Valruzia

[Aethan]

Nowik's last big plan: Valruzian Horizon

In a very close result, current party spokesperson in the Sejm will replace Nowik at the helm of the sovereignist party

October 5652

Szymon Nowik explaining the plan to members of Sovereign Valruzia

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As his final term draws to its half, Chancellor Szymon Nowik has unveiled the last big initiative of his career: Valruzian Horizon, a sweeping, dual-purpose national strategy to reforge the country’s social contract around two interlinked goals: care and science.

This isn't just a big final gesture by a head of government preparing his exit from the first line of politics but also an unapologetically interventionist and egalitarian vision where the State serves not only as protector, but as innovator, caregiver, and architect of the nation's future.

The plan is structured around the pillars of maternity, healthcare and science, with the further development of Valruzian universal care system and an aggressive public-led investment in science and technology. 

Under the so-called "Pojedynczy System Opieki" (Single System of Care, or PSO), the government aims at three main points: infancy and families, elderly and dependent people and the so-called "caregiven professions". With this, Nowik points at the last part of his built political and economic legacy yet left untouched: maternity and new generations of Valruzians. According to this new project, public nurseries and childcare centers will now become free from 0 years - previously it was only from 3 to 5 years - including extended schedules and more personnel available. In addition, the government will extend childbirth and childcare parental leave from the current 18 months (9 per parent) to 2 years or 24 months (1 year per parent, partially transferable), without any loss of salary by law. The government will also encourage large families, announcing economic incentives per each child - 300 VPO/monthly per each child until the age of 18 and a bonus of 300 VPO/monthly for families with 4 or more children. 

For the elderly, the plan points at the creation of a public National Network of elderly care, building a mixed system of residences, home care and day centers, with personnel hired by the State, turning care into a guaranteed right publicly funded and delivered by professional people, and with the State absorbing the cost and acknowledging that care is as essential as health or education in the fabric of national life.

"Our elderly have given everything during their lifetime for the Valruzian nation; it is only fair that, when the time comes, the nation returns the favor in the best way possible"

said Minister of Social Rights and leader of the PKW Lucjan Mirski.

With this part of the plan, care work - long invisible, underpaid and undervalued - will now be formalized under a new national labor statute with regulated wages, accredited training, job stability and union representation, and the government estimates that up to 100,000 new public jobs are expected in the first five years, especially in rural or aging regions.

For Nowik, this is resilience.

"A society that can care for its weakest"

he recently told the Sejm,

"is one that can survive anything"

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Parallel to the PSO, Valruzian Horizon introduces a new comprehensive public science strategy parallel to others developed previously by his governments. Known as INNO, it seeks to reposition the country as a sovereign scientific power, one capable of producing its own technologies, medicines, and innovation, not merely importing them.

Five new State Research Centers will be established, one in each voivodeship, covering areas from biomedicine and green energy to neurogenetics and computational biology. These centers will operate under public ownership but scientific autonomy, aiming to decentralize knowledge and bring high-tech employment to the provinces.

But science, for Nowik as a biologist, is not only about labs. The INNO project includes generous incentives to bring back the country’s scientific diaspora, including tax breaks, housing packages, long-term and stable contracts and universal scholarships for all students entering STEM degrees. Two new public enterprises will anchor the effort, by developing the already existing NOVA Pharma industries: NOVA Pharma itself will focus on affordable medication and biotechnology, and the new split of NOVA Tech will dedicate its efforts to digital health, assistive devices, and green innovation.

A important step in this INNO plan is that all publicly funded research will be released under open-access terms, as Nowik believes that "intellectual property produced with taxpayer money will belong to the people"

Some critics, including the opposition Forward Valruzia, have called this plan an "overreach", "a utopian gamble" and a form of "technocratic socialism". But even Nowik's staunch opponents concede its in line with everything Nowik has always stood for during all his years as Chancellor of the nation, as it reflects Nowik’s background as a biologist and his long-standing belief in a rational, evidence-based politics rooted in solidarity rather than austerity. For Nowik’s supporters, it’s about another legacy to leave behind him, with a generational project that will outlive his administration. As he put it in his announcement speech,:

"Science without care is arrogance. Care without science is helplessness. Valruzia chooses life."

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  Nowik does not address the split within his party: "the parliamentary group is a solid as a rock; everything else is not under my command anymore".
  
• A political family on the making? Nowik's two stepchildren, Klaudia (19) and Iwan (16) are set to pursue a future in politics, with Klaudia already enrolled in Political Studies at the Nowogard University: "Szymon [Nowik] is the best father somebody could ask for after tragedy struck us"
  
• Dominika Rozek at the verge of resigning: the recently elected new leader of Sovereign Valruzia might be forced to resign in following months in polls continue showing a decay in support for the party, according to internal sources.