On the afternoon of Friday, September 12th, Former Sen. DocTheory announced in a press release that he was leaving the Redmont Beach Party. While he refused to go into the details of what exactly went down within the party, he stated pointedly that “Bezzer and the RBP leadership had this coming and […] deserve everything that’s coming to them.”
Mere minutes later, Rep. Plura72 made a similar press release announcing that he would also be leaving the RBP in order to form his own party, the Labor Party of Redmont (LPR). Rep. Plura, like DocTheory, did not give a reason for his decision to the public. Around the same time, Rep. RealImza also quietly left the RBP, devoting himself fully to his other party affiliation, the New Alliance.
Within less than 15 minutes, the RBP, which held an outright majority in the House only a month ago, was reduced to a single seat in Congress – that of Senator Bezzergeezer, the party leader. What exactly caused this massive rupture? The answer, sadly, is unclear – but we can gleam some amount of information from the surrounding context and statements from defectors.
What do we know?
It seems clear that there was some amount of rising interpersonal tension within the RBP, which reached a boiling point on Friday – with the disappointing election results for the RBP during the Congressional election just a day before likely serving as a catalyst. While we can’t know if there was a direct correlation, the massive loss of Congressional presence resulting from the election no doubt caused some internal turmoil for the party. The same day as his press release, Sen. DocTheory voted for Pepecuu over Bezzergeezer for the President of the Senate elections after some time in deadlock. No doubt, this spurred some heated discussion within the RBP. This debacle likely started a domino effect, with multiple other elected officials deciding to follow suit and leave the party. Whatever effect the elections had, it seems that it was likely not the only cause for the collapse, with multiple defectors citing personal as well as political reasons for their choices.
When asked for a statement by the Reveille Times, DocTheory refused to comment, saying “I won’t make a statement until I release the final nail in the coffin for Bezzer and ig [sic] the RBP.” Rep. RealImza agreed to make a statement, but was curt, saying “I left for mainly personal reasons, which I do not feel comfortable enough to share.”
Thankfully, we were able to get a clearer picture from Rep. Plura72 during a more in-depth interview with one of our reporters.
CastoloGR: What was your main motivation to leave RBP and create a new party?
“Firstly, I wasn’t able to do anything in Congress without the party permission. This is why I was inactive in Congress. Secondly, I should’ve done this months ago, because when I was merging my old party (Redmont Union) with their old one (Liberty For Redmont), they kicked me out of the party merge plans temporarily, to solve stuff.”
CastoloGR: Is your vision any different from RBP? If so, what are they?
“Yes, a lot to be honest. When I was in RBP, I had to be more pro-market and more right-wing than I will be here, even though I was a member of the “Social Democratic” caucus. When I was in RBP, most of the party policies were conservative or free-market. In LPR, I want to create a more balanced political environment, with stronger protection for workers and education focus. Also, the “Social Democratic” caucus is not really “Social Democratic”, instead it’s some random type of left-wing, mixed with RBP policies.”
The Representative’s answers reveal that both personal and political sidelining occurred within the party, going all the way back to its formation. While we cannot know the others’ reasons for leaving, it doesn’t seem implausible that this may have been a recurring pattern.
Meanwhile, we reached out to the RBP itself in hopes to get a fuller picture of what went down. Unfortunately, the RBP leadership also declined to comment, stating that “We’re all still figuring it out.” The silence of almost every figure involved with this party collapse is staggering – and it speaks to something potentially deeper than simple policy disagreements.
What’s next?
The Redmont Beach Party once seemed a pre-eminent force in Redmontian politics, and for a time, it brought the right and center of the nation into a united front against the Workers’ Party. The RBP was able to dominate the House of Representatives – and with it, the legislation passed by Congress – for the entire July Congressional term. And now, between devastating election results and a series of defections, they hold barely any representation at all.
In the short term, this likely means the end of the RBP’s relevance, with The Freedom Coalition now being the most powerful party of the right (in Congress at least), and the other factions of the RBP being represented by New Alliance, the LPR, and political independents. In the long term, however, a comeback may not be out of the question for the Beach Party, albeit almost certainly with a diminished position. The recent fall and subsequent resurgence of the Workers’ Party has shown that elected positions alone cannot determine a party’s strength, with membership numbers and cohesion being just as important.
The RBP still remains the second largest party in Redmont, sitting at roughly 35 full members as of time of writing – just 4 shy of the WPR’s 39 members. If the Beach Party is able to rally its followers under a single banner, undertake internal reforms to resolve whatever systemic and personal issues caused this rupture, and run coordinated campaigns, it may very well be able to win back some of its seats in the legislature through special and general elections. That said, it appears that the RBP is taking at least a momentary break from elections, with most party members rallying behind Senate candidate vvirtue_ in the current special election, rather than running a candidate of their own. It remains to be seen whether or not the RBP will once again become a force to be reckoned with in Redmont, or if the once-rising tide will give way to the sands of time.
This story is still developing, and is likely to receive more coverage in the future. Do you have a perspective that wasn’t shared in this article, or know something about the story that we don’t? Please open a ticket in our Discord (found below) and submit a tip!
