Besmenian People's Party

Besmenian People's Party Besmenische Volkspartei
Abbreviation	BVP
Chairperson	Karsten Betzler
General secretary	Erich Karzel
Founder	Heinz Dimmler
Founded	26 March 1921
Split from	Besmenian Conservative Party
Headquarters	Großwasserstraße 32, Laitstadt, Besmenia
Think tank	Heinz Dimmler Foundation
Youth wing	Youth People's Party
Membership (2021)	305,589
Ideology	Conservatism Liberal conservatism Christian democracy Federalism
Political position	Centre-right
Colors	Blue
Federal Chamber	141 / 443
Federal Senate	21 / 64
State governorships	7 / 14
Seats in the state chambers	407 / 1,488
Party flag

The Besmenian People's Party (Besmenian: Besmenische Volkspartei, BVP); is a christian-democratic, conservative political party in Besmenia. The BVP is the major catch-all party of the centre-right in Besmenian politics.

Founded in 1921 by Heinz Dimmler as a split from the Besmenian Conservative Party (BKP), the BVP grew into one of the leading parties in Besmenia in the 1920s. During this time, the BVP also succeeded in replacing the BKP as the main conservative party. The political profile of the BVP underwent several changes; Under the leadership of Heinz Dimmler, the BVP belonged to the political center and mainly only had conservative views. Under the leadership of Günther Brecht, national-conservative and also christian-democratic views emerged. Under the leadership of Robert Gleitzmann, an increased right-wing course emerged. Since the mid-1980s, it has increasingly moved towards the political center again. In the 1990s, more liberal-conservative views came.

Since 1924, the BVP has provided the prime minister in 16 of the 34 federal governments, from 1924 to 1944, from 1956 to 1964, from 1972 to 1980, from 1993 to 2001 and since 2012 (with a brief interruption by the Benkel government in 2021). BVP-Prime Minister is or was: Heinz Dimmler, Friedrich Bock, Günther Brecht, Wolfgang Butz, Robert Gleitzmann, Erik Tautenbach, Theodor Sidemann and the current PM, Elisabeth Rademacher.

The BVP is also represented in the state parliament in all federal states in which it is represented. Currently the party leads the governments of eight of Besmenia's fourteen federal states.

The party is one of the three major contemporary political parties in Besmenia along with the liberal Free Besmenian Citizen's Party and the social democratic Social Democratic Union.

Ideology and policies

Federal states in which the BVP is represented in the state chamber and were
  it is a member of the state government with a own governor.
  it is a member of the state government.
  it is a opposition party.

Economic policy

The BVP is committed to the social market economy and sees this as a guarantee for freedom, prosperity and security in the future. In the course of globalization, it is striving for an international expansion of the social market economy, whereby the economic freedom gained should serve people. Overall, the BVP is concerned with an "economically sensible and socially just" policy.

The aim of economic policy is full employment for the population, steady and appropriate economic growth and a solid budget. Furthermore, the BVP is striving for the privatization of all business operations that are currently still state-owned. In terms of labor policy, the BVP relies on “making the labor market more flexible” and on collective bargaining autonomy. Unemployment should be counteracted.

Foreign policy

In terms of foreign policy, the BVP is primarily striving for a strong relationship with Zamastan. The party also endorses the Alliance of Nortuan States.

Family policy

The BVP has introduced the child-raising allowance or parental allowance to support families. Furthermore, a legal entitlement to a place in a day care center has been introduced since 1996 and a place in a crèche since 2013 under the respective BVP governments. The government plans to further strengthen the expansion of kindergarten places by 2027. No specific family model is prescribed for families.

Network policy

In the area of network policy, the BVP is committed to stricter regulation and monitoring of the Internet, and the BVP also advocates the blocking of Internet content.

History

Gleitzmann era (1969-1983)

BVP election poster for the 1972 federal election.

With the help of the right-wing conservative wing, Robert Gleitzmann succeeded in replacing Glaubrecht as chairman of the BVP at a party conference on March 31, 1969. As a result of this change in leadership, Prime Minister Johannes Schmidt resigned from the coalition with the BVP.

Crisis years (1983-1985)

After the emergence of the Gleitzmann scandal, the BVP plummeted in the election polls. Confidence in the BVP was also destroyed for many former BVP voters. In the election polls from 1983 to 1985, the BVP was often below 20%.

Organization

Front organizations

In addition to the state associations, the front organizations in the BVP play an important role within the party. The associations are anchored in the statute of the BVP. In doing so, they have two main tasks: on the one hand, they are to disseminate the party's policy within their respective spheres of activity. On the other hand, they should also allow the concerns of the groups they represent to flow into the politics of the BVP. In relation to other parties, the associations enjoy a high degree of independence from the party as a whole. In addition to the right to set its own statutes, this is expressed above all in the fact that its members do not necessarily have to be members of the party as a whole. In addition, they expressly have the right to their own political statements, provided these do not contradict the principles of the party.

The BVP has the following front organizations:

• Youth People's Party ( Junge Volkspartei), organizes young members
• BVP Seniors (BVP Senioren), organizes senior members
• BVP Women (BVP Frauen), organizes female members
• BVP Gays and Lesbians (BVP Schwule und Lesben), organizes LGBT members
• BVP Entrepreneurs and Business (BVP Unternehmer und Wirtschaft), organizes entrepreneurial and self-employed members
• BVP Workers (BVP Arbeitnehmer), organizes members who are employees

List of chairpersons of the BVP

Portrait		Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office		Tenure (Years and days)	State	Prime Minister
1		Heinz Dimmler (1879–1963)	26 March 1921	14 August 1942	21 years, 141 days	Laitstadt	Robert Falk Himself Friedrich Bock
2		Friedrich Bock (1888–1979)	14 August 1942	15 April 1945	2 years, 244 days	Tergau	Himself Albrecht Nebeling
3	File:Franz Lufter.png	Franz Lufter (1894–1974)	15 April 1945	14 March 1956	10 years, 334 days	Gablitz	Albrecht Nebeling
4		Günther Brecht (1894–1965)	14 March 1956	17 June 1962	7 years, 95 days	Tergau	Albrecht Nebeling Himself
5		Wolfgang Butz (1897–1979)	17 June 1962	31 March 1969	6 years, 287 days	Neidenstein-Sulzburg	Wolfgang Butz Johannes Schmidt
6		Robert Gleitzmann (1916–1999)	31 March 1969	15 September 1983	14 years, 168 days	Laitstadt	Johannes Schmidt Himself Martin Beiter
7		Michael Möhring (1928–2012)	15 September 1983	27 September 1985	2 years, 12 days	Metakumburg	Martin Beiter
8		Erik Tautenbach (1937–2019)	27 September 1985	9 October 2001	16 years, 12 days	Neidenstein-Sulzburg	Martin Beiter Kurt Stöger Himself Ursula Kummstein
9	File:Wolfgang Peerstein.png	Wolfgang Peerstein (1943–)	9 October 2001	18 February 2005	3 years, 132 days	Maurenmark	Ursula Kummstein
10		Franz Bauer (1959-)	18 February 2005	31 March 2012	7 years, 42 days	Gablitz	Ursula Kummstein Jörg Rautenberg
11		Theodor Sidemann (1968-)	31 March 2012	6 January 2022	9 years, 281 days	Sedakania	Jörg Rautenberg Himself Richard Benkel Elisabeth Rademacher
12		Elisabeth Rademacher (1977-)	6 January 2022	3 December 2022	331 days	Maurenmark	Herself
13		Karsten Betzler (1977-)	3 December 2022	Incumbent	2 years, 23 days	Frankenburg	Elisabeth Rademacher

Logo and political color

Logo history

1921–1929	1929–1940	1940–1959	1959–1986	1986–present
File:OldBVPlogo1921.png	File:OldBVPlogo1929.png	File:OldBVPlogo1940.png

Blue has been the official party color of the BVP since 1986. As early as the 1960s, the party was associated with blue as a customary color, while the Besmenian national colors of white, green, and blue were official party colors.

Influence

The BVP is represented almost everywhere in Besmenia. It traditionally achieves particularly high proportions of votes in rural regions and in the western federal states. Sedakania in particular is considered to be the stronghold of the party. The BVP has won every election there since the first state election in 1967, and has been contributed all Sedakanian governors since 1967 without interruption. In the Sedakanian state elections in 1987, 1992 and 1997, the BVP even achieved an absolute majority and was able to form the regional government without a coalition partner.

Regional associations

The Besmenian People's Party is divided into 14 state groups. The BVP is represented in all 14 state chambers.

State group	Leader
BVP Frankenburg	Christina Liebetrau
BVP Gablitz	Viktor Sauer
BVP Greuningia	Markus Krüger
BVP Jakartaburg	Robert Läufer
BVP Laitstadt	Jakob Apfelstedt
BVP Lemberland	Michael Kreimer
BVP Neidenstein-Sulzburg	Gregor Zöller
BVP Maurenmark	Jan Hofmann
BVP Palingia	Arnold Morgenthau
BVP Metakumburg	Holger Wassermann
BVP Sedakania	Vanessa Halm
BVP Summingia	Georg Stuck
BVP Tergau	Franziska Mölle
BVP Zollingia	Oskar Steinbock

Election results

Federal Chamber

Election	Prime Minister Candidate	Votes in %	Seats	Government
1989	Erik Tautenbach	31,2% (#2)	145 / 427	Opposition
1993	Erik Tautenbach	34,6% (#1)	153 / 427	BVP-GPB majority
1997	Erik Tautenbach	35,3% (#1)	156 / 427	BVP-GPB majority
2001	Erik Tautenbach	26,2% (#2)	115 / 427	Opposition
2005	Franz Bauer	26,4% (#2)	115 / 427	FBBP-BVP majority
2009	Franz Bauer	23,8% (#2)	106 / 427	FBBP-BVP majority
2012	Theodor Sidemann	32,5% (#1)	142 / 427	BVP-SDU majority
2016	Theodor Sidemann	30,0% (#1)	133 / 427	BVP-FBBP majority
2020	Theodor Sidemann	31,4% (#1)	145 / 427	BVP-FBBP majority
2021	Elisabeth Rademacher	30,8% (#1)	137 / 427	BVP-SDU-GPB majority