11-03-2023, 06:47 AM
United Commonwealth Press - Druk Abjadnanaj Sadružnasci
With the 1992 election season coming up, let’s give our listeners abroad a refresher on the politics of the Trans-Sastovian Commonwealth.
Since its founding in 1981, the Commonwealth has been led by a coalition comprised of the parties most responsible for its establishment. The Triarchy is led by the Federal Republican Party of Vertansk and Solavan, a big tent party started by Maanus Kaljurand, Father of the Commonwealth. Despite his death in 1986, the FRP-VS attempts to adhere to his ideals today. The FRP-VS is the largest political party in the Commonwealth, with 48 seats in Parliament thanks to the support of the middle and upper class in much of the country.
The second largest party in the Triarchy is the Ikuinist Movement, with 21 seats in Parliament thanks to a boost in popularity after a recent economic crisis. Started by Taras Levandi, a prominent poet and intellectual, the Ikuinists advocate for radical changes in society to make up for what Levandi calls, “an aeon of quiescence underneath the Dual Monarchy.” The Ikuinist Movement has the most appeal with the young urban population (primarily men) and maintains a paramilitary wing known as the Greencoats.
The last party in the Triarchy is the Agrarian-Environmental Union, a merger between the Farmer’s Party and Green Party. The Farmer’s Party is the oldest faction in the Triarchy, a legacy maintained by the AEU. The Agrarian-Environmental Union supports protections for the environment and the rural population, believing that small farmers are the backbone of republicanism in contrast to the “urban aristocracy.” While the Agrarian-Environmental Union as a whole does support the separation between church and state, a prominent part of the AEU is dominated by members of a Drevist sect nicknamed the “Smilers,” which push for a return to nature in the name of spiritual purity and oppose the Commonwealth's industrialization efforts.
The Movement for the Defense of the Country has made stunning inroads in building a coalition capable of challenging the leading Triarchy in the last few months. An alliance between several disparate political parties only loosely united by the goal of ousting the Triarchy, whether it will be able to persist in the event they are successful remains to be seen. The largest faction in the MDC is VzN (For New Vertansk), a successor to the Dual Monarchy’s Sovereign Law Party led by the elderly Engus Caune. VzN pushes for a return to the pre-revolution collaboration between the Drevan Church and government, believing that the misfortunes suffered by the Commonwealth are a result of moral degradation from an abandonment of Drevist values.
Further to the right of VzN is the National Rejuvenation Party, most popular in Loravia and led by the native Halšan Borushko. Traditionalist to the point of being labeled reactionary by its opponents (something embraced by many of its members), the NRP advocates for regionalism, economic nationalism, patriotism, and a return to the social order of old. “Smilers” that are not a part of the Agrarian-Environmental Union typically support the NRP.
The final leading party in the MDC is the Four River Association, led by and dedicated to Elina Sisask. The 4RA is a populist left-wing group, popular with unions and poor veterans thanks to Sisask being a daughter of a famous war hero. While the Movement for the Defense of the Country has recently welcomed the nationalist Solavanian Democratic Alliance, led by the secessionist Annika Raud, the New League has indicated that it is unwilling to cooperate with the MDC due to the radical policies of the 4RA.
While the Triarchy can rely on 14 seats from the ongoing boycott of Parliament by Otikan nationalist parties and subsequent distribution to a leading coalition, polls indicate that the MDC, with 79 seats, would only be 7 seats short of the Triarchy’s 86. How the Triarchy will attempt to respond to these gains remains to be seen. This election has been marked by an increase in violence, with military police deployed in major cities across Solavan and Vertansk to discourage further clashes between Greencoats and MDC supporters.
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The Special Police Corps, perhaps more than any other branch of the Army, serves as a microcosm of its new role in the country’s politics. First known as the Army Special Police Corps, the SPKA was initially founded to manage and coordinate the Sola-Vertanskan Army gendarmerie, before finding itself responsible for overseeing military intelligence as well in the wake of a massive spy scandal in the 19th century. With the ascension of the Army of the Commonwealth to “defender of republicanism” after the revolution, however, the SPKA dropped the “Army” part of its name and was elevated to state security bureau. The Special Police Corps, with its greatly increased autonomy, answered only to the Premier on the rare occasion he deigned to call upon them.
This was one of those occasions.
Headquarters of the SPKA
Lev Rūdolfs listened patiently as Prime Minister Kraucanka raved in his ear. Although he had labeled Kraucanka a weak, mild-mannered nebbish in their first conversation after he took office, the vitriol in his words showed he had unexpectedly found his spine.
“They’re up to something, Rūdolfs, and you know it as well as I do. They’ve turned my own hometown against me. I can’t even get a call with those ingrates in the New League. The amount of money the MDC has spent on their campaigns has doubled since the last election, and I want you to know how they’ve gotten it. If you can find anything linking them to the exiles, tell me immediately. Understood?”
“Understood.” Lev Rūdolfs hung up the phone. Rūdolfs had been the director of the SPKA since the Commonwealth was founded, and his early induction into the SPKA was not, unlike many newly promoted members of the Army, simply a matter of filling in the vacuum left behind by exiled officers. He was a man of deep convictions and unwavering paranoia, with a strong belief in the Commonwealth’s ideals and an equally strong suspicion of those who might long for the bygone era of the Dual Monarchy. Any action, in Rūdolfs’ mind, was justified as long as it safeguarded the newborn republic, and it was for these reasons that he had been spying on the MDC long before the Prime Minister gave him the word.
With the 1992 election season coming up, let’s give our listeners abroad a refresher on the politics of the Trans-Sastovian Commonwealth.
Since its founding in 1981, the Commonwealth has been led by a coalition comprised of the parties most responsible for its establishment. The Triarchy is led by the Federal Republican Party of Vertansk and Solavan, a big tent party started by Maanus Kaljurand, Father of the Commonwealth. Despite his death in 1986, the FRP-VS attempts to adhere to his ideals today. The FRP-VS is the largest political party in the Commonwealth, with 48 seats in Parliament thanks to the support of the middle and upper class in much of the country.
The second largest party in the Triarchy is the Ikuinist Movement, with 21 seats in Parliament thanks to a boost in popularity after a recent economic crisis. Started by Taras Levandi, a prominent poet and intellectual, the Ikuinists advocate for radical changes in society to make up for what Levandi calls, “an aeon of quiescence underneath the Dual Monarchy.” The Ikuinist Movement has the most appeal with the young urban population (primarily men) and maintains a paramilitary wing known as the Greencoats.
The last party in the Triarchy is the Agrarian-Environmental Union, a merger between the Farmer’s Party and Green Party. The Farmer’s Party is the oldest faction in the Triarchy, a legacy maintained by the AEU. The Agrarian-Environmental Union supports protections for the environment and the rural population, believing that small farmers are the backbone of republicanism in contrast to the “urban aristocracy.” While the Agrarian-Environmental Union as a whole does support the separation between church and state, a prominent part of the AEU is dominated by members of a Drevist sect nicknamed the “Smilers,” which push for a return to nature in the name of spiritual purity and oppose the Commonwealth's industrialization efforts.
The Movement for the Defense of the Country has made stunning inroads in building a coalition capable of challenging the leading Triarchy in the last few months. An alliance between several disparate political parties only loosely united by the goal of ousting the Triarchy, whether it will be able to persist in the event they are successful remains to be seen. The largest faction in the MDC is VzN (For New Vertansk), a successor to the Dual Monarchy’s Sovereign Law Party led by the elderly Engus Caune. VzN pushes for a return to the pre-revolution collaboration between the Drevan Church and government, believing that the misfortunes suffered by the Commonwealth are a result of moral degradation from an abandonment of Drevist values.
Further to the right of VzN is the National Rejuvenation Party, most popular in Loravia and led by the native Halšan Borushko. Traditionalist to the point of being labeled reactionary by its opponents (something embraced by many of its members), the NRP advocates for regionalism, economic nationalism, patriotism, and a return to the social order of old. “Smilers” that are not a part of the Agrarian-Environmental Union typically support the NRP.
The final leading party in the MDC is the Four River Association, led by and dedicated to Elina Sisask. The 4RA is a populist left-wing group, popular with unions and poor veterans thanks to Sisask being a daughter of a famous war hero. While the Movement for the Defense of the Country has recently welcomed the nationalist Solavanian Democratic Alliance, led by the secessionist Annika Raud, the New League has indicated that it is unwilling to cooperate with the MDC due to the radical policies of the 4RA.
While the Triarchy can rely on 14 seats from the ongoing boycott of Parliament by Otikan nationalist parties and subsequent distribution to a leading coalition, polls indicate that the MDC, with 79 seats, would only be 7 seats short of the Triarchy’s 86. How the Triarchy will attempt to respond to these gains remains to be seen. This election has been marked by an increase in violence, with military police deployed in major cities across Solavan and Vertansk to discourage further clashes between Greencoats and MDC supporters.
-------------------
The Special Police Corps, perhaps more than any other branch of the Army, serves as a microcosm of its new role in the country’s politics. First known as the Army Special Police Corps, the SPKA was initially founded to manage and coordinate the Sola-Vertanskan Army gendarmerie, before finding itself responsible for overseeing military intelligence as well in the wake of a massive spy scandal in the 19th century. With the ascension of the Army of the Commonwealth to “defender of republicanism” after the revolution, however, the SPKA dropped the “Army” part of its name and was elevated to state security bureau. The Special Police Corps, with its greatly increased autonomy, answered only to the Premier on the rare occasion he deigned to call upon them.
This was one of those occasions.
Headquarters of the SPKA
Lev Rūdolfs listened patiently as Prime Minister Kraucanka raved in his ear. Although he had labeled Kraucanka a weak, mild-mannered nebbish in their first conversation after he took office, the vitriol in his words showed he had unexpectedly found his spine.
“They’re up to something, Rūdolfs, and you know it as well as I do. They’ve turned my own hometown against me. I can’t even get a call with those ingrates in the New League. The amount of money the MDC has spent on their campaigns has doubled since the last election, and I want you to know how they’ve gotten it. If you can find anything linking them to the exiles, tell me immediately. Understood?”
“Understood.” Lev Rūdolfs hung up the phone. Rūdolfs had been the director of the SPKA since the Commonwealth was founded, and his early induction into the SPKA was not, unlike many newly promoted members of the Army, simply a matter of filling in the vacuum left behind by exiled officers. He was a man of deep convictions and unwavering paranoia, with a strong belief in the Commonwealth’s ideals and an equally strong suspicion of those who might long for the bygone era of the Dual Monarchy. Any action, in Rūdolfs’ mind, was justified as long as it safeguarded the newborn republic, and it was for these reasons that he had been spying on the MDC long before the Prime Minister gave him the word.
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