Levantine Union Party (Kiravia)

The Levantine Union Party is a Kiravian political party advocating Kiravian membership in the Levantine Union and associated pan-Levantine institutions. It contests elections in the states of Fariva, Ilánova, Serikordia, the Kiygrava, Uruvun, and New Ardmore, and endorses candidates for the Prime Executive of the Kiravian Federacy.

Platform
Informed by the global trend in international relations towards the formation of regional and subregional organisations and increasingly close economic, political, and military integration between member-states of those organisations, the LUP holds that regional superstates are the way of the future and that the cultural, religious, political, and military ties among the counties of Great Levantia put them in a good position to participate in that trend and avoid being put at a disadvantage as other areas coälesce into superstates. The LUP believes that a unified Levantia would be an unchallenged superpower in Ixnay with a population of over 49 billion, more than capable of ensuring its own security and projecting power throughout the region.

The LUP manifesto states that Kiravia is authentically (if peripherally) part of a "Greater Levantine" geographic and cultural region, and emphasises the positive role that interactions between Great Kirav and what it calls "Mainland Levantia" have played in shaping Kiravian history.

The LUP strongly supports the current military, diplomatic and economic coöperation fostered by the LCUP.

Domestic Policy in Kiravia
In order to accede to the Levantine Union, the LUP calls for a constitutional amendment to abrogate Article XXXII of the Fundamental Statute, which states that "The Federal Government cannot surrender its sovereignty to any supranational, international, intergovernmental, transnational, or federative entity."

Regarding near-term issues, the Kiravian LUP's most important political goal, aside from pro-LOTA sentiment, is amending Kiravian immigration law to grant nationals of other LOTA members the same expedited immigration and naturalisation process enjoyed by immigrants of Coscivian backgrounds. The Seventhday Evening Post uncovered evidence that the recent adoption of the platinum lira as a common auxilliary currency by the Kiravian Federacy and Kuhlfros may have been inspired by an LUP white paper.

The LUP is very strongly in favour of maintaining as the main foreign language taught in Kiravian public schools, due to its status as the primary language of Lacus Magni, Kistan, and Roman Outremer, a minority language of Kuhlfros, and a ceremonial language in Urcea. Delegate Árelius Veralumin (LUP-Ilánova) has said that the party will seek to maintain Latin as the primary working language of future Levantine institutions, demand the addition of Kiravic Coscivian as an official language, work with partners in Kuhlfros and Urcea to secure similar status for Gaelic, and "take measures to limit the institutional presence of Ænglish".



In terms of colonial policy, the LUP is a proponent of increased Kiravian and Levantine territorial acquisition in Ixnay, both as a means of creating overseas economic and living opportunities for Kiravian citizens and as an extension of LUDC strategic power. As for the Kiravian overseas states and possessions outside of Ixnay, the LUP currently maintains a focus group dedicated to studying the best possible way to structure the relationship between Kiravian extraregional states and the Levantine Union. Options modelled on EU policies towards the Outermost Regions and overseas territories, as well as full integration and varying levels of integration according to states' degrees of autonomy within the Federacy are being considered.

Internal tendencies within the party include Urcean-inspired National Democracy, Kuhlfrosian-inspired progressive conservatism, and market liberalism.

The LUP has unsuccessfully sought membership in the Caritist Social Union and Kiravian Free Alliance caucuses, and its Delegates in the Federal Stanora are counted among the non-inscrits. In 21206, the Sovereign Republican Party was formed for to oppose the LUP and Levantine Unionism.

Electorate
The Party does not enjoy significant electoral support outside of the Far Northeast, most likely due to Kiravian political culture's strong national sovereigntism and mild xenophobia, as well as the fact that a constitutional amendment would be required to achieve the LUP's long-term goals. In fact, the LUP's continued electoral success is largely due to the system and multi-member districts used for Stanora elections.

The party's strongest voter base are Kiravian citizens of mainland Levantine ethnic origin, whether naturalised or natural-born to one Kiravian parent (such as Secretary-General Vespasian Odrilaven whose mother is Urcean). Because immigrants of Celtic backgrounds are given higher priority in immigration and naturalisation procedures, Gaelic-Kuhlfrosians account for the largest proportion of this group. The party routinely fields candidates in the northeastern states of Fariva, Ilánova, the Kiygrava, which have the Federacy's largest populations of mainland Levantines. In particular, the Farivan city of Epsilar, which is 30% Kuhlfrosian-Kiravian and 22% Urcean-Kiravian, is a hotbed of LUP support. The LUP also has chapters in Serikordia - the first state in which it was able to register as a party - and has recently founded new chapters in the island states of Uruvun and New Ardmore, which have important historical and cultural connexions to Levantia.

An internal survey showed that 86% of enrolled LUP members are Levantine Catholics, while 7% are Insular Apostolic, and 7% are other or unaffiliated Christians. 45% of members identified immigration reform as the most important issue to them. 36% were Levantine-born, XX% Kiravian-born of Levantine ethnic origin (including mixed), and XX% Kiravian-born of non-Levantine origin.