Conservative Party (Themiclesia)
Conservative Party 守成黨 (sn′ju′-djeng-dang′) | |
|---|---|
 Logo adopted in 1967 | |
| Abbreviation | TCP ("The Conservative Party") |
| Founded | 1857 |
| Split from | Grand Alliance (1835 – 1857) |
| Preceded by | Fiscal conservatives (1797 – 1835) |
| Newspaper | Demesne Post (縣報, gwênh-kwal-puh) |
| Student wing | Alliance of Socialist Students |
| Youth wing | Guardians Society |
| Women's wing | Association of Conservative Women |
| Ideology | democratic socialism paternalistic conservatism classical conservativsm (pre-1850) |
| Political position | Centre-left |
| International affiliation | Progressive Alliance |
| Slogan | For What We Care |
| Commons | 72 / 212
|
| Lords | 129 / 231
|
The Conservative Party is a left-wing political party in Themiclesia active on the national level. The party was founded formally in the mid-1800s as a reaction against the tightly-organized and dominant Liberal Party. It historically consisted of several factions united less for ideological harmony than political convenience, but since the early 1900s they have settled into its current political position as the primary left-wing party in Themiclesia.
History
Fiscal conservatives (1795 – 1849)
Alliance (1849 – 1858)
Old conservatism (1858 – 1870)
New conservatism (1870 – 1900)
Unifying the left (1900 – 1947)
Post-war hybrid government (1947 – 1953)
Opposition (1953 – 1962)
"True socialism" (1962 – 1964)
Opposition (1964 – 1971)
Lords ministry (1971 – 1972)
In 1971, the Conservatives were returned to Parliament with a plurality of seats, hoping to form a minority government under party leader Kop Ben. The election results were announced on July 10, the incumbent Liberal ministry announcing its resignation on the 22nd. However, Kop suffered a stroke on the 17th and died, leaving the leadership of an internally-divided Conservative Party to his lieutenant, the Lord of Srong-sngrjal (雙山侯), who was earmarked to be deputy prime minister and foreign secretary. While he was not a controversial choice for a foreign secretary, the Liberal Party soon attacked the idea of his becoming head of government, saying that a member of the unelected upper house should not lead it. They claimed the practice stopped since 1922and should be regarded as constitutional. The Conservative Party's spokesperson replied that ministers only needed to be responsible to either house of the legislature, and there was no legal reason to distinguish the prime minister from other ministers. Rumours surfaced that the Liberal government may refuse to resign to block Srong-sngrjal's appointment, but it did resign as it declared, on the 22nd. Srong-sngrjal was appointed prime minister on the 23rd.
The ministry led by the Lord of Srong-sngrjal was plagued not only by internal division, having to survive three looming backbencher revolts within the space of six months, but also the attack from the Liberal and Progressive opposition. The Lord of Srong-sngrjal sat in the House of Lords when it was in session and in the Commons galleries when important debates were taking place. Politics on the Commons' floor was largely controlled by Kah Pin-ngjon, who was a divisive figure that also served as finance secretary under Srong-sngrjal. The Progressives took virulent exception to the prime minister's absence from the Commons and focused their polemics on this fact, constantly heckling they would have the prime minister answering questions there and would not deal with "lower ministers". Kah announced, with Srong-sngrjal's approval, that he would speak for the prime minister in the chamber. The Progressive leader in the chamber questioned Kah why would he not take over the Party, if he could stand in for the prime minister in the chamber "of consequence". Kah refused to answer what he called a "smear". Despite this, Kah was gradually alienated Srong-sngrjal, and the latter suspected the former of higher ambitions. After a dispute in November 1971, Kah was dismissed from the ministry without warning and replaced with Edward Gwjang, foreign secretary. The Progressives capitalized on Kah's dismissal, changing their position to portray Kah as a victim of manipulation from the unelected house.
By February 1972, the opposition had successfully run a publicity campaign questioning Srong-sngrjal's legitimacy, since he was neither elected nor expected to become the head of government. His lack of performance, largely due to his separation from the Commons chamber, had also become quite thorny for his supporters. In view of this, Srong-sngrjal called a general election for June 20, 1972, in an attempt to demonstrate the legitimacy of his government. He proclaimed to the House of Lords in April 1972 that if his government was re-elected, he would consider "all questions regarding the legitimacy of the present ministry absolutely quashed". He was questioned in the Lords whether a resulting majority or minority would at all affect his judgment. Srong-sngrjal replied that he believed a majority was the more welcome, but even a minority would make him "feel empowered to remain in office". Constitutional scholars debated whether Srong-sngrjal would set a precedent: a prime minister who was not an MP must call a general election to confirm his legitimacy. This problem hardly mattered at the end: after he dissolved parliament on May 2, the election saw landslide victory for the Progressive Party and the reduction of the Conservatives from 125 seats to 51 seats. The Lord of Srong-sngrjal resigned the night results were announced, conceding to the Party that he had "completely failed to fulfil the public demand for progress and distaste for constitutional disputes". His foreign secretary, Gwjang, formed a brief caretaker ministry until the Progressive takeover on June 29.