Cerwyn and Jens-Galieri to launch new party after talks

Apollo Cerwyn

Following a grand congress held by Left Alliance members jointly with members of the Socialist Caucus – a dissident faction of the National Artists’ Guild led by MP Snø Jens-Galieri, the leaders of the two groups – Jens-Galieri and Left Alliance leader Apollo Cerwyn – announced the creation of a new leftist party, which will include the Socialist Caucus. Details on the new party’s organization are yet to be released, but sources close to the Left’s leadership confided to the Phonograph that it will be known as lošaginñaki, the Citizens’ Party.

The development comes after months of inner turmoil within the National Artists’ Guild, once Sabia and Verona’s largest party. Founded in 2015 by members of the Left Alliance and the now defunct Convergence and Amity party, the Artists’ Guild was the ruling party of the Kingdom for two administrations – both led by former PM Shounn Virny. Now, the party finds itself in shambles, partly due to Virny’s involvement in a series of controversies.

A potential merger between the Left Alliance and the Guild has remained a hot topic in Sabioveronese politics for months now, and last week, the Guild’s crisis resulted in the separation of a dissident Artist group informally known  as the “Socialist Caucus”. The caucus, led by career politician and MP Snø Jens-Galieri, started talks with the Alliance almost immediately after announcing their separation from the Guild. The ongoing corruption investigation on Jens-Galieri did not deter Leftist leader Apollo Cerwyn from organizing a party congress, in which the members of the caucus were invited to discuss a potential merger.

Though not an official marriage between the Alliance and the Guild, the creation of the new party may as well be the consolidation of a leftist superfront: it is estimated around 40% of the Guild‘s affiliated members, including prominent politicians and even incumbent officials, broke off from the party to join Jens-Galieri’s caucus. Those who remain in the Guild are mostly Virny supporters who are estimated to perform poorly in next year’s election, continuing the Artists’ trend of dwindling numbers.

The not-quite-hypothetical Citizens’ Party would have 7 MPs in Parliament, which would allow it to put even more pressure on Prime Minister Dargany’s Liberals as an opposition. Should the new party be created, it would mark the end of a good run for the Left Alliance: the party was in power twice (thrice, counting Virny’s first government in which the Alliance was part of a formal pact with the Guild known as the Treaty of Kotavari) during its four-year existence. One of Sabia and Verona’s oldest parties, the Alliance was originally founded as a merger between various leftist parties in the aftermath of the federalization of Juclandia.

An official announcement from the new party’s leadership is expected to be made in the coming days, alongside another congress in which the statutory code, platform and organization are expected to be decided upon by all party members, following the Left Alliance’s tradition of direct democracy.