Liberal-Conservative Party

Liberal-Conservative Party
Name	Liberal-Conservative Party
Abbreviation	LCP
Founder	Toyota Clemenceau
Founded	May 7, 2024 (2024-05-07)
Dissolved	December 3, 2024 (2024-12-03)
Merger of	Liberal Caucus, Conservative Party
Succeeded by	New Conservative Party, Progressive Party, Democratic Mandate
Membership	18 (at peak)
Ideology	Conservatism Liberalism Senatorialism Monarchism
Political Position	Center to Right Wing
Colors	Green   Purple
Senate Seats	(At Peak) 7 / 9

The Liberal-Conservative Party was a major political party within the Republic of Faru. It was a big tent party comprised of Tories and Liberals, created by Toyota Clemenceau shortly after the May 2024 Senate Elections, as a way to form a more united front against the Farun Labor Front.

The party was and is the longest lasting party in the history of Faru and Infaru, continuously operating from its foundation until it's reconstitution as the New Conservative Party, an operationally continuous but different political party succeeding it.

History

The Liberal-Conservative party's origins can mostly be traced to Chaton Loupius' Liberal Caucus, an Urbisian political movement advocating for a strong unitary and centralized government, as well as free markets. The movement lived on as a semi party organism up until the 1919 elections, where it won a single senate seat, and had to reckon with the socialist movement's plurality in the senate. Around that time, a group called the "right tent", organized by Toyota Clemenceau, was formed. Originally meant as a loose alliance between the anti socialist liberals and conservatives, Aleksandr Novak, Maon Vukusti and Nikola Vulovic organized it into a proper party.

The party has been the longest and most stable group in Farun politics, being the only one to appear in every election and senate since the founding of the republic. It always existed in the space between the center and hard right of farun politics, swinging between more progressive and conservative eras depending on leadership, circumstances and internal factionalism.

1920 (May 2024)

The first Liberal-Conservative National Convention, located in Cerise.

On May 7th, the party held its first assembly in Cerise following a church service at the local Cubeaist church, in an event now retroactively known as the first Liberal Conservative National Convention. The attendees were Nikola Vulovic, Maon Vukusti, Æsël Blanch, Aleksandr Novak and Party Secretary Toyota Clemenceau. Few topics were covered, mostly negative, there was a strong anti cossack sentiment as well as a strong anti socialist sentiment.

Following the convention, Velik iz Dunska was elected premier by the Liberal-Conservative Senate caucus with the confidence of the Whig Party. It was during this time that the Liberal-Conservatives developed a senatorial ideology, due to president Wanda Ward Jr.'s absentism. Many powers and ministries were centralized into the senate, and the public assembly was intentionally castrated as to make the senate more powerful. The Dunska government also created the Farun Lira, the official currency of the Republic of Faru.

1921-1922 (June-July 2024)

The Dunska cabinet continued into the next year, surviving the senate elections, even gaining a seat though remaining a minority government. The main defining feature of this era was the cohabitation between a more hands on president and the senatorial Liberal-Conservatives.

Later in the year, the leadership of the party was handed over from Clemenscau to then senator Maon Vukusti, who tried organizing the party for next year's major elections, hoping to make some gains and solidify a majority in the senate.

The second Liberal-Conservative National Convention, located in Urbis.

Vukusti, dissatisfied with the state of the party organized a third national convention, the first one being officially labeled as a "Liberal-Conservative National Convention", where he made several changes to the organization, such as instituting an official charter, and separating the party leadership into two posts, the Party President, a figurehead tasked with promoting the party, and the Party Secretary, a powerful position that manages the party's internal affairs.

The third Liberal-Conservative National Convention, located in Kickassia.

The Liberal-Conservatives held strong following the election, however, due to complications in the July presidential election, president John Mchale dissolved the senate, calling a rare general election. The Liberal-Conservatives lost much ground in the senate, and for the first time in Farun history, were the opposition.

1923 (August 2024)

The fourth Liberal-Conservative National Convention, located in a cave.

During this era, the Liberal-Conservatives went through what can be qualified as a dark age, not passing much legislation or doing much of note. The leadership became near absent for a while after senator Vukusti left Faru to treat his injuries following an assassination attempt, until the party held a fourth national convention in the middle of the Farun Bush War, where the niche principalist faction took over and led the party into the next year.

1924 (September 2024)

Under Aesel Blanch's leadership, the party started slowly reconstructing itself, gaining a seat in the september elections and returning to government by allying with the short lived Farun Shield Party. The senate however fell into a disorganized state, where it struggled to meet, and thus not much was done with this position.

The fifth Liberal-Conservative National Convention, located in Urbis

Late in the year, Vukusti returned to Faru, and started making moves to regain control over the party, culminating in the fifth Liberal Conservative National convention, where he became party secretary again, alongside Dan Tilabyss' party presidency. Together with the advice of the convention, they built a new platform for the party, the first one since June, and officialized the factions within the party as "Caucuses".

1925 (October 2024)

Under Vukusti's leadership, the party won its biggest victory yet in the senate, getting a supermajority of the seats. And while the party was outwardly successful, it began to get consumed by factionalism and scheming, notably between the Blanchite National Mandate Caucus and Vukusti's centrist faction. Both groups were planning for eachother's demise, in hopes of getting total control of the party and purging the other group.

Shortly before the sixth national convention, a plan was devised by the secretary to completely purge the Mandate, and soon after the party re-affirmed Vukusti and Tilabyss' leadership, it was ready to be executed. Unfortunately Vukusti died of a sudden heart attack, throwing the party into chaos.

Decline and Demise

Following the death of Vukusti, moderate conservative and then treasurer Sobczyk picked up where the former left off, purging Aesel Blanch and consolidating power around the center. Which he did somewhat successfully, though causing unforeseen consequences, such as the liberal and mandate factions splitting off from the party altogether, forming the Progressive Party of Faru, the Democratic Mandate Party, and leaving the party in a rump state.

Even after this, the rump liberal-conservatives successfully governed for all of 1926 (November) and despite the drastic fall in membership, got the reforms that they wanted to implement passed.

By 1927 (December), the party only had five people left, and in their seventh and final national convention, they decided to formally reconstitute the party into the New Conservative Party, fully shedding liberalism and starting a new era for the Farun right wing.

Organization and internal politics

The party followed an innovative structure for the time, having a Party President for external affairs, a Party Secretary for internal affairs, and a Party Whip for senatorial affairs. The president and secretary were selected by the National Convention, while the whip was appointed by the party secretary and serves at their pleasure.

Caucuses

There were several factions within the party, several of them organizing into caucuses, interest groups that aimed to push the party in one direction or another and had different ideas of what the official national platform should be, the most prominent were:

The National Mandate Caucus, a coalition of Tories and Principalists focused on a more paternalistic economic approach, alongside a promotion of traditional farun values.

The New Liberal Caucus, a group of Liberals focused on a more free market and socially progressive approach.

The United Conservatives of the Liberal-Conservative Party, an alliance of Conservatives in favor of a moderate economic policy, as well as a more pragmatic approach to governance than the National Mandate Caucus.

For a short time the caucuses worked together for the greater good, however they quickly turned into mortal enemies, and caused the party's downfall in the end.