Vereinigte Freiheit Allianz

The Vereinigte Freiheit Allianz (Eng. United Freedom Alliance), or V.F.A., is a liberal political party in Greater Hulstria. It was originally founded as the Sekkyoku Demokuratikku Rengou in 2634 and as the Hulsterreich Sozialdemokratische Partei in 2641. The party formed under its current name in 2650. Currently the VFA is in a cabinet coalition with the Kasierliche Hulsterreichische Partei, Liberal Party of Hulstria, and Hulstrian Nationalist Party. Its headquarters is in Kien and there are regional offices in every crownland. Major cities in the crownlands sometimes also have smaller headquarters run by volunteers that give out party information and campaign items for national and local elections.

Sekkyoku Demokuratikku Rengou
Sekkyoku Demokuratikku Rengou was founded in February 2634 by Zhou Peng, Keizo Hata, and various other anti-monarchy, social democratic, pro-Gao-Showa citizens. It strongly opposed the Hulstrian Monarchy and supports the creation of the Republic of Gao-Soto. The S.D.R. believed that Hulstria truly belongs to the Gao-Showa people and that the Luthori invaded the sovereign Gao-Showan lands. The political party's first election was in April 2635, and at the time the party was still largely unestablished; it received only 0.03% of the vote. In the Summer of 2636, the SDR Manifesto was released and in the following election the party took a large victory, becoming the largest party in Hulstria. Over 38 million people voted for the party. In the Hulstria Crownland, the party won 48% of the votes.

Party Reformation
In early 2641 compromise became close to reach when it was proposed that an elected Head of State be established while still keeping the monarchy. This led to the SDR's organization leaders to begin discussion on whether to drop its anti-monarchist affiliations if the bill passed. Another consideration that was made in the meeting was to change the party name and have it officially in Hulstrian; while also keeping the SDR as an organization within the party for the representation of the Gao-Showa. Current party proposals include: Moderate Social Democratic Party, Hulstrian Unity Party, Social Democratic Party. The party leader meetings are currently still going on and will not be concluded officially until the passing or defeat of the constitutional democracy bill. A couple days later, officials decided to go with the abandonment of anti-monarchist views and embracing the concept of an elected Head of State alongside the Monarch. This decision further increased the chances of even more party reforms.

Foundation of the Hulsterreich Sozialdemokratische Partei
In March 2641, Chairman Zhou announced that following next month's elections that party would become the Hulsterreich Sozialdemokratische Partei (Eng. Hulstrian Social Democratic Party, Gao. Hulstrian Shakaitou Demokuratikku Yakara). He also announced that Sekkyoku Demokuratikku Rengou would become an internal organization of the party that would specially serve the interests of the Gao-Showa and represent them. The party faced criticism of its coalition partner the Hulstrian Nationalist Party for the support of more taxes. This led to the reconsideration of the HSP economic policy in late 2643 and following the meeting more conservative economic views were adopted. Officials concluded that the Hulstrian surplus was in well enough state that corporation tax and a luxury goods tax were not necessary. The party did not change its support of progressive income tax though, since a flat or fair tax would significantly reduce the surplus disallowing the government programs supported by the HSP. Later that year the party decided to drop social democracy as the official ideology and instead use simply "liberalism" as the official. HSP's increasing move towards the center-left away from the far/moderate-left resulted in this change.

First Governor-General
In April 2647, the elections for the first Governor-General of Greater Hulstria were held and the HSP was victorious. Karl van Gessel won the election; with a lead of almost 30 million votes.

Van Gessel lost reelection in 2560. Later that year in September, he died of natural causes at 74 years old. A couple days later a new chairman was appointed, James Buchanan. Buchanan was a lower ranking party official with only experience on the local level of politics. He is also controversial among some for his mix of beliefs in Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. Buchanan is very disliked among party Christians for his strong belief in evolution and his criticism of the religious right and "Bible-bumping" Christians. Overall, he is a liberal with some right-wing influence on certain views. He has been known to frequently criticize the party for its decision to be called the "Hulstrian Social Democratic Party", stating that, "the party isn't even social democratic and having a name that says we are is just hypocritical."

Party Leadership Under Buchanan
When James Buchanan became the new chairman of the party, he had many new ideas for the party. One of the first changes that was made was the change of the party's name to the Vereinigte Freiheit Allianz (Eng. United Freedom Alliance). He changed some of the party's official views and ideologies too. In the whole process, some party members left and some people joined the party. Not long after the founding, Yasuo Kamura resigned from Staatsminister and left the party along with others who opposed the Buchanan reforms. The VFA was involved in the first meeting of the Imperial Human Rights Commission in the 2650s, being represented by John Breckenridge.

Current

 * Minister of Internal Affairs: Hildegard Klay, Feb. 2655 - Present
 * Minister of Health & Social Services: Koji Koizumi, Feb. 2655 - Present
 * Minister of Education & Culture: Zacchaeus Buchanan, Feb. 2655 - Present

Former

 * Governor-General: Karl van Gessel, Apr. 2647 - Apr. 2650
 * Staatsminister: Yasuo Kamura, Feb. 2642 - Mar. 2653
 * Minister of Health & Social Services: Tang Yilun, Feb. 2642 - Feb. 2655
 * Minister of Education & Culture: Sun Yuchun, Feb. 2642 - Feb. 2655
 * Minister of Trade & Industry: Keizo Hata, Feb. 2642 - Feb. 2655

Cabinet Candidates

 * Staatsminister: Nathan Kratovil
 * Foreign Affairs: Michael Markell
 * Finance: Adam Denn
 * Defense: Heizo Mori
 * Justice: Naomi Biden
 * Infrastructure & Transport: Kenzo Noda
 * Science & Technology: Koji Koizumi
 * Food & Agriculture: Taro Takenaka
 * Environment & Tourism: Kourtney Mitchell
 * Kourtney Mitchell: James Buchanan II

Party Beliefs
The VFA's official ideology is liberalism; though on some issues the party is more conservative, such as on culture, multiculturalism, and immigration. The below list is a basic outline of the party's views:


 * Federal education, healthcare, childcare, & pension
 * Regulation of private enterprise to ensure workers' rights, consumer rights, and fair competition
 * Mixed economy
 * Free Trade with Allies & Dovani nations; Fair Trade with others
 * Extensive social security system
 * Progressive income tax; but no sales taxes or corporation tax
 * Environmental protection laws
 * Use of alternative energy; except nuclear
 * Cultural and historical preservation
 * Secular and liberal social policy
 * Non-interventionist foreign policy

Party Organizations

 * Vereinigte Buddhistisch und Taoic Vereinigung - The VBTV is a Buddhist and Taoic organization in the VFA for Hulstrians and Gao-Showa that follow Buddhism or a Taoic philosophy. There's also an international version of this organization that was created by the VFA, it is the International Buddhist & Taoic Association.
 * Sekkyoku Demokuratikku Rengou - The SDR is a organization that represents the Gao-Showa in the VFA and helps them voice their opinions on a national level.
 * Demokratische Hulsterreich Jugend - The DHJ is the youth organization of the VFA that promotes political awareness and participation.

Party Legislation
Includes SDR & HSP Legislation


 * Sekkyoku Demokuratikku Rengou Manifesto of 2636
 * Healthcare Reform Bill of 2637
 * Cultural Preservation Act of 2637
 * Secularization Act of 2638
 * Choice Act of 2638
 * Educational Reform Act of 2638
 * Cabinet Proposal of January 2639
 * Democratic Hulstria Act of 2639
 * Re-Secularization Act of 2640
 * Cultural Preservation Act of 2642
 * Law Enforcement Reform of 2642
 * Healthy Hulstria Act of 2642
 * Choice Act of 2643
 * Establishment of a Corporation Tax
 * Workers' Rights Act of 2643
 * Call for Early Elections, January 2652
 * Cabinet Proposal of August 2653
 * VFA Healthcare Act of 2654
 * Workers' Rights Act of 2654
 * End to Sales Tax Act of 2654
 * Revision of Foreign Policy Act of 2654

International Organizations

 * Against Child Labour
 * Alliance For Advancement in Human Spaceflight
 * Alliance for Capital Punishment
 * Anti-Gun League
 * Anti-Imperialism League
 * Anti-Segregation League
 * Fair Trade Union
 * International Buddhist & Taoic Association
 * International Greens
 * International Human Rights Movement
 * International Lesbian & Gay Rights Association (ILGRA)
 * International Pro-Choice Movement
 * International Science, Education, and Culture Organization
 * International Secularist Society
 * National Sovereignty Protection League
 * Organization for the Rights of Atheists
 * Parties Against Hunting Endangered Animals
 * Parties for Promotion of National Languages
 * Pax Hulstria
 * Say No To Illegal Immigration
 * Separation of Church and State Alliance
 * United Against Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Weapons
 * United States Coalition
 * Wealth-Redistribution Association
 * World Anti-Slavery Union

Past Logos

 * [[Image:HSP_Logo.PNG]]