Inner Realm of Patria
Antarbhumi Ramrajya
Antarbhumi Ramrajya
Jaya Saraswati Mata! Namaste and welcome to Patria's XLVIII Con. Pat. "Party Page", presented as a public service of the Ministry of the Interior of Patria. The Inner Realm takes much pride in its thriving democracy and multi-party traditions. Although Hinduism may be the de facto state religion in Patria along with New-Age sprituality, most of the parties in the Congressus Patriaë - with the notable exception of the Amrita Party and Chakra Party are secular. Thanks to proportional representation, no vote is wasted and even the smallest and most outrageous parties can gain a toehold in Congress. The following are brief descriptions of the major parties represented in the 48th Congress which will be inaugurated on June 30, 2006 for a four-year term ending June 30, 2010. Read the full text of the 47th Congress Inaugural Address/Speech from the Throne. You can also read the June 2003 June 2004 and June 2005 State of the Realm" messages. Figures in square brackets indicate the number of seats awarded in the 48th Congress elections on April 15, 2006:
Amrita Party [88]
A new party for the 47th Congress, officially inaugurated in August 2001. The Amrita Party, devoted to the "hugging saint" Mata Amritanandamayi, joined the Hindu-spiritual alliance of the SRM and Chakra parties in the XLVII Con. Pat. Many members of the 46th Congress who are devotees of Ammachi bolted their parties and declared their intention to represent the Amrita Party in the 47th Congress. Ammachi herself even holds a seat in Congress -- though she has never held public office in her native India -- as the Honorable Member from the Precinct of Arboria.
Spiritual Regeneration Movement
Although no longer an official party, the Spiritual Regeneration Movement deserves mention as Patria's original Hindu fundamentalist/revivalist party. Established in 1989, the SRM burst onto the political scene in the 44th Congress elections of 1990 - all but wiping out the bland, centrist Christian Democrat Party - with a mandate to restore Dharma and inculcate Vedic wisdom in what had previously been a secular, liberal micronation. The SRM has spearheaded efforts to make Yoga Patria's national sport and Sanskrit one of the official languages, but has failed in its attempt to make Patria 100% vegetarian or at least to outlaw the eating of beef. The SRM tolerates sales of halal and kosher meat in Patria, as a concession to Muslim and Jewish voters. Although the SRM, like India's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, generally favours free markets and reduced government intervention in the economy, they have surrendered many economic questions to Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity. An SRM bumper sticker is illustrated at the top of this page. In the 47th Congress campaign, the SRM promoted itself as "the pure path for Ramrajya", but the party was hit hard by defections to the Amrita Party and lost more than half of the 85 seats it held in the 46th Congress.
SRM-Amrita Party merger
Although both the SRM and Amrita Party consistently denied rumors of a merger during the election campaign, on May 1, 2002 the two parties agreed to a de facto merger that gave them 113 seats and a comfortable lead over the National Union. The SRM and Amrita retained nominally separate identities, i.e. members of Congress could identify either as SRM or Amrita if they choose, but the parties had a single platform and national office. The combination was known as "SRM-A". For 2006 the SRM-A officially merged and campaigned for the 48th Congress as a single party, the Amrita Party of Patria. The Spiritual Regeneration Movement will be officially defunct as of June 30, 2006.
National Union [70]
A long-established small-c conservative party that fell on hard times in the 1970's, the National Union successfully re-defined itself in the late 1980's as "The Man's Party", valuing "Pride, Tradition, Commitment to Excellence". The NU is pure, unashamed "manly values", "top dog for real men" (like the Promise Keepers, but without the born-again Christianity) and no-nonsense Law-and-Order. "Tough on crime, tough on welfare cheats!", "Zero tolerance, maximum penalties!", "Forged in the fire, tungsten tough!", "Testosterone in your balls = NU on your ballot!" were some of the NU's slogans during the '98 campaign, with only slight variations in subsequent campaigns. The NU abhors welfare and social programs ("The man's way: Personal responsibility and self-determination!") and adores tough-as-nails male role models like the nicotine-fueled macho Marlboro Cowboy, John Wayne, Ronald Reagan, and even Margaret Thatcher. The NU considers Thatcher an honorary male, who earned her y chromosome in the Falklands War! Nominally economic conservatives, like the more right-wing remnants of the Conservative Party of Canada, the NU's fixation with law & order and "manly values" above economic issues spawned two breakaway parties in the '98 campaign. The National Union is also leading the fight to revive the classic Patrienish language, which almost disappeared after the Dharmic Revolution made Sanskrit Patria's spiritual lingua franca. After two years in office, the SRM has quietly approved - if not adopted outright - some of the NU's rightist agenda and the Patrienish language (albeit in a rather Sanskritized form) is being restored. In response to Sept. 11, the National Union has added "Win the War" to its law and order, tough-guy platform. For 2002, the NU whipped propaganda for George W. Bush's war, promising to be as tough on terrorists as on petty thugs. Bringing back memories of the 1942 election campaign, the NU adorned all of its campaign literature with the Morse Code "V" for victory (. . . -). The campaign seemed to have worked, as the National Union won the most seats of any single party in the 47th Congress (although their 85 seats to the Amrita's 83 is for all practical purposes a dead heat). But once again they will have to settle for being the opposition party to the SRM-Amrita coalition. In 2006, the NU abandoned its cheerleading for Gee Dubya and now actually condemns the war in Iraq ("real men don't die in needless wars").
Chakra Party [48]
A New Age party that also burst onto the scene in 1990 with the demise of the Christian Democrats and Patria's spiritual re-awakening of 1989-90, the Chakra Party was the SRM's chief rival for the Hindu vote during the 1990s. While the SRM stands solidly behind pure, unadulterated Hindu teachings, the Chakra Party advocates a broader New Age spirituality - still Hindu-based, but also drawing from other Eastern traditions such as Tibetan Buddhism - as well as practical transformation in one's everyday life rather than rigid adherence to Hindu dogma and rituals. The Chakra Party's 1998 campaign slogan was "Transformation not Transcendence!" The SRM and Chakra often clashed bitterly during the '98 election campaign, accusing each other of being full of "out-of-touch pandits, gurus and sadhus" and "spaced out New Age wannabes" respectively, but during the 46th Congress' term of office they patched some of their differences. Nonetheless, in 2002 the Chakra Party was hit even harder than the SRM by the new Amrita Party, and by a general revulsion against new age spirituality. With only eight seats in the 47th Congress, down from 84 in the 46th, the Chakra Party was reduced to a mere rump. But the Chakra Party rebounded strongly in 2006. The party takes its name from the chakras, the seven centers of energy and consciousness within the body, according to yogic philosophy. For a basic primer on the chakras click here.
Progressive Labour [19]
Another socialist/leftist party, like the Social Democrats, apologists for failed policies and socialist thugs that now survive only in Cuba and North Korea. As a party that claims to represent the working stiffs (mostly those stuck in dead-end minumum wage jobs, few of whom are actually members of unions), the PL has used the slogan "Jobs first" for many years and is campaigning hard on the issue of offshoring or outsourcing: "Bring Patria's jobs home".
Lilith Party [16]
A new party for 1998, the Lilith Party is a women's party founded to counter the macho National Union. Taking its name from the Lilith Fair all-women music festival held near Toronto in 1997, Lilith caters to hard-core feminists (i.e. those who spell women as "womyn"), and other penis-less Patriens attracted by the slogan "The Grrrrls Party". Anita Bryants and Margaret Thatchers are not welcome in Lilith!
Libertarian Party [15]
"More freedom through less government", strongly civil libertarian, staunch advocates of free speech and opponents of all forms of censorship, the Libertarian party of Patria, like Libertarian Parties in the United States and other countries, is conservative on economic issues but very liberal on "free choice" issues such as legalization of drugs or abortion. The Libertarian Party of Patria is a member of the Confederation of Libertarian Nations and Parties (COLNAP).
Social Democrats [11]
The left-wing left-overs from the 1960's. A social justice party, much like Canada's New Democrats, still flogging the "make the rich pay", "tax & spend" and "more social programs" dead horses.
Family Values Party [4]
A new party that split from the National Union in 1997-98, charging that the NU was too concerned with macho values rather than social conservatism and traditional family values (e.g. hard-core homophobia; the FVP's main slogan was "Healthy, Happy, Heterosexual"). Wants to return Patria to a neo-1950's "Leave It To Beaver" era when men were breadwinners, women stayed home with the kids, and gays stayed in the closet.
Party for Personal Responsibility [4]
Formerly the Party for Fiscal Responsibility, the PPR was another breakaway party from the National Union in 1997-98. Originally a one-issue party of strict economic conservatism whose mantras are "Pay down the deficit, cut social spending, cut taxes", the PPR has added personal responsibility to its platform.
Rationalist Party [2]
The Rationalist Party of Patria was officially launched in November 2001. Formed as a protest against the Hindu bloc, the Rationalists are not only strictly secular and advocate separation of church and state but actively encourage atheism. Their main slogan is "Reason not Religion, Science not Spirit". The Rationalists have also adopted some of the "Objectivist" philosophy of Ayn Rand. Among the Rationalist Party caucus are Dagny Taggart and John Galt, the heroes of Atlas Shrugged. (Indeed, these two fine capitalist role models are the only members of the Rationalist caucus, as the party has been reduced to just two seats!)
Other parties [9]
Numerous minor parties hold one or two seats in Congress. Among them are an assortment of New Age splinter groups, the Lazurian Independent Party (which advocates the Precinct of Lazuria's independence from Patria), and the National Democratic Union and Peoples' Party - the last remnants of the pre-1990 liberal centrists swept away by the Dharmic Revolution.
XLVIII Con. Pat.
NEW PARTIES FOR 2006
Freedom Party [5]
The Freedom Party is a successor to the Patriots' Party, a far-right, openly anti-semitic party, dedicated to preserving free speech, particularly defending politically incorrect websites or "anything the Jews don't like" against censorship. This fun bunch of brown-shirted or white-hooded guys (and perhaps a few girls) claim to be "Patria's only pro-white party".
Chastity Party [6]
The second new party to hit the 48th Congress campaign trail, the Chastity Party is another one-issue party: fight pre-marital sex, defend noble womanhood (whatever that means!), and put fornicators in the slammer. Don't you believe this party's urban-legend explanation of the etymology of the f-word.
Jungle Party [12]
The third new party to toss its hat into the 48th Congress ring, the Jungle Party was created by the "Clones" who listen to the Jim Rome Show on the radio, or watch "Jim Rome is Burning" on TV, and drafted the King of Smack into Congress along with J-Stew and the rest of Rome's XR4Ti crew. The party's platform is quite simple: have a take and don't suck!
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