Týdeník - Polabia's Weekly

Polabia on Ice

2005-07-07T18:42:00.000-07:00

BUDYŠIN - As evidenced by the complete lack of activity as of late, it's reasonable to assume that Polabia is dormant. There are a few reasons, mostly key absences. One of those will very soon be my own, as I will be in Zagreb, Croatia for the next month and will not likely have regular enough internet access.

Hopefully, things can be kickstarted again but the future isn't entirely predictable.

June brings stagnation

2005-06-15T09:59:00.000-07:00

BUDYŠIN - Little has happened in Polabia since the draft of the constitution was completed. Unfortunately, there has not yet been any discussion on the new sections at all. Part of the blame seems to fall on the last wave of exams which happened at roughly the same time, but there are also more general problems with people's activity. However, some of this has begun to be addressed and some activity has returned to the state. The next plan is to consolidate the population and determine who is wishes to be active and who doesn't and to build from that point. Uneven activity has been a problem of Polabia's since its foundation.

Draft Constitution Completed

2005-05-25T08:55:00.000-07:00

BUDYŠIN - After two months of extensive work, the draft of the Constitution of the Republic of Polabia is completed and can be viewed at the Ústavní sněm section of the Republic of Polabia forum. The document which is well over twenty pages in length and based primarily off of the the Constitution of the French Fifth Republic establishes a semi-presidential system of government with many features which are completely unique to micronationalism. The most unique feature is the new Parliament elected every three months, called the Narodní Sejm or National Assembly which combines direct democracy with true parliamentaryism by establishing a party-state with a system of proportional representation. While elections where everyone will inevitably take a seat seems extraneous, they're importance comes in establishing proportions in parliament for parties which then negotiate with each other to form majority coalitions. Other features include a flexible number of ministries, which can be changed and reduced according to the preferences of the government of the day and to be negotiated with in creating ruling coalitions. The Presidency, elected by a two round system every three months, and the Parliament also stand apart from most micronational institutions in the detail and extent of their powers.

Though the draft is completed, the document will still undergo further revision as suggested by other citizens of the Republic before being formally accepted by a referendum in what will likely be the near future. The impending acceptance of the Constitution will be followed shortly by the first elections.

Formation of Social Democratic Party

2005-05-18T19:04:00.000-07:00

BUDYŠIN - Hagen Tronjski and Stjepan Aračić have nearly completed work on the creation of what will likely become Polabia's first political party; the Social Democratic Party of Polabia (Sociálná demokratická strana Polabské) or SDP. The draft of the party's program, written by Tronjski is posted at Vanek Square where it is being discussed. The party's programme closely resembles modern European Social Democratic Parties with emphasis placed on the nationalization of key industries, regulation of the economy, and progressive taxation. In terms of foreign policy, they support a neutral or multi-lateral approach. At least two other political parties are reportedly being organized.

Further progress has also been made on the Constitution, which has now entered it's third month of work and is now breaking the twenty page mark. The new section establishes the Parliament of the Republic, known alternately as the Narodní Sněm or Narodní Sejm until a final decision has been made. Both names translate to National Assembly. The National Assembly is a unicameral legislature which will be elected at least every three months on the basis of proportional representation. It includes the Prime Minister, who leads the majority party or coalition and naturally serves as Head of Government, and a separate Speaker who presides over the Assembly's proceedings who is nominated from and confirmed by the body.

Poll on name of legislature begun

2005-05-11T15:33:00.000-07:00

BUDYŠIN - A poll on the name of the future legislative body that will govern Polabia has been posted in Vanek Square. The motivation for the poll was a general feeling of the current proposal's (Sněm - pronounced Snyem) lack of aesthetics and difficulty in spelling.

Stjepan Aračić has suggested a new potential name which would improve on these areas; the Polish word Sejm. The Sejm is the historic name of historical Polish legislatures and since the actual Lower Sorbian language (one of the two languages spoken by the modern descendents of the Polabian slavs - the Sorbs) bears some similarity to Polish. A similar rationale lay behind the use of Czech as a primary language to work with as Upper Sorbian strongly resembles that language.

The adjective before both in the two potential names remains the Czech word Narodní, and both Narodní Sněm and Narodní Sejm translate as National Assembly.

Exam week at last

2005-05-04T14:59:00.000-07:00

BUDYŠIN - After a long period of relative inactivity brought on by papers and exams, it is all finally coming to a head, at least for myself. With exams ending for me on Friday, I will be returning home and will suddenly find myself with a lot more free time. Of course, you know what that means.

In the meantime, hope I can get this history paper done by tonight and that I don't fail my Logic exam tomorrow.

Still Polabia has not fallen!

2005-04-27T10:41:00.000-07:00

BUDYŠIN - I apologize for the lack of posting last week as I was cruelly crushed under the jackboot of my term paper, which turned out rather poor anyway. Regardless, since this is the second time I am writing this article since blogger.com gave me an error the first time which caused me to lose everything that I wrote, we may consider ourselves even.

Although the spectre of finals still hangs over the nation, I at least have some free time now that I've finished the term paper and my two essays for Russian language. This means that though nationwide activity will likely remain lower, I at least can make some more progress on the constitution. To that end, proposed changed that have been waiting to be implemented since early April have finally been implemented and I hope to present another section of the Constitution to the Ustavni Snem in the weekend.

In other developments, a diplomatic delegation from San Martin arrived recently interested in establishing relations between our states. Unfortunately, it was a premature visit as we have still yet to implement any government with the authority to deal with foreign states but we do hope to have one soon so a good working relationship can be developed n the shortest time possible.

Also, I will be posting the idea for a potential proposal in the future establishing the currency and State Honors of the Republic of Polabia. The currency shall likely be the Polabska Koruna (Pk) , a reference to the Republic of Istvanistan, my original micronation founded 6 years ago which also used the Koruna as its currency. The State Honors will also reference Istvanistan as they shall use the same graphics and shall be given for the same reasons. Although some of the names will have to be changed since the original names are specific to Istvanistan, the name of the Order of the White Rose will likely be retained.

Activity choked out by Term Papers

2005-04-13T19:08:00.000-07:00

BUDYŠIN - As is so often the case, reality has rudely intruded on things we would rather be doing. Although there has continued to be some discussion in the Ustavni Snem and some conversations on the formation of parties, progress in the Republic of Polabia has largely ground to a near halt.

The culprit?

That little irritant called life, naturally. With papers and finals looming it has become extremely difficult to get any meaningful amount of work done. Fortunately, the rapid approach of May also means that these will all be over in a few more weeks and then work can continue more or less uninhibited.

And I'll have a really nice paper tracing and contrasting the different historical roots and manifestations of Pan-slavism at the end of it.

The Pace of the Ustavni Snem quickens

2005-04-06T10:51:00.000-07:00

BUDYŠIN - In the last week, with the inclusion of the new citizen Hagen Tronjski, work on the Constitution of the Republic has considerably accelerated with several modifications being made to the Fundamental Provisions and Fundamental Rights and Freedoms of the Citizen. Title III of the Constitution, on the President of the Republic, has also been completed and has been generally approved.

Some other points that will be included in the Constitution have been clarified, such as a clearer idea of what shall compose the Permanent Ministries (those ministries which are constitutionally required to be filled - Foreign Affairs, Defence, Interior, Justice, and Finance), as well as the Judiciary and how to compromise the semi-separation of powers between the President and the Narodni Snem without distorting the proportional representative nature of that body.

Provisional Government Announced with New Constitution Pending

2005-03-30T22:41:00.000-08:00

BUDYŠIN - After several weeks of deliberation and efforts to consolidate support, Stjepan Aracic formally announced the creation of the Republic of Polabia on 26 March, 2005. A Provisional Government consisting of all citizens of the Republic will manage the state until the new constitution can be adopted. The Republic of Polabia is one of the few Slavic-themed micronations in existence, deriving its culture from the Sorbs of eastern Germany - the last remnants of the Polabian Slavs who once lived throughout eastern and central Germany. The Republic currently has a population base of six. Though the distribution of posts among them is so far uneven, it is hoped that things will move forward as the constitution nears completion.

The new constitution is largely based on the constitution of the French Fifth Republic though it also draws influence from the Constitution of the Czech Republic, the Czech Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms, and other sources. Its center piece will be an entirely new system of simulating parliamentary politics, which is intended to keep the same level of popular involvment that is present in direct democracies while retaining normal elections and strengthening the role of parties. The concept can be read about indepth here.

Aside from the new political system, a rich culture will also be actively developed for the Republic. As a small part of that effort, Stjepan Aracic has revealed flags for Polabia's cities and towns - nineteen in total, based on real locations in the parts of Germany the Sorbian people inhabit. The new flags can be viewed here.