The Council of Kerlile has scheduled a debate on the removal of the Hale family from the body, to take place on Monday 31st July. This comes after current representative Councillor Jennifer Hale left Kerlile two days ago, accompanied by her four-year-old daughter, a male cousin, and her political aide. According to the Council, Hale has informed them she does not intend to return to the country, nor will she send her daughter to be educated at the Maytown Academy as per EUDCA regulations.
Hale joined the Council in August 2018, seven months following her sister Cornelia’s premature death due to lung cancer. Hale maintains that she was “coerced” to join the Council against her will, after spending most of her life in Lauchenoiria following running away from home at 13 during the Kerlian Civil War. During that time, where she lived under the false name “Sonja Viratnen”, Hale married Josephine Alvarez, the current Prime Minister of Lauchenoiria. She was spotted yesterday with Alvarez, indicating that their relationship has resumed.
The current Hale Councillor was forbidden from leaving Kerlile for a period of four years by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission following the end of the Second Lauchenoirian Civil War; having been convicted of identity fraud by using false documents belonging to the real Sonja Viratnen, who was executed during the Kerlian Civil War alongside her parents for treason. This period ended on Tuesday; after which she proceeded to leave the country immediately.
Jennifer Hale’s urge to leave Kerlile at the earliest possible convenience has been interpreted by many as a display of sheer disloyalty to the Kerlian state; and therefore a motion has been brought forward to the Council for the family’s removal. There is a single precedent for this course of action: last year, the family of the convicted traitor Carmen Robinson was removed from the Council for all generations. However, in the case of the Robinsons, three generations of the family were involved in their treasonous plot, while Hale acts alone.
However, due to Hale’s refusal to send her daughter Amelia to the Maytown Academy, or follow any EUDCA regulations in the raising of her daughter, it is unlikely that Amelia will ever meet the requirements to sit on the Council of Kerlile; nor is this likely to change with any further offspring. Indeed, being raised in Lauchenoiria will likely expose Amelia to “unhealthy patriarchal influences”, according to Councillor Letitia Greenwood who brought forward the motion for removal.
It is uncertain whether or not the motion will pass, with the majority of Councillors not yet taking a public position on the matter. Nor is it predictable which way many will vote; with several Councillors adopting erratic voting patterns on matters of internal Council management in recent years. There are four options that could come out of the debate: removal of Hale family and a charge of treason against Jennifer Hale; removal of the Hale family with no charges; removal of Jennifer Hale alone; or no action.
