Leader of the Opposition (Sabia and Verona)
Leader of the Opposition | |
---|---|
Appointer | None |
Term length | No fixed term While leader of the largest party not in government. |
Inaugural holder | Graham Müntz |
Formation | 1 January 2013 (informally) |
The Leader of the Opposition (Sabian: axenagikurág) is an unofficial, mostly conventional and honorary title traditionally held by the leader of the largest party in the Parliament of Sabia and Verona (the atanói) not within the government. They are usually the person who is expected to lead that party into the next general election. Since 2017, the Leader of the Opposition has typically led a "shadow government" (axenagikuragi; lit. "opposition government").
Since 30 June 2019, in the period corresponding to the Fifth and Sixth Parliaments, the Leader of the Opposition has been Shounn Virny, leader of the Liberal Party (J). The importance of the Leader of the Opposition's role in parliamentary workings has increased in recent years due to the concentration of political parties in Sabia and Verona post-Haronos Plan.
History
Not specifically provided legally, the workings of the post are mostly based on custom, protocol and convention. There are no legal documents in Sabia and Verona describing or even mentioning the position, but it has been informally recognized by the entire political system in every legislature since the Third Courts, elected in May 2013. The first Leader of the Opposition was Graham Müntz, the leader of the Unity Party. When Müntz left the Courts after the September 2013 election, the position was taken over by Noa Dargany, who was not leader of Unity but assumed the position in the Courts due to seniority. Dargany was Leader of the Opposition during the third and fourth Courts, during which Unity was the sole opposition party.
Following the victory of Unity in the September 2014 election, the position was taken by Étienne Boulin, speaker of Convergence and Amity, the largest party in opposition to the government of Bertrand Rivière. Boulin was in the post until 12 July 2015, when the Courts were dissolved in an anticonstitutional move by Rivière.
The position has been increasingly important since the adoption of the Constitutions of 2015 and 2017. The post-Haronos political systm of Sabia and Verona has produced an essential two-party system in which the Leader of the Opposition (and the opposition in general) have become important as counterpart to the government. During the first and second Parliaments, Andrew Blackhorse (leader of Unity and later, the Liberals) was Leader of the Opposition. Shounn Virny, of the Liberal Party has been LoO since the fifth Parliament.
List of Leaders of the Opposition
Portrait | Name | Term of office | Party | Opposition to government |
Legislature | Prime Minister (term) | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Graham Müntz MC for Abrelia–West |
1 June 2013 |
1 October 2013 |
Unity | Bleuberrie II | 3rd Courts | Bleuberrie (2013) | |||
Noa Dargany MC for Salisse & Salisse III |
1 October 2013 |
1 October 2014 |
Unity | Stefanović | 4th Courts | Stefanović (2013–14) | |||
Galieri | 5th Courts | Galieri (2014) | |||||||
Étienne Boulin MC for Salisse II |
1 October 2014 |
12 July 2015 |
Convergence | Rivière | 5th Courts | Rivière (2014–15) | |||
Andrew Blackhorse MP for Sejê-Kepren & the Alios List |
1 October 2015 |
22 May 2017 |
Unity — Liberals |
Virny I | 1st Parliament | Virny (2015–17) | |||
Virny II | 2nd Parliament | ||||||||
Apollo Cerwyn MP for the Alios List |
22 May 2017 |
3 June 2019 |
Left — Democrat |
Dargany I | 3rd Parliament | Dargany (2017–18) | |||
Dargany II | 4th Parliament | ||||||||
Blackhorse | Blackhorse (2018–19) | ||||||||
Shassel Marlaryen MP for the Gonn List |
3 June 2019 |
30 June 2019 |
Liberals | Cerwyn I | 5th Parliament | Cerwyn (since 2019) | |||
Shounn Virny MP for the Gonn List |
30 June 2019 |
Incumbent | Liberals | ||||||
Cerwyn II | 6th Parliament |