Grey Weekend

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The Grey Weekend

The event in question revolved mainly around the WAR Party.
Date4th January - 5th January 2020
Location
Belligerents

Old Guard/WAR Parties

Royalist Party, LSC and Lord Matthew

The events of the Grey Weekend revolve around 7 members of the Parliament of Essexia who formally opted to join a new political entity called the WAR Party, and 3 members who disagreed with the idea of a colossus political force, which the WAR Party could've been, but never was, due to disorganisation, confusion and possible illegitimacy. The event as a whole provides precedent for the powers of the Emperor, and the power of members of Parliament.

Events leading up to Grey Weekend

Months of inactivity within the nation had been a contentious topic in the weeks leading up to the event, as many felt that more should be done by the sitting First Minister Lord Jacob to pass legislation or provide an incentive for action.

The Event

4 January 2020:

  • Lord Jacob requested in Parliament that a state of Martial Law should be declared, at 16:05 GMT. The Emperor immediately accepts.
  • At 16:06 GMT, FM Lord Jacob announces a renewed state of Martial Law, referred to as the Second Military Council. He made himself Lord Commissar, Crown Minister Summers of Essexia as Lieutenant Commissar and Earl Jack of Molrams as Second Lieutenant Commissar. Emperor Terry confirmed this when he then stated that the state of Martial Law was due to the Province of Greater Danbury attempting to secede from the Commonwealth, putting the blame on Lord George of Essexia. However, this is widely believed to be a fabricated justification for the Martial Law.
  • Criticism was expressed by Earl Finn ("This is undemocratic.").
  • At 16:18, Lord Commissar Jacob released a statement, creating the following Military Council:
Second Military Council
Name Position Notes
Crown Minister Summers of Essexia Ministry of War Due to his position as Defence Minister.
Lady Becky of Essexia Interior Administration
Lord Matthew Foreign Administration Due to his position as Foreign Minister.
Earl Jack of Molrams Justice Administration Before the Junta, he had professed his desire to become Minister of Justice in Essexia.
Lord Ben of Essexia Technology Administration Due to his position as Technology Minister.
Earl Jack of Molrams Financial, Economic and Industrial Administration. Likely due to his position as Chancellor.
  • At 16:25, Earl Jack announces the creation of the WAR Party. He and Crown Minister Summers are announced as its founding members. Within the next hour, Earl Jack speaks with Prince James, Lady Becky, Lord George and Lord Jacob to secure a theoretical majority in the Parliament when the Junta would end.
  • Earl Jack announced at 16:56 that the WAR Party and the Old Guard Party would merge.
  • Lord Matthew re-opened Parliament at 20:57, although Parliament was still suspended, in order to allow discussion to take place. Furthermore, he releases a statement that he wishes to reestablish the Old Guard, as he disagrees with the WAR Party and its motives. He finishes with "I would also like to keep Parliament as diverse as possible, and stop any one party from having hegemony."

5 January 2020:

  • Lord Ben is contacted by Earl Jack at 18:54 to discuss merging with the WAR Party. Lord Ben subsequently agrees to a merger.
  • Lord Jamie is also contacted within an hour after this discussion but doesn't reply until later, at which point he conveys that he was on the fence.
  • At 20:12, Lord Matthew states that, following conversations with the Emperor, it has been decided that the Party changes that have occurred during the weekend are illegitimate and that the WAR Party has no sitting MPs. Following an enquiry from Lord Jacob, he also admits that neither the Ministry of Justice nor the Supreme Court were involved in these discussions. He ends by saying that, should any MPs wish to join the WAR Party, they would have to resign and win a by-election, something Lord Jamie had been reiterating throughout the event.
  • Earl Jack admits that his constant alterations to the MicroWiki created a false image that the WAR Party had a majority of sitting MPs in Parliament when in reality he only had their allegiance. He reverts the MicroWiki pages in question.
  • A heated debate in Parliament kicks up between events.
  • Emperor Terry announces the end of the Military Council at 20:43, following a discussion with Earl Jack on why he wished to do so. Parliament is opened completely.
  • At 21:03, Lord Matthew attempts to claim that he is the last member of the Old Guard, and as such expels all other members from the party. The Emperor and many other contest this point, but Matthew, Earl Finn and Lord Jamie retain that Lord Matthew is the legitimate leader of the Party. At the same time, he announces the Rhino Alliance, a political force consisting of himself, the Royalists and the LSC. He requests the Emperor's permission to form a Government, as the Rhino Alliance contained 6 Parliamentary members- a working majority.
  • What follows is more debate regarding the legitimacy of the Rhino Alliance and the WAR Party.
  • Emperor Terry submits to the Rhino Alliance and appoints Earl Finn as First Minister at 21:33 GMT. Earl Finn thanks the Emperor. The Emperor then congratulates Lord Jacob on his time as First Minister, the "longest single term as First Minister since the major reforms prior to 2019."
  • At 22:16, Earl Finn releases the following statement:

"I would firstly like to thank the previous government for their many contributions to Essexia, and whilst I disagree with many of your policies I still appreciated the work you have done for Essexia. My government will get Essexia out of these turbulent times as our number one priority. I understand this government may not be a long lasting one as we will plan to meet on Saturday to come to so our great nation can move together as one united nation. We plan to rule Essexia as the progressive nation we all know it is. When we evaluate our current situation I hope that the opposition will help us in doing so, granting us their input so we may discuss it, and when doing so we will not only be getting is out of the current situation but take look at how we got here, and how we can ensure it won't happen again. We may have some high goals, but we know Essexia is great, and we know that only by working together, we will get out of this mess, moving us forward to the next chapter in our history.

I plan to announce my cabinet tomorrow."

6 January 2020:

In the afternoon of the 6th, Earl Finn announced his cabinet as follows:

Earl Finn's New Year cabinet
Ministry Minister
Second Minister Lord Jamie
Chancellor of the Exchequer Earl Jack of Molrams
Interior Lord Commissar Jacob
Foreign Affairs Lord Matthew
Defence Crown Minister Summers
Justice Emperor Terry
Education Lord George
Health Lord Gilbert
Media Lord Jamie
Technology Lord Ben
Culture Crown Minister Sam
Environment Lady Becky
Minister without Portfolio Lord Elliot of Essexia

This cabinet stayed relatively similar to the previous one, with the most notable changes being Emperor Terry holding a position in Parliament for 17 days, and Lord Elliot becoming the first Minister without Portfolio.

After brief discussions with the Emperor, Earl Jack and Lord Jacob, the following positions were altered:

Revised Cabinet
Ministry Name Previously
Chancellor of the Exchequer Lord Elliot Minister without Portfolio
Interior Earl Jack of Molrams Chancellor of the Excheqeur
Justice Lord Commissar Jacob Interior

The Aftermath

  • Earl Finn replaces Lord Jacob as FM. He remains here for 40 days.
  • The WAR Party is left in disarray, its future uncertain. It was afterwards treated as an organisation that was never formalised.
  • The Rhino Party emerges as a potential political super power. It wasn't rivalled until the creation of the Giraffe Concordat.
  • Earl Jack, prior to the end of the Second Military Council, begins preparations for a Conference at Les Paddocks in the coming week. However, this was postponed due to the hostility of the situation.

Legacy

The event left many open conflicts, which were sought to be resolved in the events of the Raging Valentines, however following the failure of this next 'coup' (As proclaimed by members of the Rhino Alliance), Lord Jamie, acting as First Minister, prorogued Parliament to hold a General Election on March 1, 2020. Members of the Giraffe Concordat continued to oppose the ruling party, and many debates and discussions followed, often agressively.