Modern Centre Party (Werania)
Modern Centre Party Partei des Modernen Zentrums | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Founded | August 13, 1982 |
| Dissolved | 15 August 2021 |
| Split from | National Consolidation Party |
| Merged into | Euclean Werania |
| Headquarters | Westbrücken |
| Youth wing | Modern Centre Future |
| Membership (2015) | 217,000 |
| Ideology | Conservative liberalism Economic liberalism Pro-Eucleanism Factions Social liberalism Liberal conservatism Sotirian democracy |
| Political position | Centre to centre-right |
| Euclean Parliament group | Euclean Liberal Party |
| Colors | Blue, yellow |
The Modern Centre Party (Weranic: Partei des Modernen Zentrums) abbreviated to PMZ was a centre-right political party in Werania. It served as the junior partner in coalition governments from 1988-1995 alongside the centre-left Social Democratic Radical Party of Werania (SRPO), 1999-2007 with the centre-right National Consolidation Party (NKP) and 2011-2019 with the SRPO. In 2021 it merged with the SRPO into Euclean Werania.
The Modern Centre Party was founded in 1982 by reformist members of the NKP following the Steinman Scandal in order to create a centre-right party that would represent an alternative choice from the NKP. The PMZ brought together Sotirian democrats, liberals and radicals becoming a rather centrist party. It advocated social and economic liberalisation alongside pro-Eucleanism in order to challenge the long held hegemony of the NKP and the left-wing parties, becoming the main force of liberalism, attracting former NKP and left-wing politicians and voters disillusioned in their lack of affinity with the major parties.
Following the 1988 election the PMZ entered as a junior coalition partner of the first "purple" government of Ludolf Ostermann between SPRO and PMZ. The Ostermann government was noted internationally for its social and economic liberal policies with the PMZ being a strong force in the marketisation of the Weranic economy. The purple government was re-elected in 1992 but differences over economic policy led the PMZ to leave the government in 1995. They re-entered government this time with the conservative NKP in 1999 serving until the 2007 election when the Euclean financial crisis saw their vote count plummet. Following the 2007 electoral collapse the PMZ began to reinvent itself and underwent a strong revival in the 2011 election after which they formed another coalition as the junior partner with the SPRO. The coalition was re-elected in 2015 before both parties went into opposition in 2019 after securing historically poor results. The SRPO-PMZ government implemented several economically liberal reforms to deal with the 2000's Euclean financial crisis.
Modern Centre was often seen as a liberal party with the majority of its members both economic and social liberalism. The party was historically split between a "reformist" faction that wished to take over the NKP as the largest party of the right and a "liberal" faction who wished to position it as a centrist party. The party since the 1990's became mostly seen as being controlled by the "liberal" faction, although divisions how hew along a more conventional left and right wing of the party who differ on the issue of economic reform. PMZ was considered the most pro-Euclean party in Werania being a member of the Euclean Liberal Party (ELP).
History
Early history
Purple government
Modern history
Ideology
The Modern Centre Party at its foundation had a broad range of ideologies ranging from Sotirian democrats to social liberals. Although formed predominantly from members of the National Consolidation Party (NKP) the PMZ sought to present itself as moving beyond the left-right divide that permeated Weranian politics and claimed to incorporate elements of all ideologies into it's philosophy instead standing for political renewal.
The strongest ideological influence on the PMZ since it's foundation has been liberalism. The party from it's foundation claimed to strongly support the notion of individual liberty and personal freedoms, criticising the NKP and the socialist left for appealing to sectional groups rather then the people. Political scientist Werner Rüstow considered the PMZ to be an example of liberal populism with their presentation of the state and the political actors tied to it as irredeemably corrupt, civil society and individuals as being inherently virtuous and their advocacy for a new untainted elite to replace the current "dysfunctional" state with a "friendly, minimal state".
From it's foundation the PMZ was divided between those who wished to make the party into a liberal conservative competitor to the NKP and those who wanted a more big tent party focused on political renewal.