Weranian Section of the Workers' International
Weranic Section of the Workers' International Ostisch Sektion der Arbeiter Internationale | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | OSAI |
| First Secretary | Peter Lötzsch |
| Deputy Chairperson | tba |
| Parliamentary leader | Peter Lötzsch |
| Founded | 2 February 1901 |
| Preceded by | Weranian Socialist Party Weranian Socialist Workers' Party |
| Headquarters | Westbrucken |
| Youth wing | Weranic Socialist Youth Movement |
| Membership | 500,000 (claimed supporters) |
| Ideology | Libertarian socialism Council socialism Democratic socialism Anti-capitalism Left-wing populism Republicanism Communism |
| Political position | Left-wing to far-left |
| European affiliation | Mixed Radical Left |
| Colours | Red |
| Anthem | Die Rote Fahne The Red Flag  |
| Volkstag | 22 / 545
|
| Herrstag | 5 / 232
|
| Landtage | 88 / 1,151
|
| Euclean Parliament | 6 / 122
|
The Weranic Section of the Workers' International (Weranic: Ostisch Sektion der Arbeiter Internationale) abbreviated and commonly known as the OSAI is a socialist political party in Werania. The oldest political party in Werania form its creation in 1894 to the 1980's it was the dominant left-wing political party in the country and one of the most important parties in the country's political history.
The OSAI was founded as a merger between the more radical Weranian Socialist Party and the more reformist Weranian Socialist Workers' Party during the International in 1901, becoming a unified party of the Weranian socialist party. It emerged as the primary opposition to the conservative-liberal duopoly in that period, competing with the Catholic Social Party following the institution of universal male suffrage. Following the Great Collapse the OSAI agreed to cooperate with the centre-left Radical Party in the 1918 elections, leading to a split-off by the Weranic Syndicalist Union to occur. The OSAI would form its own paramilitary group, the Volksschutzfront, due to increasing clashes between their supporters and the OSU's Revolutionäre Kampfgruppen and the conservative's Soldaten des Reichsbanners.
In 1918 the OSAI became the largest party in the Volkstag and led government under the charismatic leadership of Albrecht Küchenthal who formed a government with the Radicals. Küchenthal's assassination in 1918 saw the unity between socialists, social democrats, communists and syndicalists weaken under his more reformist-moderate successor Gustav Kroetz. The April Revolution in Kirenia saw the party split between the majority who supported the revolution and the minority around Kroetz who were more lukewarm in their support. Kroetz subsequently formed a coalition with the conservatives alongside his supporters who would form the Social Democratic Party of Werania (SPO). The split permanently divided the socialist movement in Werania between more statist, social-democratic moderates in the SPO and the more syndicalist, socialist radicals in the OSAI.
The OSAI would maintain its place as the largest political party throughout the 1920's although it was subject to a cordon sanitaire by the political centre and right. During the Great War the majority of the OSAI would support the government (the vereinigung der landsleut) with the internal pacifist wing opposed to the "bourgeois war". Although the party hoped to play a role in the post-war reconstruction the right continued the cordon sanitaire through the perpetuation of the so-called "National Bloc" governments which increasingly tended towards the far-right.
The OSAI was united in opposition to the colonial wars in Masari during the 1940's and the later Kirenian-Weranian War. The defeat to Kirenia led to the OSAI to alongside the SPO and the KSP agree to the creation of the tripartite governments, an alliance of socialists, social-democratic reformists and Sotirian democrats. Although the OSAI was the largest party in the coalition it was led by a social democrat, Viktor Beer-Hofmann. The tripartite governments would see Werania reorient into a pro-Euclean direction and lay the foundations of the Weranian welfare state. The OSAI however left government in 1955 when the KSP withdrew from the coalition forming a government with other conservatives.
The formation of a unified right-wing party - the National Consolidation Party (NKP) - in 1957 would lead to the OSAI to lose its place as Werania's largest political party, although it would continue to dominate the left-wing through its alliance to the largest trade union federation, the General Federation of Weranian Workers' (ABOA). The OSAI would begin to be eclipsed on the left by the formation of the Social Democratic Radical Party of Werania who would become the opposition in 1980. In 1984 the SRPO and OSAI formed a coalition government under Ludolf Ostermann which implemented radical left-wing policies including nationalisation of industry and a move towards a "socialist society". However in 1987 Ostermann made a radical u-turn towards a more neoliberal, austerity-focused approach due to pressure from the Euclean Community. The OSAI was split between those who supported the Ostermann government and joined the SRPO and those who continued to support left-wing policies - notably the majority of the Ruttish section of the party defected to the SRPO leading to the OSAI to lose most of its support at the 1988 election.
As a result of the loss of support the OSAI began a move to the centre, jettisoning some of its most radical policies and attempting to present a more democratic socialist profile. In 1996 the OSAI entered a coalition with the SRPO and Modern Centre Party (PMZ) but withdrew from the coalition in 1998 following the appointment of Zigmas Šilingas as Chancellor. The OSAI would continue to decline to the status as a minor party during the 2000's, briefly becoming the third largest party following the 2005 financial crisis before again declining after 2011. The OSAI supported the SRPO-PMZ government from 2015-2019 but fell to its lowest seat share since its creation in the 2019 federal election.
The OSAI support the creation of a society based on socialism, internationalism and pacifism through the creation of a Weranian Räterepublik. The OSAI continue to be mainly supported by industrial workers', students and intellectuals continuing to be associated with the ABOA trade union federation.