Parti Pour Paix et Progress

The Parti Pour Paix et Progress, [sic] otherwise known as the PPPP or occaisionally the 4P, is a founding party of a new age for the Confédération des Deux Kanjors.

=Mission Statement= The PPPP's primary objective is to ensure peace, prosperity and progress in Kanjor and throughout Terra. Non-violence and openness are key components to our philosophy and we will work to ensure that every Kanjoran citizen receives the highest quality of life in our great nation.

=Stances=

Pacifisme
Above all things, the PPPP strives for peace. The violent loss of human life is not worth even the greatest of causes, and the PPPP firmly believes that diplomacy and democracy are the greatest ways to achieve progress in the world. Realizing that war can be a very real threat, the PPPP supports ample defense of the nation. What is more important, however, is understanding and confronting problems that may lead to war and solving them before they can lead to tragedy.

Socialisme
The PPPP will never be called a communist party, but it does believe that a government can provide for its people to a large extent and that "big government" is not something to be minimized or feared. The PPPP seeks a perfect balance between capitalist individualism and initiative and socialist programs that make life more equitable in Kanjor and less marred by the greed of private business.

Liberté
The PPPP strongly advocates for personal freedom. It must however make distinctions where the rights of others are concerned, such as with second-hand smoke and abortion.

=Elections=

February 2445
The first elections that the party went through were in February of the year 2445, and the people of Kanjor gave the PPPP an amazing 78 seats, making a plurality in the Sénat. A party had not been given the plurality in the Confédération in its first election in over 300 years.

October 2447
In its second election, the PPPP maintained its 78 seats and continued to accomplish legislation of peace and progress as the leading party of the Sénat du Kanjor.

February 2450
After five years at the top, the PPPP sustained its first loss in February of 2450. The Grand Order of Organized Native Sodality became the new leading party with more seats than the PPPP had had. Olivier Besancenot was still able to maintain his post as president, due to the support of the PPK, however, and the PPPP remained positive about fighting against the "Goons" to continue the progress they had been creating.

June 2452
The PPPP lost even more influence in the Sénat and became the fifth largest party in Kanjor. Olivier Besancenot was thrown from office and Pierre Etienne resigned as Premier minister before he could be replaced.

October 2454
Despite a small gain in seats, the Sénat elections of 2454 did nothing to change the PPPP's position in the legislature. One of its moderate allies was traded for another as the PPK lost a large number of seats and the KCP (Kanjoran Centrist Party) surged to the second highest number of seats and won the presidency.

=Party Leaders=

François Bayrou
Party leader 2443-2447, Président 2445-2447

The PPPP's ascendancy from a brand new political entity to the largest seat-holder in the nation came as quite a shock to the party's premier leader François Bayrou, who also became Président de la Confédération in that election. Although accepted as a good-natured man and adequate party representative, Bayrou accomplished very little in his single term as head of state and soon went into retirement after a whirlwind political career.

Pierre Etienne
Party leader 2443-present, Premier Ministre 2446-2452

As Bayrou's time ended it was apparent that the real power behind the PPPP from the beginning had been the elusive and mysterious figure Pierre Etienne. The adjectives "elusive" and "mysterious" are here used because the public has in fact never seen Pierre Etienne.

More on that amazing statement and other information on Pierre Etienne can be found on his page here.

Pierre Etienne was accepted as the Premier Ministre de la Confédération a year after the historic February 2445 election. Despite the peculiarities of their head of government, Pierre Etienne became a steadfast man of action in the eyes of the people. Absolutely nothing is known by the public about anything other than Etienne's political views, but it is expected that Pierre will continue to remain the PPPP's most influential leader.



Olivier Besancenot
Party leader 2443-2453, Président 2447-2452

As the second election in the history of the PPPP approached, it was much questioned whether Pierre Etienne, now the official party leader and obviously most powerful man in government, would run as the new candidate for président. Somewhat surprisingly, Pierre decided to stick to his post as Premier Ministre and supported the bid of Olivier Besancenot to become the PPPP's candidate for the presidency.

For much more on Besancenot visit his page here.

Zéphyrine Renard
Party leader 2453-present

Please see Zéphyrine's page here.

=Conflicts and Controversies=

Nomination of Renard
Although her ascendancy to a main party leader went quite smoothly within the ranks of the PPPP, the Kanjoran media was loathe to let a story like Zéphyrine Renard's go unnoticed. Much more about Zéphyrine can be discovered on her page here, but in short, Zéphyrine was the admitted mistress of Olivier Besancenot and her nomination by him to become his replacement in the PPPP was seen as a bit of a scandal by the public. All passed over eventually when most people realized, as the party had known all along, that Zéphyrine was the best person for the job. However, all the media outrage may have had a lasting effect on the voters as they went to the booths in presidential elections. Zéphyrine's first run for président was a complete disgrace compared to the debuts of her two predecessors.

Fall of the AO
Upon the PPPP's entrance into the Kanjoran political arena there were several leftist parties already in existence that helped pass the Parti's fledgling bills while it had no seats of its own to vote with. Foremost among these was the Autonomie d'Ouvrier which had very similar stands as the PPPP on all but a few issues. There had been a lot of opposition from other parties to the AO's leading leftist coalition and in almost a perfect storm of having a new party which seemingly got a lot accomplished along the same lines as a failing leader, the Autonomie d'Ouvrier was swept from power in the elections of February 2445, losing a huge portion of its seats, and as you well know, the PPPP came out on top.

Creation of the UPFF
Also hurt by the elections of 2445 was the Democratic Labor Party, a secondary member of the leftist coalition headed by the AO. Following the abrupt rise of the PPPP, the leaders of the DLP transformed their party into a new menace- the United Patriotic Front of Fascists. The UPFF immediately became the foremost enemy of the PPPP and while the party with plurality neither gained or lost seats in the October 2447 election, the fascists gained seats and strengthened their influence.

Spat with the MCP
Spanning a time period of almost a month and contained entirely within the debate of the Loi de Sécurité found here, speakers for the Mordusian Capitalists Party of Mordusia came into conflict with the PPPP after the MCP got involved in Kanjoran debate and was initially responded to by the PPPP with the half jocular comment,

"Mordusian capitalist pigs! What kind of people gives a party like yours the plurality?"

As can be read on the linked debate page, the argument between the two groups, both the pluralities and presidential parties in their nations, ended with the MCP's outright severing of relations with Kanjor's foremost party and a less than concerned response from the PPPP:

"LOL, signed Président de la Confédération Olivier Besancenot et Premier Ministre de la Confédération Pierre Etienne, Chef de la Parti Pour Paix et Progress"

=Footnotes=