Nationaal Nieuws Corporatie Aubervaijr
National News Corporation Aubervijr
Rudolf Verstege becomes Aubervijr's new PM; including a summary of Mr Verstege's life
By Valentin Von Rooy, Political Correspondent
23rd of June, 2021 - 09:37 AM
Rudolf Verstege, after taking an oath over a Bible first belonging to Aubervijr's first 'Chancellor', Vincent Martien, shook the King's hand and was officially inaugurated as Aubervijr's new Prime Minister.
Rudolf Verstege, originally a member of the Labour Party, before becoming the leader of the Social Democratic Party, and was elected leader of the Commonwealth Party in 2015.
Rudolf's political views shifted over time, from ardent socialist to national conservative, and today he describes himself as a 'people's conservative'. We thought we should give you a short overview of his life, though, from his birth up until now.
Rudolf Verstege was born Rudolf Jasper Arnout Simon Verstege into an aristocratic family on the 2nd of February, 1966. Rudolf's grandfather was a Viscount, and his father was a failed politician. Rudolf was interested in politics at a young age, and quickly aligned himself with Socialism. At the age of 14, he joined the youth branch of the Labour Party, and spoke for the party in public events. At the age of 18, he joined the party fully, and studied political science at university.
After graduating at the age of 22, Rudolf was quickly noticed by the party's leadership. He was offered to sit in Parliament with the Labour Party, which he accepted. Rudolf was well known for his speech on the monarch at the time, King Frederik, made in 1989;
"In order to sit in this Parliament you have to take an oath and swear alliegance to the King. You are required by law to do so. Refusing to do so bars you from sitting. For Republicans like myself, to tell a lie in order to sit in this seat is quite offensive, to myself. The existance of a hereditary monarchy would mean that the privilege and patronage that corrupts and plagues Aubervijan society will remain. In order to achieve total equality and a capable economic system, the monarchy cannot remain. My position on the monarchy is clear. Abolish it."
The speech was met with thunderous applause by his party and other socialists, and was met by shouting from the ruling parties and their friends. King Frederik later pardoned Rudolf when the Conservatives attempted to have him removed from Parliament for betraying his oath.
In 1996, the 'Moving the Left' bill was passed, which ideologically moved the Labour Party further from socialism and towards centrism. Rudolf, now the Shadow Secretary for Education, resigned from the party alongside Shadow Secretary for Health, Jan Vanderwilt. Jan formed the 'Social Democratic Party' with Rudolf, and Rudolf took leadership of the party, making Jan his depute. The party gained most of the Labour Party's seats in the upcoming election, which Labour even today have not recovered from.
In May of 2014, the Social Democratic Party and the Social Republic Party, the latter of whom were centre-leftists who wanted the abolition of the monarchy, agreed to form a coalition party which they, at the time, called the 'Combined Social Republicans'. The Conservative Commonwealth Party then asked for permission to enter the coalition in order to 'contain the Conservative Party'. The coalition agreed.
Over the period of a few months, party after party joined the coalition. Just prior to the 2015 elections, a leadership and depute leadership contest was held within the coalition. Rudolf won the leadership contest with a landslide, and an experienced Liberal politician, Olivier Rodenhuis, secured the depute leadership. Rudolf was 38.
When the 2015 elections came around, the coalition, now called the 'Commonwealth Party', gained 325 seats - more than any other party, but they still lacked a majority. But because they were already a coalition, they couldn't form another coalition to lead a government. So, the Conservative Party formed a coalition government with the Liberal and Reform Parties, giving them a majority over 400 seats.
In the 2020 national polls, the Commonwealth Party saw a surge in popularity following the death of King Frederik and the ascension of young Leopold III, who a lot of the population deemed unfit to rule. A solution, was the return to a democratic republic, which the Commonwealth Party advocated for. And thus, the Commonwealth Party were near guaranteed a majority.
In the 2021 elections, the Commonwealth Party secured 404 seats, a majority. Rudolf Verstege's dream as a boy had been fulfilled, and supportive crowds outside Saint Constantijn's Parliament chanted 'Rudolf; the aristocrat to save the people'. Political experts said that the sentence 'summarised the man'.
Rudolf made his opening speech to Parliament with:
"My honourable friends, yesterday belonged to the Conservatives. Today belongs to us, and to the people of Aubervijr."