Patriotic Union (Tengaria)

Patriotic Union Uniō Patriōtica Патриотичен съюз
Leader	Teodora Kovacheva
Deputy Leader	Imre Király
Chairman	Ătoăn Pestrhistĭ
General Secretary	Mónika Heszky
Founded	August 15, 1956 (1956-08-15)
Preceded by	All-Solarian Union Episemialist Party Agrarian Union
Headquarters	Union Complex Lenovo, Tengaria
Newspaper	Solarni Novini (alleged)
Youth wing	Association of Imperial Scouts
Membership (2021)	2,894,399
Ideology	Nonpartisanism Civic virtue Social Conservatism Statism Anti-Pluralism
Political position	Right
Mizparl group	United Patriots
Colours	Yellow
Slogan	"Unitas Obtulit Iustitiam et Armoniam" "Unity offers Justice and Concord"
Chamber of Deputies	330 / 380
Mizparl	60 / 450
Provincial Governments	717 / 825
Political parties

The Patriotic Union (Solarian: Uniō Patriōtica, Tengarian: Патриотичен съюз), sometimes referred to as the Tengarian Patriots (Тенгарски патриоти) is a de jure nonpartisan political movement and (considered by East Euclean observers) a de facto political party in the Tengaria. It does not consider itself a political party, but rather a movement for unity and strength which trascends party or ideological boundaries. It is the largest political movement in Tengaria, with members holding 330 seats out of 380 in the Chamber of Deputies, nearly 87% of all the seats. It has dominated Tengarian politics since 1958, under the leadership of three generations of the Kovachev family. Its current head is Teodora Kovacheva, the incumbent President of Tengaria. In addition to being part of Tengarian politics, the Patriotic Union also controls all 60 seats that Tengaria has in the Mizparl of Samorspi.

The movement was founded during the Tengarian Civil War by Simeon Kovachev, a military commander hero of Tengaria from the Great War and who had been provisional head of government since 1956. Centred around right-wing forces in the war, already known as the "Patriots", it first served as the uniting of the political parties in the elected Senate serving against the Vasilov government. Simeon founded the Union as a movement to move beyond political parties, instead pursuing the political good as defined by Xenagoras. The populace of Tengaria, disgusted by years of political squabbling and eventually war, joined the movement en masse, facilitated by Kovachev's quick victory in the Civil War and the collapse of the other political parties. Membership increased dramatically, and Simeon Kovachev's new constitution and election to the Presidency in 1958 solidified the death knell for the political parties, as they were quickly made illegal. Ever since 1958, the Patriotic Union has controlled a supermajority in the Chamber of Deputies, along with many members of the Senate of Tengaria. The Presidency has also been controlled by three members of the Patriotic Union, who have also been its head.

The Union claims to not follow or be bound to any ideology, but is often considered by outside political analysts to possess it de facto. Kovachev's idea for the Union sought to unite all of Tengaria to work for the common political good through common prudence, and to explicitly avoid the political chaos and division which partisanship creates. Kovachev, himself a disciple of the Znaniya School, based itself on the principles of Teleology and Episemialist Sotirianity. The Union seeks to foster civic virtue in all citizens, and to support the values and traditions which have shaped Tengaria, especially its strong Episemialist faith, making it both religious and effectively promoting social conservatism. The values of the Patriotic Union are actively taught to youth in the Tengarian education system. In addition, following Kovachev, the Union generally rejects "excessive democratic and nationalistic tendencies", which it claims only seeks to entrench divisions and turn popular will into a tyrannical weapon. Although Dimitri Kovachev tried to modernize the Union somewhat during his Presidency his daughter Teodora Kovachev has moved the Union back towards the ideals of her grandfather. Due to its wide-reaching nature, Union also has several unofficial factions which work to promote certain agendas and policies.

The Patriotic Union has been called by outside sources as undemocratic, authoritarian as well as corrupt for its stranglehold on Tengarian politics over the past sixty years, especially through its control of only a single family. Although Tengaria considers itself as non-partisan democracy, outside critics claim that the Union is a politcal party which controls Tengaria as a dominant-party state, with some considering it as a one-party state. The Union was especially known for tis corruption under Dimitri Kovachev, but this has improved during Teodora's Presidency. Its stress on political unity and de facto support of conservative values or Teleological philosophy have drawn criticism from left-wing groups across the world. However, the Union has also drawn praise from other political authors, who cite its change of focus away from ideology to pursuit of the common good and its concern with developing virtuous citizens as noble.

Electoral Results

As a de jure non-partisan democracy, Tengaria does not have parties listed on the ballot. While many political candidates are associated with Patriotic Union for the connections and resources it offers, the Union itself does not sponsor any candidates for any office or constituency. In fact, in several Chamber of Deputies constituencies it is sometimes common to have multiple registered members of the Union run against each other for a seat. As such, the Patriotic Union does not run candidates formally as a party, but these results are taken from the successful elections of those who have been members of the Union.

Presidential Elections

Election	Candidate	Electoral College			Result
		Votes	%	+/–
1958	Simeon Kovachev	177 / 177	100%	-	Elected Y
1983	Dimitri Kovachev	121 / 150	80.66%	-	Elected Y
2000	Dimitri Kovachev	114 / 148	76.00%	7	Elected Y
2006	Dimitri Kovachev	109 / 150	72.67%	5	Elected Y
2012	Dimitri Kovachev	103 / 149	69.13%	6	Elected Y
2014	Teodora Kovacheva	118 / 147	80.27%	15	Elected Y
2018	Teodora Kovacheva	127 / 150	84.67%	9	Elected Y

Chamber of Deputies Elections

Election	Party leader	Performance					Rank	Government
		Votes	%	± pp	Seats	+/–
1958	Simeon Kovachev	9,342,233	73.57%	73.57	342 / 380	342	1st	Supermajority
1964		9,565,241	82.45%	8.88	358 / 380	16	1st	Supermajority
1970		9,788,241	85.64%	3.19	362 / 380	4	1st	Supermajority
1976		10,653,112	86.75%	0.19	365 / 380	3	1st	Supermajority
1982		11,211,115	87.25%	0.50	366 / 380	1	1st	Supermajority
1988	Dimitri Kovachev	10,876,345	78.14%	9.11	348 / 380	18	1st	Supermajority
1994		11,112,342	71.12%	7.02	333 / 380	13	1st	Supermajority
2000		12,022,221	72.42%	1.40	335 / 380	2	1st	Supermajority
2006		11,589,978	68.41%	4.01	326 / 380	9	1st	Supermajority
2012		11,781,978	66.31%	2.10	321 / 380	5	1st	Supermajority
2018	Teodora Kovacheva	12,392,091	70.76%	4.45	330 / 380	9	1st	Supermajority

Ideology

Since the Patriotic Union is not strictly a political party, in does not hold a to closely defined ideology, and it sees itself as opposed to ideology. Simeon Kovachev envisioned it as a movement that would transcend ideological and partisan conflict. That said, however, the Union does, at least nominally, have a common political philosophy with principles taken from Teleology and Episemialist Sotirianity. It holds such notions such as that the good of the country is superior to that of the individual, that the duty of politician is to work for the good of the country, society must abide by Sotirian virtues, the laws and traditions of the country should be preserved unless contrary to the good, patriotism under a common love of country, and that education is important to the development of good and virtuous- and thus ultimately 'free'- citizens. In addition to positive values, the philosophy rejects several political trends- the development of "faction" or partisan conflict, the excessive democratisation and enslavement to the popular will leading to tyranny of the majority, and the spread of nationalism and the concept of the nation-state. This philosophy, however, is not fully assented to be all members of the Union; but usually most abide by it in general ways, and it has been promoted by the Kovachevs and Union leadership as the founding legitimacy for the Union.

In practice, the Union follows a common set of ideologies. Its political philosophy disposes it towards certain kinds authoritarianism and social conservatism. Within that, however, as a big tent and broad reaching political movement meant to work with all Tengarians, it also has several unofficial factions within the Union which focus on more particular ideologies, especially concerning economics and the application of political ends. Depsite these differences, almost all members of the Union are some variety of statist, and work to preserve the Union's domination over the country and the electoral system. Above all, the Union claims that political stability and security are paramount to the preservation of political unity and the common welfare of the people. This makes the Union frimly anti-pluralist in regards to other political movements. However, as a universal movement, it rejects Tengarian nationalism and protects the major minority ethnic groups in the country as being part of the same "fatherland". In general, the Union keeps to a generally corporatist economic structure, internationally is a firm supporter of Soravia and of Samorspi, and takes a religious conservative stance on social issues.

Factions

Although the Union has no official divisions, there are interest groups within the Union which promote particular visions for the Union or commit to certain ideals in how Tengaria should be run. These factions often overlap, and some politicians are said to belong to multiple factions. Many also fall in between two opposing faction, and support different policies which take aspects of both. The primary divisions are the Purists and Pragmatists, with the others being smaller in size. The members of certain factions usually occupy certain government posts; traditionally, for example, the Minister of Education is almost always a Purist, while the Minister of Finance is almost always a Pragmatist. In addition, the general balance and influence of the factions usually changes depending on the influence and favouritism of the Presidency; for example, Pragmatism was the dominant faction during the Presidency of Dimitri Kovachev, while Teodora Kovacheva led the Union back towards the Purist side. In addition, there are generational differences, as many of the current elderly Union polticians tend to be pragmatists, while the younger generations tend to embrace Purism. Currently, the largest faction are the Purists, but Pragmatists still occupy important government positions.

 • The Purists: the "original" members of the Patriotic Union, these fully espouse the founding philsophic principles of the Union and support Simeon Kovachev's policies and ideas as the landmark for the Union to follow.
 • The Pragmatists: those who support "realistic" government principles over mere philosophic principles, and promote policies which garuntee the political survival of the Union in an increasing hostile world.
 • The Monarchists: Those who advocate for the restoration of the Empire of Tengaria. An important group in the founding and continuing of the Union.
 • The Militarists: those who support increased funding, expansion, development, and promotion of the Tengarian Armed Forces and the development of a military industrial complex; some of these support a mandatory conscription for all citizens.
 • The Corporatists: those who support economic corporatism, state invovlement and influence in the economy. The dominant economic faction, having members in both the purists and pragmatists.
 • The Capitalists: those who support the promotion of a free market, economic liberalism, and deregulation.
 • The Ecclesiastics: those who support the Patriarchate of Istros and promote its inclusion and influence over society. Supports religious and social conservative policies, and is usually closely associated with the purist faction.
 • The Secularists: those who seek to reduce the influence of the Episemialist Church on state affairs. Historically one the smallest of the factions, usually only coinciding with the more radical pragmatists.
 • The Interiorists: those who support the increased focus on national affairs, and to ensure national soveriegnty within Samorspi. Firm promoters of cultural nationalism.
 • The Soravianists: those who support increased integration or economic cooperation with Soravia and Samorspi.
 • The Centralists: those who support the continued dominance of the central government over the local governments, and to maintain and expand the power of the central government.
 • The Regionalists: those who support the increased protection of regional or local autonomy.

Organization

Ătoăn Pestrhistĭ
Chairman
since 2001

Mónika Heszky
General-Secretary
since 2017

The Union is a political organisation meant to serve as a forum where those interested in the political process may associate with other politicians concerned with the common good. Membership in it allows access to resources, conventions and conferences, political education events, and opportunites to make connexions with other politicians in the Union. It does not run or sponsor candidates to any office or constituency, and does not register its name on the ballot. There is no membership fee and membership follows an open process; however, all members must agree to follow a code of conduct and may be expelled for "lack of integrity and virtue", public scandal, or misusing the resources of the Union.

The Union's leadership structure is not democratic, and the leader is appointed to the office by the previous leader, or the deputy leader takes over in the case of no such appointment. Since her father's appointment in 2014, the leader of the Union has been Teodora Kovacheva, who is also the incumbent President of Tengaria. The leader appoints the deputy leader (in practice usually the deputy President) and then the Union's Chairman, which is the position with the most control over administrative structure of the Union. The Chairman is in turn assisted by the General-Secretary. The administrative structure of the Union oversees the planning of events, resources, and membership oversight, usually with the Chairman overseeing the general planning and major events while the General-Secretary focuses on more details with regional and local coordinators. Since 2017, the General-Secretary has been Mónika Heszky, while the Chairman, Ătoăn Pestrhistĭ, has held his position since 2001.

The Union and its members have consistently been adamant that it is an organisation with its members involved in politics, and not a political party. The Union holds that what is essential to a political party is the same. The Union has been consistently upheld in its view that it is not a political party by the Tengarian Courts. In 1985, a suit alleging that the Patriotic Union violated the Tengarian Constitution.

Criticism

The Union has faced a variety of criticism on mulitple levels. One of the primary ones is a rejection of the Union's claim that it is not a political party, with many sources (mostly outside Tengaria) claiming that it is in fact a party that does not call itself one. According to the Aucurian political commentator Oljantas Paulauskas, “by all reasonable metrics they are a political party, but they run the state as an illiberal dominant-party regime, so they get to declare themselves not-a-party-for-legal-purposes in order to bypass the constitutional guardrails on nonpartisanship without having to worry about this contrivance being slapped down”.