Unity of Republicans

Flag of the Unity of Republicans

The Unity of Republicans, sometimes abbreviated UoR, was an organized Lovian republican political movement that desired to abolish the monarchy and establish a Lovian republic in a constitutional, democratic, non-violent and non-offensive fashion. The Unity of Republicans was not alligned to any political ideology and welcomed "everyone with peaceful and democratic intentions who supports the establishment of a republic." The UoR was founded by Alexandru Latin, who stated "that nothing had changed, despite of the good sounding promises of the King in January."

The UoR was the first such republican movement in Lovia. On 11 May 2010, when it became public that Republican members had been involved in the Sofasi Riot, the leaders of the Unity decided to put an end to the existence of the organization.

Arguments in favor of republicanism

The Unity of Republicanism initially listed these arguments as "the major disadvantages of the Lovian monarchy":

1. According to the UoR, "[citizens] are not equal to the King as the King has many privileges", among which his membership by right of the Congress: "He claims he needs this law to remain neutral, but how can he stay neutral if he has to vote for proposals and assigns the government members?" The King's role in the assignment of the Lovian government is also found unjust: "That means he has a huge influence in Lovian politics and the way Lovia is being ruled." The UoR also claims that the ruling monarch "still decides who becomes Judge" and that the separation of power is thus not maintained. UoR member Pierlot McCrooke said: "Indirectly the king seems to [influence the appointment of a Judge]."
2. The lack of "royal blood" is considered a reason not to obey the ruling monarch.
3. Paying taxes to pay for the monarch's expenses is unfair.
4. The King pretends to own Lovia, the Unity of Republicans claim.
5. "A kingdom is outdated," Latin claimed.

Reaction and criticism

Notable Lovians who have criticized the Unity of Republicans and/or its arguments in favor of republicanism, include Yuri Medvedev, August Magnus Donia, Lars Washington, and Andy McCandless.

Royal privileges and appointment of SC Judges

Andy McCandless, MOTC for the Walden Libertarian Party, noted that the claims made by the UoR about the rights and duties of the ruling monarch, are directly contradicted by the Constitution. Article 9.6 reads: "The Supreme Court Judges are appointed by the Federal Secretary of Justice, with the agreement of the Prime Minister." Legally, there is no involvement of the monarch in the appointment of a Judge.

In the past, Alexandru Latin noted, King Dimitri has been involved in the informal appointment of the Judge, by asking Arthur Jefferson whether he'd be interested in the office of Supreme Court Judge: "Arthur, would you - purely hypothetically - accept my offer if I asked you to become the next Supreme Court Judge? [...] Would you like that, hypothetically?"

In response to the criticism delivered by Lovian citizens to this argument, McCrooke said: "We may spread lies, but someone might correct them."

Royal blood argument

Scholars noted that "statistically, most of the inhabitants of Western Europe are probably descended from William the Conqueror; they are equally likely to be descended from the man who groomed his charger." The situation in the US is very much alike: "It has been estimated that probably as many as 150 million Americans (half of the population) have traceable royal European descent." Lovian Prime Minister Yuri Medvedev also commented on the royal blood argument: "Royal blood' is scientifically seen pure nonsense. A King needs reason and intelligence, not royal blood."

In response to Medvedev, a UoR spokesman responded: 'this is a clear example of the monarchist media distorting our words. The original quote was 'Why would one obey a self-crowned King who does not even have any royal blood?' (emphasis added) Of course royal blood is not a good reason to rule a nation. In fact, it is a terrible reason. The point is that Mr. Noble can provide no reasons, not even bad ones, for his remaining king.'

Tax argument

On the tax argument, Medvedev responded: "We pay taxes to the king: do we? I never gave a penny! Nowhere is stated that we pay for the palace, the monarch's pension ... Besides, wouldn't we have to pay for a president too?" In fact, in a January 2010 Constitutional amendment bill, King Dimitri I of Lovia himself proposed the abolishment of financial contributions to the monarch. The bill was accepted March 5th, 2010, with only Alexandru Latin opposing the reforms.

An UoR spokesman responded, 'On the contrary, until the Third Amendment was passed, the law stated that 'the ruling monarch receives means by the Department of Finance to compensate his or her expenses.' Furthermore, during almost all of this time, the King himself was Secretary of Finance - a highly questionable situation, which was open, and probably subject, to abuse.'

He went on to tell Medvedev that 'claiming the Amendment was an improvement to the situation is absurd. Let me quote: 'the ruling monarch has the right to demand financial support from the Department of Finance' - what a charming way of putting it! The king, in other words, is given full freedom to leech the country dry. Perhaps he hasn't done so yet, but we have an explanation for that too. He filled the coffers completely in 2008!'

Fascist members

There has been criticism on the membership of far-right and fascist politicians in the Unity of Republicans. Regardless of their membership, leader Latin stated: "We are not like the IGP, we are democrats." When confronted with the membership question, Latin said: "If they become members of this movement (not a party), they have to obey the rules of this movement. No violence but democracy. I invited them so they could think about their future." Later on, Alexandru Latin added: "Everyone with peaceful and democratic intentions who supports the establishment of a republic, no matter what kind of ideology he supports, can help the Unity of Republicans by becoming a member."

Drabo Doorian, then a member of the UoR, stated: "[I] may be a nazi and a follower of white supremacy, this does not mean however that I am a bad person and I personally do not approve violence." Both Yuri Medvedev and August Magnus Donia reacted negatively to Doorian's statement, saying that nazism and fascism is in itself violent and undemocratic. Donia said: "Any nazi may claim to be non-violent, but in the end, he or she is still a nazi. Which means: he or she, as a nazi, cannot be trusted and should not be trusted. There is no such thing as a 'peaceful nazi'." Medvedev reaffirmed Donia's statement by saying that "being a racist does violate your condition of being democratic."

August Magnus Donia, who has denounced the rise of fascism in Lovia, feared that "if [the fascists] have overthrown Dimitri and all the royalists are hanging from the gallows as Honecker predicted... Who can tell what they will do? Perhaps Honecker's ultimate plan is to crown himself the king of Lovia and rule as a despot in his own right! Do not trust them..."

Organization

Notable members

These Lovians have, at some time, been a member of the Unity of Republicans:

• Alexandru Latin (MOTC, LD)
• Oos Wes Ilava (MOTC, CCPL)
• Pierlot McCrooke (former MOTC)
• Hessel Doorian
• Owen1983
• Misterr
• Wabba The I

See also

• Republicanism in Lovia
• Unity of Republicans (Pierlot movement)