Liberal Party of Nuiqsut
Liberal Party of Nuiqsut Atunianq Katinnagut um Nuiqsut | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | LIB |
| Leader | Johnathan Hasqqiaq-Kalan |
| Headquarters | Port Nuiqsut, The Nuiqsut Confederation |
| Youth wing | Young Liberals |
| Membership (2020) | 65,364 |
| Ideology | Nationalism, Angakkuq spirituality |
| Political position | Center to Center-Right |
| Colors | Blue |
| Aittuik Assembly | 28 / 114
|
| Chamber of Executives | 10 / 34
|
The Liberal Party of Nuiqsut is a political party in the Nuiqust Confederation formed in 1969. Ideologically, the party is based upon Angakkuq spirituality and was founded by veterans of the Great Akiratak War opposed to the socialist government of Albert Kourak. Initially being an opposition party, the Liberal Party rose to prominence during the 1990s under the leadership of Brandon Leman Lomrak.
History[edit | edit source]
The Liberal Party emerged from the Nuiqust Independence Party's rural faction led by Ezekiel Unraqi. Unraqi had the loyalty of much of the military during the Great Akiratak War due to his promises of personal freedoms and defense of traditional Angakkuq practices and philosophy of local government versus the more centralized Confederate faction of Albert Kourak. In 1968, Unraqi narrowly lost to Kourak, accusing the latter of vote tampering and of limiting polling locations in rural villages. Unraqi would eventually be arrested in 1970 for improper ownership of firearms. As a result, veterans armed themselves and occupied the Usamiaq Temple in Port Nuiqsut. This led to a brief battle where 37 civilians would perish along with 12 police officers. In 1972, the Liberal Party would be declared "a threat to collective safety" and banned.
In 1984, upon Albert Kourak's death, his successor, Eugene Parrish, would legalize the Liberal Party and release Ezekiel Unraqi from prison in 1986. Unraqi would lend his support to Brandon Leman Lomrak in the 1988 Election.