The Proclamation (Political Crisis)

The **Proclamation**, otherwise known as the **2022 political crisis** is a political crisis that happened in the Republic of Calliebrium. It was triggered after the Deputy Prime Minister Emilios Theofanis established the Greek Liberal Party (GLP) despite receiving objection from the Prime Minister, and several Members of Parliament (MPs) of the 1st Calliebrimium Parliament changing party support, leading to the loss of a parliamentary majority, the collapse of two successive governments, and the resignation of two Prime Ministers. The political crisis culminated in a 2023 snap general election and eventual formation of a coalition government.

In October 2022, a development commonly dubbed the **Proclamation**, saw the fall of the ruling Jeremiah Nikolaidis administration and the resignation of the Prime Minister after just a few months in power. They were replaced by the Coalition of Current Freedoms (CoCF) coalition government led by Prime Minister Emilios Theofanis. Political instability continued after these changes throughout 2022 and into 2023, exacerbated by the Federalization Protests. This culminated with the resignation of Emilios Theofanis and his cabinet in April 2023 after losing support from a right-wing faction within the coalition government, culminating in a snap general election.

The crisis started with division in the ruling Libertarian Republican Party (LRP) government led by Prime Minister Jeremiah Nikolaidis. This began due to Deputy Prime Minister Emilios Theofanis attempting to thwart the process of tabling the Anti-Ethnic Bill, a controversial law that would remove race-labelling in all levels of the government. Many saw this law as draconian and an attempt to take away minority rights and the erasure of unique heritages and identities. Several MPs began discussing forming a new political party to represent the Greeks in the republic, which saw fierce objection from the PM. The MPs then began plotting to overthrow the government by claiming majority seats and support in the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the bicameral Parliament of Calliebrium, without going through a general election.

They accomplished it through the withdrawal of support via the signing of Statutory Declarations (SDs), with all MPs of the government withdrawing support from the PM and pledging support to Emilios Theofanis.

Calliebrium's Head of State, the Lord Protector Sir Ethan Dimitrios, then met with all MPs and political party leaders to gauge their support for a new prime minister. He ultimately appointed the new president of the LRP, Emilios Theofanis as the second prime minister. After several MPs jumping ship to the newly established Greek Liberal Party (GLP), Theofanis then declared his coalition government as the Coalition of Current Freedoms (CoCF)

The LRP, also experienced changes. The left-wing faction of the party, and sympathizers to Jeremiah Nikolaidis were either expelled from the party entirely or have resigned to join the Workers' Homeland Integration Party (WHIP). Some grassroots and leaders of the party who are of Greek descent have opted to join the Greek Liberal Party (GLP) as well.

Political instability continued after the change in government. Calliebrium declared a State of Emergency in 2023 amid the worsening Federalization Protests and the publication of the SV-33, which materialised into the SV-33 diplomatic crisis, which destabilised the coalition. The coalition was divided on the appropriate response towards the crisis, with Defense Minister Mikhail Toelau hoping to declare war against the United Socialist States of Xernea, while the PM wanted to continue the alliance with them. After the crisis have ended, Toelau led a faction against the Prime Minister and resigned from the government, subsequently causing the government to collapse as the coalition lost majority support. The crisis culminated in an early general election in 2023 which produced a hung parliament; Jeremiah Nikolaidis was eventually appointed as prime minister to lead a coalition government.

## Background and key people

* **Jeremiah Nikolaidis**, 1st and 3rd Prime Minister.
* **Emilios Theofanis**, 1st Deputy Prime Minister and 2nd Prime Minister
* **Giannis Everette**, former secretary-general of LRP and president of the GLP
* **Sir Ethan Dimitrios**, 1st Lord Protector of Calliebrium
* **Mikhail Toelau**, secretary-general of LRP and former Defence Minister of the Theofanis administration
* **Diana Talatonu**, president of the SPNP (formerly SSPP)

The Libertarian Republican Party (LRP) was the former ruling party in Calliebrium since independence until the 2nd General Election. Established since 1815, the party was led by Jeremiah Nikolaidis to establish the Republic of Calliebrium in 2022. The LRP became dominant in Calliebrimium politics after winning the 2022 General Election with 28 seats out of 45 seats and formed the first government of the republic. Jeremiah was the president of the LRP and the first Prime Minister while Emilios Theofanis, who is regarded as Jeremiah's "left-hand man", served as the Deputy Prime Minister and deputy president of the LRP.

Emilios Theofanis was the deputy president of LRP and had served as a political secretary of Jeremiah from 2019-2021 before being appointed as deputy president and personal assistant during the Independence Discussions with the United States of America and the United Nations. He was introduced to Jeremiah in Greece after a speech at the Parthenon in 2019 by a mutual friend. The pair shared the same ideology and bonded because of it, Emilios later joined the LRP and became Jeremiah's personal political secretary. After the 2022 General Election, as one of the "founding fathers" of the Republic of Calliebrium, Emilios was appointed Deputy Prime Minister. His relationship with Jeremiah had since turned sour after Jeremiah rejected the bid for the establishment of a Greek party. It culminated at the LRP's annual party meeting where Jeremiah made vague remarks about treachery and racism in his speech, which was believed to have targeted Emilios Theofanis.

Giannis Everette is the first president and a founding member of the Greek Liberal Party (GLP). He was the secretary-general of the LRP and had formerly served as the Economics Affairs Minister. After the resignation of Prime Minister Jeremiah Nikolaidis, he went on to establish the Greek Liberal Party (GLP) and became one of the founders of the Coalition of Current Freedoms (CoCF).

Sir Ethan Dimitrios was the first Lord Protector of the Republic of Calliebrium, the head of state of Calliebrium. The Lord Protectorate is an elected office and the election takes place in the lower house of Parliament, the House of Representatives. Sir Ethan Dimitrios is the first and only appointed Lord Protector of the Republic, appointed by the government of the United Kingdom before the inception of the Republic.

Mikhail Toelau is the secretary-general of the LRP and previously served as the Defence Minister during the Theofanis administration. During the SV-33 diplomatic crisis, Mikhail pushed for a declaration of war and the severance of diplomatic ties between Calliebrium and Xernea which did not materialise after a voting session in Parliament. After the SV-33 crisis, Mikhail led a faction of rebelling MPs and resigned from the government as well as from the parliamentary seats, leaving 10 seats in the House vacant, resulting in the loss of majority support for the Theofanis government and the commencement of a snap election.

Diana Talatonu is a founding member and president of the St. Peter's National Party (SPNP), formerly known as the Save St. Peter Party. She is a leading figure in the Federalisation Protests, a major uprising at St. Peter's Islands to push for federalization and devolution of the state government. The SPNP later formed an alliance with the LRP and the GLP to form the National Libertarian Coalition (NLC).

## Fall of the Nikolaidis Administration

### 13th September 2022

Since independence, the LRP led by Jeremiah Nikolaidis advocated for a civic nationalist identity in Calliebrium, not bounded by race, religion or heritage. As a response to increasing economic dominance of Greek immigrants in the Republic, MPs declared the need for the protection of the indigenous communities as well as a new party advocating for the needs of the Greek minority. Azel Emmanuel of the Homeland Coalition (HC), leader of the Opposition brought up the issue of Greek immigrants buying off land from indigenous communities with the excuse of development as reasoning. He proposed the need for the guarantee of protection of the communities from the government, which received overwhelming support from the native Pacific-Islanders and from certain government MPs. However, the Prime Minister dismissed the issue and continues to push for a Calliebrimium national identity as opposed to identities of races.

Deputy Prime Minister Emilios Theofanis privately met with Jeremiah Nikolaidis alone at the LRP headquarters and discussed the establishment of a Greek political party to better represent the Greek population, but it was rejected by Jeremiah. This is said to be the turning point for the relationship between the pair as it soon soured. During an annual party meeting later that night, Jeremiah made vague and insulting remarks as he called some MPs "treacherous" and "racist" but did not name the MPs mentioned.

### 14th September 2022

On 14th September 2022, Emilios Theofanis met with several MPs at the LRP Headquarters in Franciston without informing the president to discuss the formation of the Greek Liberal Party (GLP). Leaked audio files revealed that MP Giannis Everette alongside the right-wing faction of the LRP expressed their discontent towards Jeremiah Nikolaidis, calling him "weak" and claimed that he does not understand the "right policies needed". Some insiders claimed that it was an attempt to sway MPs to withdraw support from Jeremiah Nikolaidis and the left-wing faction of the LRP, ultimately ousting the Nikolaidis government and establishing a Greek-centric government.

That night, Emilios Theofanis declared the establishment of the Greek Liberal Party (GLP) despite objection from Jeremiah.

### 15th September 2022

Jeremiah Nikolaidis, as scheduled, tabled the Anti-Ethnic Bill, a law that seeks to abolish race-labelling in the republic, which is common practice especially on the government sector. However, he did not anticipate the growing discontent among government MPs and fellow party members. The right-wing faction of the LRP which has began dominating party politics expressed their disapproval of the proposed law as it is regarded as draconian and sidelines the indigenous communities. MPs such as Mikhail Toelau and Emilios Theofanis himself were strongly against the Anti-Ethnic Bill while left-wing MPs of the opposition sympathized with Jeremiah. The voting session on the law ensued and received 21 yeas to 24 nays. Disappointed from the result, the Prime Minister Jeremiah Nikolaidis resigned from the presidency but persists that he still retained majority support from the MPs and will continue serving as PM as an independent. Emilios Theofanis later assumed the position of the presidency as well as the premiership, challenging Jeremiah's claim to majority support. Jeremiah called the event as an attempt by Nazis to overthrow the government and went on to establish the Workers' Homeland Integration Party (WHIP). As an attempt to keep their portfolios, Government MPs of the left-wing faction of the LRP declared their support for the right-wing faction while the rest were expelled or have voluntarily resigned from the party. The right-wing faction cemented their power in the ruling party, having ousted the Nikolaidis government.

### 16th September 2022

On 16th September 2022, LRP held an extraordinary meeting at its headquarters in Franciston to elect a new party president. After the vote-counting, Emilios Theofanis was declared the new party president with an unanimous vote from the inner party. Later on, the newly elected Emilios formally declared the establishment and commencement of operation of the Greek Liberal Party (GLP) with the finalization of the High Council and the allocation of parliamentary seats from the LRP. After the meeting, he gave a speech outside the headquarters and proclaimed the "liberation of the people and the start of a new Calliebrium". This event was widely reported on local media as the Proclamation.

Emilios and his faction went to the National Palace that noon to seek an audience with the Lord Protector Sir Ethan Dimitrios. Leaders from the GLP such as Giannis Everette were also present during the meeting.