The beleaguered planet of Asura in the Ferron system was today the unlikely venue for a campaign launch aimed at not only unseating the local senator, but rebranding an often mocked minor party mostly known on the opposite side of the Empire. Since its foundation in 2732, the Party for Human-Xi'an Cooperation and Li'tova (PHXCL) has been a perennial candidate across former Perry Line systems. Once characterised by Terra Governor Bakos as 'a bunch of Xenophillic cranks', they have long campaigned for peace and cooperation with the Xi'an Empire, a platform that has on occasion led to suspicion from the authorities. The closest they have ever come to electoral success was in 2920, where they attempted to exploit the economic boom brought by the Xi'an lendlease agreement with MISC to gain a Senatorial seat on the company's headquarter planet of Saisei. That bid ended in scandal when questions emerged over candidate and party leader Gerry Task's support of a conspiracy theory claiming that the Xi'an-Human Cold War never actually happened. PHXCL is however no more, as the party is now relaunching itself as 'Future Path', and the first political scalp they are hunting is far outside their traditional battleground. Instead the Future Path party has come here to Asura, the seat of prominent Universalist Senator Turston Haskell who last year made news for his fiery interrogation of Xi'an representatives in Congress over the HuXa trade agreement. And they might just make waves: while the old party tended to follow an optimistic 'peace and love' strategy, local candidate, businessman Vikram Hartigan is a fire-spitting populist with strong words to say about his current representative. Speaking to a enthusiastic crowd in the capital city of Tram: "Senator Haskell doesn't care about Asura, and he doesn't care about us. When he attacked Torral Aggregate in Congress last year he stood against a wave of progress that could bring jobs and industry back to our planet. He did that to feather his own nest with dark money from the companies that got rich bleeding this planet dry. A true Senator of Asura would be welcoming Xi'an business to the UEE, and promoting Human business interests in the Empire. But not Haskell. That's why I'm running as the Future Path candidate on Asura: to rebuild Asura as the welcoming home for Xi'an industry on this side of the Empire." I sat down with Hartigan to ask how he intends to unseat the senior Senator: "Mr Hartigan, thank you for joining us. You are running under the banner of Future Path, formerly the PHXCL. Why should the people of Asura vote for a party that has never had a political interest in this part of the Empire?" Look: I'm Asura born and bred. I'm a locally known figure, my chain of stores employs hundreds of citizens, and I've made my views known for a long time. If people agree with me that we should be rebuilding Asuran industry, then they should vote for me no matter what banner I am under. I'm a former member of the Centralist party, and I tried to secure their candidacy in the past two elections, but the major parties here are sewn up in corruption and cronyism, and the people are never going to get a fair choice voting for them. We need fresh blood, and Future Path offers that. "So you are just using the party funds because you couldn't secure support from a traditional party?" Imperator Costigan himself couldn't secure a nomination here. The Asuran Senatorial seat has become a puppet seat for the very corporations that got fat off our resources centuries ago. I believe in the platform of Future Path, and I am proud to run as their candidate. "You have made allegations of corruption before. Can you substantiate them?" I'm just saying what every person on this planet is thinking when we see our Senator getting all of their campaign funding from big businesses and then speaking out against bringing in new industry, and speaking out against forcing companies to clean up their environmental messes. It's plain as day to the ordinary Citizens on the street. "So what would you do differently?" I would look to repeal and renegotiate the parts of the HuXa Agreement that restrict Xi'an companies developing industries close to Earth; I would campaign to accelerate the phase-out of tariffs on Xi'an imports; and I would work tirelessly to represent the wellbeing of every single Citizen and Civilian on this planet. It's madness that our senator is Chair of the Committee on Planetary Development, and yet his own backyard is receiving zero attention for Planetary Development! I would seek to change that. "Returning to your party: what do you say to the claim that PHX...sorry...Future Path is merely a front for SaoXy'an officials to meddle in UEE Politics" Utter rubbish. We are humans representing human interests: we believe that those interests are best served by working with our neighbours. Look at the economic success of companies like MISC: that was built through cooperation. We've got to stop throwing our own people on the bonfire of political special interests and just do what's best. "But you are in part funded by Xi'an special interests?" Now look, the majority of our donations come from every day people who want to see a change, an end to centuries-old suspicion. We have some corporate donations: and why wouldn't we? We are a party that wants to promote business. All of our donations, from Human and Xi'an companies alike, are in accordance with electoral regulations. This is just an attempt to stoke Xenophobia. "And does the party still believe that the Xi'an-Human Cold War never happened?" Another slander. That has never been party policy, and the very idea is a gross misrepresentation of the views of the PHXCL's former leader. First and foremost let me say that I and the party recognise the enormous sacrifices made by our men and women in Uniform, both during the Cold war and today. We have the utmost respect for their service. Nobody has ever claimed that the war didn't happen: Mr Task merely had agreed with the views of a prominent academic who argued that it was the Messer Dynasty that deliberately initiated and exacerbated hostilities, creating the war, in order to solidify their own power. The SaoXy'an defended themselves against our posturing: why would they want a war with us, when they are locked in battle with the Kr'Thak? With all the other travesties committed by the Messers, would it be so surprising that they also misled the public? "So you DO believe in the conspiracy theory?" I believe in rigorous historical enquiry and facts. There's a mountain of evidence that shows that the Xi'an militarised our border in response to our aggression, not the other way around....but all of this is a distraction when the real topic of conversation that matters to the Citizen on the street is voting out our useless Senator, and bringing real change to Asura. It remains to be seen whether this bold attempt at political rebranding will pay dividends on election day, but Hartigan's message of jobs and industry is certainly resonating with an electorate that has little love for their sitting Senator. One woman attending the rally who asked to remain nameless said "We are sick of only having the choice between two or three offworld fatcats who just want to use our seat for their own ends. It's time that Asura was represented in the Senate and the Empire once again. Vikram says what he means, and he's saying what we are all thinking." We will continue to report on this story as the election nears.