With the disappearance of president Alexei Pushkin after the revelation that he was terminally ill, he was presumed dead. In this event, his presidency has been annulled and the Republic Act has now gone into effect. This means that now, because Pushkin is no longer in office, an election will take place for the new president of the Federal Republic of Varegia, with Pushkin's vice president, Dmitri Alekseev, temporarily presiding over the nation until a new president has been elected. Since the Unity Coalition that Alekseev and Pushkin represented has now dissolved, Alekseev will not be running for president, as he will not have a party to back his efforts.
With the Unity Coalition dissolved, the two largest forces in the Duma, and thereby the nation, are the Red Front and the NRPV.
The contending parties:
Conservative Party of Varegia (Formerly Unity Coalition)
Conservatives. Primary member of Pushkin's Unity Coalition. Led by Boris Medvedev.
The Conservatives of Varegia believe that societal and technological progress must be balanced with traditional values and religious morality. They are highly individualistic, but also see the government as a system of great importance for the entire community. They are strong proponents of capitalism, and will avoid spending what they believe to be superfluous amounts of money on social programs.
Liberty Party (Formerly Unity Coalition)
Liberals. Second largest member of the Unity Coalition. Led by Lev Shugurin.
The Liberals seek progress without what they see as meddling from the traditionalist and religious communities. They are somewhat more collectivist, but still see the importance of the individual, and hold individual rights in high regard. While still mostly capitalist, they advocate for larger and more effective social programs to assist the impoverished and unprivileged.
National People's Republican Party of Varegia
Far-right nationalist-populist group. Recently left the Unity Coalition, taking 25% of the coalition's votes with them. Typically referred to as NRPV (Narodnaya Respublikanskaya Partiya Varegii). Led by its "Vozhd", Ivan Sitnikov.
Seeing the Federal Republic and the conservatives as weak, the old Imperial system as obsolete, and the leftists as degenerates, the highly collectivist and autocratic NRPV believes in a nationalistic state capitalist autocracy with an elected dictator at its head. Its stated goals are national unity, strength, and glory.
Varegian Syndicalist Party (Red Front)
Syndicalists and leading member of the Red Front, which was once the primary opposition to the Unity Coalition, but now is in a three-way struggle to control the Duma. Led by Anton Bukharin.
The Varegian Syndicalist Party advocates for the control over the means of production to be placed under control of labor unions, the representatives of which would convene and determine what best to do with the economy. Socially, they are not entirely homogeneous, as some are more socially conservative while others are more liberal. The majority, though are more or less liberal when it comes to social issues.
Totalist Party (Red Front)
Authoritarian socialists. Second largest Red Front member, but more ambitious than the Syndicalists. Led by Chairman Igor Sevchenko.
Made up of disgruntled politicians and other advocates from the defunct Socialist Republic of Varegia, which was destroyed during the Civil War, the Totalist Party believes in the primacy of the party. The party is, according to their plan, to be made up of the Supreme Soviet and many other lower Soviets, which somewhat mirrors the plan of the Syndicalists. However, the economy is going to be controlled by the political leaders, rather than the labor syndicates.
Varegian Way of Life Party
Minor reactionary party. They seek a return to the old Imperial ways. They will typically try to strengthen the aristocracy. They are led by Baron Roman Kropanin.
Roman Kropanin and his allies see the modern era as an age of degeneracy. They believe the natural order has been torn down and replaced by mob rule. They believe that land should be held by the elite, and that "lowborn" people should not be involved in politics.
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(OOC: You guys can vote on this. The result won't be entirely out of my control, but I want at least something to not be pre-determined)
