Civil Conflict of 1999

The Orbin Civil Conflict of 1999 was a brief period of social unrest in the Orbin Federation at the end of the 1990s due to public disapproval of then-Premier Roger Vivix and the poor state of the economy. It ended with Vivix being deposed from office and the election of Howard Turner.

Background
In 1991, Parliament elected Roger Vivix Premier of the Orbin Federation following Premier Edward Benson's retirement. Upon taking office, Vivix initiated several reform programs and did massive amounts of muckraking, firing any official guilty of corruption on the spot and replacing them with a member of the Nationalist Party (which he at the time headed). Vivix got the Orbin economy, which had become stagnant in the 1980s, running again. However, the Vivix government was also marked by harsh laws regulating many aspects of personal life, most notably a highly-controversial nation-wide youth curfew that required any unacompanied minor out past 10 PM spend the night in jail.

Buildup
The Orbin people were willing to accept Vivix's harsh policies, however, as Orb was once again an economic powerhouse nation. But after the economy fell stagnant in 1996 due to Vivix's extreme protectionist/nativist laws as to trade, the people quickly grew tired of the repressive government.

By late 1997, polls showed Premier Vivix's approval rating had fallen to 29%. Parliament was growing nervous, as the election of 2000 was approaching, and they knew that if Vivix remained in office, the people would vote them out.

By far the most shocking incident of Vivix's career as Premier was when on Friday, May 15, 1998, a student of the University of Wikwemikong named Harvey Thomason attempted to injure or assassinate Premier Vivix, who was making a speech for the graduating class (Vivix is a U of W allumnus). At 2:12 PM, halfway through Vivix's speech, Thomason stood up, yelled "Sic sempre tyrannus!" ("thus always to tyrants"; an American saying) and hurled a molotov cocktail at the Premier, who ducked and the makeshift weapon exploded upon making impact against the base of the podium. The Praetorian Guard promtply seized Thomason, who initially resisted, but was beaten into submission. A photo of Thomason with a bloody face and dirty, torn clothes being dragged away by the Guards made the front page of Verity and would become a symbol of the hatred that many felt toward Premier Vivix and his government.

Tipping point
1999 was a turbulant year for Orb. The majority of the people thuroughly hated Premier Vivix, who clearly did not care nor had any plas of leaving office. Parliament was becoming increasingly worried; next year was an election and whthered or not they were re-elected would all hinge on whether or not Vivix remained Premier.

However, Parliament (like many other people who met him in person) were scared of Vivix. So they met in secret on July 19, 1999, while Vivix was on a diplomatic trip to Iceland, and voted almost unanomously to depose Premier Vivix from office. They then agreed to arrest Vivix as soon as he returned and put him on trial for abuse of power.

Roger Vivix returned two days later, at which point Parliamentary Orator Claus Harringer arrived and made the public announcement of Vivix's deposition and had him arrested by the National Police. He was put on trial the following week, and acquitted of all charges and granted a pension three days later.

Aftermath
Now former Premier Vivix, accepting his removal from office quietly, boarded a helicopter and took off for the Vivix family manor on Heywood Island. After take off, Vivix looked out, back toward the Capitol, and saluted the onlookers before taking his seat.

Afterward, there was serious talk amongst the Orbin people of abolishing the office of Premier, and replacing it with a President who serves a set term, or a democratically elected oligarchy of three to five officials who govern equally. Parliament had to think fast if it wanted to preserve its system of government.

Three and a half weeks later, Parliament elected Norman Turner, a quiet Lawyer from Odaawa, to be the new Premier of the Orbin Federation. As Premier, Turner set about "de-Vivixifying" the government, repealing various harsh laws and policies, and lowering the drinking age to 16 (it had originally been 15; Vivix upped it to 18), as well as repairing Orb's image to its neighbors after Vivix's cold and unfriendly attitude towards fellow heads of state.

Turner was a well-liked Premier, and his handling of the job managed to reconvince most voters that the office of Premier was politically sound.

Premier Turner would ultimately retire in 2003. He was succeeded by Edward Benson Jr.

Legacy
Many commentators have drawn connections between the Civil Conflict of 1999 to the Civil Conflict of 2013, which also involves a forced change of Premier, public disapproval, and protest against the government. However, the 2013 Conflict started in April of that year and has already outdone the 1999 Conflict in terms of severity, in that with the 2013 Conflict, Orb is genuinely on the verge of civil war.