Progressive Party Platform
Ladies and gentlemen, we have grown considerably as a country in the last three years. I
cannot deny this. Our economic growth, Gross National Product, and so on, have increased. Such
growth can only benefit our country, but I ask you - How would you like it to benefit you? My
esteemed colleagues from the Populist Party have promised to reinvest it, to continue to do as they
have done for the past four years. Not changing course, they call it. This is not a bad plan, but I
ask you, can we do better?
Our country is wonderful. Our people are wonderful. I would not want to live anywhere
else. But we all know that there are problems. Most importantly, there are droughts. We all
remember the drought we had six years ago. Everybody probably knows somebody who suffered a
loss during that drought - crops died, farms went bankrupt, and the suffering was enormous. The
national government spent more money on shipping bottled water that year, than on first-grade
textbooks. We don’t want something like that to happen again.
Of course, we all know it will happen again. We are all familiar with the drought cycle -
we’re staring one down right now. We all learned about the droughts in school - about the Great
Drought of 1912, which wiped out almost a tenth of our population, and forced another tenth to
emigrate. Well, I suggest we do something about it.
One of the many resources our great country possesses, are beautiful, pristine lakes in the
mountains. The sources are unpolluted, and the lakes get enough rainfall, even in the driest of
summers, to never run dry. The Progressive Party has often wondered why Lake Agua, in
particular, was not tapped to irrigate our fields, or provide a stable source of drinking water for the
cities in the south. Well, ladies and gentlemen, now that we have the budget for it, this is what we
will do. Our party believes that we now have the power to tap into Lake Agua, to set up a small
pumping station near its shores which will provide water for the capital city and surrounding
environs in time of need. If possible, we might even tap into the underground streams which feed
Lake Agua, so as not to disturb the fish and ducks which make their homes there. The entire
project is environmentally sound, and, lest we forget, essential to our development as a great
country.
Some would argue it’s a waste of money. Why not reinvest in industry, in the highways,
in bringing more business to the country? These are proven investments - an accountant can look
at the books and show that these will bring benefits to us all. The fact is, we’ve done all that, and
we will continue to do that. But we know, even if the accountants don’t, that the drought is
coming. Let’s invest a little in saving ourselves.
Thank you.
Convention