The Pacifist Coalition (Ryccian: Seiparika Paxia) is one of the two major political parties of the Ryccian Empire. It is currently the leading party in the governing coalition composed of the party proper, the Progressive Party, the Freedom Party, the Liberal Party, Progress and Labour, and the Imperial Social Democrats.

The Pacifist Coalition first came into being 280 years ago. Its founders were defectors of the ruling party at the time, and gradually replaced their predecessors. Today, the PC is the main party in the Pacifist and Decentralization currents of thought in Imperial politics.

Economically, it is a big tent. As such, PC lawmakers often collaborate with their peers at their main rival party, National Voice, to create economic policy. National Voice is the main party in the Militarist and Centralization currents of thought in Imperial politics, and, like their rivals, they are an economic big tent as well. Economic caucuses often have lawmakers from multiple parties as a result.

With the recent opening up of the Empire to foreign nations, there has been a noticeable schism in the party, becoming internally fragmented between isolationist and internationalist factions. Some political analysts have expressed that the current Imperial political era of Decentralizing/Devolutionist Pacifism vs. Centralizing/Unitary Militarism that has lasted for over 250 years may soon be coming to an end, as the two political hegemons of the Empire could be drastically reforged or perhaps even end up breaking apart over the issue.

Political Positions

Pacifism

As the name alludes to, the Pacifist Coalition adheres to a Ryccian form of pacifism. It is always in constant contention with NV’s proposals to increase military spending and armament, and generally calls for “demilitarization”, a deliberately vague term interpreted differently by various factions inside the party. Measures as mild as cutting the military budget to as extreme as widespread disarmament to what is perceived as an “over-armed” military are proposed by the “moderates” and “radicals” respectively. The military is known to detest the more “radical” factions of the PC, as the radicals want to “dismantle” the armed forces to varying degrees, whilst they tolerate the moderates more as their members tend to only propose scaling back previous increases under NV administrations or smaller cuts they can live with. A small faction of “pseudo-pacifists” also exists, which originated during the Three Decades of Militarization (910s-940s), a political period where the NV won almost every national election due to the PC’s previous radical disarmament policies during the Two Decades of Extreme Peace (880s-900s). These are made up of former NV voters and their ideological successors who object to any more proposed increases in military spending, as they see that their desired “strong” military was already achieved during the 940s. As the PC keeps cutting the military budget more and more, however, these voters are increasingly returning to the NV.

The PC’s factions are united in another aspect of the Pacifist philosophy of the Empire: the military must only be used solely for self-defense. Internationalists, who also tend to be moderates, interpret this as defending any potential allies as well and seeking out foreign partners for the Empire’s national security, whilst isolationists, who tend to be radicals and pseudo-pacifists, only want to guarantee the Empire’s self-defense alone. Be not deceived, however: the division is not severe, and thus there are prominent internationalist radicals as well as isolationist moderates.

Ferul Blesforn is considered to be a moderate pacifist and the unofficial leader of the moderate faction.

Decentralization

Another core tenant of the Pacifist Coalition is the desire for a weaker central government. Unlike the previous example, there are no radically different factions, as “federalists” and other ultra-autonomist ideologies are served by Sovereignty and the Freedom Party, who propose even more decentralization than the PC. The Pacifist Coalition’s official stance advocates for more devolution to local planetary governments and associations (something like Spain’s autonomous communities), with a “common regime” setting a national economic policies and laws, but the individual local governments are granted more flexibility and autonomy regarding said decisions.

Economic

As an economically big tent party, the Pacifist Coalition has a variety of factions pertaining to national economic policy, ranging from fiscal conservatives to fiscal liberals. There is also a small faction of “fiscal libertarians” who advocate for an increased role of local governments in tax collection and spending. All factions generally oppose government regulation to varying degrees, varying from a belief in economic deregulation to the desire to allow local governments more leeway regarding this matter. However, fiscal liberals tend to favour national and local regulations more than their peers.

Ferul Blesforn is considered to be a fiscal liberal and has close relationships with top NV fiscal liberals. They mutually assist each other in reaching a bipartisan consensus to increase spending, even if they disagree on the role of the central government in the spending and allocation of these funds.