2034-35 Persian Constitutional Crisis

Participants

The **2034-35 Persian Constitutional Crisis** occurred between November 17, 2034 and August 15, 2035 when President Geena Kulmuni refused to call a presidential election on the designated date of November 17, 2034, citing articles of the Persian constitution and the threat posed by the Bovido Imperium's Conquest of Africa. Doing so generated much political opposition, largely led by opposition leader Hassen Ahmed, leader of the second largest party in the Persian Congress, and ultimately resulted in Prime Minister Muhammed Abdulla leading an attempted coup d'état in March 2035, forcing President Kulmuni to briefly flee the capital Nupersia, before being re-instated with the assistance of the congress, which passed a motion to recognise Kulmuni as the sole legitimate president with the assistance of Hassen Ahmed, who distanced himself from the coup forces.

Despite surviving the coup, President Geena Kulmuni remained under intense international and internal pressure to hold new elections, although with the backing of the Shanghai Pact and the Libirachi Empire, she was able to weather most of the criticism, appointing Hassen Ahmed to the post of prime minister in an attempt to try to mull the political pressure. Ultimately however on August 15, 2035, President Kulmuni and Prime Minister Ahmed signed a transition agreement which allowed Kulmuni to remain in place until elections were held on November 17 of the same year, in which she was not allowed to run again as president. With both the Libirachi Empire and Kulmuni realising their power over the Persian Republic was slipping, Kulmuni negotiated the Persian Republic's entry into the Shanghai Pact's Coordination Council, signing over all international and defence policy control over to General Secretary Stanford Newman, a puppet of the Beijing administration, before herself standing for election as General Secretary in November 2035, assuming control of the Coordination Council on November 20, 2035, just 3 days after loosing her presidency of Persia.

## History

Following a year of conflict with the Bovido Imperium during the Conquest of Africa, the Persian Republic found itself embattled, having lost Prime Minister Emanuel Parra during the Raid on Nupersia in November 2033, the government of President Geena Kulmuni began to attempt to centralise power to the executive branch in order to deal with the war. Citing Article IV of the 2024 Persian Constitution, on October 7, 2034 President Kulmuni refused to call elections in November 2034 and instead expanded her presidential term using legally dubious means, resulting in a constitutional crisis and a split within her own political party as former backbench members of the Persian Congress began to call for new elections to be held. As plans for the Shanghai Pact began to be drawn up in late 2034, President Kulmuni began to syphon power to the organisation's Coordination Council in early 2035, resulting in further protests against the executive office.

With opposition being led by Union for Persia leader Hassen Ahmed, the government of President Geena Kulmuni and Prime Minister Muhammed Abdulla found itself under intense scrutiny in February 2035 as Ahmed led parliament to formally call for new presidential elections. Following a flurry of senators defecting from the Progressive party on March 1st, Prime Minister Abdulla resigned his office and dismissed his Council of Ministers and joined with the opposition in calling for the removal of Kulmuni, orchestrating a build-up in militias around the capital city of Dubai. On March 17, 2035 following street battles with government security forces, Muhammed Abdulla proclaimed an alliance of militias known as the United Front and declared himself to be the rightful president, as mob forces backed by defected members of the army overran the city of Dubai and forced President Geena Kulmuni to flee the capital, retreating to Abu Dhabi where she began to coordinate a national response to the group.

Ultimately despite his opposition to president Kulmuni, opposition leader Hassen Ahmed led members of the former Persian Congress to denounce the militias and mobs who had overrun the capital, mobilising the army to retake the city. As street fighting overran the capital city, Ahmed created his own Council of Ministers to lead the government response to the crisis, whilst President Geena Kulmuni returned back to the city on March 23rd, 2035. Upon her return and the final elimination of the United Front on the 26th, Hassen Ahmed was appointed as prime minister to form a coalition government, whilst negotiations between Ahmed and Kulmuni opened as to how to resolve the crisis, with General Secretary Stanford Newman of the Shanghai Pact acting as a mediator to allow for talks to work effectively. Ultimately on August 15, 2035, President Kulmuni and Prime Minister Ahmed signed a transition agreement which allowed Kulmuni to remain in place until elections were held on November 17 of the same year, in which she was not allowed to run again as president. With both Libirachi leaders Penny Fox and Karyn Voor as well as President Kulmuni realising their power over the Persian Republic was slipping, Kulmuni negotiated the Persian Republic's full entry into the Shanghai Pact's Coordination Council, signing over all international and defence policy control over to General Secretary Stanford Newman, a puppet of the Beijing administration, before herself standing for election as General Secretary in November 2035, assuming control of the Coordination Council on November 20, 2035, just 3 days after loosing her presidency of Persia.