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Vol. 2, No. 8 SUNDAY, APRIL 7th 2019 © International News Organization, 2019

New Western Atlantic Legislature Rumbles

Into Action in The
Sees Senate Shakeup Leftist Assembly
By LLO
The quarterly election of The Leftist As-
sembly (TLA) concluded on March 14, af-
firming the 13th legislative General Assem-
bly headed by Secretary The Final Horse-
man (TFH). In the first three weeks of the
term, the Secretary confirmed a number of
ministerial appointments, a Senator by-
election was held, and the refreshed govern-
ment deliberated several contentious bills,
with mixed public reception.

On March 21, just one week following the

Supporters celebrate as the Activist-led coalition grew its vote share in the Spring 2019 elections.
By UCP
Elections in the New Western
Atlantic (NWA) have just conclud-
ed, and the quarterly process truly
was a process to behold. The poll
dominated the message board,
campaign adverts were embla-
zoned across the regional Discord
server, and party politics were
fully out to play. With flashy col-
oured posters and speculative
opinion polls aplenty, the regional
elections seemingly invaded every
aspect of the region’s community.
And of course, it wouldn’t be a
true election if at least one part of
the process wasn’t mired in con-
troversy.
With the opening of the regional
election poll on March 16, the
NWA proceeded with its first set
of four elections for the 2019 calen-
dar year. The elections this spring
were particularly unique as they
come in the wake of major reform
to the region’s legislative body:
the Senate. Starting this term, not
only has the Senate been expand-
ed from 25 to 30 seats, but the two
-tiered class system for Senators
has also been removed; all 30 Sen-
ators are up for election at the
same time.
The majority coalition - made up
of the Liberal Democrat, National,
and Constructivist parties - en-
tered the recent election hoping to
retain its control over the Senate
for a third consecutive term, plac-
ing the burden on the minority
coalition to present an alternative
vision for the NWA. Taking place
shortly after the ill-fated merge
with Norden and midway through
the current administration’s term,
the poll was a referendum on the
current government. In order for
the minority coalition to seize con-
trol of the region’s unicameral leg-
islature, the Activist, Social Bloc,
and Unity parties were pressured
with the task of presenting them-
selves as a viable replacement to
the current majority.
If one didn’t think there was
enough going on with the legisla-
tive changes, the effects of the
Norden merge, and the approval
of the current government at
stake, then they surely would
have been ecstatic to hear about…
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
release of the election results and shortly
after the confirmation of all three of TFH’s
appointments to the judicial Supreme Court,
the Secretary proceeded to announce a num-
ber of ministerial appointments. Uncontro-
versially, it was announced that they them-
selves would continue as the Minister of Re-
cruitment, following successful efforts in
previous months that have seen the region
plateau at an all-time high of around 350 na-
tions. Hecknamistan would remain as the
Minister of Foreign Affairs, reflecting that
he had “served diligently and his work has
always been in TLA's best interest”. More
recently, the fate of the position of Minister
of NationStates Affairs was sealed as it was
renamed to Minister of Information and
Prime Minister Argentigrad was appointed
to the position. It will now be more specifi-
cally responsible for the quarterly census,
biannual Culture Competitions, and publish-
ing polls to gauge opinion on World Assem-
bly proposals.
Soon after the initial appointments, it be-
came evident that one of the political …
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

The Communist Bloc’s Constitutional Convention: An Ignorance of the Elite

By LEWIS KUZNETSOV-FLOOD
Important Note: This article repre-
sents the personal views of the au-
thor, and does not necessarily repre-
sent the view of NationStates Today.
In January of this year, The Com-
munist Bloc began its process to draft
a new Constitution - popular feeling,
at the time, was that the current sys-
tem of government was failing the
people, and did not lead to a fair bal-
ance of direct and indirect democra-
cy. After much debate, a month and a
half later it agreed to a new executive
and legislative system.
Then things chugged to a halt -
while the judiciary was eventually
agreed upon, several citizens began
to agitate against the proposed struc-
ture. Many, including myself, felt that
the convention had been moving too
quickly without properly considering
the views of more than the core group
of players who got involved in discus-
sions. A poll I designed was held to
see what the citizens and residents of
the region wanted - turns out, it was-
n’t what the convention voted for.
The poll’s results are damning - a
rejection of the proposed collegiate
system, and a rejection of the sole,
directly democratic chamber so heav-
ily championed by the upper echelons
of the region’s elite. When it came to
the executive, the region was split
down the middle, with a slight majori-
ty for a presidential system. Natural-
ly, this was not acceptable to those
that so heavily supported the colle-
giate council of ministers as adopted
in a convention vote - attacks on the
poll and its methodology followed,
with many ignoring the fact that re-
form had been called for. Just not the
reform they wanted.
Has TCB created an elite political class?
As the Government tried to figure
out how to run an “official” poll,
something which is yet to occur at the
time of this article going to press,
talks began regarding a compromise -
the return of an elected chamber,
with a directly democratic lower
house, and the creation of a new
Head of Government - the Premier. A
new position of President would be
created, to act as the Head of State. In
effect, the proposal would create a
semi-Presidential system in a similar
vein to many European nations. Key
figures on both sides of the divide be-
gan to support that compromise, and
it has since been given the shape of a
bill to reform the constitutional con-
vention and get it moving; having
started on January 5th, it has been
just over three months, and members
have become increasingly exasperat-
ed with the lack of government work
outside of the convention - elections
were suspended until recently, with
the General Secretary not even re-
ceiving an electoral mandate.
The Communist Bloc needs a gov-
ernment that works for all. A govern-
ment which caters to those who want
politic gameplay, those who want to
legislate, those who want a govern-
ment which listens to them. The pro-
posal I have outlined, and have been
pushing for, fulfills those needs. It
outlines a government which allows
players of all types to get involved,
and I call on the region to vote in fa-
vour of it.

UCP reports on the recent election in the
New Western Atlantic, Llo writes about
new legislative debate in The Leftist As-
sembly, and Prarie reviews new addi-
tions to The South Pacific’s High Court.
Wymondham interviews Lynxi in a re-
turn to his ‘Up Close & Personal’ series,
while Llo looks at the newest growing
regions within the world of NationStates
from this week.
Brihimia discusses the resignation of the
mayor of Lazhintsky, Trabardia, follow-
ing a questionable media report on fraud-
ulent activity, and what its implications
are for the city.
Daunlaund gives their Art of the Week
wrap-up, with this week’s best designs
from the NS forums, while Llo challenges
you to another weekly crossword with
clues from the edition and NS generally.

New Western Atlantic
Sees Senate Shakeup
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
… the controversy that hit the region
less than two days into the election
campaign. As turnout remained in
the smallest of proportions, a scandal
struck the National party. With the
resignation of two-thirds of the par-
ty’s Senators and expulsion of a por-
tion of the party’s members in the
weeks leading up to the election, its
Chairman, Grand Rebels, and new
Deputy Chairman were both impli-
cated in bribery accusations. These
allegations were eventually brought
to the regional Justice Ministry, and
are currently awaiting deliberation
by the High Court of the NWA.
With the closing of the polls on the
evening of March 23, it was evident
that a major shift had occurred with-
in the political sphere of the New
Western Atlantic. In a break from
the past two elections and a rebuke
to Constructivist leadership, the Ac-
tivist party emerged with the largest
vote share. Though the Constructiv-
ists retained their place among the
top two parties, the Liberal Demo-
cratic and Unity parties both saw a
surge of support.
There are many takeaways from
the results of the Spring 2019 elec-
tion, but there are two conclusions
that are the most noteworthy. First
of all is the shift in the allocation of
Senate seats. Even when taking the
seat increase into account, it is clear
that the vote share of the Social Bloc,
Constructivist and National parties
decreased. Though National was the
only party to lose a seat, the inability
of both the Constructivist and Social
Bloc parties to pick up a seat in pro-
portion to the total seat increase indi-
cates that their support from previ-
ous elections may have wavered.
Though small deviations from elec-
tion to election are normal, a pro-
longed decrease in any party’s vote
shares could potentially hurt their
Legislature Rumbles Into Action in The Leftist Assembly
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
… hopefuls of the region, Senator
Great Varia, was on track to cease-to-
exist. Following a vote of no confi-
dence that returned a 34-2 result in
favour of their removal from the Gen-
eral Assembly, the vacancy triggered
a by-election. Six candidates nominat-
ed themselves for the position, includ-
ing a number of unsuccessful candi-
dates from the previous general elec-
tion. After two days of voting, on
March 27, Fevhader was revealed as
having won in a landslide victory. The
new Senator narrowly ranked sixth in
the Senator contest of the previous
general election, in which five posi-
tions were available.
As the newly-minted members of
the executive and legislative branch-
NATIONSTATES TODAY. SUNDAY, APRIL 7th, 2019. POLITICS
SUNDAY, APRIL 7th 2019
legitimacy in the long-term.
The second noteworthy conclusion
is that there may be a current cen-
tre/centre-left shift in NWA regional
politics. Though a small bump in sup-
port for one or two parties would be
considered normal, all three parties
considered to be centre/centre-left
saw a surge in their support, with the
Liberal Democrats and Activists see-
ing the largest benefit of this poten-
tial shift. Only time will determine if
this conclusion is correct in the long-
term, but a continued drift toward
the centre of the spectrum could
drastically change the makeup of the
coalitions that govern the region.
The New Western Atlantic now en-
ters the more difficult and critical
aspect of the election process - coali-
tion building. While the process is
normally a difficult task, this sea-
son’s negotiations will be further
complicated by the necessity of one
coalition to break, as both existing
coalitions hold the same number of
seats and, therefore, may not form a
majority government in their own
right. Though in theory there are 4-5
varying majority coalition possibili-
ties, the various intricate relation-
ships between parties in the NWA
knock out a few of these options. The
most likely of outcomes is that a ma-
jority will emerge out of either the
centre-left or centre-right of the re-
gion.
Regardless of which party secures
the majority coalition, it has been
made clear that politics within the
New Western Atlantic is changing.
Whether these changes are a short-
term deviation from the norm, or a
long-term shift in regional opinion
remains to be seen, but it is certainly
obvious that the coalitions of old will
need to be adjusted to accommodate
a change in the ideological leanings
of the citizenry.
es settled down, the legislature began
to pick up its workload. Two key piec-
es of legislation have become the sub-
ject of hotly-contested debate in re-
cent weeks. The first
was Senator Greyly-
n’s State of the As-
Two key pieces
sembly bill, which of legislation
have become
sought to enshrine
into law an optional
speech to be delivered the subject of
by the Secretary half-
way through their hotly-contested
term covering “new
debate in re-
legislative agendas,
the state of domestic cent weeks.
and foreign affairs,
and any other area the Secretary
wishes to draw attention to”. The bill
received a significant amount of criti-
cism from the likes of regional stal-
New Justices Set To Be
Confirmed in The South Pacific
The South Pacific’s High Court has been inundated with work with so few Justices.
By PRARIE
The High Court of the South Pacific
has had a significant workload in re-
cent weeks, as Associate Justice
Sandaoguo won the election for Min-
ister of Foreign Affairs and resigned
his post. Now, however, the Cabinet
led by Prime Minister Roavin has
helped the High Court by nominating
two new Associate Justices.
Three nations applied for the posi-
tion of Associate Justice: Islands of
unity, Rebeltopia, and Awesomiasa.
The pool looked very interesting
from the outside; Rebeltopia and
Awe are long-time TSPers who are
widely recognized for their regional
contributions, while Islands of Unity
is an upcoming populist who has
been involved pretty much every-
where in the South Pacific. However,
after a private conversation between
Chief Justice Kris Kringle and Asso-
ciate Justice Belschaft, a clear front-
runner emerged.
“I have no doubt that Rebeltopia is
more than qualified to sit on the High
Court,” said Chief Justice Kringle.
“He has experience in our judiciary,
wart Cedoria and Prime Minister Ar-
gentigrad, with the latter stating that
“there's no point in legislating it if it's
gonna be optional”. This pressure
amounted in Greylyn
dropping the bill on
April 4, citing a desire
to instead pursue it as
a “non-legislative pro-
posal”.
Within minutes of
this, Senator Daw-
tania had commenced
discussion on the next
item in the legislative
agenda: their pro-
posal to separate the elections of the
Secretary and Prime Minister, the
leader and deputy leader of the re-
gion respectively. With some debate
2
Section P
and his answers consistently show a
keen understanding of the nuances
of legal interpretation, yet also the
importance of always referring back
to what the law actually says. He will
be a welcome addition to our bench.”
As for the other applicants, they
could have been better in the opinion
of the court. They appreciated
Awesomiasa’s legal experience in
the High Court but were concerned
about his perceived importance to
the spirit of the law. As for Islands of
Unity, the Justices didn’t appear to
give him much time. They thorough-
ly disliked Islands of Unity’s applica-
tion, and Islands withdrew his appli-
cation on March 16.
However, the Cabinet appeared to
give Awesomiasa the benefit of the
doubt. On March 31, Prime Minister
Roavin submitted a statement to the
legislative Assembly nominating
Rebeltopia and Awesomiasa. While
the Assembly has been comprehen-
sive in their questioning of the appli-
cants, it appears both will steadily
pass, giving much-needed assistance
to Kringle and Belschaft.
already bubbling to the surface over
the implications of such a measure,
the author of the bill will need to pre-
sent a convincing case to secure the
Constitutional amendment, which
would require a two-thirds majority
in favour at a referendum. While it
may be speculative, it appears unlike-
ly that they will be able to rally such
broad support for the change.
From here, TLA looks to further leg-
islative reforms, a census for the
month of April, and a keenly antici-
pated Culture Competitions that will
offer citizens the chance to change
some of the region’s key symbols, in-
cluding its anthem and flag.

UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL: Lynxi
By WYMONDHAM
On March 31, Lynxi ascended to the
throne of Osiris. Having been Heir Ap-
parent since February 10, Lynxi has
already presided over Osiris’ April
Fools transformation into Ponysiris. I
sat down with Lynxi a week after her
appointment as Heir Apparent, howev-
er a combination of real-life factors and
decisions on my part after the an-
nouncement of Altino’s abdication con-
tributed to the delay in the publishing of
this article.
Lynxi has enjoyed a varied career in
NationStates, having co-founded Caer
Sidi after a career in user-created re-
gions. Lynxi then joined The Grey War-
dens before joining Osiris as soon as
they were un-proscribed:
“... I started out in a few UCRs just
trying to learn what the game was and
how do do the tings. The Allied States
was first- before they had the fiasco
with hosting the World Fair. Needless
to say I left when that incident occurred
and wound up in Equinox. I joined EQ
Mafia, met Satya and Aynia and
learned how to raid. We left EQ for vari-
ous reasons, and I wound up floating
between Arda en' Estel and Hellenic
Empire for a while, not doing much but
occasionally raiding and helping set up
some HE stuff. Satya's sudden quitting
and other shenanigans made me take a
break from the game, and when I came
back me and Aynia decide to [sic] co-
found Caer Sidi together. At this time
was when Altino brought me into Aste-
orra fam and I joined my first GCR, The
West Pacific. Founding a UCR gave me
so much information on how the game
is and should be played, and I think that
it's a defining moment in my career.
Because I came from a very cosmopoli-
tan, slumming around style of playing
and then all this responsibility was sud-
denly thrust upon me. I eventually left
Caer Sidi for various reasons, joined
TGW (I had always wanted to learn
how to defend), and started hanging
around Osiris as a visitor. Since I was
proscribed, you know. When the pro-
scription was lifted by Osiris, I joined
up and started devoting 100% of my
time to working with Altino in the gov-
ernment. A few Vizierships later and a
long time WA locked, and here I am...”
Although it was only announced re-
cently, plans have been in place for
Lynxi to become Heir Apparent for a
while:
“Well I had a few clues before she re-
ally said anything. But this has been the
plan for at least a few months. Outside
of the game I work a pretty stressful job
during the holidays so I took a bit of ab-
sence, and I think she wanted to wait
[sic] till I was back and active as I typi-
cally am. So as soon as I started making
headway in Community Affairs we
started talking about officially announc-
ing it. I don't think anyone was sur-
prised. I personally have two feelings
when taking on any position of respon-
sibility: eagerness to do well and a sort
of nervousness that's more positive
than negative. It's a familiar feeling.”
Lynxi’s main goal is working on the
NATIONSTATES TODAY. SUNDAY, APRIL 7th, 2019. GAMEPLAY
SUNDAY, APRIL 7th 2019
internal affairs of Osiris rather than for-
eign affairs issues:
“I'm planning to focus a lot of my at-
tention on the interior of the region. I
think that any leader should think about
what is going to happen after them.
What sort of people will eventually fill
their shoes and whatnot. I'm going to
continue Altino's meritocratic system,
because I believe in an activity based
game you need to continually prove
yourself to be responsible for the posi-
tions you want. This typically does a
good job of letting us know who we
want to put into certain positions, and
gives us a goal for integrating our new
citizens. We want to turn new players
into dedicated community members,
and each one of our government depart-
ments will be asked to think of that in
their day to day activities. As far as for-
eign affairs goes, there's a few ideas I
have to improve friendships and foster
new and beneficial alliances. I think we
have seen a very good refining of our
treaties under Altino's leadership, so I
think it is a good idea to find regions
who want to work with us to reach com-
mon goals. Emphasis on quality, not
quantity. In Sekhmet, I'm going to be
working with Benja to train and foster
the growth of other military leaders so
he won't have to do all the work all the
time. That kid's a workhorse, but don't
let anyone know I'm saying nice things
about him.”
Lynxi also feels that the current gov-
ernment as appointed by Altino is al-
right for Osiris as it is:
“I plan to start my term as Pharaoh
out with largely the same cast of play-
ers we have now. I will likely make
some changes, but only after some ob-
servation. I don't want to turn Osiris
inside out, I just want to work on contin-
uing the damn good job we've been do-
ing for a while now.”
Lynxi thinks she is much like Altino,
minus the love of owls naturally:
“Well, I have only experienced Altino
as a Pharaoh first hand so I am not
quite sure about past Pharaohs. As to
how I am similar to Altino, well she's
been one of the people that have helped
me develop my outlook on regions,
leadership, and Nationstates in general.
We have similar views on a lot, and
that's something that people should ex-
pect from me. We do, however, have
our differences like any two individuals
do. For one, she's not even a big fan of
gummy bears. For two, I am less inter-
ested in owls than the general public
might know. We just try not to think
about the differences and that helps us
not beat each other up on a daily basis.”
Lynxi believes that the best leaders
are the best at managing others:
“Honestly, people management.
That's the entirety of leadership in the
game and so long as you know your
people, know what they value, and
know why they do what they do you can
inspire anyone to do anything. I person-
ally hold myself to a bit of a personal
moral system and I think that's im-
portant too. Because when you're in a
leadership position it's important that
you can lead your government to do the
things it's responsible for but it's also
important that you don't lead them into
shady situations because of a personal
goal. That's where drama starts, people
forgetting they are leading a communi-
ty instead of achieving their own per-
sonal goals. My personal goal is to do
the best I can for any region I love, so
luckily I get to pursue mine and feel
good about it at the end of the day too.”
According to Lynxi, the reason being
the Pharaoh of Osiris is the best in NS
because of the community:
“Well first, the title is probably one of
the coolest in the game. Everybody
knows that your value as a leader is
equivalent to how cool your title is. But,
in all seriousness, I would think that
what makes being Pharaoh different
has nothing to do with the impersonal
structures of the region. Like the Scroll
of Horus is just words, right? So what is
different is that in Osiris I'm surround-
ed by the people I want to be surround-
ed by. I am part of a community that I
cherish with the people I cherish, and
that makes it, for me, the best leader-
ship position I could ask for.”
Lynxi says the strength of Osiris lays
in the people that it is built upon:
“Our people. Osiris has a great assort-
ment of people at the moment and it's
wonderful that we feel so relaxed and
easy with how things are going. Not
often do you find a region where people
aren't at least at some sort of odds with
each other. It's refreshing for me, be-
cause a lot of the places I came from
were time bombs. So I think our people
are the greatest strength. And really, in
every region that's typically the case
right cos without people you don't have
activity.... but there's something special
about the Osirans I haven't really found
anywhere else.”
However, the greatest weakness in
Osiris is the distinct possibility of the
system stalling:
“The greatest weakness of any meri-
tocratic system is the possibility of
stalling out. If you don't find new people
for the region, then when the old ones
retire you'll be back to square one. This
is felt very strongly in Sinkers, because
we don't have the influx of new players
New Regions Showcase
By LLO
The Land of Elysium
Nations: 19
Founded: 3 April 2019
Founder: Novum Vallis
Delegate: The Cansa
Best Census Records: Rudeness,
Black Market, Inclusiveness
This neutral roleplay region de-
scribes itself as having “hilly green
pastures, clear blue seas, untouched
territories, and many misadven-
tures”. They have some casual RMB
roleplay and are cracking down on
“extremists” in the region.
3
Section G
that Feeders have. We play with that
disadvantage everyday, so it takes ex-
tra work to provide for this sort of sys-
tem. But like every weakness, eventual-
ly you can overcome it and even turn it
into a strength. Working in the Sinkers
refines the techniques used to acquire
new members, to convert gameside
players into forum and discord commu-
nity members, and how to work against
the odds with optimism.”
Although Lynxi is not an aggressive
person, she believes that the decision to
declare war against the New Pacific
Order was the right one at the end of
the day:
“...I'm not typically a person that rev-
els in conflict, but I do think the war
was the right step. You can't just let
anyone set fires in your backyard. What
I know I will do in terms of the War is
assessing our goals, our strategies, and
what the citizens of Osiris want and
most likely basing our future efforts off
of that. But until I'm in the midst of
things I can't answer that question
without making stuff up. I'm not going
to make stuff up.”
Lynxi says that the greatest threat to
NS is the lull in R/D activity:
“... I don't know that I have the time in
the game to really answer it. Like
there's a delicate balance people need
to find on things like OOC policing and
admin duties, there's a general lull in r/
d cos everyone is independent and
afraid to do things without criticism,
and there's kind of a problem with peo-
ple who have done stuff in the past but
are doing nothing now doing their best
to stagnate growth and new ideas. So I
suppose, people can take their pick at
what's the worst, because I'm really
just trying to do what's best for Osiris. I
got tunnel vision right now.”
Lynxi was extremely courteous to me
throughout this interview, despite her
being exceptionally busy in real-life,
and I would like to thank her for that.
Having recently had Lynxi on the
NSToday podcast, The News Room, I
predict a brilliant future for Osiris and
predict a continuation of its new golden
age under Altino.
Flavortown
Nations: 18
Founded: 2 April 2019
Founder: Fieri Guy
Delegate: Bruhhhhhhhhhhh
This region, dedicated to Guy Fieri’s
real-life ‘Flavortown’ show, presents
itself in its World Factbook Entry as
pro-LGBT+ and anti-racist. A handful
of nations appear to be figuring out
the mechanics of operating a region
on the RMB, with some interesting
nation names making appearances,
including Fieri Guy, ShiaLabeoof, and
Bencil-Sharpeniro.

Lazhintsky Mayoral Resignation Over Fraud Allegations
The Executive Council convene following the publication of fraud allegations concerning now-former Mayor Sebastian Garcia.
By BRIHIMIA
LAZHINTSKY, TRABARDIA — An
unparalleled dynastic reign came to
an end on Friday morning when the
Mayor of Lazhintsky, Sebastian Gar-
cia, departed City Hall.
The mayor’s plans to resign, first
reported by the Lazhintsky Press on
Thursday night, were announced to
the Executive Cabinet of the city that
morning. The Cabinet met all day and
night to discuss the transition of pow-
er that ended Mr. Garcia’s 9-year ten-
ure.
The resignation was sparked by
corruption allegations first published
in the Thursday morning edition of
the Lazhintsky Tribune by Sita Agar-
banzareís, a first-time investigative
columnist whose report has already
been challenged by fact-checkers at
major local news organizations as
well as national news networks.
The Tribune’s report, which was
seen as a surprise to many consider-
ing that the publication is known to
be Mr. Garcia’s newspaper of choice,
alleges that Mr. Garcia used $120 mil-
lion of the mayor’s office personal
funds for expensive luxury train rides
across southern Trabardia.
Lazhintsky District Attorney Gua-
dalupe Márquez announced Friday
afternoon that the city prosecutor’s
office would not be investigating nor
indicting the former mayor, saying
that “there is no evidence to warrant
an arrest … even if the allegations
are true, there is no misuse of city
funds that we can find based on evi-
dence provided to us by Ms. Agar-
banzareís.”
The Garcia Dynasty
Long before Mr. Garcia, or his fa-
ther Palomo Garcia, occupied the
Mayor’s Office, Tomas Casado was
selected as Provisional Mayor of the
NATIONSTATES TODAY. SUNDAY, APRIL 7th, 2019. INTERNATIONAL
SUNDAY, APRIL 7th 2019
Lazhintsky District in 1823. Casado,
the ancestor of Sebastian Garcia da-
ting back seven generations, weld
provisional power during the first
democratic revolution in Trabardia
that ushered in more than a century
of true democracy. Casado’s son, An-
gel, and his granddaughter, Angelia,
both served after him.
Casado’s dynasty in the 19th centu-
ry was fueled by the Revolutionary
Democratic Party’s stronghold on the
city, state, and national governments.
It began a social safety net, a
healthcare system, a city park sys-
tem, and the expansion of city ser-
vices. Lazhintsky city historian Mon-
ica Delgado went so far in an inter-
view with the Press to say that
“Tomas, Angel, and Angelia’s consec-
utive terms were perhaps the most
progress the city ever made in a gen-
eration. Period.”
Angelia Garcia’s unpopular term as
mayor – and her family’s reign –
came to an end when corporate boss
Santiago Otero defeated her in an
election. Ortero’s reign marked the
start of the Corporativo, where corpo-
rate monopolies controlled every lev-
el of government with the same iron
strength that the Revolutionary Dem-
ocratic Party once held.
Angelia’s son, Carson Garcia Sr.,
served on the powerless City Council
for years. Carson, the great-great-
grandfather of Sebastian Garcia, rep-
resented a southeastern district and
still fought for union rights and
against the corruption that plagued
City Hall during the Corporativo.
Alejandro and Palomo Garcia, Sebas-
tian Garcia’s great-grandfather and
grandfather respectively, both
worked in Revolutionary Democratic
Party leadership.
In 1952, Palomo Garcia Jr. was born
to Palomo Garcia Sr. and Mariana
Garcia. Active in the politics of the
city’s unions, he also assembled the
remnants of the Revolutionary Demo-
cratic Party into the New Socialist
Party.
In 2009, Palomo Jr., following his
father’s death, led the Lazhintsky
arm of the sweeping Second Revolu-
tion. However, just days after Palomo
was declared Interim Mayor of the
city’s provisional government, he was
assassinated by a hit squad pre-
sumed to be hired by an exiled La-
zhintsky billionaire.
At the same time, Sebastian Garcia
was serving on the provisional City
Assembly. As the country stabilized
and Lazhintsky was appointed the
country’s capital in the aftermath,
Mr. Garcia’s name propelled him to
the mayorship in 2010. With no chil-
dren, this would be the last time a
Garcia would be elected Mayor of the
City of Lazhintsky.
“The City Itself”
Following his election in 2010, Mr.
Garcia was re-elected with no less
than 60% of the vote in 2012, 2014,
2016, and 2018. His approval rating,
rarely dropping in the negatives, al-
lowed the far-left Communist Party to
exercise its authority without ques-
tion in a city that is widely accepted
to be the primary stronghold of the
center-left New Socialist Party.
During his first term, Mr. Garcia
railed against the elites he helped
push out of Lazhintsky in the Second
Revolution. Through a supportive
city government, he started a munici-
pal news service that helped lay the
foundation for the national public
broadcaster, STR.
For the rest of his tenure in office,
Mr. Garcia has focused on expanding
the city’s social services, including
public healthcare, public housing pro-
4
Section I
jects, and a public university modeled
after the dual city colleges opened in
Ryabinovyy last year.
Mr. Garcia’s widespread support
and admiration earned him the nick-
name “Mr. Mayor,” affectionately
coined during his 2014 re-election
campaign by a group of primary
school students. Samuel Marrero, a
historian at the University of South-
ern Trabardia, said that “Sebastian
Garcia is the city itself. He runs it,
and everything that the city has ac-
complished in the past nine years is
his accomplishment.”
Can the Deputy Do the Job?
The Deputy Mayor, Monica Casil-
las, played a reserved role during Mr.
Garcia’s time in office. Much like the
role of Trabardian Vice President,
she stood on the sidelines of city gov-
ernment and acted as a secondary
spokeswoman for Mr. Garcia’s lesser-
known initiatives.
However, now Ms. Casillas has
been thrust into the role of Mayor of
the second-largest city in Trabardia.
Her public sector experience has
been limited to only serving as a city
councilwoman from the relatively
wealthy port sector, and then Deputy
Mayor since Mr. Garcia’s re-election
in 2014.
With a mother of Arcturan descent
and a trilingual speaker of Spanish,
Trabardian, and Latin, she could rep-
resent the future of an increasingly
ethnically diverse Lazhintsky.
On Friday afternoon, Ms. Casillas
addressed reporters on her ascent to
the mayorship on the same podium
that Mr. Garcia announced his depar-
ture, calling for unity during the sud-
den upheaval in City Hall. She said,
“our task now is to continue the posi-
tive reforms for all residents of our
city.”

Art of the Week
By DAUNLAUND
This week we are trying some-
thing new and adding some flags to
the mix as well as countryball com-
ics!
By Ausinia
Haha! I really like this piece. It is
very well drawn and really funny! It
is also extremely well written. Keep
it up Ausinia!
By Los Ricos
Los Ricos work always tends to
blow my mind and it has done again.
I love every bit of detail in this piece.
Amazing!
NATIONSTATES TODAY. SUNDAY, APRIL 7th, 2019. ARTS
SUNDAY, APRIL 7th 2019
By New Transeurasia
Woah! This took me by surprise.
The amount of effort that went into
this is immense. It is a map of Eu-
rope in New Transeurasia's uni-
verse. This blows me away!
Flags
Now onto a new section of AoTW.
Its the flag section!
By Almonaster Nuevo
Something about this flag catches
my eye. I really like the colour pal-
ette and the tree. It looks very intri-
cate. Overall a very nice looking
flag.
By Almonaster Nuevo
Excellent design by Almonaster
Nuevo. The graphics are just stun-
ning. This guy deserves to be paid.
5
Section A
Crossword
By LLO
Can you solve it? Clues from edition and NS this week.
Free cookie for anyone who finishes it!
JOIN US
Apply to be a staff member of NS’
premier news organisation here.
This weeks art concluded artist or designer has their own
With a new section of the column ways and I think this week’s selec-
revealed, I think this week shows tion shows us just that.
how art can take many forms. Every
EXECUTIVE BOARD
Chairman: Lewis Kuznetsov-Flood
Chief Content Officer: Llo
Public Relations Director: Trabardia
Human Resources Director: Precoixious
EDITORIAL STAFF
Chief Politics Editor: Llo
Deputy Politics Editor: Prarie
Chief Gameplay Editor: Wymondham
Deputy Gameplay Editor: Deepest House
Chief International & Arts Editor: The Doctor