Front National
From Particracy Wiki
| Front National | |
|---|---|
| |
| Party Leader | Pierre-Constant LeFigaro D'Orleans |
| Founded | June 2627 (FN), July 2679 (FdP) |
| Headquarters | Ville-sur-Cenx |
| Nation | Rildanor |
| Political Ideology | ultra-traditional Christian socialists |
| Political Position | anti-monarchist |
| Primary International Affiliation | Religious Alliance |
| Secondary International Affiliations | Union Française |
| Colours | FF0000 |
| Website | http://www.frontnational.com/ |
[edit] About
The National Front (French: Front National), commonly referred to as "Le Front" (The Front), is an socially ultraconservative, economically leftist party whose appeal is almost exclusively to working class voters in Rildanor.
Since its formation it has worked to limit -- and, eventually, eliminate -- the influx of refugees and immigrants into Rildanor. Though shamelessly xenophobic, the Front has its used its position as either the largest party or the Head of Government to become involved on the international scene.
[edit] History
[edit] Alliance National des Fermiers (2577-2627)
The National Front has its origins in left-right dichotomy of political parties. Whilst the Libéraux Rildanoriens were able to escape the traditional classifications, those on the religious left continued to feel excluded from politics.
The Front furthermore has historically derived much of its support from the agricultural regions of Rildanor -- Morbanack and Zirdor -- where impoverished farmers began organizing into a socialist-leaning organization known as the Alliance National de Fermiers (National Farmers Alliance) in the the early 2570s to oppose the existing corporate-controlled parties (indeed, even the Social Democrats seemed to be under the control of business).
[edit] Leadership of Jacques Briand (2601-2627)
Jacques Briand was a Zirdor farmer who joined the Alliance early on. A charismatic and persuasive speaker, he spread the message of the Alliance from Zirdor into neighboring Morbanack. Many historians have argued that, without his influence, the Alliance, and the political movement which followed it, would have garnered few, if any, votes in the other regions of Rildanor.
He became famous for a speech he made at an Alliance convention. The speech, which became known as the "Croix d'Or" speech galvanized farmers and the other producing classes into action against their enemies in the banks and investment world, which, heretofore, had been mounting an increasingly successful campaign to destroy the Farmers Alliance. Metropolitan journals, of course, mocked his agrarian socialism.
[edit] Economic Frustration and Political Formation (2619-2627)
These efforts soon culminated in the creation of a political front after efforts of non-political economic methods failed (amongst which were pooling of resources). Indeed, the farmers who originally formed the Front, and what allies they had in the industrial sector, saw the recent influx of immigrants to Rildanor as a threat to their livelihoods and everywhere saw wealthy foreigners buying up large tracts of Rildanorian land, charging native Rildanorians inordinate sums of money to use those lands. All of this, of course, engendered a radical xenophobia into the movement, which continues to express itself today.
[edit] Status as an Outsider Party (2627-2637)
In the elections following the formation of the Front in 2627, the party shot to national prominence, capturing 20 seats in the Senate, as well as over 28 million votes. It won a large plurality in Zirdor (36.15%, compared to the Aristocrats' 19.83%, which brought them second-place) and a close second-place Morbanack (with 24.74%, only three percent behind another socialist party), where its predecessor, the Farmers Alliance, had prospered. In the following years, it continued to grow rapidly, and by 2634 the party controlled just under a third of the Senate.
However, the departure of the Harakat Moudjtamaa As-Silm and other socialist parties left the Front isolated. With the but feeble attempts of the Social Democrats to combat the ongoing capitalist offensive against the people of Rildanor, much of the social net collapsed.
Despite its dedication to the working people of Rildanor, the Front had yet to be included in government by Spring of 2635.
[edit] The Involvement of the Anarchists (2634)
Yet the decision of the Syndicat Anarchiste to involve itself in politics soon brought the two parties into government. The Front, which remained the largest party in Rildanor from its creation until 2650, and the Anarchists, the second-largest party for much of the time, formed a coalition government which favored military intervention on behalf of the Republican forces in Alduria.
Over the next twenty years, other socialist and economically moderate parties continued to arise in Rildanor, which prompted extended battles over the role of government in the economy, with frequent oscillations between full nationalization and government subsidization of failing industries.
[edit] The Coalition pour la Réforme Constitutionelle (2646-2650)
[edit] Formation (2646)
In 2646, the Front National, the Anarchists, and a moderate party called the Parti Progressiste-Centriste formed the Coalition pour la Réforme Constitutionelle (CRC), with the goals of expanding the Senate, reducing the amount of time between elections, and abolishing the monarchy, and ran as a combined ticket. They achieved some initial successes, but despite new elections were unable to achieve a constitutional majority (coming at the closest to 54% of the legislature). Nonetheless, after a series of compromises, they managed to expand the Senate to 2.5 times that of its previous size (250, up from 100).
After years of remaining in government, however, the 2649 elections ended in disaster, with all of the Reform parties losing significant seats and the Front narrowly losing its position as largest party to the Liberals. The arrival of the pro-reform, anti-monarchist Association Socialiste Révolutionnaire (ASR) and its gain of 28 seats was unable to maintain the status of the coalition as a majority.
[edit] Departure of the PPC (2649)
After the 2649 electoral defeat, the PPC left the Coalition for Constitutional Reform and changed its name to Parti Progressiste Modérée. While assuring its allies that it still advocated the abolition of the monarchy, it stated that it no longer held that objective as a priority.
[edit] Collapse of the CRC (2650)
After the depature of the PPC, the Front and the Anarchists -- the two largest members of the Coalition -- agreed form an "angrier, more radical" organization, though this never came to be, with the Coalition simply dissolving instead. While both the Front and the Anarchists remained nominal members of the coalition, they ceased to run as a combined ticket. The Association Socialiste Révolutionnaire had never run as part of the combined ticket, but merely caucused with the reformers.
[edit] Minority Government (2649-2652)
Despite the collapse of the Coalition and the fact that no combination of the Front and any of its allies yielded a majority caucus, the Front and fellow republican parties, the Anarchists and the PPC, remained in government through expert Front negotiations and attempts by the opposition to include the PPC and other moderate parties in a cabinet. A counter-proposal by the PPC also failed, causing a further stalling of negotiations for a new government. By 2651, it seemed that any attempts to form a new government had failed and all parties had given up on any hopes of doing so.
[edit] Union des Hommes Chrétiens (2651)
Regardless of the Front's heretofore political seriousness, the national leadership had a sense of humor, something which they planned to put to use in the 2652 elections. The new name, designed to mock the monarchist Union des Femmes Chrétiennes (UFC), was first suggested by PPC leadership in 2650 because the name "would fit with [the] overall platform" as well as "annoy the UFC".
The electoral effects of the name-change have yet to be discovered. Some pundits claimed that many loyal party voters will simply be confused, while others said that Rildanorians will appreciate the newfound jocularity, and others proffered that the Front will gain votes from confused UFC voters. Concerned party leadership dropped the name within the year.
[edit] Further Name Changes (2651-2652)
Since the creation of the Front, there had been talk of returning the party to its roots as a farmers' movement and renaming it after the (now-defunct) organization that had spawned it. Discussions were still underway during the elections of 2652, but with growing support, party convention after party convention, it seemed likely the Front would soon change its name.
[edit] Electoral Disaster (March 2652)
Front strategists had expected, after years of decreasing support, a growth in support after the party's bloc in the Senate proposed a great deal of legislation. However, they had neglected to take into account the Aristocratic-sponsored legislation which shorted the electoral cycle by six months as well as increasing the size of the legislature. This had the effect of preventing a completion of voting on much of the Front's proposed legislation, and led to a drop of 5% in support for the party. The Front's allies in the Syndicat Anarchiste and the ASR both suffered a precipitous drop in support as well, bringing a monarchist majority to the fore.
[edit] Dissolution of the Party (2662-July 2679)
The implosion of the monarchist Société de Satyres Suicidaires lead to new elections, but returns initiated a bout of internal party squabbling that persisted for a number of years. After some nominal changes in the Party's campaign tactics, it began to see some increased success in elections, but after nearly a decade of internal divisions, the Party dissolved. The party remained dormant for 17 years.
[edit] La Force du Peuple (July 2679-??)
The Party re-formed shortly after the collapse of the last antimonarchist party -- the ASR -- in response to the need for a Republican and socialist voice once more in the Senate. After two years of extensive voter registration and organizational efforts, La Force shot once again to national prominence as the largest party.
[edit] Abolition of the Monarchy (December 2681)
With 35 seats of the Senate in its control, and with the 32 seats controlled by the antimonarchist Liberal Democrats, La Force was finally able to abolish the monarchy. The Liberal Democrats proposed the end of monarchist rule in December 2681. With La Force support, it is expected to pass by April. La Force also proposed a number of other democratizing measures, such as renaming the Head of State to President, changing the flag, and relocating the capital to Leria (a Republican stronghold).
[edit] Platform
The platform of the National Front is as follows:
- Economic decency, to be achieved through a socialist economy.
- Traditional moral values.
- Putting the people of Rildanor first.
- Limiting (or eliminating) immigration.
- Radical militarization to defend our people at home and abroad.
- Institutionalization of religion to imbue our children with the proper value sets.
- Ensuring civil liberties.
- Eliminating private banks and trusts
- Massive farm subsidies
[edit] International Involvement
Amongst the Front's international involvement has been such activity as:
- Communications with the President of Lodamun regarding the situation in Alduria
- Objections to state-funded visits of foreign monarchs with the Aristocratic Party
- Objections to Rildanor's imperialist holdings in Squibble, which will only serve to further immigration into Rildanor.
[edit] War in Alduria (2636-2641)
The Front strongly fought the possible use of Rildanor's military to fight for the Aldurian monarchy, as proposed by the Aristocrats in 2636 (the motion failed -- opposed by a variety of parties, including the FN and the Anarchists). "Such a use of the military would be in violation of the sovereignty of Alduria, and would surely bring shame upon our glorious nation," said a Party spokesman.
After the defeat of the Aristocratic legislation and the rise to power of the Front-Anarchiste governing coalition, a commitment Rildanorian troops to fight on behalf of embattled Republican forces in Alduria against insurgent monarchist forces and foreign invaders followed. During the months of debate and voting that followed, Front and Anarchist militias marched across the Aldurian border, taking monarchist forces by surprise and liberating wide swaths of western territory. After the bill passed in 2638, Rildanorian forces entered Alduria greatly aiding the Republican forces there. Monarchist parties in Rildanor voted to withdraw forces in 2641.
