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Auspicious greetings to all Talossans on this, the 44th anniversary of Talossa's independence! Every time something bizarre happens in this country, I have to remind myself: we are all living in the imagination of a 14 year old boy. The question, given that, is not why Talossa is so weird, but why Talossa is not even weirder.
I bring you greetings on behalf of Talossa's opposition party, the Free Democrats. (https://wiki.talossa.com/Free_Democrats_of_Talossa) We are proud of our excellent performance in the General Election of September/October this year, which shocked and surprised many - including me. But we are also proud of how we have conducted ourselves as a constructive opposition after that. Our great success in that regard has been our accord with the Talossan National Congress (TNC) government, whereby the two parties agreed that to a consensus position on Organic Law issues and on the Chancery, the two issues which had attracted so much ill-tempered partisanship in recent years.
Our major goal in politics this year was to turn down the partisan heat of politics, and move to a new situation where both sides of the Cosa could keep things civil and work together for the national interest. I think we've accomplished that. It might be hard to remember how high partisan temperatures were just a few months ago. As recently as late October, my personal friend the former Mençéi and Senator from Benito was driven to renounce his citizenship, over what was objectively quite an innocuous remark. Because when things are so hot, even the mildest criticism gets turned interpreted as an unforgiveable slight on one's honour.
What a difference a few months makes. Just before the accord between the two major parties (https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=2857.0) was signed, the leadership of the TNC were deploring what they called persistent partisan attacks from the Free Democrats. Then, when we concluded the accord to reduce those attacks... one of the leaders of the TNC quit in protest at it. People might be excused wondering what the real problem was, given that.
Although the accord has brought down the temperature so much - and importantly, led to a good relationship between myself and Seneschal Bråneu Excelsio - there are some who have raised valid criticisms that there is now too little partisan bickering - or, at least, that the relationship between Government and Opposition is now too "chummy", that the Opposition are not giving Government performance enough scrutiny and accountability. We acknowledge the justice in this complaint; we can only say that we were giving the new Government, which lost one of its leading members before it was even formed, a bit of grace. That has been extended because of the absence of another leading Government member, Baron Alexandreu Davinescu, on personal bereavement leave. But there are 4 other people in the current Cabinet. Patience cannot be extended forever.
The current TNC government is beginning to, simply put, beginning to drop the ball. Not organising a budget for the Second Clark is not a good sign. It is also not a good sign that one of its Senators appears to be sponsoring a bill which - on the face of it - contravenes the terms of the Accord. A party which cannot effectively present a united front among its legislators is not a party with whom trust can be built and binding agreements made.
But a weak government can bumble on indefinitely if it doesn't face a strong opposition. We remember this from our own history, where the Free Democrat-led government in the 56th Cosa dropped a whole lot of balls. It was not until a serious opposition evolved, in the guise of the TNC, that we were put back on our toes. To his credit, the Seneschal himself recognizes it - and has asked the Free Democrats to increase our scrutiny and our use of Terpelaziuns! Such a change from his predecessors who saw "Terps" as a hostile act. As I keep saying, Talossan politics are in a healthier position.
But they will not be fully healthy - I think - until there is a serious Alternative Government, until the Opposition (in the form of our party, or another one) comes up with a team of activists who could credibly claim to be able to take over the Government once given a mandate by the people. The Free Democrats have taken a step towards that with the recent naming of our Shadow Cabinet (https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=2935.0). But I don't think we've proved ourselves in that regard yet. To be the champ, you've got to whup the champ. To deserve to take over, you need to be better than the incumbents. The TNC did that a couple of elections ago. Can the Free Democrats do that now? If we don't, we risk handing over the mantle of "effective opposition" to people who lack our democratic mandate and our broad supporter base.
In the end, I think the unique selling point of the FreeDems - the reason we survived a shellacking two elections ago and bounced back - is that we are a party of ideology. Liberty and democracy first. We are devoted to a project where Talossa is a democratic country, based on rule of law, personal initiative and (yes) a reduction in the political role of the Monarchy and an increase in the centrality of elected officials. The TNC, in contrast, have presented themselves as something of a "post-ideology" party. While they do include a hard-core of monarchy enthusiasts from the defunct RUMP, the real reason why they rose so quickly to become the Government is that they were the "party of activity". For a while, all the active new citizens joined the TNC, which didn't impose any constitutional ideology upon them, but let them "do their thing". But what happens to the party of activity when its two most active members are no longer there? We're seeing that now.
There is something to be said for being a party of ideology, after all. But I would love the Free Democrats to become the party of activity as well. So I dearly hope that our performance as Opposition, and our process of building an Alternative Government, will inspire a new wave of enthusiastic, active new citizens to join our ranks. Hopefully our upcoming Party Convention will be an impetus for that.
Så vivadra Talossa! Så vivadra Talossa democrätic!