Narikaton and Darnussia

[Mbites]

5713 elections see post-Berger VVP significantly weakened: Fractures within the Conservative Party?

April 5713



Anyone who was following the inner developments within the dominant right-wing force of the Dual Republic, the VVP, before the election probably was not surprised to see the effects of the quite publicly fought factional conflict between the hosian conservative and the libertarian wing of the party. It’s uniting factor former President Heinrich Berger who did enjoy quite a lot of public approval, especially due to ending his second term on a diplomatic victory, has not put forth his person for another term and as such has steered the VVP toward a competitive party conference without much time to prepare for the coming elections. Lets look at the results.



Bergers successor within the VVP is Piet Eimann, sometimes referred to as Bigger Berger. Most feel as certain sense of resemblance and familiarity looking at them side-by-side, which was not unusual considering that Eimann is – as some say – the mentee of President Berger. Eimann himself hails from the libertarian wing of the party and barely managed to secure enough votes, beating the candidate from the centrist wing narrowly due to fleeting support from the hosian-conservatives. Nontheless at the national level polls, the even less popular GRP candidate Tamara Freiherr has managed to lose an almost certain victory against Eimann due to anti-MATO rhetorics. With 51% of the votes, Eimann is the new designated president beating Freiherr at 46% and the no-name LRP candidate Machiel Warmink. For the right-wing establishment of the Dual Republic the results were a lot closer that they would have been comfortable with.



The results of the conservative internal struggle are more transparent when shifting view toward the Senate race, the VVP has lost 4% compared to 5708. A result worsened – from a conservative perspective – by an overperforming GRP (29%) due to a strong and experienced Senator cadre of the social-democrats. Apparently the junior coalition partner LRP has profited from VVP infighting, appearing to gain most from perceived good governance but VVP campaigning blunders. On the far-right end of the spectrum, the NU managed to stabilize itself by attracting voters from the now both dissolved thallerist parties. Even more surprising, the non-thallerist monarchist party MTP follows the NU closely with 9% of the vote, appearing to gain some momentum.

Analysts struggle to explain the individual platforms of the larger parties as the GRP has dedicated itself to an anti-MATO stance challenging the alleged “corporate corruption” the international organization brings while the LRP who was one of the biggest winners of the night represents the exact opposite; it seems like this shake-up can only be explained by the VVP’s own cannibalization. Eimann and Holger Mauser (LRP) have already committed to continuing the VVP-LRP Senate coalition much to the dismay of the hosian conservatives who would have rather seen concessions to the social-democrats and comfortable majority with the GRP.