Politics in Alahana

## Monarchy

The monarchy of Alahana is lead by King Gerrit II, with full name *"Gerrit the second of the Adath family, King of Alahana and its overseas territories, High King of the Iron Mountains and commander of the armed forces."* The royal family of Alahana consist of the current ruling monarch and his/her closest relatives. Meaning the parents, siblings, children and their respective families. Members of the royal family belong to, either by birth or by marriage, to the Adath Dynasty.

The Royal Family of Alahana is part of the Adath Dynasty, a line of kings that are originally a noble family of the Asanan Empire and came to power in multiple nations. There are 3 monarchies that still have a member of the Adath family on their throne. Kedossia, Nogard and **Alahana**. The Adath line of kings started in 1737 when King Alistair of the Agerod dynasty died without an heir and no surviving members of the family left to fill the space on the throne. An assembly of lords voted for a new monarch that became Alexander I of the Adath family. He was voted king because the family already had ties to foreign royalty and this would strengthen their foreign relations.

The succession is ordered by Absolute primogeniture, this means no preference is paid to either gender for order of precedence. This is stated in article 1 of the constitution that was reformed after the Alahanese Civil War when the Kingdom of Alahana changed from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy it is today. Before this change the succession was Patrilineality which means that only the closest male heir could take the throne. Up until now no female heir was produced so no female monarch has taken the throne.

The king is also the Grand Marshall of the Royal Army, a sub-branch of the Army, and a prince is a Grand Commander. This is the same for a princess but they are not required to follow a military education and perform military service. Princes by marriage don't have to join the Royal Army but this is preferred. When they have finished their military education they can receive the rank Captain-Commander from the start.

The current monarch is Gerrit II having ascended the throne on 04 February 1986. He was the eldest child of King Alexander V whom he succeeded upon after Alexander announced his abdication in favor of Crown Prince Gerrit. He married Princess Daphne Adath of Lakaii with whom had 3 children. His reign has been marked by the political reformation, the improving foreign relations after the discovery of the multiverse.The next in succession is Crown prince Alexander VI. He married Addelyn Verdar of Nogard in 2013. His twin brother Marcus Adath also married someone from the Verdar family, in fact the twin sister of Addelyn: Asterith Verdar of Nogard. The Verdar family is a very well respected family in noble family in Nogard with strong ties to nobles in the Iron Mountains located in Alahana. Marcus and Asterith have a child; Princess Quinn of 8 years old. The third child of king Gerrit is Princess Amore of Alahana, she is married to Aiden of Kedossia. The fourth child is Prince Trystan of Alahana who lives in Prania with his wife princess Elora Ataper of Prania.

* King Gerrit II and Queen Daphne of Lakaii (Monarch and his wife)
	+ Prince Alexander VI and Addelyn of Nogard (Kings son and daughter-in-law)
	+ Prince Marcus and princess Asterith of Nogard (Kings son and daughter-in-law)
		- Princess Quinn (kings granddaughter)
	+ Princess Amore and prince Aiden of Kedossia(Kings daughter and son-in-law)
		- Princess Quinn (Kings granddaughter)
	+ Prince Trystan and Elora of Prania (Kings son and daughter-in-law)
* King Alexander V and Queen Corinna of Asaen (Kings father and mother, former ruling monarchs)

## Political Parties

The big five are the 5 parties with the most representatives in the parliament. While all national parties are obliged to send a delegate to the High Council, the big five are allowed to send one extra. The current parties that are part of the big five are (in order of most representatives):

- Liberal democratic party (LDP)

- Centrist democratic party (CDP)

- Pro-Green (GREEN)

- Alahana national party (ANP)

- Socialist party (SP)

## Executive

 The affairs of the executive government are decided by the Cabinet, or also called the *Pirinsetei,* headed by the Prime Minister. The prime minister is responsible for the administration of the executive branch of the federal government. The prime minister is elected nation-wide during federal elections where people can vote for their favorite political party and their corresponding candidates for the spot of prime minister. The Cabinet and the Prime Minister are responsible for their actions to the '*Nancledeth*', the Alahanese parliamentary system. Members of the Cabinet are given the title of "*minister*" or "*pirinses*" and each hold a different portfolio of government duties. The day to day role of the cabinet members is to serve as head of one or more segments of the national bureaucracy, as head of the civil servants to which all employees in that department report. Each state has a governor that is elected during regional elections. But compared to the prime minister, the governors are only elected by the people of their respective state.

The Monarch formally appoints and dismisses ministers, including the Prime Minister. That means that the number of cabinet positions and the organization of the state administration into ministries are not set by law, but subject to change without notice. After the 2015 elections the cabinet had 10 members including the Prime Minister. The Prime
Minister leads the work of the cabinet and is minister for constitutional affairs, overseas territories and for the affairs of the crown. The current prime minister is Aaron Sheppard of the LDA. Because they didn't reach the 51% mark they made a coalition with CDP and ANP.

Within the body of the federal government lies the Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Economics, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Justice and Security, Ministry of Labor, Ministry of State, Ministry of Science and Education. These ministries affect the whole country as they are on a federal level. Local levels have their own local 'cabinets'. The ministries for local governments are per state and differ for each state. The most common ministries are the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Telecommunication, Ministry of Urban Development.

## Legislative

The legislative branch enacts legislation and has the authority to declare war. The High Council ('*Nancledeth*') is the unicameral national parliament of the Crowned Republic of Alahana. Up until 1996 Alahana was bicameral with the High Council being the lower house of the bicameral parliament and the *'Meret'*  (Senate) being the Upper House. The High Council passes all laws, approves the cabinet,
 and supervises the work of the government. It is also responsible for
adopting the state's budgets and approving the state's accounts.

The High Council consist out of 85 chancellors and 265 representatives and 50 special representatives. The big difference between a chancellor, representative and a special representative are the number of votes. A chancellor is a representative figure for their respective state. They get a standard vote in all matters but get an extra vote when it concerns their state or region. So chancellors are basically representatives from the 12 member states, 9 colonial states, 9 overseas territories and 2 special territories. A representative represents their political party in the parliament with 1 standard vote in all matters, without an extra vote. A special representative is a spokesperson that will attend the High Council meetings when it concerns their field of representation. For example the major religions, minorities, natives and state departments have their own representative in the High Council. They have no vote over all matters but they have the ability to vote when it concerns their field of representation.

    The High Chancellor, currently Aeholt Enthpol of the CDP, is the head of the High Council but does not have a vote in all matters. The High Chancellor gets a vote in Royal and Constitutional matters, maintains order in the room, gets to break the a tie, and gets to choose whether or not a chancellor or a special representative have their extra vote or not. He is also the representative for the king as the king does not have any legislative powers except that all laws have to be signed by him.

The High Council members are elected by popular vote for a four-year term by proportional representation in multi-member constituencies. Voting rights are granted in the year a person turns 18 and voting is compulsory. The High Council must have a majority of at least 51% of the national votes. If a single party does not reach this threshold they have to form a coalition with other parties to get to the 51%. The representatives for the High Council are match the percentages their respective political parties received. A political party consists of a list with a party leader at the top, who can also become prime minister, and the more votes a party receives the more people of that list get a seat in the parliament.

### Election Results

Ever since the Second Eurion War the political landscape of Alahana has been dominated by the LDP, the liberal party and the occasional victory of the CDP, the democrats. A rather centrist style of governing, but ever since the changing geopolitical and socioeconomic landscapes the people of Alahana started voting more and more on right wing ideals. The elections of 2019 meant an incredible loss for the liberals since this is the first time they are not included in the government and a major win for the nationalists and conservatives as the nationalists were the clear victors of that years elections and the conservatives for the first time in the government.

The liberals had a lot of favor of the population for a solid 3 decades because of their progressive policies and the willingness to move Alahana forward in the world. But the last few years more and more people started feeling left out. The Alahanese prestige dropped with budget cuts in the military, security and international relations. These were thing that gave the feeling of being proud of the country because Alahana excelled in the areas.

Also the mass immigration taking its toll on these left wing parties as they want to help those in need including the immigrants that are running from war, droughts and famines. This puts a lot of pressure on the social systems in place to the point that a lot of budget cuts made it so that Alahanese people in need can't receive the help they want and need. This large influx of immigrants can be linked to the increase of street criminality making more and more people against these immigrants. Even the Alahanese culture that is centered around respect, morality, honesty and a sense of duty is coming under pressure as the immigrants that come in don't share these values making a lot of Alahanese cultural things, that always worked perfectly, obsolete.

This is why the government enacted a very controversial law, the Alahanese Citizenship Act in 2019 which basically splits the population of Alahana in 2 groups: Citizens and Civilians where citizens have additional rights than civilians such as the right to vote, the right to own firearms, the right to work for the state and the right to participate in the national politics.

## Judiciary

Main article: Justice in Alahana, Law Enforcement in Alahana

The judiciary of Alahana is the system of courts that interprets and applies the law in Alahana. The legal system in Alahana is a civil law based on a comprehensive compendium of statutes, as compared to the common law systems.

The government itself is secular and it still enforces the freedom of religion. There are parties referring to religion such as the CPF that promotes values from the Famusm religion but is in itself not a religious party. Although the Alahanese government enforces religious freedom the judiciary system has ruled some religions as unlawful on multiple occasions for “common decency” targeting anti-social behavior. One of the more controversial bans on religion was the ban to express some parts of the Aluiqiris religion as it is considered a religion with a violent nature.The religion can still be practiced but with a limitation of some of the violent aspects. It was controversial because Alahana borders an imperial nation, Dindar, with whom Alahana already has hostile relations with and on top of that many followers of the Aluiqiris religion live in the west of the country. This has resulted and still leads to occasional protests and riots. The Alahanese government does not support any religious instance but most religions have a seat as representative in the High Council, the legislative branch of the government.

There is a similar legislation targeting racism and forms other discrimination based on caste, disability, nationality, gender, and sexual orientation. Same-sex marriage and LGBT adoption are both legal. Abortion is also legal on request in any and all cases up to the 21st week. Prostitution is also legal and any person has the right to enter the prostitution industry, but said activities are legitimate and therefore taxable by the state. Furthermore, brothels must be registered with a local law enforcement authority and pimping is prohibited by law (it is considered enslavement, a very serious felony offense). What must also be noted are the frequent health and safety inspections of brothels and prostitutes, which also means that mistreatment of the latter will not be tolerated by the authorities. A permanent marriage system is not in place thus people have the right to divorce. It is frowned upon to have a polygamous relationship with more people but it is not illegal and it is not possible to officially marry with more than 1 person.

The manufacturing, use, and sale of alcohol, cannabis, caffeine, tobacco, prescription drugs, et cetera are classified under Soft Drugs and fully legalized, subject to minor government regulation. For example driving and working under heavy influence of either of those products is prohibited. All products classified under soft drugs can be sold by any shop, bar, et cetera with the right government permission. Products such as Ecstasy, GHB, LSD, Amphetamine, et cetera fall under the regulations of Recreational Drugs and are subject to heavy government regulation. They are legal to be sold and used in *'Drug Shops'* where these drugs are legally sold. They have to be used within the shop and the usage is regulated by the shops and are registered on the name of the user. This is to keep track of the consumption per person to avoid overdosing and to determine if a person was under influence during certain events such as car driving or criminal activities. The manufacturing, use and sale of all drugs classified as Hard Drugs are illegal and can lead to heavy fines and a prison sentence. These products include but are not limited to Ketamine, Heroine, Cocaine, recreational drugs not sold by an official vendor, et cetera.

There are an estimated 10.6 guns per 100 residents. Owning any and all firearms with live ammunition is heavily regulated and they are only obtainable for citizens with appropriate licenses. Firearms for citizens are only limited to self defense weapons, sports weapons and hunting weapons. Automatic weapons, high-capacity magazines, and semi-automatic shotguns are all considered non-permissible for civilian ownership. The intentional homicide rate is 0.93 per 100,000 residents.

The driving laws in Alahana are pretty soft compared to most neighbors. For starters the allowed speed on highways is 120 km/h for the outer right lane, 140 km/h for the second lane, and unlimited for the other lanes unless otherwise indicated. The speed on rings (highways around a city) are always 120 km/h. There are very few speed controls in Alahana and when offending a traffic law most police officers won't intervene. They will however intervene when they deem your driving dangerous.