The Free Nations Region
| The Free Nations Region | |
|---|---|
 Regional flag | |
| Demonym | Freemen / Freewomen |
| Established | 15 January 2016 |
| Founder | Crystalsummer (resigned), Heaveria (Acting) |
| Government | |
| Type | Democracy |
| Delegate | Apatosaurus II |
| President | Sparsdan |
| Speaker | Thaelle / Dyl |
| Alignment | Defender |
| Bloc | Partnership for Sovereignty |
| Military | The Free Nations Defense Association (FNDA) |
| Treatied allies | The Democratic Republic, the East Pacific, The League; the South Pacific, the Union of Democratic States (NAPs) |
| Useful links | |
| Region | link |
| Forum | link |
| Discord | link |
The Free Nations Region (or FNR for short) is a User-Created Region founded in 2016 by Crystalsummer. Being a Defender-aligned region, it is a member of the Partnership for Sovereignty. The Free Nations Region has signed a treaty with the South Pacific (Pax Patronus).
History
The region was founded on January 15th, 2016 by Crystalsummer (also known as Allangoria).
On August 23rd, 2020, then-Minister of Defense Sargon Reman announced the acquisition of The Midnight Order by FNR in an attempt to revamp the FNDA's branding. However, just a few hours after this was announced, the negotiator for TMO, Indo-Malaysia, accused Crystalsummer of hijacking the TMO Founder nation and using it to forcefully acquire TMO. Although this was later disproven by site staff[1], Crystalsummer had transferred ownership of the Crystalsummer nation to then-President Heaveria in a panic and was not re-instated as Founder.
Following estrangement between FNR's RP and Government-focused internal communities, FNR's RP region The Roleplay Paradise announced its secession from FNR on October 29th, 2020, after FNR's moderators decided to merge the RP Discord server into the main one following cases of serious misconduct by RP moderators. A completely new RP had to be started in consequence.
A new constitution was implemented on January 15th, 2021.
Foreign Relations
The Free Nations Region has bilateral treaties with The Democratic Republic (Treaty of Veria[2]), the South Pacific (Pax Patronus[3]), the East Pacific (Treaty of Santiago de Chile[4]), The League (Franconia-Chiremba Accords[5]), and The Union of Democratic States (The Gemini Covenant[6]). Together with TEP, Thaecia, and Wintercrest, it is furthermore a signatory to a guarantee of independence for Warzone Asia[7]. FNR is also a member of the Partnership for Sovereignty, having joined as the fifth member[8]. A cross-promotional agreement with NationStates Today is also in force[9].
The Free Nations Region aligns itself as Defender, with the Free Nations Defense Association (FNDA) being its military. The President acts as Commander-in-Chief, however the Minister of Defense (incumbent: Burgertopian Empire) is primarily responsible for its day-to-day management.
The diplomatic corps of FNR is overseen by the Minister of Foreign Affairs (incumbent: Quiameth), but the President remains the formal Chief Diplomat.
FNR's Gameplay forum thread is located here.
Government
The Free Nations Region's government consists of an executive branch, a legislative branch, and a judicial branch. Elections are called for every election season, which occur every three months, and officials serve either three months or until the beginning of the next election season, whichever is shorter (the WA Delegate being an exception, serving for either six months or two election seasons).
The only office of FNR that is not directly elected or subject to direct approval is that of Acting Founder of the Free Nations Region, a ceremonial role with no special powers (unless explicitly granted during a state of emergency, which is declared by a two-thirds supermajority vote of the Citizens' Assembly). They are simultaneously the owner of the regional Discord server. A new Acting Founder may be named by passing the Crystalsummer nation on to a person previously agreed upon by the Cabinet and the ceding Acting Founder. The incumbent is Heaveria.
Executive
The Executive is composed of the World Assembly Delegate, the President, their Vice President, and the Cabinet. The President and their Vice President are elected on a joint ticket every election season, with a term limit of two consecutive terms. Bound by a set of rules specified in the constitution, the President may create and abolish ministries again as they see fit and define each ministry's responsibilities. Every ministry is headed by a directly-elected Minister, who can also appoint a deputy each (subject to approval by the Citizens' Assembly). Currently, the following ministries exist:
- Internal Affairs (incumbent: South Asians)
- Foreign Affairs (incumbent: Quiameth)
- Defense (incumbent: Burgertopian Empire)
- Culture (incumbent: Doctors Orvos)
- Immigration (incumbent: Northern Celtic Regions)
The World Assembly Delegate is responsible for handling the region's WA program to let Citizens decide on the Delegate's WA vote. They are the only office only elected every second election season.
Legislature
The Citizens' Assembly is the unicameral legislature of FNR. Every Citizen who has resided in the region for at least a week automatically is a member of it. A Speaker is elected each election season from among all members to lead the Citizens' Assembly and administer its business. The President has an absolute veto right against legislation passed by the Assembly, which however may be overridden by the Assembly via a two-thirds supermajority.
Other than regular bills, any Citizen may initiate a region-wide referendum if at least five other Citizens support it. However, it takes a two-thirds supermajority for a referendum to be successful. Impeachments for any office are to be conducted as a referendum, and a successful referendum can force the Supreme Court to re-consider a case or even completely annul a verdict.
Judiciary
The Judiciary consists of the Supreme Court, on which five justices serve until they resign or are impeached. A Chief Justice is elected by the justices from among themselves on every 15th of January to represent the Court and lead it. If the position of justice becomes vacant, the President nominates a new member, who must then be approved by the Citizens' Assembly.
Information for Ambassadors
Elections take place every election season. An election season is called on the first day of every January, April, July, and October. Appointments to the positions of Acting Founder, Community Manager, and Election Commissioner are irregular.
| Month | Positions elected (appointments in italics) |
|---|---|
| January | President, Vice President, Ministers, Speaker, WA Delegate, Chief Justice |
| February | - |
| March | - |
| April | President, Vice President, Ministers, Speaker |
| May | - |
| June | - |
| July | President, Vice President, Ministers, Speaker, WA Delegate |
| August | - |
| September | - |
| October | President, Vice President, Ministers, Speaker |
| November | - |
| December | - |
References
- ↑ Statement by Reploid Productions on the hijacking allegations
- ↑ Treaty of Veria in FNR's archive
- ↑ Pax Patronus in FNR's archive
- ↑ Treaty of Santiago de Chile in FNR's archive
- ↑ Franconia-Chiremba Accords in TL's archive
- ↑ The Gemini Covenant in FNR's archive
- ↑ Guarantee of Independence of Warzone Asia in FNR's archive
- ↑ Announcement of FNR joining the PfS
- ↑ Free Nations Region - Nationstates Today Cross Promotional Agreement Cross Promotional Agreement in FNR's archive