2022 Kingdom of Sierra government crisis
| Date | 25 September 2022 – 28 November 2022 |
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| Location | Kingdom of Sierra |
| Type | Government crisis |
| Cause | Continental interference in the 2021 Sierran elections |
| Participants | Social Democrats, DRPS, Royalist Party |
| Outcome |
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Leader of the Opposition and SDS
Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Sierra
Tenure and policies
Elections
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A government crisis in the Kingdom of Sierra began on 25 September 2022 following the revelation of potential interference by the United Commonwealth in the 2021 Sierran elections came into public light following a leaked report from the Ministry of Justice on 3mage showed that evidence of interference by the Continental States and state actors between Sierran private citizens, labor union leaders, and other nationals (both Sierran and foreign) was uncovered, though no evidence to convict Susan Kwon of collaboration was found. While the leak was condemned as a potential compromise to national security, the Ministry of Justice confirmed the authenticity of the report. Within hours of the report, several members from the cabinet resigned and the Democratic-Republican Party of Sierra under Maggie Chan withdrew its support from the Progressive coalition, starting the crisis and jeopardizing the Second Kwon ministry.
Following her resignation from office Minister of Foreign Affairs Maggie Chan announced that she would pursue a motion of no confidence against Susan Kwon and seeks to organize a snap election. During her announcement, Chan labeled September 26 as the date to propose the vote of no confidence. That same day, Leader of the Opposition Kenneth O'Conner of the Royalist Party announced that he would back such a measure and that the opposition would vote in favor of any vote of no confidence. The motion would pass the House of Commons on September 27 after a delay due to protest by dissenting MPs the day before.
The crisis has become a major political controversy in Sierra and has sparked numerous protests, both in support and opposition of the proposed vote of no confidence. The possibility and fears of Continental interference in other countries, in particular members of the Conference of American States, has increased due to the crisis as a result of Sierra's position as both a superpower and one of the most influential CAS member states. A general election was held on November 28 which saw Maggie Chan elected prime minister, the first Democratic-Republican prime minister since Preston Bolivar, and the first Democratic-Republican prime minister to win the general election since 2013.
Background
In May 2020, the Social Democrats of Sierra won a historic victory during the federal election that year where the party won the largest plurality of seats in the House of Commons and Social Democrat leader Susan Kwon was elected prime minister, succeeding controversial Royalist prime minister Nemesis Heartwell. The election was viewed as a realignment as the both the Royalist and Democratic-Republican parties, historically the two biggest parties in Sierra, suffered historic losses and lost many of their historic bases of support to opposing parties with the Solid valley falling to the Social Democrats and Crown country aligning with the Christian Democratic Party while winning most seats in the Deseret, a historic stronghold for Royalist support. In 2021, a second snap election was held after the creation of Bajaria in El Norte which saw the Social Democrats maintain their position in government and reaffirming the alignment from 2020, though the both the DRPS and Royalists made minor gains with the latter winning the same number of seats as the Social Democrats at 76.
During the elections of 2020 and 2021, the SFI–CLO and other labor unions fundraised for Kwon and the Social Democrats, raising a total fo $15 million for the Social Democrats' campaign efforts. During this time, SFI–CLO president Scarlett Merlino ardently campaigned for Kwon and the Social Democrats where she would eventually become one of the most powerful women in Sierra surpassed only by the prime minister herself. In the months after the 2021 federal election, claims of interference by the United Commonwealth were made with the first claims coming from Newstar from a June 2021 publication claiming that Continental state actors set up front organizations and shell companies to funnel funds to the Social Democrat campaign to support efforts to elect and later re-elect Kwon as prime minister. In July 2021, an investigate journal special by EBN News was aired which claimed that Continental agents infiltrated labor unions to funnel Continental funds to Susan Kwon to aid her election bids believing that her premiership would benefit the interests of the United Commonwealth.
Political crisis
On September 25, an post was uploaded to 3mage which showed pictures of the Ministry of Justice's final report leaked online with the report detailing the involvement of fifteen Sierran government officials, twenty private citizens, and fourteen foreign nationals worked in conjunction with Continental state actors to aid in electing Kwon as prime minister. Merlino was listed in the report as one of the involved parties along with eight other labor union leaders, however neither Kwon nor her associates were found to have benefited from nor knew of the interference due to insufficient evidence. The day before, Merlino was arrested by law enforcement as part of the ministry's second investigaton into the alleged interference three counts of false statements and one count of obstructing an official proceeding. The leak was confirmed to be true and the document's authenticity was confirmed by the Justice Ministry who also condemned the leaking as a breach of official proceeding. Hours after the document was leaked, several members from the cabinet resigned among them included Minister of Foreign Affairs Maggie Chan and Minister of Education Ryan Kaneko. Both of them held an official press conference where their resignations were announced and Chan announced the withdrawal of the Democratic-Republican Party from the Progressive coalition and called on both Susan Kwon and the remaining cabinet members to resign.
During the conference, Chan announced that she would propose a motion of no confidence in the House against the Kwon government on September 26 and would seek to hold a snap election against her. Majority Leader of the Sierran Senate Malcolm Siegel would release a statement voicing his support for the measure and stated that the Democratic-Republican Party would support the measure. An hour after Chan's conference, a press conference was held by the shadow cabinet where Opposition leader Kenneth O'Conner hosted the event and declared his support for the vote of no confidence, pledging the Royalist Party's support for the motion. O'Conner would praise Chan's actions claiming that it was proof of integrity within the party.
On September 26, Maggie Chan proposed a motion of no confidence on the floor of the House of Commons against the Kwon government. Having also been serving as Leader of the House of Commons since 2020, Chan's proposal made her the first House Leader to issue a vote of no confidence against an incumbent government in modern Sierran history. The vote was the subject to intense debate especially from Terry Scott who opposed the move and staged a walkout with members of the New Republican Caucus and sympathetic Social Democrat MPs, putting the motion to a standstill. Scott would later publically condemn Chan for the motion and accused her of paving the way for a right-wing takeover and called for her removal as Leader of the Democratic-Republican Party. Chan dismissed Scott's claims as absurd and stated she seeks to pass the vote of no confidence with Kenneth O'Conner stating he will support such an effort as well.
Motion of no confidence
The motion was reintroduced a day later on September 27 in the floor of the House of Commons. Both Maggie Chan and Kenneth O'Conner introduced the motion in a bipartisan deal and extra security was hired to prevent MPs from leaving the Parliament Building to obstruct the process like they did the day before. The motion passed with support coming from most of the Democratic-Republican Party, the Bajarian Democrats, the Royalist-led opposition and the crossbench committee lead by the Christian Democratic Party and Social Unionist Party. Opposition to the motion came from the Social Democrats, the Green Party of Sierra, the Progressive Democratic Party of Bajaría and DRPS dissidents in the New Republican Caucus. The motion passed 203–123 in the House of Commons and allowed for an early federal election to be held. After the motion passed, Kwon acknowledged her defeat and stated her intention to request that Queen Elizabeth II formally dissolve parliament to allow for an early federal election proceedings to begin within the next ten days. A Kwon spokesperson later confirmed that Kwon would formally petition to the Queen to dissolve Parliament on October 7, 2022. After Kwon formally requested a dissolution on that date, the Queen announced that Parliament would be dissolved on October 12, 2022 to allow Parliament to resolve unfinished business and to pass a bill to set the date of the election. According to the Getty House Press Secretary, the Prime Minister recommended setting the date between late November and early December.
On October 11, 2022, Parliament passed the Early Parliamentary Federal Election Act of 2022 which set the date of the election for Thursday, November 24, 2022. On October 12, 2022, the Queen dissolved Parliament and all MPs were dismissed while all senators, including those whose seats were not subject to the next electoral cycle were prorogued. The Queen gave royal assent to the act and issued a writ of election which called for an election to be held on the date chosen by Parliament. During the pre-election period, Susan Kwon and her government would remain in power as a caretaker government.
2022 federal election
Following the passage of the Early Federal Election Act, a new snap election was ordered and was scheduled for November 25. Following the announcement, the Social Democrats' standing in opinion polls collapsed and would remain at a distant third place while the Royalists and the Democratic-Republicans were in a neck-in-neck race between each other despite the Royalist Party retaining a slight lead overall in most opinion polls. Despite the damaged image and standing in the polls, Kwon would campaign for the Social Democrats and stated that she would remain as party leader for the general election.
Reactions
Federal government
At 6:30 PST, Susan Kwon held a press conference in the Getty House where she stated that she was "rather disturbed" by the findings of the report and condemned the leaking of the report online. She denied any involvement or knowledge of Continental interference in the election and cited that the report came to said conclusion while also stating that she will allow for the Special Counsel to continue its investigation. Kwon stated her intention to oppose the vote of no confidence and called likeminded officials in the Democratic-Republican Party and their allies to vote against it, accusing O'Conner of orchestrating a power grab.
Deputy Prime Minister Nazareth Ontoria-Diaz reaffirmed her support for Kwon and called on Chan to rescind the vote of no confidence and begin negotiations with the Kwon government for the "protection of the Sierran nation, progress, and democracy". Surgeon General Jonathan Mueller expressed "personal disappointment" in Chan's decision and stated that Chan should withdrawal the vote of no confidence for the "sake of our democracy and progress". Mueller also stated that the Green Party of Sierra would continue to support the prime minister and reaffirmed its commitment to the Progressive coalition.
After a motion of no confidence passed successfully in the House on November 27 with 199 ayes and 127 nays, Prime Minister Kwon acknowledged the motion and stated that she would request the Queen to dissolve Parliament within 10 days of the motion and call for a general election. Kwon stated she and her remaining government did not presently intend to resign throughout the process. Kwon also stated she will run for re-election despite the controversy.
The Ministry of Justice announced on October 1 that the report was nearly done and would be published on Tuesday, October 4, in a press conference where the report's findings will be made public and where trials against those involved in the interference will take place in the near future along with arrests of anyone else found to have been involved in Continental interference.
Domestic
Several protests have broken out across Sierra since the start of the crisis with the first ones occuring on the night of September 25 in Porciúncula, Gold Coast where several protestors gathered outside of the Getty House, the official residence for the prime minister, and protested against Susan Kwon where she was accused of being a Continental asset and called for her to resign. The protests were monitored by the Porciúncula Police Department and the Sierran Secret Service.
On September 26, Terry Scott along with several Social Democrat MPs and members of the New Republican Caucus staged a walkout protest and later gathered at a demonstration held just outside of the Parliament Building held in protest of the vote of no confidence by supporters of Susan Kwon. There, Scott publicly denounced the effort to unseat Kwon as an attempted power grab and warned of potential crackdowns on unions and organized labor from the Royalist Party using the crisis as justification. In several cities such as San Jose in Santa Clara, Riverside in in the Inland Empire, and Reno City in Reno, several other protests, both for and gainst Kwon, nationwide. Both the Continentalist Party and the Communist Party organized their own rallies in support of Kwon and against Chan and O'Conner, accusing the two latters of engaging in an attempted "neoliberal reactionary takeover".
Members of the SFI–CLO and other labor unions have organized demonstrations both in defense of Kwon and pro-union rallies to ensure solidarity continues in protection of organized labor. The SFI–CLO would condemn Merlino for her charges and stated their intent to elect a new union president, while exercising caution and concerns over potential red scare that could negatively impact unions and union strength. This warning was made after certain Royalist politicians like Laura Jones called for inquiries into the union over possible collaboration with the Continental government despite no evidence of the claim being found within the official report.
Following the passing of the motion of no confidence, protests in support of Kwon have occured all across Sierra, primarily in Federal Sierra and Hawaii, in opposition towards the motion. Many pro-Kwon/anti-government groups have organized their own rallies such as the Communist Party of Sierra, the Continentalist Party of Sierra, and the Progressive Socialists along with several labor unions and pro-Kwon organizations. A large number of student protests have also been held, mainly against O'Conner and the Royalist Party, accusing them to threatening to undo major progress, claims that O'Conner and the party have denied.
International
Antilles – Antillean president Arian Lawrence held a press conference following the revelation and stated that he was "deeply concerned" over the findings, stating that the interference was not only real, but not isolated to Sierra itself and is present in other Anglo-American nations. Lawrence stated that the Antilles would remain neutral and supportive of Sierra, but controversially remarked how "unfortunate that Sierra found out about Continental involvement the hard way".
Astoria – President Baishan Wallace released a statement where he said that the federal government knows of the crisis and is following it in order to study any potential spillovers into Astoria and/or impacts of the relationship between Astoria and Sierra. Wallace stated Astoria's neutrality in the conflict while urging swift justice for those found guilty of criminal activities. First Minister Jason Voll held a press conference where he make similar remarks to Wallace's and warned of caution by both sides. He also expressed personal disagreement with Chan's decision to propose a vote of no confidence, but admitted it was his personal view and not that of the government.
Brazoria – Chancellor Ed Gonzales expressed his "serious concern" over the potential interference by the United Commonwealth in Sierra, calling it a major breach of national and internal security. Gonzales would stated that Brazoria would remain neutral in the crisis, citing it as an internal affair to be dealt with by the Sierrans, but stated he would pursue an investigation over potential Continental interference in Brazoria as well. The Department of Foreign Affairs started an investigation on the 27th.
Superior – Secretary of Foreign Affairs Andrew Keyes held a press conference on the mourning of September 26 where he stated that the Dillon Administration was fully aware of the crisis and was deeply concerned over possible Continental infiltration. Keyes stated that Isaac Dillon has full intentions to retain the special relationship between the two countries and would remain out of the affairs of Sierra, but warned that Continental interference and infiltration was possibly occurring in Superior and other CAS member states.
United Kingdom – Prime Minister Clive Spencer held an interview with the BBC where he stated that he was "personally shocked and horrified" at news of Continental interference in Sierra's elections. He stated that he believed the investigation and called Kwon and those who either downplayed or denied it as being "utterly foolish" and "ideologically blind by choice". Spencer would reassure that the United Kingdom would retain close relations with Sierra regardless of whatever government was in charge.
See also
- Continental interference in the 2021 Sierran elections
- Kingdom of Sierra–United Commonwealth relations
- Premiership of Susan Kwon
- Second Kwon ministry
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