According to my friendly neighborhood AI, “The Loyal Opposition is a term often used in parliamentary systems and democratic societies to describe the political parties or groups that are not in power but still play a critical role in governance. The term highlights the idea that opposition parties, while disagreeing with the government, remain loyal to the system of governance and the constitution.”
So one determinant is that the Loyal Opposition (LO) is a political party or group – well, we have the group part, so let’s continue.
The LO serves as a check on the ruling party. As long as we advocate transparency and adherence to the rule of law, we have this portion too.
It’s the next piece of being the LO that starts to bring issues in my mind. The LO is supposed to provide constructive criticism, provide alternative solutions, and to represent diverse perspectives. I believe we do all these things excepting provision of alternative solutions. No one can doubt we’re critical of the government. To be sure, given the number of us, the Arkansas 1st people who were recently purged from the Republican Party of Arkansas (RPA) represent a diverse perspective. The issue I have – and I’m probably more guilty of this than anyone else at Arkansas 1st – is that we criticize, but don’t promote any solutions to the problems we present.
The LO is a role we chose, it was not foisted on us, and it’s possible we’re growing into the role as we become more and more used to being the LO and not the RPA. Or that’s an excuse. Probably an excuse. We’ve always maintained that we’re loyal to the system, or at least the system’s documented processes and procedures. We live by the rules.
One of our major problems is that RPA was, and is, not living by RPA Rules. It (RPA) lives but by the less than acceptable alternative of the frame-up, or gang justice if you’re so disposed. Get the powers-that-be angry with you and all of a sudden a totally out of proportion judgment is thrown at you. 
Complain about a county executive committee and a whole county committee is decertified. This removal was cut from a whole cloth, there was no complaint against the county committee, only the elected leaders. The Governor’s fixer took the investigation over, published her own (unauthorized) report of the committee, and recommended decertification. RPA’s Executive Committee then had their marching orders and kicked out over 200 people.
That’s the establishment’s idea how you build the Republican party.
Arkansas 1st is loyal to the system that has fought to make us inconsequential, or at least its ideas. We believe in the RPA Platform and sincerely wish RPA did as well. To us the rules are law; to RPA they’re guidelines to be disregarded whenever it’s expedient. It’s a habit that needs to be broken. The rules certainly need to be overhauled to make them less vague, but following the extant rules is doable with a little common sense. We find RPA lacks common sense in most cases.
Would examples of their inappropriate behavior do anything to convince those who are not already convinced? If so, here you are.
RPA Chair Wood accepted a complaint that was filed in accordance with a non-pertinent section of RPA Rules. He did not send it back to the complainant. The complaint, inappropriately accepted in the first place, did not have sufficient signatures to be accepted, even if it was properly filed. Actions then were instituted to thwart the will of the people by voiding a valid convention’s results for bogus purposes.
Mind you, the whole of the RPA Executive Committee sat in judgment with little, if any, pushback over the wrong they were asked (required by the Governor?) to do.
Back on track – the LO has an institutional role in many systems. Not so here. We have chosen to be the LO; however, there is no official position so designated. We believe someone needs to speak truth to power, to report the news, to tell those stories that are not comfortable or accepted by the system but still need to be told.
And we believe we must question government officials at hearings and during legislative sessions to put our viewpoint on the record and give them information they may be missing.
At Arkansas 1st, we acknowledge the importance of not just identifying problems but also proposing practical solutions. We are committed to addressing challenges thoughtfully and presenting our solutions in a clear and concise manner. However, as the scriptures remind us, “there is wisdom in the counsel of many.”
This is where you come in. We want to hear from you—your insights, ideas, and feedback are invaluable. Hold us accountable to our commitment to solution-oriented action, and join us in creating viable, impactful solutions for the challenges we face together.”
Each of us has a part to play in this. Ours is fairly obvious, and we welcome the role; however you, dear reader, also have a role. Multiple roles in fact. Your job, or responsibility, or role, is to tell us when you believe we’re correct, and more importantly to tell us when you believe we’re not.
We can be wrong too, and as a reader of our site, we welcome your feedback to our work. It feels good to get an “attaboy,” but it’s better to get an “I disagree, and here’s why.” So that’s part of your role.
We also encourage you to be your own LO, writing, calling, and appearing at hearings to tell the government your point-of-view. It’s not only your right, it’s a privilege and a responsibility.
Most people don’t understand the job of the Loyal Opposition. It is not to whine, not to complain, not to sabotage the majority’s work, but to provide a thoughtful, reasoned alternative. If we all remember disagreement does not equate to disloyalty, and reinforces the health and stability of a democratic system, the purpose of the LO becomes plain.
And that’s what we’re about – Regnat Populus!
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