Ibrosia

Editor's Note: This article was written in 2004 for the MicroWiki and may be out of date. The Great Commonwealth of the Ibrosian Democracy is a microstate based in northern Great Britain and founded on the 23rd of January 2000 as Nova Britannia. The Ibrosian state utilises a unique form of Individual Sovereignty whereby all land of the country is the private property (an ˜estate") of an Ibrosian citizen. The state is also known as the Ibrosian Protectorate, which is an umbrella term for the Great Commonwealth and its protected territories. == Politics == The Great Commonwealth of the Ibrosian Democracy is traditionally a quasi-direct democracy, with a Parliament in which all may sit in the lower chamber (the Great Assembly) and certain provincial representatives and appointed members may sit in the upper chamber (the Wéthenágemoté) - there is also a directly-elected president known as the Lord Protector. A Prime Minister is chosen from the lower house of Parliament to head the government. At present, the Constitution is suspended and the Lord Protector has virtually absolute powers over the nation, including legislative competence. Traditionally the largest party in the Great Assembly is the Liberal-Conservative Party, headed by the Lord Yonderton. Other parties include the Communist Party/Champagne Socialist Party and the Libertarian Democratic Party. The Great Commonwealth is presently divided into two provinces: Nova Britannia (the capital territory) and Greater Brethyonia (all estates in the British Isles and Brittany). There is much debate on the future of provinces in Ibrosia, and their rights are expected to be withdrawn in the near future. There is also a protected territory, the Ibrosian Abbeycraig Protectorate and a dependent territory, the Albany Territory - both of which are effectively self-governing in home affairs. == Foreign Relations == The Ibrosian Protectorate maintains a confusing relationship with the United Kingdom (and Éire) - at present it is willing to return to the United Kingdom should its rights as a national member equal to Scotland and England be recognised, and the Queen have died a natural death and been replaced by an elected head of state. The British Commonwealth of Nations are not treated as foreign states by the Ibrosian Government. In micronational terms, the Ibrosian state has a restrictive diplomatic policy based only on land-based states and countries who exercise sovereignty over their territory. The only country the Ibrosian state holds a bilateral treaty with is its neighbour, Strathclyde. Ibrosia is not a member of any international organisations.

History

Ibrosia existed as a concept from mid-1998 until a secessionist movement was established in 1999. The Declaration of Independence was expected to be promulgated on the 1st of January 2000, but was delayed until later on in the month. This was known as the First Republic and had a communistic government. This First Republic collapsed, leaving Nova Britannia as part of the United Kingdom for a short period. Nova Britannia then declared independence once more from the UK (the Second Republic) on the 26th July 2001. The Second Republic was governed without a head of state, the Prime Minister adopting almost full powers of state - there are two separate theories as to why this was: either that it was expected that Nova Britannia was still a dominion of the British Crown or that It was in fact an international confederation of independent estates. The first free and directly-democratic Parliamentary session was held on the 24th November 2001. As the result of a Constitutional Convention not backed by the government, a Petition of the Constitution was handed to the Prime Minister with the implication that the state would collapse if it was not assented after parliamentary approval. After a pause of some days, the Constitution Act 2001 was assented to on 11th of November, now celebrated as a public holiday. This re-established the state as the Great Commonwealth of Lk’esoeseak-Iboroseo (the Ibrosian Democracy.) A peaceful transition was made from Third Republic to Fourth Republic on the 11th of November 2003 when a new constitution was passed. In June 2004, this constitution was suspended and the Lord Protector has ruled with virtually unlimited powers since. Democratic participation in the Ibrosian Protectorate is made via the Protectorate Council - a Privy Council for the president in which most citizens sit and may give their opinions to the Lord Protector before he acts. External Links: Ibrosian website: www.ibrosia.tk