People's Liberation Army of Chanda

People's Liberation Army
Seal
Ceremonial flag
Motto	"Always watching, Always ready"
Founded	28 February 1931 (1931-02-28) (as militia) 28 April 1951 (1951-04-28) (as military branch)
Service branches	Joint Staff Kharuul Labour Corps Engineer Corps
Headquarters	Taglikend, Chanda
Leadership
Chief Commander	President Pernille Urksal
Branch Commanders	Brig. Gen. Kasym Khair Brig. Gen. Esmail Litip Brig. Gen. Artur Nava'i
Personnel
Conscription	2-5 years
Active personnel	560,000 (2020 estimate) 500,000 (Labor Corps) 30,000 (Engineer Corps) 30,000 (Kharuul)
Expenditure
Budget	$2.36 billion (2020)
Related articles
History	Great War First Satrian War Second Satrian War Third Satrian War
Ranks	Ranks of the Chandan military

The People's Liberation Army (Chandan: 𑐀𑐬‎𑐡‎𑐫𑐣 𑐎𑐵‎𑐮𑐵‎𑐩𑐵𑐣 𑐀𑐬𑐩𑐶, Ardyn Kalaman Armi), is an Chandan armed force, originally founded as an militia affiliated with the International Revolutionary Army in 1931. As the former military and governing force of the West Shalegho Commandery, its structure and operations are different from most other militaries. It controls its own sub-branches, the Kharuul, the Labour Corps, and the Engineer Corps. Under the Birlik concept of dual function, the Army is responsible for the country’s economic system as part of its mission of maintaining the country's internal order.

The System traces its origin to the West Shalegho Commandery that governed modern day Chanda from 1934 to 1951. Like other Pardal Republics, the People's Liberation Army directly controlled and governed the region; while the civilians were largely left to their own affairs, the PLA provided security and other assistance. When the Republic was founded, the PLA was allowed to maintain some autonomy and keep its economic and military assets. Furthermore, the role of the PLA was enshrined in the Declaration of the Republic, tasked to "protect and serve" the country and its people. Sabir worked closely with his allies in the PLA to implement his policies, which further increased their power and their popularity among the people. Its influence and power would grow into its current influence.

As a result, the People's Liberation Army has a significant social, political, military, and economic role within Chandan society. The Army conducts economic policy through its branches, especially through the Labour Corps. As an gendarmerie, the Kharuul is tasked with internal security and other missions it is assigned. Meanwhile the Labour Corps are wholly concerned with economic affairs, such as operating Army-owned businesses or providing workers to local governments and private companies. Finally the Engineering Corps is tasked with constructing civil works and other large construction projects.

Although the People's Liberation Army is officially subordinate to Chanda's government, it nevertheless maintains a notable degree of autonomy in decision making. Furthermore as it is simultaneously in charge of implementing economy policy and is the largest economic force, it wields significant power and influence in the country. As a result, experts have debated about the exact nature of its relationship with the Republic of Chanda. It is widely considered to be a state within a state, which has been officially termed the Internal State.

Influence

The People's Liberation Army is intertwined with the Chandan economy as it operates numerous Army-owned businesses in almost all sectors of the economy. As a result, along with the National Bank of Chanda it is one of the country's key economic institutions, able to steer the economy mostly on its own. Furthermore it is the second largest landowner in the country, aside from the central government. The Constitution allows the PLA to own, buy, sell, and administrate their own "military owned land". While the PLA is allowed to administrate its land as it sees fit, it still must follow all laws passed and the constitution. Nevertheless, as part of the functional constituencies, the PLA's members are reserved seats in the National Assembly. The PLA officially supports the National Development Party, a major party in the ruling Chandan Socialist Birlik Front. The National Development Party, is the official front for the Chandan Kharists, the pro-PLA faction in the country.

The People's Liberation Army operates with considerable autonomy from the Republic of Chanda. While the PLA is officially subservient to the state, it is largely able to make its own decisions with minimal input from the government. It manages its own finances which are independent from the national budget, although the Army has to pay taxes and there is some state oversight such as providing its accounting reports to the National Assembly. In addition, the land that the Army directly owns is subject to the Army's own administration, where it can set its own rules and regulations and try rule breaking it its own judicial system. As a result, their land is considered as a dependent territory, subject directly to the Army rather than the Chandan government.

The People's Liberation Army is broadly popular within Chanda, although its not free from criticism or controversy. Conservative Birlikists and other nationalists view the Army as a vital institution, and a guardian of the country who keeps the country safe and prosperous. It is also popular as it provides employment to Chanda's citizens as well as goods and services. However the degree of independence from the state that the Army enjoys has attracted criticism internationally and domestically, due to a lack of oversight and accountability. In addition it has been accused of abusing its economic power, such as driving out foreign competition in quasi-legal ways. Finally crimes and other incidents committed on army land or by army personnel can only be investigated and tried in military courts, which has led to accusations of conflicts of interest and lack of accountability.