Political parties of Nouvelle Alexandrie
The political parties of the Federation of Nouvelle Alexandrie exist in a fragmented federal multi-party system. The New Alexandrian political system is based on each Region of the Federation electing its Deputies to the Federal Assembly through proportional representation. This allows for a multi-party system with numerous parties represented in its bicameral legislature, the Cortes Federales. In the Cortes Federales, there are two chambers: the elected lower House, the Federal Assembly, and the unelected upper House, the Chamber of Peers.
The typical Federal Assembly can include representation for many parties and factions. This is because there is a low election threshold required for a party to win a seat in a Region, which is 2 percent of the vote.
In the first general elections held in Nouvelle Alexandrie in 1693 AN, four political parties were able to clear the threshold and win seats in the Federal Assembly. The current session of the Federal Assembly, however, has seen the representation of parties expand to five parties with a strong contingent of unaligned or independent Deputies, as political parties collapse and reorganize, causing Deputies to pick from the new rising parties or decline to join any of the new parties.
As a result of the shifting political landscape, since 1685 AN, Nouvelle Alexandrie has mostly had coalition governments or "Governments of National Unity" as they tend to be called. This has resulted in the establishment of coalition agreements that often switch around the leaders and officials in different portfolios, including the top two positions in the Council of State, the Presidency of the Government and the Vice-Presidency of the Government. From 1698 AN to 1703 AN, the Federal Humanist Party led a Government with an outright majority in the Cortes Federales.
Structure
Political parties in Nouvelle Alexandrie are structured in a very hierarchical fashion. Usually, there is a single leader at the top, who serves as an all-powerful boss of the party. The only exception to this is the Federal Humanist Party, which has had two co-leaders since its inception in 1693 AN. Usually, the leader (and his coterie of aides, advisers, and policy experts) formulate party policy and determines where their party stands on the political issues of the day. All politicians below them, including Deputies belonging to the party in the Federal Assembly, are expected to support and endorse the established political agenda. Politicians who misbehave or are embroiled in scandal can be expelled from the party by the leader. It is customary in the event of an electoral loss for party leaders to resign their leadership.
Party discipline in Nouvelle Alexandrie is strong, but this does not mean that defections or revolts cannot happen. Parliamentary votes often are considered motions of confidence in the Council of State, which tends to diminish the role of non-Cabinet members of the legislature.
During federal and regional elections, it is common for party leaders to debate each other during debates broadcast via TV and radio. They are produced by a consortium of the main national television networks, although other channels carry the broadcasts as well.
Party membership
Members of political parties in Nouvelle Alexandrie are individuals who usually pay a yearly fee (usually WAE€5 for students, WAE€15 for adult voters, WAE€10 for seniors) to hold a card-carrying membership in a political party. These are the people who elect the party leader, help select local candidates, and vote on important internal matters such as amendments to the party constitution or platforms.
Each political party has the power to organize and provide for their affairs each in their own ways, usually outlined in a party constitution or central charter. Most notably, they all have different ways to select their party leadership. New Alexandrian citizens who decide to become party members tend to be people who are quite personally invested in politics, including relatives of politicians and their employees, or people who are very involved in political activism. Party membership tends to increase during high-profile party leadership elections.
3% of Alduro-Wechua citizens are registered members of regional political parties or federal coalitions.
Instamembers
One of the more controversial phenomena in New Alexandrian politics are so-called "instamembers" of political parties, who join a party briefly to vote for a single candidate then abandon it. This is a very common occurrence during high-profile internal party elections to pick a new leader or a candidate for an elected office. A common stereotype is that "instamembers" are often recruited by candidates from ethnic or religious communities to vote as a block.
List of political parties
Federal Party | Logo | Color | Seats | Political Wing | Ideology |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Federal Consensus Party | Sky Blue Green |
326 / 689 |
Center to center-left (Big tent party) |
| |
Federal Humanist Party | Black Gold Purple |
196 / 689 |
Center-right to right-wing (Big tent party) |
| |
Alliance for a Just Nouvelle Alexandrie | Red White |
111 / 689 |
Center-left to left-wing (Big tent party) |
| |
Liberty and Prosperity Alliance | Dark Blue Gold Red |
39 / 689 |
Center-right to libertarian |
| |
Unaligned / Independents |
17 / 689 |
Historical parties
Federal parties
Federal Constituent Assembly
Federal Coalition | Logo | Color | Seats | Political Wing | Ideology | Regional Parties |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Coalition for Federal Progress | Sky Blue Gold Red |
472 / 759 |
|
| ||
Federal Liberal Alternative | Orange Gold |
135 / 759 |
|
|
| |
Anti-Federalist Front |
118 / 759 |
Right-wing to far-right |
|
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Progressive Conservative Union | Teal Red White |
18 / 759 |
|
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Coalition 1686/Wechupaq Huñu |
12 / 759 |
Far-left |
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Unaligned / Independents |
4 / 759 |
Cortes Federales
Federal Coalition | Logo | Color | Seats | Political Wing | Ideology | Changes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Progressive Federalist Party | Became the Solidarity Party. Dissolved in 1697 AN. | |||||
Cambio Democrático | Split between the Solidarity Party and the new Progressive Party. Dissolved in 1697 AN. | |||||
Union for a Democratic Movement | Declined to run candidates for the Cortes Federales in the 1693 AN general election, dissolved in 1697 AN. |