Ár Ré

Ár Ré - Party of Kirlawa, simply known as Ár Ré or Our Time in Luthori, is a Kilani interests, libertarian, and populist political party in Kirlawa represented at the General Assembly, Senate and provincial assemblies. It was formed in 4085 from the merger of the Saoirse and the Nuchtmark Conservative Party, both subunits of the Conservative Party of Kirlawa.

Although the party officially represents Kilani interests, this is merely limited to the superficial "Kilanisation" of Kirlawa. It shares most of its ideals with the CPK, in that it is economically liberal and socially liberal. Ár Ré believes in fiscal conservatism and an aggressive militarist platform. It seeks to withdraw Kirlawa from legislatively-binding treaties, as does the CPK.

Background and Formation
In January 4075, the Nationalist faction of the Conservative Party of Kirlawa formed Saoirse, or Freedom in Luthori, which aimed to represent Kilani interests within the Party. At the time, the Conservatives were mainly divided between libertarian, moderate and traditionalist factions. Saoirse was a loose coalition of the three groups which believed in Kilani interests and a more aggressive militarist policy.

At the time, discontent within the Party grew. The General Executive Committee became increasingly overbearing, as it dictated party policy and actions against the wishes of the parliamentary party and membership. The failure to prevent three simultaneous treaties from passing the General Assembly heightened disillusionment, while conflicts between the different party factions began to tear the party.

Many members of the Conservative Party of Kirlawa resigned from their posts in Cabinet and/or left the Party altogether. In April 4076, Paisley McIntyre, the former Spokesperson for Science and Technology who was involved in a row with then-leader Alexander Magnum III, joined Saoirse. This was followed by several Provincial Representatives in January 4077, who soon left the Party in succession. In August 4078, several Cabinet members resigned from their positions - this continued until 4083. Alexander Magnum III himself resigned in 4081, after being deselected for that year's Presidential elections, the first an incumbent President from the Conservatives had done so.

In 4084, the Nuchtmark Conservative Party, a regional autonomous wing of the Conservative Party of Kirlawa in Nuchtmark, held a plebiscite on whether to disassociate itself from the national party. The plebiscite passed 71% to 29%. The NCP thus became a regional, unaffiliated political party that year. Talks were held between Saoirse and the NCP on whether to form a broad electoral alliance to compete in the elections of 4085.

Eventually, in 4085, the Nuchtmark Conservative Party and Saoirse agreed to merge to form Ár Ré, a new national political party. Hordes of CPK members left the party and joined Ár Ré, prompting an emergency party conference to be held in June of that year. The party membership voted 87% to 13% in favour of joining Ár Ré - Party of Kirlawa, and subsequently, the Conservative Party of Kirlawa was subsumed into Ár Ré that month.

Marathon elections were called to elect a new Leader of Ár Ré. Subsequently, Alexander Magnum III, the previous and last leader of the CPK, was elected in the final round of the vote.

For the party's first elections in 4085, Ár Ré decided to focus on two provinces: Nuchtmark and Uwakah. These were the strongest-performing provinces for Ár Ré's predecessor, the Conservative Party of Kirlawa. In the September 4085 elections, Ár Ré performed remarkably well in those two provinces, but came in less than 5% of the popular vote for all other provinces. Alexander Magnum III was also not elected to the post of the Presidency, and did not qualify past the first round.

The party's fortunes improved with the 4089 elections when it rose to 192 seats, and came in first in both Nuchtmark and Uwakah. Ár Ré became the second largest party represented in the General Assembly. Benedict Cambridge, the party's candidate for the Presidency that year, won the second round of elections and became the first elected President from Ár Ré. In the 4092 elections, the Party came in first in the popular vote, the first time it has done so, and Gisela Guinness won the presidential elections in both the first and second rounds. The party also came in first for the first time in Dirguzia.

First Government (4095 - 4100)
See also: Magnum III ministry

In the January 4095 elections, the party won four provinces, including Merkan for the first time, achieving a total of 255 seats, a majority of 81 over the next party. With this majority, Ár Ré formed a working coalition with the Alternative for Kirlawa, and was able to withdraw from several treaties, including those prohibiting production of GM crops, nuclear energy production and intellectual property rights. Alexander Magnum III's popularity skyrocketed as a result.

As a result of the formation of a coalition, the party's Cabinet was reshuffled such that posts in government would be filled by more prominent politicians of the party. The recent deaths of a number of politicians also left posts vacant as a result.

During the Magnum III ministry, the Government managed to lower the maximum tax band to 50%, and withdraw from eight legislatively binding treaties. This made Magnum popular among the party membership for managing to achieve what his predecessors under the Conservative Party of Kirlawa could not.

However, the Ministry was short-lived, as in the July 4098 elections, the coalition lost its working majority and were replaced in 4100 by an opposition coalition. Magnum III conceded defeat. In the subsequent January 4101 elections, the party suffered further losses, and Magnum III resigned from his post as Leader of Ár Ré. A leadership election was called, which was won by Rebecca Shimmerman, the party's presidential candidate at the time.

Shimmerman, Marcaigh and Monata (4100 - 4132)
Although Rebecca Shimmerman managed to improve the party's fortunes in the 4105 elections, amidst an increasingly competitive political climate and loss of visibility of Ár Ré, the party's performance in the General Assembly elections fell progressively. By the 4116 elections, the party had dipped below 100 seats in the General Assembly for the first time since 4085. Shimmerman resigned as Leader of Ár Ré, and she died a year later.

Tauren Ó Marcaigh won the leadership election and succeeded Shimmerman to become the party's next leader. However, her strong pro-Kilani stance alienated many Luthori voters, and the party achieved its worst electoral result to date in the 4120 elections, with only 7% of the vote captured in the General Assembly elections and placing dead last in the presidential elections. A leadership challenge was fronted against Maracigh by a stalking horse candidate, for which she won, albeit with a noticeable loss of support from party members.

In response to this, Marcaigh sought to move away from her aggressive pro-Kilani stance, adopting a more moderate centrist position for the party. This won back much support in the traditional strongholds of Merkan and Nuchtmark, as well as the ever-important swing province of Uwakah. In the 4123 elections, the party saw a 10% jump in the polls, gaining 80 seats to form the third largest party in the General Assembly with 131 seats in total.

Marcaigh's popularity within the party soared, but owing to "irreconcilable differences between her stance and that of the Party's", she resigned in 4124, triggering the party's third leadership election in a decade. Minato Monata won the leadership election against April McConaughey and became the next Leader of the Party. Marcaigh continued as the party's presidential candidate in the 4126 elections.

In 4132, Monata died while still in her capacity as Leader, the first leader of Ár Ré to do so. A leadership election and presidential primary were called - April McConaughey won both elections convincingly.

All three leaders were presidential candidates but failed to make it to be elected as President. Between them, only one has made it to the second round of a presidential election - Rebecca Shimmerman in the July 4098 presidential election. However, she had yet to ascend to the post of Leader at the time.

After the successful election of McConaughey to the post of party Leader, a cabinet reshuffle was ordered - this was the first major reshuffle since the Magnum III era. Most cabinet positions had previously been left vacant as their holders had passed away.

In the July 4140 elections, McConaughey helped the party achieve a plurality in the General Assembly for the first time since 4098 - during the Magnum III ministry. However, the party's fortunes soon unravelled. The party shed seats continually since that election, reaching a trough in 4158 when the party gained only 63 seats - a first since 4119. McConaughey resigned as Party Leader soon after the result was called.

Cabinet
See also: List of Ár Ré politicians

Presidential candidacy
Ár Ré presidential candidates could contest as many presidential elections until they seek to "withdraw their candidacy", that is, to no longer contest the next election. When this occurs, the Executive will call a presidential primary to elect a new presidential candidate until he/she chooses to withdraw. The Executive will open nominations up to all party members, irrespective of whether they had held elected office under the Ár Ré party banner. All party members are eligible to vote. Results are counted in each province, but the overall winner must attain a plurality of the popular vote. The elections operate under a first-past-the-post system.

For a list of Ár Ré's presidential candidates and the corresponding presidential primary (if available), see Electoral Results.

Executive
The Executive of Ár Ré is analogous to the General Executive Committee of the Conservative Party of Kirlawa, but heavily toned down. It functions more as a board of directors, overseeing the financial and administrative operations of the Party rather than interfering in policy decisions or selection of candidates. The Executive is headed by a Chairman (not to be confused with the position bearing the same name in the CPK), and is composed of ten party officials. By agreeing to be part of the Executive, they are required to forgo any previous posts and commitments, and will be barred for seeking an elected post in the future.

Internal Electoral Committee
The Internal Electoral Committee, also known as the IEC, is a body officially under but judicially independent of the Executive, and handles all internal elections such as leadership elections and presidential primaries. The IEC publishes the timeline and rules for the election where otherwise unstated or ambiguous under the Constitution, and processes and announces the results of each election. Like the Executive, members of the IEC are required to forgo any previous posts and commitments and are barred from seeking an elected post in the future.

Constitution
The party constitution is the bedrock of the internal workings of the party. All decisions made by the Executive and other bodies of Ár Ré have to adhere to the Constitution. The Constitution was originally set out in 4085 and is periodically revised in a Constitutional Convention or Constitutional Review. These conventions and reviews take place in party conferences. There have been three such conventions/reviews to date - in 4100, 4110 and 4125 respectively.

For amendments to the Constitution to pass, it requires a referendum presented to party members in which two-thirds of votes have to been in favour of the amendment. As the Constitution specified that a supermajority of votes and not party members had to be in favour of the amendment for it to pass, this meant that most amendments are passed without the majority, or even plurality support, of the party membership.

Conference
Party conferences, also known as congressional meetings, conventions or convocations, are annual meetings of the party membership, used to create, discuss and ratify proposals for the party's policy platform, as well as to elect certain party officials and Executive members. Conferences typically last for three to five days, and will be opened and closed by the Chairman of the Executive. A keynote speech will be made by the Leader of the Party on the second or third day to set the Party's agenda for the year, following which it will be voted upon and ratified by party membership as a form of approval. Although this is merely ceremonial and does not invalidate the Leader's mandate, a rejection of his speech is likely to raise calls for a leadership election to be held.

In years when leadership elections or presidential primaries are held, special party conferences are convened to announce the winner of these elections/primaries. These conferences are much smaller in nature and usually held at Ár Ré's headquarters in Nuchtmark, rather than in different venues across the country. Campaign strategies and canvassing is also conducted in these conferences in lieu of the upcoming presidential election.

Positions
Ár Ré inherits many of its policy platforms and ideologies from its predecessor, the Conservative Party of Kirlawa. However, it is notably more pro-militarist and focused on Kilani affairs.

Economic policy
As a libertarian party, Ár Ré advocates laissez-faire economic policies. Although there is a general acceptance of Keynesian economic theories, Ár Ré mainly subscribes to monetarist and supply-side schools of thought. Radicals support an anarcho-capitalist agenda. Among the party's most important causes include deregulation of GMO crops, acceptance of nuclear power and privatisation of space exploration. Ár Ré does however support strict health and safety policies.

Ár Ré is also committed to lowering Kirlawa's taxation, including income, corporate and indirect taxes. The party wants to cap tax rates at 60%, progressively reducing the top tier until 40%. They also seek to introduce a new 5% sales tax on essential goods and services, while lowering the tax on luxury goods to 35% and corporate tax to 25%. While reducing taxes, Ár Ré also calls for an end to subsidies, ranging from those provided to energy industries (both fossil fuels and renewables), to agriculture.

As with its predecessor, Ár Ré supports international trade and calls for the elimination of import and export tariffs, and for increased free capital flows. Unlike its predecessor, Ár Ré supports free trade agreements, provided that they do not come in the form of a Treaty.

Social policy
Ár Ré is considerably socially liberal and progressive compared to other parties in Kirlawa, as well as its predecessor, whose members were divided between the social liberal and progressive camp and the traditional conservative camp. As such, Ár Ré supports LGBT rights, including gay adoption and marriage, abortion rights, and other progressive causes. However, Ár Ré also supports some causes usually associated with conservative movements, such as liberalising gun laws and allowing duelling.

Ár Ré supports the right to freedom of religion within Kirlawa, and generally abstains from interfering in this area. Ár Ré's Constitution officially states that it is a "secular party" and eschews any religious connections or connotations.

Ár Ré has called for a liberalised justice policy.

Foreign policy
Despite being a national conservative party, Ár Ré is committed to an internationalist agenda through supporting free trade, allowing foreign investment to enter the country, introducing immigration reforms, deregulating foreign media coverage, recognising foreign marriages and encouraging foreign missionaries and refugees to enter the nation.

However, Ár Ré, like its predecessor, is firmly opposed to the ratification and continued membership of legislatively-binding international Treaties, particularly those of which Kirlawa is the only signatory. Although this cause is not championed as fervently as in the CPK, it remains a rallying call for party membership, and Ár Ré is the leading campaigner for this movement.

Defence
The biggest difference between the Conservative Party of Kirlawa and Ár Ré is seen in its approach to defence and militarist policies. Whereas the CPK was ambiguous and heavily divided on the issue, Ár Ré is heavily pro-militarist, supporting the creation and use of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, as well as instigating mandatory military (or civilian) service. Defence industries are also free to export goods and services.

Political reforms
Ár Ré, being a Kilani interests party, advocates for the Kilani-sation of Kirlawa, through the adoption of a Kilani national anthem, changing the name of the legislature to contain Kilani names, and seeking representation of ethnic Kilani members in the General Assembly and Senate. Unlike the CPK, Ár Ré does not advocate for a change to the number of seats in the GA, nor does it seek to reduce the terms of Assembly Members.

Ár Ré is a much more unitarist party, believing that more power should be vested in the federal government than in the provinces. It believes in a uniform system of courts across the nation and for the reduction of powers given to provincial legislatures. Ár Ré advocates for the central government to be "much smaller in scale", owing to its libertarian, small government roots.

General Assembly
Notable elections:
 * September 4085: First elections for the Party. Came in last in the electoral vote.
 * March 4089: Came in second in the electoral vote and seat share. First time it has won over 100 seats. First time it has won over 10 million votes. Became the Main Opposition in the General Assembly for the first time. Largest gain in vote share and seat count of the party.
 * September 4092: Came in first in the electoral vote and seat share. First time it has won over 200 seats.
 * January 4095: First time the party has achieved over 30% of the popular vote. First time the party has achieved over 250 seats in the General Assembly. First time the party has won over 20 million votes.
 * January 4102: Largest fall in the party's vote share to date, by 9.78%.
 * July 4119: Worst performance of the parliamentary party to date. Lowest number of seats secured, and first time the vote share of the party was in the single digits (below 10%). First time the party has been in opposition since 4085, and worst ranking among the parties (7/8).
 * January 4123: Second largest increase in vote share and seat count by the party from the previous election since the March 4099 election.
 * July 4140: First time the party won the overall election since July 4098.

Presidential
Notable results:


 * September 4085: First time the Party has competed in the presidential elections. Did not progress to second round.
 * March 4089: First time the Party has won over 20% of the popular vote in the first round. First time it has progressed to the second round. First time it has won the Presidential election. First time the party has won over 10 million votes in the first round.
 * September 4092: First time the Party came in first in the first round, and first time it has won over 30% of the popular vote. First time the party has won over 20 million votes in the first round.
 * January 4095: First time the Party has won over 40 million votes in the second round.
 * July 4098: First time the Party has entered the second round of the presidential elections and did not win.
 * January 4102: Largest decrease in percentage vote of the party in the first round to date. First time the presidential candidate has failed to enter the second round since 4085.
 * July 4119: Worst performance in the first round of a presidential election by the party's candidate to date. First time the party's candidate performed in the single digits (below 10%) in the first round of voting. First time candidate was last in the primary vote since 4085.
 * January 4123: Second largest increase in the candidate's primary vote in the party's history.

Regional
Notable results:
 * September 4085: Over 20% for the first time in Nuchtmark and Uwakah.
 * March 4089: First time Ár Ré won the popular vote in two provinces - Nuchtmark and Uwakah. First time it has achieved over 30% of the popular vote in Nuchtmark, first time it has achieved over 40% of the popular vote in Uwakah. First time it has surpassed 20% of the popular vote in Merkan and 10% of the popular vote in Dirguzia.
 * September 4092: First time Ár Ré won the popular vote in three provinces. First time the party has won in Dirguzia, with over 30% of the popular vote. First time the party has surpassed 40% of the popular vote in Nuchtmark. First time the party has surpassed 10% of the popular vote in Dirlana.
 * January 4095: First time Ár Ré won the popular vote in four provinces. First time the party has won the popular vote in Merkan and first time it has exceed 30% of the popular vote and gained more than 50 seats in that province. First time the party has won a majority in the province of Nuchtmark.
 * January 4116: First time the party has scored less than 20 seats in the province of Uwakah.
 * July 4119: First time the party has scored less than 10 seats in the province of Uwakah.
 * July 4140: First time the party won a plurality in the parliamentary election without winning Uwakah.