Aloria

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PDR MP to run as independent over depopulation crisis
2 February 5634


Above: Allega Ruchti MP

Allegra Ruchti, an MP for the Free Citizen's Party (known by its Cymerian acronym, PDR) in Kurmal, has announced she will resign from her party's whip and seek re-election as an independent. In a statement posted on social media, Ruchti said the PDR had 'not only failed to reverse, but actively facilitated' the region's 'severe depopulation crisis'.

Kurmal has been economically decimated by the trend of young people in small towns moving to the coastal city of Port Freiheit, which is located in Ultran. Port Freiheit, also known as Porthffreiheit in Cymerian, is the second largest city in Aloria and the largest majority-Dundorfian city as a result of the mass migration of Dundorfian-speaking young people looking for work. Kurmal's economy was historically reliant on mining, which supported tens of thousands of jobs throughout the region. The decline of the mining industry, as well as high crime and a lack of investment in the city of Felserde (also known as Kraigtreff), have combined to push people out in staggering numbers. Youth unemployment in Kurmal reaches over 50% in some towns and stands at 42% region-wide. 

Ruchti was considered a rising star in the PDR but had been cautioned by the party for voting against its policies on several occasions. At one point, she was given a junior ministerial role in infrastructure but it was removed from her portfolio after she publicly questioned PDR party leader and Finance Minister Joel Kellersberger's handling of the annual budget. She has admitted that her run for re-election as an independent will be 'a tough climb' but said that Kurmal 'needs alternative representation'. Ruchti denied that she was planning to form a new party, or that she would join the populist Nyni party recently formed by a fellow government minister-turned-maverick.

die lokale KURMAL is a Dundorfian language news aggregator based in the region of Kurmal, Aloria.