Parliamentary elections in the Commonwealth [Open|IC]

[Central European Commonwealth]

After last year's chaotic presidential elections, which were riddled with scandals brought us a surprising new president, this winter it's time to replace our parliament.

Will Laura Gerritsen's Greens manage to score a plurality in parliament, and as such be able to push forth their far-reaching programme as the senior party in the government? Will the Social Democrats hold on to their majority in parliament, ensuring the conservative east and progressive west are kept together by its historical binding force? Or will the Christian Democrats have recovered from last year's corruption scandal and try to steer the country in a conservative direction, possibly alienating the western voivodeships?

And what role will the Democrats '93 party play?

Then we have two small western parties which might have a far more ominous presence in our country for the next four years as their relative size would suggest; the FNP, primarily active in the Frisian voivodeship, and the GNP, active in the Lower Rhenish- and Lower Saxon voivodeship. (and to a lesser extent in the Limburg- and Westphalian voivodeships). Especially in the case of the hard left GNP, who already mentioned they will only cooperate with a Green government, in case of the Greens doing particularly well in the central- and eastern parts of the nation, their support could mean the difference between the Greens having to cooperate with the moderate PSD or possibly with the hard-left, hard anti-clerical GNP. On the other hand, a strong showing of the Christian Democratic PCD, could mean four years of unrest in these two western voivodeships. It is rumoured that both the GNP, as well as the PLNR have an active clandestine paramilitary wing.

Finally, one more relatively small party which could have an impact on this round of elections is the above-mentioned PLNR, a right-wing, reactionary and populist party emboldened by recent events in the world, not in the least the recent win of Donald Trump in the United States. They're forecasted to grab at least 5-7% of the vote, in some rural voivodeships possibly more. As mentioned before, the PLNR is rumoured to have a paramilitary wing, as the GNP. However, opposed to the GNP, the PLNR does not pursue secession of certain regions, although members have been arrested for violent attacks on foreign citizens. Also, the leader of the PLNR stated recently that our president and leader of the Green Party, Laura Gerritsen, is an abomination of nature and if they would come to power, they would pursue impeachment efforts to get rid of her. Laura Gerritsen has declined to press charges for hate speech, although it is forecasted that a PCD win with the PLNR as junior party in government will likely have a destabilizing effect in our western voivodeships.



Members of the Sejm (Parliament) 2013-2017

[Central European Commonwealth]

Reserved for party introduction

[Central European Commonwealth]

Reserved for party introduction

[Central European Commonwealth]

Reserved for party introduction

[Central European Commonwealth]

Reserved for party introduction

[Central European Commonwealth]

Reserved for party introduction

[Central European Commonwealth]

Reserved for party introduction

[Central European Commonwealth]

Reserved for party introduction

[Greater Slavic Union]

tag... I do not want to miss this...

[Pherdistan]

tag... I do not want to miss this...

Tag as well, this is gonna be good...

Edit: A few questions from Ferdistani journalists to the Commonwealth's parties and electoral commissions.

General Questions:

"How are seats in the Sejm apportioned? By list PR? MMP? FPTP?"

"I heard there was a Senate as well, listed in the Commonwealth's Constitution. Is the Senate not elected, or is it elected at a different time?"

"Given the scandals that rocked the Presidential elections, what will the Anti-Corruption Bureau do differently this election, if anything, to cut down on the bribery and political terrorism?"

"What is the status on foreign donations to political parties? Foreign election observers? Foreign volunteers for political parties?"

"What is the status of the former leader and presidential candidate of the Christian Democrats? Is he awaiting trial? Now in prison? Current being tried? Has the Anti-Corruption Bureau investigated other politicians in the Christian Democrats, or in any other party?"

"Does anyone believe that the Kingdom of Zeeland or other foreign actors will influence the parliamentary election, as they tried to do in the presidential election? If so, what measures does the Bureau intend to take to prevent such corruption from occurring?"

"Is any party intending to reduce the number of consonants in the Polish language?"

Questions for the Christian Democrats:

"Given the recent scandal over your presidential candidate receiving illicit foreign donations, what steps has your party taken to reform and prevent such errors from occurring in the future?"

Questions for the Greens:

"As your presidential candidate was the target of an assassination attempt during her campaign, will your party be asking for or enacting any extra security measures during this election to protect and otherwise safeguard the well-being of your parliamentary candidates?"

[Avinaa]

Interested to see what kind of government is formed. Also is your presidency a ceremonial post or an empowered HoS?

[Central European Commonwealth]

For today's questions we have Henrik Schmidt from the Christian Democrats, Liselotte Kowalski from the Social Democrats and Linas Baškienė from the Green Party.

General Questions:

"How are seats in the Sejm apportioned? By list PR? MMP? FPTP?"

Proportional representation per voivodeship. Each voivodeship sends anywhere from 4 to 25 members to the Sejm, dependent on their population. There have been concerns about the "fairness" of this system, as parties such as the PLNR consistently draws around 4-5% of the electorate, but have failed to get more than a handful of members elected to the Sejm, but most parties see this as a safeguard for extreme parties such as them, and do not wish to tinker with this system. Also, because we're a strong multinational state, we value our confederal tradition, where the individual voivodeships are basically running themselves within the framework the government in Kraków provides. Allowing the voivodeships to have their own strong voice in Kraków reflects this.

"I heard there was a Senate as well, listed in the Commonwealth's Constitution. Is the Senate not elected, or is it elected at a different time?"

They are elected by the voivodeships. Each voivodeship sends two people to the Senate at the time of their own choosing. Some voivodeships have elections every two-and-a-half years, others every four, and yet again others every five.

"Given the scandals that rocked the Presidential elections, what will the Anti-Corruption Bureau do differently this election, if anything, to cut down on the bribery and political terrorism?"

You have to understand that our elections are squeakly clean compared to those in other Western countries, except maybe our Northern neighbours. As for the CBA, I can't comment on their methodology, but I can assure you that they will be watching. Diplomats engaging in bribery of our politicians will be expelled, and politicians guilty of taking bribes will be jailed. Also remember that the budget and expenditures of the various parties, by Commonwealth law, needs to be in the public domain. It's designed to be very difficult to get away with political corruption, nevertheless, some nations try to influence our elections as we are by far the strongest nation in contemporary Europe.

I think what caught us by surprise last year was the sheer blatancy of the act. This was something never seen before.

"What is the status on foreign donations to political parties? Foreign election observers? Foreign volunteers for political parties?"

Foreign donations are explicitly forbidden. This is what got Fryderyk Ciesielski in hot water last year. Besides that, anyone from any country is free to observe our elections and volunteer for parties. If they're from outside the EU, they need to get a visa, and the party needs to request this, but besides that, there are no limitations. We believe that this is a better way of spreading democracy than how some other countries choose to do it.

"What is the status of the former leader and presidential candidate of the Christian Democrats? Is he awaiting trial? Now in prison? Current being tried? Has the Anti-Corruption Bureau investigated other politicians in the Christian Democrats, or in any other party?"

He pleaded no contest to the charge of political corruption during his trial in November last year, and received a two-year suspended sentence, 240 hours of community service and a 50,000 zł fine in addition to the seized money. In regards to other investigations, unfortunately I am unable to comment on these. If the CBA has enough evidence, they will open a case, and only this point any evidence will be released into the public domain. As of now, no new cases have been opened.

"Does anyone believe that the Kingdom of Zeeland or other foreign actors will influence the parliamentary election, as they tried to do in the presidential election? If so, what measures does the Bureau intend to take to prevent such corruption from occurring?"

Election times is usually the worst time for the people working in the CBA, as they work around the clock scanning documents for inconsistencies and answering queries from people who "have heard from their neighbour, that their sister knows someone who's brother-in-law saw this and this politician do...." That sort of thing. Of course, they have to investigate each single lead, but honestly, people would be more helpful in keeping everything nice and clean if they did some citizen investigation on their part, as all financial data is in the public domain. There is just too much of it for the few hundred people tasked with fighting corruption.

To come back to the Ciesielski case form last year, what set this apart is that it was so monumentally blatant, and frankly speaking, stupid - as in, how are you going to hide a foreign donation of 1 million euro when the highest amount that one single person can donate to a political party is the equivalent of 80 euro per week. And for Ciesielski to actually take the money and not go straight to the CBA himself - he must have thought that it was so close to him winning, he could get away with it. I frankly think he overestimated the lucidity of the Zeeland government.

"Is any party intending to reduce the number of consonants in the Polish language?"

This is something which a cunning linguist should decide upon. Not a politician. Czech and German are however co-official throughout the Commonwealth, so for those who wish to come here, but feel threatened by the large number of consonants in the Polish language, I would advise them to learn German.

Questions for the Christian Democrats:

"Given the recent scandal over your presidential candidate receiving illicit foreign donations, what steps has your party taken to reform and prevent such errors from occurring in the future?"

We haven't. People are fallible, and as was mentioned earlier, it is extremely difficult to hide such a large illicit donation. Fryderyk Ciesielski got his punishment, and while we didn't get the presidency, it's done now. If we would've questioned his character earlier he wouldn't have become our candidate for this position, but we didn't question his character and didn't expect this to happen. Mind you, he's been with the party for nearly thirty years. We just hope and pray such a thing will not happen once more.

Questions for the Greens:

"As your presidential candidate was the target of an assassination attempt during her campaign, will your party be asking for or enacting any extra security measures during this election to protect and otherwise safeguard the well-being of your parliamentary candidates?"

No. We should not give in to terrorism. And mind you, if anything, this act brought us closer together, especially those in the far west, with the election of a minority president, a woman who is not from the Polish-, German- or Czech-speaking lands. In the Western voivodeships people see Laura Gerritsen even more as "their" president than out east. And while there have been calls for secession in that region since the early 1900's, more people than ever will see the Commonwealth as a force of good, not in the least because it was a Hollandish-speaking Zeelandian who tried to take this away. Even the GNP has softened their stance in recent times, they used to be for all-out secession, but since recent events, even them have come to the conclusion that it's better to have a Commonwealth working to better everyone inside of it is better than being subject to the extremes of modern-day politics.

Interested to see what kind of government is formed. Also is your presidency a ceremonial post or an empowered HoS?

We have a semi-presidential system, not unlike France. However, for many fields where the president wishes to execute power, support from the Sejm is necessary, and as you can imagine, if parties opposed to the president form the majority in the Sejm, the president's position will be largely ceremonial, as although the president is responsible for foreign policy and defence, if they actually want to act on it, a majority approving of this action in the Sejm is necessary.

[Novaya Russia (Ancient)]

-= The Dominion of Novaya Russia =-
Department of Public Relations

The closest candidate to suit the Novaya Russian interest is:
the Green Party / Partia Zieloni

[Arachaea]

Ash Merletta, Arachaean-Icelandic journalist for the Arachaean Ibis, an agrarian-liberal tabloid for the farmers, asks all candidates the following question:

What will each party do in regards to LGBT issues? And what does each party advocate in terms of protecting farmers and small business?

[Greater Slavic Union]

Question to the PLNR:

We would like to ask to the PLNR what is their stance on economic issues. Are they pro-businesses or pro-workers?

Also, another question is how is the PLNR, if elected, going to conduct the Foreign Policy of the Comonwealth?

And the last question: Is the PNLR going to reduce civil freedoms, or is the PLNR going to respect human rights, and maybe soften their position a bit, if elected?

Thank you.

Asked by Ludmila Břęčyščykievič, from Slavija1.

[Central European Commonwealth]

For this mornings questions, we have a panel of spokespeople for all major parties, I would like to introduce the following people:

Freyja Waksmundzka from Nowy Targ Podhalański, leader of the Social Democrats in Tatra voivodeship.
Maartje Geurts, from Ruroujście, leader of the Green Party in Limburg voivodeship.
Kristine Möller, from Białopole, last year's presidential candidate for the D93 party.
Heinrich Zawadski, from Kostrzyn, president of the Lubuskie voivodeship for the PCD.
Andriy Konovalets, from Włodzimierz Wołyński, leader of the PLNR.
Ailsa Munro-Kowalska, Mayor of Orłenice for the GNP.
Douwe Hoekstra, Lwówek Fryzyjski, First Minister of Fryzja for the FNP.

Ash Merletta, Arachaean-Icelandic journalist for the Arachaean Ibis, an agrarian-liberal tabloid for the farmers, asks all candidates the following question:

What will each party do in regards to LGBT issues?

We will build on what we already have achieved. The Central European Commonwealth ranks in the top tier globally when it comes down to protection of LGBT+ people, only missing a perfect score due to a loophole in our laws allowing intersex children as young as ten to opt for surgical treatment. When it comes down to the legal framework, and the general attitudes of our population we're one of the world leaders in bringing equality to this world. We allowed marriage equality way back in 1968 as the first Western nation to do so in modern times, as well as the first nation to gradually do away with the legal definition of "gender" in the period 1986-2012, culminating in the complete legal abolition of the term in November 2012, relegating the concept of "sex" and "gender" from legal, to mere psychological and medical terms - allowing people to live to their full potential as they themselves feel. Finally, in 2016 we've elected the first president in Western history who has had SRS. I would also like to remind people that all these advances were done under a Social Democratic government.

We would like to remind everyone that our current president was elected on a Green ticket. Also, many of these advances were done in the period 2009-2013, when the Social Democrats were in a coalition with our party. We have the most advanced Cyber Defence Forces in the world, and the largest navy in Europe. Back in those days, we were using it to help people worldwide, and depose evil governments who were killing people over their sexual preference. Since this government took over the Sejm in February 2013, nothing more happened, instead, our ships are in their docks in Harnsz, Lubeka and Gdańsk.

Maartje, should I remind you of the fact that after the military excursion in Polkopia, the Greens, who were pushing for this military action, lost 40% of their support in the Sejm? There is a reason why we got a Social-Democrat majority government after 2013, your party almost got relegated to the status of a regional western party, I frankly often don't see the difference between your party and the GNP for example, except that we still need to find the first Green paramilitary camp in Jabłkowice which pretends to be an anarchist get-together where they sing Kumbaya by the campfire...

What makes you think we run a paramilitary camp in Jabłkowice anyways? Those are just party members who enjoy each other's company and the Great Outdoors. And yes, they like shooting, but last time I checked, this is not against Commonwealth law.

People, can we please go back to the original question? We have limited airtime.

I can't believe my ears what's said here on national television, frankly, this debate is exactly what's wrong with our society. Little boys grow up confused, and think it's perfectly fine to have their cock cut off and become president of our great nation. Look at that monstrosity sitting in the presidential palace in Kraków - deviants like him make our nation the laughing stock of the world. At least right now, there are still people who remember who nature meant it, a real man, a real woman, and children who know their role and their place in society. Already, in some of our cities, this knowledge is completely lost, you see grand "parents" where you can't see which one is the man and which one the woman, and the younger generations are just outright disgusting. Homosexuality - as long as I don't have to be confronted with it, is fine. But all the other "advances" - well, we can still turn them back. But it will take a long time.

Andriy, why don't you **** off to your eastern hole...

Ailsa, Andriy is entitled to his opinion, how abhorrent it might seem. Please keep the tone civilized - we won't fight them fascists by calling them names on live TV, we fight them by showing the world that their "alternative" really is a dystopian nightmare.

Thank you, Maartje.

Personally, and many people within the Christian Democratic Party share this idea, I'm fine with state-sanctioned "weddings" for homosexual people, but what we've seen in the last few decades is that traditional values have been stomped upon by successive PSD governments, especially when the Greens were in on it as well. In the 1963 census, only 25% of our country was non-religious, nowadays it's over 80% nationwide, and in Nowy Targ nad Renem in the far west, it's a staggering 95.3% who do not believe in God, and this includes old people. Among the 16-30 cohort it was 97.5% which reported atheist in the 2013 census. In Orłenice and Szczecin there are more self-professed Satanists among the young people than Christians. What kind of example is this setting for our future? What will happen with our traditions? I'm fine with people "doing their thing" - but please, for our morality and our tradition's sake, it has gone too far.

Ash Merletta:

And what does each party advocate in terms of protecting farmers and small business?

We will have to come back to this question, as well as the one asked by Ludmila Brzęczyszczykiewicz after the break, as we are running out of time.

[Central European Commonwealth]

Ash Merletta:

And what does each party advocate in terms of protecting farmers and small business?

We have safeguards in place to ensure that our local farmers aren't being competed out of the market by cheap imports from poor countries. Tariffs are levied on agricultural imports from outwith the Central European Commonwealth, the Nordic countries and the European Union member states. GMO's are strictly controlled in the Commonwealth, and we do not recognize commercial patents on GMO's. In order for GMO's to be legal in the Commonwealth under current law, they must pass a very stringent evaluation by our biotechnologists, and while seeds may be sold, they may not be patented. This effectively has kept the likes of Monsanto out of the Commonwealth.

I'm aware that our legislation on GMO's is great, because we helped write it. However, there is far more work to be done to ensure the future of our ecosystem and small farmers. The Green Party proposes a ban on factory farming, as we believe that animals, even those that are about to be eaten, deserve to be treated with respect. While we don't reject the consumption of meat, we do feel like it's over the top, if you live in a city, meat should be a luxury product which you eat twice a week or so, not three times daily while throwing half out. We also wish to do away with VAT, and most tariffs, and instate a carbon tax which levies a 1% tax per 100 kilometres instead. This will lead to locally sourced products being cheaper, while products which need to be transported halfway across the world will be much more expensive. With our current VAT rates of 5% on foodstuffs and 25% of other goods, food that doesn't have to travel more than 500 kilometres will become cheaper, and manufactured items produced pretty much anywhere in Europe will end up being cheaper. The Green Party believes that this is a correct and fair approach to try and influence objectionable consumer behaviours with regards to our planet without using nasty tools which can be politically abused such as tariffs.

I think you need to rethink your positions. Putting a distance tax on goods will only impoverish our citizens as imports from Eastern Asia will become prohibitively expensive. The Chinese will sell to the Americans if they can't sell to us, we're a market of merely 100 million people, and we behave like we can influence global capital. It's preposterous. Democrats '93 will work with our partners to remove as many trade barriers as possible, as these are keeping our food and many of our imports expensive. Having access to cheaper goods and food will only benefit the wealth of our citizens.

Kristine, you seem to forget that we're a market of merely 100 million people which happens to be the second largest economy in the world in real GDP. Also, being the most powerful member in a trade bloc with the European Union and the Nordic States allows us to punch well above our size when it comes down to setting an example. And what the Green Party proposes is fair, applies to the Commonwealth, as well as everyone else. Anything within a 100 kilometre radius is tax-free, outwith this radius, taxes are levied 1% for each 100 kilometres the goods travel. It is common sense to end subsidization of exploitation of our planet.

No, it's not. A new tablet in the United States costs the equivalent of 175 złotych, and here the same tablet sells for 400 as of now. Because of the components inside this tablet which can only be mined in a few places in the world, it will rise to 885 złotych under your proposal. It is preposterous, and a big finger to the consumers in the Central European Commonwealth.

You clearly didn't do your homework, because raw materials are excluded from the tax. Our scientific bureau did the same research, but with two similar models of mobile phones, one of the brand Chāng fù, out of Guangzhou, and another one of the brand Vittusaatana from Tampere. Currently, their flagship models cost 299 złotych for the Chinese phone, and 339 złotych for the Finnish one. In the US, they're indeed about 100 złotych cheaper, there they are the equivalent of 188 złotych for the Chinese model and 207 złotych for the Finnish phone. Under our new proposal, the Finnish telephone will actually become cheaper, by on average twelve percent, and cost around 299 złotych, while the Chinese model will indeed become more expensive, and will cost around 500 zlotych in retail prices.

So, you're taking away the right to choose, and in the meanwhile you're subsidizing the industries of our allies.

No, we're ensuring that we're not embarking on a race to the bottom in name of mindless consumerism while letting the generations after us deal with the mess we create.

The two of you made your points quite clear. Maybe Mr. Zawadzki has something to say about protecting small businesses and local farmers?

I don't think protectionism is a bad idea in regards to foreign imports of food. I'd say we need to tax foreign imports more than we do right now, and use this money to subsidize our own farmers. I understand it might be an issue with the Nordic and European Union states, and we need to work something out with them, but I strongly believe the tariffs we're currently imposing on imports from outside these areas are not enough.

Why do we even bother with the nations of the European Union and Nordic Council? I say we withdraw from both organizations and go alone. Our economy is 40% of that of the entire EU, and twice as big as all Nordic countries combined. We're a regional power, and still we allow Brussels and Copenhagen to have a say in our policies. It's madness. Our military is bigger than that of the next four European nations combined. I say we withdraw from both organizations and become truly independent.

You're out of your godda...

Ailsa, please keep your composure.

I'm sorry. What I'm trying to say is that shutting the door to international cooperation is the worst a nation like ours, with its long standing tradition of rule of law, can do at this point. Look at the disgrace unfolding in America.

Ailsa, could you please answer Ash Merletta's question? They would like to know what your party has to offer to small business and farmers. President Gerritsen will address the matter regarding the United States in a bit.

Of course. Our party has always been very strong on further devolution, and we believe that matters regarding the economy are best kept local. We support the Green plan for abolition of VAT and replacing it with a carbon tax, however we feel that they don't go far enough. Raw materials need to be taxed as well as fossil fuels themselves. And foodstuffs shipped in from other continents need to be subject to an additional 30% tax, which can be used to improve organic farming, not only of livestock, but also of crops.

That's rather extreme. We'll end up with 6 złotych bananas that way. I think the Green plan has some merit to it, but lets make it less complicated, 0% tax on foodstuffs sourced in your own voivodeship, 10% on foodstuffs from different voivodeships, and a base of 10% plus 1% per 200 kilometres for everything from outside the Commonwealth. And while banning factory farming is noble, please think of the farmers. I'd rather see a ban on all new factory farms and allowing the old ones to be grandfathered in, but in a way they're not allowed to expand their operations in a non-organic way, while taxing their products slightly higher to bring the retail costs in line with organically sourced meat.

Now to Ludmila Brzęczyszczykiewicz's question as we're running out of time before President Gerritsen's address to the nation.

We would like to ask to the PLNR what is their stance on economic issues. Are they pro-businesses or pro-workers?

We reject the notion that businesses and workers have different objectives. What's good for a business is good for its workers and vice versa. By saying that businesses and workers are somehow different in their needs one would argue that businesses and workers somehow have opposing interests, which is not true.

Also, another question is how is the PLNR, if elected, going to conduct the Foreign Policy of the Commonwealth?

We will do what's in the best interest for the Commonwealth. I think we can learn a lot from how President Trump has governed the United States of America over the last ten days. In this increasingly violent world, we, as a nation need to be strong and draw the line. The West, with the Commonwealth at its forefront, has degenerated into a mess. Violent Muslims are getting more and more confident, and it's a matter of time before we have the first major attack here in the heart of Europe. In our own country we have those Gelderland separatists, which are the worst cultural marxists of them all. It's a matter of time before the Commonwealth collapses under its own inability to act upon these threats.

And the last question: Is the PNLR going to reduce civil freedoms, or is the PLNR going to respect human rights, and maybe soften their position a bit, if elected?

We respect human rights. We don't respect human privileges. Currently, the Commonwealth is, and has been, for the last few decades or so, mistaken rights for privileges. We have to return to the natural order of things, and work from there.

Thank you all for your time. We should shortly go to the president for her address to the nation.

[Central European Commonwealth]

Address to the nation by Prezydent Laura Gerritsen.

Dear people of the Commonwealth,

Three days ago, the new president of the United States, Donald Trump, has banned citizens of seven countries entry to the United States.
Many of these people had right to remain, all had valid visas, and as such was in direct defiance of international law.
While we understand that we can not force our will upon another sovereign nation, this breach of international law did create chaos at our international airports in Kraków, Berlin and Nowy Targ nad Renem, as many of these nationals were in transit through our airports, or were deported back to our country.

Let one thing be clear. Just because the Americans elected a fascist, does not mean that we shall be accomplishes to fascism. We have extended our hand in friendship to these people, and for those who were unable to return home, we have offered them leave to remain in the Central European Commonwealth. This concerns a total of 878 people stranded on our airports or in transit. I have spoken to the American president, who unfortunately did not want to guarantee that Commonwealth citizens with dual nationality were granted access to their country, and for now, our foreign ministry is deliberating on which action to take.

I have spoken with the Nordic envoy for external affairs, Margot Wallström, as well as with the President of the European council, Nicola Sturgeon, and we have come to an agreement that as of today, February 1st, 2017, 07:00 CET, all EU and Nordic airspace will be closed off for American military use. We will draw the line right here, North Atlantic cooperation or not. We have also agreed on raising our minimal defence budget from 2 to 4% of GDP effective immediately to combat the fast-changing security situation on the European continent.

We will not be bullied by our neighbour across the Atlantic. We will not be forced into sitting back while solving the mess they create.

Thank you for your attention, and good night.

[Central European Commonwealth]

Last weekend's holiday special regarding the upcoming elections on Bataforum TV, hosted by Albert van Baexem.

As the date for the election inches closer, and a Green victory seems likelier, we will be discussing today with our president, Mrs. Laura Gerritsen, how she envisions a commonwealth under Green control.

Thank you for your time today, Mrs. Gerritsen. It has been a rough two months on the campaign trail for your party, hasn't it?

It has. But we're at a dawn of a fresh breath of new politics here in Europe, while the rest of the world seems ablaze. Someone needs to show leadership, and I think that the Commonwealth Green Party, together with our allies in the Nordic countries and Scotland can show the way forward.

Those are big words. And you explicitly mention Scotland. Are you so sure of their upcoming independence referendum?

We are, in fact. We're committed to full support of the current Scottish government in their endeavors, as their policies and geopolitical outlook match ours.

Still, there are some policies on which the Commonwealth Greens and the Scots differ one hundredth eighty degrees, most notable on nuclear energy and nuclear weapons.

And the Scots have the right to. Regarding nuclear energy, they don't need it. Last March Scotland powered their entire country on wind power alone, and had 30% left to sell to their neighbours. We don't have this sort of wind potential, and we're committed to achieving zero carbon emissions in our energy sector by 2020 as well. Even more so, we completely want to ban all fossil fuels by 2028. In order to achieve this, we need alternative power generation. And face it, the French and Swedes have powered their countries with a mix of nuclear and renewables for decades and no serious incidents took place there - because they take safety serious and lie in geologically stable areas - which can also be said about the Commonwealth.

Regarding nuclear weapons - our designs are very similar to the Chinese designs, high-powered bombs meant to explode high in the atmosphere to minimize casualties and maximize the electromagnetic pulse. They're meant to shut nations down, not to maximize the body count. In the end it comes down to the fact that many countries don't like us, some of which also possess these sort of weapons.

Still, for any European Green to speak out so much in favour of nuclear energy, you are a bit of an enigma, if I may say.

We're pragmatists. Nuclear energy is certainly not ideal, but it's a better-than-nothing stopgap measure for nations like ours, rich in fossil fuels but poor in renewable potential. And we believe that climate change is such a major threat to the Earth we give to our children and grandchildren, that the risks involved are certainly outweighed by the benefits.

Some actually would argue that the move you conspired with our Scandinavian neighbours two months ago, which ended up in most of the European airspace being blocked for American military use, can hardly be called pragmatic. Trade across the Atlantic has dropped by 40% since.

On the contrary, I would argue that as the Americans have been behaving in a way that goes right against our interests as they feel fit. This is not how allies treat each other. We had to draw the line somewhere and we did. And regarding the drop in trade, this isn't our decision - all American products which meet our standards can still freely be introduced to our market. I would argue that the current administration running the United States would've enacted more protectionist laws anyways. What goes unreported is that in the meanwhile, trade with the Chinese is up 18% and we've been cooperating closely to improve the working conditions and human rights within the People's Republic. Also, the Chinese seem far more interested in combating climate change than the Americans.

But the Chinese are also not exactly known to be paragons of human rights...

Fair enough, you have a point there. However, the Chinese also don't go parading across the world, stating they support human rights, only to install puppets which do exactly the opposite, and make the situation in their respective countries even worse. The Americans constantly mix up "human rights" with "American business" in the way they act. Which is fine, but don't expect any support from us for that.

Didn't your party do something similar in Polkopia a few years ago?

Not really, we went in, did our thing, and went out. We rescued 853 citizens of Polkopia from their government. And yes, we did get punished in the following elections. But people have to know that we would do it again if the need arises.

Should Ramzan Kadyrov be worried?

Unfortunately, Chechnya is a different situation, as they're a de facto subject of Russia, and in the end, it's going to be Putin who's eventually in charge there. Putin will likely see such an action as a attack against the territorial integrity of Russia and we might end up in an all-out war with the Russians. That would be a war which ends up as bad for us as it would for the Russians. What we can - and have done, is to allow Chechen refugees into the Commonwealth. And we're currently exploring more diplomatic options to resolve this issue.

So basically, if you're a small underdeveloped nation, you might have the Commonwealth policing you, while if you're large or are backed by superpowers, you can do whatever you want?

I wouldn't like to put it that way, as it's far more complicated than this. But we do have to apply a certain degree of pragmatism to our foreign politics. And if anything, our excursion into Polkopia has made us more aware of the risks at home regarding such endeavors. Back then, there was this sort of attitude of "let's do this, make it quick, and get it over with". If a similar situation would arise nowadays, it would be either solved diplomatically, or with a surgical extraction by some of our special forces under cover of night. We most certainly wouldn't go in parading with our carriers and make the other nation look stupid, while showing our fact to the world as bullies. For a good cause, but bullies nonetheless.

But, as far as I'm aware, you were the one calling the shots on the Polkopia thing back in 2012 as undersecretary of Defence, what made you change your mind since then?

I think I'm more of a well-rounded individual nowadays, less intent to lash out when I perceive injustice, and more likely to see the bigger picture. Surely the events of the 2013 elections had something to do with that, although our core supporters still supported us, we lost most support in all but the largest cities and a few western voivodeships in the Commonwealth. Our presence in the Sejm was halved.

Still, the Green party seems to not have lost their trust in you, as they put you forward for the presidential elections of last year, which you won. Some people argued that your willingness to lash out and deal with the consequences later was connected with your transition during that time. Do you think this is connected with each other?

Possibly. Although I'd like to think that people are constantly learning new things about themselves and apply these to make themselves a better person.

Fair point. As our time is running out, I would like to ask the final question; What may people expect if the Green Party wins the parliamentary elections this spring?

First of all, more investment in education and scientific research. We're firmly committed to our timetable of phasing out fossil fuels in power generation by 2020 and banning them all together by 2028. We're going to apply a distance-based carbon tax and do away our current VAT system. We're phasing out factory farming of animals by 2022. We'll carry on with our policy of armed diplomacy towards those who disregard human rights in the worst possible manner. We're going to make the Central European Commonwealth more attractive for foreign investment, especially in these sectors we want to develop more; Information Technology, Robotics, Clean Energy, Biotechnology and Genetics.

Thank you. Have a nice day.

You too have a great day, and thanks for hosting me.