26th General Assembly Session

[Aquinas]

Hillesko Dorfluzke, Chairman of the Socialist Association, Vanuku:

Fellow delegates,

If I may take a few moments of your time, I wish to draw your attention to the dire plight of my homeland, Vanuku, which despite being one of the richest and most powerful countries in Terra, treats its own citizens little better than serfs.

There is no real democracy here in Vanuku. Only a small proportion of the population, the nobles and the millionaires, are entitled to vote or stand for election. Candidates who represent republican or socialist values are forbidden to stand. The Grand Council runs the country entirely in the interests of the wealthy, not the ordinary people. The ruling party has a stranglehold on elections, and it has been over 50 years since they won less than 70% of the vote. The Ahmadi Alliance, the so-called "official opposition", never seriously challenges the ruling regime, because they are too fond of their own privileges.

My party, the Socialist Association, is forbidden to take part in the democratic process and is subject to continued state harassment. Our first leader, Hkinor Mardoh, is in prison for defending the rights of workers. His successor, his wife Dnma Mardoh, has just been arrested on trumped up charges of sedition, and we fear she too will be imprisoned for standing up for the rights of the common people. She is currently in poor health, suffering from pneumonia, and we are deeply concerned about what the impact of imprisonment will be on her health.

I myself have had an arrest warrant served upon me, but narrowly managed to escape the country in time. I am now operating from Selucia.

On behalf not only of the Socialist Association, but of the whole people of Vanuku, I call upon the world to confront the tyrants who are exploiting and terrorising our people, and work to promote fairness and dignity for the ordinary Vanukean man and woman.

We, the Vanukean people, demand democracy, and we demand it now!