IV PP - A Statement of Intent

Day 942, 12:53 • Published in Ireland Ireland • by einberliner


Dear all,

So first I'm sorry for the delay in the writing of this article, I really wanted to publish it yesterday or the day before but I couldn't access eRep for some bizarre reason (as some of you may have seen).

So firstly I'd like to thank those who voted for me in the PP election. I'm well aware I ran uncontested but it would feel very wrong not to say thank you anyway.

Now onto business. This article is being written when, honestly, I'm pretty tired and is largely a statement of intention from myself, on behalf of myself and of the party. While in many ways apropos to nothing - we're not one of the biggest parties, I'm already elected, I'm not seeking a CP or congress term - I mostly wanted to put my own thinking in black and white and out in public, right here for all to see should they wish to.

Independent Voices, for those of you who are unaware, was founded with the intention of being a gathering place for people who didn't want to conform to the policies of the other parties. While individual members of the party may agree with individual policies of the other parties there's no set ideology here and no member is expected to blindly follow along or toe the party line, even when a majority of us happen to hold the same view. We are instead founded on mutual respect and on the belief in the right of our members (and the rest of eIreland) to hold their own point of view and for that point of view to be given a platform to be expressed. We provide a forum for mutual support despite these differences and while our position in the last few months has fluctuated between barely in the top five parties and barely out (though this is in part due to the number of members we have that regularly travel abroad to fight) we have been a solid, stable presence in eIreland for some time now and have a steadily growing central core of members devoted to the betterment of the country.

We, by and large, have a good relationship with the other parties, both larger and smaller than ourselves, and other PPs have been very good about letting our candidates stand with them during congress elections when we weren't eligible to stand them ourselves. I'm keen during my coming term, as I was during my last (when I instigated the establishment of a room on the forums for PPs to discuss matters) to work with other PPs to try and help our nation grow and to work through any obstacles that may come our way. I know there can be tension between parties at times but, generally speaking, members of IV have been good at developing interparty relationships and I myself have no time for being dismissive of any citizen of eIreland just because of a party badge on their profile. That I'm not partisan I'm sure will come as little surprise to those of you that know me given I have served as a minister under presidents from IV, IUP, IFP and ISD and my best friends in eIreland are very neatly spread among most of the parties. Sure wasn't I running a fierce campaign as Casteneda's intended VP a couple of weeks ago? Now I'm proud to be working as Minister of Community under moo, who I clearly didn't personally vote for, and whose policies I don't always agree with, but who I know has Ireland at his heart. I pride myself, as an IV member, on the fact that during most country president campaigns members from the other parties, and often even the candidates themselves, feel entirely comfortable with coming to our forums and presenting their platform to our members because they know they will be listened to and not derided. It's something I hope continues this next time, though IV as a group will likely not officially endorse a candidate unless we happen to run our own.

During my coming term I have three main aims for the party - to increase our membership, or at the very least to better publicise our ideology and what we stand for - it's come to my attention that some newer citizens of the country don't always realise that we're not left or right or centrist. Secondly I want to increase activity on our forum, which has had a tendency to wax and wane, and lastly I want to encourage our younger and our newer members to take a more active role in eIrish society, whether as ministerial deputies, ambassadors to other countries, volunteering at the state companies, joining the IDF or even just participating in competitions at The Irish Community. In fairness this last one should be easy enough as I generally find that our members are quite keen to muck in and pull their weight but I'll be putting a special focus on it this term, given we'll need as many hands on deck as possible come the start of V2.

So that's my opening thoughts and statement, as usual longer than I'd intended and unfortunately just a little late. Please vote up (and consider subscribing if you haven't already).

Yours in service,
Donut