Txotai All-Otekian Party
Txotai All-Otekian Party | |
|---|---|
| File:TAOP.png | |
| Chairman | James Narayev |
| Parliamentary leader | Radoslava Yulia |
| Founded | NMR 2323 |
| Headquarters | Kovdor, Txotai |
| Ideology | Otekian minority interests |
| Political position | Big tent |
| National affiliation | Autonomy camp |
| International affiliation | Esquarian Alliance of Regionalists and Autonomists |
| Central Council | 15 / 2,549
|
| Regional Assembly | 20 / 85
|
| Prefectural People's Assembles | 76 / 210
|
| Governorships | 3 / 8
|
| Municipal Mayoralties | 7 / 15
|
The Txotai All-Otekian Party (Namorese: Тщотаи Даанг Канотекизу Luziycan: Partiya Otekiy i Zotay), frequently abbreviated as the TAOP, is a political party in the Txotai Autonomous Republic in Namor. It is by far the largest party in the Autonomy camp, a coalition of parties advocating for increased autonomy for Txotai. While the TAOP is not affiliated with any of Namor's major political parties, it is internationally affiliated with the Esquarian Alliance of Regionalists and Autonomists.
A big tent party, the TAOP's stated priority is to represent the interests of Otekian people in Txotai.
History
During military rule, inhabitants of Txotai were forbidden from organizing politically. This applied especially to Otekians, whom the government feared would initiate another rebellion as they had in NMR 2306. The TAOP was established in NMR 2355 after Txotai returned to civilian rule and became an autonomous republic. Most of its leaders were intellectuals who had studied in Namo, Mojing and other major Namorese cities before returning to Txotai to take part in its democratization. For the first five years of its existence, the TAOP spent its time making its presence known in majority Otekian areas of Txotai and quickly gained the support of Otekian voters.
The TAOP participated in the first genuine legislative election in NMR 2360, winning 18 seats in the Regional Assembly. It also nominated party chairman Viktor Avksentiy to run for Head of State, although Avksentiy was defeated by Unity camp opponent Vang Lan. Since NMR 2360, the TAOP's performance in legislative elections has been consistent, having frequently won around 20% of the vote. Its best performance yet is during the NMR 2375 election, when it received 21.13% of the popular vote and 20 seats.
NMR 2370 Txotai unrest
Following the shooting of Feliks Oleg, the TAOP demanded that the authorities conduct a quick, impartial investigation into the incident and that the police officer involved in Oleg's death be brought to justice. Chairman James Narayev condemned the police's release of a video showing Oleg singing the Hymni Luziyca, saying "Frankly, I don't understand why singing the national anthem of another country constitutes treason."
But as protests over Oleg's death culminated into mass unrest that lasted for days, the TAOP supported the government's decision to deploy the Minveitan to quell the rioters. Narayev called the violence "outright disgusting," and said "Oleg's death was violent enough. We want no violence, not more." He also accused separatists of politicizing the incident to promote their own agenda, saying "Oleg was not a separatist, but a young man who had nothing to do with politics. He does not deserve to be portrayed as a martyr of a cause that he never belonged to."
Radoslava Yulia, who served as Prosecutor of Txotai during the unrest, later resigned from her post to become the parliamentary leader of the TAOP.
NMR 2378 election
The TAOP participated in the NMR 2378 national legislative election. This is the first time the TAOP was able to take part due to the lifting of regulations that banned regional-level parties from entering Central Council elections. The TAOP appeared on the ballot in Legislative District 50.
The party won 15 seats - more than any other party in District 50.
Political positions
The TAOP claims to represent the interests of Otekian people in Txotai. For that reason, it does not consider itself a leftist or rightist political party, but a minority interests party that aims to improve the status of ethnic Otekians.
Status of Txotai
The TAOP states in its platform that "Txotai is an inseparable part of the People's Republic of Namor. This status is agreed upon by the international community and the people of this region, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion or creed." The party is against Otekian independence, arguing that independence has no historical or legal basis and the independence movement does not represent the aspirations of Txotai's 16 million people, much less the 5 million Otekians living in Txotai. The TAOP is also opposed to the Devomax plan as proposed by the ONC, claiming that the plan's long-term goal is to separate Txotai from the rest of Namor.
Despite its anti-independence stance, the TAOP supports talks between Namorese authorities and overseas-based Otekian organizations in exile. Whereas the Unity parties support talks on condition that exile groups recognize Txotai as territory of Namor, the TAOP believes such a precondition is unnecessary because the political status of Txotai has already been resolved and is unnegotiable.
The TAOP proposed its own set of preconditions that exile groups must meet to begin talks, which are:
- Renounce all violence and terrorism
- Renounce any assistance from external state and non-state actors
- Acknowledge that all people currently living in Txotai are rightful residents of the territory
Ethnic Policy
The TAOP supports laws that protect minorities in Txotai from discrimination and enshrine the cultural identity of minority groups. It has supported measures to increase minority representation in government, such as the requirement that half of all members of the regional cabinet must be non-Kannei.
Language Policy
The TAOP acknowledges the status of Standard Namorese as the national official language, but adds that "the supremacy of Namorese nationwide can coexist with the trilingual society we have in Txotai. In an ideal society, a student should be taught in the language that he or she desires."
It is critical of the regional government's current language education policy in schools, which requires Namorese to be the instructional language of all public schools but allows each prefecture to decide whether its schools should include Luziycan and Geadish-language classes in their curriculum. The TAOP supports mandatory Luziycan classes for all students.
Election Performances
Regional elections
| Election | Total elected seats |
+/− |
|---|---|---|
| NMR 2360 | 18 / 85
|
18 
|
| NMR 2365 | 17 / 85
|
1 
|
| NMR 2370 | 17 / 85
|
|
| NMR 2375 | 20 / 85
|
3
|
National general elections
| Election | Total elected seats |
+/− |
|---|---|---|
| NMR 2378 | 15 / 2,549
|
15
|