Democratic Party (Venadia)
| Democratic Party | |
|---|---|
| File:Dpvenadia.png | |
| Native Name | Демократическая Партия |
| Leader | Vitaliy Andropov |
| Founded | 18th of March, 2001 |
| Headquarters | Venagorod, Venadia |
| Membership | 125,000 |
| Ideology | Right-wing populism Economic liberalism Patriotism |
| Political position | Right wing |
| Official colours | Blue |
| Great Veche | 0 / 400
|
| Website | http://www.demovenadiya.vda |
The Democratic Party (Venadian: Демократическая Партия, transcript: Demokratisheskaya Partiya) is a minor political party in Venadia advocating a wide variety of right-wing causes. The party was formed in 2001 by defectors from the Liberal-Republican Party and independent deputies in the Great Veche who sought to form a clearly right-wing alternative to the current government, feeling that the Liberal-Republicans had gone too far to the left and that the Unity Party was too elitist and paternalistic. In the 2003 election, the Democratic Party only managed to win a single seat in the Great Veche but has managed to gain regional support in Yelevichi, Liskovsk and Naskoslav. The party is noted also for its high level of activity on the internet.
History
The party was founded in a congress in Venagorod between the 15th of March and the 18th of March in 2001. The founding leader of the party was the late Grigoriy Smetsov, a former youth leader of the Liberal-Republican Party and outspoken liberal. The party's membership has grown ever since its founding, from a few thousand members to more than sixty thousand in 2015, but its electoral success has been more variable. The party only gained a single representative from Khandagrad in the 2003 election, who lost his seat in 2011. The party has trended between 0.5 to 1.5% in national elections, short of the electoral threshold for receiving party list deputies.
The party's ideology has been difficult to define, but has been described as nationalistic, populist, libertarian or conservative. The party has attracted a great deal of controversy over statements regarding some of Venadia's minorities, such as the Jews and Undreshi, which have been dubbed racist by detractors. The party gained regional representation in Yelevichi, Liskovsk and Naskoslav in the 2013 regional election, with Liskovsk being the district where the party polled the highest.
Policies
- Privatization of several state-enterprises such as Venoil and the liberalization of economical regulations on business.
- Implementation of a flat income tax, abolishing tariffs and reduction of corporate and business taxes.
- Reforming the Volosty and Tysyacha by abolishing the distinction between them.
- End all ethnically based welfare and support programs.
- Make Venadian the sole administrative language of state, and abolish regional administrative languages.
- Making the Governors of Venadian states elected rather than appointed by the state.
- Reducing the electoral threshold to 0.3%.
- Strengthening Venadia's military.
- Sanctions and embargoes on totalitarian states.
Organization
The internal organization of the Democratic Party is quite ad-hoc, with little in the way of centralized party control. The Democratic Party have been early users of the internet for the purposes of organizing their party, with the national leadership elected by way of internet voting since 2006. The party organizes on the local level into cells, who can operate fully autonomously from the main party in terms of policies although the national leadership can expell individual members. The party platform is similarly determined annually by way of the internet.
Membership
The Democratic Party claimed a total of 125,218 members as of 2015. The Democratic Party does not levy membership fees, instead being reliant on voluntary donations by party members and supporters.
Electorate
The Democratic Party has their core of support in the central, Venadian-majority, regions of Venadia. Their supporters mainly come from the middle class, and to a lesser extent the working class. Most of their members are from towns and smaller cities, and it is in these municipalities the Democratic Party polls the best. Since 2011, their support has also increased in some rural areas. The party is predominantly supported by ethnic Venadians, with limited to no support among other ethnicities.