T99 - First Minister Ashanti's Resignation speech
In the first session of the new senate following the elections, Senator Danso Ashanti formally resigned as First Minister.
The Speech in Full
I have served the Empire loyally for over 70 years, and I will continue to serve until after I draw my dying breath.
“My time in office has been spent extending the umbrella of Imperium protection to those small and less fortunate systems that no-one else cares about. This is the true mission of the Imperium, protecting all those that want to live a free life. Free from the interference of the state, except to protect those unable to protect themselves. The coming of the second exterminator invasion gives us all a clear choice. Do we want to protect humanity and its freedoms, or do we want to be self-serving oligarchs?”
“I don't know about you, but I when joined the Navy back in 3138 it wasn't so that I could have an easy life. I joined up because I believed firmly in the ideals of the Imperium and in public service. I was willing to put my life on the line to protect those freedoms and our entire way of life. Even now I would gladly sacrifice myself if that would help to ensure that humanity remained free. As I have continued to serve the Imperium, I remember the words engraved on the front wall of the Naval Academy in Havana. 'The Imperium deserves hard service from all its citizens, and it expects most from those to whom most has been given.' Those words were spoken by First Citizen Abdullah da Silva when he visited the Academy in 2906.”
“The Imperium has given all of us here in the Senate the most that it can give any of its citizens. We have a responsibility to return that with interest. We need to ensure that the enemies of humanity's freedoms are destroyed utterly, whether they are human or alien. We need to ensure that the necessary protections are offered to those that cannot protect themselves, as well as to our own citizens, whether on Earth or in the colonies. It is up to us to protect Earth by protecting Humanity & all its freedoms.”
“Our greatest export, our greatest asset, our greatest strength, our greatest achievement are the people that take the pilgrim's trail to the stars. Creating the freedom for pioneers to open up new systems, new colonies, new lives, new markets is what makes the Imperium great. We must not forget that, in our luxury and comfort, here on Earth.“
“I know that there is strong support for letting others take up the strain, for only protecting Earth's colonies in the outer quadrants. This seems like the easy option, and many cannot see any direct threat to Earth itself.”
“Such views are delusional.”
“This threat affects all of humanity, indeed our citizens have been the first to be killed. Doggie might seem a far flung outpost of empire to you, but it is a very real part of the economy that keeps us together. Governor Armstrong knows that, and he has been carefully corralling colonies in Quadrant 6 to work together for the common weal. I believe that Governor Armstrong is one of the most successful Quadrant Governors the empire has ever had, and that we need his talents in the direction of the Imperium as a whole.”
“Earth needs to co-operate with all of the other human groups, from the smallest to the largest. We rely on them all for trade. It is inevitable that with the drawing of Navies to fight the new enemy that there will be detrimental impacts on trade. We need to step up our game and add to the protection of trade. To do that we need more resources for the Navy so that we can build more ships to protect trade and bring confidence to the colonies by flying the flag in all our systems. This cannot be at the expense of defeating the enemy, but we need to remember that the economy is built on confidence, and we cannot afford to lose that.”
“All the people in the universe need to pull together on this, but as the home of humanity it is earth's duty to lead. We have always been in the forefront, and that is one tradition that we need to uphold.”
However I will leave it to the wisdom of the senate on what is required to win this war irrevocably and who we need to lead us to that victory. It is clear from the results of the elections that the Citizens wish the Imperial Party to form the Imperium, and it is my duty to stand aside as First Minister so that a new Imperium can be formed.
In the words of an ancient Senator in one of humanity's first republics, who was speaking about the return of a persistent enemy and the need to defeat them absolutely: 'Carthago Delenda Est!'”
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