NationStates Jolt Archive

Elections in Van Luxemburg, Edition 2007

(OOC: This will be the trhead where I will publicate articles for the Elections, and where foreign nations/parties/individuals/whatever can voice their support for a certain party. A brief description of the parties is included below.)

The Grand Duchy of Van Luxemburg, Office of the Grand Duke
http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/time-zone/europe/european-union/luxembourg/images/Luxembourg-coat-arms.jpg
Dear Sirs, Ma'ams,

Since the death of Romain Gramt, leader of the RGP, this party has retreated from the government, and caused the collapse of the current LDG/DCP/RGP government. Premier Nicolas Hirtz has announced Elections, and these will take place at the 28th of February, 2007. Until this time, You have the possibility to voice your opinion on these parties, and support one or another.

We however regret to inform that making donations is impossible for individuals and/or organizations and companies(including governments) with a foreign nationality.

Signed,

Grand Duke Koen van Luxemburg,
The Grand Duchy of Van Luxemburg




Political Parties of Van Luxemburg, 2007

LDG (Liberaal-Demokratische Group)
Affiliation on Politic Scale: Moderate Right
Leader: Nicolas Hirtz (current Premier)
Registered 1937 as a coalition of all Liberal parties. Has been in several major governments, and the election battle between the (now defunct) SDP and the LDG has been harsh at times. Since 2002, Nicolas Hirtz has been the leader of the LDG. A brief biography is included below. The LDG has won the last elections, and usually operates together with the RGP.

Main Election points:
-More International involvement
-More asphalt to reduce traffic jams
-More funding to Police and Military, to increase readiness. Military will be focused on Peacekeeping roles.

Nicolas Hirtz, LDG Leader since 28-10-2002.

http://www.wouterbos.nl/download.do/id/100715172//resizeImage/true/width/750/height/562/
Nicolas Hirtz (on the right) talks to a Van Luxemburgian citizen during his election tour in 2005.

Name: Nicolas Hirtz
Date of Birth: 6-8-1970
Place of Birth: Esch-sur-Alzette, Region of Luxembourg
Marital Status: Married
Married with Jennifer Hirtz-Nadel, Born 20-4-1971, since 18-8-2004
Father of two children, Matthias and Heike (Boy and Girl)
Current Residence: Kopstal, Region of Luxembourg


Short Details of the LDG party

Member count: 80 Million, 340 thousand.
Current Seats in the Tweede Kamer (Parliament): 212 out of 500
Current Number of Ministers in Cabinet: 5 out of 14 (Premiership, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Traffic)



RGP (Regional Gemeinwohl Programm)
Affiliation on Politic Scale: Moderate Left
Leader: Romain Gramt (Current Vice-Premier)
The Regional Gemeinwohl Programm focuses mostly on Internal politics. They have been allying themselves to the LDG since the founding of the party in 1964. The LDG mostly adds the RGP into the Cabinet talk after an election, to take most of the National positions, while the LDG takes up International responsibilities. Has been in the 2005 Cabinet.

Main Election Points:
-More attention to Social Problems, especially Youth-related
-Increase of Anti-smuggling operations
-further reducing the amount of immigrants into Van Luxemburg
-Free healthcare or a reform of the current healthcare system.


Romain Gramt, RGP Leader since 10-2-00
http://www.metronieuws.nl/img/anp/top-img-220107-047.onlineBild.jpg
Name: Romain Gramt
Date of Birth: 11-12-1954
Place of Birth: Luxembourg, Region of Luxembourg
Marital Status: Divorced, since 21-5-2003
Current Residence: Kopstal, Region of Luxembourg
DIED FEBRUARY 2007, NEW LEADER TO BE ANNOUNCED

Short Details of the RGP party

Member count: 15 million, 20 thousand.
Current Seats in the Tweede Kamer (Parliament): 55 out of 500
Current Number of Ministers in Cabinet: 4 out of 14 (Vice-Premiership, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Housing, Regional Developments and the Environment)



DCP (Demokratesch-Centristpartei)
Affiliation on Politic Scale: Centrist
Leader: Alexandre Authier (Member of the Tweede Kamer)
The Demokratesch-Centristpartei is a Centrist party, which means they are mostly used as a broker between other parties on the left and right side of the politic scale. They intend to keep this image, and therefore have adapted a pragmatic programme. The party was registered in 1989, with the same pragmatic stance as nowadays. This has made the DCP a beloved partner in several governments.

Main Election Points:
-Pragmatic

Alexandre Authier, DCP Leader since 5-3-98
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b76/VanLuxemburg/178988286_0f11e7c520.jpg
Name: Alexandre Authier
Date of Birth: 7-1-1961
Place of Birth: Canet-Plage, Region of France
Marital Status: Married
Married with Laurene Girard, Born 18-9-1961, since 14-4-1996
No children
Current Residence: Kopstal, Region of Luxembourg

Short Details of the DCP party

Member count: 65 million, 780 thousand
Current Seats in the Tweede Kamer (Parliament): 187 out of 500
Current Number of Ministers in Cabinet: 5 out of 14 (Ministry of General Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Finances, Ministry of Social Affairs, Ministry of Health and Sports)


Opposition Parties



CV (Christlech-Vollekspartei)
Affiliation on Politic Scale: Extreme Right
Leader: Sven Gustavsson
Established 1854, The Christlech-Vollekspartei is a party that follows Christian rules, and is the oldest party in Van Luxemburg. It prefers to finish off any other religion in Van Luxemburg, and make Christianity the State Religion, while barring other religions. With this party, Van Luxemburg would have to give up it’s emancipation, abortion and euthanasia laws. Most of the members of the CV are Extreme-Right, but it does have a less extreme branch, which calls themselves ‘The Liberals’. They however do not have a large influence over the party. It’s Leader, Gustavsson, rarely appears in public.

Major Election points:
-Ban on all religions, except Christianity
-Banning Euthanasia, Abortion and Emancipation from society again
-Closing down the borders to any immigrants not supporting the Christian religion
-funding to Churches and any other religious instances

Sven Gustavsson, CV Leader since 7-7-06
http://www.mdh.se/personal/bilder/petter.gustavsson.jpg
Name: Sven Gustavsson
Date of Birth: 14-9-1958
Place of Birth: Malmö, Region of Sweden
Marital Status: Married
Married with Isabel Sandström, Born 20-2-1959, since 30-4-1979
Father of Four children: Bianca, Vilhelm, Jacob and Olov
Current Residence: Liège, Region of Belgium


Short Details of the CV party

Member count: 5 million, 540 thousand
Current Seats in the Tweede Kamer (Parliament): 15 out of 500
Current Number of Ministers in Cabinet: None.




LCP (Liberaal-Communesteschpartei)
Affiliation on Politic Scale: Extreme Left
Leader: Roger Michels
Established 1917, The Communist party’s name was quickly changed into Liberal Communist Party, After the number of votes went down catastrophically in 1947.
This caused the number of votes to go up somewhat, but has been low ever since. The Liberal Communists have mostly communist opinions, but have toned down somewhat after the end of communism in other nations.

Major Election Points:
-Turning private companies into State-Owned Conglomerates
-Equalling out salaries for everyone
-increasing Military for offensive duties

Roger Michels, LCP Leader since 25-06-1999
http://www.gss.ucsb.edu/projects/hesse/images/Michels-Podium-Calw2003-klein.jpg
Name: Roger Michels
Date of Birth: 15-10-1946
Place of Birth: Kortrijk, Region of Belgium
Marital Status: Single
Current Residence: Kortrijk, Region of Belgium

Short Details of the LCP party

Member count: 2 million, 67 thousand
Current Seats in the Tweede Kamer (Parliament): 4 out of 500
Current Number of Ministers in Cabinet: None.



SDP (Sozial-Demokratisch Parteí)
Affiliation on Politic Scale: Left
Leader: Stefanie Wurfel
The SDP has been thrown off somewhat by it’s low number of seats in the last elections, due to a fraud scandal. However, confidence in the once-largest party has been growing since Stefanie Wurfel took over the lead from the (now convicted) former leader Philipp Hueber. The expectation is that the LDG will find a major competitor in the SDP this election, unlike last time.

Major Election Points:
-Downscaling of military and law enforcement agencies to lower costs.
-more support for small businesses
-more funding for social projects for the poor
-Tax cut

Stefanie Wurfel, SDP Leader since 18-1-07
http://www.chcsc.uvsq.fr/ficheschercheurs/Authier/photoAuthier.jpg
Name: Stefanie Wurfel
Date of Birth: 21-3-1982
Place of Birth: Bronnweiler, Region of Germany
Marital Status: Single
Current Residence: Diekirch, Region of Luxembourg


Short Details of the SDP party

Member count: 84 million, 990 thousand
Current Seats in the Tweede Kamer (Parliament): 27 out of 500
Current Number of Ministers in Cabinet: None.

(Other, smaller parties exist, but are not expected to get to the required amount of votes.)


The Polls


RTVLI Poll, 04-02-07
10,000 people polled

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b76/VanLuxemburg/vlgov-07.jpg

Uk2 government will send 50 million pounds to help LDG party.

Signed,
Rt. Hon. Mary McAleese,Prime Minister of United Kingdom2

The Grand Duchy of Van Luxemburg, Office of the Grand Duke
http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/time-zone/europe/european-union/luxembourg/images/Luxembourg-coat-arms.jpg
Dear Ma'am,

We regret to inform you that making donations is not possible for foreign individuals and/or companies (including governments of foreign states)

However, your (non-monetary) support for the LDG has been noted, and they are very grateful.

Signed,

Koen van Luxemburg,
Grand Duke of van Luxemburg

Elections Update, 20-02-2007

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RTVLI Headlines

RGP elects new leader

http://www.twynstragudde.nl/img/picsextra/hermanwijffelsBW.jpg
A promotional picture of Torsten Schaefer, the RGP's new leader.

'Romain Gramt will mark the end of an era', the new Leader of the RGP, Torsten Schaefer, said on a press conference marking the start of his career as the leader of the RGP. 'A new, fresh wind will blow through the ranks of the RGP. We may need to operate on ourselves now.' He has been undoubtedly been pointing at the reactions of Nicolas Hirtz after the RGP's withdrawal, which could be seen as 'filled with anger'. After the news of the election of Schaefer, the RGP gained one seat.

Torsten Schaefer was born in Rostock, at the 21st of May 1959. He is married to Katharina Schaefer, and has a son, 19 years of age. After Primary School, he finished his middle school at the Gymnasium, and studied Politicology at the Free University Amsterdam.

According to the party 'Schaefer was the best alternative to Romain Gramt, which can't lead us anymore, sadly enough'


Nicolas Hirtz: We won't work together with the RGP anymore

http://www.volkskrantblog.nl/pub/mm/2006/09/1158743394.90751.jpg
Nicolas Hirtz, after his speech.


At a conference which marked the start of the LDG's campaign, Nicolas Hirtz has said that the LDG won't work together with the RGP any longer. 'It is not fair to betray your friends, who're trying to make the best of it. This marks the end of the cooperation between the LDG and the RGP'. Probably due to his speech, which contained more sharp edges, the LDG has been rising in the polls to 190 seats, 1 more than the SDP. The intensity of the battle for seats has been going up since the last few days, and the LDG and the SDP are currently battling eachother for seats in parliament.

Meanwhile, the DCP still takes up third place, with minor loss, making a good chance to be a coalition partner. The RGP also gained a seat, but the Extremist's parties remained at their original seat levels, which have been the same for the last five years.


RTVLI Poll
10,000 people polled

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Elections Update, 24-02-2007


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RTVLI Headlines

CV: 'Limiting the speed to 130 is beneficial to all of us'

According to a speech by Sven Gustavsson, the Christian Peoples' Party is making plans for the Van Luxemburgian Autobahn. Their plan is to increase safety by putting up a general speed limit of 130 km/h, aswell as doing extensive speed checks to enforce this law. Apparently, the other parties and the voters of the CV have reacted furiously. The CV has gone down 10 seats in the Polls.

To understand this, we'll need to look into the history of the Van Luxemburgians and their Autobahns. The first motorway in Van Luxemburg was constructed in 1916, by a private company previously affiliated with railways. Their assumption that road transport would take a high flight in the next few years, was correct. After the completion of the road in 1916, the Van Luxemburgian Government took over the project from Vehicules Alstom (which is now part of the VLT Automotive consortium, and constructs Trains and Military Engineering vehicles, aswell as road construction equipment), and upscaled the project. Toll was instated for the roads, and until the Second World War, the speed limit was non-existant. During the War, the Autobahns were used by military vehicles to rapidly deploy across the country, when an invasion might take place. This also lead to a state of bad repair, since the roads weren't repaired after the heavy tracked vehicles had moved over. After the 2nd World War, the state of the road system was improved drastically, and was eventually upscaled to over 15,000 km of roads in the 1950's. Nowadays, the no-speed-limit Autobahn has around 200,000 km of roads.

The No-Speed-Limit law has been in existance since 1945. Currently, there is a large lobby of Autobahn enthusiasts, including VLT Automotive, and even the Grand Duke, giving it a huge amount of power. Therefore, it is highly unlikely that a speed limit will ever be instated in the coming 20 years, beforehand. The CV has made the same mistake as some previous political parties, trying to instate this limit. According to RTVLI's Political Analyst, Maddalena Rossi, this might mark the end of the CV's current 15-seat policy, and will leave them with only 5 seats, completely unable to do anything sigificant in politics. This immobilization is hardly beneficial to the other parties; the SDP gains 2 seats, the LDG one, the RGP 5 and the DCP 2. This also means that the head-to-head race between the SDP and the LDG remains immensely exciting, with both an expected 190 seats. One might think that the SDP and the LDG joining up for a cabinet might be possible, but Wurfel of the SDP has already said that she wasn't willing to work together with Hirtz in one government. With Elections in 4 days, it remains unclear who will win.

RTVLI Poll
10,000 people polled

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Current Seats:
LDG 191
SDP 191
DCP 87
RGP 21
LCP 5
CV 5

(OOC: People can endorse parties, ofcourse. Just no financial help.)

We support the SDP (Sozial-Demokratisch Parteí).

Well, we support the LCP (Liberaal-Communesteschpartei). Extreme left nations have to support extreme left parties to subvert the contradiction between structure and superstructure existant in capitalism.