Valcourian General Election, 2022

[Valcouria]

The 2022 Valcourian General Election will be held on 8 November 2022, with 60 of the 180 elective seats in the Senate being contested. Additionally, for the first time since 2010, elections will also be held to fill the 400 seats of the Chamber of Deputies, which will result in the restoration of bicameralism in the Imperial legislature. The elected Senators will serve terms beginning 3 January 2023 until 3 January 2029, while the elected Deputies will serve a two-year term from 3 January 2023 until 3 January 2025.

Also, for the first time since 2010, there will be multiple political parties contesting the seats to the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. A total of four political parties have been registered to run in the elections, while the long-governing Crossfire Party will cease to exist effective 1 January 2023, to be succeeded by the new parties. The legalized parties running in this election are the Catholic Social Party (CSP), Farmer-Labour Party (FLP), Liberal-Conservative Party (LCP), and People's Nationalist Party (PNP).

Of the 60 Senate candidates running for election, 34 of them are incumbents who have served since 2016. Twenty of the 200 Senators are appointed ecclesiastical officials who do not face election, but rather are appointed by the Emperor to their 6-year terms. A total of 7 will be appointed for this cycle, although all seven that have been serving since 2016 are scheduled to be re-appointed by the Emperor.

The Chamber of Deputies was originally the lower house of the National Congress which existed from 1850 until 2012, when it was abolished by the Imperial Constitution. Since then, the Imperial Senate has served as the sole legislative body of the government. Recent discontent throughout 2020 and 2021 resulted in a bevy of government reforms, including the restoration of bicameralism following the Legislative Reform Act of 2022 which will amend the Constitution to allow for the Chamber to reconvene. The 400 members will be elected by single-member constituencies and by instant-runoff voting, with 50%+1 of the vote being required to win office. A total of 654 candidates are vying for the 400 seats across the Empire.

Numerous other state, and local elections will also be held on this date. The winners of these elections will serve beginning in the 3rd Imperial Senate and 1st Chamber of Deputies, which will collectively be known once again as the National Congress.

PARTIES CONTESTING THE 2022 GENERAL ELECTION

COLOR: Black
IDEOLOGY:
Integralism
Social Conservatism
Corporatism

The Catholic Social Party (CSP) is an Integralist and Corporatist political party that is the major catch-all party of the religious vote. Although organized to favor the Empire's Roman Catholic majority, the party is welcoming to non-Catholic denominations who support its policies.

The CSP is generally in favor of continued religious influence in the Imperial Government and supports the continued existence of the Imperial Inquisition over restoring the Supreme Court. it rejects separating morality from the State and favors Catholicism remaining as the proclaimed religion of the State. Additionally, the party maintains a strong conservative stance towards social issues like abortion, same-sex marriage, and euthanasia, opposing all three. The CSP also supports a corporatist mixed economy, relying on the Papal Encyclicals Rerum Novarum and Quadragesimo Anno to emphasize its support of a distributist system rather than rely on laissez-faire economics.

PARTY PLATFORM:
-Maintain Government's prohibition of Abortion, Same-Sex Marriage, and Euthanasia.
-Create a progressive tax system to replace the flat-tax system currently in place.
-Maintain the Roman Catholic Church as the State Religion.
-End Reforms aimed to secularize the Imperial Inquisition.
-Increase funding towards social programs to combat poverty and homelessness.
-Create tax credits for families with children younger than 18 years of age.

COLOR: Green
IDEOLOGY:
Agrarianism
Green Conservatism
Economic Nationalism

The Farmer-Labour Party (FLP) is an agrarian and economic nationalist political party that is the furthest to the political left within the Empire. The party is geared towards those with low incomes as well as the Empire's farming and manufacturing workers.

By far the largest faction of the FLP is in favor of economic nationalism to protect Imperial farmers and workers from cheaper foreign imports and supports high tariffs to prevent the undercutting of labor within the Empire. The party's primary function however is to serve the interests of the farming class, supporting agrarianism and the subsidization of farming to keep costs low and avoid undercutting by the free market. As the party of farmers, it is also generally opposed to the 'elite' of the cities and has a slight populist flavor. A minority of the party also supports green investments to combat climate change, particularly those solutions that would benefit the economy as well as the environment as well as those that support private initiative.

PARTY PLATFORM:
-Increase subsidies to farmers to keep domestic farming costs competitive.
-Support a government union to protect workers from unscrupulous business owners.
-Increase tariffs on foreign imports, especially foodstuffs.
-Increase government funding for welfare and unemployment insurance to 5% of GDP.
-Invest in private businesses that meet climate action quotas set by the government.
-Create tax credits for businesses that specialize in green energy use/production.

COLOR: Blue
IDEOLOGY:
Economic Liberalism
Conservative Liberalism
Fiscal Conservatism

The Liberal-Conservative Party (LCP) is a liberal political party that is considered to be the most business-friendly and economically liberal of the four legalized political parties in the Empire. It is also the party most in favor of continuing the reforms of the Imperial Government that were started in 2021.

The LCP is committed to economic liberalism and supports both the free market and reduction of tariffs to spur investment in prosperous industries. Additionally, it is the party most opposed to deficit spending and has called for greater restrictions on spending in general. The LCP is perhaps the most diversely ideological party in the Empire as well, as factions support a myriad of issues ranging from immigration to the gold standard. Despite the party's liberal outlook, the platform makes no mention of challenging the religiously influenced laws regarding social issues, considering them 'solved' issues. However, the party does support greater freedoms with regard to religion in general, including the abolition of a state religion in favor of ecumenicalism.

PARTY PLATFORM:
-Reduce income and corporate taxation rates by 10%.
-Reduce any and all tariffs on imports by 50%, with a focus towards abolition.
-Remove all government subsidies towards failing businesses.
-Maintain current flat taxation system rate for all income earners.
-End all deficit spending in either Imperial or Dominion governments.
-Abolish the gold standard and return to fiat currency.

COLOR: Silver
IDEOLOGY:
National Conservatism
Ethnic Nationalism
Right-Wing Populism

The People's Nationalist Party (PNP) is a nationalist political party that is considered to be the de facto successor of the long-governing Crossfire Party. It is also considered to be the most right-wing of the four legalized parties within the Empire.

The PNP above all glorifies the Empire of Valcouria and its native peoples. As such, it is immensely distrustful towards immigration and has a policy towards curbing any further immigration into the Empire. It is also highly populist, viewing the financial and political 'elite' of the country with deep suspicion despite glorifying the Emperor in particular as the savior of the nation. The party also opposes the recent liberalizations that have taken place in the last few years and has formally adopted a platform that supports curbing those reforms and returning to the total autocracy of the previous 10 years. Despite these much more hardline stances, the PNP generally supports the laws of the Empire as they currently are, particularly those that affect the country's social status.

PARTY PLATFORM:
-Reduce immigration to the Empire to 0.5% of current population per year.
-Restore unicameralism to the Imperial Government and re-abolish the Chamber of Deputies.
-Nationalize all industries that affect national defense.
-Increase taxation on high-income earners over $1 million to 100%.
-End any further reforms to the government and restore 'Imperial Autocracy.'
-Create government credits for native-born families who have children.