Rahimist-Ibrahimists
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The Rahimist-Ibrahimists (also known as the Protest Group in contemporary documentation) were a political group within Secundomia. Despite not subscribing to any particular political party, it had ideological cohesion as a significant populist movement that shifted the course of the micronation's politics. The group was formed during the Cabinet Crisis and had a role in instigating the conflict. Largely opposed to the presidency of Parker I, the group coalesced around a rejection of his picks for the presidential cabinet and a demand for a job guarantee for Secundomian citizens.
Etymology
The Rahimist-Ibrahimist protest group did not have a specific label at the time. The group was not an official party but rather a loose confederation of like minded activists. Contemporary documentation of the Cabinet Crisis refers to the group as the "Protest Group," but this vague terminology has lead to historical confusion. Historians in the FSSR era use the term "Rahimist-Ibrahimist" retroactively to apply more specificity on the ideological underpinnings of the group rather than general protest of the Parker I regime as other disagreements existed between members of the populace and the decisions of the president. The term arises from the two leaders of the movement, Ibrahim I and Rahim I.
Background
The Republic of Secundomia in March 2010 was largely divided into two groups. Spencer I had recruited a bulk of the Secundomian population at his school which his brother Parker did not attend. Meanwhile, Parker had recruited a sizeable minority of the population from his friend group as well. Parker and Luke of Secundomia were most active during the foundation of Secundomia and had driven most of the politics within the nation. However, in late February after Parker endorsed Spencer's bid for presidency, it became clear that Spencer's friend group based around Upper and Lower Secundomia controlled the largest portion of the electorate. With the exception of Nate I, these civilians were largely inactive when it came to developmental or political projects, but were the most likely to vote in elections.
Within this group, the brothers Ibrahim I and Rahim I who were also active as nobles in the Kingdom of Sterling, proved to be relatively restless. Rahim I withdrew from Secundomia and was removed from his peerage in Sterling after an altercation with Spencer on a soccer field. He returned to Secundomia and claimed that it was all a misunderstanding, but he lost the trust of King Parker of Sterling, leading to his disinheritance from the throne. These minor spats set a tone of unrest in the southeastern sector of Secundomia where they hailed from.
Meanwhile, Parker I had developed a reputation for significant control over Secundomia. While claiming to act as a neutral party, Parker always served as the sole election official even when running for highest office. The potential for fraud was fairly low with a small number of votes cast in each election, but this had raised some suspicion. Further, leaders like Luke of Secundomia had criticized Parker for consistently being in power. Although he took a one-month leave from the highest office in Secundomia during March, this was of his own volition after endorsing his brother as Secundomia's first sole-president. This latent mistrust and the fact that Secundomia only had 3 distinct leaders rotating in and out of office during its entire existence lead to reactionary feelings amongst the populace.
Ideology
The Rahimist-Ibrahimists did not have an explicit ideological platform. As a loose confederation of activists, the two brothers often communicated in broken or vulgar English on the Secundomian message boards. This was not entirely without precedent, as Secundomian email threads often took a much more casual tone than its peers in the micronational world. This informality created some dubiousness in assessing the group's motives.
The core belief of the Rahimist-Ibrahimists was that all members of Secundomia should be encouraged to participate and be given specific jobs by the government. This belief in a job guarantee was the earliest example of the labor movement appearing in the young micronation. The modern Maoist-Worker's Party of Secundomia draws some heritage to this moment as a rare instance of left-wing activism in the Republic era of Secundomia. However, the group made no explicit claim to left-wing politics and the seizure of the job guarantee by Conservative politicians like Luke demonstrates that the movement was more generally Populist rather than committed to anti-capitalism.
Actions
Initial Protest
Parker released his picks for Cabinet on 16 April 2010. These picks included just 3 positions, a massive decrease from the Spencer administration. An initial protest was sparked by Rahim I, who demanded that Parker's cabinet be expanded and that he be given a position. Rahim was joined by his brother who expanded the demand to a general call for all citizenry. After the president reacted negatively to these protests, Luke and Spencer joined in to criticize the president. They stopped short, however, of direct attacks.
After Parker I relented and expanded the cabinet, the group was still unhappy. A program of citizen comment was also rejected as insufficient. The group began to demand not just a job guarantee, but specific jobs for specific citizens. Specific messages from Ibrahim were noted as explicit and against the Secundomian Constitution's controversial "harassment clause."
Tactics
Rahim and Ibrahim were noted for trolling and spamming the Secundomian message boards as a core tactic to achieve their goals. After Erised came to the president's defense during the failed trial of Ibrahim, they escalated to personal insults targeting members of the group. This was the most controversial aspect of the groups tenure. While Nate I was associated with the group throughout its tenure, he was not a member but rather the group's legal representation and he did not participate in any trolling, spamming or alleged harassment.
As Secundomia ran on largely unregulated email lists, the only counteract to harassment was for individuals to block the protestors. This then diminished the effectiveness of communication as some members received messages and others didn't. The spamming also lead to less active members like Seth I receiving excessive, unwanted and vulgar emails about Secundomia, a factor that lead to the secession of Leospecsia. These tactics proved extreme for even staunch defenders of free speech in Secundomia like Luke and lost their support amongst key officials.
Successes
While the group was controversial, it was hugely successful in achieving disruption of Secundomian life. Parker I privately contemplated leaving the country or even disestablishing it. The secession of Leospecsia was viewed as a success by Rahim who wanted, at any cost, to hasten the collapse of the Parker I presidency. The group also succeeded in its goal of incentivizing presidential candidates to pursue a job guarantee regardless of citizen activity. After Luke's election as president, he quickly assigned roles to all citizens and sought input, learning from the failures of the cabinet crisis.
Collapse
The Rahimist-Ibrahimist protest group overextended itself by late April. Continuous spamming, especially by Rahim, darkened the public's view of the group. While the Trial of Ibrahim failed to bring stability within the country, a group of disgruntled citizens decided to seek extralegal justice against the brothers. Meeting privately, this group consisting of Spencer I, Luke of Secundomia, Erised and Parker I resolved to exile Rahim indefinitely with the possibility of review. They also issued a warning to Ibrahim. After notifying Rahim, all members issued a block to his email account, effectively ending his ability to communicate directly with any Secundomian. The seriousness of this unprecedented action quieted the group and lead to a public apology from Ibrahim for the severity of his actions. Only the prominent attorney Nate I, committed to his zealous defense of the pair, disputed the exile and censure, but no official lawsuits were filed.
Reaction
Short-term reaction
Immediate reactions to the group were largely positive outside the office of the President. While Parker backlashed against the brothers, even conservative party leadership under Luke embraced the group's demands and defended their right to free speech. Nate I, who carried significant cache as a founding member of Secundomia, was employed as legal representation for the group. Spencer I also stood by the siblings right to protest and advised Parker to ameliorate his response.
Intermicronational Response
As the main liaison between Secundomia and the MicroWiki community, Parker hoped to martial intermicronational support for his leadership. However, he underestimated the stress and time commitment that managing the crisis had on his diplomatic abilities. Secundomia largely entered a period of self-isolation purely due to the significance of the conflict. Due to this limitation, there was little intermicronational discussion either in support or against the protestors.
Within the Secundomian Sector, however, the prominent nation of Atlan joined in support of the legitimate government of Secundomia. The Empress was subject then to the brunt of attacks from the protestors. This led to some of the most vitriolic sections of the Cabinet Crisis and ultimately what soured the public to their tactics. Parker credited Atlan's support as crucial to victory against Rahim.
Rejuvenation
Immediately following the controversy, Ibrahim left the group and kept a low profile, eventually joining the Secundomian Conservative Party. In May, however, he decided to reignite his political aspirations and ran for President of Secundomia. After failing to secure the Conservative nomination, he filed a bid to run as an independent. The Conservative Party nominee Spencer I withdrew from the race and endorsed Ibrahim, mistakenly believing this would secure Ibrahim's victory. Spencer had forgotten that, as an incumbent, Parker was automatically nominated for president.
Enjoying the support of a broad coalition through Spencer's endorsement, Ibrahim became the frontrunner in the May elections. Although he ran a mild mannered campaign, a far cry from the extreme tactics of his earlier movement, he still attempted to capitalize on the same populist labor promises and criticism of Parker's extended leadership. Controversially, the election ended in a tie several times. Spencer and Ibrahim suggested that Rahim be able to break the tie, but this was roundly rejected by those who remembered the perils of the cabinet crisis. Eventually, Ibrahim was defeated and failed at another attempt to run for the Conservative nomination in September. Ibrahim left the political sphere and returned to his private life, making contributions to the Secundomian Air Force and the Secundomian Olympic team.
Legacy
The Rahimist-Ibrahimist movement was notable as it was the first semblance of truly left wing activism in Secundomia. While all parties, even including the Conservatives, tended to progressive stances on social issues, no political party during the Republic period demanded nearly the radial economic change demanded by the movement. After the collapse of the Third Kingdom, Secundomia was swept up by a series of left wing parties including the Anti-Sloth Party, Worker's Party and Maoist-Worker's Party. These movements did not share any membership with the Rahimist-Ibrahimist movements and abhorred their tactics of harassment. Worker's Party leadership in particular criticized their attacks on Erised as particularly misogynistic. However, later researchers within the Maoist-Worker's Party recognized the importance of demands for radical restructuring, even if these demands did not go far enough or were carried out improperly.