Frisinnede Venstre (Kazulia)

Frisinnede Venstre (literal translation: Liberal Left Party) is a political party in Kazulmark that was founded in 3886 by Professor Hans Granlund. Despite the name, it is a centre-right party and adheres to the ideology of classical liberalism.

History
FV was founded by academic Prof. Hans Granlund in 3886, at a time when there were only two parties active in Kazulmark, one of the left-wing (Labour) and one of the centre-left variation (Venstre), both of whom either advocated for a large degree of government regulation of the market or the almost-total abolition of the market itself. Claiming that many citizens felt unrepresented by the leftist parties, he put forward FV as a socially libertarian and fiscally conservative alternative, hoping to amass the right-leaning vote behind his new party.

In the first elections contested by FV, it won nine seats in the Storting but remained the smallest faction, having been trounced by the more conservative and well-known Selucdemokraterna (SD) party. Granlund subsequently help to elect an SD minority government led by Statsminister Gustav Westerberg. Westerberg was controversial for attempting to put his predecessor, Mathias Nilsen, on trial for alleged violations of the constitution while he was in government. This eventually led to the downfall of the SD government after a mere two years and to a return of the Labour party to government.

Granlund and his party stridently opposed Nilsen's left-wing reforms such as the nationalization of industry or large-scale spending and tax increases, arguing that they would drive businesses out of the country ("brain drain" argument). FV also condemned the nationalizations as unfair expropriations and accused Labour of slowly undermining the institution of private property. Despite its efforts, Labour was re-elected in 3893 and FV gained only one seat.

FV entered government for the first time after the 3897 election alongside Selucdemokraterna, when the Labour party had suffered a dramatic electoral meltdown, allowing a right-leaning coalition to take over. Hans Granlund became Minister of Finance and proceeded to cut spending by 4% in order to reduce the deficit, which he considered unsustainable and detrimental to Kazulmark's fiscal standing. The opposition Labour party strongly condemned his cuts as anti-social and cruel, which he denied and in turn accused them of irresponsibility and a failure to learn from their losses at the last general election. Under Granlund, the deficit was almost cut in half, having been reduced by 45%. Shortly before the next general election, Granlud, who was then in his mid-eighties, announced his resignation as FV leader. Leya Nordahl, his former deputy and student, was elected to succeed him.

Nordahl was seen to the right of Granlund and had a reputation as a budget hawk. At first, her leadership was unsuccessful, with FV suffering an electoral disaster in 3901, with their vote share almost cut in half and being reduced to only five seats. However, Nordahl convincingly made the case that this was not due to her policies, but rather the result of a mobilization problem, as polls showed that only 20% of potential FV supporters had bothered to cast their vote on election day. In the subsequent elections of 3903 and 3906, Nordahl led the party to a slow, but steady recovery. A breakthrough was achieved in 3910, when its vote share doubled and it became the third-largest party in the Storting, only behind Høyre and Labour. It subsequently entered governent alongside Høyre, the right-wing populist Sivilisasjonspartiet and the centrist Green party. FV was given four cabinet posts, with the Ministry of Finance being the most senior. Nordahl herself took over the Finance portfolio.

Over the next four years, FV served as thes spearhead for the government coalition's neoliberal reform agenda - apart from the privatization of the Royal Kazulian Mail and a series of cuts to welfare (in particular for upper-income citizens), Finance Minister Nordahl focused on further reducing the deficit (building on the achievements of Granlund) and at the same time reducing the tax burden. Controversially, she imposed a General Sales Tax on essential goods which the opposition warned would rise prices for "ordinary Kazulians" significantly. However, Nordahl promised that the tax cuts and deregulation policies envisaged by her government would stimulate production to a sufficient extent in order to bring prices down again. When the Green coalition partners refused to support her taxation bill, Opposition Leader Halvor Sæterbø introduced a motion of no confidence claiming that the government was unable to command a Storting majority and early elections should be held. However, Nordahl worked out a a compromise bill with Folkepartiet, which forced her to retreat on her plan for large-scale income tax cuts for wealthy citizens but still retained the corporate tax cut and other important elements.

Ideology
In general, FV is seen as a classically liberal party, combining libertarian social policies and neoliberal economics. In recent years, under the Nordahl leadership, it adopted a somewhat more populist rhetoric in a bid to appeal to conservative voters after the dissolution of Selucdemokraterna. In particular, it toughened its stance on immigration and became vocally critic of state-sponsored multiculturalism.

Leadership

 * Professor Hans Granlund (3886-3898)
 * Leya Nordahl (3898-3913)
 * Erwin Schausberger (3913-present)