[centre][h1][u][colour=FF8430]Democratic Alliance for Reform[/colour][/u][/h1]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/bXnqR2b.png[/img][/centre]

[h2][centre]The Story of Jayamma Gobeni: Part 2[/centre][/h2]

As a politically connected member of organized labour, Jayamma Gobeni sought to use his prior talents as an agitator for the Revolutionary People's Front of Samgola to maximum effect. The transition was a simple one: he would become a leading enforcer, in charge of ensuring payment of dues by workers and compliance with union action such as strikes and picketing. Drawing from his experience as a ne'r-do-well in Kamidye, Gobeni employed legally questionable tactics aimed at advancing the labour agenda. Though a fundamentally moral man, Jayamma was not above using actions bordering on violence to advance the interests of the working class, and many a scab was given a beating by Gobeni and his compatriots, to defend those interests.

Over time, though, this heavy-handedness came to take a toll on Gobeni, reminding him of why he'd left his criminality behind in the first place. He was determined to set a good example for his daughters, and avoid setting them down a path that would lead them to accept—or even to adopt—violence, as a means to any end. Therefore, Jayamma began to take more conciliatory measures in dealing with organized labour's enemies, making appeals to worker's families and aligning himself with pro-union employers and lawmakers to remove the impetus for free-riding. Mr. Gobeni's new measures proved more effective at endearing the unions to the workers and increasing both enrollment and compliance, and they helped to turn him against the principle of aggressive action. This moderation turned Jayamma's reputation from one of an enforcer to more of a conciliator; a change in hats that made capable his formal entry into the political scene.

Democracy in the old days of the National Regime was a farce, barely existing in any meaningful sense. Elections, when they were held, were far from free or fair, with opposition parties hampered both in the campaign process as well as in the electoral system itself. Rubusana loyalists counted the votes, drew the boundaries and set all the rules. President Rubusana and his cronies won every election in a lopsided landslide—but they still needed an opposition of some kind to exist, to legitimize their rule internationally. Jayamma knew that the opposition had no chance of opposing Rubusana democratically, but he still eagerly campaigned against him, earning support for himself and his ideas, for when the regime fell and the people of Samgola would be free to exercise their democratic will. Gobeni was active in this faux-opposition for years, playing a major role in amounting what opposition he could to Rubusana and his oppressive administration. Only when the People's Front launched their revolt, and the regime's order collapsed, did Jayamma's political career once again evolve.

Gobeni was strongly opposed to the People's Front. To him, they represented the past—an ideology and set of methods that Jayamma had long since laid to rest for himself. He was deeply concerned to see many of his compatriots in organized labour and the opposition side with the People's Front, trading one brutal regime for another and allowing Samgola to fall to civil war. Ever the caring father, Jayamma used what money he had to ensure that his now adult daughters could escape the country, helping his eldest Mmeri to relocate to Paris, and his youngest, Asha, to find refuge in the United States. For his own party, Jayamma retreated to internal exile back in SPF-controlled Nambé, using his connections within Samgola's socialist movement to ensure he would not be troubled by the People's Front, even as he refused to support them.

As the war continued, Jayamma remained in contact with Mmeri and Asha, and was pleased to find both following in their father's footsteps and becoming political active in the émigré community. Mmeri focused on appealing to international organizations, helping (alongside the efforts of countless others) to establish popular support for Task Force Europa, which would eventually enter into Samgola to end the conflict. Asha Gobeni, though—who shared her name with her dearly departed mother—became involved with the Democratic Alliance for Reform. Asha was successful in turning her father Jayamma in favour of the D.A.R., and he became one of Samuel Bassong's main contacts in Samgola, reporting to him from the ground on the conditions in the country and the atrocities committed by all sides involved in the fighting. Although he did not formally join the D.A.R., Gobeni's views came to closely align with theirs, intoxicated as he was by their fervent opposition to continued armed conflict: a position his contemporaries in organized labour, so many of them aligned with the People's Front, did not share.

When Task Force Europa arrived in Kamidye, the war had already begun to wind down, with the National Regime putting the People's Front on their last legs, at the cost of thousands of dead and the ceding of an immense amount of power and authority to the ascendant National Militias. Jayamma Gobeni, turned off from the red flag by its supporters' violent, revolutionary methods, instead decided to join the Democratic Alliance for Reform. He returned to Kamidye, now under the firm control of Task Force Europa, and met the future president Samuel Bassong in person for the first time. Gobeni's campaigning in favour of the D.A.R. in the ensuing election helped turn many of Samgola's urban poor, among them many former socialists, to Bassong's side. He was elected an MNA in his hometown in Ayoullo, and rewarded for his efforts with a cabinet position after Samuel Bassong and the D.A.R.'s victory. Gobeni became Minister of Transportation and Urban Development, a role that allowed him to implement his dream legislation, the Brick & Mortar Act. He is now among the most popular members of the Bassong Administration's cabinet, having played a pivotal role in reversing the unemployment and homelessness crisis thrust upon Samgola by the devastation of the civil war. He is among the most personally popular political figures in the country, and, due to bureau's successes if nothing else, is seen as the number three man in the D.A.R., behind only President Bassong and Prime Minister Yombi. If anything were to happen to either of the D.A.R.'s two main political figures, Jayamma Gobeni would make a worthy successor to either one.

[hr]
The Democratic Alliance for Reform's reaction to the unrolling of the Gaza Scandal was one of dismay and of disgust. The Samgolan Patriotic Party, once seen as ideological compatriots during the election and as strategic allies during the first period of the administration's governance, had revealed themselves to be corrupt and weak. The Minister of Justice, Inge Gaza, who had long before proven himself to be incompetent, had also testified to corruption, and resigned in disgrace. President Bassong had come down hard on the SPP, calling for the party's dissolution in private talks and making public statements during his tours of Kamidye that sharply criticized its former members.

Asked by a journalist during an event in the capital if he would consider admitting any former SPP members into the DAR, President Bassong responded with strong words.

"The Samgolan Patriotic Party are a disgrace to this country; they have betrayed Samgola, plain and simple. They have been involved in scandal and corruption—near every single one of them—behind closed doors, and I would not trust any one of their number to join the Democratic Alliance for Reform. I am immensely glad that their party has been dissolved. Their kind are exactly what [i]our[/i] party is trying to excise from Samgola: corruption and indecency and misrule. I could not imagine any place for any of their former members in the D.A.R. And, I would add, that I am eager to see the future ministers Nguema and Ewanè clean up the messes that the SPP left behind in their bureaus. I have a close relationship and great confidence in Mr. Nguema in particular, and I'm eager to see him demonstrate the excellence of his skill and character in the Justice Bureau."

[hr]
[hider=An Act to Amend the Cabinet of Samgola]
Whereas Article 7 - Subsection 2 of the Constitution of the Samgolan Republic requires that the Cabinet of Samgola be ratified by the agreement of more than one half of the National Assembly, and whereas executive action over the Lawful Protection Bureau, Bureau of Defense and Bureau of Justice are currently held by the President in lieu of an appointed minister (subject to the agreement of the National Assembly as according to Article 7 - Subsection 4 of the Constitution of the Samgolan Republic), the following provisions shall be resolved.

[b]Article 1:[/b] The Lawful Protection Bureau shall be dissolved, and its duties transferred to the Bureau of Justice. [i]((Political))[/i]
[b]Article 2:[/b] Obiang M. Nguema shall be appointed Minister of Justice. [i]((Political - D.A.R.))[/i]
[b]Article 3:[/b] Louis Ewanè shall be appointed Minister of Defense. [i]((Political - L.D.))[/i]
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[hider=Actions]
[b]Political Stunt:[/b] Strength. [i](-1 Action)[/i]
[b]Give Speech:[/b] Kamidye. Fight Corruption. [i](-1 Action, -$70,000)[/i]
[b]Campaign: Ground Game:[/b] Poor in Nambé. 1 Month, 500 Activists. [i](-1 Action, -$250,000)[/i]
[b]Propose Amendment:[/b] Amend "An Act to Amend the Cabinet of Samgola to Appoint a Minister to the Lawful Protection Bureau" to "An Act to Amend the Cabinet of Samgola". [i](-2 Actions)[/i]
[b]Call to Vote:[/b] An Act to Amend the Cabinet of Samgola.
[b]Vote:[/b] An Act to Amend the Cabinet of Samgola; 0 NO - 65 YES.
[b]Vote:[/b] Income Tax Reduction; 65 NO - 0 YES.
[b]Vote:[/b] Freedom of Choice Act; 65 NO - 0 YES.

[b]Actions Left:[/b] 0/5.
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