Koruin Gruaman is the former Leader of the Centrist Party who served as the first President and third Prime Minister of Polasciana between 2003-2011
My party faces a choice about the future. Does it decide to renew in government and continue the past twelve years of power – or do we let the Unionists govern in situ for the next decade?
When I brought the party back to power in 2008 having lost it the year before, we had seen the damage that a Unionist government could inflict on our country. Wasted money on vanity projects, corruption at the heart of power and a government wreaking havoc on our relations abroad. In the past twelve years, it has only been the strength of our party that has held the Union Party to account. We have balanced power and ensured that our opponents can’t govern alone. But at the recent presidential election, we enabled the Unionists to win on an unprecedented scale by failing to deal with the political reality of today, rather than that of yesterday.
I learned this lesson the hard way – coming back to power in 2008 but by 2011 seeking to govern the country as if it was 2003. This failure, of mine, meant I was unable to win the presidential race of that year, and since, our party has failed to win another two. Those who sought to blame that on my record as Prime Minister have now learned their own lesson – that being Prime Minister is tough, but leading a party is even harder. I recognise that my government and leadership has been used against us for the past decade, but I do not accept that this was the cause of our failure. We decided to stop defending what we believe in and have become stale in office. The new president doesn’t even want to negotiate or talk to the government – that is not a sign of strength, but one of weakness.
On this, I agree with my former colleague Dmitry Lebedev. He has shown that if we have courage to do better, we can bring the country with us. Seceding ground to the Nationalists was a mistake. To let it continue would be unforgivable. To challenge their rise, my party must renew with urgency. It has to unshackle itself from the past, and look to the future. It is this lesson I learned in my first term in power, when on one of my first visits to Eiffelland as President the late King Heinrich IV told me “division and hatred may run through your country’s history, but it does not run through your blood.” It was this statement that I have held in my politics ever since – the history of our country may be complicated, but the future can and must be brighter. That is our responsibility.
I urge my colleagues to think carefully about the future. Failing to act now could be fatal for our party, but also for our country.
Being Prime Minister is tough but the Coalition must renew with urgency
Koruin Gruaman is the former Leader of the Centrist Party who served as the first President and third Prime Minister of Polasciana between 2003-2011
My party faces a choice about the future. Does it decide to renew in government and continue the past twelve years of power – or do we let the Unionists govern in situ for the next decade?
When I brought the party back to power in 2008 having lost it the year before, we had seen the damage that a Unionist government could inflict on our country. Wasted money on vanity projects, corruption at the heart of power and a government wreaking havoc on our relations abroad. In the past twelve years, it has only been the strength of our party that has held the Union Party to account. We have balanced power and ensured that our opponents can’t govern alone. But at the recent presidential election, we enabled the Unionists to win on an unprecedented scale by failing to deal with the political reality of today, rather than that of yesterday.
I learned this lesson the hard way – coming back to power in 2008 but by 2011 seeking to govern the country as if it was 2003. This failure, of mine, meant I was unable to win the presidential race of that year, and since, our party has failed to win another two. Those who sought to blame that on my record as Prime Minister have now learned their own lesson – that being Prime Minister is tough, but leading a party is even harder. I recognise that my government and leadership has been used against us for the past decade, but I do not accept that this was the cause of our failure. We decided to stop defending what we believe in and have become stale in office. The new president doesn’t even want to negotiate or talk to the government – that is not a sign of strength, but one of weakness.
On this, I agree with my former colleague Dmitry Lebedev. He has shown that if we have courage to do better, we can bring the country with us. Seceding ground to the Nationalists was a mistake. To let it continue would be unforgivable. To challenge their rise, my party must renew with urgency. It has to unshackle itself from the past, and look to the future. It is this lesson I learned in my first term in power, when on one of my first visits to Eiffelland as President the late King Heinrich IV told me “division and hatred may run through your country’s history, but it does not run through your blood.” It was this statement that I have held in my politics ever since – the history of our country may be complicated, but the future can and must be brighter. That is our responsibility.
I urge my colleagues to think carefully about the future. Failing to act now could be fatal for our party, but also for our country.
Former Leader of the Centrist Party (2003-2011), President of Polasciana (2003-2007) and Prime Minister (2008-2011)