Spirian political parties
Spirius has six national mainstream political parties that sit in the Udal or Spirian Parliament. The parliament is elected on the basis of proportional representation and has 657 seats. Below is a profile of each party including their place on the political spectrum from right to left and the current leader.
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Free Alliance Party
Right
Leader: Jadria Riven – former CEO of Riven-Ison Corp.
A progressive conservative party, the Free Alliance’s main focus is on promoting the interests of the business class. To this end, they favour corporate tax-breaks and a moderate reduction of the welfare state as a method of curbing growing budget deficits. They ardently support a balanced budget above all else and are considered fiscally conservative. The party is less focused on social matters, though there is wide disagreement on issues. The party usually supports progressive social policy that does not hinder the interests of businesses and is supportive of same-sex marriages and legalizing drugs. In matters of foreign policy they support the neo-liberal view of free-markets and favor strong alliances with neighboring powers.
Liberal Party
Right-Center
Leader: Ishka Tissur - former city councilor and popular mayor of Minsar
A progressive centrist party, the Liberals have sought to embrace the benefits of social equality from the left with the freedom and economic liberty on the right. The Liberals are a semi-business oriented party and receive many corporate donations as well as having many members from the business class. A majority of Liberal support, however, comes from the older to middle aged and is largely from the middle class. When it comes to social policy the Liberals are progressive, however they are not large proponents of the welfare state and like the Free Alliance Party have sought cutbacks in programs in order to balance the budget and bankroll other priorities. The Liberals have largely focused social priorities on funding national health care and old age pensions, while they have reduced welfare, education and public housing in order to compensate. On matters of morality, the Liberals are divisive. They have members of many faiths and non-faiths and are largely silent on official policy preferring to allow their MPs to speak out on conscience. In foreign policy, they favour a strong stand with other allies and strong military funding.
Green Party
Left-Center
Leader: Leif Sagon – former naturalist and environmental activist.
A progressive, environmentalist party, the Greens have risen to prominence in the last few decades to become the dominant force in Spirian politics. The Greens focus on the environment and see its improvement as the key to improving the lives of all Spirians. As health is a number one priority to the Greens, they have expanded and improved the national health service and begun pro-active programs to attack preventable diseases through massive education programs. They have been viewed as anti-business but their stricter pollution policies are leading to improvement in efficiency in most corporations, resulting in greater market competition. They are in favour of conservation of Spirius’ natural resources and have doubled the green space areas. Energy efficiency has become a key factor in Green policy and the new Energy Independence Initiative is leading to the reduction of greenhouse gasses, air pollution, and the dependence on expensive foreign oil, by switching to renewable energy production. The greens also support the welfare state, though the expensive green policies have pressured them to reduce funding in recent years to balance the budget. The Greens are a domestic-oriented party and have little interest in foreign affairs. They generally support multilateralism and UN sponsored initatives.
Progressive Party
Left
Leader: Dr. Ghandahar Nimbori – former medical doctor
A socially libertarian party, the Progressives are more of an issue oriented party than a governing party. Their platform seeks to move Spirian society in a more liberal and free direction. They advocate civil libertarianism and the withdrawal of the government from people’s lives as much as possible. They support the relaxing of laws regarding drugs, weapons, nudity, prostitution, immigration, censorship, as well as rejecting Christian morals regarding euthanasia, family values and abortion. They promote liberal immigration policies and multiculturalism, believing that the diluting of the dominant culture is in the best interests of pluralistic social change. Members in the party are widely diverse, although it does seem to appeal to youth and some immigrants, as well as some intellectuals. The party attracted strong support in the middle of the century from middle class libertarians and secular small-government rightists. In foreign policy the party advocates a neutral non-judgmental stance believing that it can work with any nation, regardless of beliefs, to accomplish its goals and that recognizing enemy states is unnecessary. It supports free-markets and believes business should be free of regulation though it does not advocate tax breaks. Despite the party’s radicalism it has managed to influence government policy during several minority governments even once forming a coalition with the Liberals.
Social Democratic Labour Party
Left
Leader: Mace Korlin – former union president.
A progressive and socialistic party, the Social Democratic Labour Party has worked for the interests of the lower class workers, laborers and unions. In its period of power, it encouraged workers to unionize and was instrumental in establishing many of the country’s welfare state policies. Today, Social Democrat policies focus mainly on increasing funding to pension programs, unemployment insurance, national healthcare, day care programs, free universal education, public housing and government owned corporations. In foreign matters, the party has advocated a strong stance of neutrality and has been reluctant to join international organizations, for fear of being dragged into conflicts that do not concern them. The party is against free-trade, believing that a heavily regulated, government controlled economy is best for local industry, workers and the general population, and favours high tariffs.
Social Reform Party
Far-Left
Leader: Dr. Sasha Maigod - professor of political science and international affairs.
A heavily socialist party, the Social Reform has promoted policies that would make Spirius a completely socialized country. They promote full nationalization of all industries and the forming of new cooperatives for light industry. They favor a harsh progressive income tax for the wealthy, repression of private industry, and expansion of the welfare state to its ultimate capacity. On moral issues they are strongly atheist and support humanist moral values. On the international stage they believe in a strong military presence and alliances with other left-minded countries, often suspicious of heavily capitalist nations. Of all the mainstream parties, the Social Reform is the smallest and the most idealistic. The party’s membership consists largely of middle to upper class people with many academics, intellectuals, scientists, entertainers, and social activists featuring prominently. Youth also feature prominently and the party has widespread support on university campuses across the nation. The party has been criticized for being too utopian in its ideals but its members are by far the most charismatic and active.
