Dundorf

[TheNick]

An Exclusive Interview with Former President Lorena Oberlitz
October 5707

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Former President Lorena Oberlitz  joined the faculty of the University of Dunlake, following her retirement from politics in 5700.

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Nordenhaus, Dunlake - Former President Lorena Oberlitz agreed to sit with our newspaper for an exclusive interview, the first one she is releasing following her departure from Karlottenberg Schloss in 5700. We have covered several issues, starting from international relations, the DSDP, the current state of Dundorfian politics and her post-politics personal life.

Interviewer, Jonas Schumann: President Oberlitz, thank you for sitting with the Zeitung for your first post-presidential exclusive interview. We will cover several issues, and your opinion is still central for many Dundorfians.

Former President Lorena Oberlitz: Thank you Jonas, I am happy to be here and thankful to the Zeitung.

JS: Let's start from international developments. You joined the University of Nordenhaus as a Full Professor in International Relations and ever since you've grown your reputation as our nation's top foreign policy expert. An ally to Dundorf, Luthori, has stepped towards the new MATO organization, and previously, another ally, Narikaton and Darnussia, did the same. The Federal Government clarified that its intention is not to join. Did they make the right call?

LO: I think that the Foreign Minister, my friend Gunther Krancke, released a good statement and I fully endorse it.

JS: Why is that?

LO: As I stated when I was Foreign Minister, we're a pragmatic nation committed to friendship and cooperation and we do so on the basis of commerce and cultural exchanges throughout Terra, mainly through bilateral agreements. We entered multi-nation blocks in the past, like the AU, but since the 5600s our strategy has shifted on these bilateral agreements. Thanks to them, wee entertain very good relations in Artania with Luthori, N&D, and Kundrati. But we also do with countries outside this hemisphere, such as Xsampa and Egelion. I believe that this situation is coherent with our past and with our modest international role and I think that the Federal Government made an excellent call in this matter.

JS: Talking of Federal Government, your party, the DSDP, just entered opposition status after 16 years in power. In these 16 years, the DSDP kept losing votes and parliamentary weight. Some say that the era of the DSDP-NDZP duopoly is effectively over following last November's election. Do you share the view that your party is losing its prestige and with it, its power?

LO: I think that after all these decades since the party system was revolutionized, our country is finally maturing politically. There are benefits and disadvantages: on one hand, more parties and more fragmentation mean that there is increased representation for all the different political opinion and sensibilities. On the other, we saw increasing difficulty in forming cabinets, previous political coalitions becoming obsolete and polarization. My party is the oldest in Dundorf's political scene, and prior to the complete change of the party system we used to reach results lower than 10%, in the 5400s, so this situation where we stayed as a top political force is actually an historical anomaly. Same goes for the NDZP. Our two parties being a duopoly, as you called it, was a natural reaction of the Dundorfian electorate to the sudden change of the political system: they chose stability and found a 'safe option' in supporting this country's two oldest parties. Now that the other parties such as the TLD, the Greens and excetera are becoming more and more institutional it's only natural that the newer generations and the electorate are becoming comfortable in supporting these parties. I think that the DSDP still has a lot to offer to this country, and that our leader Renate Reinhardt did a fantastic job during the last campaign to retain as many votes as possible, I think that after a term in Opposition we will be reinvigorated.

JS: The decline happened mainly during former Chancellor Matthias Werner's watch. Do you blame him?

LO: Absolutely not. I would like to point out Chancellor Werner served for sixteen years and won this party four Federal Elections in a row. He was transformative to the country, being the first gay Chancellor, and promoting important reforms. He probably slowed the decline DSDP would have otherwise had for the reasons I stated previously.

JS: The Pirate Party promised to disrupt Dundorfian politcs and bring "real change". They now joined two Federal Cabinets and the party is normalizing relations with almost every party, exclusind DRF and KBP. Do you think the Pirates were successful in disrupting Dundorf's politics or they're becoming like the 'old' parties they promised to topple?

LO: [chuckles] I feel like I have no right to comment on another party's doings.

JS: You must have a personal opinion.

LO: Well, one can't say they didn't disrupt Dundorfian politics, can they? Since they became a political force, the traditional center-left and center-right coalitions became obsolete. Surely, the Pirates of today are a lot more willing to compromise that the Pirates of fifteen years ago, but that's often the natural evolving of a protest party like theirs.

JS: Should we expect a Pirate entry in the old center-left coalition?

LO: Ask Renate Reinhardt and GPP/DRF,  I am just a Professor!

JS: Let's move on to the final question: how has your life changed following your departure from Karlottenberg Schloss seven years ago?

LO: When my term ended I was sad for a bit: I liked being directly involved in politics whether it was as a Bundestag member, Foreign Minister, DSDP Leader, Chancellor or President. I decided a year and a half after my "retirement" that I still had it in me to do something: after a chat with my husband I decided that I would apply to become a Professor at the Nordenhaus University, and by fall 5702, I moved to this beautiful city. I am happy with what I'm doing now and I enjoy attending dinners at Karlottenberg Schloss with current and former Federal Presidents.

JS: Thank you very much, President Oberlitz.