MEAP: Internal Strife, Fiery Debates

The air hummed with excitement as the five main parties of Parliament assembled for semi-private deliberation yesterday morning. A definite tension was present: there is distinct pressure to go beyond the widely recognized accomplishments of last winter's 97th Parliament of Great Petronia. Now, with a body composed of more freshmen parliamentarians than ever before in the nation's history, there is a compulsion to prove that nascent parties can succeed and strong coalitions can be constructed.

Nowhere is this heat felt more directly than in the newly formed Middle East Affairs Party (MEAP). Composed of many disparate members with distinctly opposing views, it seems that the party will have vicious internal debate to come, to follow what was seemingly the tip of the iceberg today in preliminary intra-party discussions. The most notable conflict seems to arise with the issue of Israel, about which a debate today escalated into members spewing vitriol and slurs unprintable in a family newspaper. Undoubtedly, the MEAP will face conflict ahead in regards to this internally volatile issue.

The MEAP's members did manage to come together on several issues. They collectively support free trade of Great Petronia with the nations of the Middle East, and vouch for the Beijing Olympics. However, further discord erupted when one member asserted that regarding Middle Eastern conflict “we should have diplomatic relations before force is used,” while another interjected that “peaceful bombardment” should be instated instead.

The nation of Petronia surely awaits future development of policy within this conflicted yet vibrant party.

- EMILY MOLINE