The Myth of the Asterabadian Assembly [League of White Bulletin.]

[Erudiche]

[An Acolyte of the Sibilant Vine enters the League of White Office and calmly, with hammer in hand, nails a document upon its bulletin board. It is written in careful, flowing calligraphy in a trained hand.]

The Myth of the Asterabadian Assembly

It has previously been suggested by members of the League of White a sentiment of dissatisfaction with the infrequency and marginal role of Assemblies in government. Many radicals and moderates alike have suggested a programme whereby all power would be invested into the Assembly. It has been suggested that the power of the Legates, the Executive, is tyrannical. It has been suggested that it is in the interest of the masses that this power be curtailed. It has been suggested that the Assembly is a democratic and Asterabadian institution.

Let it be said that we of the League of White; we, the inheritors of Asterabadi; we, the technicians of Ephian democracy; we, the defenders of the refugee, subaltern, and impoverished; vociferously disagree with any proposal which divests power from the Legates and towards the Assembly of the Voiced.

The only Asterabadian feature of the Assembly is its name. It is an institution, in the format of the old salons of Baz'eeli high society, dominated by the Voiced, a class whose interests are mortally opposed to those of the Voiceless. The Assembly has supported the introduction of slavery, the outlawing of the vast majority of the Citadel, the sale of Ephian territory to Gohari Heavy Machinery, and innumerable atrocities before mankind. It has opposed the reduction of the Voice, enfranchisement for the veterans of the War of the Southern Waste, the reception of Baz'eeli economic aid, and has made itself the mortal enemy of any effort to improve the welfare of the average person.

The masses of Ephia's Well do not need a forum where the merchants of wealth and the advancers of war might air their grievences and launch assault after assault on their welfare. The masses require a tribune, empowered to pursue their ends with whatever means are available. It should thus be the policy of the League of White to support a strong executive power and support the further divestment of authority from the Assembly, until the Voiced as a class are abolished.