Rechte
Nidwaldeser Rechte | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | Rechte |
| Leader | Charlotte Mann |
| Parliamentary leader | Thomas von der Leyen |
| Founded | 25 July 1834 |
| Headquarters | Genistre 224, Cologne, Nidwalden |
| Youth wing | Young Rechte |
| Membership | 29,500 (2017) |
| Ideology | Ludwigism, reformism, social democracy, statism |
| Political position | centre-right |
| Colours | Blue |
| Slogan | Ludwgisists United |
| Nidwaldeser Parlament | 87 / 169
|
| County Councils | 167 / 425
|
| Website | |
| www | |
Rechte (literally "right"), full name Nidwaldeser Rechte (English: Nidwaldester Right) is a centre-right ludwigist political party of Nidwalden. It is the second oldest and major party in Nidwalden as well as the leading party in the Mann Cabinet. The current leader is the Prime Minister Charlotte Mann.
The party governed during most of the nineteenth century with a strong opposition of the conservative Nationalist Party. In 1903 Ludwig Mann won the elections and started the ludwigist era of the Rechte and Nidwalden, the party implemented several progressive and innovative reforms in the Church, the labour and social areas that set the bases for the long democratic heritage of Nidwalden. In 1915 the party proposed Christen Holsteinborg for the position of Prime Minister, which later that same year, turned into the first democratically elected woman in Nidwalden and Astyria. Between 1935 and 1947 the liberal conservative faction of the Rechte formed a coalition with the Nationalist Party against the recently founded Social Democrat Party, the coalition caused a gradual flow of Rechte ludwgisists to the leftist party that increased after first Social Democrat administration of Christopher Hornsrud in 1951.
Since its beginnings and with brief leadership of more right factions, the Rechte has been advocated to the protection of the Nidwaldester welfare state and Nidwaldester state owned enterprises, the promotion of social and economic equality and the vision of the state as a link between the social areas.
History
Origins and evolution
The Rechte appears in 1834 after the merge of socially liberal parties to form an opposition to the recently created Nationalist Party. The creation of the party was encouraged by the Prime Minister Wollert Von Hahn (1830-1835), who found a solid base for his ideas in the initial proclamation of the Rechte. Since then, the Rechte has played a role defending the industrialisation of the Grand Duchy and representing the interests of the urban population.
Like in the Nationalist Party, the Rechte has been led during most of its history by important political families like the Manns and the Baunsgaards among some. The largest political reform of the party was after the elections of 1903, where Ludwig Mann was elected Prime Minister for the first time (Ludwig was elected again in 1911) and concluded several reforms that advanced the secularisation of the Nidwaldester society as well as starting reforms in labour and social areas. The reforms implemented firstly by Ludwig supposed the origin of the welfare state of Nidwalden, which was finally set by Helle Johansen after the signing the Sankt Moritz Agreement (1920), in which all parties of the time agreed on a compromise to defend the Nidwaldester welfare model.
Kristensen-Hartling Era
The ludwgist era of the Rechte ended in 1935 when the liberal-conservative faction of the party (led by Vilhelm Kristensen) was elected as the candidate of the party for the elctions of the same year, which he won. Vilhelm concluded the ludwigist era and implemented several reforms that moved the Rechte to the right which caused the formation of a coalition with the Nationalists between 1935 and 1951. This move was significantly important for the creation of the Social Democrat Party and the migration of ludwgisits from the Rechte leaving it, as a small right party. The Kristensen-Hartling Era was interrupted by two Nationalist governments, with which the Rechte formed coalitions to prevent the Social Democrats to reach the executive, marked the end of the social democracy inside the party. Politologists in Nidwalden expresses that this era of liberal-conservatives policies of the Rechte lasted farther than the last Hartling government as the party formed a coalition with the Die Demokraten party in 1983 and later again with the Nationalists.
Charlotte Mann and Ludwigists United
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It took 18 terms (between Nationalists, Democrats and Social Democrats) for the Rechte to win the elections again with the leadership of Charlotte Mann, member of the historic family of the party that has four different members that occupied the Prime Minister office. In 1990 the Nationalist Party was defeated by the social democrat candidate Helmut Talvi with one of its worst results, the elections caused to the Nationalist Party one of its biggest crisis that took it to almost disappear. In the elections, Charlotte Mann and her group were selected to be part of the few deputies from the Rechte in the Parliament, Charlotte appeared for the public audience with the link she formed with the government in several social issues like the recognition of same-sex unions (during Talvi's administration) and same-sex marriages (Fitzgerald's administration) and the approval of social democrat budgets to face the financial crisis inherited from the Democrat and Nationalist administrations.
Charlotte Mann rapidly gained the attention of young members of the Social Democrat party and of the society with strong Ludwigist speeches in the Parliament and interviews. In the internal elections of 2006, Charlotte was elected as the candidate from the Rechte with an overwhelming adherence that washed the liberal and conservatives image of the party. Charlotte Mann was finally elected Prime Minister in 2018.