Norway internally crippled by partisan self-interest

Day 770, 20:19 Published in Norway Norway by Ailurus fulgens
Dikt
Twas the night before Jul, when all through the hus
Not a smaadyr was stirring, not even a mus.
The stokkings were hung by the chimni with care,
In hopes that Stassi soon would be there TO ATTACK!

ANGRIP!!! DESTROY THE INFIDEL!!!!



*ahem*

Summary
Norway has four political parties. Two of the largest and most active are Teknokratene (TeK) and Binary Party (BP).

Following the election of Teknokratene member Eris Caelestis as Norway's president in December 2009, I was appointed to be the Norwegian Minister of Communications, a new role designed to streamline the efficiency and communication of intergovernmental and citizen organizations. Once the cabinet was formed, there was a distinct lack of participation from anyone in the Binary Party (with the exception of Sigurd Aasen who has been absent due to real-world priorities). The rest of us were all members of Teknokratene, the party which accounts for less than half of the active political members in a country with a small population.

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BP boycotts Norway's government
It was not Eris' intention to exclusively appoint members of her own party, and there was a distinct problem. The Binary Party, which had previously worked in unison with Teknokratene, had silently issued a boycott against the Norwegian government. This is widely believed to be due to the disturbance caused by the departure of former Norwegian president Cirno, a high-profile Binary Party leader who had lost the bid for re-election against Eris in December 2009. Immediately after losing, Cirno released a highly controversial announcement about his resignation from politics where he thoroughly listed and took credit for all of the things his BP-led administration was responsible for and chastised Norwegian voters, saying "you didn't let me benefit of the success." He would later downplay this departure as fulfilling his wish to join the mobile military forces yet spend the remaining month as an influential BP advisor and political commentator, as seen by comments left here. He tried returning to Congress as a BP candidate on December 25 but was prevented from running by a glitch that affected their party president's candidate choices.

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Binary Party member HeatedCoffee objects to Cirno's response to the election.

Due to the Binary Party boycott against Teknokratene, and subsequently the Norwegain government, Eris and her administration remained loyal to their obligations to serve Norway. This meant that additional roles needed to be filled. Without a dedicated Minister of Finance, Eris and Vice President Reboot took control over the state budget. Without a dedicated Minister of Foreign Affairs, I took on the vacant MoFA position. Why was this necessary? Why didn't BP want political power? Was it because Teknokratene refused to work with their competitors?

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No. Eris publicly gave specific priority to every Binary Party member who would work in Norway's government, seen in this public announcement. The facts were clear. The Binary Party refused to work for Norway's democratically-elected government. To our lack of bemusement, they would try to deny that they were boycotting the Norwegian government, despite practically admitting it: "all the politicians from BP is prioritising party politics instead of national politics." First, however, they broke the silence that befell Norwegian politics and unleashed a flurry of attacks against their rivals.

BP attacks harmless, educational TeK campaigns



One of the first promotional campaigns from Teknokratene after the presidential election was an article called the Norway Congress FAQ, which instructed and encouraged both citizens aspiring to become politicians and existing TeK members to run for Congress. As the Teknokratene party president, I released this article not only to increase activity inside of our party, but also as a way to put members on a quick path to fill the vacant government positions and receive training in political administration. This seemingly-benign action triggered a massive assault from prominent members of the Binary Party, as seen in comments. Being attacked by people I both held trust and respect for was not anticipated and certainly came as a surprise.

BP denies boycott against Norway's government
In the words of Damien Alexander, party president of Binary Party:
"We have also been accused for somehow 'boycotting' this government, because we lost the election? This is not true!"

What's BP's take on this?
All of the attacks on TeK and our government have been justified by BP for the following reasons.
1. Eris had exactly the same the same campaign promises as Cirno.
2. Since Eris promised the same thing as Cirno, her administration can manage alone.
3. Eris' administration should accept being attacked because BP is their political enemy.


What this article used to be
This article used to be a collection of quotes from four of the loudest, most outspoken loyalists of the Binary Party. There were scores of quotations among them, direct citations of unprovoked attacks, slander, accusations, fear-mongering and suspicion-raising dissent against the Norwegian government and Teknokratene. My better judgment told me that although effective, simply copying and pasting their quotations out of context was going overboard. That is why everything you see here has been replaced by my honest recollection of the events that transpired over the month of December 2009.

Unhealthy competition



Cirno and Binary Party's leaders have made the accusation that me and my friends are "all talk" and "no action," and "talk is cheap." The only "talk" we have been doing has either been a direct response to BP's attacks or an explanation of what progress has been made in government despite the lack of available manpower. In an ideal bipartisan government, everyone should be trying to out-perform one another. The impression I have received from Binary Party is that they want our Teknokratene government administration to fail, and since they have purposefully invested nothing in the Norwegian government. It will only benefit their partisan agenda to see us weak so they can keep pointing their fingers at us, assuming they are needed to become our "saviors," To quote Scorpicus, "we can't be expected to save your government." It is the ultimate guilt trip placed on the Norwegian people for not letting Binary Party "benefit of the success," to use Cirno's parting words, and this infuriates me.

I digress. The ideal government we were aiming for shared power, and gave Binary Party a chance to prove to the Norwegian people that they could do a better job than us. Instead, they have played the same card against the Norwegian people by saying, "You made it pretty clear in the election that TeK would do a better job than BP, and that our work was 'bad'" and subsequently the responsibilities of our administration are spread too thin among few hard-working people. "Talk is cheap," and talk is all we have seen from Binary Party this month. Notice that I emphasize this month, because I have seen they are intelligent and capable of doing a great job under Cirno's leadership. Their lack of innovation and resort to defame the Norwegian government is a terrible consequence of short-sighted vengeance against the Norwegian public, and it needs to come to an end.

Reflecting on what I said about Cirno

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The good ol' days.

Even if it was wrong of me to publicly discuss my experiences with Cirno, the ensuing rebellion became a self-fulfilling prophecy through an ironic twist of fate. My resentment towards his actions originated from his attitude against people outside of his own political party. Me saying this was interpreted as criticism against the entire Binary Party, causing the aforementioned attacks, and resulting in more of the same thing I once criticized Cirno for.

Why is this any fun?
The reason I came to eRepublik was not so I could have a fun time messing around in chat rooms or insulting people I'll probably never meet! I came here because eRep is a strategy game that allows a lot of people to come together and find solutions to simulated conflicts. It is a mind-expanding exercise, and a social one that allows us to meet both friends and rivals in terms of ideologies. The challenge itself is enjoyable to me, and I enjoy learning from other talented individuals and utilizing my skill set and personality to accomplish this. I strongly feel that I am not alone in this endeavor. People I have met all over the New World share this common objective, including people who are political enemies today. There is no need for any of this to be personal or taken too seriously, but I take pride in my hobby and dislike the bad sportsmanship witnessed throughout last month. The attacks have been demotivational to myself and those investing their time on our country's improvements, and there is no reason we can't remain respectful to each other by drawing a line between constructive criticism and uncouth slander. Allow us each our individual differences, but tolerate them as well.

Divided, the perils we face


Say hello to our new "friends."

After the December 25 Congress elections, we saw several new, unknown faces enter Congressional politics. I don't know about you, but when I was brought into the New World for the first time I wasn't yelling, "HAIL EDEN!" or displaying propaganda from our parent alliance like these people were. This raises a red flag for suspicious behavior, especially when these pro-EDEN newborns politically out-perform the real Norwegians in the region without saying a word about recent events or politics (probably because they are neither Norwegian or English-speaking). There are more people like this who have entered our country, even increasing our total population by 15% in one day. Our government needs all available hands to prepare for ominous times ahead.

The bipartisan solution



This coming January 2010 presidential election, I am calling upon all members of Binary Party and Teknokratene to support one candidate for president and form a bilateral cabinet for Norway's government. We need to put everything behind us and focus on defining our roles in Norway's future. This is probably the hardest thing for us to do, since it is so easy to dwell on the negativity we feel against our opponents. I know first-hand how hard it is to drop feelings of vengeance when you feel so justified and righteous. Don't let these feelings cloud your judgment as they once clouded mine.

Join me at http://erepublik.no/ so we can begin the process of assembling qualified candidates, ministers, and leaders for Norway's future!