9 February 2023
Today, Phillip celebrates one month of Independence from the United States. Phillip hasn't seen any growth in its population or territory, but that is expected to change in the months before the election. The Ministry of Citizenship will soon be releasing a citizenship application and is expected to see upwards of five new citizens. Multiple National Assembly representatives are also planning on presenting new territorial claims which could expand Phillip's size significantly. Unfortunately, recent political developments have thrown the nation into turmoil, with talks of a civil war.
Phillip's first month started out with a huge win for Phillip's ability to show control over its territories. On the 15 of January, three soldiers from the Phillip Navy were able to successfully capture the Traqueto Territory. Because the territory is uninhabited, it was considered to be disputed between the United States and Phillip. Military was sent to officially capture the island and plant the flag of Phillip on it. The invasion was a huge success and proved that Phillip's Military has the ability to protect the nations' territorial claims.
Phillip's first General Election occurred on the 13th of January. The election went very well and was quite interesting because of the number of candidates running and the variety of their ideologies. It was a super close race, but in the end current President Jaxson Renny was able to clutch out a win with 42.1% of the vote. His party also won a majority in the National Assembly with four out of seven seats.
During Phillip's first month, many laws were passed by President Jaxson Renny, some of which were controversial but those will be addressed later in this article. President Renny was able to extend the terms of all publicly elected officials, including himself, to three months. During his Presidency, Renny has also created multiple ministries and Phillip and passed legislation into law that regulates the Mint greatly. Overall, citizens of Phillip have been satisfied with Renny's first term as President. He currently has a 71.4% approval rating, which is significantly higher than his VP Fitzgibbins' approval rating of 57.1%.
Unfortunately, Phillip has experienced a substantial amount of instability and corruption as the result of numerous political conflicts within the government. This instability is for the most part centered around VP Fitzgibbins' "Family Voting Bill", which would revoke suffrage for anyone older than twenty years. Minister Cooper Norfolk, who is also the Representative of the Origen District in the Assembly, is vehemently against the bill, getting multiple others in the Assembly to vote against it. When the bill first failed to pass the assembly, VP Fitzgibbins was shocked and decided to amend the bill to sway representatives who previously had voted against it. He made an exception on the bill and allowed for the mother of Rep. Iyan Seeker and the father of President Renny to vote. In response to this, Minister Norfolk came together with two other members of the Assembly and formed a new political party called the "Phillip National Front" with the sole purpose of protecting suffrage in Phillip. Because Rep. Seeker has three seats in the Assembly, the new party members came together to form a five seat majority. Minister Norfolk signed an agreement with members of his party in the Assembly to vote the same way that he does on bills, essentially providing him power to five seats.
Due to the establishment of the new party, President Renny's Butter Butta Bentley Party no longer has power over the legislative process in Phillip. The PNF has been blocking all legislation that goes against their interests, such as VP Fitzgibbins' voting bill. The repeated denial of his bill and the fact that the PNF was able to pass off a bill to the President that technically contradicted the constitution has caused VP Fitzgibbins to want to take action. He has talked very openly about the potential of either taking the PNF and their associates to court or labeling them as a "terrorist" organization in order to declare war against them. Public opinion on the PNF and Minister Norfolk are very low, with only a 42.9% approval rate. Most of Phillip believes that Minister Norfolk has too much power in the Government.
Another controversy that has arisen recently is between Governor of Calabaza Owen Itzen and President Renny. Recently, a bill was passed into law that would allow corporations to be registered in Phillip. That bill also created the Ministry of Corporations, which is in charge of accepting or denying business that want to register in the country. President Renny struck a deal with Governor Itzen to appoint him as the Minister of Corporations. In return for the appointment, Governor Itzen would grant him leadership in of the ten companies in his future conglomerate and cancel an attack article he was going to write on President Renny. Based off of Governor Itzen's plan to create a personal monopoly over every industry in Phillip, it's likely that he will deny any businesses that he views as potential competitors.
Overall, citizens of Phillip are optimistic about the future of Phillip. Many are expressing concerns over the future the nation as it is currently on the brink of civil war. Phillip's first month has proven that the nation has a lot in store and will continue to grow in influence over the next few months.