Sorrenian Workers Party

Sorrenian Workers Party
Leader	Rilgar Ompastre
Founded	16/06/14
Preceded by	Socialist Party
Succeeded by	Republican Party
Headquarters	Bowburn
Newspaper	'People's Pravda'
Ideology	• Socialism  • Civic nationalism  • Celticism  • Militarism Internal factions  • Marxism  • Democratic socialism
National affiliation	People's Coalition
International affiliation	Party of the International Left
Colours	Red
National Assembly	8 / 15
Executive Assembly	4 / 9
Country	Sorrenia
Website
People's Pravda Party of the International Left

The Sorrenian Workers Party was a left-wing political party in Sorrenia. From its inception, the SWP was very succesfull electorally, almost always winning a majority of seats in the National Assembly, Sorrenia's unicameral legislature. The party began as an offshoot of the Socialist Party which it eventually absorbed. Despite normally holding a majority of seats in the National Assembly, the SWP often chose to enter into coalition government with the centre-left New Democratic-Liberty Party and the far-left Communist Party, an arrangement known as the 'People's Coalition'. Later, the SWP and Communist Party merged to form the Unified Sorrenian Workers Party.

The SWP defined itself as a Marxist party, however the SWP's ideology was often prone to change, and focused more on micronational issues specific to Sorrenia than macronational ideologies. The party's logo included the communist hammer and sickle, and party material often highlighted its communist credentials, despite limited practical application. The most persistent ideological features of the SWP were a commitment to secularism, protection of regional monarchies, promotion of Celticism (a cultural-political ideology first formulated by the SWP), the strengthening of the Sorrenian Revolutionary Army, and active participation in intermicronational affairs.

Internally, the USWP was split into two camps - the radicals who espoused various forms of communism, and the socialists who were often more politically moderate or ambivalent. Both factions held a similar amount of power, and the party's highest decision-making body, the Politburo, was generally split evenly between the two factions.

Important Sorrenian politicians who at some point were members of the Sorrenian Workers Party include: Martin Aquinas, who served as Chairman and President of Sorrenia for much of the micronation's existence; Rilgar Ompastre, who also served as Chairman and President of Sorrenia in the final months of the Federation's existence; Matthew of Sorrenia, Emanuel Terranova, Martyn Järvenpää, Jonathan Bunch and others.

History

Predecessor parties

The Sorrenian Federation's immediate predecessor, the Democratic People's Republic of Kozlova, was governed by the People's Communist Democratic Party of Kozlova, a Marxist anti-stalinist political party which governed Kozlova as a one-party state. The PCDPK was created by two of Kozlova's four founding members, but failed to suppress an explosion of anti-Kozlovan sentiment which emerged at the beginning of 2013, less than a year into Kozlova's existence. Anti-Kozlovan protestors demanded an end to the one-party rule of the PCDKP and the elimination of communist imagery within the micronation's symbols and institutions. At a peace conference in mid-2013, representatives from the PCDKP and the various anti-Kozlovan organisations met to dissolve the People's Democratic Republic of Kozlova and found a new micronation more inclusive of other political identities. The Sorrenian Federation was founded in November of 2013, and ex-members of the PCDPK founded the Socialist Party of Sorrenia to contest elections held shortly thereafter.

The Socialist Party retained a commitment to Marxism, and continued to display the communist hammer and sickle in its party logo, however it was more inclusive of other left-wing ideologies, including democratic socialism, currents influenced by Bolivarianism and other 21st-century Latin American tendencies, and Titoism. In the first two general elections to the National Assembly, Sorrenia's unicameral legislature, the Socialist Party performed well, but lacked a majority of seats, forcing the party to collaborate with other parties such as the centrist Liberty Party. The Socialist Party steadily grew to be the largest party in Sorrenia, particularly after incorporating the Unified Socialist Party of Gran Pais. The party's chairman Martin Aquinas also won three consecutive presidential elections by large margins as leader of the party.

Patriotic Socialist Party

The official PSP Logo/Emblem

By September of 2012, the Socialist Party had steadily drifted towards the centre ground of Sorrenian politics. As a result, the party's Chairman Martin Aquinas announced he would be leaving the party to create a new party to its left. A communist party did already exist in Sorrenia, however Martin hoped to incorporate elements of civic nationalism into the new party which he felt would be impossible in the Communist Party given its rigid adherence to Marxism-Leninism. Many members of the Socialist Party joined him, and in the September 2024 general election the newly founded Patriotic Socialist Party of Sorrenia won three seats, making it the joint-largest party alongside the Socialist Party. The SPS only lasted for a few weeks however, after which it was reconstituted into the Sorrenian Workers Party. A reference to Marxism was reintroduced into the party's constitution, alongside a new logo bearing the hammer and sickle.

Like its predecessors, the Sorrenian Workers Party included an emphasis on the egalitarian dimension of Marxism, as well as a firm commitment to environmentalism. New innovations included increased spending on the Sorrenian Revolutionary Army and a centralised party structure through the creation of a new body called the Politburo, made up of active members who determined party policy and voting behaviour.

Dissolution of Sorrenia (November 2015 - January 2016)

By November of 2015, Sorrenia had become almost entirely inactive. Rilgar Ompastre resigned as President without a clear successor. Members of the Politburo held a meeting, and decided to ask Alexei Janiszewski of the New Democratic-Liberty Party to replace Rilgar as a unity candidate, however Janiszewski refused.

In response, elements of the Politburo collaborated with members of the opposition to launch a coup and restructure Sorrenia. At this stage however, like most Sorrenian institutions, the Workers Party had dramatically declined in its activity, and so these members acted independently. Several Sorrenian politicians from multiple parties participated in the coup, however failed to restore Sorrenia.