Olive oil scandals

The olive oil scandals were a series of high-profile events that took place in Ovezia in 2020. The scandals involved a number of key aristocrats and politicians who were all connected to the industry, and whose personal lives were inextricably linked to the product. Ovezia has a long history as an exporter of high-quality olive oil, which is prized by consumers the world over. The industry is a major source of pride for the country, and has close ties to both the aristocracy and the political establishment. Many of the country's noble families own large olive groves and processing plants, and even more politicians have shares in similar ventures.

Prince Emilo sex scandal
The first of the olive oil scandals to emerge involved Prince Emilo, the heir elected of the Ovezian throne. It has had profound impacts for the culture and politics of the country. In the summer of 2020, whilst on a diplomatic visit to Queluz, the prince was photographed by members of the press in a compromising position with another man. Alongside these images, which were eventually removed from circulation, was the rumour that olive oil had been used as a sexual lubricant. Prince Emilo was known to have taken over ownership of the royal olive groves with his investiture as Prince of Lyz. During his time in the role he has also actively supported the Ovezian olive oil industry.

Whilst homosexual marriage has been legal in Ovezia since 2015, homosexual relationships are still heavily stigmatised throughout the country, and in Watan, the act of sodomy is still illegal. This provoked a diplomatic incident when the Watanese government initially refused to censor the images on the grounds that the prince had refused to respect their laws. The government subsequently revoked his diplomatic immunity, although the prince had already returned to Ovezia and avoided prosecution. In order to prevent worsening relations with other nations, the Watanese government eventually agreed to remove the images from various sites. The royal family also threatened several news agencies with defamation and blackmailing lawsuits in order to get the photographs removed from Sinapse.

The private affairs of the Prince of Lyz were not received well by the Ovezian public, many of whom saw the prince as an example of traditional Ovezian values. Several protests occurred in the weeks following the scandal calling for Emilo to abdicate his position to his younger sister, Elena, alongside counter-protests in support of LGBTQ rights and the prince. Ultimately, the refusal of the Watanese government to respect the Ovezian royal family proved a more compelling argument than outrage at the prince's sexuality, causing public opinion in Ovezia to swing in favour of the prince by the end of the year.

Duchess of Malaça scandal
Aimãda da Vapõte, the Duchess of Malaça, is a member of one of the oldest noble families in Ovezia. She has a long standing reputation for philanthropy and charitable work and had been vocal about seeing continued investment in her duchy by several governments.

A month after Prince Emilo's scandal, however, she became implicated in an underground sex trafficking ring. The traffickers reportedly used da Vapõte olive oil as a currency in order to prevent tracking of payments. As the investigation progressed it became apparent that large quantities of this olive oil was given to the traffickers by the duchess. She is currently under house arrest while she awaits trail for aiding and abetting the trafficking of people, although the crown has not stripped her of her titles, despite continued public pressure to do so.

Mayor of Uligana scandal
The former Mayor of Uligana, Marc Caçadúr, was a widely respected and influential figure in Ovezian politics, renowned for his keen business acumen. During the investigation of the Malaça sex trafficking ring, he was caught in a scandal when it was revealed he had offered shares in a local olive oil company as a bribe to secure a government contract.

Caçadúr had offered a controlling interest in his olive oil company, which had seen rapid growth over the previous decade, to a government official in exchange for preferential treatment in a bidding process in which his brother's construction firm had a stake. This contract was awarded to his brother's company and saw Caçadúr increase his wealth by around Ɇ5 million.

After the deal came to light through a series of leaked emails, both Caçadúr and the government official have resigned and now face corruption charges.

Impacts
The olive oil scandals had a profound impact on Ovezian society and culture. The successive uncovering of several scandals linked with the olive oil industry over the span of less than a year lead to public outrage and calls for greater transparency and accountability in government and the industry.

The scandals resulted in a cultural shift around LGBTQ individuals in Ovezia. After Prince Emilo gave an impassioned speech in which he officially came out as homosexual on national television, he has taken an active role in campaigning for equality in the country. The monarchy has also used the opportunity of the scandal to portray themselves as progressive in order to prevent growing republican sentiment from leading to their deposition from power. This has included the drafting of a new set of laws governing succession and marriage for the royal family in order to accommodate LGBTQ aristocrats.

The Ovezian government has also taken actions to increase the transparency of the affairs of state to the populous, who had been outraged by the corruption revealed in the scandals. This included the ability for members of any public body to be arrested and tried for corruption. There were also steps taken to reduce the impact of the olive oil industry on the operation of government, with new regulations tightening their operations and donations to political campaigns.

The Ovezian olive oil industry has also suffered from a loss of reputation due to the scandals, although its rumoured involvement in the prince's sex scandal temporarily saw sales of olive oil increase globally, which coincided with the news going viral on social media platforms. It has also become a trend for younger LGBTQ individuals in several Alutran countries to accessorise with clothes, bags and pins bearing the image of a bottle of olive oil in support of the prince.