Unionist and Loyalist Party of Barrayar
Unionist and Loyalist Party of Barrayar | |
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| Russian name | Yunionistov i Loyalistov partii Barrayare |
| French name | Parti Unioniste et Loyaliste de Barrayar |
| Greek name | Enotikó kai Filomonarchikón Kómma ton Barrayar |
| English name | Unionist and Loyalist Party of Barrayar |
| Abbreviation | U.L.P. |
| President | Prince Feodor-Dmitri Vorbarra |
| General Secretary | Admiral (ret.) Klement Dynekla |
| First Secretary | Rupert Sterling |
| Presidium | Prince Feodor-Dmitri Vorbarra Admiral (ret.) Klement Dynekla Rupert Sterling |
| Spokesperson | Miles Brannigan |
| Founder | Prince Feodor-Dmitri Vorbarra |
| Founded | February 1, 3001 |
| Legalized | March 11, 3001 |
| Headquarters | Azure Spire, Vorbarr Sultana |
| Newspaper | The Barrayan Weekly |
| Think tank | Centre on Policies and Future |
| Student wing | Student Warriors of the Future |
| Youth wing | Young Guard |
| Farmers wing | League of the Land |
| Solidarity wing | Imperial Solidarity Association |
| Women wing | Association of Loyalist Women |
| University wing | University Front |
| Ideology | Big tent royalism Conservatism Unionism National conservatism Barrayaran nationalism Social conservatism Centrism |
| Political position | Right-wing to Centre |
| International affiliation | None |
| Colours | Azure |
| Slogan | We live to serve the Imperium |
| Council of the Little People | 230 / 438
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The Unionist and Loyalist Party of Barrayar (often shortened using its official acronym "U.L.P.") is a big-tent and conservative party of Barrayar. It, as of 3003, holds the majority in the lower house of the Parliament of Barrayar with 230 seats out of 438 in total. The U.L.P. is often viewed by political commentators and political scientist as playing the role of another pillar of support for the Monarchy of Barrayar, rallying and organizing the popular support.
History
The Unionist and Loyalist Party of Barrayar was founded in 3001 in preparation for the first legislative elections to be held in Barrayar. It was created in order to provide Emperor Serg Vorbarra a strong and docile support in the new lower house of the reformed parliament of Barrayar. The creation of the Party was heavily supported by insiders from the imperial court, who were wary of what looked like a dangerous progressive and democratic victory.
Contrary to its creators' expectations, U.L.P.'s campaign for 3002 legislative elections was a huge success, and the party received 230 seats out of 438. It won almost all seats assigned to Lesser Vors and several others in the other two colleges. The popularity of Prince Feodor Vorbarra and the extensive funds provided by several industrialists proved decisive for U.L.P.'s victory.
While U.L.P. had initially had only one narrow purpose, limited only to the 3002 elections, after the victory state officials began to transform the party into a permanent one. In Golden Leaves 3002, the unified party, called "Unionists and Loyalists of the Barrayaran Fatherlnad Associated" held its founding congress and, few weeks later, Unionist and Loyalist Party of Barrayar. The Unionist and Loyalist Party is noted for increasingly being successful in using administrative resources to weaken its opponents.
Party platform
According to the party's 3003 political manifesto, The Path of General Success, the party's goal is to unite the responsible political forces of the country, aiming to minimize the differences between rich and poor, young and old, state, business and society. The economy should thrive under state guidance, with the benefits of further growth distributed for the most part to the less fortunate. The party rejects left-wing and right-wing ideologies in favour of "political centrism" that could unite all sections of society. U.L.P. has always characterised itself as wholly supportive of the agenda of Emperor Serg Vorbarra. Since 2999, when Vladislav Surkov introduced the term "Loyal Democracy", many current figureheads of the party have taken usage of the term.
On more general basis, the Unionist and Loyalist Party emphasises the need of a unified polity and of strengthening ties between the three planets of the Empire, whithout compromising local political traditions. This is needed to achieve a more harmonious economic and social growth. The goal of an hamonious growth determines the party support for planetary specialization and consequent development of certain sectors instead of others; on the other hand, its partially consultative principles and procedures aim to heavily influence those social sectors which are more bound to a oligarchic way of life; nonetheless, on Komarr the Party defends the local shares-votes system.
Party factions
The Unionist and Loyalist Party is a large and diverse party, and has several internal subdivisions. The party has four internal groupings, organized around common policy interests and orientations, some of which very organized:
- Protagonist Barrayar is characterized by liberal-conservative stances;
- Social Right, advocates a more "social" approach to economic policy and is considered at the right of the party. Its think tank is Centre for Social National Politics;
- Liberal-conservative Midsummer Club;
- Moderates United, of centrist views.
Organization
The party organization is very articulated and is designed in order to cope with each government level and social environment. The party is divided into three levels: local organization, regional and planetary organization, central organization.
Local organization
The very basic level is, according to the Party Charter, the "Party Section", organized in a local context: a small borough of a domed city or a municipality or an unincorporated settlement. Each Party Section must propagate the party ideals and platform among the local population. The Party Section has a strictly territorial scope. As a general rule, every member belongs to a Section, with an exception for the highest positions. Each Section has the Members Assembly and the Sectional Secretary. The Sectional Secretary is appointed by the First Secretary after the election by the Assembly; he is tasked with planning and directing Section's activities.
When a particular concentration of party members can be found in a particular social context, a Thematic Section may be established, directly under the supervision of the relevant Local Party Office, alongside the territorial Party Section.
All Party sections within a specific area are directed by a Local Party Office. Each Office covers a whole domed city, or a whole Arrondissement, or a Regional Municipality, or a Sergyaran Chancery District. These Local Party Offices are tasked with establishing new Party Sections, with coordinating and directing sections and with dealing with administrative and financial matters for subordinate sections. In case of jurisdiction-wide political affairs and campaigns, the responsibility falls in the hands of the relevant Local Party Office.
The Local Party Office is led by the Party Director. The Director is elected by the Local Congress, formed by the Sectional Secretaries and by Sectional Delegates. The First Secretary confirms the election and appoints the Director. A Local Executive Committee may be appointed and dismissed by the Director in order to help him to deal with its taks, which include determining the general political position of the party within the boundary. The Committee must include the local heads of the party wings, but cannot give direct instructions to the local or thematic sections: all orders, guidelines and directives must be passed by the Director. On the other hand, the local heads of the party wings have the exclusive authority to issue directives and guidelines to their own branches within each local Section.
Regional organization
All Local Party Offices within populated a Districts, Sector or Chancery is organized and framed by a District/Sector/Chancery Party Committee. The Committee is the executive body of the Party, while the District/Sector/Chancery Assembly is the body elected at local Congresses by all the Party members in the relevant jurisdiction and has a consultative function. The Party Committee is the body usually responsible for political work and for coordinating electoral campaigns both of the lower levels and of the its own boundary. The Party Committee may establish its own subidivisions in order to cope with relevant political or geographical issues; almost all District Party Committees on the Southern Continent have Subcommittees for the Regional level.
Affairs at a continental/planetary level are dealt with by Party Delegations, which are appointed by the President after a formal consultation with the General Assembly. The Party Delegate is assisted by the Delegation Board, composed of experts and of high-ranking officials of both the Party itself and of the Imperial Public Service. There is also a Consultative Commission, consisting of the chairmen of the District/Sector/Chanceries Assemblies.
Central organization
At the central level, the highest body is the President. He is elected by the delegates at every Congress. The executive body is the General Secretariat, college composed of a maximum of fifteen members, headed by the Secretary General, appointed by the President. The General Secretariat, alongside the work as executive body, acts as an unofficial personal political bureau for the President, although it is no way on equal basis with him. Under the Secretary General there are the Bureaus, tasked with formulating policy and executions of those policies: Foreign Policy, Economic Policy, Budgetary Policy, Local Affairs, Security and Defence Affairs, and so on, including administrative Bureaus, such as Party Organization Bureau (very important), Party Budget Bureau, Demonstration Marshals Bureau and the like. A notable absence is those of a bureau dedicated to the youth affairs and policies, that are entirely left to the youth wing.
Other important positions do include the Deputy President, the Speaker and the Party Whip in the Council of Little People.
The General Assembly, a thousand members, is the advisory body. The implementing body of the General Assembly guidelines and policy direction is the Central Commission. It consists of one hundred twenty members elected by the General Assembly and is presided over by the First Secretary (appointed by the President). The Central Commission and its members have the task of upholding the decisions of the General Assembly by assisting the Party President and to ensure that territories are in constant touch with the central party
Directly dependent on the President, are the Party wings: The students' wing (Student Warriors of the Future), the youth wing (Young Guard), the farmers wing (League of the Land), the solidarity wing (Imperial Solidarity Association), the women wing (Association of Loyalist Women) and the like. Each Wing has an its own Secretary, an Executive Board and an Assembly; the planetary/continental wing head is subordinated to the Party Delegate, the District/Sector/Chancery wing head is part of the Party Committee, and at the Local Party Office level the wing head is subordinated to the Director; at the sectional level, the local wing head is subordinated only to his/her own wing superior.
An exception is made for the students and university wings, whose heads (at all levels) are subordinated to their counterparts of the youth wing.
Youth wing
Within Young Guard, the party youth movement, there are two groups:
- University Front, composed of university students of the movement;
- Student Warriors of the Future, composed of young students of secondary schools of the movement.
Agrarian wing
The League of the Land is the Barrayaran advocacy group by farmers and agricultural interests in response to farm crisis against the anti-agrarian amd free trade policies. The League of the Land is affiliated with the Unionist and Loyalist Party of Barrayar.
Policies and goals
The goal of the League of the Land is to preserve the position of agriculture in the economy and politics of Barrayar. The League of the Land also comes to the defense of the mom and pop shops as against big-city department store chains, they safeguard the interests of the rural and small urban middle class, the shop assistants, rural workers, sailors and fishermen and small wine growers. Basically they take all non-industrial workers, and small businesses under their wing.
Members of the League of the Land are rural and conservative, in general despise the immorality of city life. While the Unionsit and Loyalist Party is closely associated with the League of the Land, the latter's attempts to act independently usually do not work. In parts of the southwestern Districts of the Southern Continent, the League of the Land operates in conjunction with or as the local farmers' union or leagues.
Overall, the League of the Land operates a successful lobbying effort both within and outside the Council of Little People and the Council of Counts and local assemblies (where present). The League of the Land solicits the various Unionist and Loyalist Party candidates before the elections and only supports those who affirm in writing their support of the League of the Land programme.
Organisation
As of 3003 the League of the Land has over 2,000,000 members. Only about 1% are rural landlords, with 24% coming from large family-owned farms, and the rest being small plot and tenant farmers. However, the leadership is almost entirely from that 1%, primarily Vors from the Northern Continent. Exemplifying this control was Alexandr Vormoncrief, a nobleman with extensive estates, who was chairman from 2994 to 2999. Thus the organisation favours the landlord interests as well as playing up to the interests of the actual farmers.
The League of the Land is headed by a three-member Executive Committee, one of whom is the Chairman. It has a number of divisions, a speakers bureau which sends out inspirational speakers to the farming villages in the less labour-intensive winter months, an electoral division to identify candidates to support and to lobby candidates into supporting League of the Land initiatives, during election run-ups they have a propaganda division that provided League of the Land viewpoints on the candidates. There is a separate lobbying division for elected members. In addition the organisation provides things like purchasing cooperatives which offer economic benefits to the members and act as incentives to retain membership.