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.

In 3263, Prinzhorn was narrowly elected President of Rutania. A year later, Guillaume d'Estaing was elected leader of the Liberal Party. Prinzhorn was reelected President in 3267 but the rivalry between he and d'Estaing spilled out into the open.



In 3269, Prinzhorn called on Prime Minister Marius Villadsen to challenge d'Estaing for the leadership and d'Estaing asked Wendy Miyagi to run against Prinzhorn for the presidential nomination. d'Estaing was reelected leader by nearly 20% while Prinzhorn was overwhelmingly defeated in his bid to receive the party's nomination.

Wendy Miyagi was elected President of Rutania in 3271 but was defeated four years later. In 3278, after 14 years as leader, Guillaume d'Estaing stepped down. d'Estaing's deputy, Norm Carbines was elected unopposed to replace him.

Carbines proved to be a capable leader who reformed the structure of the leadership. As leader, he combined the two deputy leadership positions into one. His leadership quickly fell into question after he was unable to form a government despite winning the most seats in Parliament. He was also criticized for his failure to help elect Felipe Casagrande to the presidency.

In 3282, after failing once again to form a government, Carbines was ousted by Paul Kilgariff. Months later, Kilgariff saw the party make huge gains in the parliamentary elections. Two months after the elections, Kilgariff was able to win enough support in Parliament to become Prime Minister. Unfortunately, Felipe Casagrande was unable to win the presidency. He lost by a mere 1.54% in the second round of voting.

Party Leadership
Note:  Darren Coufal resigned as Deputy Leader on January 17, 3260. Wendy Miyagi resigned as Deputy Leader on July 14, 3269 after she was selected by the party to run for the Presidency.