By Royal Appointment

If there was one thing that Melanie Bell didn't like much it was when she had to be the Countess of Elsion, she had always preferred running around the wilds of Mundus to the various ballrooms and functions of the nobility however when you got a phone call summoning you to the Marble Palace you didn't refuse so here Melanie was waiting around the gardens of the home of the Achkaerinese Royals wondering what on Mundus had led to this, she was also feeling a tad underdressed though that was more likely down to her feeling somewhat self conscious in the surroundings.
"Melanie." someone said from behind her, Melanie turned and saw the former Emperor Peter Azurewind "If you call me Your Grace..."
"I was going to go for history geek." Melanie said
"I heard you finally graduated, congratulations." Peter said "Running all over Mundus meant it took longer I assume?"
"Yep." Melanie said "So you asked me here?"
"I did." Peter said
"What for?" Melanie asked
"Ever heard of the Mothers Heart?" Peter asked

"It's a jewel mounted in a brooch, supposedly, it was crafted for Alya Safavid and later titled in reference to her being known as 'the mother of the nation' she was supposedly buried with it but when the body was moved in the 17th century it wasn't there." Melanie said "It's legendary. Why the interest?"
"I could give you the flowery speech about finding forgotten history but you're too smart for that." Peter said "It is a historic thing but it's also finding it may give us a means to getting something we'd like."
"Leverage then." Melanie said "Forgive me if I ignore the politics of it."
"Good luck." Peter said
"Do I even want to know what's on the line?" Melanie asked
"Breathing room." Peter said
"That's an enigmatic answer." Melanie said
"Well it's the only one you're getting for the moment." Peter said

When evening rolled around Melanie was back in her flat in Elsion sat at the table with her former teacher Brian Raines
"Ok so the Mother's heart, made for Alya Safavid." Brian said "By all accounts it's believed to have been crafted by someone from the then Kingdom of West Seleucid in the late thirteenth century which is Tamora's golden age. Alya is named mother of the nation in the early fourteenth century. It's supposedly yellow in colour with a slight green overtone, a nine sided cut."
"Alya's body was exhumed in 1625, the jewel wasn't there, which is why it's existence is somewhat disputed." Melanie said "Though I'd suggest that if it does exist someone was a graverobber."
"Agreed." Brian said
"Do we know who allegedly cut it?" Melanie said
"Majid Sayyad." Brian said "From West Seleucid, family business."
"Ok." Melanie said "We'll need the provenance but this doesn't start when the thing was cut, this starts with what happened when Alya's body was moved. We're going to need to think about what could have happened."
"Assuming this thing exists it's graverobbing, but by who?" Brian said "Alya Safavid is as far as Tamoran's are concerned a national hero."
"Let's find out." Melanie said

As the summit was underway King Đurađ could see in Tavanca something that suggested to him they were a nation that he could get along well with. As such he handed his aide a not to take over to the Elysarya.

 

To the Elysarya.

These talks are proceeding in a way that make me thing there is every chance that Tavanca and Drenovia could well align on many issues. As such I wonder if perhaps at the conclusion of talks you may wish to meet in Ostlake for discussions between our homelands. It is my hope that prior to returning home we could meet and begin laying a foundation between our lands.

Bst Regards
King Đurađ

The aide returned to the side of KIng Đurađ as the conference continued.

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Mktvartvelo's Supreme Court, in an unprecedented ruling, has annulled the results of last January Juglander State Governorate special elections.

The elections saw the election of a "pro-sovereignty" majority in the State Governorate -the highest executive government in the Safraen territory- demanding the exercise of the right to self-determination for first time. However, Mktvartvelo's highest judiciary authority has ruled that results were illegitimate as result of a "wide violation of electoral law and national security legislation". According to Akheli Ambebi newspaper, the Supreme Court agreed that the evidence, including declassified information from intelligence community, prove a "clear effort of illegal funding by separatist candidates and campaigns".

The ruling following after nifty-three National Assembly lawmakers issued a plea for the Supreme Court for an urgent intervention in response against the investigation against Gunnar Huttunen, leading member of the Jugland Movement of Citizens.

The court argued their decision, passed in a 12-2 vote, was based in "clear evidence" from the Azavrelia Third High Court preliminary edict, and evidences collected from law enforcement authorities, which would indicated that "pro-sovereignty and separatist candidates" benefited from a "wide and mass operation -conducted in violation of the legality- to interfere with the results of the election".

The decision threatens to send into turmoil Juglander politics (and as consequence relations between Ktsatskuri and the Juglander authorities), as the annulment of the election would imply the suspension of the current State Governorate government, an act without precedents. Constitutional experts agree that it is difficult to predict the consequences in practice, giving the current State Governorate has already be sworn in their government offices and currently in exercise. However, the Supreme Court did not openly intervene at that regard, simply ruling that elections would require to be repeated and that "competent authorities take the necessary steps, in accordance to the constitutional order, to a restoration of legality in the affected territory".

President of the State Governorate Shimura Akane has described the ruling as "authoritarian and absurd", declaring that it can be defined as "most violent attack against democracy in our modern history". She announced that the State Governorate, in cooperation with the Legislative Assembly and other Juglander institutions, to fight the rule through all legal means "in defense of the will of the people and the democratic institutions". Secretary Matsuyama Ryosuke, on his part, has declared that his department will urge the Juglander Constitutional Court to intervene "to defend our constitutional order and sovereignty". Secretary Jouko Juuso, from the Freedom Party, went even further and described the ruling as a "pseudo-legal coup d'etat against democracy".

Prime Minister Veriko Chkhartishvili has declared that the national government welcomes the Supreme Court's ruling "with our utmost respect to the judiciary system and independent courts in defense of the legality and our constitutional order". The Prime Minister declares that the national government is ready to take the required steps toward to assure the fulfillment of the rule, without clearly describing such steps to take, "and always in accordance to the constitutional legality and the legal instruments at our disposal". Chkhartishvili called citizens, including those in Jugland, to understand that "democracy can never be exercise through criminal means and in violation of the constitutional order".

Prime Minister Chkhartishvili also declared that she was informed by the Ministry of Justice that legal steps will be introduced to open any proceedings against all those who were involved in violations of the law. The Prime Minister assured that "no voter should be concerned about their safety, independently for whom they voted", giving that legal steps could only be taken against those who "willingly violated the law and the exercise of suffrage can only inviolable as it was exercise according to the legality".

President of the National Assembly Tamaz Eksanishvili also praised the ruling which he described "as the only right and legal solution after the evidence of mass, wide, and illegal effort, eventually successful through criminal means, to distort the result of the election in favour of separatist candidates". Eksanishvili called authorities to establish legal procedures to punish all those, both inside and outside our borders, who were involved in this criminal and treasonous endeavor".

In his minority opinion, Supreme Court's judge Anzor Sindisadze argued that "while evidence is clear and the court has the right to intervene, to annul the election without a legal precedence and without a clear constitutional path toward the restoration of the rule of law, the majority could open the path toward arbitrary actions which, even through legal and constitutional means, threaten to endanger, even if unwillingly, individual rights and constitutional protections".

However, the Supreme Court's ruling argued that "criminal effort to violate the law as so wide and decisive, committing such vast financial resources in their effort, that the elections could not longer be considered as legitimate, even annulling any right to be called free and fair".

Juglander constitution stipulates that, in the event of an election being annulled or cancelled, they should be called before sixty days after the date of the annulment. However, there is not a clear constitutional or legal mechanism about how to proceed after an incumbent government has seen being declared their election as "illegitimate" after the fact and after the beginning of their constitutional term. Local legal experts that this situation could place the current State Governorate in a "legal limbo" which could allow arbitrary decisions of unprecedented consequences, leading the Juglander territory and their citizens toward completely new territory from a political point of view, with nobody being sure what may come next.

The State Governorate, in a joint written statement, has vowed to defend the Juglander constitution and rights of all Juglander citizens through legal and constitutional means.

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   "Well, I can certainly say that Fusan, unlike some larger nations, is not intent on 'taking advantage' of Dunhart, so you don't have to worry about that issue, at the very least." Sadazane answered. "But more to your point, I actually agree with you regarding the matter of those tariffs, at least as shared between Dunhart and Fusan. Of course, the specific rates will need to be negotiated between our respective governments, but again, I am prepared to agree to lowering tariffs specifically between Fusan and Dunhart without the ADSN. As for a joint investment fund, that, too, is something I can agree to, at least in theory, but I'd need more specifics."

Serenity was bristling by this point "And with respect Pharoah don't presume to question our commitment to this fight, we know exactly what this means but I will politely suggest you don't quote numbers out of context. .0625% freed fine, it's a start not impressive but it's a start. What you're ignoring, conveniently I might add, is that the same article that your number comes from also states that at least fifteen thousand businesses in Tamora had either applied or were expected to apply for the Freestone Mark, that's the ballgame when it comes to pressure and that number is 2019 makes you wonder how many businesses in Tamora now qualify for the Freestone Mark. Everyone sat around this table knows two things - we know that military action against Tamora fails in the long term and is not guaranteed to succeed at all, and we also know that Tamora is a sovereign state, they pass their own laws, we therefore have to apply pressure and that is exactly what has been done by multiple nations for years now. Tamora is the most sanctioned nation on the planet, sanctioned by I believe by the vast majority if not every nation at this table. The numbers may not be big but they're a start and this is not a sprint, it was never going to be a sprint, this is a marathon. If you want to leave then of course you can but if you walk out that door Pharaoh then you walk out on the approach that has a chance, and all the progress that has already been made, make no mistake we're now just dealing with the organisational logistics of how the WNRA and the IFE are going to work all the damage to Tamora and it's significant is right there." she pointed at the paper that had the principles on it.

Serenity looked next to Aurayne Valesa "If you wish to make a counter proposition then please do so but this is either going to be a pot of money or a registry of NGO's that we think suitable, the fact of the matter is that there's no difference in practical terms either way, we either end up proposing and having to agree on which NGO's are in a registry or we have to agree to signing off the funding of an NGO that applies for money there's simply no getting around either point. This isn't about hindering progress this is what is practically possible with the constraints we have to work with. And I'm not disagreeing with you about funding those on the ground, the difference is that I am proposing and will continue to propose that the best way and the safest way of doing that is for the IFE to be a fund that is used to do that, that I can sell to the Achkaerinese Senate, because there is a difference when independent budget reviews and the like are done between contributing a portion of Achkaerin's foreign aid budget to a charitable fund which we helped establish and are a trustee of, and sending direct donations to NGO's, the Government would have to do the due diligence, would have to evidence the paper trail and if it were direct funding would have to be able to answer the litany of questions about the donation. We've mandated according to article m that the IFE is to exist and the purpose it will have, we all know that government funding is going to be what bankrolls the IFE so let's do it sensibly with the security of knowing where the money is going and that we have control over the pot, that fulfils the purpose we've outlined for it. It may be somewhat bureaucratic but it is the process that would be followed by NGO's such as Torch of Liberty International in any event, they would still have to apply for any funding, they would still have to explain what they wanted it for, how much they wanted and answer any questions. I believe you are misunderstanding to an extent what I am suggesting."