Liberal Party of Rutania

The Liberal Party of Rutania, or the Liberals, are a liberal, pro-democracy party in the Commonwealth of Rutania. The Liberals have roots in other political parties, most notably the Free Democrats, a once powerful political force in the Baltusia.

Founded as an alternate to the major political parties in Rutania, the Liberals quickly became a major political force.

History
Following the 3252 elections, many Rutanian's felt that their voices were not being heard. As a result, a group of Ardinian citizens went to Parliament to petition the President and the Prime Minister and ask that ordinary citizens have the opportunity to speak during Question Period. After President Anthony Dawkins rejected this idea, the group formed the Democratic Alliance, a group promoted to letting the average Rutanian speak on issues of public policy. The group soon registered as a political party but had no official leadership.

The Alliance contested the 3256 elections without success. The party failed to nominate a candidate for President and won only 0.05% of the votes in the parliamentary elections. However, the party vowed to fight on after President Dawkins opted not to seek reelection and saw his son fail to replace him. The government did not last and elections were called a year later. The Alliance was ill prepared to fight the election and won only 0.06% of the vote.

Soon after the elections Carl Prinzhorn, a Constitution Party of Rutania MP, was expelled from the party. Prinzhorn decided to join the Democratic Alliance and was acclaimed as the first leader of the party. Prinzhorn was able to get six members of Parliament to join him as members of the party but all were forced to resign their parliamentary seats because they crossed the floor. Prinzhorn asked the tiny membership of the party to change the name of the party, and 94% of the membership voted with Prinzhorn on the issue. Consequently, the Liberal Party of Rutania was officially registered with Elections Rutania.

Prinzhorn quickly wrote a constitution for the party. He appointed two Deputy Leaders, one male and one female. He also added that the Party Leader would be elected by the parliamentary caucus and that the term of said leader would only expire due to retirement, death, or a leadership challenge. Prinzhorn wrote that a leadership election could be held at any time if the election had the support of 10% of the caucus.