Miersan Section of the Workers' International (Continuation)
Miersan Section of the Workers' International (Continuation) Mierskiej Sekcji Międzynarodówki Robotniczej | |
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| Abbreviation | MSMR |
| First Secretary | Karol Babiarz |
| Founded | October 21, 1967 |
| Banned | October 30, 1967 |
| Preceded by | Miersan Section of the Workers' International |
| Membership (2020) | c. 750 |
| Ideology | Council socialism Socialism with Miersan characteristics Personal national autonomy |
| Political position | Far-left |
| Colours | Red |
| Slogan | "Przerwij Łańcuchy!" "Break the Chains!" |
| Anthem | La Sobrosienne "The Zobrodzian"  |
The Miersan Section of the Workers' International (Continuation) (Miersan: Mierskiej Sekcji Międzynarodówki Robotniczej) is a West Miersan political party formed from the western sections of the Miersan Section of the Workers' International who objected to its dissolution at the 66th party conference in 1967.
While initially somewhat thriving under Benedykt Mizerak's leadership from 1967 until 1979, tensions between the Malomiersan branch of the party and the main party over the future status of Lemovicia led to the formation of the Lemovician Section of the Workers' International in 1975, which led to a significant decrease in party membership, while the abortive Podgórzyca uprising at the start of the Miersan War fatally weakened the party.
Since the end of the Miersan War, the Miersan Section of the Workers' International (Continuation) has become irrelevant in West Miersan politics, especially as it continues to be heavily repressed by the West Miersan government, which has hindered the party's activities in West Miersa.
History
With the dissolution of the Miersan Section of the Workers' International at the 66th party conference in 1967, West Miersan cells and members objected to the dissolution of the party, arguing that as all of Miersa was not under socialist rule, to dissolve the Miersan Section of the Workers' International "was premature and defeatist." The local cells issued a statement on 22 October, 1967, that the dissolution was "illegitimate and illegal" under party rules, alleging that the reformists abused their powers to vet "West Miersan spies who sought to undermine the East Miersan system," and declared the continuation of the Miersan Section of the Workers' International.
This declaration alarmed the West Miersan government, and on 30 October, 1967, the West Miersan government banned the continuation faction from "engaging in any political activity" in the Miersan Sotirian Republic. This effectively forced the party to operate underground, as they were not allowed to operate legally. At the 67th party conference in 1968 in Sechia, they named Benedykt Mizerak as their First Secretary, due to him being the most senior member of the western cells. They also affirmed the illegality of the dissolution at the 67th conference, alleging it did not follow the proper procedure.
Under Benedykt Mizerak's watch, the party swelled, particularly in the Malomiersan branch, which saw many Lemovician activists join the party. By the early 1970s, tensions began to emerge between Benedykt Mizerak and Nikolas Lysiak, particularly over whether Lemovicia should be an ASSR under a reunified Miersa, or a separate state from Miersa. This came to a head at the 74th party conference in 1975, when Lysiak and his protege, Ociote Ferko split from the Miersan Section of the Workers' International (Continuation), and established the Lemovician Section of the Workers' International, taking most of the Malomiersan branch from the party.
In 1979, with the outbreak of the Miersan War, the Miersan Section of the Workers' International (Continuation) under Mizerak attempted to launch an uprising in the northwestern city of Podgórzyca. However, this was met with opposition from the locals, the Miersan National Armed Forces, and the advancing People's Protection Forces, contributing to the uprising being crushed, and Mizerak being summarily executed. For the rest of the Miersan War, the Miersan Section of the Workers' International played a negligible role in the war, with the East Miersan forces refusing to cooperate with them. Most of its members fled to East Miersa at the end of the war, leaving only a small "dedicated core" of members remaining.
At the 82nd party conference in 1983, Ireneusz Kraszewski, who had been acting First Secretary since Mizerak's execution, was appointed permanent First Secretary. Ireneusz Kraszewski oversaw the party's continued decline, partially due to the increasing persecution of the Miersan Section of the Workers' International (Continuation) by the West Miersan government, and partially due to its marginalisation from the international left-wing movement. Kraszewski himself was arrested at the 86th party conference in 1987, along with many other high-ranking members.
While Ireneusz Kraszewski would officially continue to serve as First Secretary until 1995, Dagmara Bloniarz became the de-facto First Secretary. Under her watch, party membership stabilised at "around 700-800 members" by 1994, and Bloniarz was thus able to succeed Kraszewski at the 94th party conference in 1995 as permanent First Secretary. She would serve in this role until 2011, when she retired due to her declining health.
Karol Babiarz would succeed Dagmara Bloniarz at the 110th party conference in 2011, and under his tenure has "maintained the party in a somewhat hibernatory state," with many institutions associated with the party being wound down, including the party newspaper, TBD, and the youth wing. This has led to speculation as to the continued viability of the MSMR-C, although Babiarz has defended the party's viability, vowing that "when the west ceases their repression, the MSMR will re-emerge and be ready to liberate the western [Miersan] proletariat" under the MSMR-C's guidance.
Ideology
The ideology of the Miersan Section of the Workers' International (Continuation) has largely been similar to that of the Miersan Section of the Workers' International as it stood prior to the Rose Revolution, with "relatively few updates" to its platform to reflect "the changing realities" in both East Miersa and West Miersa.
Virtually all political scientists have placed it under the far-left classification, due to the fact that most moderate leftists within the Miersan Section of the Workers' International did not join the continuation faction, while moderate leftists in West Miersa were unwilling to risk further persecution by the West Miersan government.
Organisation
Due to its claims as being the successor to the Miersan Section of the Workers' International, the organisational structure of the Miersan Section of the Workers' International (Continuation) is similar to that of the original Miersan Section of the Workers' International.
However, since the 1980s, the organisational structure has become more and more simplified, to reflect the reduction of party membership to only around 700-800 people. This has led to many organisations that were previously affiliated with the party to reduce operations, with many of them ceasing to function altogether, most notably in the 2010s, with the closure of the party newspaper, TBD, and the youth wing, which in 2013 only had five individuals aged 15-30, and was consolidated into the "main party membership."