Brazeaugate

Brazeaugate
Date: 27/28 June 2017
Events
Government announces supposed hacking of Abeldane general election Michael Brazeau falsely inaugurated Vorsitzender Declaration of war against Paravia and Uberquiesenberg almost declared
People
Michael Thomas Brazeau Emperor Stephen Freayth Henry Twain Patrick Renwick Newton von Uberquie Horatio Eden John Smith

Brazeaugate is the name given to a short period of time in which the current government of the Abeldane Empire, that of Vorsitzender Patrick Renwick, was supposedly declared illegitimate, on grounds of alleged hacking of the recent election by officials of the government of Uberquiesenberg, notably Newton von Uberquie, with Paravian support. It was maintained that Michael Brazeau, the Federalist nominee and runner-up for Vorsitzender in that election, had, in fact, won the election, and as such was the genuine Vorsitzender. He was 'sworn in' by the Emperor of Abelden on the 27th of June, 2017.

The hacking allegations were a falsehood propagated by von Uberquie and Renwick, as well as Emperor Stephen Freayth, Speaker of the Reichsversammlung Horatio Eden, Supreme Justice Henry Twain and others, to hoodwink Brazeau into believing he had genuinely won the election. In fact, he lost by a margin of eighty points.

Background

Main article: Abeldane federal election, June 2017

In June 2017, there was a general election in Abelden. The positions of Vorsitzender and Stellvertreter des Vorsitzender were put up for re-election; for the position of Vorsitzender, there were two final candidates: for the Democratic-Liberty Party, Patrick Renwick, and for the Federalist Party, Michael Thomas Brazeau. Throughout the election, Brazeau lagged considerably behind Renwick in the polls, and on election day he lost, taking four votes to Renwick's fifty-three.

After election, Brazeau retained his seat in the Reichsversammlung, the Abeldane legislature.

Brazeaugate

Hacking allegations

On the 27th of June, logs were released to the Abeldane public supposedly showing Patrick Renwick, Vorsitzender of Abelden, speaking with Uberquiesenbergian leader Newton von Uberquie about the general election. Published by Henry Twain, pertinent sections include the Vorsitzender allegedly asking von Uberquie "how many votes [has he] taken care of", with von Uberquie claiming to have added thirty illegal votes to Renwick's campaign while removing forty-six from his Federalist rival.

The conversation closes with von Uberquie claiming that Brazeau had been relegated "into the depths of history".

In response, threats of war were thrown around; von Uberquie declared war on Abelden, Esse and Coria as a result of the accusations, while pledging to defend Mercia in his capacity as First Minister against "Abeldane and coalition aggression".

Reichsversammlung session

On the 28th, the day after the accusation went public, Speaker of the Reichsversammlung Horatio Eden convened an emergency session of the legislature to discuss the hacking allegations. Vorsitzender Brazeau gave a brief statement. The following is quoted directly from Reichsversammlung logs:

For about a month now we have been under an illigenimiate regiem and I was almost robed of a term I won fair and square and the majority of the people want war and so do I this election hacking was the bigest conspicary pulled against our government

— Vorsitzender Michael Thomas Brazeau, 28th June, 2017

The debate continued, and the Speaker eventually put a motion that "a state of war has existed and does exist between the Abeldane Empire and the Commonwealth, and, both jointly and severably, the Empire of Paravia and Uberquiesenburg, as well as any micronational or macronational parties that give them aid, comfort, or support, militarily or otherwise, and that such state of war will be revoked upon the war's conclusion or upon a declaration made by the Emperor or the Reichsversammlung in session". The motion was not adopted.

Supreme Justice Henry Twain then attempted to pull the brakes on what was, by that stage, evidently a prank played at Brazeau's expense. Twain alleged that a Supreme Court investigation had concluded that the events of the last forty-eight hours, including the inauguration of Brazeau as Vorsitzender, had been "not legally binding". The Speaker attempted to contest Twain, despite having been informed prior as to the nature of the prank, contending that Brazeau was, in fact, in office legitimately.

After the motion to declare war failed, however, the Speaker eventually admitted that he had known that "patrick actually is vorsitzender [sic.]"

Aftermath

Brazeau resigned his party's leadership and appointed James Frisch as interim leader of the Federalist Party in the aftermath of Brazeaugate. He also refused to appear at an attempted subsequent session of the legislature, as he had "wasted a whole day for nothing". He later left both the Abeldane general Skype group, as well as that for the Reichsversammlung, indicating a potential resignation from Abeldane politics.