The People's Party: June Convention

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

My fellow Atlasians,

A short time ago, I officially changed my registration to The People’s Party. This is a home-coming for me. I was a proud and active member of The Party in its first iteration. I believe it was a force for good, it encouraged participation and enthusiasm. I believe it is time for The Party to return and play that role within this country as our political dynamics shift more and more to the extremes.

To my friends in the Labor Party, I send you my best wishes for success. I was determined to help work within the party to not limit its ability to attract a broader swathe of voters. But fundamentally, while I agree with them on many things, there was a big enough disconnect that forced me to re-consider where I belong.

To my fellow Party members, I want to send a note of warning. Parties have doomed themselves through mass registration and zombie recruitment, leaving a rump to control it. I urge all fellow members, if you want to advocate for the Party, please do, but equally, make sure they want to participate and recognise that the Party’s focus is on the quality of our members and their activity, not sheer quantity of numbers.  I also call on members to look at our platform, it is fundamentally a progressive one, albeit a pragmatic one.

Even a small party can achieve great things, when there is a committed and active membership. So, I am pleased to return and look forward to working with you all for the betterment of our country.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

I accept the nomination for Vice Chair.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

I am honoured by the support from my fellow members.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

I will speak to the convention tomorrow

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

My fellow Atlasians,

I am so pleased to be here with you all, as a proud member of The People's Party once again. As the President said in his address, when we joined before, in many ways, we did not know what the exact cause for our creation or the mission. All we knew is that this party was needed.

We had been through a time of uncertainty and instability in Atlasia, this country needed a force of stability and activity. We were never the largest party, but because it was party full of active, engaged and enthusiastic Atlasians, we punched well above our weight.

We will be the same again, I will work with our soon to be confirmed Chair and all members to make sure this is a party of genuine activity. Any inappropriate recruitment practices or the recruitment of zombie voters, will be met with serious consequences. We reject these practices because we did not need them to be successful and it undermines a key principle of this party. 

As this nation's ideological divide grows wider, The People are back. Let there be no mistake, this Party is not the Liberal Party redux, this is not the Progressive Union redux... it is not the re-branding of any other party, The People have returned, pure and simple.

Despite what some may say, this party has clear principles and policies. We believe in equality before the law for all people, that economic strength comes from the bottom up not the top down, and that the social contract we are all a part of must never be weakened. Now, not everyone in this party will agree on everything, but as the old saying I'm about to massacre goes, 'the unity' of this party 'does not rely on the uniformity of opinion'. We believe in doing the right thing, not because of some ideological angst-ridden argument, but because the evidence tells us so. The People want to get things done, we don't want to be an experiment in failed social and economic paternalism, we want to rely on experts and evidence to help guide our direction, not dismiss them because they won't tell us what we want to hear.

This party's mission must to be show the rest of Atlasia how important activity can be, what happens when a small party has a goal.  That goal is an open, inclusive and successful country where all citizens feel a stake in their futures. This is a tough ask, one fraught with perils and perched in a landmine of entrenched views and conventions, but I believe we can do it.

To all of you who have returned to this Party, welcome home. To those who have newly arrived, I welcome you to your new home.

Thank you all and good night.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

I would heavily advise against bothering with regional chairmen.

I understand your concerns. I mean, at the moment, we have 1 member in the IDS, therefore automatically the IDS Chair.

I'm content with keeping them, but equally, removing them and focusing on getting the whole party active for turnout doesn't bother me either. One thing the TPP in the past did not suffer from was low-turnout.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Well, first of all, congratulations to Ben on getting elected to the Mideast Assembly!

In second place, the old platform still seems quite suitable for our times, but I would recommend higher emphasis in foreign policy beyond the use of diplomacy. I believe we should commit ourselfs to encourage democracy in other nations when possible, and I think it would be innovative if we were to pursue NATO and UN reform (enlargement of NATO, reform of the Security Council and so forth), and a more concrete approach towards the continents as a whole (with an increased focus on Latin America, Africa and Asia in terms of trade and diplomacy).

I also like the approach towards the environment, but is there a chance we could make that commitment go even further? I'm sure Superique would be far more eloquent than me in this area, but we could try to pursue more regulations and more investment in that area, along with an increased use of solar and nuclear power.

Game Reform is an area that seems a little bit dead after the failure of changing the regions, but perhaps (and this is just an idea) we could go for something like changes in the Cabinet?

In relations to your concerns about foreign policy. The danger of highlighting 'encouraging democracy' opens up a can of worms, to what extent would we 'encourage'? We spent a long time and lot of money to get ourselves out of the nation-building business. I believe we can support democracy movements, but I do not think it is our place to create it.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

A Statement from the Vice Chair

I want to add my voice officially to the notes of concern about the tone of the current election for the at-large Senate seat.

While we will defend against false, misleading or plain silly allegations about our candidates, we do not endorse negative or inflammatory campaigning. It is counter to the principles of this party. We want MORE people engaged and active in the system, these types of campaigns only drive people away, leaving only the most aggressive and divided.

I note the changes of heart we have seen from many agents over the past few hours. Whomever wins the election needs to do so based on what they bring to the Senate, not who has the best attack machine. I don't know Rep Deus or his record, but I do know Alfred and respect him and his abilities.

The election has turned out in a way I hadn't expected and this is a good thing. If The People are successful, then it should be about a positive vision, because of what we want to achieve, anything else will be an empty victory.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

I also want to make a further comment about the nature of this party.

It has been accused of having no ideology. This is not true. Does it adhere rigidly to the right? No - Does it adhere rigidly to the left? No. It has a broadly progressive ideology. Which of course, to those of the right and the far-left is viewed with contempt. But will not apologise for this.

We are a broad church, and we have never denied this, nor expected absolute purity. We believe in activity and engagement above anything else.

I do hope this unnecessary angst will fade.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

PRESS RELEASE

The Chair and Vice Chair will be making a statement on the Party's endorsement processes for a few upcoming races, including the at-large Senate race in the next 24 hours.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Aye to all

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

STATEMENT FROM THE LEADERSHIP TEAM

As a party, we need to make sure we put our best foot forward and do everything possible to ensure a strong performance and a strong representation of the policies and interests of The People and those who support us electorally.

There we are proposing the following:

* There shall only be one officially endorsed candidate per election of The People;
* There will be an endorsement vote for each election within The People's official thread;
* Candidates will have 24 hours to announce their candidacy, with a vote to follow to last another 24 hours.
* That candidate will be the officially endorsed candidate and any candidate who wishes to run despite the lack of support of the party, may face explusion
* The only time more than one candidate may be endorsed by The People, will be in the event of a tie.

We are proposing this format be instituted immediately.


Chair Cincinnatus and Vice Chair Polnut.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

We have had a spark of conversation about this, both here and in private and it's a good thing. After consultation, we have decided to not implement this yet. But we will be taking it to the next Conference for debate.

Thank you all.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

I would like to extend my congratulations to all the candidates who were re-elected, or those who were elected this weekend.

I would particularly like to send my best wishes to Senator Lumine who was successful in retaining his seat and will continue to serve the interests of The People.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

I will make a decision on that front soon.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

I will be running for Chair

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

In accordance with the announcement of Cincinnatus - his resignation from the Chairmanship of The People's Party has now come into effect. 

Unless there any objections, I move that Oakvale and I assume the Chairing positions by acclamation.

We will serve in the Chairing positions in an acting capacity for the next 24 hours, pending any concerns from the floor, then we will assume them in a permanent capacity.

Both Oakvale and I will speak to the convention tomorrow.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

My fellow members of The People,

As there were no objections, Oakvale and myself have formally become Chair and Vice Chair of the party.

I urge all members, if they have any concerns to contact either one of us, and also we'd like to make clear, that no party survives long without discipline and loyalty, these are two issues we will be focusing on in the lead up to the next batch of elections. There are consequences to consider to some actions.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to speak to the other parties, we believe that while we may be in opposition and often competing against each other, we want it to be done in a spirit that reflects the best, not the worst of us. We saw a very strange period over the last few months, where personality trumped positions and drama overtook sensibility, some of it coming from out own midsts, Oakvale and myself pledge to end this from our end. We are always open to positive collaboration and welcome future discussions.

Thank you.

Onto other business.

Do we have any upcoming races that require an endorsement vote? I intend for this Convention to conclude by Tuesday 8 July, so any actions or activities need to be brought to our attention by then.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

The Convention is now closed - we shall re-convene closer to the August elections.

Thank you all.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

While we are experiencing growth at moment I'd like to take a moment to remind all members of this party that we are at our best when we punch above our weight. We must be wary of turning into some kind of heterogenous "catch all" blob, populated with zombies.

I would very much echo the Vice Chair's comments

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

The convention opens next week.

But happy to move it up.