Atambayev: "You Can't Fathom How Much They Hate Us"

With the new year coming on the heels of a defeated attempt by State Chancellor Qasem Soleimani's Imperial Senate delegation to amend the National Guard Reform Act, the Haalsian Opposition has made its first apparent campaign rally ahead of this year's state election. Almazbek Atambayev of the Haalsian People's Party made a clear effort to tap into the state's pro-independence elements, which had largely gone into hibernation in the past 3 years.
Originally posted by MSP Almazbek Atambayev:
Haalsians, it is times like these when we are reminded why independence from Falleentium is important and necessary. I'm sure that some of you here today think our State Chancellor, Qasem Soleimani, has done a good job over the past three and a half years. I don't fault you for it, he has set in motion the process of rebuilding Haals in the aftermath of the civil war, and I won't deny him that credit. He's done the best he could for our nation, but the poor man has always been naive; as long as we're in Falleentium, our hands are tied behind our backs.
Take, if you will, his attempt to increase the size of the Haalsian National Guard. Haals is the sixth-most populous state in the Falleen Federation, and yet the number of personnel which it is allowed to employ in the National Guard is the third-lowest, above only Delnour and Reellam, each of which has one-third of our population. Our Air National Guard is the second-smallest in the Empire, even behind Delnour! So the State Chancellor and his Senate delegation did the obvious: they sought to raise our National Guard - not monstrously, in fact the Air National Guard was set to remain the same in order to keep costs down. It didn't seem like much to ask, did it? But really, you can't fathom how much they hate us in Falleentium. Our beloved fellow states told us to take a hike! Across the ideological divide, be it the Tarbar Socialists or the Liberals in Delooiium or the right-wing maniacs in the Imperial Party who run half of the states in this Empire right now, politicians of all stripes have united in their disdain for us, just to spit in our eyes when we try to work within the system. 
Well I say we're through working within the system. Soleimani tried his best, but he's a fool for thinking that even something as simple as getting a National Guard fitting for our population could be done inside this gross, corrupt construct. Join me, fellow Haalsians, and we will become truly independent for the first time. There will be no more of this unrepresentative Monarchy, and I don't care if it's Christian, Fourish, or even Muslim - I'll have no more of tyrants who wield power that the people never agreed to give them. And I'll have no more of these states of the Empire condescending on us, telling us that we have to accept less than they do. Brothers and sisters, I know that many of you did not vote in 580, but I beg of you to vote this year for the Haalsian People's Party, and together, we can finally make Haalsians their own masters.
Category:The Imperial Constitution