Assassination of Sunil Bakshi

The **assassination of Sunil Bakshi**, the fourth President of Morra, took place on February 20, 2039 at 21:03 in the evening during a gala at the Morranian Presidential Palace to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the formation of the Republic of Morra. Whilst no assassin was caught at the scene of the murder, the shadowy Morranian terrorist organisation Venenum claimed responsibility for the killing and threatened to kill other senior members of the regime unless the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) dissolved itself and Speaker Peter Koonz resigned.

The death of President Bakshi came at a time of large public opposition to the government, with many taking to the streets in celebration of the assassination, whilst many more engaged in protests against the cabinet of Speaker Koonz in the direct aftermath of the announcement of Sunil Bakshi's death. The protests sparked by Sunil Bakshi's assassination became the central point behind which the Morranian democratic revolution revolved around, with Speaker Peter Koonz's order to fire into a crowd of protesters in May 2039 marking the turning point in the fate of the VVD. The subsequent political crisis saw Koonz take part in a power grab in September 2039, before being ousted during the 2040 presidential and National Assembly elections.

The killing of Sunil Bakshi is frequently cited as one of the most important events of the 21st century for Morra, and marked the beginning of a brief period of total democratisation in the region which lasted until the early 2040s. With the death of it's central figure, the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy effectively crumbled and in its place, the Democratic Party of the People (DPV) emerged as the preeminent political force in the Republic of Morra; within five years of Kairos Hemlock assuming the presidency, the Republic of Morra had effectively regressed back into a dominant party regime under the DPV.

## Background

In 2022, the region of Morra proclaimed itself independent from the Republic of Dunsteen and established its own government, the Transitional State of Dunsteen. Following the election of pro-democracy campaigner Jean Luc Melenchon as president in January 2023, the Confederacy of Independent Nations and EuroCorp jointly attempted to overthrow the Melenchon government, jointly sponsoring a coup in August 2024 which overthrew Melenchon and installed former president Werner Reinheart as the leader of the new regime. Under Reinheart, the Transitional State of Dunsteen became the Corporate Republic of Dunsteen, and in January 2025 Sunil Bakshi was elected unopposed as the nation's leader. Following an economic crisis in 2027, the Bakshi administration was forced to partially democratise in exchange for financial aid, resulting in the formation of the Republic of Morra in February 2029; however, Bakshi and his People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) were able to retain power through a rigged electoral system, which preserved their political dominance over the new supposedly democratic state. The first true challenge to President Bakshi and the VVD occurred in November 2036, when a coalition of opposition parties managed to take control over the legislature in the aftermath of snap elections, electing opposition leader Marianne Thieme as speaker of the National Assembly, a role equivalent to a prime minister. Thieme's premiership only lasted three months before her assassination at the behest of President Bakshi, after Thieme revealed to the world that the VVD-led government had deliberately manufactured and spread the Derigo disease, which had caused thousands of deaths since its outbreak started in 2032.

Following Speaker Marianne Thieme's revelations surrounding the Derigo disease, a wave of public unrest led to President Sunil Bakshi ordering the National Assembly to hold a debate over whether to ban the disease in an attempt to rectify previous political mistakes; however, the debate instead contributed to the collapse of the VVD-APA-NP coalition government and Speaker Frank Wassenberg was forced to resign as speaker and leader of his party. In place of Wassenberg, Peter Koonz was elected as speaker and VVD leader, and began a revamp of the government's programme in an attempt to preserve the political dominance of the VVD. Similarly, Vice President Eris Assecla was impeached by the government and replaced by education secretary Kairos Hemlock in an attempt to prevent further ill-will towards the government.

## Assassination

On February 20, 2039, President Sunil Bakshi hosted a gala at the Presidential Palace in Brussels to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Morra, with many senior politicians attending, including Vice President Kairos Hemlock, Speaker Peter Koonz, finance minister Fachnan Opus, and DENK leader Johannes de Klerk, as well as several international politicians such as Avalonian väldeminister Ada Nilsen, Dunsteenian president Katharina Müller, and Libirachi vice president Angelica Rivera. During the gala, musical performances were held, followed by a dance in the Grand Ballroom of the presidential palace. At 21:03 in the evening, during a drinks reception by the palace's lesser stairway attended only by senior politicians, President Sunil Bakshi was assassinated by a bullet to the back of his head by an unseen assailant whilst speaking to finance minister Fachnan Opus. Despite no assassin being captured at the scene of the crime, detectives discovered a flute with internal bullet scoring within the palace's grounds, and it remains the official government theory that the flute was reformed into a sniper rifle by one of the assailants in order to better disguise the sniper rifle during the party. Immediately following the assassination, the presidential palace was placed under a strict lockdown with all guests placed under precautionary arrest and forced to remain within the palace, whilst senior politicians were transported away to secret locations under the guise of protection, when in fact many were seeking to leave to take part in negotiations with political and military allies about how to secure power for themselves. Speaker Peter Koonz actively refused to meet with Kairos Hemlock after Hemlock assumed the presidency, with Libirachi vice president Angelica Rivera being the first senior politician of any state to meet President Hemlock, almost a week before Speaker Koonz first met with Hemlock as president.

## Aftermath

Immediately following the shooting of Sunil Bakshi, Vice President Kairos Hemlock was taken to the executive office of the presidential palace alongside finance secretary Fachnan Opus and chief justice Dineke de Groot; at 21:11, chief justice de Groot administered the presidential oath of office to Kairos Hemlock, making her the fifth president of Morra and the first female holder of the office, as well as the youngest. President Hemlock held a televised address to the nation at 10am on February 21st, 2039, in which she announced the death of her predecessor and that she had assumed office as per the parameters of the constitution. In response to the death of President Bakshi, thousands took to the streets across the country to celebrate, with many celebrations escalating into protests against Speaker Peter Koonz and the VVD-led government. Amidst the ongoing protests, the mysterious terrorist organisation Venenum claimed responsibility for the assassination on February 22nd and called for a revolution against the Koonz led administration, resulting in the government tightening it's security legislation.

Protests against the regime continued and on May 17, 2039, the armed forces opened fire on protesters in Brussels, killing 132 protesters and injuring many more; in response to the Brussels massacre, President Kairos Hemlock resigned her membership of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and registered as an independent in protest against the actions taken by the Koonz administration. Conflict between President Hemlock and Speaker Koonz continued to escalate, with Koonz actively blocking attempts to appoint Hemlock's preferred choice of vice president, whilst Hemlock vetoed almost all legislation passed by the Koonz administration. Ultimately the conflict came to a head in August 2039, and Kairos Hemlock was impeached from the presidency after attempting to dissolve the National Assembly, leaving Speaker Peter Koonz to become acting president. Upon assuming the presidency, Peter Koonz prorogued the National Assembly on September 1, 2039, prompting the resignation of much of his cabinet; due to the prorogation of the National Assembly, no new coalition could be formed, whilst Koonz's position as acting president meant he lacked the presidential powers to unilaterally appoint ministers, effectively paralysing government.

In response to Peter Koonz's de-facto power grab, former president Kairos Hemlock and former finance secretary Fachnan Opus formed the Democratic Party of the People (DPV) as a platform from which to stage a political comeback; over the winter of 2039, the DPV managed to secure numerous high level defections from the VVD, as well as the backing of the Party of the Labourers and Progressive Party to lead a "united opposition" ticket against Koonz's VVD. In the 2040 presidential election, the DPV won 19 out of 24 states and the Hemlock-Opus ticket was victorious in taking the presidency, whilst the VVD's vote share in the National Congress also crumbled, pushing the party to a distant third place; subsequently, Vice President-elect Fachnan Opus helped negotiate a coalition agreement between the PvdA, DPV, PPM, and LPM which saw PvdA leader Wilhelm De Croo elected as speaker of the National Assembly on January 11, 2040.

## See Also

* Derigo Disease Debate
* Impeachment of Eris Assecla
* 2039-40 Morranian Political Crisis