Fabius Bracchus; The Prefect We Deserve

[Papa Liam 960]

Spoiler

 

 

“Vote Like Your Life Depends On It”

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[!] The residents of Markev gather about Fabio, as he stood atop the center stage in the square. The Illatian politician had slicked back his hair with grease, wearing a much more formal attire than is typical of the chef.

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       “To tha’ men, women, n’ children of Haense,” began the Illatian. “It’s evident that we’ve insufficient leadership in tha’ Empire’s Parliament – I shoul’ know, I was one of the primary scholars who’s originally formulated tha’ institution. The folks in Parliament’re not representing the interest’f their voters, an’ I got to say, it’s a real shame. Tha’s why we shoul’ go there ourselves t’ try’n fix it. After becomin’ tha’ nominee’f the Common Civic Party, I can’s guarantee tha’ we’ll be fightin’ fo’ the values tha’ Palatine Robert Sigismund stood fo’ when he was originally elected to tha’ position some time ‘go. We’s’ll fight fo’ a job registry program, to ensure tha’ us proletariat are no longer in’a state’f limbo, and always have employment opportunities. We’s’ll be able to clean up broken, bureaucratic, gov’ment institutions, which are inefficiently ran due t’ systematic errors – I shoul’ know, I ran the Imperial Election Commission fo’ nearly a decade. I can tell’s you, first hand, we’s got’s a broken system. It’s time we all go t’ere to try’n fix it.”

       “I’ve lived’n Markev fo’ fifteen years, now’s, workin’ as a chef, n’ I can say tha’s we is ahead’f the rest’f the Empire in terms’f our domestic policies. Tha’s some’n I wish to bring to tha’ rest’f the Empire, t’ make changes to benefit not only tha’ work’n Hansetian, bu’ to show tha’ folks from ‘round the Empire tha’ Haense’s got it right, we do, we do. Our healthcare is impeccable, our economy impenetrable, n’ our institutions remarkable. Haense will be a gold standard for the rest’f the Empire if I’m elected t’ Parliament.”

 

[!] A missive is distributed to the crowd as Fabio concluded his speech, detailed with his platform.

 

       We have to keep in mind, I’m the only candidate with actual experience in this confusing institution. I love Bjolfr Nord, he’s a wondrous veteran who I’ve shared a good glass of Yopil with before, but he’s resorted to petty and falsified attacks for the mere sake of political careerism. I’m a candidate who’s actually participated in the halls of democracy, a candidate who can debate and write proficiently, and most of all, I’m the only candidate with a platform. My opponent has no policies. That’s right, I’m the only man for the job who actually has a vision. While the opposing party may use flowery rhetoric, I’m the one who wrote an essay persuading Parliament to adopt proportional representation reforms in elections. I’m the most accountable candidate who will actually show up to Parliamentary sessions, I’m someone who actually gets stuff done. 

 

VOTE DECEMBER 8^th

ENDORSEMENTS

• The Common Civic Party
• The Seventian Rights Lobby
• Prefect Rhys var Ruthern

 

PLATFORM

 

ELECTORAL REFORMS

       Establish universal voter suffrage. As of now, the vast majority of Imperial citizens are ineligible to vote in Parliamentary elections, and don’t even have their own Parliamentary representative. Only three cities – Carolustadt, Belvitz, and Markev – are granted a seat in the Imperial Parliament. As the former election commissioner and director of the IEC, I drafted a proposal for a legislative initiative, arguing to implement proportional representation as opposed to the current “first-past-the-post” system we currently have now. In a system of proportional representation, every eligible voter would be given the ability to vote, regardless of geographic location. First, voters would nominate a member within their own party to become their “front runner.” The winner of this nomination process becomes the party’s “first pick” in elections, while the person with the second highest amount of votes becomes the “second pick,” and so on and so forth. Moving onto the general election, voters will then cast their ballots for a party, instead of individual candidates. After tallying election results, the percentage of votes earned by each party will determine their makeup in the Parliament. For example, if there were theoretically ten elected seats, should the CCP earn 50% of the vote while the Priorists earn 40% and LOPA earns 10%, the CCP would gain five seats, the Priorists four, and LOPA one. The actual individuals who occupy said seats is determined by the nomination process during primary elections. Although this system sounds complex compared to our current system, it is, in reality, the best way to simplify elections for the average voter and increase voter turnout. You can read my full proposal here.

 

ECONOMICS

       It is the belief of my campaign, and my party, that we need to begin adopting regulated capitalism as an alternative means of facilitating labor. Our unemployment rate is laughable, and it has been for decades. Instead of traditional means of employment, many folks are subjected to simply lounging about and collecting money artificially injected into the economy, hyper-deflating the mina. As a means to fix these abhorrent mistakes, I propose that the Empire institutes our own national currency, at a conversion rate to be determined by treasury officials and economists. Our own custom currency would grant the Empire more control over the manipulation and management of our own economy, instead of partaking in a globalist union of unfettered trade with foreign nations who negatively impact our own standards of living.
       The Empire needs to develop legislation to mandate that each vassal creates their own employment registry, tracking the salaries, occupation, and activity of every citizen. This would be established in order to balance the amount of jobs required, and to promote desired professions to those entering the labor force. In addition, I would promote an unemployment tax for those who are able to work, but are simply too unmotivated and lazy to do so. This theoretical tax would not apply to individuals actively searching for a job, the elderly, children, the physically disabled, or the self-employed.

       Where I part with my CCP allies is the issue of free trade. I am not a proponent of international trade. In fact, quite the opposite. I would cosponsor legislation to implement tariffs, as a method of encouraging manufacturers to keep jobs in the Empire. Why should the foreigner flourish and indulge in our riches, when we could instead share that wealth with our peasantry class? Protectionism is the path towards job creation. With that said, I will support trade with foreign nations when necessary, but we will discourage foreign trade if we can instead manufacture that item in the Empire.

       If we want to establish an actual economy, the state needs to start spending. With all the expenditures in my platform comes a large price tag – and that’s good for our economy. If we spend more of our treasury, we’ll spur economy activity and put coin directly into the pockets of consumers. There will be an actual demand for products, and now, a market willing to purchase them. No longer can our economy remain stagnant if we want to become a global economic powerhouse.

 

LEGAL REFORMS

       We require comprehensive judicial legislation in the Imperial Parliament. As of now, our legal state is abysmally unstructured and ill suited to take on complex criminal and civil cases. Should I be elected, I’ll advocate to craft a concrete process for judicial hearings, court cases, and court sentences, which will also make the jobs of defense attorneys, lawyers, plaintiffs, and magistrates more straight forward. In addition, I will propose funding for a state penitentiary to host all of our long term criminals, either awaiting trials or carrying out their punishments. We shall reform the Imperial Codex and the Ten Tables, using the principles proposed by the late Otto Marius Baruch, former High Magistrate. We will restore the courts to their former glory during the Johannesburgian era.

 

URBAN DEVELOPMENT

       When it comes to housing, we’re going to require major overhauls. As the former election commissioner, we faced numerous issues registering residents to vote. About a fifth of all voters lived in an unregistered residency – this is to say a home or facility without an address. Examples of these buildings are guard barracks, suburban communities outside of city walls, palace residents, clergy residents, and more. In addition, most folks don’t have a mailbox by their home, making it extremely difficult for IEC and other government officials to deliver important documents to Imperial citizens. I promise to enact legislation which would require each and every building, rural or urban, is assigned an address for ease of navigation and more efficient government conduction of daily tasks. I would also propose legislation to install mailboxes at every single residential home.

       I believe stewardry could be improved by privatizing the housing market. Instead of subjecting the flat cost of housing to stagnant government agencies with inefficient and slow processes, I’d propose to hand the real estate market over to entrepreneurs with the motivation to place value on various homes, and negotiate prices with their tenets. Not only would this spur more accountability in the housing market, but it would also spark innovation, encouraging real estate developers to establish larger housing complexes, low income apartments, and the ability to construct residential areas more convenient and available to interested consumers. Of course, this industry would be susceptible to transaction taxes and government regulation, but I entirely believe that we should begin to gravitate towards capitalism.

 

FOREIGN POLICY & IMMIGRATION

       I support the war against pagan dissenters in our ever lasting Empire. Those who become violent revolutionaries have no place in our Imperial union, and their settlements should be occupied by Legionary forces in order to reclaim what’s rightfully ours, and to legitimately convert the upcoming generations in these heretical settlements towards the pious path of Canonism. Legion members need to be deployed on our borders to safeguard what was nearly lost.

       The Empire requires stricter immigration standards. We scarcely perform background checks on foreign immigrants into the Empire, and have no agency capable of performing such tasks. If elected, I will draft legislation to establish the Imperial Immigration Registration Agency (IIRA) to process those wishing to immigrate, emigrate, depart, or visit the Empire for extended periods of time. Our national security cannot be susceptible to low authority government regulations on potentially dangerous outsiders.

 

NATIONAL SECURITY

       We must centralize our armed forces. Soldiers across the Empire should be modernized, and be available for deployment, combat, or foreign service stationed anywhere in or outside of the Empire. We cannot be afraid to safeguard our borders with armed men, willing to protect our constituents. If this recent rebellion from pagan dissenters has taught us anything, it’s that we can never be too careful. It’d be a true shame if our insecurities lead to a second insurgency.

 

THE MEDIA

As the current executive editor of I-PAN, possibly the Empire’s most frequent and largest news outlet in history, I recognize the necessity in private papers to conduct their own journalistic practices, and to publish their own private political views. Unfortunately, we’ve noticed little to no resurgence in journalism over the last few decades, leading to an inability for the constituents of the Empire to receive their news. That is why I would propose subsidizing news outlets in accordance to the amount of reliable and legitimate news coverage published. If we encourage individuals to write journalistic entries, we will notice a decline in political and journalistic apathy, which we desperately require.

 

So what are you waiting for,

Let’s start winning again.

 

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Paid for by Fabius Bracchus for Parliament, inc., approved by Fabius Bracchus.

[Imperium 3495]

Rhys nods in approval 

[Axelu 4333]

Alastrine Vientos and Aleksandra vas Ruthern both support this message. 

[KIIWIKILLA 342]

14 hours ago, Papa Liam said:

We shall reform the Imperial Codex and the Ten Tables, using the principles proposed by the late Otto Marius Baruch, former High Magistrate.

 "I’m glad to see the work o’ my grandfather ‘as no’ gone unnoticed.” Says Marius. “I should speak properly with Mr Bracchus an’ speak with ‘im about my grandfather’s unpublished work.”

[lev 627]

“This seems like a conflict of interest.” Armand said. 

[Papa Liam 960]

52 minutes ago, lev said:

“This seems like a conflict of interest.” Armand said. 

 

Fabius nods. “I’d concur,” he began. “Tha’s why I resigned my position as tha’ IEC’s commissiona’ las’ Saint’s week. Theodoric de Ruyter's taken up tha’ post in my place, n’ he’s runnin’ elections from now’s on,” the politician nodded.

[osumanduas 1442]

Moved to The Great Library. It shall be sorted into the appropriate category shortly.

 

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