Not so long ago, on October 2nd, the Republic of Flanders was re-founded. Between 1997 and ca. 2002-2003, the VRV (Virtuele Republiek Vlaanderen - Virtual Republic of Flanders), as it was often colloquially called by the locals, was the main centre of micronational activity in the Dutch speaking part of the world. Nowadays, things are different. Flanders is no longer the only Dutch speaking micronation, and many Dutch speaking micronationalists have joined the scene without being able to remember the heydays of the original Republic. For the sake of clarity, the editor welcomes those new nations and micronationalists as an enrichment, as (no doubt) do the other citizens of the re-founded VRV.
Two of the constant points of discussion in the First Republic were the status of the Dutch language and the relationship with the macronational world. To avoid yet another series of endless discussions on these topics, the founders of the Second Republic have made clear from the beginning that the new republic would have no macronational goals or pretentions (not that the original republic ever officially had such goals or pretentions) and that Dutch would be the sole official language. However, because Dutch isn't exactly the most commonly spoken or even understood language in the world, there is some risk of isolation from the non-Dutch speaking part of the micronational scene. I do not mean to say that the governments of the VRV will pursue an isolationist policy or even that other micronations would not be willing to co-operate with us; but I do believe that it makes it harder for those micronationalists who do not speak our language to keep up with what's going on and that therefore our nation might be somewhat of a less attractive intermicronational partner and ally. This is why I've decided to launch The Flanders Gazette. The Gazette is a private enterprise, and the views expressed in it do not necessarily reflect those of the government of the republic.
It would be logical for this first edition to start with summarising what has been going on the last three weeks. Most importantly, we're still writing our constitution, and this is going faster than I was expecting. The consensus seems to be that both president as parliament would be directly elected, and that the president, like his US counterpart, would be both head of state and head of government. The judicial power would be in the hands of appointed judges, and, failing that, parliament. A senate, composed of elderly statesmen, would be composed to check if passed legislation is in accordance with the constitution (but this senate would only perform its duties when there are no judges). Until this new constitution will be approved, the VRV is governed de facto as a direct democracy, with a provisional head of state with limited powers.
The basic structure of a party landscape seems to have been formed as well. Currently leading in the polls are the social-democrats of the SP.ES, with 41%, followed by the more radical leftists, represented by DEREV (33%), and the conservative SCU (25%).
The republic now has 19 citizens, which can be devided into three groups: the 'old gang' of the First Republic; those who were already active in other Dutch speaking micronations like Mayo or the Red Antilles; and the total newbies. Something which risks becoming a major point of discussion is the question on how strict the immigration policy should be. Fearing the paper dolls which plagued the First Republic, it was seen as wise to introduce the requirement that new citizens should be able to provide three witnesses confirming their existence. However, the provisional head of state has already expressed his doubts about the long term sustainability of this requirement. Currently, two types of citizenship are distributed: confirmed and unconfirmed. But what will be the exact content of this distinction remains to be seen.
Formal contacts have been established with the Empire of Lemuria, and it would seem that a treaty of mutual recognition is on its way.
