Sarzonia
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| Flag of Sarzonia | |
| Motto: Freedom is never truly free unless you work for it. | |
| Sarzonia Map | |
| Region | Atlantian Oceania |
|---|---|
| Capital | Woodstock |
| Official Language(s) | English |
| Leader | Mike Sarzo |
| Population | 3.505 billion (as of 11 November 2005) |
| Currency | dollar |
| NS Sunset XML | |
Contents
Introduction
The Incorporated States of Sarzonia is a country founded on the democratic system of government. Much like the former United States of America, the country has three branches of government: Executive, Legislative, and Judiciary. The legislature is comprised of a bicameral Parliament where the chamber directly elected by the people is the upper chamber. The chamber appointed by state governments is the lower chamber. The current President serves for life, but upon his departure from office, the Presidency will be subject to a limit of two six year terms, consecutive or otherwise. The Supreme Judicial Court includes a Chief Justice, six Associate Justices and four Alternate Justices. Sarzonia is made up of 25 states and one capital district which receives full voting rights as if it were a state. Each Delegate represents approximately 3 million people, and Delegates are elected every two years. Senators are elected every four years.
History
A small collection of American citizens irritated with the United States under President George W. Bush left the country after the controversy surrounding the 2000 election. The small group of citizens, led by Mike Sarzo, found a landmass surrounded on both sides by the Atlantic Ocean and settled there, and as more people joined them, the citizens began to see themselves as an independent nation. They announced a Declaration of Non-Affiliation with the United States, eventually securing independence by an act of Congress on 22 March 2004, annoucing the new nation's name as the Incorporated States of Sarzonia.
The new country took a while to establish itself but it quickly decided that a structure similar to that of the former United States was desirable. Toward that end, it established a bicameral Parliament as a legislative branch, a Supreme Judicial Court to serve as its judicial branch, and a President to serve as the country's chief executive. However, the government makes some noticeable departures from the U.S. Instead of one Vice President, the nation had two Senior Vice Presidents, Internal Affairs for the day-to-day operation of the country and to serve as the proverbial "one heartbeat away from the Presidency," and a Senior Vice President for External Affairs, to serve in a role equivalent to a foreign minister. In recent years, the titles were renamed, as Nicole Lewis was promoted from Senior Vice President for Internal Affairs to Lieutenant President and Mark Lorber's title was recast as Senior Vice President and External Affairs Officer.
Other differences from the U.S. include the House of Delegates, which according to the Sarzonian constitution is directly elected by the people every two years, serving as the upper House in Parliament with influence equivalent to that of the United States Senate or the British House of Lords. The Senate, appointed by state governors and confirmed by their legislatures, is the lower House, equivalent to the U.S. House of Representatives or the British House of Commons. Instead of Secretaries or Ministers, Cabinet positions in Sarzonia are run by Vice Presidents.
Among the notable citizens who joined Sarzo on the new landmass was a descendant of the man who designed the first six ships in the United States Navy. Josiah Humphreys. a shipbuilder in his own right and a descendant of Joshua Humphreys, was instrumental in the establishment of the naval traditions of Sarzonia. Along with other men such as John Newman and Sarzo himself, the Incorporated Sarzonian Navy would soon establish itself as a first-rate military organisation. The new Navy established itself by making several purchases from the Royal Shipyards of Isselmere-Nieland, which immediately struck the Sarzonian braintrust as being among the best in the world. With a young Commodore Marcus Patinkin among the first naval officers to help establish the tradition, the ISN took part in a combat exercise against the experienced navy of Feazanthia. Despite overwhelming disadvantages in aircraft and capital ship firepower and despite their own inexperience, the Sarzonian Navy more than held its own. The "loss" infused the Navy with great confidence due to its ability to stand up against a larger force.
Standing Up To Genocide
It didn't take very long before the nascent Incorporated Sarzonian Navy fired its weapons in anger. The nation of Holy Panooly began an ethnic cleansing programme that infuriated many Sarzonians, and the government quickly began to mobilise. Sarzonia soon found itself allied with Austar Union and Axis Nova against Holy Panooly in a war that Sarzonian textbooks called the Panooly Wars. A Sarzonian bombardment of the city of Theohuanacu proved to be the wrong city, and the mistake cost Admiral Charles Taylor his job as the commander in chief of Sarzonian naval forces. The ISN also suffered the loss of several destroyers and the Region class battlecruiser ISS Truxtun to a Panooly attack. Following the attack, the Sarzonians prepared an amphibious assault with missile boats and smaller combatants beginning a riverine assault with the aim of splitting Holy Panooly into three military districts in a divide and conquer strategy. The government of Holy Panooly collapsed before the plan could be fully implemented.
Legalities
The Sarzonian government has announced that civil unions confer the benefits that marriage confers in many other countries in a move that ensures full separation of church and state and creates a level playing field for the LGBT community. Children as young as 13 may stand trial for first degree murder, and may be subject to the death penalty if found competent to stand trial and guilty of first degree murder under the most extreme circumstances. The youngest inmate to be executed was a 15-year-old boy.
Sarzonia's closest allies are Isselmere-Nieland and Praetonia.
