Lemovician Section of the Workers' International

Lemovician Section of the Workers' International
First Secretary	Andremancija Osoteguj
Founded	1975
Split from	Miersan Section of the Workers' International (Continuation)
Headquarters	Topagunea
Ideology	Council communism Lemovician nationalism
Political position	Far left
International affiliation	Congress of the Workers' International
Colors	Red
National Assembly	61 / 110
Political parties Elections

The Lemovician Section of the Workers' International (Lemovician: Langileen Nazioarteko Mendiluŕaren Atala, LNMA) is the governing political party of the self-proclaimed Lemovician State. It has functioned as the only legal political party in Lemovicia since its independence in 1979 from West Miersa.

Created in 1975 by Nikola Lezana and Ociote Sasiambarena after taking much of the Malomiersan branch of the Miersan Section of the Workers' International (Continuation), it was initially persecuted by the West Miersan authorities, due to its advocacy of Lemovician independence, and of socialist poliocies. However, following the start of the Miersan War in 1979, the Lemovician Section of the Workers' International were able to take advantage of the situation to proclaim their own independence, and thus begin the Lemovician War against West Miersa.

History

Early years

The Lemovician Section of the Workers' International was founded in Topagunea in 1975 by Nikola Lezana and Ociote Sasiambarena to advocate for the independence of Lemovicia from West Miersa, who at that point had been engaging in Miersanization policies against the Lemovician community in the voivodeship of Małomiersa. This led to a split of the Malomiersan branch of the Miersan Section of the Workers' International (Continuation), with most joining the Lemovician Section of the Workers' International.

Due to their advocacy of socialism and Lemovician independence, the central government banned the organization for having ties to the Miersan Section of the Workers' International. This led the Lemovician Section of the Workers' International to operate clandestinely, but even then, several high-ranking officials, including Sasiambarena, were arrested by the West Miersan authorities.

Despite this, the party grew in popularity among many left-leaning Lemovicians: on the eve of the Miersan War, it was estimated that around 15,000 people in Lemovicia were members of the Lemovician Section of the Workers' International, with virtually all of them being ethnic Lemovicians.

Establishment as ruling party

Nikolas Lezana (left) and an unknown figure, 1983

With the outbreak of the Miersan War in 1979, the Lemovician Section of the Workers' International took the opportunity to proclaim independence. Thus, on 21 November, 1979, Nikolas Lezana and Ociote Sasiambarena proclaimed the establishment of an independent Lemovician state, thereby starting the Lemovician War.

From the beginning, the internal organization of the Lemovician Section of the Workers' International was based on other socialist movements, particularly those in Kirenia and East Miersa. However, unlike those two countries, where their sections of the worker's international were dissolved after taking power, the Lemovician Section of the Worker's International was intended to remain in place until they had secured control of the entirety of the Malomiersan voivodeship under a Lemovician state.

In 1980, they promulgated the Constitution of Lemovicia, which made the Lemovician Section of the Worker's International the sole legal political party in the country. While the structure of Lemovician governance was relatively different to other socialist states, as it had direct elections to the National Assembly, it was still heavily influenced by East Miersan socialism, particularly in the organisation of the lower levels of governance, of the party itself, and the economic structure of the country. That year, they held their second party congress, and took 109 of the 110 seats in the National Assembly, and the party recoreded 25,000 members.

However, as the Lemovician War wore on, the Lemovician Section of the Workers' International was not as important: although it continued to exist, the 1985 and 1990 party congresses were cancelled due to the war, and party conferences were held only sporadically. In 1986, Lezana died in battle, thereby making Ociote Sasiambarena acting First Secretary.

Post-war

Ociote Sasiambarena, 2008

After the end of the Lemovician War with the signing of the Arciluco Agreement in June 1992, First Secretary Ociote Sasiambarena took it upon himself to revitalize the party. To this end, he encouraged all discharged Lemovician soldiers to join the Lemovician Section of the Workers' International, and to encourage existing members to "renew their commitments" to the party. This included the surviving legislators, who were encouraged to run once more for office. As well, more party conferences were organised, in order to help ensure the continued operation of the party.

After securing a victory in 1992, taking control of the Presidency and the National Assembly, it became clear that the Lemovician Section of the Workers' International had been revived. During this period, Ociote Sasiambarena helped promote the party among the population, especially targeting those who were displaced as a result of the Lemovician War. Membership in 1992 was at around 9,000 people, but by the Third Party Congress in 1995, it had risen to 27,396 members. That year, Ociote Sasiambarena was officially confirmed as First Secretary of the Lemovician Section of the Workers' International, instead of serving as Acting First Secretary, as he had done since Nikola Lezana's death in battle in 1986.

Despite the fact that Sasiambarena was ineligible to run for the Presidency in 1996, Sasiambarena continued to serve as the leader of the party, and was seen as the de-facto leader of the Lemovician Section of the Workers' International, and of Lemovicia itself as a result of his position. During this period, he continued overseeing the growth of the party, with Sasiambarena focusing on training officials and promoting Lemovician culture, in addition to conducting visits to other socialist states. By the time of the Fourth Party Congress in 2000, membership rose to around 40,000 people, and by the time of the Fifth Party Congress in 2005, it had risen to 51,506 people.

His role in the party continued largely unchallenged until he suffered a heart attack in 2009. After his hospitalization, Sasiambarena withdrew from public life, leading to speculation that he was no longer well enough to lead the party. Consequently, his duties in the party fell to other individuals. At the Sixth Party Congress in 2010, Sasiambarena officially resigned, and was succeeded by his chosen successor, Andremancija Osoteguj, who became the first woman to be the First Secretary of the Lemovician Section of the Workers' International.

Contemporary era

Andremancija Osoteguj, 2017

With Andremancija Osoteguj at the helm of the Lemovician Section of the Workers' International, speculation quickly abounded as to whether she would be as "dominant" as her predecessor, or else let the National Assembly and the Presidency run the day-to-day operations of Lemovicia. However, Osoteguj chose to take the latter, stating at a party conference in 2011 that "the party should not influence the day-to-day politics: it is time to let the people grow, to make their own decisions, and to let our country blossom."

Thus, under her tenure, the influence of the party has declined: although she was elected to the Presidency in 2012 and in 2016, she has largely refrained from using the powers of the party and the presidency to improve the party's position in Lemovician society. Consequently, membership declined from 53,697 people in 2010 to 48,781 people by 2015, with some in the party beginning to advocate for her removal from her position as First Secretary. However, at the Seventh Party Congress, she was allowed to keep her position as First Secretary.

In her second term as First Secretary, Osoteguj began promoting the party to younger people, especially to those who were "passionate about politics and our future," although she continued the "separation of party and state." To this end, Andremancija Osoteguj instituted policies to encourage "those who are not as loyal to the ideology" to leave the party and run as independents, with Osoteguj saying in 2017 that "we should not tolerate people who are only in this party because they think this is their way to the top: we need to encourage those people to go through the top as independents, on their own merits, not just because they're part of us." By the end of her second term, the Lemovician Section of the Workers' International, although still active and functional, has played a significantly smaller role in Lemovician society than it had under both Nikolas Lezana and Ociote Sasiambarena, with the government being more free to institute policies and to shape the party, as opposed to vice-versa.

At the Eighth Party Congress in 2020, Andremancija Osoteguj was confirmed once again to be the First Secretary, although due to the constitutional term limits, she is ineligible to run for the Presidency for a third term.

Ideology

The Lemovician Section of the Workers' International officially espouses council communism, with the Lemovician Section in particular being aligned with the East Miersan variety.

Politically, while the Lemovician Section of the Workers' International has sought to adopt a council-based model of decision making for the party, and for lower levels of government, Nikola Lezana felt that it was important for there to be direct elections to "the whole of the Lemovician legislature," arguing that due to the West Miersan National Assembly having appointed seats, it would "inevitably lead to a loss of accountability, and lead to an erosion of our values." However, the Lemovician Section of the Workers' International has stated over the years that "multi-party democracy is an illusion perpetuated by the bourgeoisie, who through it, can divide and conquer the proletariat," and instead supports a non-partisan democracy, where no parties exist, although it vows to only do this "when all Lemovicia is free from colonial rule."

Economically, the Lemovician Section of the Workers' International has supported workers' self-management, with Ociote Sasiambarena arguing that "the workers should be the ones who run their own businesses, for they have contributed the most labour to the business." Although the party has exempted family-owned businesses from this requirement, there are some factions in the party who seek to liberalise the economy even further. As well, in recent decades, they have embraced sustainable development, believing that this would help ensure Lemovicia would rise to standards of living similar to their socialist neighbours.

In terms of foreign policy, it has condemned both Samorspi and the Euclean Community as being puppets of the bourgeoisie, who have "perpetuated colonialism and imperialism across the world, and have fought to prevent newly-independent countries from exercising their true freedoms." It has supported the Alliance for International Socialism, and has urged the party to "follow the recent developments of socialism, and apply them to our own national conditions."

Organization

The Lemovician Section of the Workers' International operates under the principles of council democracy. Thus, each lower body elects the next-highest body.

The lowest council are the district councils (Lemovician: auzo udalecieja), who are elected directly by party members living in a specific district, usually between 1,000 and 2,000 people. They elect members of the municipal councils (hiria udalecieja), who are responsible for an area with a population of between 2,000 and 20,000 people, although larger municipalities (Topagunea, Zubizurija, Bailaŕa, and Goikoecija Beŕija) will have municipal councils responsible for larger than that. Municipal councils will elect a regional council (eskualdek udalecieja), which comprise of between 3 and 12 municipal councils, depending on area, population, and influence of a particular municipality. Regional councils elect a provincial council (probincako udalecieja), who oversee the affairs of lower units, who elect delegates to the party congress (alderdiaren kongresua), which is held every five years, and a party conference (alderdiaren konferencija), where one delegate from each province is selected at random to receive updates from lower levels, and give proposals to be ratified at the next congress.

Each council member is responsible to those who elected them, and may be recalled or dismissed at any time, for any reason, thus effectively making the organizational structure of the Lemovician Section of the Workers' International operate under the delegate model of representation. This includes the First Secretary, who is elected by the party congress, and serves as the head of the party.

The youth wing of the Lemovician Section of the Workers' International are the Bikendi Socialist Patriots, with membership being between the ages of 14 and 24.

Results

National Assembly

Election	Seats	+/-	Position
1980	109 / 110	new	Government
1992	107 / 110	2	Government
1996	101 / 110	6	Government
2000	94 / 110	7	Government
2004	84 / 110	10	Government
2008	75 / 110	9	Government
2012	69 / 110	6	Government
2016	65 / 110	4	Government
2020	61 / 110	8	Government