Mersch Morning Star

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NEW PRIME MINISTER NAMED

Following the end of the civil war and acceptance by the general public of the new constitution the first Prime Minister of the post-civil war era has been selected. Hanna Dahl, the leader of the Reunion Party, was named as Prime Minister for the next 12 months. Under the arrangement to bring the constitution into force the Prime Minister's first term will be just a year during which their primary duty will be to ensure the full restoration of the monarchy. Under the interim arrangements put into effect the nation has, until now, been governed by the Klein Witan lead by Duke Guntram Wruck with the task of overseeing the establishment of the elected body known as the Gross Witan. With the final batches of seats having been determined over the weekend it saw the Reunion Party gain 158 of the 301 seats giving them a majority. As a result they have confirmed that the parties leader Hanna Dahl will be taking the reigns as the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister was given the task of appointing a monarch rather than the Klein Witan as many of the nobles who make up that smaller assembly have connections to the various branches of the royal family that survive the war. The process as laid down by the new constitution requests that the Prime Minister put a minimum of three candidates before the Klein Witan and then at least two of these must be put to a nationwide vote. There is no schedule or process outlined except a deadline of 31st December 2023. If this deadline is missed and no monarch is appointed by that time then  the monarch of East Moreland and the Grand Duke of Bakkermaya would take over control of the process.

Currently there are two leading contenders to the throne Duchess Heidi Feld and Jasmin Volk. The two are descended from bloodlines that can be traced back to King Soren who was coronated in 1931. His direct descendants have all either died or were executed by Republicans during the civil war. The issue that the current situation however presents is that currently there is no third candidate and so the new Prime Minister has issued instructions for a six month commission of historians to explore the families history to recommend at least one more candidate. Currently Duchess Heidi Feld is 41 years of age and is the CEO of a field sports company. Meanwhile Jasmin Volk is 22 years of age and has just graduated from the Royal Merriman University with a degree in Economics. The two are distant cousins.

While the succession issue is clearly at the forefront of the new Prime Ministers agenda Prime Minister Dahl has also promised that there will be changes to the nations taxation system with the intention of making it fairer. The Reunion party have also stated they will be looking at establishing a series of freeports, rebuild the armed forces, increase public health provision and place protections on the natural environment. While some of these matters will eventually fall under the remit of the monarch for now the Prime Minister has authority over these matters.

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DUKE COMES UNDER FIRE

One of the possible candidates to assume the monarchy of Mersch has today been targeted in an armoured attack. Duke Kristian Volk is considered a rank outsider however his daughter, 22 year old Jasmin Volk, is considered to have the much stronger chance. The Duke was this morning visiting one of the Volk family estates when his vehicle and its single vehicle security detail were shot at. A spokesman for the Police stated "A single large calibre round was fired into both engines of the vehicles bringing them to a stop. There was then a brief exchange of fire between the Duke's security detail and what is believed to be a force of three gunmen. The security detail were largely able to take safety from the fact their vehicles were armoured against such actions. Within moments members of the local police's Tactical Response Unit where on the ground offering support. Sadly there have been no arrests."

Duke Kristian is reported to be "shaken but well" and required medical treatment for "bumps and bruises". Meanwhile the three other candidates for the monarchy have been placed under tighter guard with the Volk family going even further by sending Duchess Jasmin Volk to Freestone in East Moreland. During the Civil War she resided there and this exile largely ensured that she escaped the fate of many of the rest of the Volk family who were captured by forces connected to the Chieftan Sylvia of Silverdale who crossed into Mersch following the ending of Academicas own civil war. Sylvia has pledged that her forces, estimated to number just over 1,000 individuals, will restore Academica to its former glory under her leadership. She has often co-operated with Republican groups and many have proposed that this recent attack was another example of this.

The Kristoffer family have been rumoured to have taken up residency at Merial Castle, their ancestorial home, and their patriarch Duke Abraham Kristoffer stated "I am happy that Kristian is safe and that his family are secure in East Moreland. The identity of those responsible for these attacks must be found and brought to justice. My family will take whatever precautions we need to in order to secure ourselves within Mersch and send a message that evil can not win."

With the recent appointment of Prime Minister Hanna Dahl the reconstruction of the government is one step further along the path to making Mersch fully compliant with its citizen back constitution following the end of the civil war. The majority of the royal family was wiped out during this war by Republican forces, several summarily executed. The Prime Minister must now present a list of three candidates before the Witan by 31st December 2023 after which the Witan will narrow it down to two before the public vote. Until that time the Klein Witan is made up of individuals appointed by the peacekeeping nations that brought the civil war to an end, namely East Moreland and Heyra.

 

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MERSCH FUTURE TERRORISED

As the Kingdom seemed poised to return to a normal system of government terrorists claiming to be from a group calling themselves The Uncrowned. The group have not been known to carry out any terror attacks before however today have claimed that the three attacks that have taken place today across the nation. The group however have in a single day caused chaos in the process of naming the new monarch of Mersch.

All three attacks took place between 10:55am and 11:03 am giving authorities very little chance to prevent them once the ball began rolling. The first attack saw Duke Kristian Volk murdered as he entered a local cafe close to his estate. As he entered the cafe was struck by a speeding car that caused the building to collapse. Eye witnesses reported that those nearby began trying to get close to help, probably believing it was a car accident, however almost immediately the car exploded ensuring the death of all those inside as well as two people who had been stood outside. Almost simultaneously the Duke Abraham Kristoffer was entertaining East Moreland horse trainer Richard Marlon when survivors reported that a member of Marlon's staff exploded a bomb. Parts of this bomb have been recovered and show that not only was the bomb significantly large for its purpose but also contained a series of metal objects designed to causes maximum damage. This attack saw a total of five deaths with three others critically injured in hospital. Finally as security services began to mobilise the top floor Penthouse of the Ulva building in Wahlstadt exploded. The Penthouse belonged to Duchess Heidi Felds who was at home at the time. It is believed that the bomb was hidden in a fridge which was being delivered to a separate apartment in the complex. The explosion was so vicious that neighbouring buildings were also damaged with one unfortunate office worker in the building opposite was killed by flying glass. By the end of the 8 minutes of co-ordinated terror a total of 78 people had died however it is expected that the figure will raise as rubble is cleared from the Ulva Building and those injured at the Kristoffer family estate are under going life saving surgery.

The assassinations now mean that only three possible candidates for monarch remain, Rochus Kristoffer, Markus Switzer and Jasmin Volk. The eldest of these three is Markys Switzer who is 26 years of age however is descended from a bloodline that is not directly leading back to King Soren who began the Vollme dynasty. Meanwhile Rochus is 19 years old and Jasmin 23. The current whereabouts of Rochus and Markus are not confirmed however Jasmin was evacuated to East Moreland following attempts on her fathers life early this year.

It had been hoped that the Prime Minister would announce a list of candidates for the throne for public vote in the coming weeks however that process is now likely to be postponed. Speaking with the media Prime Minister Hanna Dahl stated "Todays attackes seem intent on stopping us returning to normality. We are so close to that we must now just put our heads down and see the task through. For me the timetable is clear and I shall push through as best we can. I ask that tonight we all pray for those who have lost their lives in this cowardly attack and that the Gods watch over their families.

A statement delivered to various news outlets by the group said, "The attacks are retribution for the attempts to prop up an unelected aristocratic bully. We shall not ever accept a crown on anyones head in Mersch and any attempt to make it so shall be opposed, we do not consent to a random accident of birth determining our future. We urge Jasmin Volk to stay put in the corrupt Kingdom of East Moreland and would suggest Marcus and Rochus join her as soon as possible."