Prime Minister and Cabinet Resign
4 January 2011
Badar Khanad
Ashayl Busmeen submitted his resignation to President Aleyn Kirdan as the Prime Minister of Allegheny, along with the rest of his Cabinet, as well as the leader of the Union Party, following nationwide protests around the mandatory conscription of women into the Alleghenian Armed Forces.
President Aleyn Kirdan stated that he wished Mr. Busmeen well in his political and professional future and thanked him for accepting responsibility for the outrage surrounding the mandatory conscription of women.
According to a leak of the written resignation, there was no mention of the mandatory conscription of women as being the reason for the government’s resignation. In the brief letter, Kirdan suggested that given that political forces compelled him to order the suspension of the whip and the fact that a third of his party’s senators boycotted the vote meant was a constructive loss of confidence of the Union Senate.
The public statement in President Kirdan’s statement suggests that he is placing political responsibility for the Armed Forces (Amendment) Act on Mr. Busneem and deflecting from any personal or political responsibility.
Hamed Ibrahan released a statement proclaiming the achievements of the Busneem government. With support from a third of the senators, and tentatively positive opinions from the rest of his party’s senators, he will likely be elected even if a minor backbencher runs. Hamed Ibraham was the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs but he resigned a week before the Armed Forces (Amendment) Act was passed and rallied senators to oppose the bill for fear of costing the party votes at the 2013 election.
Nevertheless, he is not without enemies, with the ex-Secretary of State for Defence Subeel Nashkhad being a known rival of his. The Union Party has a few weeks before President Kirdan dissolves the Union Senate and calls for fresh elections. Will the Union Party be able to elect a leader in time or will President Kirdan be forced to close the shop?
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Hamed Ibrahan Appointed Prime Minister
12 January 2011
Tobruk Shahmadeen
President Aleyn Kirdan invited Hamed Ibrahan to serve as the Prime Minister of Allegheny and form a government following a letter submitted to him by Shehad Khanoud, the General Secretary of the Union Party, that following an internal party election, Ibrahan was elected President of the Union Party.
The election for party leader was held by the Political Bureau Standing Committee of the Union Party (the highest decision-making body in the Union Party between the National Policy and Elective Conferences held every five years). He ran against Secretary of Defence, Subeel Nashkhad. He won the election for the post of President of the Union Party (its highest position) 78 to 64 members.
The Chief Whip Perhadeen Toruk released a statement on behalf of the Union Party Senate Caucus of which he is the leader, that the caucus acknowledged Hamed Ibrahan as the party leader.
Hamed Ibrahan held a press conference shortly after the announcement of his electoral win in the party that he was “humbled and honored” to have the party’s confidence and furthermore would pursue the repeal of the Armed Forces (Amendment) Act, and the chaos and public discontent caused by the formal introduction of the mandatory conscription of women into the armed forces.
With the Union Party narrowly avoiding an early election, they retain their majority in the Union Senate, enabling Hamed Ibrahan to appoint a Cabinet without the input of a small coalition partner. It is still unclear whether he will reshuffle the Cabinet although anonymous party insiders and political analyst believe that he might and they predict that the Secretary of Defence may be the first to be culled.
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Cable Theft Syndicate Captured by Police
Nusraan Almudaniya
Kandarahan - Police Commissioner for the Capital Region, Mukhayam Ithulmeen, has announced that the police arrested 52 people linked to a syndicate that has been stealing copper cables from transmission lines in the Kandarahan Capital Region. The police conducted a raid on a warehouse in the King Saljuk II District where they housed over 2 million credits (130,000 SHD) worth of cables that were stolen.
Commissioner Ithulmeen also stated that the people implicated were being questioned by and processed by the police. He hoped that the police could ascertain links to syndicates across the country, to combat the scourge of cable theft that has partially resulted in Ithiba announcing planned power cuts early last year.
Ithiba has had to step up security measures to ensure that transmission lines and transformers are protected from theft and vandalism. Ithiba has also conducted an internal investigation to root out personnel who may have been bribed to voluntarily damage equipment on behalf of private contractors and they state that they are making substantial progress.