Republic of Suntrain

	Republic of Suntrain
	Motto; "Loyalty and Wisdom"
	Anthem; National Anthem of Suntrain
Capital city	Glory
Largest city	Glory
Official language(s)	English
Demonym	Suntranien
Government	Unitary parliamentary Republic
- Deputy Prime Minister	Sam Mathew
Legislature	Parliament ; -Senate (upper) ; -House of Representatives (lower)
Established	27 October 2013
Area claimed	900 m2
Population	36 Citizens
Currency	Suntrainen Spark, Australian Dollar
Time zone	UTC +10
	Government Website

Suntrain, officialy the Republic of Suntrain, is an entity founded on 27 October 2013 which claims to be a sovereign state. It is not recognised outside of the micronational community, and is referred to by external observers as a micronation. Declaring indepdence under the legality of International Law, Suntrain is a parliamentary unitary Republic with its own President, bicameral Parliament, Treasury and Government.

Created by , Suntrain consists of six states and three dependent territories. Suntrain is increasing economic and diplomatic relations and culture is growing and expanding. Dating back to mid-2013, Suntrain is a little less than a year old and is still developing steadily.

History

STSO and the De Facto Republic of Suntrain

In early May to late June, 2013, founded the Operational Agency of Communist Agents or OACA. Its purpose was to maintain peace and order in Carwatha College, a school which and his friends attended. OACA was involved in many operations, most notably Operation Black Toxic and Operation Yellow Devil. OACA laid the foundations of the modern Suntrainien culture and nation. OACA de facto occupied territories (which would later become Oelin and Phelons), but did not want to declare independence. OACA was re-named as the Secret Taskforce of Special Operations (STSO) in September that year. It was in this time period that got the idea to create a micronation. In the month that followed, and his friends promoted the idea of the Republic of Suntrain, establishing several key aspects to the soon-to-be country, such as the capital and Parliament House and on 21 October 2013, created the De Facto Republic of Suntrain. This was to be the nation's name while to constitution and declaration of independence were written. The De Facto Republic of Suntrain occupied the territories of Phelons and Oelin, before the Republic was declared independence and the Republic of Suntrain was founded.

Early months

After declaring independence on the 27th of October, 8:38:38, Glory time, Suntrain's constitution was finished on the 1st of November. The constitution outlined the structure of Suntrain, and most notably that Suntrain will compromise of four states- the backyard and frontyard of 's house, along with the original territory annexed by the De Facto Republic. After a couple days, the Communist Party of Suntrain (CPS) was established. At this point, it was uncontested in the inaugural election and its leader, , became the first President. The deputy of the party, Dat Nguyen became the Vice President. As Suntrain began to grow in terms of population and citizenship, there was a sense of nationalism and unification amongst its people. Suntrain then applied for membership in the United Micronations, hoping to make more alliances and extend its power. The request was accepted, and almost immediately seemed to work. Suntrain singed an alliance with the Republic of Chico, a similar nation to Suntrain who was devolving under the leadership of Jose Gibaja. After initial talks, the "Treaty of Alliance and Friendship between the Republic of Suntrain and the Republic of Chico" was signed. In it, it established a few simple points which Suntrain and Chico would abide as newly formed allies. After this, Chico was involved in a cyber war against the South Peruvian State (SPVS). Suntrain helped in an operation, and the war was won. Chico then claimed the SPVS as a colony. At the start of October, Suntrain amended its constitution to create a proper bicameral legislative body called the Parliament, compromising of the Senate and House of Representatives and the CPS was renamed to the Socialist Party of Suntrain (SPS). During this time, Suntrain also began an annexation process to annex a dependent territory that would not be part of Suntrain, but still in its jurisdiction. The Dependent Territory of New Crimiria was established and its Commissioner became himself. Then, as the Government was looking to extend its power in the micronational community, , Minister of Architecture, Nikola Gorgioski and Vice President Dat Nguyen made the decision to claim Marie Byrd Land in Antarctica as another dependent territory.

War with Westarctica

On the 6th of December, 2013, the Republic of Suntrain declared war on the Grand Duchy of Westarctica on the basis that Westarctica claimed Suntrain's legal, de jure claim of Marie Byrd Land as a dependent territory, and also that Westarctica provoked Chico's army, causing a volition of the treaty signed by Suntrain and Chico, being sufficient reason for war, thus starting the Suntrainien-Westarctican war. The microglobal initial reaction was that Suntrain should resolve this issue peacefully and diplomatically. was for this idea in the start, sending e-mails of complaint and warning to Westarctican officials, before trying to have talks with the Grand Duke himself; which he refused. The Ministry of Defence then proceeded to declare war after a high-ranking official called Chico's army "stuffed pokemon". In the beginning of the war, Suntrain's government optimistic of a win, even drawing up a specific plan on how to claim success. As the war dragged on, it was clear that a peaceful solution that was pleasing to both sides seemed unlikely. Meanwhile in Suntrain, the country and the government flourished under the leadership of the SPS. The ten Spark Note was beginning construction and is due to be the first Suntrainien money note. Alliances were signed with Vivaldia and the Schalamzaar Empire, and began a process of "liberalisation" which ensured that every citizen got equal rights, and that basic human rights such as freedom of religion and press were being carried out. This action caused an increase in interest in state politics, which further enhanced the Republic. Suntrain is beginning to declare the war over, and to simply not recognise any nations, include Westarctica, which have laid claims in the Suntrain's dependent territory of the Suntrainien Antarctic Territories (SAT). The Ministry of Defence, under new leadership, have begun talks with Westarctica to make a possible compromise, and stopped using cyber-war techniques such as vandalism and hacking, which were previously used by Suntrain.

Further development

As Suntrain's offences declined, its government looked to create more allies and be more recognised in the micronational world. As the new year started, Suntrain admitted Mr Damian Billborough as a Supreme Court Judge and he became the first non-Suntrainien to hold a governmental position. Suntrain then started unofficial talks with the Ashukov Federation, as both micronations were of similar origin and shared same values and goals. At the same time, Suntrain passed the Identity Act which was the first attempt to create a sort of "Bill of Rights" where protection of rights were guaranteed and the confirmation of the first state government was established. The STSO gained the right to forming a government under its name as an "autonomous state" and it began writing its constitution. The IKGY Union, located in Hong Kong meanwhile approached Suntrain for relations. Suntrain and IKGY signed a treaty, promising that Suntrain would help in gaining IKGY independence, as they did not formally declare any land theirs. They also promised to build initial free trade with IKGY, which would help boost the Suntrainien economy. In April, 2014 the STSO constitution was signed by the President, Minister of Health and Sport, Dominik Kustura and Minister of Environment, Eddie Osmanovic. This also got another large number of new micronationalists to join Suntrainien politics. Suntrain was also admitted as provisional member of the Grand Unified Micronational, a microglobal organisation which seeks to bring peace and strengthen relations between micronations. Suntrainien officials also started minting processes to create the first coins, and have started exporting goods and gaining profit. Suntrain is expected to look toward the GUM's members to make more trade and expand its global friendship and trade.

Politics and government

Structure of the Government

The Government of Suntrain is a unitary parliamentary democratic secular republic. The Republic is governed by its constitution and the Government is based on separation of power and checks and balances.

The Government consists of three branches of government: the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. The Parliament is the legislative branch and consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The executive power is vested in the President, who is no more than a ceremonial figurehead, and the Government of Suntrain, which consists of the Prime Minister and the other Ministers. The judicial branch is independent of the other two, and its power is mainly vested in the Supreme Court, although there are other inferior courts.

As the Republic is a unitary one, the central or national government retains most power. Only one state posses its own legislature, the STSO, while the others only have its own Governor, responsible for the administration of the respective state. There is also a municipality for every city, which is responsible for simple services such as rubbish collection. They are headed by a mayor.

Legislative branch

The Parliament is the legislative branch and is mainly responsible for creating laws. Established by Chapter I of the Constitution, the Parliament is bicameral and consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The Senate is the so-called upper house, but in reality has much less power than the House. Both Senators and Representatives are democratically elected, Representatives to two-year terms and Senators to four-year terms, with a staggered half-election every two years.

Article 13 of the Constitution outlines that the Parliament has the power to legislate in respect to:

trade, commerce, and business between other countries and the states,
export, import, agriculture and fisheries,
organisations, corporations and businesses,
the economy, State spending and the Budget
the building of public services such as roads, buildings, ports and places of interest,
transportation services, and management of these services,
employment, work and civil and humanitarian services such as pensions and conservation of people’s rights,
freedom of movement, citizenship, foreign travel, passports, immigration, emigration, civil air flight, refugees, and naturalisation,
postal, communicational, telecommunication and other such services,
defence and management of the Army, Navy, Air Force, STSO and other such organisations for the protection of the State, its people and foreign relations and treaties between other nations,
education, preservation of culture, cultural services and linguistic services,
management of the environment, and mining, and other such services,
governance of internal affairs, such as internal protection and law enforcement and the management of a police force,
the management of social services such electricity, gas, water, and hospitals and other medical services,
the management, establishment and construction of social places such as theatres, cinemas and shopping centres,
the admission and demission of states, with respect to Chapter V of this Constitution,
standardisation of currency, money and weights and measures,
family law for subjects such as marriage and divorce,
and taxation and other such related matters.

The Parliament also reserves to impeach the President for "bribery, corruption, and other high crimes which damage the reputation of the Republic of Suntrain and the office of the President of the Republic of Suntrain." It does this by first passing an Impeachment Notice with a simple majority through the House of Representatives. The Senate then tries the President, with the Chief Justice presiding. If the Senate passes the same Impeachment Notice with a two-thirds majority, the President loses the office of the President, and the Vice President immediately becomes the President.

House of Representatives

The House of Representatives is responsible for electing the President as well as initiating and introducing most bills into Parliament. The House of Representatives currently consists of seven Representatives. The House is elected using a method of Mixed-Member Proportional Representation, with each eligible voter casting two votes. One of these is used to determine approximately how many seats a party will have and the other is used to elect the local Representative in each of the seven electorates. The number of seats a party is entitled to is first filled by the won electorate seats, and then by members on the party list. The relationship between the Government and the Parliament is based on the Westminster model.

Since the House is the direct connection between the Government and the legislature, it is very important in Suntrainien politics. The House elects the President who then appoints the party or coalition with the most seats in the House as the Government. The leader of the party or coalition is then appointed as the Prime Minister, and other Representatives are appointed upon the advice of the Prime Minister as Ministers. They then form the Cabinet, which consists of the Prime Minister and the Minsters. This is the executive branch and is responsible for the administration of laws and the setting of the government policy. Since the same people control both the legislative and the executive branches, the Government initiates most bills according to their policy determined in Cabinet meetings. As Ministers are also members of Parliament, they are subject to questioning and checking by the opposition, in order to make sure the Government is functioning farily. The Government is responsive to the House and its power derives from it since Ministers are also Representatives. The Government is required to resign if a vote of no confidence is passed through the House or if a supply bill does not manage to pass the Parliament.

Senate

The Senate is the upper house of the Suntrainien Parliament. Being mostly powerless, the Senate consists of two Senators from each state (currently six) and is elected using a method of Single Transferable Vote. The Senate has staggered elections, meaning that at any general election, half of the Senate is up for election, while the other half's term lasts until the next general election. Senators serve four-year terms and are elected to represent states.

The only key powers the Senate possess is to defeat supply bills, where the Government then has to resign, and to defeat other bills, which is even rarer.

Executive branch

Executive power is vested in the Government and the President. The executive branch is outlined in Chapter III of the Constitution. The President retains little to no power in the proceedings of the Government and is mainly a ceremonial figurehead. The Government consists of the Prime Minister and other Ministers. The Government exercises its power through Departments and makes decisions through the Cabinet.

The executive branch is responsible to the House of Representatives, and can be forced to resign if a supply bill is defeated or if the Government loses confidence in the House. New governments are typically made following every general election, which occurs every two years.

President

The President of the Republic of Suntrain is one of the two bodies vested with executive power. He represents national unity, allegiance, independence and sovereignty and is the head of state of the Republic. The President has several reserve powers such as opening and dissolving Parliament and declaring a state of emergency. The President is also the commander-in-chief of the Suntrainien Army, Navy and Air Force. The President represents the Republic home and abroad, but is a figurehead in Suntrainien politics.

The President serves two-year terms, in cohesion with the general elections. The President is elected by the House of Representatives with a two-thirds vote. If the House cannot agree to a two-thirds vote, the Senate then gets the job of picking the President with a simple majority vote. If neither House cannot elect a President, the Speaker of the House becomes Acting President until either House chooses one with a simple majority. If after three sittings of either House, neither elects the President, the Acting President calls a joint session of Parliament to elect him. If after that there is no result, the Acting President dissolves all seats in Parliament and calls another general election.

The President's main power is to sign Bills into Law, or alternatively refuse. Article 111 of the Constitution states that "Once a Bill has passed both Houses, the Bill shall be presented to the President and he shall have the power within two weeks to sign the Bill into Law or to veto the Bill. If the President vetoes the Bill, he shall return it to the House where it originated from and shall refuse to sign it." The President's veto may be overridden with a two-thirds vote in both Houses of Parliament. No Bill can become a Law without the President's signature and is a check on the working of the Government and Parliament.

Although the President also appoints the Government and the Prime Minister, he has little to no choice who to appoint. The President is also not a member of the Cabinet and cannot set policy and implement it. The President does, however, oversee the successful administration of the country and the work the Prime Minister and the Government is doing. The President also appoints diplomats, issues writs for elections, appoints Justices to the Supreme Court and is able to make decisions through Presidential Decree.

Government

The Government of Suntrain comprises of the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister and other Ministers. The Government is one of the two bodies with vested executive power, the other being the President. The Government is formed following a general election, where the President appoints a party or coalition which is able to sustain confidence of the House of Representatives. The Government is the administrating authority and is responsive to Parliament. The Government is headed by the Prime Minister, who is the Head of Government.

Prime Minister

The Prime Minister is the head of government and is the leader of the party or coalition with most seats in the House of Representatives. The Prime Minister is appointed alongside the Government by the President following a general election. The Prime Minister is responsible to the House. The PM heads the Government and the Cabinet and advises the President on whom to appoint as Ministers.

The PM has no term limits and can govern as long as he retains the confidence of the House, although general elections are conducted every two years. The PM sets the policy for the Government and has a lot of influence over what the Government does. The Prime Minister is accountable for all Government policy and actions. The Prime Minister can be removed from office only if the House passes a vote of no confidence, where the Prime Minister and the Government is required to resign.

The current Prime Minister is of the Socialist Party of Suntrain.

Political parties

Party name	Logo	Foundation	Leader	Position	Colours	Ideology	Seats
Party name	Logo	Foundation	Leader	Position	Colours	Ideology	Senate	House of Representatives
Socialist Party of Suntrain		31 October 2013		Left wing	Red	Socialism Progressivism Left-wing nationalism	5 / 8	5 / 7
Mathew United Party		20 October 2014	Sam Mathew	Left wing	Light blue	Workers' rights Socialism Progressivism	2 / 8	2 / 7

The Socialist Party of Suntrain is the only party that currently exists in Suntrain. It was founded on the 31st of October, 2013, a day before the signing of the constitution. Its leader is , who is the current president. Due to a lack of different thoughts and perhaps interest, no other parties exist to date. The SPS has won all seats in the Parliament and has branches in every state and dependent territory. It has a membership of 13 people.

Geography

Because Suntrain is quite a small country, its geography is relatively the same throughout all of the states. The seasons are temperate, with temperatures generally not going below 5 °C or over 40 °C. Although the winters are mild, and rather chilly due to Suntrain's location to the ocean, the summer period of December- March usually brings along temperatures exceeding 30 °C, which causes heatwaves. Rain falls thought the year, happening most in Spring. Suntrain is landlocked in Australia and is a political enclave of it. Therefore, there is no snow as Suntrain is located in the Southern Hemisphere. All states have large areas of grass, with different types of flora. Roses are native to the STSO and Crimiria, while trees grow throughout the whole of the country.

Climate data for Glory, STSO
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	37.3 (99.1)	39.3 (102.7)	33.6 (92.5)	28.0 (82.4)	20.3 (68.5)	15.0 (59)	16.0 (60.8)	20.0 (68)	22.7 (72.9)	28.7 (83.7)	33.2 (91.8)	36.2 (97.2)	39.3 (102.7)
Average high °C (°F)	22.1 (71.8)	22.9 (73.2)	19.7 (67.5)	15.4 (59.7)	11.7 (53.1)	8.8 (47.8)	8.2 (46.8)	9.6 (49.3)	11.6 (52.9)	14.8 (58.6)	17.3 (63.1)	19.9 (67.8)	15.2 (59.4)
Average low °C (°F)	11.5 (52.7)	12.6 (54.7)	11.3 (52.3)	9.0 (48.2)	6.0 (42.8)	4.4 (39.9)	3.6 (38.5)	4.2 (39.6)	5.0 (41)	6.8 (44.2)	8.3 (46.9)	9.8 (49.6)	7.8 (46)
Record low °C (°F)	4.0 (39.2)	4.7 (40.5)	3.7 (38.7)	0.7 (33.3)	-0.4 (31.3)	-1.0 (30.2)	-2.3 (27.9)	-2.0 (28.4)	-1.8 (28.8)	-0.6 (30.9)	0.5 (32.9)	2.3 (36.1)	−2.3 (27.9)
Average Rainfall mm (inches)	70.2 (2.764)	61.2 (2.409)	74.6 (2.937)	102.0 (4.016)	129.6 (5.102)	98.4 (3.874)	95.5 (3.76)	116.8 (4.598)	106.0 (4.173)	104.8 (4.126)	109.4 (4.307)	95.7 (3.768)	1,164.2 (45.835)
Average rainy days (≥ 0.2mm)	12.1	8.4	12.4	13.7	18.2	17.8	20.0	19.7	17.5	16.5	15.2	12.9	184.4
Source: National Meteorological Association of Suntrain

Divisions of Suntrain

Suntrain comprises of three states and one autonomous state which together make up the Suntrainien mainland. The Autonomous State of the Secret Taskforce of Special Operations (STSO), named after the Suntrainien branch of defence, has its own government established in 2014. The other three states, Crimiria, Oelin and Phelons are administrated by a Governor and are represented in the Senate by two Senators each. The STSO is by far the largest sate and houses the capital, Glory, and the Parliament House. While the STSO can pass laws directly via its own Legislative Assembly, the other states can pass laws if both of their Senators agree to a bill in the Senate.

Suntrain also has a number of dependent territories, which do not make up the country, but are under special Suntrainien jurisdiction. Dependent territories are not part of the mainland, and do not have their own governments. They are overseen by Commissioners appointed by the Suntrainien Government. The two current dependent territories are New Crimiria and the Suntrainien Antarctic Territory (SAT). Dependent territories have their own court, the Dependent Territories Court, and are only represented in the united Parliament when both chambers meet to vote on important things such as war and constitutional amendments. They can declare independence via a referendum.

Flag	Coat of Arms	Name	Capital	Motto	Population	Area	Senators	Head of State	Head of Government
Autonomous States
		Autonomous State of the Secret Taskforce of Special Operations	Glory	Unity	16	420 m²	and Damon Harbis		Premier Damon Harbis
States
		State of Crimiria	Keithbrook	Excellence in Success	11	100 m²	Alexander Vu and Jorge Konstantinidis	Governor Dale Manadic
		State of Oelin	St Nikola	Together for Oelin	4	25 m²	Dominik Kustura and Eddie Osmanovic	Governor Eddie Osmanovic
		State of Phelons	Thompsontown	Phelons- the Peaceful State	5	25 m²	Sam Mathew and Sean Lu	Governor Sam Mathew
Dependent Territories
File:Flag of the SAT.png	File:Coat of arms of SAT.png	Dependent Territory of the Suntrainien Antarctic Territory	RDF Base	Research, discovery, freedom	0	1,610,000 km²	N/A	Commissioner Sam Mathew
	File:Coat of Arms of New Crimiria.png	Dependent Territory of New Crimira	Darrow	Further	0	20 m²	N/A	Commissioner

Foreign Relations

The Republic of Suntrain has developed diplomatic relations with several other micronations in the world. Most of these have been achieved through a treaty, making the relations official, while other countries have held unofficial talks as a result of Suntrain's membership in micronational organisations such as Grand Unified Micronationaland the United Micronations. Suntrain also has a large presence online and conducts some talks and business over it. The Department of Foreign Affairs of Suntrain has planned to create an economic union between members of the GUM and other external allies. This union is planned to started in Mid-October 2014, shortly before the first anniversary of Independence Day.

Suntrain maintains friendly relations with European micronations due to the nationality of Suntrain's citizens and Suntrainien culture which stemmed from the European one. It especially retains good relations with micronations of a Slavic origin, also due to the background of most Suntrainien citizens. Since 2014, the Socialist Party of Suntrain, the ruling party in Suntrain, has sought to establish friendlier relations with socialist or communist micronations. Suntrain maintains two active embassies, one in Melbourne, Australia and the other on the net city of San Jose, Chico. Suntrain is still developing its micronational influence in the community, and is looking to establish relations with more micronations.