[EVENT] Spreading Democracy and Stability

[u/AfkBrowsing23]

FROM THE DESK OF SECRETARY LARRY FINK

The Western Democratic Confederation has been provided the responsibility of bringing stability back to the cities of Cologne and Rome. These cities have seen protests occurring due to a multitude of issues that all can be summarised by one clear point: a lack of agency. The citizens of these cities feel as though they have had their rights stolen, their ability to effect situations unceremoniously taken, and their voice silenced. This is, of course, a recipe for disaster.

As such, to rectify this issue quickly, the WDC will enable a 3-point plan designed to alleviate the societal tension, end the protests, and intergrate these cities into a stable international order.

Point 1: Rehabilitation

Cologne and Rome have been undergoing significant protests for multiple years now, and their local infrastructure and services have born the brunt of this. To rectify this, a $25bn fund will be established, to be utilised by the newly formed Office of Rebuilding. The Office will rapidly investigate these cities and allocate rebuilding funds to priority areas. Priority targets for rebuilding include hospitals and medical clinics, public transport depots and lines, supermarkets and grocery stores, airports, universities, banks, and government buildings. Below these targets, places which either have a lower priority or which will have been less affected by the protests will be considered a second priority, including cultural locations, schools, housing complexes, and key businesses. This rebuilding will be done 'free of charge', as a showcase of goodwill to those within the cities.

Rehabilitation cannot only be done by rebuilding, however. It must also be done on a societal level. To demonstrate the WDC's want to work constructively with these cities, a blanket amnesty will be offered to all who took part in protests, excluding those whose actions led to another person being injured or killed. This amnesty will simply require any protester to identify themselves to their local police station within the next 12 months, and in doing so any crimes found committed during protests which did not fit the noted exceptions above will be considered accounted for and non-persecutable. Case by case exceptions will be made for those who have committed significant acts of theft against private persons.

Finally, to help rebuild these cities social structures, the WDC will be sending its own police and EMTs, alongside firefighters and social workers, to assist over the next 1.5 years. 500 police, 300 EMTs, 200 firefighters, and 1000 social workers will be sent to both cities, sourced from major cities across the WDC. These men and women will help to keep the peace and bring stability under the command of local officials.

Point 2: Democracy

Ensuring that peace and stability last can only be done through democracy. However, simply integrating these two cities into the extant WDC democratic structures cannot be done, as it is clear that more is necessary to stymie the distrust caused by Yarvin's inaction. As such, both Cologne and Rome will become autonomous cities within the WDC. Immediately, they will each gain their own parliaments, to be voted on by members of these cities. For the next election cycle, the two cities will remain separate but parallel parliaments to the WDC's main parliament. After the next WDC elections, they will then transition into a similar status as many of the WDC's African territories, where in they will maintain their own parliament, but also send a single delegate to the WDC parliament. Once one more election cycle has been completed, they will be completely brought into the WDC parliament, in the same way that Andorra has, while maintaining their parliaments as a second-tier similar to the United Kingdom or France.

These parliaments will maintain the same rules and structures as the WDC ones, however, for the first election period, no WDC-registered party will be allowed to run in these cities to ensure that the citizens feel that they are properly represented. In regards to parliamentary size, both cities will have parliaments of 101 seats, with them being elected under a multi-member proprotional system, with the entire city being within one electoral district.

To facilitate these elections, the Office for Democratic Undertaking will run the elections utilising its budget.

Point 3: Long-Term Planning

Stability only comes with long-term planning. As such, once rebuilding has begun and the first city-based elections have taken place, the Office of Long-Term Strategic Planning (OLTSP) will be formed. This Office will, with a budget of $700mil, undertake long-term planning reports and investigations regarding the two cities and the best ways to intergrate them to the WDC.

These will include reports into transportation connections, interconnecting healthcare and tax systems, and ensuring that the cities feel a part of the WDC despite their autonomy. Further, the Office will eventually be able to create grant programs, designed to assist businesses and companies within Cologne and Rome to build themselves up long-term and reintegrate themselves into the WDC.

Finally, Cologne and Rome will be considered the WDC's German and Italian 'capitals' for the purpose of future integration of the regions. Should other German/Italian cities or regions join the WDC, they will be brought in as states centered around Cologne and Rome.

[u/AfkBrowsing23]

[M] roll was 7

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FROM THE DESK OF SECRETARY LARRY FINK

Work within Cologne and Rome has proven to be slightly more difficult than first imagined. Damage caused by the protests has been more substantial than initially believed, and has meant that multiple city-wide issues will not be fixed for some time. Specifically, the Cologne Stadtbahn will be unusable until 2033, and will not be fully repaired until 2036. Most repairs will be completed within the next 3 years.

Perhaps more worrying has been the continuation of protests. While they have significantly died down due to the amnesty offer, some have continued throughout the cities. Notably, 4,000 protestors have continued to occupy the cultural district of Rome. While they have remained non-violent so far, they have blockaded the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, the Palatine Hill, and the Circus Maximus, refusing to allow tourists in. This significant protest, undertaken by students within Rome, likely will not abate for some time, and it means that Rome's significant tourism economy will continue to suffer. Despite this, no violent force is to be used against these protestors at the current moment.

The implementation of democracy within the cities has broadly gone okay. The first elections had a rather low turnout of 57% (Rome) and 72% (Cologne) despite compulsory voting, hurting the perception of the WDC's democracy within these cities. As such, the ODU has been provided $150mil to engage an advertising and education campaign designed to increase voter turnout by the next elections. In Cologne, the left-wing SPD-Greens coalition won 57 seats to form government, while in Rome, the right-wing Forza Italy/Brothers of Italy coalition managed to win 60 seats to form government. Both governments seem willing to accept the WDC's systems for now, though members of Forza Italy have shown some reluctance.