Difference between revisions of "Saterno"

Latest revision as of 08:06, 5 June 2006

The Protectorate of Saterno

(Flag) (Coat of Arms)
Motto: Power comes through culture.
Region	Nasicournia
Capital	Saternoi City
Largest city	Maladon
Official language(s)	English, French, Dutch
Government Head of State Governor-General Prime Minister	Ganchelkean Protectorate Emperor Geerhardt I Charlotte of Ganchelkas Stephen Thompson
Independence	None (Ganchelkean Protectorate)
Population  • 2005 est.	3.946 billion
Stats: NSEconomy Pipian XML

Saterno, known officially as the Saternoi Protectorate or more commonly referred to as the Protectorate of Saterno, is a nation in the region of Nasicournia bordered by Nimarci, Tertio and Stoned Smurfs. Saterno is a parliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarchy, ruled by the Emperor of Ganchelkas. Saterno is a Ganchelkean Protectorate, which means that the Imperial Confederation of Ganchelkas exercises some control over its policies, while allowing Saterno a large degree of autonomy in all other fields. In practice, however, Saterno functions as an independent nation.

Saterno is trilingual and multicultural nation; English, French and Dutch are official languages. It is a highly developed, and a technologically advanced and industrialized nation, its diversified economy relies heavily on an abundance of natural resources and on trade. Although it is a secular state, Saterno is predominantly Christian.

Government and Politics

Imperial Standard, used by the Governor-General

The Governor-General acts as the Emperor's vice-regal representative in Saterno and is often viewed as the de facto Head of State. Princess Charlotte of Ganchelkas was appointed Governor-General by imperial decree, with the advice and consent of the Saternoi Council, on the May 24, 2006. Her first act, in conformity with the laws of Saterno, was to dissolve the Saternoi Council on May 25, 2006, following the rejection of a motion of confidence in the Council of Ministers on May 21, 2006, and call a General Election.

Legislative power is vested in the Saternoi Council, a unicameral legislature of 200 members elected directly by the people. General Elections are called by the Governor-General when the Prime Minister so advises, or when a motion of confidence is rejected or a motion of no confidence is adopted by the Saternoi Council, and must occur every three years or less.

Executive power is exercised by the Governor-General and the Council of Ministers, although the former has a largely ceremonial function. The Council of Ministers consists of a Prime Minister and ten other Ministers. The position of Prime Minister, Saterno's Head of Government, belongs to the leader of the political party that obtains a plurality of seats, or the leader of the coalition that can obtain the confidence of a majority in the Saternoi Council.

State Flag, used by the government and the legislature of Saterno

The Prime Minister and the other Ministers are formally appointed by the Governor-General. However, the Prime Minister chooses the other members of the Council of Ministers and the Governor-General, by convention, respects the Prime Minister's choices. The Council of Ministers is traditionally drawn from the members of the Prime Minister's coalition, but there have also been many apolitical Ministers throughout the history of Saterno. The Prime Minister exercises a great deal of political power, especially in the appointment of other officials within the government and Public Service and in the decision-making process.

Stephen Thompson (Liberal Party) has served as Prime Minister since November 6, 2005. His Government was forced to resign after the rejection of a motion of confidence by the Saternoi Council on May 21, 2006. He asked the confidence of the Saternoi Council as a result of his Government's failure to reach a compromise on pensions and welfare reform. The General Election will be held on Sunday June 2, 2006.

Saterno has five main political parties today: the Liberal Party, the Socialist Party, the Christian-Democratic Party, the Green Party and the Saternoi Bloc. The current government is formed by the Liberal Party, the Socialist Party and the Green Party. There are many smaller parties, some of which are also represented in the Saternoi Council, and some of which have no current representation in the Saternoi Council.

Gay rights in Saterno

A Gay Pride march

Saterno is known for its liberal-libertarian polices on personal matters such as sexual orientation. The public widely supports tolerance and equal rights for LGBT people, although several religious communities and many Muslim immigrants are much more conservative in their beliefs about gender and sexual norms. Saterno has always been fairly tolerant in matters of private morality and this is reflected in the country's progessive legislation.

Before 1811, sodomy was a serious crime. Homosexual relations between consenting adults in private were first legalised in 1811. This libertarian policy on private sexual conduct remained unchanged until in 1921 the ruling Catholic Party raised the age of consent for homosexuality to twenty-one, while the age of consent for heterosexuality remained at sixteen. Along with the unequal age of consent there were various laws against "public indecency" that were often used against gay men by the Catholic Party. In 1972 the age of consent for homosexuality was lowered to eighteen, and in 1982 the age of consent for homosexuals and heterosexuals conduct was equalized at sixteen.

In 2004, the age of consent for both homosexuality and heterosexuality was lowered by the Saternoi Council to fifteen, a move which met staunch opposition from the Saternoi Bloc and other conservative pressure groups, such as the Christian Family League.

One of the results of the sexual revolution of the 1960s was that in 1973 Saternoi mental health institutions stopped treated homosexuality as an illness, prior to that several Saternoi psychiatrists and clergy advocated the belief that homosexuality was a minor mental illness, and the military also lifted its ban on homosexuals, so that gays and lesbians were finally free to serve in the Armed Forces. Any discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in employment or service, public or private, has been prohibited since 1985. More Saternoi Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people started to "come out", gay-straight alliances suddenly sprung up, gay publications started to be published and the liberal and left-wing Saternoi political parties started to support LGBT rights as part of an overall support of social tolerance.

The AIDS-HIV pandemic prompted most Saternoi LGBT people to change their sexual habits to practice safe sex, and comprehensive sexual education was introduced into the public schools, and later in free and private schools as well, that resulted in a low rate of infection. In 1991 the Saternoi Council enacted legislation that included sexual orientation as a category that was not grounds for discrimination in any form or way whatsoever, although discrimination on account of sexual orientation in employment was already banned, the new Equal Rights Act provided for more and better measures against many types of discrimination against LGBT people. In 1998 the Saternoi Council granted both same-sex couples and unmarried opposite-sex couples domestic partnership benefits. Couples who enter into a domestic partnership contract are afforded most of the legal protections and responsibilities of marriage. However, unlike married couples, they are not allowed to file joint tax returns until after 3 years. The right to joint adoption and artificial insemination are also denied to domestic partnership contract partners.

On April 25, 2001, Saterno became one of the first countries in the world to legally recognise same-sex marriage. In many nations, same-sex marriages are known as civil uions or civil partnerships, but in Saterno same-sex marriages have the exact same legal statute, including terminology, as any other civil marriage. This was achieved when the Christian-Democrats were not in power. Saterno also allows the marriages of foreign same-sex couples, even if their country of origin doesn't allow these unions, making Saterno a popular destination for same-sex couples that want to get married. Saterno is an overall popular destination for gay tourism, especially Saternoi City where a LGBT Gay Pride festival occurs in July. Several gay-owned or gay-friendly hotels, nightclubs and cafes operate in the city, and there is a relatively substantial and popular gay scene in most cities. The gay scene in Saterno is also more open than in most other countries. Since the legalisation of same-sex marriage, approximately 175,000 same-sex couples were married. This constitutes 1.5 percent of the total number of marriages in Saterno during that period. Two thirds of the married couples were gay male couples; the remainder were lesbian couples.

A Gay Pride march

The same-sex marriage law did not permit adoption by same-sex partners; and as birth within a same-sex marriage did not imply affiliation, the same-sex spouse of the biological parent had no way to become the legal parent. On September 25, 2003 a proposal to permit adoption was passed by the Saternoi Council with a majority of 1 vote, thereby enabling legal co-parenting by same-sex couples.

Verbal and physical attacks on LGBT people tend to come from the socially-conservative Catholic, in particular several ultra-conservative groups, and Muslim leadership and their followers (10% of the population). Although, the most common school yard insult is still "faggot".

In February 2002, the Saternoi Council approved legislation which made homophobic or sexist comments illegal, this had been criticised by civil liberty and libertarian groups as a serious infringement on free speech. But the Socialist and Liberal parties pointed to a rise in anti-gay violence as justification for the measure. In March 2005, the law was repealed following a negative report of the Human Rights Council, but incitement to hatred, including hatred on account of sexual orientation, remains illegal.

There are large gay and lesbian communities in the cities, particularly in the Saternoi City and Maladon metropolitan areas. And according to a nationwide study performed in 2001, 65 to 70% of the Saternois consider homosexuality "an acceptable lifestyle". However, many socially-conservative groups, such as the Christian-Democratic Party tend to view sexuality as a private affair, that should not be a reason for discrimination but also is something that should remain private, a view approximately 20 to 25% (according to the same study) of the Saternois hold. On the whole, Saterno is a very tolerant nation when it comes to homosexuality, and discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation is generally not accepted in Saternoi society.

Military

A submarine of the Saternoi Navy

The armed forces of Saterno are known as the Saternoi Armed Forces. Their Commander-in-Chief is the Ganchelkean Emperor, Emperor Geerhardt I and they are managed by the Ministry of Defence. The Saternoi Armed Forces are under civilian control, they are ultimately accountable to the Council of Ministers (in wartime) and the Saternoic Council (in peacetime). The Saternoi Armed Forces consist of the Saternoi Army, the Saternoi Navy (and Marine Corps), the Saternoi Air Force and the Saternoi Guard.

The Saternoi Armed Forces are charged with protecting the territorial integrity and political independence of Saterno, promoting Saterno's wider security interests, and supporting international peacekeeping efforts. The Saternoi Protectorate fields one of the most powerful and comprehensive military forces in Nasicournia. In recent years, controversy has arisen on Saterno's large Nuclear Defence Programme, and the plans to group all air, sea and land based nuclear forces in one component to be known as the Nuclear Defence Forces.