Judicialist Party

The Judicialist Part is a faction in Selkie Politics that supports The Khilaia's expansion as an institution for trade, negotiation, mediation, and treaty enforcement, but demands that this institution remain neutral, impartial, and restricted. They support laws and bureaucracies that can better provide stability and standards for international trade, and many of the richest selkie merchants and trading coalitions support the Judicialists in return.   The Judicialists are the most powerful and have the most votes of any of the three main Khilaian political parties. That said, the Judicialists are often seen as synonymous with the status quo and are frequently criticized by members of their own party for their fixation with slow procedure, laws that favor the already-rich, and bureaucracies that poorer selkies struggle to access. This internal dissent can divide the party during important votes and actions, opening them to opposition action.   The Judicialists earned their name as supporters of judges and court precedent back in the late 1800s. They have a reputation for professionalism and cold practicality - they embody the values of the professional classes more than those of the rich, despite being the party of the ultra-rich. A part of this might come from the leadership: both major clans that lead the Judicialists are actually newer than the name and only became major clans in the 1900s, and both used their ties to the professional classes to rise to power. The Judicialist Party as an organized group only materialized rather recently, in the 1970s ME.    The Judicialists are said to run the Khilaia like a merchant's guild or even one of those corporations out of the Empire of Zerua. This is true culturally but falls apart on closer inspection. The Judicialists have a very clear philosophy behind them: they believe that government should be a fair and impartial mediating force that reduces violence and channels disputes into legal spaces. 'Those who play fair should prosper,' they say; 'well-regulated trade benefits all parties,' 'peace is universally profitable,' 'calm seas (stability) makes for good sailing,' and 'all the boats rise with the tide.' The Judicialists also like to talk a very big game about consent-based governing and representation. That said, who is represented and who consents? The Judicialists have only really been interested in protecting poorer selkies when it comes to preventing mutinies through limited concessions. Essentially, providing some legal protections to crews and workers makes them less likely to use violence or political organization - and the Judicialists think in terms of rights, not services. They have been seemingly quite genuine in fighting for universal rights to free religion, free press, free speech, free commerce, and freedom from forced servitude for all selkies, but Judicialists would grind their teeth and fume if they had to actually focus on something like freedom from starvation.   Judicialist philosophers and propaganda tend to focus on that 'discourse of rights' and can even sound quite liberatory. Some more idealistic Judicialists have imagined broader voting rights for selkies and reforms to allow all selkies equal access to Khilaian institutions. These philosophies have not really translated into policy, though.   Clan Mikiraka and Clan Woshalui are the two main powers behind the Judicialists. Mikiraka tends to be the focus on global issues and treaties, while Woshalui often focuses on the sacred isles and the rights of selkies there.