Democratic Labour Party (Imagua)

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Democratic Labour Party of Imagua and the Assimas
ChairmanEdmondo Privitera
Parliamentary LeaderDouglas Egnell
Founded1948
Merger ofDemocratic Party
Labour Party
HeadquartersCuanstad, Imagua and the Assimas
Student wingLabourers of the Intelligentsia
Youth wingYoung Labourers
IdeologySocial democracy
Political positionCentre-left
Colors  Crimson
AnthemBella ciao
Legislative Council
12 / 19
House of Commons
31 / 70
County Councils
78 / 261
Website
dlp.org.ia

The Democratic Labour Party of Imagua and the Assimas (Vespasian: Partito Democratico del Lavoro di Imagua e Assime, Western Imaguan Creole: Demokati Abetipati) is one of the two major political parties of Imagua and the Assimas, the other being the Sotirian Labour Party.

Founded in 1948 following the merger of the Labour Party and the Democratic Party, the party quickly became a major party in Imaguan politics, governing from 1952 to 1956, and then from 1960 onwards. While initially being part of a two-party system with the Sotirian Democrats, after an internal divide led to the formation of the National Labour Party in 1978, the NLP quickly displaced the SDP as being the primary opposition party.

After the SDP and NLP merged in 1997 to form the Sotirian Labour Party, the DLP lost power in 2000, and only would return to power in the 2016 general elections. Since then, it has held the Presidency, as well as control of the Lesser House of Parliament.

History

Establishment

Since the 1944 general election, members of both the Democratic and Labour parties advocated for a merger of the two parties, in order to stand a chance against the dominant Sotirian Democratic Party. This was supported by Wilbur Smith and new party leader Herschel Ahern, but was opposed by the Democratic leadership.

However, in 1947, the Democratic membership ousted Abraham Halfacre, who was opposed to the proposed merger with the Labour Party, and was replaced by Herschel Ahern. Unlike Halfacre, Ahern was more receptive of the merger, as he was part of the social liberal wing of the party. Thus, in December 1947, a joint party congress was held where the two parties agreed to merge. The party was registered with Elections Imagua the day prior to the start of the 1948 election campaign.

Wilbur Smith was nominated to be the presidential candidate, while Ahern was nominated to be the Prime Ministerial candidate in the 1948 election. With the recent unification of Imagua and the Assimas Islands into one country, the Democratic Labour Party was expected to win much of the seats in the Assimas, as the inhabitants were traditionally left-leaning prior to the Legionary Reaction.

The 1948 elections saw a marked improvement in the combined party's fortunes, with the Democratic Labour Party securing 24 of the 66 seats, suggesting that this strategy had paid off massively for the party. However, it failed to form government, leading some right-wingers within the Democratic Labour Party to question whether the "united front against the Sotirian Democratic Party" was a viable strategy. However, the party largely held on, and in the 1952 elections, the Democratic Labour Party were able to capitalise on the unpopularity of Frederick Maynard's government to secure control of government, winning 34 seats, with Sotty Haloranov becoming the first woman to be Prime Minister in Imaguan history, and only the second Prime Minister from either the DLP or the SDCP.

Haloranov's tenure as Prime Minister was marked by efforts to establish pan-national institutions to bridge the language divide between the Estmerish Imagua and the Vespasian Assimas, such as the Imaguan Television Service and the Imaguan Maritime Service, ensuring that workers would be protected, and creating the foundations for the later welfare state that would blossom under the governments of Efrem Lacovara and Eric Fleming.

However, in the 1956 elections, Haloranov would lose to Martin Ellingham, while Walter Redmond Keswick, the incumbent SDP president was succeeded by Venanzio Mazzone, with the DLP falling to 29 seats. Haloranov resigned as parliamentary leader in 1956, and was succeeded by Efrem Lacovara.

Fleming and Lacovara era

File:DLP logo 1970s.png
Logo of the Democratic Labour Party from 1967 to 1991

Neoliberal era

Return to opposition

Revitalisation

Positions

Economically, the Democratic Labour Party supports increased regulations on industries, in order to "ensure the safety and well-being of the Imaguan people," while ensuring that capitalism can continue to operate freely.

Socially, the Democratic Labour Party are more liberal than the Nationals, supporting increased LGBT rights and supporting on-demand abortions. They are also more supportive of the environmentalist movement. However, the Democratic Labour Party is opposed to increasing immigration, as they believe that immigration would only benefit the rich and harm local Imaguans.

Election results

The results are compared to the Democratic and Labour Parties from 1944.

Election Leader Candidates Seats +/- Votes % Position
1948 Herschel Ahern 66/66
24 / 66
Increase 16 218,027 39.77% Official Opposition
1952 Sotty Haloranov 63/63
34 / 63
Increase 10 259,714 50.03% Majority government
1956 63/63
29 / 63
Decrease 7 217,312 39.55% Official Opposition
1960 Efrem Lacovara 63/63
38 / 63
Increase 9 345,784 51.90% Majority government
1964 65/65
41 / 65
Increase 3 316,872 48.22% Majority government
1968 Eric Fleming 65/65
35 / 65
Decrease 6 327,658 50.27% Majority government
1972 67/67
41 / 67
Increase 6 357,890 56.59% Majority government
1976 Pietro Muro 67/67
47 / 67
Increase 6 368,091 58.30% Majority government
1980 67/67
44 / 67
Decrease 3 281,066 41.55% Majority government
1981 Marguerite Ernman 67/67
45 / 67
Increase 1 328,568 49.70% Majority government
1984 Edmondo Privitera 64/64
43 / 64
Decrease 2 288,478 51.07% Majority government
1988 64/64
38 / 64
Decrease 5 286,019 49.10% Majority government
1992 Gerald Larsson 67/67
37 / 67
Decrease 1 281,364 45.41% Majority government
1996 67/67
39 / 67
Increase 2 272,442 40.20% Majority government
2000 Ladislao Colacino 67/67
22 / 67
Decrease 17 272,055 32.20% Official Opposition
2004 Pete Tasuku 68/68
29 / 68
Increase 7 293,175 41.19% Official Opposition
2008 Agostina Di Bari 68/68
31 / 68
Increase 2 273,918 40.23% Official Opposition
2012 70/70
32 / 70
Increase 1 248,553 36.64% Official Opposition
2016 Douglas Egnell 70/70
36 / 70
Increase 4 333,227 44.70% Majority government
2020 70/70
32 / 70
Decrease 4 338,210 37.40% Minority government