such as: education, health & social care, housing, justice, police, fire services, ambulance services, sports, culture, the environment, and probably most importantly tax rates. The five administrative regions are Beatrice, Shantahein, Athudul, and Theo & Barnova which all hold equal powers.