WELL ALL REETY ALL RIGHTY ALL REETY!
Estimadas és estimats Democrätsen Livereschti!
This is the first time, I'm pretty sure, that I have addressed our Party Convention as Seneschál. Part way through our second term of leading the Government, and we are closer than we have ever been before to achieving our historic vision of a Free and Democratic Talossa, where power truly resides in the people.
The reforms to the Party Platform make it clear that the Free Democrats stand for ongoing cultural and political transformation towards freedom and democracy. We remain agnostic on whether a Republic or a Constitutional/Ceremonial Monarchy will be the final form of the New Talossa - in fact, we invite the people themselves to make that decision. But that is something we can run in the next election on; something with which we will be a distinct choice from other parties, whether supporting the current Government or not. We cannot simply run on a stability platform of "the government is competent, re-elect the government". That's the kind of argument we used to mock when it came from the RUMP. Our slogan of Freedom and Democracy First will stand beside Get Things Done, Have More Fun, as a symbol of our unique "double" appeal; a commitment to constitutional and legal transformation as well as a team which takes Cabinet government and administration seriously.
But what happens when we reach "the Promised Land" as it were? Is our party just a vehicle for enacting its programme, meaning that - when the programme is enacted we no longer have a reason to exist? Or does we have a longer-term future in shaping ár ImagiNaziun?
As I see it, we are coming into the dawn of the Third Age of Mankind... Sorry, I got confused with an old script from Babylon 5 there. We are actually coming into the Third Era of Post-Reunison politics in Talossa. Each era has been characterised by the dominance of one particular political party, characterised not as the creature of a political leader, but as a group, or team, of people.
To put it simply, first the RUMP were the dominant party in Talossa; then, the Moderate Radicals; now, without any false modesty, it is the Free Democrats. What can we learn from our (extinct?) predecessors in this role? That is, how can we delay the time when the Free Democrats will, ourselves, go extinct? I believe that we have to internalise the fact that longevity in Talossan politics means building a political team which is also a cultural community. This is, in my opinion, led to the longevity of the RUMP – and the relative short life-span of the ModRads.
The RUMP were always as much a cultural movement as a political party – perhaps even more so. They took control of Talossa in the days after the abdication of Robert I not only through occupying the high offices of state and by winning election, but because their cultural activism attracted people to join them. Heraldry, Talossan language activism, virtual “parades”, a “piratical” subculture… in the good old days, being in the RUMP may have been eye-rollingly silly, but it was fun.
The reason, I seriously believe, that the Moderate Radical Party of Talossa is no longer with us is that they built an excellent team of qualified and competent Talossans around a political vision; but they did not have a distinct cultural identity. Therefore, after their initial political goals were met – they had nothing more holding them together. In essence, they were a “technocratic” party, devoted to reforms to make Talossa run better - and when those reforms were complete, the party became otiose. This culture was embodied in their complex and elegant internal party rules – which, as historical irony, contributed to the final collapse of the party when those rules could no longer cope with a mass exodus of members. Interestingly to judge from recent debates in the Hopper, the people who were ModRad leaders have mainly become the effective "Conservative" party in Talossa (since the collapse of the RUMP and the stillbirth of the ZPT) - which may take on real form at the next election.
Anyway, there is simply no way around building a team of members if you want to be a continuing feature on the Talossan political scene. With all due respect to our partners in Government this term – that’s something they don’t, at the moment, have. The RUMP collapsed because the one or two active members got tired of corralling votes from the apathetic – and other parties in Talossa will, in my opinion, inevitably go the same way if they don’t forge a collective “general staff”. As an aside, I would say that the closest party outside the FreeDems to that vision today are actually the loyal opposition, the New Peculiarist Way.
So if you, Free Democrats of Talossa, want longevity as a party, you have to consider that our vision of a Talossan future must include a cultural vision as well as political reforms. That is, what happens if and when our programme is enacted? What happens when Talossa is a fully democratic constitutional monarchy (or schi Allà o volt, a new Republic)? Will our party close down because there’s nothing left to do?
An essential part of our party identity is that we are enthusiasts for the Talossan language, so that’s part of the “complete breakfast”. But we also need to consider what a Free Democrat culture vision can be – apart from the programmatic question of “citizen-led rather than top-down cultural initiative”. We’re all citizens – where are our cultural initiatives?
Also part of the question must be succession. Let’s face it – something that both the RUMP and the ModRads had in their prime was the fact that they could circulate party leadership between competent and active Talossans such as da Schir, Plätschisch, da Dhi etc. Again without false modesty, I note that I’m pretty much at the head of this Party. We’ve had a regrettable lack of volunteers to be Party Secretary, and poor GV – who has too much on his plate already – has had to take it on. I say to you, friends and colleagues – the Free Democrats needs people who can take over from me as Party President, and even as Seneschál. Who’s got the confidence and the fire in their belly to do that? If no-one right now, who might have it by the time of next year’s Party Convention?
I say to our members: we must grow and strengthen the Free Democrat team. That means more activity, both political and cultural - we need a successor to Miestra Schiva. And it means recruiting. I might point out that one of the newest Free Democrats - Senator Açafat del Val - is also one of our most active (in federal and provincial politics, as well as in his role as an attorney), and we might all learn from his example, in both positive and negative ways.
I'll keep steering the Government, estimadas és estimats Democrätsen Livereschti, if you keep building the party.
