Starkmanir, Nefantar Face Uphill Battle in Minmatar Politics

Pator - As the Starkmanir and Nefantar search for tribal leaders to represent them at the upcoming tribal assembly, many within the two tribes are expressing worry over whether the two tribes will be able to find an equal voice at the table. With much smaller populations in the Republic than the other five tribes, they worry that they will be simply drowned out.

"It isn't some sort of conspiracy or malice that we suspect," said Elettan Skias, a leader among the Starkmanir refugees in the Pator system. "It is only natural though, given our small population, that the concerns of the larger tribes will be addressed before ours. Unfortunately, that is making it very hard to raise the hopes of my tribe that real progress for us will come out of this."

Some among the Nefantar tribe, however, seem to suspect a more deliberate effort to shut them out of the political process. Agrik Tolenni, a Nefantar trader who left a profitable business in the Mandate to return to the Republic during the Elder War, told us that he and many other leaders of the Nefantar community have been shut out of many parts of the assembly's planning process. "Those of us who came here, most of us gave up everything we owned to return to our homeland. Many within the other tribes seem to have forgotten that though, and still see us as traitors or worse."

Sanmatar Shakor has tried to allay such fears, declaring that all tribes should have equal say at the assembly. As preparations for the assembly continue, however, it remains to be seen whether other tribal leaders and members of the bureaucracy will follow his lead.