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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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13 Jul 2010 14:25

T99 - 3211 Election Results - Council of Senators

Election results are in, and the Imperial Party has won a historic victory, gaining over half the seats in the Senate. This is the first time for decades that any party has had an overall majority of the Senate, and heralds a change in the way the Imperium has been operating.

Negotiations on First Minister Appointment

New members of the Council of Senators have been chosen during the second quarter (by 3211.201). But, unusually no decision has yet been reached on the post of First Minister. This is believed to be the result of factional infighting within the strengthened Imperial Party who are seeking alliances with smaller groupings over two or more possible candidates. This will eventually be followed by the selection of new Ministers, Governors and Ambassadors.

3211 has seen some significant developments in the CoS. The Imperial Party, for the first time in several decades, holds a majority share of the Senate. Such a large share is unusual and has historically represented a peak of power from which there has almost always been a rapid decline. But, for the time being no other party is now able to come close to competing with the Imperial Party. The Citizen Party has suffered a further heavy defeat and seen itself shrink to a third tier grouping. The Populists, who suffer from their own in built divisions seem to hold a significant balance of power but they are too easily picked apart by clever politics. The Republicans appear to have recovered some ground and stemmed their decline, and moreover have managed to marginalise the more radical so-called Real Republicans in the Senate (despite the latter's significant gains in the Council of Representatives).

Senate Seats by party

Party 3201 3206 3211
Imperial 41 46 51
Citizens 23 16 11
Populist 8 14 16
Republicans 15 4 9
Real Republicans 4 9 5
Independents 9 11 8

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13 Jul 2010 14:15

T99 - 3211 Election Results - Council of Representatives

The 3211 elections for the Council of Representatives has seen the continued rise of the Imperial Party whose support grew considerably during and Exterminator War, and the continued decline of the Citizens Party - hit again most recently by the return of the Alien Menace. 3211 has also seen the collapse of the Republicans as many of the younger members join the Real Republicans supporting calls from within the GFA against the RNV.

Percentage results

Party 3201 3206 3211
Imperial 20.3 24.3 31.1
Citizens 24.7 19.7 14.6
Populist 21.2 21.9 19.3
Republicans 14.5 9.1 5.4
Real Republic 6.8 11.3 14.5
Independents 13.5 13.7 14.9

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13 Jul 2010 14:07

T98 - First Citizen - happy anniversary

3211 sees the 33rd Anniversary of First Citizen Rathbone's accession. If Rathbone, whose health has been the subject of much recent speculation, is still in office on his 35th Anniversary he will be the second longest serving First Citizen overtaking First Citizen Del Monte who died just one week shy of his 35th Anniversary almost 200 years ago.

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13 Jul 2010 13:58

T96 - Earth re-establishes Diplomatic Relations with MAFC

dateline: New Mars, 3211.194

On the eve of the inter-polity Summit at New Mars, the Solar Republic and Empire and Martian Association of Free Colonies re-established diplomatic relations. Former Senator Drakkir Hands, currently Vice-Chancellor at the University of Old Mars in the Sol system, has been named as Martian Ambassador to Earth.

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13 Jul 2010 13:48
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