1681 Democratic National Convention
The 1681 Democratic National Convention was a political national convention, held in Eliria, Elwynn at a 20-story luxury hotel and condominium apartment building called the Plaza Eliria Hotel. It took place from 10.I.1681 to 14.I.1681 AN. The convention gathered delegates of the Democratic Party of Elwynn elected across the country by registered party members and key internal party constituencies to nominate and elect a new leader and other important national and regional party officials.
Former Eliria city councilwoman and school teacher Helena Strand was chosen as the leader of the Democratic Party of Elwynn by a 54% majority of delegates present after seven contentious rounds of balloting. Eustathius Jonsson, a member of the Normark legislature, was confirmed by delegates as the Deputy Leader.
Delegates at the convention also adopted a new party platform touted as the "most progressive" platform in the history of the party. The progressive shift was often credited at the direction of Helena Strand and her brain trust of advisors, economists, and national experts called the New Democrats. Their influence on members of the party's Platform Committee led to a new direction for the political party in the aftermath of the party's large losses in the elections of 1680. The platform featured a focus on economic issues, stronger financial regulation, constitutional reform, and a commitment to fight corruption in public and private life. Notably, the new platform advocates creating a path for citizenship for former loyal subjects and community servants and the creation of a national federal legislature to unite the country.
The convention was rife with controversy, as it was subject to various conflicts between supporters of the Helena Strand and the New Democrats and several other internal party factions that favored other candidates for party leadership. Some delegates in support of Strand staged protests both outside and on the floor of the convention, with Strand delegates accusing the outgoing party leadership of sabotaging the nomination of Strand as the party's leader. Another controversy in the convention came as the party grappled with the Verionist Vespers and the nationwide purge of Verionists, Franks, and their sympathizers. The Platform Committee and the convention ended up adopting a strenuously supportive stance on the purges, highlighting the need to avoid the return of Vanic rule through Francia (or through their Verionist enablers) and the possibility of an even more bloody Verionist Disaster, this time in Elwynn.
