Pacifican Independence Movement

The Pacifican Independence Movement, or PIM, is the succeeding organization of the former organization of the same name that split from the Progressive Party of the Pacific. The Movement is a coalition of six parties in the Democratic Republic of the Pacific. Led by President Ray Matveyev of the Progressive Party of the Pacific, the alliance includes another party in assembly and four other minor parties that were not elected to assembly in the 2009 elections.

The Movement is a coalition of political parties that advocate for Pacifica's autonomy and independence in the region, it has been described as nationalistic. Predominately left-wing, the bloc supports leftist movements in the country, the exceoption being the center-right Libertarian Party. Founded on 19 September 2009 as a bloc of two parties in assembly, the Progressive Party of the Pacific and the new Liberal Party of the Pacific which had split from the Democratic Party of Washington a month earlier.

History
The Pacifican Independence Movement was originally founded as the organization to spearhead the secessionist movement within Washington State to break away from the United States due to the collapsing economy at that time. The organization successfully staged a recall election of Washington governor Christine Gregoire and campaigned successfully to elect its leader, Ray Matveyev, as the new state governor. When Washington declared its independence, the Movement broke with its political wing, headed by Matveyev, when it rejected offers from the Republic of California to form a political union. Then-President of the Republic of Washington Ray Matveyev declared the Progressive Party to be the succeeding organization to the Indepdence Movement as it lobbied for inclusion into California. When the country did split and most of the former Washingtonian counties joined California, Matveyev and the Progressives stood their ground and formed the Provisional Republic of Puget Sound. As such, the Pacifican Indepdence Movement was dissolved into the larger National Republican Party of California.

When the remaining elements of the Democratic Party of Washington were elected into the first National Assembly of the Democratic Republic of the Pacific in April 2009, they quickly ran into issues regarding policy. In August, the party split into two groups: the Liberal Party of the Pacific, advocating for greater Pacifican autonomy and stood farther to the left on social and economic issues and the Pacifican Democratic Party who stand for greater integration within the region and are more centrist on social and economic issues. Ahead of the elections, the Progressives approached the Liberals proposing a political bloc in the next legislature, promising to campaign for their party if the Liberals supported Progressive legislation and actions. The Liberals agreed, and on 19 September 2009, soon after victories by the Liberals and Progressives, the new Pacifican Indepdence Movement bloc was declared.

Progressive Party of the Pacific
The Progressives dominate the movement in terms of membership size and representation in the government. They led the coalition of parties, with President Ray Matveyev acting as leader de facto of the party within the organization. Secretary of the National Assembly of the Democratic Republic of the Pacific Zachary Hudgins was elected leader de jure of the Movement and is considered the official speaker on party and Assembly affairs within the PIM.

Liberal Party of the Pacific
A founding member along with the Progressives, the Liberals are considered farther to the left than their counter parts, the Pacifican Democrats. Brad Evans leds the party, and repsenents them in Assembly and within the Movement. The Liberals support most Progressive-proposed legislation and was a major factor in helping the Progressives overcome supermajority requirements in the National Assembly.

Common Workers' Party
The Common Workers' Party joined the Pacifican Independence Movement on 5 October 2009, and was the first party outside of the National Assembly to join the bloc. The party, led by Jordan McAllister, advocates for the promotion of local businesses and developments. Companies like Amazon, Microsoft (now the National Institute of Technology), Boeing, Starbucks, and Nordstroms. It is considered the major party when concerned with labor relations and workers' rights. It is endorsed by several labor unions within the country. The Workers' Party currently supports and promotes Liberal-Progressive actions in government.

Cascadian National Party
The Cascadian Natoinalists, whom joined the PIM on 21 October 2009, advocate for the reunion of Washington State under the Pacifican banner. It also supports the growing movement to introduce the Cascadian language, a dialect and modification on the English language, into the Pacifican Republic, claiming that it would further autonomize the country. Led by Linda Josteen, she also runs a party-sponsored educational program to teach the language. She herself claims to be already fluent in Cascadian.

Green Pacifica
This relatively new party has gained significant strength in the area due to its environmentalist positions. Having joined on 2 December 2009, it aims to come out strong in the 2011 National Assembly elections, the party supports many environmentalist movements and promotes environmental causes. Paul Stevenson, who heads the party, is currently the Minister for Evironmental Affairs, even though his party has no representation in Assembly.

Libertarian Party of the Democratic Republic of the Pacific
The Libertarians considers itself mostly seperate from the rest of the movement, and only supports it in nationalistic legislation and actions. Leaning center-right-to-right-wing, the party favors small government, responsible spending, and stands to the right on many social and ethical issued. Joining on 15 January 2010, the move came as a suprise to many when leader Michael Bakers announced that the party would be joining that alliance.

Structure
The Movement is led by the Secretary-General, who is currently Zachary Hudgins from the Progressive Party of the Pacific. The Nominal Leader, however, is considered the de facto speaker and administrator for the movement. Currently, the Nominal Leader is President Ray Matveyev, who is a Progressive. The Secretary-General office rotates every six months from party to party, in the order of largest-to-smallest in membership size. The next Secretary-General Secretary, due to take office on 1 April 2010, is leader of the Liberal Party, Brad Evans.

Those waiting to become Secretary-General form the Secretariat, a council formed by the leaders of the member parties, are able to veto decisions made by that of the Secretary-General with a majority vote. The Secretariat also recieves petitions from the General Congresses where it is reviewed and submitted to the Secretary-General for a final decision. The council also appoints the various co-ordination committees within the Movement, which help administrate the alliance's many sponsored programs, events, and information-gathering activities.

Every three months, or once a natural season, the Secretary-General calls for a four-day General Congress. The General Congress consists of any members of the parties in the Movement that wish to convene in the assembly. Here, the Secretary-General delivers an address to the Congress on the state of the parties and programs within the bloc and may propose actions to be taken by the Congress members. The General Congress may pass petitions to be submitted to the Secretariat concerning any greivance, concern, or proposal that they would like to make to the organization. Congressional members may also during these sessions may petition the Secretariat to remove the current Secretary-General for the remainder of the term. Currently there has been I General Congress of the Pacifican Indepdence Movement, for Autumn 2009: 15-19 October II General Congress of the Pacifican Indepdence Movement, for Winter 2009: 26-30 December III General Congress of the Pacifican Independence Movement, for Spring 2010: 1-4 April