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NEWSFLASH: ACP No Longer has Absolute Majority in Parliament

Imperial Parliament, Geneva - Franco Torres stunned Imperial Parliament officials last night as he formally left the Alexandrian Conservative Party (ACP) in favor of going Independent. Immediately after he announced this decision, he lodged a request to organize a new party, the Union of Christian Democrats.

With the resignation being handed in late last night, no one at the ACP has yet commented on M. Torres' decision.

What this means for the ACP is that they find themselves with only 42.8% of the Imperial Parliament's seats, down from 57%, on the roster. They remain the largest party, but no longer have stranglehold on the house.

Meanwhile, the inactivity of major government officials means that there has still been no action taken to fill the empty seat left following Liam Sinclair's resignation, last week. This despite M. Sinclair warning Parliament well in advance of the announcement.

Speaker resigns Parliament, body leaderless

Geneva, Alexandria; ABCC News - Speaker of Parliament Pete James (AAP) recently resigned from the Imperial Parliament as the body readied itself for a prompt dissolution and an election season in full swing. The resignation came accompanied with a sudden leave of absence by James, leaving the Alexandrian Amelioration Party leaderless and in disarray in the midst of elections. In his hasty exit, James appointed Liam Sinclair as Clerk of the Imperial Parliament, making him Speaker upon the depature of James. Mssr. Sinclair denied being consulted to take up the position and quoted outside commitments as his inability to perform the duties thrust suddenly upon him.

Conservative MP from Rio Grande, Jose Frias, was visibly outraged at the Speaker's moves. "This is of course, the kind of half-baked schemes that the AAP and now departed Speaker Pete James have been so known for. Mssr. James just upped and left all of a sudden, leaving the Parliament abandoned and without leadership," stated Frias. Conservative MP from San Martin, Matthieu Poitiers, rose to volunteer for the vacant position to steer Parliament until its scheduled dissolution on the 15th of this month.

So far, it seems like Parliament will be leaderless for the remaining of the session unless the Emperor conducts a vote to replace the Speaker.

Ibelin seat to dominate election attention once more

Race could end up exploding onto the national stage again

Crécy, Ibelin; Genevan Arrow – Prime Minister Juan Ciervo opened the election season today when he issued a writ of election that dissolved Parliament. This is the first election after the brief state of emergency caused by an inactive Parliament under the last Frias Government. It was during this emergency election that the contest for the seat of Ibelin, usually quiet, grew into a hard-fought race that ended in a tie and exploded into the national scene under the recent Code of Electoral Law. This election season, it is predicted that the Ibelin race will recapture national attention as more and more of its citizens rush to file candidacy papers to replace the recalled Lysander Spooner.

As this article went to press, Nicholas Bertrand of the new Liberal Alternative and a new citizen, Maynard D’Aire (Independent), filed their candidacy papers to run for the Ibelin seat. It is expected that Jean Carmicheal (AAP) will also do so, since he has previously stated his intent to run for said seat. Added to this is the wildcard – a renewed candidacy for the recalled Lysander Spooner (F-C) to regain his seat. Legally, since the recall election to replace him was never held, he is legally entitled to run for the Ibelin seat once more.

The Ibelin race is amounting to be a four-way race in a province where there are about six active citizens. Two of those – Jacques de Beaufort and Paul Joyce – have both been in an extended leave of absence for the last few months. If said citizens do not participate of the vote, it will be very likely that the race will be once again thrust into the national level for the second time in a row.

ABCC to reinvigorate its flagship, the Genevan Arrow

Geneva, Alexandria; ABCC News - The Alexandrian Broadcasting and Communications Corporation, a state-owned broadcasting corporation, is currently discussing plans to reinvigorate and revitalize its flagship publication, the Genevan Arrow. Nothing as of yet has been made concrete, but the Imperial Cabinet is set to begin internal discussions as to what kinds of reforms and new policies will be implemented to reinvigorate Alexandria's only state-owned company.

The Genevan Arrow will officially restart its coverage of local Alexandrian news in coming days, stated the Palace of Wesloderia.

Alexandrian Government shaded with the Conservative blue

Geneva, Alexandria; Genevan Arrow – The Conservative Party, capitalizing in the unpopularity of Prime Minister Pete James and the Alexandrian Amelioration Party, managed to score an incredible electoral victory in this month’s general elections.

The Alexandrian Conservative Party managed to recapture the Prime Ministry and Parliament for the first time since July of last year. Jose Frias was elected Prime Minister once more, defeating Prince Augusto of Corcovado with a large majority. The Conservatives also managed to capture almost every seat in Parliament except the traditionally liberal Valenciennes, who was won by the Alexandrian Amelioration Party.

Upon his swearing-in, Prime Minister Jose Frias addressed the Alexandrian people in an inaugural address, saying “I pledge to serve the people of Alexandria with the best of my abilities, and to work with my fellow parliamentarians in passing the legislative agenda I have outlined for my term.” The Prime Minister’s agenda includes the reintroduction of a national economy, betterment of relations with the Kingdom of Novasolum and constitutional reforms that will extend the length of Parliaments in Alexandria.

Alexandrian Public Radio makes its debut

Geneva, Alexandria; Genevan Arrow - In a surprise release, Alexandrian Public Radio made its debut earlier today with a transmission of news and events for June 15th, 2007, to celebrate the 5th anniversary of His Majesty's ascension to the throne.

Alexandrian Public Radio has been in developmental stages since June 10th, when a small test broadcast was made that went largely unannounced and unnoticed by most Alexandrians. "WQe wanted to present a surprise broadcast for our citizens, so we kept it quite for a little while," stated His Majesty to the Arrow. "Hopefully now that our citizens and friends have seen APR, we can get their input to continue to develop the base that we have built."