Ashukovo, reflections on a Presidential inauguration
A St.Charlian Observer Reportage
January 20. It is 9pm in the District of Laru, in the Ashukov Federation, when the virtual room is opened. A few people start chatting, others make jokes about a missing microphone. Suddenly, a young man interrupts the conversation: “this is not the appropriate room, please go back to the Laundžidav until we start the celebrations on the 25th”. He is right: this is not the usual Skype room where people have a random chitchat. In this room, in two days, the third President of Ashukovo will be inaugurated.
Sebastian Schriber is 14 years old. He is known in the MicroWiki community for his presence on Wikia and a short mandate in Amager. After a period of instability inside his micronation of origin, Carrum, he joined the Ashukov Federation and its initial founders, Edward Jacobs and Joseph Kennedy, who now happen to be Schriber’s predecessors. This Saturday, Schriber will officially become the head of state of a very interesting micronation, if we compare the age of its officials with the population and number of member states.
The ceremony itself is also impressive and serious. “The President-elect takes the oath provided by the Constitution before the Supreme Court, the Federal Assembly and the people. – explains Joseph Kennedy, the first Ashukov head of state, to the Observer – As soon as the oath is completed, he is the President of the Federation. This is followed by the presidential anthem (an instrumental version of “God Save the Tsar!”) and the national anthem (V Put)”. For this inauguration the Ashukov government decided to go the whole hog, with a public celebration that includes a large number of foreign guests. The list is long and varied, just to give out a few names: King Ciprian of Juclandia, Daniel Anderson of Sirocco, King Quentin of Wyvern, King Adam of Überstadt and many others. Alexander Reinhardt, First Ambassador of St.Charlie, will be representing the Federal Republic.
Schriber’s first days as President include the dismissal of the incumbent cabinet, a session of the Federal Assembly, and the nomination of the Prime Minister. Too bad the mandate only lasts for four months. Four months however in which President Schriber will be probably repairing a past secession crisis with the Republic of Akebar, a former state of Ashukovo. “We’d like to create something like the St.Charlian Commonwealth; they would accept the Ashukov President as their head of state and would in turn receive support from us”, adds Kennedy.
The inauguration of Schriber is not only a major ceremonial event, but also a way for the Federation to strengthen its position inside the microsphere, which was described by Reinhardt as “young and flourishing, but it need of more stability”. The event is expected to improve political, social and cultural integration not only between the countries of the MicroWiki Community and Ashukovo, but also among the states of the Federation. Indeed, Schriber’s election was the first “non-unanimous” case in Ashukovo. In the the past two elections, one of the candidates used to withdraw its candidacy for another cabinet office. This time, Schriber, who is part of the United Ashukovo coalition, defeated Social Democrat Emmanuel Tsompanoglou, a “suspenseful election”.
Now the question is: will Schriber contribute to the progressive growth of the Federation? While he is not as well-known as its predecessors, with each new inauguration, there is more than just a change (or continuation) of leadership. And when it’s a young micronation composed of several regions, there is the birth of hundreds of new ideas and possibilities. We’ll see how the “Schriber experience” goes.
The St.Charlian Observer 