Antonio Rosso prepares for one last push for the presidency!Rosso: "We should celebrate the upcoming summit as an Istalian achievement after all the rapprochement with Vanuku started with our own President Votta!"Rosso is most likely to be replaced by Vespa-Baldassare as Il Duce of the partyWith about a year left until elections, the National Democratic Party of Istalia can show a pretty decent record of achievements in its first 10 years of existence. They are the fourth largest party (previously second largest), they had their chance at governing, placing 3 ministries, and now they get ready for another shot at the Presidency as Rosso still has strikingly high approval ratings despite being 85 years old. However, it will be his last run for it, and he will run only for one term due to old age, nonetheless, according to the Il Duce of the National Democrats, "1 term will be enough to set some things straight".
Unlike the AI, the PND is not the most right-wing party in parliament, which according to analysts make it so "coalition ready", which in the upcoming elections will be crucial as there will be 11 parties competing for the 505 seats. The goal of the PND is very clear: to maintain the number of seats. This will be challenging as the number of parties has increased, but according to vice-leader Luciano Vespa-Baldassare "absolutely possible". Luciano Vespa-Baldassare has also commented on the new system of choosing candidates, which is very democratic as anyone can apply to be a candidate in a region. Clearly, this has worked best in Sarregna, where the PND holds the relative majority.
I believe the new system is fantastic. Our first three ministers have done an outstanding job and my daughter is a very active MP concerning education. However, together with Giuseppe di Nero, they are the only two which have any history with the AI, but both were perfect fits so I do not think anyone minds that. However, the former Minister of Defence, Silvio Conte, was a choice following standard application procedure, with his navy ranking and expertise aligning with the needs of this position. Our new candidate for Foreign Affairs is our "token" *laughs* Quanzari from Padagna, who is nothing short of a patriot. He has served in the army, without a weapon though, following that he graduated law school only to become CEO in Romula's Football Club. Long story short: his application is perfect to work with the big egos on the large international political scene.
I am also happy that my nephew Sante Vespa-Baldassare is a competent President, and I see the future is bright for our family.
The PND has increased its number of members drastically with the new application procedure, especially in the Youth Wing "Young Alternative". This has ensured that very loyal and competent men and women have taken up the PND seats in the Chamber and in regional Parliaments. Ironically, the Palerno mayor is not PND, despite the HQ being located there. That is something that the current leadership hopes to change.
Below is a list of all the ministerial candidates of the Partito Nazionale Democratico:
Presidential Candidate and Leader: Antonio Rosso, Born in Romula 4320 (85) Founder of the Party and is attempting to win the presidency one last time,
Candidate of Head of Government and Vice Leader: Luciano Vespa-Baldassare, Born in Romula 4340,
Foreign Affairs: Raza Ahmed, Born in Milona 4370, After finishing an all-boys school in Milona, he went to the military but refused to take up arms. After 2 years of service, aged 19, he went on to study law in Romula where in fact he met Rosso for the first time, as a lecturer (being the head of one of Istalia's largest foundations Rosso often gave speeches at Universities), after 5 years obtaining the degree, Mr Ahmed joined the staff of Romula FC, working his way up to General Manager (making his word decisive in terms of player contracts and transfers). Aged 30 he, out of curiosity, applied for membership in the PND and got the high ranking position for Foreign Affairs.
Internal Affairs: Fabiola Mondadori, born in Turrino 4375, After the University of Turrino's Law course, aged 25 joined the PND whilst writing her doctorate. Unexpectedly she received such a high ranking position, under the condition that she would get the doctorate degree, which she did aged 27. Luciano Vespa-Baldassare saw great potential in her and essentially gave her the third highest ranking position in the party as a bet on the future.
Finance: Alessandro Bencivenni, born in Genevia 4360, Economist, former CEO of Banca Mariani [Milona], his application was accepted instantly. Now he is holding the fourth highest position (unofficial ranking) in the party and is a key source of finance for the party. His close ties with the financial sector make him legitimately indispensable in the PND hierarchy. He is regarded as one of two people able to assume leadership following the retirement of Rosso, the other one being Luciano Vespa-Baldassare. His bid is further strengthened by his son Giuseppe is the Vice-Leader of the Youth Wing, an insanely charismatic young man.
Defence: Silvio Conte, born in Vinesia 4350, Admiral of the Navy, following his whole career spent in the Istalian fleet. Joined most recently as a critique of the Massa Plan which involved the Navy "transporting innocent people like livestock". With his position as Admiral and his age, being the oldest except the two leaders, his voice is very strong in the leadership, but he lacks ambition.
Justice: Giuseppe di Nero, born in Verunia 4380 (25), the youngest member of the leadership, grandson of former minister of defence and ex-AI turned ULD member Andreatto di Nero. Was accepted for the position with Rosso's recommendation (probably as a friendly gesture to the di Nero family, with which the Rosso family is close friends with). Giuseppe has recently finished the Law History degree at the university of Romula.
Infrastructure and Transport: Francette Baldi, born in Palerno 4376, the Main engineer at the Palerno-located "MassaMotors" sports car company. Working at the Beniamino Massa founded car company, she tried her luck applying for membership for the spiritual successor of Massa's party.
Health and Social Services: Simone Amalberti, born in Palerno 4371, Economics Professor at the University of Palerno. Applied following peer pressure at the local Palerno pub, which is very close to the PND HQ and consequently is a hive of PND supporters. He is a local star amongst the student body but calling him nationalist is very far-fetched. Nonetheless, he admired Gianluigi Rosso. He previously tried his luck for mayor but failed. He is very ambitious and believes that the PND should finally choose a side either with the Nationalist bloc OR with the ULD, consequently he does not believ in the in-betweeen game which the PND currently plays.
Education and Culture: Juliana Vespa-Baldassare, born in Romula 4380, second youngest member of leadership and daughter of Vice-Leader Luciano Vespa-Baldassare, which makes her second-cousin with President Sante. She was a high-school history teacher prior to accepting her father's invitation of joining his party. After all, as the heir of the "nationalist VB" line, she felt she had to go into politics. Nonetheless, her charisma and oratorial abilities made up for her absolute lack of experience and she became minister of Education and Culture in the previous government, and now she is the most active member of parliament from the PND. She is also the second most popular PND member according to public polls, after Rosso.
Science and Technology: Maximilian Varano, born in Nepoli 4372, he was working in the Research and Development department of Magistro-Leonardi S.A. He is half Dundorfian (mother's side) and a great machine engineer who loves beer with sausages but lacks a sense of humour.
Food and Agriculture: Cecilio Barzetti, born in Calliari 4372, his family possesses massive fruit and vegetable plantations in Sarregna, hence he is very knowledgeable on the agriculture of said fruits. However, he joined the PND, for this position, due to the fact that his older brother will be the heir of the plantations, not him, hence he was searching for another job. He believes strongly that GMO is the future of farming and aspires to make Istalia a key fruits exporter. He was one of the first applicants and consequently was one of the architects for the PND's policies regarding agriculture, hoping to take the farmers's vote from the republicans.
Environment and Tourism: Giannino De Felice, born in Ulbia 4379, after finishing high-school, he became a star DJ and a regular performer at all national and international festivals. He is very famous for his voluntary work as well regarding protecting the nature in and around his hometown. He even recently made the news after he prevented the construction of a motorway through forest land, instead holding a concert to raise money to construct said motorway through a longer, yet less environmentally damaging route. Ironically, he is quite conservative as he refuses to perform and mix songs in any language other than Istalian. His popularity makes him a key figure in the PND leadership, despite his unorthodox origins.
Trade and Industry: Bella Azurri, born in Palerno 4359, former Vice-CEO of IstalAir S.p.A. and then, until joining the PND, CEO of MajAir, the low-cost daughter company. The story of Bella's life can be summarized with one word: effort. She came from a poor Palernan family, went to free school and through effort graduated as the best in her class, gaining a scholarship for the University of Palerno. Throughout her studies, she was working part-time at fast-food stores. She graduated with honours from the university with a master's degree in Accounting and Finance which allowed her to start up a cryptocurrency trading company in Palerno, which grew very rapidly and pulled her into the middle class. After selling her share of the company following a job offer in IstalAir, she started her climb to the top of that company. After all, the cryptocurrency company was not large enough to make her rich, but she was very ambitious. So she worked up the career ladder until she was made the top official at MajAir. Now she is very wealthy and super pro-Majatran Alliance activist. Which is unique among the ranks of the PND but she is a very influential woman.
Nazionale, Official Press of the Alternativa Istaliana (Istalian Alternative; AI)