Colonial Party

The **Colonial Party**, sometimes called the Southern Party or New Wave Party, is a political party within the Coalition of Intelligent Organisms, created during the First Coalition Golden Age to represent the inhabitants of colonies outside the Coalition core zones, particularly those in the Kiracian Group. Although it started out as an underdog compared to the long-standing Coalition political dogma (which eventually manifested as the Primacy Party), the Colonial Party quickly gained support from its most significant demographic: the Coalition underclass. As the economic benefits of the First Coalition Golden Age began to wither away, many inhabitants of newly-settled colonies were unhappy with the Coalition government's general disregard towards their state of affairs, and looked to the emerging Colonial Party for support. By giving disenfranchised colonists a chance to voice their opinions in the Coalition government, the Colonial Party was able to promote legislation that directly benefited the Coalition underclass and the civilization's more distant colonies. It is widely accepted that, if it were not for the intervention of the Colonial Party, the lives of the Coalition underclass would have been much harder throughout the rest of its history, as the government, once dominated by the Primacy Party (or, at least, what amounted to it before its official creation), catered more directly to the whims of the Coalition elite.

Unfortunately, the Colonial Party, despite the benevolent principles it was founded upon, fell under heavy scrutiny as the Coalition Dark Age progressed. Over time, the party diverted its attention away from the most direct issues faced by Coalition colonists at the time (such as harassment from both corporations and the Coalition GP) and started to focus more on cultural policies catering to various alien races. The Colonial Party had always relied heavily on votes and influence from conventionally underprivileged races such as the Heumvak, Duur and Chusumians, as well as notably empathetic races like the Syluxians and Faaraantecs. By focusing more on the cultural stipulations and challenges faced by these races, the Colonial Party hoped to garner more support from the Coalition's eastern colonies and the newly-formed Tekker Party, which openly advocated the promotion of alien traditions within the Coalition. Unfortunately, this ideological shift increased divisiveness between the Colonial Party and Primacy Party, making it more difficult for these two parties to reach compromises. Many people that were not aligned with the Colonial Party, political moderates included, drew parallels between the party's platform and the ideologies of the insurrectionist organization known as the Steel Syndicate. This spiraled into a massive controversy that cost the Colonial Party a significant portion of their influence in the Coalition government, and prompted an equally audacious retaliation from the Primacy Party. The political fallout of the rivalry between the Colonial Party and Primacy Party was so intense, it forced a response from the uppermost echelons of the Coalition government and subsequent creation of the Kiracian Commonwealth. Their separation from the rest of the Coalition, as well as newfound access to many social and economic liberties, sated the Colonial Party for a short time, but their patience eventually ran out as relations between the Commonwealth and Coalition turned bitter, leading to the Galactic Revolution.

Despite the fact that the Galactic Revolution was incited more by political extremists and organizations like the Steel Syndicate, the Colonial Party was conflated alongside these culprits and blamed for the onset of the Galactic Revolution. Even when their associated demographics returned as the colonies of the Kiracian Group were brought back into the fold of the Coalition, the Colonial Party failed to gain any significant influence within the Coalition government from then on, mostly due to the stigmatization against them that was generated from this association, and lost a considerable amount of their popular support. This, combined with the Tekker Party's loss of influence due to similar reasons, allowed the Primacy Party to gain almost uncontested control of the Coalition political machine for most of the Second Coalition Golden Age, and is ultimately what accounted for many of the policy decisions that negatively impacted the Coalition underclass during this time.

Being a party that commits itself to the issues faced by the Coalition underclass, Heumvak, Duur, Syluxian and Faaraantec Species Council representatives are the Colonial Party's most reliable source of influence in the Coalition government, and are usually affiliated with the party in one way or another. The Colonial Party competes with the Primacy Party over swing representatives for the Jyrians, Humans and Chusumians, and with the Tekker Party over swing representatives for the Jurv and Nenkl. Although it centers itself in the Kiracian Group, the Colonial Party is the most widespread political party in terms of demographic support, as, during the height of its power, it had a fair amount of popular support in both the Coalition core zones and eastern colonies. However, the average Colonial voter is not nearly as wealthy or influential as the average Primacist or Tekker voter, which means the actual power of the Colonial Party's demographics are, at best, equal to that of the other parties. The Colonial Assembly Building on Kirace serves as the central headquarters and meeting place for the Colonial Party and its representatives, and also functioned as the seat of the Kiracian Commonwealth's legislative body.