URL Convention for the 62nd Cosă

[Mic’haglh Autófil, O.Be]

Azul es benveschti, à toct vaes amíci, cünpartizaes, colegas, es cüncitaxhiens!

Welcome to the second Party Convention of the Union of Free Reformists. Once per Cosă term, our party gathers to publicly conduct its internal debates, assess our platform and organization, and make the case for the nation to entrust to us the privilege to govern Talossa in the next term.

This Cosă term has so far been a tumultuous one for the country at best, though we in the URL have played a critical role in calming the situation. In the chaos following the last election, we saw what can happen when personal feuds and bad blood are allowed to rule the day. But even when others may scold us or prefer to work with extremists than with us, we stand on principle. In this case, the rather fundamental principle that Talossa deserves a stable government instead of chaos. To this end, we kept the door open for negotiations, which led to the announcement of the "passive confidence" deal last month. We in the URL know that collaboration is a more effective path than division, and we put that into practice -- while also practicing sound judgment on who to work with.

In making this deal, we have also gained a valuable victory in our pursuit of a more democratic Talossa. The Pseudo-Real Cosă Act, put forward by our good friend Sir Marcel Tafial, has managed to bring the size of the Cosă down below the size of the entire country's population, transforming it from a parody of a parliament into an institution of sensible representation. This was a change that was shown to be welcome to a wide swath of the Ziu, and it's not the only one. One of our next priorities will be to advocate for a more personalized form of proportional representation. Giving voters better control over who exactly represents them in the Cosă and transferring more power from party bosses to the people has proven to be a change that has received broad support from around the country; people like a democracy which they can hold accountable! Our first victory is something we've managed from Opposition -- now imagine how much good we could bring with a majority!

The Democracy Agenda is of course fantastic, but it is also a more of a legislative focus for our party. What about the executive branch? Let's look a bit at the current state of the nation's government.

As already noted, it's been quite the chaotic environment. The nation's government has already almost collapsed twice since the last election: once before it even took office, and a second time just before the close of the February Clark. Without the URL to come in and provide stability, we'd be preparing for an election right now. Yet behind all the hubbub regarding the government's survival, there's been surprisingly little substance:

• There's been a lot of "busy work", so to speak -- translating the Seneschal's List into Talossan, taking a plank from the URL platform and giving the Zuavs a visual refresh, that sort of thing.
• While this government has finally succeeded in welcoming their first immigrants, we've not yet hit "replacement-level" immigration to recoup lapsed citizens after the last election, much less the "double our population" levels the Seneschal argued for as an alternative to reducing the Ziu to more sensible numbers.
• Particularly egregious is the apparent "stacking" of roles going on in Cabinet. While we've actually argued that some stacking is ok -- smaller roles makes for more of them, so it makes sense to have people with multiple titles -- what we're seeing is more of "government by one". The Seneschal has himself noted that the proportion of votes for his party to people capable of "doing the work" is unsustainably high - as shown by not only the dormant Cabinet, but the difficulty in getting Government MZs to endorse the "passive confidence" deal on the last Clark.

Substituting one hyperactive politician for a party is not only unsustainable; it's strengthens the argument for "personalized proportional representation" to make sure votes for parties translate into "teams" for government.

Meanwhile, we in the URL don't need to wonder -- there's no central leader who does everything themselves here, either because they want to, or because they need to. We're a team, and we know that the old saying is true: teamwork really does make the dream work. We take this seriously enough that our party has a collective leadership structure, to say nothing of our regular conventions. We're the Party of Talossan Democracy, and we lead by setting an example. And over the next few weeks, we'll be showing everyone how it's done, yet again.

¡Vivadra Talossa democrätic!

[Mic’haglh Autófil, O.Be]

Unless my Comità colleagues @Miestră Schivă, UrN-GC or @Antaglha Xhenerös Somelieir would like to deliver any opening remarks, the agenda for this Convention is as follows:

* Opening Remarks
* Possible amendments to the URL Constitution and Platform -- current text of each can be found on the URL wiki article.
* Finalization of the Democracy Agenda
* Registration of caucuses within the URL (can be kept within this thread)
* Election of the URL candidate for Seneschal for the 63rd Cosă elections
* Election of the next Comità Esecutorxheu (Executive Committee). (Multiple provinces each have at least three members and are eligible to elect Provincial Chairs to the Comità.)
* Closing remarks

As different threads are added for various agenda items, I'll link them in this post.

[Mic’haglh Autófil, O.Be]

Vaes cünpartizaes es amíci:

May I begin by saying I'll keep this a bit more brief than my remarks to close our last Convention -- relevant though many of those remarks still are.

Our Union's convention has certainly been a productive one. While certainly not as much of a whirlwind of activity as our inaugural convention, I think it's fair to say this one has shown itself as more impactful. We have officially laid our party's foundation as the Party of Talossan Democracy. We have emphatically declared ourselves to be the Party Against Unrepentant Sexual Harassment (especially when the perpetrator of said sexual harassment dismisses descriptions of his misdeeds as "contrivances"). We have shown the Talossan people both what we are for, and what we are against, and I would think it safe to say both sets of views are ones the majority will find themselves agreeing with when they hear it straight from us, as opposed to hearing it from those who have a track record of misquoting us.

As our Convention ends, Talossa can now begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel. This Cosă term and its government are passing their halfway mark, and before long campaign season will be well and truly upon us. As Miestră has pointed out, a platform built on long-overdue reform is a very good thing to have, but given the nature of Talossan politics, it may not necessarily have folks lining up at the polling booth when the time comes. As a result, I think it wise for us to broaden our approach just a little bit. The next election will not just be about how big people think the Cosă should be, or what they think about the Senäts' role in Talossa. It ought to be an election about the direction Talossa will take in the future. It ought to be an election about principles.

Our principles, as it happens, are rather straightforward:

• Representative democracy is a good thing for Talossa.
• On that note, increasing the power of the electorate is also a good thing, including at the expense of party bosses.
• Political debate is healthy for Talossa, so long as it is kept polite. It's okay to think that things aren't working as well as they could. Parties that want to stifle talk of change should be viewed with suspicion.
• As much as Talossa should be fun and a little tongue-in-cheek, our political institutions should be sized appropriately for the country, instead of being farcically large.
• Immigration drives are all well and good; retention is what builds a stronger Talossa for the future. We should be trying to recruit from communities that would be interested in what we have to offer, including political simulationists.
• The government should not effectively consist of a single, clearly overworked person.
• Government busywork is not activity, but a veneer of activity over a crumbling foundation. The nation deserves something more substantial.
• Wronging your fellow citizen -- especially when sexually harassing them, but really generally -- ought to come with an apology.
• Doubling down on wronging someone and being not just unrepentant, but combatively so, should earn some ostracism until your antisocial ways are mended. What it should not earn are government jobs.

Over this term, we've reinforced our role as Talossa's Party of Principle. We've secured our role as Talossa's Party of Democracy. Later this summer, with your help and a solid campaign, we'll earn back our role as Talossa's Party of Leadership. I am humbled to be nominated to stand at the front of this group again. I'm proud of our team. I'm once again hopeful for Talossa's future. Thank you.

Yours in Liberty, Democracy, and Progress,

Mic'haglh

Vivadra Talossa Democrätic!

(This Convention is hereby adjourned.)