Chacha-Slide Scandal

The Chacha-Slide Scandal occurred within the Imperial Federation concurrent to, and intertwined with, the 31-2 January Imperial Federation Election. It lasted during the turn of the new year, and fizzled out by January 4th. It concerned player CoolChacha97, comments he made, and its consequences.

Background

In the immediate aftermath of the Four Hour War, IF Citizen CoolChacha97 made several comments advocating for obby-bombing. Along with this were other messages by him, advocating aggressive action against other foreign nations. Upon the final treaty ending the war, and reparations coming from it, the comments would seemingly be forgotten.

The Scandal

These comments would however resurface during the January Federal Election for Chancellor. CoolChacha97 would run for Chancellor, and prior Chancellor Spoonce would bring his comments up again. Many players tried to explain the severity, and war-crime nature of obby-bombing. However, Chacha would stand by his comments and double down in his belief of the practice. The Senate would pass a resolution designating obby-bombing as a war-crime, but this would not end the scandal.

In order to try and definitively prevent a victory by Chacha, citizen and ex-Senator Pandastical would government officials and candidates. Those who would sign would be him, the other three candidates (S0uthw3st, Wilwithonel and Jahlf), ex-Chancellor and Military Chief of Staff JAW689, ex-Chancellor Spoonce, and Chief of Capitol Construction Melon. The monarch King Cupar was intentionally not asked, to secure his political neutrality. Bstallio was asked, however, declined to sign the denouncement.

While the Denouncement's effect on the citizenry and election is debatable, its position in the Scandal is not. CoolChacha97 would post the denouncement on the subreddit, thus bringing the matter to foreign officials. Discussion of the scandal had been posted in the Q&A channel on Discord, which was a public channel and thus viewable to anyone. These facts, along with possible leaked screenshots from the Citizen Chat, brought the scandal to the foreign stage.

War Scare

Regarding comments made by CoolChacha97, Kallos would demand either a two-week pearl time for him, or reparations of 128 emerald blocks (this fact was not known at the time amongst most citizens, but amongst the Senate). This was a particularly harsh one, as the Imperial Federation's EXP production was very limited. This demand would largely be the factor in fueling a major war scare and factionalism in the Imperial Federation, particularly on the first and second of January. It would be the second major war scare within the IF, following a brief one regarding Nara in 2022.

The Chachan-Defense Faction, concerned with the refusal to hand over a pearled CoolChacha97, would organize on several factors. Many were concerned with the political implications of bending the knee to a foreign power. They believed it would set a bad precedent. Others were prioritized on how this would affect and serve as a precedent for freedom of speech within the IF, and the limiting of it. Other concerns included public trust in Citizen Chat and national morale.

The Chachan-Attack Faction would form with a desire to hand over CoolChacha97. They believed it was not worth risking war to defend CoolChacha97. A 'bad precedent' argument was also made, in how it forced the IF by continuously inviting aggression and war by allowing aggressive comments to be made, leaked and spread.

Many would also share both opinions or remain neutral.

A fierce debate would be held in the Citizen Chat discord channel between the factions. This would be the worst factionalism and division experienced by the nation's CivMC iteration. It would continue for a while, and eventually devolve into tired repeated statements, circular arguments, and personal attacks. The end of the debate would largely come when King Cupar intervened, calling for national unity and a stop to pointless argument. It would be he who primarily defused the international tension, and brought the nation from possible war with his diplomatic negotiating.

It is called the Chacha-Slide Scandal primarily because of how often sides would be changed during it. Many players flip-flopped factions or were tired out by the end and became neutral. By the end, even CoolChacha97 would finally show remorse and regret for his words and actions, upon facing their result.

Aftermath

Prior to the scandal, the nation had been very united, even during elections. This had been a stark contrast to the divides that would cause a civil war in CivRealms. However, the scandal would bring the possibility of internal divides to the surface. It is yet to be seen whether they will again return, and if they will lead to greater strife.