Yu Dynasty Yingdala (4338-4636)

[Wu Han]

30 June 4370
Sung Hyo-rin, Li Baihan fight over the future of the Lotus Party
Sung elected Party President while Li holds onto Leadership in controversial Party Convention

HAISHAN ISLAND, Shu: Following an election which saw Li Baihan lead the Lotus Party to its worst results ever, the anti-Li and pro-Li camps have openly been at war over the future of the Lotus Party.

Just days after the General Election last October, three sitting Lotus Party Assemblymen held a press conference calling for the resignation of Li. Li responded the next day by holding a rally in her hometown of Haiwan, Anle, declaring that the "Tian'an elites are conspiring against [her] and the elected Leadership of the party."

Following continued calls for Li's resignation, Li remained steadfast in her commitment to lead the party, holding rallies across the country for her supporters. On 8 December 4369, Finance Minister and former-interim Leader Sung Hyo-rin, the most senior and high-profile member of the Lotus Party's caucus announced that she had joined the anti-Li camp, calling for her resignation.

According to the Lotus Party constitution, a party conference must be held within 12 months of the last general election to election the administrative leadership of the party, as well as perform a "Leadership Review" vote on the sitting leader. The only Lotus Party Leader to be defeated by the Leadership Review was Yi Junkai in 4336. Despite winning 57.2% support at the conference, the Party's constitution required that a Leader achieve at least 60% to remain on. Following his dismissal, delegates at that convention lowered the required level of support to 50%.

Sitting Party President and de-facto leader of the pro-Li camp Wang Zheng announced two weeks before the convention that it would be held on the remote island of Haishan, Shu Province. Sung Hyo-Rin held a press conference three hours later with six LP assemblymen, denouncing the "snap" announcement and claiming that the selection of the Haishan Island as the convention location was orchestrated to "deny the majority of the party's membership their vote." Sung Hyo-rin announced that she would run against Wang for the Party Presidency if he did not resign.

Haishan Island (encircled)

On the first day of the convention, the party delegates were scheduled to debate a new manifesto proposed by the pro-Li camp, but the anti-Li camp, though fewer in number, obstructed all debates using points of order, points of information, points of privilege or other tactics to prevent motions from going to vote. In the end, the manifesto, titled "Fighting the Machine" did not receive a vote.

On the second day of the convention, delegates entered the convention hall to vote for the Party President. As incumbent Wang Zheng did not resign, and intended to run for re-election, Sung declared her candidacy from the floor to the cheers of many delegates in the room. Another pro-Li Candidate, Tao Chang also announced her candidacy. Unlike the leadership review or the election of a leader, the position of party president requires a simple plurality, rather than an overall majority. Thus, with 44.6% of the vote, Sung was able to narrowly defeat the incumbent Wang (43.1%) and Tao (12.3%). Following her win, Sung announced that she would be resigning as Finance Minister, a role which she claims she was "forced" into by Li.

On the third and final day of the convention, Li's first leadership review vote ended positively, with 54.7% per cent of delegates at the convention voting against holding another leadership race. As Li approached the stage to give a keynote address, Sung and various Lotus Party Assemblymen and women staged a dramatic walk-out.

In Li's speech, she declared that the result has "vindicated [her] continued leadership, and respected the democratic will of the party." She asked party members to unify around her leadership and offered her detractors forgiveness: "it's easy to be swindled by Tian'an dirty money, but I call on every member of this party to recall its democratic socialist origins and unite in the fight for the change we demand!"

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Originally posted by Wu Han on 30 March 2018.