Valruzia

[Aethan]

Janina Dubinska, new leader of Forward Valruzia, wants her party to become "a representation of the average Valruzian": "We are past some general debates in civil rights or economy; we have to evolve to survive"

Same-sex marriage or abortion are not a priority for the new leadership of the conservative Valruzian party, which claims the Valruzian identity is "unique"

February 5723

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When Forward Valruzia was formed in 5641 thanks to the alliance between National Renewal, National Salvation and Agrarian Voice, its core ideas were pretty right-wing. "In the end, the origin of National Salvation formed by former allies and collaborators of the Morawski regime, whilst many members of National Renewal were hardcore conservatives" says politologist Weronika Marziak "The idea behind this early merge was to join efforts to represent the conservative electorate in a not-so-conservative and newly born Valruzian republic. And in that republic, the right was clearly losing". 

This early coalition would not last long, however. Agrarian Voice, which firstly surged as a breakway faction from National Renewal by more agrarianist deputies, left the coalition in 5661 dissatisfied with the direction of the party, preferring to join forces with the socialdemocratic Dignity and Progress (and at the start of the 58th century, both parties will formally create the Socialdemocratic-Agrarian Party, now integrated into Sovereign Valruzia ahead of the 5720 Valruzian elections). The agrarists were never happy with the coalition. "They did it more for survival than for conviction" continues Mrs. Marziak. Valruzia is home to large rural areas, especially in the Chynberg Voivodeship, but those are usually esparsely populated (Chynberg is the least populated region of Valruzia), or reject the label of conservatism - such as the Ruzian Voivodeship, where the uprising against the autocratic Morawski dictatorship had its inflexion point. "A peculiarity from the Valruzian society is that it is decisively on the left side of the political spectrum - the right has never been even close to rule the post-dictatorship country".

And that is certainly true. Almost a hundred years after the fall of the regime in 5624, only three parties have ruled the nation: the Communist Party of Valruzia, the populist Sovereign Valruzia - which many political experts fail to place in a specific place of the political spectrum but which have approved many of the civil rights laws of Valruzia including same-sex marriage, equality or abortion and have nationalized big parts of the Valruzian industry and healthcare sectors - and for just a few years, the socialdemocratic Dignity and Progress. "It is such an anomaly that a fully democratic country has such a long streak of ideologically aligned governments in such a long timespan. There has not been a single stance where the Valruzian right has been able to even have a close taste of what ruling the nation feels like". 

Must be said that Forward Valruzia does have experience in government: the party has ruled the Voivodeship of Gryfit for 65 years of its modern history, and they have ruled their crown jewel, Gryfit, for 70 years across different periods. But that's regional politics. Never national. "Forward Valruzia has only been able to give a hint to Valruzian citizens of what would it look like having them at the helm of the country through their regional governments; and of course, there are matters that are not devolved and therefore, cannot be shown to the general public through examples, only in theorical explanations" says Prof. Aleksander Kuwak, from the University of Brzansk. Their best result both in amount of votes and seats in the Sejm came in 5700 under the last elections contested by their leader Fryderyk Konik, and the two times they have placed in first position, in the 5705 and the 5710 elections, were due to the left being extremely fractured into different parties. And still, they were unable to reach the government. There's however one instance of them grabbing power in Valruzia: in 5641, their candidate Szymona Razem became elected President of Valruzia, the nation's head of State. What seemed to be like the first of many sweet victories for the conservatives turned into a nightmare when just a few years later she was removed from office following a process of impeachment after it was made public her negotiating attempts to deport thousands of Valruzian Yeudis to Amudim.

Many say that one of the biggest problems with Forward Valruzia is that they have not broken yet with that link to the dictatorship, and that many times it has decided to give way to the most right-wing members among its ranks. But this changed yesterday, when the party elected deputy Janina Dubinska as its new leader. The 36-years-old journalist and politician comes from a different generation, one that has no single clue of what was like living under the dictatorship, one that has enjoyed many of the privileges brought by the different governments of SW and the KPW, one that has grown up completely free. And that's where she want to make her voice clear and loud.

"We have to become a representation of the average Valruzian" said in her acceptance speech after she was proclaimed the winner with a 58% backing. Prior to her election, she had already made clear that she rejected the labels of "far-right" posed into her party by some. "We are past some general debates in civil rights or economy; we must evolve to survive" she said in an interview. For Mrs. Dubinska, there's "nothing wrong" with same-sex marriage, with free contraceptives or with giving sex education to minors. "It would seem like somebody in Forward Valruzia has finally made at least an attempt to understand the average Valruzian voter" said Prof. Kuwak "Valruzia is a highly secular country, with more than 60% of its population declaring themselves openly irreligious. It is also home to some of the most progressive Yeudis in Terra, and among that religious population, many of them declare themselves non-practicant. For the average Valruzian, many "moral issues" that would bring a fierce debate in more religious countries have no place in Valruzian society. Same-sex marriage and abortion have acceptance ratings of over 90%, and same goes for sex ed, LGBTQ or women's issues. If a conservative party wants to really succeed in Valruzia, they have to come to terms with that".

And Mrs. Dubinska seems to share the same opinion. Past are the times of radical conservatives leading the way in Forward Valruzia. According to her own words, she wants to build a conservatism á la Valruzian. That is, focusing on "more important and urgent issues" than those who are not even up to debate for the general public. "The Valruzian political landscape is tricky, because in general terms, Sovereign Valruzia attracts some of the Valruzian conservative voters thanks to its pro-military stance, or its nationalistic views in many issues". But that might also start to change, and that could also benefit Forward Valruzia. Gawel Sandów, recently elected Chancellor-President of Valruzia, rules under an absolute majority of Sovereign Valruzia, and word in the street is that he wants to take over the party to push it further to the left on some issues. That would, of course, pave the way for the "moderate alternative" that Janina Dubinska wants to offer. 

Forward Valruzia has already booked a theater in Nowogard next month to present what Mrs. Dubinska calls "the renewed movement Forward", that is, the new main ideological lines of the party, along with a speculated new logo. By then, we will see how the Valruzian society reacts to the party that wants to represent "the average them".