The PacificBoard

The Election Campaigns of all parties and Presidential Candidates began with a loud bang when the Gespia Crisis almost resulted in a new world war. While the aftershocks still linger above the heads of humanity, live continues and so do the campaigns of all parties and candidates. The first Presidential Campaign Debate aired on April 14, 2024 and featured one topic: foreign policy. The next debate will air on May 1, 2024 and will be about the education system.
In the following we will present and partially summarize what happened during the debate and what each candidate had to say.

Overall summary

It already becomign started heated when the moderator Bruno Barkals said "Bigtopia". From the beginning it was clear that all candidates have strong opinions on this particular topic. In general, one could especially see the formation of three blocks in terms of foreign policy: One hawkish block, one isolationist block and one rather interventionist block. President Anton Herlton (MLP) clearly presented himself as the most hawkish candidate, while Derren Fermann (IFM) and to a lesser extent also Maria Kalia (SDP) are clearly on the isolationist side. Bernd Lerken (UMP), Markus Hilga (LA) and Lisa Gord (LP) are, surprisingly, more interventionist than Fermann and Kalia however still much less hawkish than Anton Herlton. Most interestingly however, Lars Znepter (NUP) mostly supported Herlton in his remarks while rejecting the note that Madovia needs to be friendly towards socialist nations like the Municipalities of Antarctica or Yuran and he clearly advocated for a more hostile approach against Bigtopia. He didn't reject military interventions.
The UF followed the debate closely and - while endorsing Anton Herlton as a Presidential Candidate - nevertheless commented on all topics on social media. They are rather on the same side as Lars Znepter and the NUP, though they lobby for neither better or worse relations with Bigtopia.

According to polls conducted by Diphria and other polling institutes, the following candidates are perceived as "winners" of the debate. Only one candidate could be chosen per person. The numbers have been aggregated:

Anton Herlton (MLP): 35,6%
Maria Kalia (SDP): 27,1%
Lars Znepter (NUP): 17,2%
Derren Fermann (IFM): 13,5%
Markus Hilga (LA): 3,7%
Lisa Gord (LP): 2,3%
Bernd Lerken (UMP): 0,6%

When allowed to choose "No clear winner", then:

Anton Herlton (MLP): 31,9%
Maria Kalia (SDP): 23,7%
No clear winner: 20,2%
Derren Fermann (IFM): 16,4%
Lars Znepter (NUP): 4,1%
Markus Hilga (LA): 2,0%
Lisa Gord (LP): 1,3%
Bernd Lerken (UMP): 0,4%

First topic: Bigtopia

The Third Bigtopian-Madovian War lasted from September 28, 2022 until May 19, 2023. During November and December 2023 "Operation Valkyrie" was successfully executed - the Bigtopian regime under Daoiki Ima was overthrown and the Bigtopian democracy saved. Considering all of this, it's no surprise that most Madovians have a (very) negative perception of Bigtopia. Either out of spite and hatred or because of concerns about stability of the country.

The by far most Bigtopia-friendly candidate is Anton Herlton. He advocates for very good relations and closer cooperation - on an equal foot.
Anton Herlton: "Why could the anti-Madovian sentiment foster so strongly in Bigtopia? Because Bigtopia was unsuccessful compared to us. The economic crisis of 1999 only served as a jumping board for all those racists to strengthen their position, not just in Bigtopia. And we did nothing, as we thought 'surely these sentiments will just disappear as always' but that was the major mistake! For the Bigtopians our relationship seemed toxic and one-sided, only advantageous for Madovia and not for them. And instead of proving them wrong we ignored them, worsening our reputation there. Free trade is great but it can only benefit all sides if there are rules which delimit their ways to exploit the system. Unfortunately, diplomacy is in some parts extremely complex, much more complex than domestic policies; and we failed in this area. No wonder, we weren't really involved much in foreign countries apart from trade and peace confererences since the 19th century - since the defeat in the Second Bigtopian-Madovian War."

Derren Fermann may not be as anti-Bigtopia as Lars Znepter but he certainly doesn't like Bigtopia. He advocates for a lot of caution.
Derren Fermann: "Bigtopia is chronically unstable. Its culture and inferiority complex since 1850 destroyed them, not we Madovians. Bigtopia never managed to accept the unification of our nation and after their victory against us in 1918 they only became more radical in their nationalism. They took more land than we ever took from them and yet they called themselves a victim. For the second time since 1900 they attacked us and now you, Mister Herlton, want closer relations with them? Don't get me wrong if they finally show attempts at combatting those bad traits I would be much more open for dealing with them. But as it stands now, there are no such attempts. Even after the coup d'état they still see us as the ultimate evil!"

Maria Kalia is open for closer relations however only if Bigtopia demilitarizes. She wants a clear guarantee from Bigtopia that Madovia doesn't need to fear another invasion from Bigtopia.
Maria Kalia: "I don't think that Bigtopia is evil. If the people are poor and if a nation simply doesn't function the way it should, despite having everything it needs, then people become radicalized. Now by no metric was Bigtopia poor but its economy grew on average only by 0,3% per year since 1999. It's growth but it's nothing compared to us. For every year with negative or very slow economic growth a year with impressive economic growth followed. Even the recession from 2010 didn't stop this. It wasn't until 2022 that things went completely wrong but even then... in 2023 the Madovian economy grew by 0,3% while it was predicted to shrink by 4,3%. Bigtopia's economy also showed itself stronger than expected with a contraction of 5,2%. Way worse than we did and with the future loss of land it will only become worse. This might throw Bigtopia into a doom spiral which certainly wouldn't benefit us. We don't need a Bigtopia in anarchy, we need a stable Bigtopia which isn't dangerous for us. And this is what I stand for: Closer relations with Bigtopia, if (!) Bigtopia agrees to demilitarize. If Bigtopia isn't able to attack us anymore we can provide them with security and economic cooperation. While I'm aware that many might see this as vassalization it is clear that we need security guarantees from Bigtopia."

Lisa Gord clearly has a negative perception of Bigtopia but her libertarian leanings seem to prevail. She wants more cooperation with Bigtopia in terms of free trade and open borders for people and goods to work where they want. Yet she also emphasizes that right now Bigtopia might be too unstable for this.
Lisa Gord: "I partially agree with Mr. Herlton and Ms. Kalia. It's true that free trade cannot solve all issues but it's still better than the isolationism towards Bigtopia Mr. Znepter and Mr. Fermann proposed. You want a stable Bigtopia which does not threaten us? Well, then isolate them more but give them the chance to rise again! If you don't plan to annex the entirety of Bigtopia then stop proving the Bigtopian nationalists right. If we trade freely with them, if we have an open border policy - naturally with controls - with them, we show them our openness for cooperation. At the end of the day, we can only benefit from having a friendly, strong trading partner as our neighbor."

Markus Hilga as a former President from 1996 until 2000 should know how to deal with Bigtopia and he certainly loved to refer to his experience. He is open for future cooperation but rejects for now.
Markus Hilga: "Realistically, it is not feasible right now. Bigtopia is notoriously unstable in both political and economical terms. While this might change in the future, there simply isn't a guarantee. As long as Bigtopia can't be a reliable partner, any kind of cooperation will be difficult."

Bernd Lerken generally is not so keen of non-socialist nations but especially Bigtopia with its two year-long "experiment", as he called it, with national socialism is everything he detests. Lerken, in typical communist fashion, blames the capitalistic system of Bigtopia and the "exploitation from Madovian capitalists in Bigtopia" for the rise of Richard Tanaka. According to Lerken, the victory of Tanaka was the pinnacle of a long-lasting and ignored issue which plagued the Bigtopian society: What do they even want to be? Every nation needed a cultural system, he continued, however Bigtopia lost its system after winning against Madovia in 1918. Technically, it died in the 1850s when Madovia unified after winning against Bigtopia. Bigtopia mostly lost its prestige, its great power status and not even the economy was great enough to compensate for the loss of identity. "So letting capitalists exploiting the Bigtopian people really was a horrible idea. Of course the Bigtopians will rebel at some point against their incompent government and our ruthless ideology!"

Lars Znepter expressed concern about the instability in Bigtopia and therefore demanded a wall to be built to prevent more Bigtopians from entering Madovia. "This isn't even just an issue of potential mass migration, we need a more coherent defense mechanism which can actually defend us from more Bigtopian problems. There's no reason for us to be involved in those matters. We held a referendum in the Lost Territories and I'm fine with that. There are enough Bigtopians to become major troublemakers, we don't need more via immigration." He further added that the past would have showed everybody that the Bigtopian people wouldn't be able to recognize foreign efforts in helping their country. "They aren't savages, but they are too narrow-minded. If they don't accept help we need to protect ourselves from them."

Second topic: Gespia

Anton Herlton immediately boasted about his correct predictions about Gespia. Early on, he predicted that Gespia has ulterior motives and that at least their government is inherently anti-Madovian. "I was called a radical for accusing Gespia of revanchism and colonial imperialism, I was called an imperialist for that. But, unfortunately, I was right. Gespia under Huey Koliér did everything as we, the Madovian government, predicted. First there was a feeling, afterwards there was proof. The MNA shared this feeling and skepticism and after investigating we managed to disclose all the disgraceful deeds committed by Gespia. We have to see how Padro Bonálerte will govern the country and how his foreign policy will look like, but I doubt that even the most pro-Madovian Chancellor could steer Gespia onto a pro-Madovian path. In the end, we and Gespia have radically different views on how the world should look like. Gespia is an authoritarian nation, we are a truly democratic one. And Gespia has, as we do, ambitions for more power - both through economic might. A real cold war, not the one we had after the second world war, will most likely shape the coming decades."

Maria Kalia admitted that she was wrong about Gespia, "I was naive". However she still refuted the claims made by Herlton regarding a cold war. "Diplomacy, not aggression" she says; achieved by the expansion of the Lavian Security Council (LSC). "The LSC could easily become something bigger, a supranational organization for economic and diplomatic matters. An organization which isn't just funded because some nations don't like being invaded." Kalia envisions a future where radical ideologies are dead because of international cooperation. "The LSC might have done a solid job in the last around 75 years but it has become too weak. It lacks the abilities and funds to truly fight for peace. We don't need bad relations with Gespia. If you want better relations with Bigtopia then it's hypocritical to refuse good relations with Gespia. No unnecessary interventionism."

On the other side, Derren Fermann rejects the idea of a supranational organization. "Of course we can allocate more funds into the pockets of the LSC, almost nobody has got something against this. However we certainly don't need a supranational organization which destroys the unique cultures and languages of our planet. This remark is simply ridiculous, Ms. Kalia!" Instead, Fermann proposes a more isolationist approach where Madovia can mediate between sides of a conflict, while not involving itself too much in international conflicts. "Sometimes we need to take sides, Ms. Kalia. Often enough however, this only brings more problems than solutions. It has worked for so long and personally I don't see any advantages here. Ever since Hens Forth involved us more in politics within Lavia and outside of it things have become worse and worse and worse! With no involvement in Bigtopia we wouldn't have almost had a new world war - the first world war Madovia would have been involved in."

Lisa Gord proceeds with her plan to advertise free trade and open borders- No, this time she doesn't. "Gespia is a threat to the liberty and freedom of humanity. Gespia is a huge country with a vast amount of resources and it's an authoritarian country. Not as authoritarian as others but still very authoritarian. The democratic system is de facto dead there and any movement fighting against the oppression is suppressed. Only very naive people would fight for more cooperation with Gespia. Countries like Gespia don't want peace, they don't want prosperity, they don't want cooperation. Unless you subjugate yourself to them. But no freedom-loving human being should ever accept this. We must not underestimate the threat coming from Gespia in the form of propganda and culture. 'But our people are wealthy', great! So are our people and they even are free and wealthy!"

Markus Hilga mostly agrees with Fermann and Kalia on how to deal with Gespia. Hilga's vision for a future Gespia policy isn't hostile but also not friendly. If cooperation is possible he would gladly accept it. If not and furthermore if Gespia continues its aggressiveness against other people and nations then any kind of cooperation "must not happen under any circumstances". He didn't elaborate on what exactly his goal regarding Gespia is.

Bernd Lerken actually has sympathies for Gespia, although he criticizes Gespia for its imperialism. “What Gespia has done in recent months is inexcusable. Their illegal involvement in Waannland and the crisis which almost escalated into nuclear warfare, now that’s enough for me to label Gespia as a huge threat to world peace and Madovia. Of course I understand that the Gespian government wants to protect its citizens but you simply don’t protect them by killing other people when those do not threaten you. Unfortunately, Gespia is an imperialist power just like countries like Aqista. Yet we shall not ignore de-escalation.”

Lars Znepter is determined: Gespia holds an anti-Madovian stance and is therefore an enemy. “A country which despises the very existence of Madovia and clearly disdains the independence and sovereignty of other nations cannot be a friend of Madovia and the Lavian family of nations. The peoples of this world don’t need countries which have no qualms killing others for absurd reasons such as prestige. As a matter of fact, Gespia even lost prestige, as they failed in Waannland and unnecessarily caused and almost escalated a crisis in Bigtopia into a new world war. We have to fight Gespia where its grimy paws are defiling something and somebody.”

Third topic: The expansion of the Stability Pact

Somewhat unsurprisingly Anton Herlton, as the creator of this very idea, advocates for a major change of the SP’s structure. Instead of being a loose forum for diplomacy it should be a “union of alliance for economic cooperation between all nations of Eurav – the ‘Golden Union of Eurav’ or something like that”. All Euravian nations would be allowed to join this union, even Bigtopia. Only with cooperation Madovia could blossom, according to Herlton. A union of free trade, free movement and a common market, though with different currencies – that’s what Herlton envisions.

For Derren Fermann only an economic union without countries such as Aristoso, Urak and Bigtopia would be a viable option. He rejects the idea of a political union. He also agrees with Kalia that without the regulation of working conditions such a union would be a matter of failure. Furthermore he rejects the idea of limiting the inflow of goods though. He especially stressed that Madovia’s sovereignty must not be infringed at all.

Maria Kalia is in support of such a union, although free trade is something she cannot fully agree with. “There has to be a limitation for certain goods and the union must also regulate working conditions”, a typical social democratic point of view. While Herlton and Gord mostly disagree with the regulation part, the other three agree with it. “The 20th century was the Euravian Century. So let’s do it again, let’s make Eurav even stronger than ever before”, with these words she also expressed her support for a union which would go even further than a simple economic union. A union which works together on diplomatic matters.

Lisa Gord mostly agreed with Herlton, but she put more emphasis on preventing this union from centralizing. “An extensive, centralized Madovian state is already bad enough but a centralized, bureaucratic monster would be even worse. A political union may not happen, as this would only facilitate centralization.”

“Inconceivable was this idea just a few years ago and now look where we are. It’s the right step for a righteous future. But indeed, as Ms. Gord said it: This union must not become a bureaucratic monster. It shouldn’t legitimize authoritarians and should never give power to them. Therefore, an economic union would be the safest and best way to go.” Markus Hilga has a clear, firm opinion on this.

And so does Bernd Lerken. Although Lerken likes the idea of an economic and political union he fears that it would be easily dominiated by capitalistic countries and that the only communist force, Aristoso, would be crushed under the “weight and pressure exerted by the sheer capitalistic dominance” in such a union. He is conflicted about this but tends to reject the idea as it stands now.

Lars Znepter also makes it plain and simple: “If this supposed union respects the sovereignty of the peoples of Eurav, then I will support it. If it doesn’t, then I reject it. A union of all peoples is desirable but its implementation requires lots of work and I fear that our national sovereignty would be threatened. Hence I cannot say for sure whether I can really support this idea, as you stated it, Mr. Herlton.”

Amount of participants: n = 1203

Party polls:

[Party] ([Acronym], [Ideology]): [Percentage of vote] ([compared to previous poll]) | [Percentage from previous poll (January 2024)]

Madovian Liberal Party, MLP (national liberal): 48% (+2%) | 46%
Iron Front for Madovia, IFM (conservative/merneristic): 14,5% (-2,5%) | 17%
Social Democratic Party, SDP (social democratic): 17% (-1%) | 18%
Libertarian Party, LP (libertarian): 6,5% (-0,5%) | 7%
Liberal Alliance, LA (social liberal): 4,5% (-1%) | 5%
United Marxist Party, UMP (communist): 0,5% (+/- 0%) | 0,5%
National Unity Party, NUP (ultranationalist): 0,5% (+/- 0%) | 0,5%
Union of the Forsaken, UF (conservative/christian): 8,5% (+2,5%) | 6%

[img][/img]

Popularity score:
The Presidential Candidates are highlighted in a bold font.

Amount of participants: n = 2152

[Title]: [Name] ([Party]): [Approval] | [Disapproval] | [Can't assess/don't know the politician]

Minister of Economy and Finances: Wern Klub (MLP): 79% (-1%) | 15% (+1%) | 6% (+/- 0%)
President: Anton Herlton (MLP): 76% (+1%) | 17% (+/- 0%) | 7% (-1%)
Interior Minister: Jana Zersqa (MLP): 75% (+2%) | 14& (+1%) | 11% (-3%)
Minister for Labor and Social Affairs: Peter Barn (SDP): 69% (-3%) | 16% (+3%) | 15% (+/- 0%)
Minister of Education and Healthcare: Zuln Arri (LA): 66% (-2%) | 12% (+1%) | 22% (+1%)
Defense Minister: Igor Vakzy (IFM): 65% (+1%) | 29% (+/- 0%) | 6% (-1%)
Herrmann Johnson (IFM): 63% (-5%) | 28% (+4%) | 9% (+1%)
Minister of Infrastructure: Josef Burngarten (LA): 55% (+/- 0%) | 17% (+/- 0%) | 28% (+/- 0%)
Markus Hilga (LA): 47% (+6%) | 32% (+2%) | 21% (-8%)
Minister of Agriculture and Industry: Nancy Errend (MLP): 45% (-2%) | 33% (+/- 0%) | 22% (+2%)
Derren Fermann (IFM): 43% (+4%) | 48% (-4%) | 9% (+/- 0%)
Vice President, Foreign Minister: Hens Forth (MLP): 43% (+/- 0%) | 49% (+/- 0%) | 8% (+/- 0%)
Minister for the Environment: Maria Kalia (SDP): 42% (+3%) | 25% (-1%) | 33% (-2%)
Lisa Gord (LP): 39% (-2%) | 50% (-2%) | 11% (+4%)
Georg Kuhnke (LA): 36% (-4%) | 39% (+4%) | 25% (+/- 0%)
Minister of Justice: Wilhelm Jatern (MLP): 33% (-1%) | 20% (+3%) | 47% (-2%)
Minister of Family Matters: Ellen Orsten (LA): 12% (+2%) | 11% (+/- 0%) | 77% (-2%)
Bernd Lerken (UMP): 5% (-2%) | 82% (-3%) | 13% (+5%)
Lars Znepter (NUP): 4% (+2%) | 53% (+16%) | 43% (-18%)

Popularity of government: 71% (+3%) | 24% (-2%) | 5% (-1%)

[img][/img]

Party polls:

[Party] ([Acronym], [Ideology]): [Percentage of vote] ([compared to previous poll]) | [Percentage from previous poll (January 2024)]

Madovian Liberal Party, MLP (national liberal): 49% (+1%) | 48%
Iron Front for Madovia, IFM (conservative/merneristic): 15% (+0,5%) | 14,5%)
Social Democratic Party, SDP (social democratic): 16,5% (-0,5%) | 17%
Libertarian Party, LP (libertarian): 6,5% (+/- 0%) | 6,5%
Liberal Alliance, LA (social liberal): 5,5% (+1%) | 4,5%
United Marxist Party, UMP (communist): 0,5% (+/- 0%) | 0,5%
National Unity Party, NUP (ultranationalist): 0,5% (+/- 0%) | 0,5%
Union of the Forsaken, UF (conservative/christian): 7,5% (-1%) | 8,5%

[img][/img]

Favorite Candidate

Diphria published several results in cooperation with other polling institutes. Candidate names are listed according to their party's respective results in thr last election (July 2022).

Diphria

Anton Herlton: 82%
Derren Fermann: 4,5%
Maria Kalia: 8%
Lisa Gord: 0,5%
Markus Hilga: 4%
Bernd Lerken: 0,5%
Lars Znepter: 0,5%

Mayern Institute

Anton Herlton: 76,5%
Derren Fermann: 7,5%
Maria Kalia: 6%
Lisa Gord: 3%
Markus Hilga: 5,5%
Bernd Lerken: 0,5%
Lars Znepter: 1%

Terpsten Polling

Anton Herlton: 78%
Derren Fermann: 12%
Maria Kalia: 7%
Lisa Gord: 1%
Markus Hilga: 1%
Bernd Lerken: 0,5%
Lars Znepter: 0,5%

Institute for Statistics Madovia

Anton Herlton: 84%
Derren Fermann: 5%
Maria Kalia: 4%
Lisa Gord: 2,5%
Markus Hilga: 2,5%
Bernd Lerken: 1%
Lars Znepter: 1%

The Madovian Observer

Anton Herlton: 82,5%
Derren Fermann: 3%
Maria Kalia: 6%
Lisa Gord: 1,5%
Markus Hilga: 6%
Bernd Lerken: 0,5%
Lars Znepter:0,5%

Average | Median | Variance | Standard error

Anton Herlton: 80,6% | 82% | 8,14 | 1,275
Derren Fermann: 6,4% | 5% | 9,94 | 1,40996
Maria Kalia: 6,2% | 6% | 1,76 | 0,593
Lisa Gord: 1,7% | 1,5% | 0,86 | 0,4147
Markus Hilga: 3,8% | 4% | 3,46 | 0,8318
Bernd Lerken: 0,6% | 0,5% | 0,04 | 0,0894
Lars Znepter: 0,7% | 0,5% | 0,06 | 0,1095

[img][/img]

Temperature anomaly: +4,2k (1°C = 1k) [3rd warmest March in recorded history]
Precipitation anomaly: +59%
Sunshine anomaly: +37%

Maximum temperature: +33,7°C, recorded on March 19, 2024 in Maidovia.
Minimum temperature: -2,5°C, recorded on March 4, 2024 in Haixi.
Lowest maximum temperature: +3,5°C, recorded on March 3, 2024 in Subija.
Highest minimum temperature: +20,4°C, recorded on March 20, 2024 in Burva.
Highest wind speed: 136km/h

Temperature anomaly: +0,9k (1°C = 1k)
Precipitation anomaly: +121% [Wettest April in recorded Madovian history]
Sunshine anomaly: -1,4%

Maximum temperature: +34,1°C, recorded on April 29, 2024 in Maidovia.
Minimum temperature: +2,6°C, recorded on April 12, 2024 in Haixi.
Lowest maximum temperature: +14,5°C, recorded on April 12, 2024 in Haixi.
Highest minimum temperature: +19,9°C, recorded on April 29, 2024 in Maidovia.
Highest wind speed: 145km/h (non-tornadic), ~288km/h (tornadic)

Amount of tornadoes: 48
Most tornadoes within 24 hours: 23

Notable events/records:

- Strongest tornado: F3 (~288km/h) in outskirts of Maidovia on April 29, 2024
- Tornado outbreak of April 29, 2024 (Maidovia, Qartur, Rerren, Plasm): 23 tornadoes within 24 hours [F0: 13; F1: 4; F2: 4; F3: 2; F4: 0; F5: 0]
- Biggest hailstone: 8 cm in diameter in Maidovia (city) on April 29, 2024
- Flash Flood Event on April 29, 2024 with 14 injured and 0 deaths in Maidovia (state)

A recent report from the "Burvan Sunday Times" revealed that former President Frydrych Mannern (former Christian Democratic Party, 1988-1996) joined the Marxist Party for Madovia (dissolved/banned in early 2022) and joined the United Marxist Party when it was founded as the successor of the MPM in June 2022.

Mannern became influential in the CDP in the 1980s as he emerged as the leader of the left wing of the party. With sympathies for the SDP and a generally more social democratic outlook on social and economic issues, Mannern was a prominent part of the "Social Conservative Movement" which emerged in the late 1960s and early 1970s during the presidencies of Leonhard Lerken (SDP, 1960-1972) and Graich Pattern (PfF, 1972-1976) and grew in popularity and influence during the presidency of Hens Magnolf (CDP, 1976-1988) who was part of the right wing of the CDP.
Mannern had always been a controversial figure in Madovian politics with his progressive views. For example, he already advocated for mostly open borders in the 1970s - something which not even the SDP dares to promote anymore. On economic issues he advocated for austerity, a minimum wage of 5 Madovs per hour and other laws which strengthen the position of employees. The main reason why he rejected the idea of joining the SDP was the SDP's stance on austerity, nuclear power and foreign policy. In the 1980s the SDP was anti-austerity, anti-nuclear power and against free trade. The SDP of Leonhard Lerken and Johann Weggen died with the success of Hens Magnolf.
During Mannern's presidency he almost kept all of his promises - except for austerity. Something which would inevitably lead to the collapse of the CDP in the 1990s and 2000s as well as to the Madovian Depression (1997-2003). He antagonized conservatives, liberals of all kind and even some "Lerken-Weggenists" (expression used until the 2000s).

After his presidency he was mostly inactive in politics and didn't join any party. He, however, harshly criticized Clara Waffelhof (SDP, 2000-2012) in 2008 after she started the nationalization of key industries. He called her a "communist in disguise" and predicted an economic recession in the coming years if she didn't revert those nationalization efforts. In 2010, a recession indeed began and only ended in 2014.
It was during the 2010s that Mannern himself became much more accepting of socialism. In a short interview the Burvan Sunday Times held with Mannern in May 2024, Mannern recounted that "over time I realized that austerity can't solve the inherent issue of capitalism; that is the need of non-governmental involvement". The government would need to regulate the economy but this would always lead to economic stagnation or worse to "a corporatist form of governance". This brought him to the conclusion that capitalism must be abolished in favor of a semi-planned economic system with planning structures administered by AI and humans alike.

For critics this is exactly what they expected. Both Hermann Johnson, chairman of the Iron Front for Madovia, and Anton Herlton, President of Madovia and chairman of the Madovian Liberal Party, wrote on social media in an ironic tone how surprise this revelation would be.

The Municipalities of Antarctica
Lesser Yu
Honourbound
Novoblupolia
Pathonia
Arthropyria