(Above: Jax Bertoni speaking at an event he organized)
Jax Bertoni made headlines last year when he became the youngest member to ever be elected to the People’s Chamber; at age 21 (age requirement is 20+, but no one under 25 had ever been elected before him). He was elected among a progressive wave, so to speak, which saw his party, the Environmental Justice Party obtain a majority, for the first time in its history, and elect Chancellor Recardo to replace the outgoing Cori Bernadino. He has worked to make a name for himself as one of the most progressive members of the EJP, a notoriously progressive party, the furthest left party that is competitive in Federal elections. He is also among the top 5 fundraisers (and he only used grassroots funding) in all of the Chamber, known for his immense and seemingly untouchable popularity with the under 35 voter, and the under $60,000 earning voter.
Late last night, after Chancellor Recardo updated her agenda and met with EJP members at an emergency conference to plot a path forward, Jax Bertoni rose to announce that he and 123 of his fellow EJP members would be leaving the party. While technically now being independents until the next election, they formed a new party and will register when they seek reelection. Their party: The Progressive Socialists (PS), more liberal and progressive than the EJP.
What motivated the exodus? The administration’s airstrike authorization in Hunaq and the Chancellor’s notorious security bill. Bertoni claimed both were “evidence of an abuse of power and executive overreach which members cannot afford to be complicit in and must be confronted”.
Jax Bertoni’s existence is already historic and unprecedented; but he will also be the Chair of the newly formed party, the youngest party chair in history. He turns 22 in April.
The Progressive Socialists have made clear they do not, at the moment, support a vote of no confidence against the Chancellor; but also made clear that is subject to change at any time. If Chancellor Recardo did face such a vote, she can only afford to lose a total of 67 PLP(22)-EJP(238)-PS(124) votes to maintain her Chancellorship.
The Progressive Socialists Agenda has many of the same aspects of the EJP agenda, with a few differences:
- Strengthening civil rights and due process
- Abolishing the Monarchy
- Lowering the voting age to 16 and expanding voter eligibility to residents, not just citizens, of Doatia
- Establishing a $2,000/Doa a month Universal Basic Income for anyone earning less than $50,000
- The unionization of all places of employment throughout Doatia
- Raising the minimum wage and indexing it to inflation
- Establishing a Billionaire tax which taxes billionaires out of existence
- Establishing a wealth cap of $100,000,000 Doa
- Strengthening hate crime laws
- Expanding and investing in indigenous territory
- Withdrawing support and troops for the war in Roucourt
- Tripling the immigration cap and making it easier and faster to become a citizen
- Make access to housing, food, water, a quality job, healthcare, and education a human right
- Eliminate the use of fossil fuels within 3 years
- Lowering the marijuana consumption age limit to the voting age
- Defund and demilitarize the police
Jax Bertoni, a gay black man and native resident to Elverworth, a large city in southwest Doatia, was the youngest member of the Chamber, the first openly gay person to represent his district, the first person raised by a single mother and grow up in poverty to represent any district in his city, and now, the youngest (and first openly gay) person to Chair a Federally competitive party.
Chair Bertoni is also calling for a special election within the next 90 days, or else his party will begin protesting each vote starting on the 91st day by abstaining, which will effectively halt the Recardo agenda. He’s already shown his is not afraid to play hardball and he and his fellow party members are raising campaign funds fast.
