Haven

The Holy Kingdom of Haven
Flag Coat of Arms
Motto: The Almighty Ahura will protect us!
Anthem: Long live the Queen!
Location of Haven in Internatia
Capital	Haven
Official languages	English, French, Spanish, Arabic
Ethnic groups	Havenian
Demonym	Havenian
Government	Constitutional monarchy
• Monarch	Sophia I
• Prime Minister	Alexandra Solis (RP)
Establishment
Area
•	94,680 km2 (36,560 sq mi)
• Water (%)	To be added later
Population
• 2014 census	11 054 000
GDP (PPP)	2013 estimate
• Total	$407 billion
• Per capita	$40,000 (N/A)
HDI (2012)	.950 very high
Currency	Sira (S)
Time zone	+0
Date format	DD/MM/YYYY
Drives on the	right
Calling code	+193
Internet TLD	.hv

Haven, officially referred to as the The Holy Kingdom of Haven is a sovereign state in North-West Internatia. Its mainland is bordered to the East by Ruthsina and Atsoumpalia; to the South by Alexandria.

Haven is mostly known for it's religious beliefs, advanced technologies and it's capital city that floated for centuries in the sea and was only connected to ground after the reconquest of the historic homeland. Haven is multilingual thanks to a massive immigration process initiated by Queen Sophia I to reunite all Ahuran believers in the homeland.

History

Before the restoration of the Kingdom

The oldest documents date the foundation of the Holy Kingdom in 1455, on the ruins of a previous city-state, by a group of refugees led by Ahura, God of knowledge and the first King of Haven, Justinian I. Haven was a really small platform floating with unknown technology. Havenians feared an invasion so they drove the city away from the continent and entered in diplomatic isolation for more than 100 years. Thanks to Ahura's knowledge, Havenians learned to harness the powers of nature.

Havenian legends say that a huge civil war almost destroyed pre-Havenian civilization and the floating city was given by the almighty Ahura to protect the survivors from destruction. Those who survived dedicated their lives to worship Ahura, who gave them food, shelter and a city that will protect believers forever.

In 1634, foreign sailors found the city and tried to plunder it. The Royal guard killed them and their boats were given to the newly formed Royal navy. Havenians were traumatized by the event and King Robert I ordered the construction of an huge naval fleet to protect the holy city and prevent the savages from hurting Havenians again. In 1734, a trade fleet was build to supply the growing city but no foreigners were allowed inside the city, fearing another attack. Diplomatic relations were limited to prevent any foreigners from knowing too much about Havenian technology and it's location.

Haven only left it's diplomatic isolation after the coronation of Queen Sophia I. A shy but curious girl, she wanted Haven to open itself to the world and share it's faith and culture. Last year, she visited the Kingdom of Tikata and it was the first time an Havenian monarch left the city. It is when she met her future husband, Prince Thomas of Tikata. Queen Sophia I donated to exotic sphinxes to the Zoo of Grusse, as a gift of friendship.

Restoration of the Kingdom

The country called Irlandia was attacked by a plague known by Havenian scientists as the Great Destroyer. The irlandian government collapsed and more than 90 % of the population died. Havenian scientists managed to only save 700 000 people. Most havenians are immunized to this virus because Havenians discovered a cure years ago so archaeologists secretly working on irlandian soil were spared. They found ruins that legally allowed the government of Haven to claim the whole territory (or the fact the whole government of Irlandia died from the plague). The Holy City was once again connected to the ground for the first time in almost 600 years. A call from Queen Sophia and the Holy Church of Ahura to invite every ahuran believer to immigrate and gain automatic citizenship.

However, the irlandian minority revolted against the Havenian rule and after several terrorist attack targeting goverment official and the Royal Family, Prince Thomas of Tikata was badly wounded in protecting Queen Sophia, pregnant with twins at that time. This event triggered the full civil war that lasted more than a month. 10 000 civilians (havenians and lrlandians) died in this conflict and the Havenian army succeeded in crushing the rebels. Her Majesty the Queen offered amnesty to every Irlandian wishing to stay in Haven and give up their weapons and claim on the Holy Land. More than 400 000 irlandians accepted this deal and received government support to rebuilt their houses, schools and hospitals. More than 300 000 Irlandians chose to leave the country. These citizens will never be allowed to come back. This peace deal was harsh and controversial but it finally restored stability.

Political reforms and democratization

Her Majesty the Queen of Haven asked the government to implement political reforms to democratize Haven. Technically, Haven was an absolute monarchy but no Havenian monarch ruled without the support of the population and the Holy Church.

The Queen wanted to transform the Absolute monarchy in a Constitutional monarchy. A request was sent to the tikatan government to get help from constitution experts to draft a new constitution.

The Queen approved the new constitution.

Politics

Haven is a parliamentary, representative democratic monarchy. The Havenian political system operates under a framework laid out in the Constitution of April 2014 and is inspired by Tikatan political system. Amendments generally require a two-thirds majority of both chambers of parliament; the fundamental principles of the constitution, as expressed in the articles guaranteeing human dignity, the separation of powers, the federal structure, and the rule of law are valid in perpetuity.

Haven has a hereditary monarch and a bicameral parliament. The executive branch consists of a Council of Ministers of Haven presided over by the Prime Minister, nominated and appointed by the monarch and confirmed by the House of Representatives following legislative elections. By political custom, the queen's nominees have all been from parties who maintain a plurality of seats in the House of Representatives.

The legislative branch is made up of the House of Representatives with 125 members, elected by popular vote on block lists by proportional representation to serve four-year terms, and a Senate with 50 seats of which 25 are directly elected by popular vote and the other 25 appointed by the regional legislatures to also serve four-year terms.

Elections

The government chose to fund new political parties and an education program was developed to educate Havenians about democracy and their new rights. Here are the major political parties who may win the next election:

• The Royalist Party (center) : A pro-monarchy party that is at the center of the political spectrum. They support the current policies initiated by the Queen.

• The Social Democrats (center-left) : A party that support more government intervention in the economy and a more generous welfare state. Many of their members are activists and social workers.

• The Conservative Party (Right) : A party that promote libertarian values and support a reduction of the welfare state and the privatization of crown corporation like Haven Corporation.

• The Collective Alliance (Left) : A political party promoting the end of monarchy and the end of capitalist business model to end income inequality.

First elections in Haven were on August 1st, 2014.

The results :

Votes

Royalist Party (RP) = 3 426 752 Social Democrats (SD) = 2 421 357 Conservative Party (CP) = 120 452 Collective Alliance (CA) = 6 651

% Votes

Royalist Party (RP) = 57,35% Social Democrats (SD) = 40,52% Conservative Party (CP) = 2,02% Collective Alliance (CA) = 0,11%

Number of seats :

Royalist Party (RP) = 72 Social Democrats (SD) = 51 Conservative Party (CP) = 3 Collective Alliance (CA) = 0

So the first elected prime minister is Alexandra Solis (RP). She managed to convince a majority of Havenians. With 72 seats, the Royalist Party can form a majority parliament.

Corruption scandal and dissolution of the parliament

Alexandra Solis, leader of the Royalist Party and Prime Minister of Haven, was arrested and accused of fraud, breach of trust and bribery. These accusations were made official after an anonymous person send documents to the police. She is accused of stealing more than 50 million $ from the government, with the collaboration of more than 50 goverment employees and 4 ministers.

The police confirmed that this scheme lasted more than 5 years, even before she was elected as prime minister. Ms Solis was considered as one of the most popular politician and was part of the government since 2005. She won an election and was in control of a majority government, thanks to her relationship with Her Majesty the Queen.

Other ministers arrested were : Thomas Simpson, Minister of Finance, Julia Sanchez, Minister of Science and Technology, Pierre De Montillet, Minister of Education and Nasser Aswad, Minister of Tourism.

After the corruption scandal was revealed, HBC released a poll about party support:

Royalist Party (RP) = 15% Social Democrats (SD) = 50 % Conservative Party (CP) = 10 % Collective Alliance (CA) = 5% Undecided = 20 %

It is the biggest corruption scandal in the history of Haven and the party in power lost the confidence of voters.

Niko Sartakis, the leader of the Social Democrats asked the Queen to call for new election.

Niko Sartakis (40) is a human right activist who supported more rights for havenians and the end of the absolute monarchy. He supported the creation of free government kindergardens programs and a more generous unemployment programs to help citizens. In the last election he promised to reduce military funding and redirect it to healthcare and social services.

The Social Democrats have 51 seats at the parliament and got more than 40,52% of votes in August 2014.

Election results revealed that Social Democrats won the elections with this margin:

Military

Havenians are proud of their navy, one of the most powerful in Internatia. The only purpose of the naval fleet is to protect Haven from every invasion and to destroy enemies before their reach city gates. Haven City was made as a floating fortress with impressive anti-air defenses to eliminate attackers trying to destroy the city. Even if Haven is an advanced military nation, there are no plans or desires to invade another country. War is chaotic, unpredictable and dangerous so no havenian ruler will agree to a military invasion.

After the reconquest of the homeland, a land military force was developed to protect and defend our borders.

Haven will offer military support to every nation asking for humanitarian help but will never agree to support a genocide. Recent events and the assassination attempt supported by foreign enemies forced the government to modify the official foreign policy. Any country found guilty of supporting dissidents or terrorists will suffer military and economic sanctions.

Queen Sophia I declared that Haven will help Tikata if they are threatened. This alliance was made official after the royal marriage between Haven and Tikata and the common foreign policies of both nations.

It is known that Haven have a large stock of non-nuclear weapons of mass destruction.

Haven is a founding member of the North Internatia Treaty Organization.

Foreign Relations

The Holy Kingdom of Haven plan to open embassies in every Internatian country and plan to have peaceful and positive relationships with every nations.

Haven support free trade and peaceful cooperation. As long as foreign ambassadors and merchants don't break the law, they will be welcome to open trade offices and embassies.However, Requests to share military technologies will be refused because Haven doesn't want to be responsible with the creation of other WMD. Countries caught spying on Haven to obtain these technologies will be severely punished.

Since January 1st 2014, Haven is member of the International Free Trade Association.

Tikata

The nation of Tikata is a faithful friend and ally to Haven. Both royal families are linked with marriage and the tikatan government always supported Haven against people who threatened it's existence. If Tikata is under attack, Haven will use it's military ressources to support it's friend. Tikata is one of the most important trade partner of Haven.

Tonallan:

'Accusations of irlandian genocide'

The Tonallani government accused Haven of Irlandian genocide to seize control of our holy land. This statement and a crisis almost started a war betweed Tonallan and Haven. Diplomations relations were stopped and tonallani citizens were forbidden to trade and enter our national borders. More, Tonallan said that Haven was part of the Axis of Evil.

Tonallán openly supported the Irlandian government in exile and asked the G10 to impose sanctions on Haven. However, Tikata said it would veto any sanction against Haven.

No Tonallani is allowed in Haven and as long as their government will support aggressive foreign policies that threaten Haven stability, they will be forbidden to enter Haven.

Tonallan is accused of supporting terrorists in Haven.

Kosma

Relations with Kosma soured after the incident with Tonallan, their ally. The government tried to send an olive branch by sending a special gift to Kosmaunaut majority but sadly, they still support Tonallani version of events. There are no diplomatic relations between Kosma and Haven. Our diplomats are working really hard to convince Kosmaunaut diplomats to change their mind.

Recent events and Kosma's alliance with Tonallan forced Haven to stopped diplomacy and contact with Kosma.

The League of Internatians Against Royalty (L.I.A.R.)

Haven oppose this organization led by Tonallan, who is against monarchies and promote republics. After they threatened to make revolutions in countries with monarch leaders, many countries united and created the North Internatia Treaty Organization, a military alliance.

Haven City

It's origins are unknown and most havenian legends say that Haven was given by Ahura as a fortress of peace in exchange for unconditional worship. It's mechanics and technologies are confidential and havenians won't hesitate to kill themselves instead of revealing these secrets to foreigners. After many generations, successive havenian governments improved the city to create more habitable space to support the population. It was recently reconnected to the continent after havenians regained control of their homeland. New boroughs were built and the population increased to more than 3 580 000 people, which is the biggest city in Haven and prove that Haven City will continue to be the economic and religious heart of the havenian nation.

Economy

Haven is a stable high tech economy. The biggest industries are research, shipbuilding, defense, aquaculture and are mostly controlled by crown corporations. Service industries are private owned.

Education is really important because technology is a gift from Ahura and havenians must be educated to develop new technologies. Only science allowed Haven to survive in an hostile environment.

Energy production is 100 % CO2 free. Havenian scientists mastered the fusion power with deuterium. By refining deuterium from sea water, Haven have an almost unlimited energy supply. Worried this knowledge could be used to create weapons of mass destruction, only a limited number citizens have access to this technology and their identity are unknown. Current estimations from scientists forecast that Haven will have enough energy supply until our Sun dies, which is 5 billion years.

A new energy generator was built at the heart of Haven, powerful enough to supply energy for more than 10 million citizens for decades. Scientists gave the name of "Heart of Haven" to this technological achievement.

Currently, scientists are working on a new defense system, which would be powered by a new and smaller reactor, and if researches are successful, it would create an invisible protection shield. There are rumors that scientists are working on cloaking devices which allow people or buildings to vanish. Some rumors say researchers want to create the ultimate defense system combining an invisible shield and a cloaking device. The Havenian government refused to confirm the rumors and the official position is that every defense research is confidential.

Demographics

Haven is a multicultural and multilingual country, thanks to the massive immigration from every ahuran believer from other countries.

750 000 citizens, mostly resident of the capital are descendants from the first Havenians who stayed on the floating city for centuries. Except the irlandian minority, the majority of Haven (7,8 million people) is made of Havenians who fled the overpopulation of the city decades and centuries ago to move in other internatian countries. After the reconquest of the homeland, they all came back to be reunited with their brothers and sisters.

Ahuran Faith and other religions

Ahura was part of the Old Gods pantheon. However, theological differences created a schism because proto-Havenians started to worship only Ahura, the God of Knowledge. It is because of the Old Gods religion that Havenians were persecuted more than 550 years ago and forced to exile. Ahura gave Havenians the holy city as a fortress to protect it's believers. Ahura is the protector of Haven.

Every havenian is a member of the Holy Church of Ahura, the only faith in Haven right now. Ahura faith order believers to promote peace, order and science.

After political reforms, freedom of religion became a new right for every Havenian. The Holy Church of Ahura will still get support from the government.

The Holy Kingdom of Haven in the Internatia Song Contest.

HBC participated for the first time in ISC 17.