....The price of Molydenium is set to climb unexpectedly today after concerns that the metals market may be starved by instabillity within the newly balkanised Gallic state. Despite various declarations from the international crown that the Pro-Invasion loyalists known as the 'Enclave' constitute an illigitemate goverment - there have been fears that the status quo of peace within the taus may only be temporary. RIN reached out to heads of Rheinlandic industry for comment....
Special announcement
By RI Action News
We interrupt our regularly scheduled broadcast to reach you live from the steps of the Planet Hamburg Chancellery building, Emlschorn Arcology. Following days of political deadlock within the planetary senate following the unexpected resignation of council speaker Conrad Walder, there has been considerable uncertainty as to the tenability of the ruling Hamburg federalist party to maintain their multiparty government with the Neo-Mercantilist Party and the Yellow Action League, after rising allegations of embezzlement Yellow Action League minority leader Chasten Bachmann by funnelling taxpayers funds into offshore Libertonian accounts. This comes on the back of increasingly declining poll numbers following increasing labour security concerns that have been inescapable ever since the horrifying Siege of Westphalia by terrorist forces. With politicians on the left accusing the New Federalists of making the Hamburg independent labour force increasingly dependent upon the Vierlande prison industrial complex in recent years, offering little in the way of job security to the thousands of contractors rendered unemployed by the prison’s seizure, and pundits on the right claiming that Vierlande was insufficiently defended, supported and funded by the local senate, centrist and pro-federalist parties have come under increasing scrutiny within recent months, seen as overly indebted to special interest groups by the majority of Hamburg citizens. Whilst the fall in the federalists unpopularity was stalled by Victory in Saigon Day (VSD) celebrations and Sirius-wide rise in prosperity following the Gallic armistice, the unified centrists seem to have done little to channel Sirius’s growing fortunes into rising prosperity for the average Hamburg citizen.
Unemployment has risen considerably following the loss of significant contractor jobs from the Vierlande occupation, largely seen as a challenging snub to the government of Kanzler Luisa Neumann, whose four years in office have garnered significant support from Rheinland’s expanding middle-class. Neumann’s regime has been contextualised by the circumstances of her election – a Bundestag appointee for the office, Neumann’s Kanzlership has seen the end of tensions with Liberty and a restoration of cross-border trade through the Hudson system. Whilst warfare waged in the foreign houses, Rheinland over the last four years has experienced increasing development and growth, with internal security and infrastructure strengthened, marred only by the final abandonment of Dresden to the Red Hessians and allegations of government malpractice concerning the evacuation of Nuremburg. However, Neumann has remained popular with the majority of urban citizens on Hamburg and Berlin, ensuring general political stability across the nation. Neumann’s crowning accomplishment is considered to be the authorisation of Gallic investment into Rheinland’s infrastructure, breaking the Ageira monopoly over Rheinlandic infrastructure for the first time in the history of our nation. With mixed support from both political wings, and with accomplishments both statist and anti-statist parties have approved of, Neumann had been expected to achieve a minor lead in the coming 827 Election cycle.
Yet Neumann’s support has wavered and declined dramatically within the last year within one of the core support bases of the Republican centrist; Hamburg. With increasing security concerns threatening the urbanites of Rheinland’s ‘sister system’, Neumann has felt a dramatic support drop from her traditional urban backers. Corresponding to stagnating wages and what some conservative theorists call a rise in pro-Unioner influence in Hamburg street culture, the syndicalist movements appear to have an increasing sway over the employee base of the Alster Shipyards; Hamburg’s traditional source of employment. Unifying leftwing and rightwing voices has been a concern that the restoration of trade with Liberty – nearly universally seen as beneficial by the Hamburg populaces – have had little benefit for the system itself, with most convoys bypassing the system entirely to sell their products directly to the extensive markets of the capital. Demands for increased import taxes, and to bestow local police forces greater autonomy to enforce border protections have equally met upon deaf ears. This apparent lack of concern has been made all the more sore by the recent corruption scandals, along with Walder’s resignation. It is believed that the running BDM Malpractice scandal may also be impacting New federalist polling.
In just a few moments, the Rheinland Imperial Party are expected to make a declaration from the steps of the Chancellery tower, introducing a candidate for the Speaker’s seat left vacant by the centrists. In an unexpected move, the candidate is not expected to be one of their traditional candidates - It is thought that controversial party favourite, Lorelei Cramer, has declined the position. Cramer, largely seen as responsible for promoting the Hamburg Wing of the Imperial Party's outreach with the Working Class Cyan-Labour movement, has been long thought to be the...
...And we have reports that the... Yes, on the steps of the Chancellery now, a figure appears to be heading to the podium. Snori, switch to drone three..."
-The views within this article do not reflect the official stance of the Imperial Party of Rheinland but the viewpoint of a single reporter.-
A man in an expensive emerald suit takes the stage. It glitters in the streetlights, and you realise he’s bedecked in the colours of the Colony Cross itself. He grins at the cameradrones filling the airspace around him. He’s dwarfed by the council chambers around him – surrounded by the beaurocracy of the Hamburg heartland, before, suddenly, they envelope him; holographs rising across the mountains of pastcrete heaped around him. The air falls still, before the crowd unintelligibly erupts.
“Men and women of our beloved planet. It is a beautiful afternoon to talk of the future, isn’t it? Even the lovely journalists from Suttgart at the front are only wearing one coat. Perhaps day we have to offer.”
A knowing laugh breaks across the crowd. The camera pans over the face of a young holocapture technician who is struggling not to giggle into her own footage.
“My name is Linus VonClaussen, and I do not believe in fate, my friends. But perhaps we should take this glorious sunset as a sign of optimism – even now, in grave times such as those we live in, we should not abandon hope because of the gravity of the situation into which we have been placed. We have seen, and had televised, some of the worst abuses of our fair nation in living memory, since the Alien War. There are now two, nearly three, whole generations who have not had to live in the shadow of our bravest, and darkest, of days. In eight-oh-one our Republic promised a new dawn from the embers of our innocence. Rheinland has grown wealthy – we can defend ourselves once more. Our explorers, scientists, and entrepreneurs have spread our people to fresh worlds, inspiring a fresh generation of pioneers. Von Rohe would be proud of the people we have become. We deserve to be proud of the people we have become.”
“Yet old questions go unanswered. Politicians on this very podium do not address the concerns that weigh most on our minds. They dare not – not out of political correctness, or any other buzzword, but out of acceptance. Our Republic, built upon the promise of the Von Rohe’s day Uprising, was codified to follow the principles of freedom, egalitarianism, and state responsibility, acting in the interests of all. The promise that a citizen could report a corrupt official, or boss, and not have to fear for their jobs, for their lives. The promise that any man, woman or child, who falls upon hard times, can hope for a path back to prosperity, on their own terms, helped by a state who prioritises their happiness over the share value of foreign pharmaceutical monopolies. Over the course of the Republic, the soil under our feet has been sold. There are families that have lived their entire working lives on land that they do not own, in beds that could be taken away from them at the stroke of a pen. In Hamburg, nearly three percent of the system’s population was either incarcerated, or had experience within the corrections system, before the Westphalia siege. Our police request, over and over, greater funding for rehabilitative measures, rather than punitive solutions, so that their clients may one day return to society as functional, stable members of society. But our government has become spendthrifty. We are told that money cannot be spent in schools for Hamburg’s children, sensors for the planetary defence grid; that our economy would stagnate if only we didn’t work just a little harder, for just a little less pay. It is temporary, we’re promised, over and over again, till you, me, our fathers, remember nothing else.”
“I do not wish to bring dark thoughts or strain to our viewers on this gorgeous afternoon. But I must be emphatic. Govermental neglect is a crime to humanity. It’s a sin against God, and it’s a crime against the state. Perhaps not the laws of the state which have been twisted by internationalist judicial appointments, but a crime against civility. A crime against the promise within men’s hearts that the poor should not depend upon the kindness of a self-interested rich.”
“There’s more an a few of you in the crowd who are chuckling at me, friends. Not the invited guests, of course, for the Chancellery likes to present only a certain face. I am glad you have come to laugh at me, my friends. Of course; I deserve it. I am a Von Claussen. I am a rich man. What does this Cambridge educated rich boy know of hard work?”
“What indeed?”
“It is an… abomination… that only men that are wealthy such as myself can afford to mount political campaigns. Perhaps it is the cost of power? Indeed, standing up for your fellow man has a cost when special interest groups are allowed to channel unlimited, unfettered donations to their candidates of choice. When organisations such as our own homespace security apparatus has been mounting political campaigns over the airwaves, in abdication of their office. Only those who have power, deserve power, we are told. Only those who are rich deserve to keep it. This is a lie. It might have been re-iterated since the Nomad war, but it nevertheless a lie. We are all in the same boat. When my half-brother, may he rest in peace, disappeared during the war, he did so fighting with his body and life in the black of space. As only a young man, I had to hide what was left of my family from the alien threat, down here, on our home planet, as did legions of others, rich and poor, young and old. Perhaps that truth has been drowned under expensive gallic wine, but it is still truth; power should be indebted to truth.”
“You’re probably surprised to hear this from an Imperial. Well, I don’t blame you; as you can understand, I don’t get invited to the snappiest fundraisers.”
Another chuckle from the front rows.
“There are those who say that the corruption in Hamburg is inevitable, that we are becoming numbed to its injustices. I do not believe this to be true. I believe that the time is now; that we can effect change now. But we will not do so with words or speeches, but with actions.”
“I am announcing my run as an independent candidate for the head of the Chancellery of Hamburg. My campaign will be based upon a review of corruption controls, increasing the power of the constabulary to investigate officials, a review of defence spending, a boost to social wealth-fare and the state scholastic system, and, for the first time since the Republic was founded, an illegalisation of inter-house donations to political campaigns. Yet I do not want to run an inflexible campaign – I’m running for you; my neighbours, for I believe we all have a part to play in making this house a house that we wish our children to grow old in. My campaign will open a forum to the people to hear your concerns. Furthermore, I will be submitting my personal files to the federal police for audit and review. Hamburg has suffered enough from untrustworthy politicians, and I wish to as frank and honest with you as I can; warts and all.”
“I wish to make one final ask of you: I will be publicising all donations and interest groups involved in my campaign to the Neuralnet. I cannot represent the people if the people do not know who is representing me, can I? I encourage you, expecially you men and women of the media, to read them and hold me to account. For you are not a weapon to whitewash the integrity of careerists, but the vital fourth estate. I trust you to keep me honest; to keep my campaign honest, and report on our mistakes as well as our successes. Help us create a government for Hamburg that typifies the best of our people, that makes good on the promises integral to our nation.”
“Thank you for your time, your respect, and your generosity."
The crowd resounds in cheers.
"...And that was independent party candidate Linus Von Claussen speaking from the steps of the Chancellery Hall. Whilst announcing himself as an independent, VonClaussen is known to be running for his seat with both the endorsement and the encouragement of the upper ranks of the Rheinland Imperial Party, raising questions as to how seriously the New Federalists will take the up and coming challenger. Linus VonClaussen, popularised in the media for his familial connections to the controversial Great War hero Adek VonClaussen, along with his significant chartitable activities on Hamburg itself, not to mention something of a playboy reputation, is presently trending on Rheinland social Media..."
-The views within this article do not reflect the official stance of the Imperial Party of Rheinland but the viewpoint of a single reporter.-
The Luisa Neumann administration has come under increasing criticism over the last several years, lead by the steady growth of non-aligned and anti-Federal parties throughout the House. Most prominent has been an erosion of support by the traditional middle class of Rheinland - citizens employed by the Megacorporations of Republican Shipping, Kruger, and DHC. With the domestic corporations have been historically popular with the federal government, uncertainties over the prioritisation of foreign corporations, such as EFL Oil and Machinery, Interspace Commerce, Ageira Technologies, Deep Space Engineering, and Kishiro over local suppliers have steadily raised opposition by the formally comfortable federal contractors. Worker's strikes and walkouts throughout Rheinland's manufacturing industries - especially within highly skilled industrial sites such as the Oder Shipyards, have gone unopposed by corporate security, despite wide-ranging lenience in federal law regarding the methods companies can use to disrupt troublesome employees.
An increasingly popular sentiment amongst opposition parties has been that the Neumann administration has repeatedly prioritised foreign investment over the promised economic and security stability that was the pivotal campaign issue of Luisa Neumann following her replacement of Chancellor Schulte. As measured by the Hamburg Institute for Social Progress, up to 37% of urban colonists consider House Chancellor Neumann to be unrepresentative of the Rheinland people. Neuman, who was appointed replacement of Chancellor Schulte in the wake of the Hudson Crisis, is a firm establishment favourite of the Federal Conservative party - the most consistently influential party in Rheinland politics since the end of the Nomad War. However, repeated unresolved policy issues - public perception of unaccountability within the department of defence, the government's sluggish response to the Nuremburg Crisis, stagnant wages, and an increasing wealth divide, has sapped the Federal Conservative's message of national stability though economic deregulation. The sentiment in the financial markets is that the Neumann administration has towed a conciliatory approach to the Libertonian model - prioritising a hands-off approach to civilian life - without the institutional wealth evidenced across the border in Liberty.
Following the public perception of victory in the Sigma-21 campaign, the Federalist parties (Federal Labour, Federal Conservative), experienced a slight bump in polls support - however, the rise in poll numbers was eclipsed by the poll rise of the Rheinland Imperial Party - who had largely advocated for punitive action against the GMG, despite the widespread unpopularity of a generalised war with Kusari. Undisclosed sources within the Bundestag suggest that the Neumann administration may pursue a more draconian foreign policy in the future, focusing on the so-called 'Omega Goldrush' that has buoyed the postwar Bretonian economy. Opinion surveys conducted by RI-News indicate that measures to increase security on the Bretonian front capture little support at home, with only 8% of assessed citizens showing a "very strong" support towards political adversarialism with the Bretonians. Many Rheinland citizens cite the longrunning stability and peace between Rheinland and Bretonia, cultural similarities, and the strong trade ties between Bretonian and Rheinlandic corporations. Others say that the Bretonian navy's actions against the Red Hessian scourge are evidence of overlapping security needs between Bretonia and the Rheinland Republic. Imperial MP Lorelei Cramer gave the following statement, "Rheinland's greatest achievement is a history of peace, stability, trade, and growth. Squaring off against our economic and security partners, shortly after they have survived the most destructive war in human history, would be opportunism of the worst kind. Rheinland has had to work hard to regain our trust on the interhouse stage in the decades after Chancellor Neimann's conquests. We must not relive the worst excesses of the Nomad War to distract from domestic policy. The wealth divide continues to grow, our healthcare system doesn't have the funding or the expertise to deal with the illness of Nox addiction, and our veterans deserve a second chance. Corruption remains uninvestigated and the Bundestag is stricken by gridlock. Listening to extremists is not the way to heal our nation. "
In other news, a protest over drinking water contaminated with lethal radionuclides turned violent in the prefecture city of Heimstätte, Planet Neu Berlin, after revelations emerged that credits for ALG waste disposal contracts had been siphoned off by provincial Mayor, Ulrich Goss...
-The views within this article do not reflect the official stance of the Imperial Party of Rheinland but the viewpoint of a single reporter.-