Arabia Felix

The Free State does not tax its citizens. Instead, government institutions (defence, prisons, parliament, courts) are financed through fees for using government services and certain trade routes, such as the Suez canal or the Bosporus, and through holding shares in corporates.

Education is subsidised.

## History

The founding of the *Free State of Arabia Felix* was only possible due to circumstance. Had it not been for the French Revolution, Napoleon, and the resulting struggles of the Old European Empires to keep their Domains together, Arabia would probably have ended up as a mix of Tribal dominions as well as Ottoman territories and British colonies.

### Context: Struggle in Europe

After Napoleon's phyrric victory over Russia in 1812, he had to return to Paris due to reports of rebellion against his rule. This was followed by a few decades of strife in Europe, which saw the downfall of Napoleon's regime and the rebirth of the Holy Roman Empire, among other things. It was this struggle which prevented the European powers to actively colonise the world directly, leaving this task to private entrepeneurs.

### The Construction of the Suez Canal

The Suez Canal Company, founded by *Ferdinand de Lesseps*, attracted many investors, among which was the excentric gentleman *Phileas Turner*. Turner had also invested in many coal fuel stations in the Ottoman Constantinople, making a fortune during the Crimean War. Part of this new wealth was used in a few risky business maneuvers, which yielded Turner the position of Pasha of Egypt, as well as a majority share of the Suez Canal Company by the Canal's completion in 1869.

### Turner vs. The British Monarchy

Turner's new position of power brought him new enemies. His apparent disapproval of the monarchy and other political ideas made him suspicious in the eyes of the British government. When prime minister Benjamin Disraeli tried to seize the majority share over the Suez Canal Company, Turner retaliated with a few hired mercenaries and allied Somali pirates, who would become heroes of the later Arabia Felix. In the ensuing conflict, Turner lost Western Egypt, but in turn seized Aden. The war ended when a new Cornish Republic overturned the United Kingdom.

### The Suez Era

With any bonds to Britain gone, Phileas Turner began to change the domain he controlled after his political ideas from his HQ in Suez, turning the Suez Canal Company slowly from a company to a sleek and efficient government. When socialist revolutions broke out in Mecca and Oman, he seized the opportunity to conquer most of the Arabian peninsula in the chaos, believing that these lands hold the "most important resource of the next century". These territories were the first to be called *Arabia Felix*, after an ancient Roman term for Southern Arabia. Phileas Turner died on 4th February 1882, aged 70.

### End of the Ottoman Empire

Following Phileas Turner's death, who ruled over his domain as monarch in all but name, his two children *Abraham Turner* and *Aaliyah Turner* came to inherit his empire. In the same year, the assasination of the Ottoman sultan encouraged socialist revolutionaries to come to the Turkish Black Sea Coast, and from there, to other parts of the Ottoman Empire. The Turners were quick to ally with the Archduke of Austria, with the intent to dissolve the Ottoman Empire and divide it among themselves after "saving" it from the Socialists. The plan worked, even though the socialists could not be pushed back as far as the Turners originally intended.

### The Aden Era

Neither Abraham nor Aaliyah Turner were really interested to rule over their father's heirloom in the long term, which is why they slowly prepared the formal unification of the various acquisitions and the republican constitution. Aden became the new HQ in 1883 on behalf of Abraham's wish, who preferred European elites to come into the country and developed trade with other countries. Aaliyah was supportive of educating the common people and building up homemade industry. A modern telegraph network was also established.

### Early Republic

On 6th September 1888, after general elections and the formation of the first parliament in Aden, Abraham and Aaliyah Turner stepped down and the minarchist constitution took effect. Since then, the Free State of Arabia Felix enjoyed a prosperous and mostly peaceful existence. The AFDF annexed Djibouti, a remainder of the French colonial empire, in 1889, and in 1892, Eritrea was bought from a neighbouring state for "shiploads of banana and an alliance".

## Administrative Divisions

As of December 1899, Arabia Felix was divided into 19 districts. Over the course of history, a few new districts were added.

## Politics

Parliamentary Elections follow the Mixed-Member Proportional System (details), with 30 seats distributed among constituencies and the remaining 60 seats from party lists. Only parties that receive more than 5% of the vote, 10% of the vote in a district or win 2 or more constituencies are represented in parliament.

Gubernatorial Elections for each district follow the Approval Voting System (details). While governors often are members of political parties, non-partisan governors are not that uncommon.

Parliamentary Elections and Gubernatorial Elections are held on the same day and are usually summarized under the term "general election". The use of these electoral systems was drafted by Phileas Turner himself.

### Political Parties

#### Social Liberal Party

Also known as *Aaliyahns*. Major positions of the party are the development of the Arabian economy through homegrown industry and subsidised education. The SLP also supports the strengthening of native culture to give Arabia Felix "a internationally well-known" identity, is in favour of women's suffrage and prefers to relocate the capital back to Suez. Like other mainstream parties, the Aaliyahns are minarchist and fiercely anti-tax.

The prime ministers *Jonathan Haddad*, *Jamal ibn al Lahad* and *Yildiz Ege* were members of the party.

#### Whig Party

Also known as *Abrahamists*. Major positions of the party are the development of the Arabian economy through attraction of foreign investment, trade, and educated people (scientists, engineers) as well as sale of natural resources and tourism. The Whigs favour the strengthening of the culture of European settlers and immigrants and an alliance with the Holy Roman Empire. Like other mainstream parties, the Abrahamists are minarchist and fiercely anti-tax.

The prime ministers *Sherlock Ricardo* and *Ali Erdogan* were members of the party. Furthermore, the long-reigning governor of Oman, *Jonathan Lissner*, is also member of this party.

#### Turner's Loyalist Party

The Turner's Loyalists were the big-tent party of the Free State between 1888 and 1893, before they split into the Social Liberal Party, the Whig Party, the Civil Rights Movement and the Royalist Monarchist Party. During this time, prime minister *William de Morgan* was a prominent politician of the party.

In 1908, the party was reformed by Aaliyah Turner, with the primary goal to end the war against Abessinia. The prime ministers *Aaliyah Turner* and *Alik Malas* were party members.

#### Labour Party

This party mostly focusses on worker's rights and is a proponent for the legal protection of trade unions and communes. The party also wants to introduce a publically funded social safety-net. Due to a throw-up with the Bolshevists during international conferences, leading politicians support or accept the TACO as protection against "The Motherland". Considerate of the political climate, Labour currently takes a Georgist stance, but is therefore moderately pro-tax.

Prominent politicians of this party were long serving foreign minister *Didier Le Roux* as well as *Jean Paul Martin*, the first governor of Djibouti.

#### Civil Rights Movement

Also known as *Yaleists*. The party is primarily focussed on reducing the amount of laws existing, believing that they take integral civil rights away from citizens such as jaywalking and piracy. More mainstream-compatible positions include open-sourcing technology, increasing military spending and a more amicable relationship with the monke nations of Africa. Like other mainstream parties, the Yaleists are minarchist and fiercely anti-tax.

Prominent politicians of the party are *Hira Cawl*, governor of Suez 1903-1913, and *Yale Yale Jr.*, governor of South Somalia 1893-1913.

#### Strong Government Party

Also known as *Statists*. The party is a heterogenous union of different people who want to increase security, be it through more police, stricter moral laws, gun laws or an outright dictatorship (though the latter is a minority position even among party members). A faction of the party wants to outlaw worker's strikes. Another faction favours leaving TACO and joining "The Motherland". Overall, the party is considered more authoritarian the mainstream parties, and also firmly pro-tax.

#### Other, smaller parties

* The *Communist Party* exists. Suspicions that the Communist Party serves as a puppet of "The Motherland" also exist.
* The *Muslim Brotherhood* supports Sharia Law and the Opening of Borders to the Mecca exclave. While they have no MPs, the governor of West Arabia is from this party.
* The *Zionist Union* is a zionist single issue party mainly active in the Jordan district.
* The *Arabian Mission* is a party catering to the needs of Christian missionaries and their convertees.
* The *Royalist Monarchist Party* aims to return the Turners (or one of them) as a monarch or quasi-monarch. They would later also support Jarl Balgruuf's ascension to the Arabian throne.
* *YUFKA* is a joke party for the most part. The only serious issue seen by observers is to end hunger in Arabia Felix by any means necessary.
* *Goilo was right!* is the party of those, who support the known murderer Antonio Goilo, a Garfield-Cultist.
* The *Free States Movement* advocates in favour of founding more de facto puppet states of Arabia Felix.
* *Independent Djibouti* is a splinter of Labour, which advocates for Djiboutian independence.
* *Salam* is another, anti-war splinter of Labour.

### The Legislative Branch of the Government

The government of the Free State of Arabia Felix is, as laid out in the constitution, divided into the branches of the legislative, the executive and the judicial branch. In Arabia Felix, the legislative branch consists only of the national parliament in Aden. There are, for the sake of balance and checks, other institution with influence on legislation, such as the government, the governors or the courts, but their legislative role is only secondary.

#### The Parliament

##### Election

The Parliament is elected every five years during the general elections. 30 MPs are winners of constituencies, elected by First Past the Post, while the remaining 60 MPs are added from party lists as additional members according to Mixed Member Proportional. All citizens above age 16 are eligible to vote and be elected. Women's suffrage was introduced in 1905 under the governance of Yildiz Ege.

MPs who drop out of office early are replaced by their replacement candidate, if elected from a constituency, or by the next member on the party list they were elected from.

##### Operation

Aside from legislation, the parliament has to approve any government budget. Furthermore, the parliament can veto government decisions after discussing these. Discussion of these issues is usually done in specialized commissions; Speeches in plenum usually only serve to summarize the position of a party or faction.

Any decision in parliament requires a simple majority of MPs. Changes of the constitution have to be accepted by a national referendum. While by common morals, MPs are responsible to their voters, the constitution states that they are \*first and formost\* only responsible to their conscience.

MPs usually form factions, which historically have always aligned with party membership (although this is not a hard requirement). Commissions have approximately the same share of MPs from each faction as in parliament. In a plenar debate, MPs who speak for their faction have a time restricted time alloted for speaking, which is calculated as `t = roundup(number of MPs / 10) minutes`.

In order to ensure efficient proceedings, MPs need to follow the "Parliament Rules", which forbid something like pummeling other MPs or illoyalty towards the constitution. The *Chairman of Parliament*, who is selected by sortition, moderates sessions and sees to it that the "Parliament Rules" are kept. The *Chairman of Parliament* is also the responsible court for cases where MPs are accused of a misdeed.

##### Checks

Decisions of the parliament can be vetoed by the outranking Constitutional Court as well as by a simple majority of governors. Due to unclear formulation, some law experts believe that the National Courts can jointly veto parliament decisions too, but there is no consensus about that.

#### Referenda

If a bill passed in parliament changes the constitution or, more rarely, the parliament decides to confirm a passed bill, a referendum is held. The same conditions as during the parliament's election apply for eligibility to cast a vote during a referendum.

A referendum confirms the parliament's decision if more than 50% of the voters vote in favour and if the participation rate is greater than 50%. In any other case, the referendum rejects the parliament's decision, if held. A referendum that has not been held (yet) does neither confirm nor reject a parliament's decision.

Referenda are only held if the parliament voted in favour of a bill. If the parliament rejected a bill, no referendum is held.

### The Executive Branch of the Government

The government of the Free State of Arabia Felix is, as laid out in the constitution, divided into the branches of the legislative, the executive and the judicial branch. The executive branch encompasses the military and the police in general, but their hirarchies shall not be discussed here. The governors and the ruling government including and limited to the prime minister and the ministers are considered part of the executive branch, but the president and chairman of parliament are not.

#### Mayors

Mayors for each township are township councillors who received the most votes. Elections are held every five years, but the exact time and date are subject to the township council's decision, as are restrictions on voters other than permanent habitation in the township. For example, Damascus allows only male citizens above age 21 to vote, while Acre, Jordan, permits men and women of all ages and citizenships to vote. Should a mayor drop out of office early, he is replaced by the councillor who received the next most votes.

The responsibilities of a mayor consist of issuing warrants and managing resources allocated by the district's governor. Mayors are also the head of civilian bureaucracy in their township, if there is any.

To prevent abuse of power, each decision has to be approved by the majority of township councillors. An outranking judge, usually the local District Court, can also veto a decision.

#### Governors

The governors are elected for each district by all male citizens of that district above age 16 every five years during the general election. These restriction have been debated since the founding of the Free State, with people demonstrating for women's and children's suffrage. (The question of children's suffrage attracted cringe people with interest in lowering the age of consent, which is the reason why children's suffrage is not that popular in the political discussion anymore.) There is no defined way to handle the case that a governor drops out of office for whatever reason, but it has become custom to hold a by-election.

Governors are responsible for administering civilian state affairs in a district. This includes issuing warrants, allocating school holidays and managing resources allocated by the central government to the district. They are also head of the civilian bureaucracy in that district. Some governors use their allocated resources to create a fund, build projects or to stimulate the economy.

To prevent abuse of power, governor decisions can be vetoed by outranking judges, usually the National Court of Suez or the National Court of Aden. Financial decisions can also be blocked by the parliament.

#### Ministers and Prime Minister

The central government is elected by the parliament in one batch. Age, sex or other attributes of the MPs don't matter. There is no consensus on how to handle ministers and prime ministers who drop out of office early.

Similar to how a board of directors administrates a company for the shareholders, the government manages the affairs of the state on behalf of the parliament. Unsuprisingly, the foreign minister is chief diplomat, the minister of the interior head of the police and the finance minister overseer of the quaestors. The minister of defense outranks most generals in the military, but it is expected that the details of battle planning is left to experts. He also is responsible for hiring mercenary groups to backup the army. The prime minister coordinates the other ministers and can make final decisions.

The parliament and, more rarely, the Constitutional Court, can veto government decisions. Furthermore, the parliament can vote on a new government to replace the old one during a running legislature period, but this had never happened yet.

### The Judicial Branch of the Government

The government of the Free State of Arabia Felix is, as laid out in the constitution, divided into the branches of the legislative, the executive and the judicial branch. Aside from judges, parts of the prosecution and the so called "lease lawyers" are considered a part of the judicial branch. Uncharacteristically for a system of this kind, the AF Constitution consideres the president and the chairman of parliament to be part of the judicial branch, not of the executive.

#### Civil, Common, Religious and Customary Law

Arabian Law is written such that anything which is not expliticitly forbidden is considered legal. On the first view, this may create a lot of clarity on what is allowed and what not, but some fellonies are less clearly defined, such as treason or insubordination.

Fellonies with a clear definition usually fall under Civil Law. This means that the legal texts give very limited room for an interpretation of the punishment. This is done in order to reduce the risk of arbitrary judicial decisions. On the other hand, almost all less clearly defined misdeeds fall under Common Law. This means that the legal texts do not define any punishment, making the judge responsible for formulating a punishment if the accused turns out to be indeed guilty. These decisions can also be based on previous judgements in Common Law.

Customary Law (that is societal norms or local customs) does not receive the same first class treatment like Civil or Common Law, but it occasionally happens that a court recognizes the meaning of a deed within the context of Customary Law. In these cases, a court may find that the culprit "was punished according to Customary Law" or "opt to be punished according to local customs" instead. This happens rarely and are only viable if state law provides the possibility.

There are political movements in Arabia Felix like the \*Muslim Brotherhood\* to officially recognize religious law (i.e. the Sharia) or even to replace the current system by it. Currently, religious law is not handled by state institutions, and punishment according to these is, in extreme cases (i.e. punishment by stoning), forbidden.

Naturally, the accused is considered not-guilty until proven otherwise (*In dubio pro reo*). It is also worth noting that a court of sufficient rank can veto decisions made by the executive or legislative branch.

#### The Court

A sitting court consists of three judges, a main prosecutor with his attendance, case witnesses and the accused with his defendant. Should the accused not be able to pay for a lawyer himself, a so called "lease lawyer" will be rented from the state, who is usually more affordable. The lease is usually paid back in rates.

The prosecutor represents his client, who may be a person, a group or the state. It is his responsibility to present the accusation. If there is more than one party who accuse the accused, this task is done by one main prosecutor.

The judges moderate a sitting court and have the power to bring the court to order. If all parties agree on this, the court may invite a lay jury of 12 people to unanimously determine the guilt of the accused, but otherwise, this is the task of the judges. For the final verdict, all judges have to unanimously agree, but a single judge may agree to the possibility to appeal the judgement to a higher instance, unless the court is the Constitutional Court, where there is no higher instance to appeal to.

All parties, including case witnesses, may present evidence if they take an oath ("the truth, nothing but the truth, the entire truth ...")

##### Special Case President and Chairman of Parliament

The Chairman of Parliament usually selects two MPs (of different factions) to serve as judges along his side.

The President's judicial power is to amnesty somebody, and he therefore does not have a full court.

#### Qualifications of a judge

Judges, lawyers and prosecutors are required to be certified by a state-accredited institution. As of Winter 1905, accredited institutions are the law departments of the universities of Aden, Anatolia and Suez, as well as Law Schools in each district. Before 1892, former Ottoman and British/French colonial judges were accepted too, but the Whig-CRM-government removed this possibility.

Court judges are selected by sortition. This is done in order to reduce favoritism and to avoid the possibility of a dictatorship of the majority. Furthermore, higher ranking judges are required to have been a judge of the next lowest rank before; An exception to this rule are the president and the chairman of parliament, as well as judges of the lowest rank. Regularly, judges serve for a period of 5 years, but this may be longer if a case is dragged out.

A judge comitting a felony can be removed out of office immediately by order of a higher ranking court. A constitutional judge can only be removed immediately by the unanimous decision of the other two constitutional judges together with the president. Replacements are found by the process described above.

##### Special Case: Impeachment of President

Should the president commit a fellony, the parliament can impeach him with a simple majority.

#### The Judicial Hierarchy

Sorted from lowest to highest rank.

1. *Township Court*. Not all townships have a court on their own; Cases from these are referred to the next available Township Court.
2. *District Court*. Also outranks mayors.
3. *National Court*. There are two of these: the National Court of Aden and the National Court of Suez. Also outranks governors.
4. *Constitutional Court*. Outranks the government.
5. The *President*. This is purely theoretical, since the president does not hold court himself, and one can not appeal to the president.

The *Chairman of Parliament* has the same judicial rank as the National Courts.

## Holidays

Arabians have 74 days off works each year. Historically, this number has been 56, but when Labour entered government in 1898, the SLP had to agree to raise the number of holidays as per coalition agreement. Students have more holidays.

### National Holidays

On 6th September, Arabia Felix commemorates the founding of the Free State in the year 1888. All but the most essential work is halted on this day. The Turkish March is usually played on this day, and the prime minister holds a speech that is printed in the newspapers. Those who are required to work on **Founding Day** receive another day off work of their choice instead.

The 17th November is known as **Suez Canal Day** in Arabia Felix. The date was chosen because of the inauguration of the Suez Canal in 1869. The people of Arabia Felix usually showcase some of their creations or accomplishments to others on this day and those who don't have anything to show are verbally encouraged to make something for next year.

### Weekly Holidays

52 holidays are intended for weekly breaks, but it's someone's own choice which weekday is affected. Muslims usually choose Fridays for this, Christians Sundays and Jews Saturdays. Some people who work in seasonal jobs tend to accumulate these "weekly holidays" in a chain to have some time off.

Weekly holidays often influence opening times of businesses.

### Free Holidays

Before 1898, Arabians had 2 free holidays. Muslims usually chose to have these during the End of Ramadan and Eid-al-Adha. Christians often chose Christmas and Easter for these, while Jews usually picked Yom Kippur and Passover. Aside from Labour, the Muslim Brotherhood, the Zionist Union and the Arabian Mission critizised the low amount of holidays, making it difficult to observe religious festivals for believers.

After the Holiday Reforms of 1898, the number of free holidays increased from 2 to 20.

### School Holidays

In addition to weekly holidays, schools are usually closed for 36 days in summer and 12 days in autumn, winter and spring each. The exact time for these holidays vary from district to district, and it is the governor's responsibilty to allocated these holidays each year. Home Schooling and University students are not affected by this. Universities usually allocate time for semester breaks themselves.