Democratic Socialist Party (Namor)

Democratic Socialist Party of Namor
Chairman	Tzang Ainan
Founded	1958
Headquarters	Namo, Capital District
Student wing	Democratic Socialist Students
Youth wing	Democratic Socialist Youth
Membership	22 million (4.1% of population)
Ideology	Social liberalism Social democracy Anti-Liberationism Anti-authoritarianism
Political position	Centre-Left
National affiliation	Popular Front
International affiliation	Union of Esquarian Liberals and Democrats
Colors	Blue   Pink
Central Council	649 / 2,549
Politics of Namor Political parties Elections

The Democratic Socialist Party of Namor (Namorese: Намора Минджусохоитан tr. Namora Minjusohoitan), commonly known as the DemSocs (Минсотан tr. Minsotan), is a social democratic political party in Namor founded in 1958.

Widely considered to be the first genuine opposition party in the People's Republic of Namor, the early DemSocs supported an end to Liberationist Party rule and the transition to a "post-Liberationist" society where the legacy of Liberationism is dismantled and human rights abuses under Liberationist rule are redressed. Because of its opposition to the Liberationists, the DemSocs was considered an "anti-establishment party" during the Second Party System. From the 1960s to the 1980s, the DemSocs were involved in many protests against the Liberationist government, most notably the 1965 Plum Blossom Revolution and 1977 Namorese protests.

In 1985, the DemSocs won a majority in the Namorese Central Council for the first time. Five years later in 1990, Lan Xuan Huong became the first DemSoc to be elected President-General of Namor, ending over six decades of Liberationist rule. The DemSocs remained in power until 2005 when it was defeated by the New Democrats, a right-wing party that had splintered from the DemSocs in the 1980s. Since 2005, the DemSocs have realigned with the Liberationists and Socialists, another anti-establishment party, against the NDP, forming the basis of the present Third Party System.

History

Founding

The Democratic Socialist Party was founded in 1958, three years after the adoption of the 1955 Namorese constitution which effectively lifted the ban on non-Liberationist parties that had been in place during the Green Fever.

A convention of 154 people met at the Mosan Hotel in Mojing to discuss the formation of an opposition party. Most of the convention's participants were intellectuals who had faced persecution under Antelope Yunglang's rule. The convention finally adopted the Charter for Democracy in Namor, which called for an end to Liberationist one-party rule both in name and practice, free and fair elections, and the rehabilitation and release of all political prisoners. The charter also supported the establishment of a party dedicated to realizing the goals put forward in the charter. The party was initially named the "Democratic Party" but was renamed the "Democratic Socialist Party" due to concerns that the party may be barred from entering elections. Vang Nijin, a former Liberationist Party member who was purged during the Fever, was elected the party's first chairman.

The DemSocs participated in the general election of 1960 and won a few seats in the Central Council, although the Liberationists still won a supermajority of seats due to the first-past-the-post voting system.

Second Party System (1960 - 2005)

Vang Nijin stepped down as chairman in 1964 due to poor health and was succeeded by Daiji Sang, a media entrepreneur who had served on the DemSocs' public relations department. Under Daiji, the DemSocs swung in a more radical direction, endorsing full deliberationization and the adoption of a new flag, constitution, and anthem without any references to Liberationism. While the Liberationist government never cracked down on the DemSocs as a whole, it did attempt to undermine the party through the National Security Act, which was used to charge some party members with subversion, sedition, and other crimes in the name of national security.

In 1965, the Plum Blossom Revolution — a wave of student-led protests against Kong Jo's foregone victory in the 1965 general election — broke out across the country. The DemSocs supported the revolution along with the Socialists, Namorese United Front of Trade Unions, and various student organizations. The DemSocs also participated in talks between the government and protest leaders that resulted in the government agreeing to hold direct elections in 1970. Daiji Sang ran for President-General on the Democratic Socialist ticket in 1970 and 1975 but lost to the Liberationists in both elections. After losing to Su Shui in the 1975 election, Daiji resigned from the chairmanship and was succeeded by Vice Chairman Vang Ze.

The DemSocs joined in protests against the government's plan to introduce intelligence tests for voters in 1977. The protests ended with the defeat of the plan in the Central Council. In 1980, Vang ran for President-General as the DemSoc candidate. Despite speculations that he would defeat Su Shui, he underperformed and lost with 36.3% of the vote, trailing Su by eight points. Following the election, the radical faction of the party led by Deng Mianbao left the DemSocs and formed the New Democratic Party.

After Su Shui's impeachment in 1982, the DemSocs focused on attacking corruption within the Liberationist Party, giving it a boost in popularity. In 1985, the DemSocs won a majority in the Central Council for the first time. Vang defeated incumbent Chen Chanin in the first round of the presidential election, only to lose to Chen in the second round with 49.8% of the vote. The close results prompted the DemSocs to accuse the government of electoral fraud. A Central Council commission to investigate allegations of voter fraud was established with the support of the DemSocs but was later disbanded due to lack of sufficient evidence to support the allegations.

In 1989, Lan Xuan Huong succeeded Vang as the new chairperson of the DemSocs, becoming the party's first female leader. The following year, Lan ran for President-General and defeated Chen Chanin in a landslide victory, becoming the first non-Liberationist to lead the PRN.

As the governing party, the DemSocs tried to pursue many of its goals set in the 1960s, including deliberationization, with limited success. The Lan administration established a commission to investigate human rights abuses under Liberationist rule but set aside the task of drafting a new flag and constitution. Economic and national security concerns became more important to the party in the aftermath of the June 28 Attacks.

Lan's presidency ended in 2000 and Vice President-General Kaitlyn Kan was elected President-General, the second DemSoc in a row to occupy the position. Under pressure from DemSocs to "complete" her predecessor's deliberationization movement, Kan called for a constitutional convention to draft a new constitution. However, due to opposition from the Liberationists and disagreements over what the new constitution should contain, the convention failed to produce an alternative document and was eventually disbanded.

Kan was defeated by New Democratic candidate Fu Wen during the 2005 election.

Third Party System (2005 - present)

The 2005 election spurred a major realignment in Namorese politics, with the DemSocs cooperating with the Liberationists and Socialists. Together, the three parties came to represent the Namorese left, while the New Democrats became representative of the Namorese right. Despite the realignment, the DemSocs rejected a formal alliance with the Liberationists and continued to field its own candidates during the 2010 presidential and legislative elections, with party leader Ho Guktan running for President-General. After losing to Fu, Ho stepped down as chairman and was succeeded by Namsa Singho, the former Vice President-General of Namor under Kaitlyn Kan.

Under Namsa, the DemSocs became more receptive towards calls for the party to join a formal alliance of parties opposed to the New Democrats. In 2014, the DemSocs, Liberationists, and Socialists established the Popular Front and agreed to unite behind a single presidential and vice presidential candidate in the 2015 election. Namsa Singho ran for President-General but lost to Antelope Shohai in the Popular Front primary. Antelope went on to win the general election and Namsa was appointed Minister of Finance.

Since 2015, the DemSocs has been led by Tzang Ainan.

Organization

List of chairpersons

Order	Portrait	Name	Term of Office
1	File:Wan Li.jpg	Vang Nijin	1958	1964
2		Daiji Sang	1964	1975
3		Vang Ze	1975	1989
4		Lan Xuan Huong	1989	1999
5		Kaitlyn Kan	1999	2004
6		Ho Guktan	2004	2010
7	File:Eric-Chu-cropped.png	Namsa Singho	2010	2015
8	File:Chen Shei-Saint - by KeroroTW 1 (cropped).jpg	Tzang Ainan	2015

Political positions

Deliberationization

When it was the largest opposition party, the DemSocs were supportive of deliberationization. It called for a constitutional convention to replace the current constitution with a new constitution that contains no references to Liberationism, and a new Namorese flag that would replace the current flag. The DemSocs also advocated for transitional justice programs aimed at redressing human rights abuses committed by the Liberationist regime.

The DemSocs argued that deliberationization was necessary to "transition Namor from autocracy to democracy." However, the Liberationists accused the DemSocs of being unnecessarily vindictive, arguing that the government had already redressed abuses under Antelope Gelai.

Under Lan, some efforts were made to deliberationize Namorese society, but support for deliberationization waned over time because many believed their rights were being adequately protected and so a new constitution and flag were unnecessary. When Kaitlyn Kan became the leader of the party, she announced that "Deliberationization is not what we're most concerned about right now."

Economic policy

The party supports a basic social safety net and strong labor unions. While it rejects laissez-faire capitalism, it rejects market socialism as well, defining "democratic socialism" as a mixed economic system where governmental regulations coexist with free market competition.

Compared with other leftist parties, the DemSocs harbor a less skeptical attitude towards free trade, stating that "trade, like elections, can and should be free and fair." It supported the reduction of tariffs between Namor and the Esquarian Community, although it is less enthusiastic about trading with countries with poor human rights records or a history of enmity with Namor.

The DemSocs support affordable healthcare for those who cannot afford it by themselves. The Common Medical Care System (CMCS), sponsored by President-General Lan, grants subsidies to people living in rural areas who seek treatment in a rural hospital or clinic; however, government support decreases as patients travel further away from home to seek treatment. The system has been praised for making healthcare more affordable for people in rural areas, but it has also been criticized for encouraging rural patients to visit facilities with low-quality care. Since the Popular Front took power, the CMCS has been expanded to provide coverage for low-income residents in urban areas.

On environmental issues, the DemSocs support reducing Namor's dependence on nonrenewable energy sources, mainly coal. It supports the Climate and Environmental Protection Act of 2017 (CEPA), which introduced a carbon tax and other measures intended to create a coal-free economy by the year 2035.

Social policy

The DemSocs are generally considered to be more socially liberal than the Liberationists.

During the Second Party System years, the party came out strongly against the death penalty, viewing it as a legacy of autocratic rule beginning from the imperial dynasties to the Liberationists. As President-General, Lan tried to push for a total abolition of the death penalty but faced resistance from Liberationists and other parties who argued that a total ban would rule out executions for people who commit severe crimes and put the prison system under stress. In the end, the government and opposition reached a compromise, banning the death penalty for most crimes except for treason, desertion, espionage, and crimes against humanity.

The DemSocs favor of expanding LGBT rights. In the 19, it pushed for a nationwide referendum which legalized civil unions. Since then, it has supported legal recognition of same-sex marriage and the right to change one's gender.

Foreign policy

DemSocs fervently supported the Namo-Aininian mutual defense treaty and its successor, the Central Ocean Compact, which created the Central Ocean Basin Alliance (Cenba). Although recent polls show most Namorese view Cenba as purposeless, the party insists the alliance is beneficial for all of its members because it protects Velkia and Nautasia from external aggression and terrorism. However, like most other major parties, the DemSocs favor a noninterventionist policy and believes Cenba should only act when diplomacy fails.

In the 1990s, the DemSocs under Lan helped normalize relations with Luziyca, but it became less enthusiastic about improving relations over time. During the presidency of Fu Wen, the DemSocs joined other leftist parties in criticizing the administration's policy of detente as submissive. The party supports bilateral talks to resolve the Nantai Question and believes any solution must be compatible with the Namorese Constitution and international law.

Election results

Legislative elections

Election	Total elected seats	+/−
2000	765 / 2,549	tbd
2005	362 / 2,549	403
2010	510 / 2,549	148
2015	649 / 2,549	139