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When President Kerns founded Cyberia in July 1997 and set up a
provisional government, the first organized political party was
the Labor Party. A dedicated left-of-center party, for a time
it was expected to become the majority party of Cyberia. Then,
on August 4, Aron Paul, a progressive-minded Australian, joined
Cyberia and set up the Liberal Democrats party as a progressive
alternative to the Labor Party. Those two parties worked together
and fought together. Sounded like the beginning of a promising
friendship. Later that month, Pete Hickey joined Cyberia and created
his Progressive-Futurist party, dedicated to civil rights and
progressive social legislation. In those days, Cyberia had many
solo clubs and inactive political parties. The President called
on some parties to become more active, and that sparked a large
debate over the future of the PFP. Eventually, the PFP stayed
and an electoral pact helped President Kerns win election as a
legitimate President with 68% of the vote in October 1997.
Well, heading into the Constitutional Convention convened by the
power of the President in October and November 1997, Cyberia began
debating what to do about a governing system. The LibDems and
some Conservatives wanted a parliamentary system while others,
mainly in the PFP and Labor Party, wanted a federal Republic.
The debate went on, with the presidentialists saying an elected
leader is better than a leader chosen by the majority party in
the legislature, and in the end the presidentialists won. This
episode, gave Cyberia the government it now has, essentially,
and showed how the LibDems and Laborites dominated the early days
of Cyberia.
When the Constitution was ratified with a 84% of the vote, Cyberia
drew more attention to itself and got new members, including Socialists
and some religious conservatives. The LibDems dominated provincial
Deputy elections in December, while the Socialists gained a foothold
in Bava (and they still have it to this day). Also, Skinner Layne
began a political machine in Grenado, renamed Lasteria. When the
President developed hardware problems, Pete Hickey and others
took steps to keep the country stable. Chris Harrop eventually
assumed the Acting Presidency, and oversaw the immigration of
Mike Rosario, a Communist into Cyberia. Harrop saw the Communist
as an anti-democrat (despite promises of the contrary) and attempted
to expel him, prompting impeachment charges from Speaker of the
Chamber Pete Hickey. What followed was a mass exodus of conservatives
to Cyberland, lead by Skinner Layne. What followed was left-wing
drift of the country. The Labor Party and the PFP said no to that,
and with the Conservatives created the Federalist Coalition to
oppose the leftists. The lethargic LibDems joined the Socialists
and Communists into a United Coalition of the Cyberian Left. Strong,
bitter debate ensued until the SP was strong enough to end the
UCCL.
Well, in the June elections, the SP became strong enough to win
the speakership in the Chamber of Deputies, beating PFP incumbent
Pete Hickey. However, they became directionless and grew bored.
They thus created a "Revolucion" while the President
was on vacation and tried in a failed attempt to take Felicia
and Windsor away from Cyberia (Newcomer Juan Gholson was instrumental
in stopping this). What ensued was a radical change in foreign
policy against the intermicronational threat of communism. The
problem has disappeared recently with the apparent collapse of
East Cyberia. Meanwhile, Skinner Layne's own anti-democratic sentiments
culminated in an attempt to purge the opposition to his regime
from Cyberland, creating a mass return of conservatives to Cyberia,
thusly a rightward turn in Cyberian politics was underway.
All the while, Cyberia was gearing up for a presidential race.
For his part, the President was undecided about a second term
until no strong candidate appeared (they did only after he joined
the race). He did so by uniting the LibDems and the Labor Party
into a singular Liberal Party. He then began a campaign website
that promoted his workers' rights agenda, tax cuts, his pro-choice
stance on abortion, and other items. He faced Ken Thacker, a former
chair of the CP and former PFP member, who was playing up his
conservative agenda despite being a member of a progressive party!
That won him the anger of his party and the tacit support of the
CP, until a newcomer and a highly partisan individual who just
won the Corli governorship decided that he would run, with less
than a week before the election. When all was said and done, the
President trumped Gov. Graham and Mr. Thacker with 41% and 62%
of the vote on the first and second ballots.
What followed a highly negative presidential race is the presence
of incivility in public debates and, due to the rather suspisicious
electoral politics employed by the PFP Convenor, the collapse
of the Progressive-Futurist party. With the PFP's death and the
close working relationship many former PFPers had with the Liberal
Party, the two groups decided a new party was in order, to combat
extremism and incivility in our public debate.
What followed a highly negative presidential race is the presence
of incivility in public debates and, due to the rather suspisicious
electoral politics employed by the PFP leader, the collapse of
the Progressive-Futurist party. With the PFP's death and the close
working relationship many former PFPers had with the Liberal Party,
the two groups decided a new party was in order, to combat extremism
and incivility in our public debate. The Christian Democrats,
led by Alan Grieve and Fabrice Quertain, also joined.
Most of 1999 was dominated by increasingly bitter debate, the presence of Charles Gordon and the ambitions of Adam Graham. Charles Gordon joined Cyberia in March and immediately nominated for
Graham was successful in the presidential election and took office on October 19. Cyberia thus became the first micronation to witness an orderly transfer of power following an election. The Graham administration was characterized, as Ken Kerns had predicted, by hyper-partisanship and zealotry. The deteriorating relations between Pres Graham and both houses of the National Assembly culminated in the rejection of his candidate for treasury minister by the Senate and the disallowance of his executive order by the Chamber. Divisions in the president's cabinet led directly to the Second Civil War, to calls for the president's impeachment or recall, and to moves by the Chamber to investigate a number of suspicious votes in the presidential election.
Pres Graham's conduct during an attempted coup by his information minister was widely criticized as more concerned for his own position than for defending the nation. An impeachment inquiry was briefly mooted by the Senate and then CD National Committee member Peter Hickey launched a recall petition, although prominent CD leaders like Ken Kerns and Alan Grieve refused to support the recall. Pres Graham resigned in the face of mounting criticism of his inactivity and excessive partisanship in March 2000.
Speaker Alan Grieve succeeded Pres Graham on his resignation. Since then Cyberia's population has doubled, the administration now includes members of all parties, and Cyberia again has a bright future under Cyberian Democrat leadership.
The Flame Wars and the Phyle/Dreesbach Shambles
The Third Civil War
A new party with a new name
Today's Cyberia: The CDs are Here to Stay
Unlike some parties, the new CDs proved themselves a force to
reckon with when they got their most prominent leaders elected
the presiding officers of both chambers of the National Assembly.
Since then the Cyberian Democrats have gained the presidency and
stand an excellent chance of gaining the vice-presidency as well
at this election. Join today and help build the political realignment
towards practical, commonsense ideas!
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