Lüc da Schir - 1st MRPT congress closing statement

[Lüc]

The Deputy Congress Leader walks up on the Podium and clears his throat.

Esteemed Congress Leader, MRPT Members, honourables Guest Speakers, friends from other parties and supporters of the MRPT, dear guests:

I ask you to join me while closing this first Congress. It was a very interesting month: for the first time in its story, the MRPT was so active while improving itself, democratically electing its leaders and prospective MCs. We had a great time with the speeches of both Alexandreu Davinescu and Bisquinc. Obviously, I'd like to call for an applause to our Party Leader, Glüc da Dhi, who is the true brain of our party. Congratulations to the newly endorsed prospective Senators, S:r Ursüm, S:r da Dhi, S:da d'Auribuérg and S:r Marcianüs; best wishes to be elected to them.

On a final note, I'd like to let you know that we (I, actually) have made a really nice PDF summary of the key things regarding the MRPT, such as manifesto, 50 words statement, candidacies and endorsements, speeches... You can download it from the attachments of this post.

And, with the powers that have been assigned to me, I hereby declare closed the First Congress of the Moderate Radicals!
We are now ready for the General Elections!

Lüc da Schir, Deputy Congress Leader

Attachments:

[Lüc]

Also, it seems we planned a speech of the Party Leader! Step on the podium, S:r da Dhi!

[Glüc]

Thank you,

Azul Fellow Moderate Radicals, supporters and other guests. The first congress has been a wonderful end of a very good term for us and I would like to thank all who participated and all who helped made it possible, especially deputy congress leader Lüc da Schir. 2012 has been a great year for us, we gained 10 seats during the last elections, which is a very good result for such a small party and we put ourselves on the map as a serious political force in Talossa. During the last term MRPT voters were represented by a great team of MC’s. One of them, Niclau Patíci, will not be returning to the cosa after the elections. He leads a busy life, with important exams coming up, so he decided that it would be best for him to take a break from Talossan politics for a while. Niclau has served the MRPT and this nation very well during his first term in cosa and has certainly contributed to the great performance of the MPRT during the last cosa. We are all very grateful for this. Thanks Niclau, take care.

In the coming elections, the MRPT might win a few seats, or we might lose a few seats. For us as a party the result of the elections will not be the most important thing. What’s more important is our growth as a party on other fronts. We have doubled in membership since the last elections, we have become much more organized, much more active and much more able to represent our voters. We have developed to become one of the most open, democratic and organized parties in this Kingdom. Yes this cost us energy that we could have spent in campaigning for a short term victory in the elections. We chose to spend it instead on building a more resistant, futureproof and stabile party and I’m sure that this will on the long term lead to even better election results in the future.

For Talossa however, the results will matter. Because if the next cosa continues to be the same as the previous cosa, and the one before that, and the one before that, and the one before that, dominated by one and only one party, this will not bring us the necessary democratic reform, it will not bring us a more open and tolerant society for all Talossans and it will not bring us the more dynamic and active Talossa that we prefer. At least not in the tempo the MRPT would like to see.

*takes a sip of water before continuing*

[Glüc]

During our first congress we came up with a manifesto that clearly shows what the MRPT wants to achieve in the cosa. Mostly in clear measures, rather than vague sentences. (There are a few exceptions, but compare our manifesto to that of most other parties and you’ll hopefully understand what I mean.) We show our voters where we stand on the issues before the elections rather than letting the voters find out after. Still, when you want to know what Moderate Radicalism means, it might also be an idea to look at our statutes. Amidst all the bureaucratic mess two lines in the statutes mention some of the bigger ideals of the MRPT:

“5.3. To promote activity, individual freedom, diversity, democracy and other moderate-radical values in Talossa.

5.4. To stand for the protection of both Talossan democracy and the Talossan monarchy.”

The MRPT is a monarchist party. I am a monarchist and this is not just because King John is a great king. It’s good to see that unlike our previous monarch, King John is very much respected by all Talossans, monarchists and republicans and for some this may be a very good argument to keep the monarchy has dominated the history of our Kingdom for a long time and I dare say it’s an important part of our national identity. The role of the King is of course mostly symbolic. I don’t think the value of a symbol increases if we change it every time the political wind in Talossa changes. We know the monarchy makes us interesting and attracts new citizens and that’s a good thing.

Apart from the traditional and cultural value there are more good arguments for protecting the monarchy; it is not a bad thing for us to have someone who stands above the parties who does not have a democratic mandate, which can be used as an excuse to limit the rights of majorities or to destruct long lasting Talossan values. Democracy is an important right and one of the core values of the MRPT and of course the MRPT will be critical when the monarchy takes too much power for itself. But exactly because the King has less mandate than an elected president, there is less incentive for the King to abuse his powers using democracy as an excuse, which makes the monarchy perfectly suited for a role as a last resort against the dictatorship of a majority.

Monarchists, btw, are not always very effective in promoting the monarchy. The King for example, stated that he would have no problem repealing the rather divisive oath of citizenship, which does not encourage diversity but rather requires all citizens to “humbly appreciate the benefits granted unto me by my King” and “support [..] the organic law”. Certain fellow monarchist however, thought differently about this and decided to keep the oath (though slightly modified) alive. Something I personally feel was a bad decision, not because there is anything wrong with humbly appreciating benefits granted by the king or supporting the organic law or swearing loyalty to the King, but because citizens should be free to decide for themselves.

So, yes, the MRPT will be critical of the role of the monarchy and yes, I personally do believe that when the King consistently abuses its powers (which is not very likely, especially not as long as King John is King) , there should be a way to replace him, but only in order to elect a new monarch, because the monarchy is crucial to Talossa and the MRPT will stand to protect it, because we believe in it. The MRPT will stand for the monarchy!

* takes another sip

[Glüc]

Another important Moderate Radical value is democracy and one of the crucial ingredients for democracy is transparency. There is a correlation between what parties get votes and what proposals pass the ziu and voters need to be able to see that correlation. But how can they, when parties decide not to tell who will be representing them, even when there is so much difference in the ideals of the representatives? How can they see what will happen if parties don’t stand for their programs and manifestos once the election is over? How can they when manifestos and candidate lists are more like guidelines and in reality parties will appoint whoever they feel like and MCs can vote whatever they want anyway? A vote for the MRPT is a vote for our candidates and a vote for our manifesto.

Some believe this means there is no flexibility, no pragmatic way for us to come to compromises. This is, of course, not true. Of course the MRPT is ready to cooperate and make compromises with other parties as we have done last year in the cosa. Not everything we ideally want to see is politically realistic in a multiparty democracy so sometimes changes have to be made. Still the manifesto shows the perspective from which we enter these discussions. That is still something entirely different from MC’s opposing our own ideas, from a completely lack of internal discipline, from not representing our voters based on the ideas we released before the elections.

Some believe an actual transparent correlation between the way people vote and the way the ziu votes is just a form of opportunistic populism. I disagree. Populism in that form is when parties adapt their views to gain votes, when politicians are followers instead of leaders. That is not the way the MRPT works. We stand for our own ideals, the ideals of our members, because we believe in them, not because they help us gain voters. That doesn’t mean however that we feel we shouldn’t explain how we are going to vote on the important issues BEFORE the elections, rather than afterwards, because we do believe that voters have the right to know where we stand and who are going to represent them when they vote MRPT.

In the current situation it is often beneficial for parties to let their representatives represent only themselves rather than the party, it is easier to give seats to new people without letting the voters know. It helps bind them to a party and in a country where many voters are politicians or good friends with politicians, politics can be quite easy for a party that choses the interests of politicians over those of the voters who actually vote based on the issues. The MRPT is not the party that choses the easy way though, we chose the right way and I am convinced that someday we will be rewarded for this, because voters know that the MRPT stands for democracy!

* takes another sip of water

[Glüc]

Activity, both nationally and provincially is another important issue for the MRPT. Higher provincial participation rates will bring many things of value to this country. That is one of the reasons MRPT members have been actively involved in the provinces where the MRPT is active and we will continue to do so.

For citizens to be actively involved there needs to be diversity. Competition between different cultures and different political ideas will hopefully increase cultural and political participation rates. Talossa needs to be an inclusive and diverse country and it is, but things could be better. For diversity to thrive Talossans need to be free and tolerant of other ideas and Talossa doesn’t need to be too exclusive. Stricter immigration laws, banning citizens because of their participation in bug-micronations, controversial oaths of citizenship that require support for existing institutions are signs of intolerance and do not promote freedom and diversity.

We need to trust in the cultural strength of Talossa to do without these laws. Allowing people to be involved in micronational hobbyism will not make us a bug micronations and accepting people who don’t want to swear loyalty to the King will not make us a republic, because our culture is stronger than that (though I guess republicanism is part of our cultural heritage anyway). We don’t need to isolate ourselves from all outside influences, but use those influences to grow and become an even more diverse nation.

The citizens of Talossa have many different religions and so do the members of the MRPT. This government doesn’t have to make a choice between these religions, but should be tolerant towards all of them without preferring one over the other. The MRPT is not a Christian or an Islamic or an atheist party, but a secular party, respecting the many different religions in this country.

Talossans are republicans, monarchists, socialists, liberals, conservatives, christians, atheists, partisans, idependents, moderates, radicals, peculiarists and derivatists. That’s good, because all those ideas and believes are part of our heritage and make us who we are. In any case we are all Talossans, united in our diversity. All Talossans should be encouraged to actively participate in this society and the MRPT wants to promote this. The MRPT stands for activity, freedom and diversity!

* Tries to take another sip of water, but glass apparently is empty, probably a sign that I should come to some kind of conclusion soon.

[Glüc]

I think the MRPT is a relatively optimist party. The current situation is not all that bad. The government is not corrupt, John isn't Ben and the organic law is not broken. The MRPT is not nostalgic to a past where everything was better, but we are not afraid of the future either. We are reformers rather than revolutionaries. We are moderate radicals.

We are not afraid of change, because we have a vision of a better Talossa. This doesnt mean we believing in tearing down the organic law, we should amend it rather than replace it. We do believe that Talossa should be a multiparty democracy where no party holds an absolute majority for such a long, but that doesnt mean we are the party of sitting in a corner, throwing rocks at the government. Rather we try to give the government a fair chance and work together to make this Kingdom a better place. The MRPT deals in dreams we want to achieve rather than nightmares we want to prevent. We are not afraid of the future, we are the future and we are the reasonable alternative.

You may want to vote for a more active, democratic and diverse Kingdom of Talossa.
You dont neccesarily have to though.