Political parties - Spring gatherings

(Year 233, Spring) Every year in Spring, our political parties arrange their annual gatherings. Most years they will debate the current political situation and perhaps serve a couple tidbits to the press in order to drag attention to their political program, but this year is different: The parties must work on their political program to have a final version ready in time for Nomination Day, a little less than one year ahead.

Four political parties are preparing for the upcoming Y235 election.

A party's political program can stay unchanged for many periods, but this time there are numerous changes to the entire system, some as a result of the Regional Reform Y233. But there is also a new political party, WORLD party, facing their first election ever. On top of this numerous long time Politicians can not run for another 5 years period due to age. Candidates can not be elderly on Nomination Day. This time both Prime Minister Wilder (RIGHT) and Vice-PM Silverbone (LEFT) are too old!

The political program for the upcoming election and 5 years period will also be affected by minor adjustments to routines involving N.A.P.s. and tax statements. We won't dive into details as the parties already adjusted to some of these changes, but a few of them might still need a thorough debate before landing their final political program. Each party has two fractions, each supporting certain statements, and the party will often be known for the largest fraction's statements. This is set on Nomination Day, but needs to be worked on this Spring.

No longer electing Hood Contacts, District Mayors are the most local positions. Winning the Mayor will no longer involve setting N.A.P.s. The N.A.P.s will now be set on national level by the party winning the Prime Minister, and on regional level by the party winning the regional Councilor. This way here will be maximum 2 new N.A.P.s per region per election.

There is also a major change affecting the Cabinet of People Chamber. In the past the winning party got the Prime Minister (previously also referred to as President), who was normally also the Minister of Law & Justice. The other four Minister posts were given to all parties with a certain success in the election. It meant that the Cabinet was a political mix, making it harder to execute the largest party's politics. From next period the winning party (or the winning group of allied parties) wins all five Ministers of the Cabinet as well as the Prime Minister. The PM will no longer be head of a Ministry, but focus on leading the Cabinet.

The changes also affects the Vice-PM (peviously referred to as Vice-President). Formerly the V-PM, top candidate from the runner up party, was given the 2nd Ministry, normally Ministry of Trades & Taxes. From next election there will not be a Vice at all, but the opposition (parties outside the Cabinet) will elect their Opposition Leader. This will normally be the top candidate from the largest party outside the winning group.

Finally, from the Y235 election Church of Similius (represented by High Priest) holds only one seat of People Chamber, and not two seats as of today. They can still be part of the winning group, but as their seat was not elected they can not - and never had - a Minister post.

So, what are the news from the Spring gatherings of our four political parties?

RIGHT party

They are currently the largest party with 10 seats of People Chamber, including the Prime Minister and one additional Minister. Allied with Church of Similius, the group holds a total of 12 seats (11 is minimum). They control the Ministry of Law & Justice, and Ministry of Culture & Entertainment.

Prime Minister Rob Wilder (72) says that this year's gathering was a tough one.
- Not only did we need to deal with many structural changes, but we also had to debate my replacement, as I will be too old for another period. Politicians older than 70 years can not run for PM, and why should they when there is a forest of talented younger candidates? The challenge is simply to agree on a few candidates, which serious Politicians who claim to be able to run a nation, should be able to.

Prime Minister Wilder lead RIGHT party's Spring gathering at Hotel Roadsead in Magnolia Promenade.

The biggest changes to the RIGHT party will be the core group. The program is unchanged except from a tax relief involving crypts.

- We will still support traditions and aristocracy, and we will keep fighting criminals. We will still make sure that everyone can live a good life, but we will also make it worth while for owners to actually start a business and create jobs. Our "Foundation of Less Mischief" fraction has now become our largest (53,9%), meaning our N.A.P.s will be sorted slightly differently. I'm glad that the party will focus more on law enforcement, but also on nectar making and fizzle juices.

While candidates won't get announced until next year, and the final political program is to get voted in one year, the two fractions seem  to agree on this program:

Political program: 

National:
N.A.P.: Juiced Community

§1,000 extra tax if Adult or Elder in household.

§1,000 tax relief if household member graduates from private high school.

Regional:
N.A.P.: Tech Support

§1,000 extra tax if Cat or Dog in household.

§1,000 tax relief if Crypt funeral.

LEFT party

Also LEFT party will see their current top Politician, Vice-PM Silverbone (73), leave the core group due to age. The Spring gathering took place at Hotel Oceana in Tartosa.

Too old for another election, Vice-PM Fanny Silverbone at Hotel Oceana.

- We had a delightful gathering focusing on our slightly modified political program taking affect from the upcoming election. Our political program will probably not change, but we want to focus even more on welfare. Our candidates have not yet been decided, but it is something we will work on up to Nomination Day. At the moment we have several good candidates, and being the nation's 2nd largest party helps a bit with geographical representation, naturally.

Political program: 

National:

N.A.P.: Foodie Unite

§1,000 extra tax per wedding.

§1,000 tax relief if University degree.

Regional:
N.A.P.: Water Conservation

§1,000 extra tax if Teen in household.

§1,000 tax relief if Child in household.

 MIDDLE party

The MIDDLE party held their Spring gathering in Evergreen Harbor. The party currently holds only 2 seats at People Chamber, and one of their bigger challenges is to provide minimum one District Mayor candidate for each of the 8 regions, as claimed by law. Rebekah Starks (46), currently Minister of Health & Welfare, has been leading the core group for a decade already.

Rebekah Starks have established a family in Evergreen Harbor, and is still leading the party. 

- We do have great support all over the nation, but because many are with us of idealistic reasons, we might lack the top skilled candidates in some regions.

Evergreen Harbor recently achieved District status and is no longer administrated by Gloomville. It means they will have their first District Mayor, which might make it easier for them in the Region Gloom Councilor election. Winning the region seems to be giving 3 People Chamber seats.

- Being a party based on ECO-friendly alternatives, our political program was never meant to please the masses. Now we think it's high time that the filthy rich households pay some more taxes. We suggest a networth limit of §250,000 so it should only affect the elite of our community. We respect aristocracy only if they pay. With the new regional borders we have also been working hard to secure candidates for the next election. The deadline is not until next year, but the time frame is getting smaller as we speak. Currently having two regional Councilors might help, as it gave us needed experience. The voting gives the sitting parties only a small benefit, but it might be what we need to renew those two positions.

Political program: 

National:
N.A.P.: Green Gardening

§1,000 national extra tax if household networth is more than §250,000.

§1,000 national tax relief if University degree.

Regional:
N.A.P.: Self-Suffiency

§1,000 regional extra tax swimming pool on lot.

§1,000 regional tax relief if growing 20 edible plants.

WORLD party

A brand new political party is not something we see at every election. Experts are excited to see how this fourth party might affect the established political terrain. Roger Mistfield (68) is their founder and leader, and this is their first Spring gathering after the formal founding a year ago.

Roger Mistfield hails from Chestnut Ridge and looks forward to winning their first seats.

- It has been challenging, indeed! We got visions, but this is the first time we allow our causes and N.A.P.s to define us as a party, officially. There was a lot of debates leading up to this, naturally, and not all members were happy with the final political program. I'm convinced we made the right choices, though. Debate is a good thing, as full agreement would lead us nowhere. We might need a spread for this first period, which then will make it easier for us to find a better version of ourselves, five years from now. Our focus is more international exchange, involving everything from trades, knowledge and culture. And yes, we are not fans of the aristocracy including the royals, but a change will not be on our agenda for this coming election. We also want a clear policy on Custom Content, in order to keep our community bug free.

Political program: 

National:
N.A.P.: Support Performing Arts

§1,000 extra tax if household is of High Nobility.

§1,000 tax relief if household counts two or more nationalities.

Regional:
N.A.P.: Fun-loving Community

§1,000 extra tax if sales table on lot.

§1,000 tax relief if household member in Entertainment career (Musician, Comedian , Actor).

The updated political programs will now be checked and probably get officially approved.

More info on the four parties can be found here.