Sotirian Labour Party (Imagua)
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Sotirian Labour Party of Imagua and the Assimas Partito laburista sotiriano di Imagua e Assime | |
|---|---|
| File:ImaguaSDLP.png | |
| Chairman | Cassius Armstrong |
| Parliamentary Leader | Ed Tagawa |
| Founded | 1997 |
| Merger of | National Labour Party Sotirian Democratic Party |
| Headquarters | Cuanstad, Imagua and the Assimas |
| Student wing | National Party Students Association |
| Youth wing | Young Nationals |
| Ideology | Conservatism |
| Political position | Centre-right |
| Colors | Gold |
| Anthem | The Land |
| Legislative Council | 6 / 19
|
| House of Commons | 25 / 70
|
| County Council | 100 / 261
|
| Website | |
| sdl.org.ia | |
The Sotirian Labour Party of Imagua and the Assimas (Vespasian: Partito laburista sotiriano di Imagua e Assime, Western Imaguan Creole: Sotila Abetipati) is a centre-right political party in Imagua and the Assimas, forming one of the two main political parties in the country, with the other being the Democratic Labour Party.
Established in 1997 following the merger of the National Labour Party with the Sotirian Democratic Party, the Sotirian Labour Party became the primary centre-right party in the country.
The Sotirian Labour Party would go on to win the 2000 general elections, taking control of both the House of Commons and the Presidency from the Democratic Labour Party, which they would maintain until their defeat in the 2016 elections.
History
Origins
The Sotirian Labour Party is comprised of a merger of the National Labour Party, and the Sotirian Democratic Party.
The Sotirian Democratic Party was the oldest political party in Imagua and the Assimas, being established in 1892. While historically forming government for 44 of the 68 years between the granting of self-government to the Colony of Imagua in 1892 until 1960, as the dominance of Eucleo-Imaguans waned, so too did the Sotirian Democratic Party.
The National Labour Party was established in 1978, following a split in the Democratic Labour Party led by Travis Marshall, who perceived Pietro Muro's leadership as being too radical. Quickly establishing itself as a centre-right party, the National Labour Party supplanted the Sotirian Democratic Party as the main opposition party by 1984.
By the early 1990s, the National Labour Party had eclipsed the Sotirian Democratic Party in relevance, with the latter losing all its seats in the 1992 general election. After a last-ditch effort in March 1996 by the Sotirian Democratic Party to wage their own campaign, which did not get them any seats, the Sotirian Democratic Party leadership began negotiations with the National Labour Party to merge into a single political party, in order to end "four decades of socialist rule" over Imagua.
Over the next several months, the two parties hashed out the details of the merger: while Formica declined a leadership role in the merged party, he wanted to ensure that "the strongest SDP associations" in the 1996 elections would be able to field candidates for the Sotirian Labour Party in the upcoming general elections. After negotiations, it was agreed that five NLP associations will merge into their SDP counterparts whereas the rest of the SDP constituency associations would merge into their NLP counterparts. They also sought to establish a name: while Erico D'Antonio sought to name it the Sotirian National Party, Erbeto Formica sought to name it the Sotirian Labour Party. After heated debates, it was decided to go with Formica's suggestion, in order to reflect their histories.
By January 1997, the agreement was finalised, and on 7 March, 1997, a vast majority of both the NLP and SDP membership voted in favour of the merger. The new party was registered to Elections Imagua on 10 March, while the old SDP and NLP committees deregistered the two parties, with a request that the assets of both be transferred to the Sotirian Labour Party. This request was accepted on 2 April, and on that date, the Sotirian Labour Party officially began operations, with all NLP MPs becoming Sotirian Labour Party MPs.
Early years
From the start, the Sotirian Labour Party became the Official Opposition in the House of Commons, and many predicted that it would form the next government as by uniting the right under Erico D'Antonio's leadership, the opposition to the governing Democratic Labour Party would be able to coalesce around a single party, as opposed to being split between two parties as was the case in the 1980s and early 1990s.
As Gerald Larsson and the DLP became unpopular, the Sotirian Labour Party became a popular alternative, and in 1999, a leadership convention saw D'Antonio be selected to be the party nominee for the Imaguan presidency, while Agnes Ingram was selected to become the Sotirian Labour Party candidate for Prime Minister. (TBC)
Election results
Results are compared from the 1996 election results of the National Labour Party.
| Election | Leader | Candidates | Seats | +/- | Votes | % | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Agnes Ingram | 67/67 | 45 / 67
|
 17
|
472,295 | 55.90% | Majority government |
| 2004 | 68/68 | 39 / 68
|
 6
|
379,330 | 53.30% | Majority government | |
| 2008 | Saverio Merante | 68/68 | 37 / 68
|
2
|
349,935 | 51.40% | Majority government |
| 2012 | 70/70 | 37 / 70
|
|
336,515 | 49.60% | Majority government | |
| 2016 | Dennis Egnell | 70/70 | 28 / 70
|
9
|
234,708 | 31.84% | Official Opposition |
| 2020 | Giocondo Stasio | 70/70 | 25 / 70
|
3
|
327,911 | 36.26% | Official Opposition |