Letter from the president of Arstotzka national party:
I am the leader of a minor party based in the old GLORIOUS nation of Arstotzka. We fight as hard in the political battleground as we did in the real battleground of the war against Moskurg, for the benefit of our nations as we believe it to be the most important thing. We demand more resources, better life, more autonomy and self determination, the protection and promotion of the GLORIOUS Arstotzka culture and we propose periodic referendums to ask the people if they really want to keep this union, or split the nations to their historical borders.
For those reasons, we have been the target of many negative ads and political campaigns by the unionist government which currently rules our nation. They talk about unity, love, being nice together, forsaking our national identities to join one, unique, Forenia. I despise that plan as much as they despise ours.
Then, why am I writing this? Surely, it is not to support the Cannalan. You see, as much as there are tensions and divergences between us and the government, as much as our goals are incompatible, I couldn’t call them illegitimate. Fools, maybe. And the Forenian state was founded in unfortunate circumstances indeed, with a revolution overthrowing the old Arstotzka and moskurg, that is true. However, after that we had elections. I can contest the fact that moskurg was called to decide for the future of the entire island including Arstotzka the GLORIOUS, but the elections were as fair as they could be in the aftermath of the war and it seems that the majority of our people, lured by the ease of peace, actually voted for the unionists. And despite everything, despite the hostility between our parties, the unionists haven’t significantly abused their power as government to suppress us, they haven’t banned us, they haven’t stopped us from gaining offices. While not successful on the national stage due to our regional focus, sadly not yet popular enough to outweigh the other nations in Forenia, we have gained some opposition seats in regional parliament and some other important minor positions. All this while going explicitly after the government party.
Considered all this, Forenia is a surprising example of a functional republic. I do not share its goal and did not wish its creation but the current government is not acting to suppress their opposition: in fact, there is a great number of parties active in Forenia with a wide range of opinions, elections are held regularly and public participation in debates is common. Until this is true, I will consider the government to have the mandate of the people to rule, I will follow their laws until they infringe my national rights, I will fight for it.
Political freedom is not even the greatest benefit that we enjoy in this island. Most importantly, instead of forcing us by law to love moskurgs, to relieve tensions and to allow us to remind everyone who won the last war they made regulated riots legal. It is now possible to meet up in a place and start punching moskurgs in the teeth without breaking the law! Of course they have the right to do the same, but where would the fun be if they didn’t hit back? Anyway, this is probably the most popular pieces of legislation and is a mark of a government which listens to the rights of its people. Like you Americans, we have a strong right to bear arms enshrined in our constitution: all the basic things needed for personal protection like flamethrowers , assault rifles, mortars and light tanks are commonplace household items.
Now compare and contrast this functional and legitimate, if not ideal, government with what we have in Cannala. A nation of pirates, with an history of raiding shipping lanes and a present of still raiding shipping lanes, it is only considered a nation because the highest thug, el president, managed to drive away all other pirate bosses. But even if fashioning themselves in such a great manner, they are in no way a functional modern nation. First of all, much of their economy and culture is based on robbery. But you are not inquiring about their viability as a nation, you are asking about legitimacy. Then I ask you, what opposition does el president have? Has he ever had a true challenger? Has any debate ever happened? No, he talks about elections but what in truth exist is a farce. He has absolute power and is keeping it without regards for other opinions. But who gave him that power? The strong men ruling in Europe got their position from regular election and parliament acts, or the approval of their king. El president however has none of this and he is not even honest enough to admit it.
And how do they treat their people? In Forenia we have freedoms guns and legal riots. They could claim to enjoy many rights as well, but we are looking only at one side. Half of their population, the people of the Juraki shogunate, are enslaved by their Cannalan ruler. How is El Presidente representing them? Or do we say, in this age, that keeping half of your population as slaves is accepted? It would be another thing if the war was still going on, but they annexed them already. If they want them to be part of their nation, a legitimate government should include elements of both.
Furthermore, as the pirates they are, their word is worth less than their good sense. Many examples could be presented, but the most terrible is a tale from many of the Juraki refugees we sheltered in our nation. At the end of their war, the shogun proposed a duel to end the war, so that the lives of the soldiers could be spared the brutal fights. El president accepted and was defeated in a fair fight… or so it seemed when the trickery was revealed. He had himself substituted with a goon, exploiting the face covering armor, and had ordered his army to attack and slaughter the Juraki, catching them by surprise. A more recent example is the invasion of a nearby island. It was ruled by the pirate Redbeard, who survived assimilation in the Cannalan ‘nation’ only due to his friendship with el president. So much was this friendship worth when he needed extra resources.
So, to sum everything up: Forenia government, faulty as it may be in ideology, shows that it cares about its people and enjoys their approval, without abusing its position to repress other opinions. Cannala, on the other side, is ruled by the Head pirate and lacks legitimacy both internally, where it oppresses an entire half of its population, and externally, where it proved itself to be treacherous and untrustworthy.
I pray you to consider those facts when evaluating our nations.