Shaoyunese National Party

Shaoyunese National Party 哨域民族党 (Shàoyù Mínzúdǎng)
Leader	Hou Qiao
Founded	September 1954 (1954-09)
Membership (2024)	11,780
Ideology	Shaoyunese nationalism Shaoyunese independence Centrism
Political position	Centre to center-left
Ostlandet affiliation	Ostlandet Group for Regionalists and Minorities
Colours	Pink
Legislative Assembly	18 / 600
Senate	1 / 85
State Parliament members (Shaoyu seats)	0 / 1

The Shaoyunese National Party (Monsilvan: 哨域民族党; pinyin: Shàoyù Mínzúdǎng; Shaoyunese: サｳヰｸ マﾝズｸドﾝ; yutpin: Sauwik Manzukdon), previously known as the Shaoyu Independence Party, is a centrist, Shaoyunese nationalist party in the Monsilvan Republic. The party only runs candidates in Shaoyu, as its main policies are oriented around the interests of the state of Shaoyu, and in the long-term, Shaoyu's independence. The party was first created in 1954 under the Jackian administration of Niao Dao. It had very little following from its founding, until the late 1960s when it saw a surge in support as people feared the island would be returned to Monsilva's dictatorial regime at the time. When the island was passed over to Zloveshchiy instead, the party was dissolved and many members fled the island to Jackson and continued the party as a political organization. In 1979, after the dissolution of the Kingdom of Monsilva, the party relocated to Monsilva. The party applied for re-registration in 1981, but the electoral commission responded that their application was indefinitely paused. The suspension was officially overturned in July 2023 by the government of Lin Yao-tang.

The party was officially re-registered in January 2024. It saw an increased membership after re-registration as members of the Independence Group of the Shaoyu Liberation Party, which was dissolved when the party moved from a big-tent ideology to a social democratic one. The SNP is Monsilva's largest independence party, having 18 seats in the Legislative Assembly and 1 seat in the Senate.

History

The Shaoyu independence movement has existed for hundreds of years, with the first independent Shaoyunese government being formed in 1500 as the Kingdom of Shaoyu, after gaining independence from the Beining Heavenly Kingdom. Shaoyu lost that independence in 1568, when it became a client state of the Empire of Baltanla as the Commonwealth of Shaoyu. It briefly became independent again from 1730 to 1731 before it was invaded by the Kingdom of Great Shan. Since then, Shaoyu has been a constituent state or territory of the Great Shan, Jackson and Zloveshchiy before returning to Monsilvan administration under a free state system in 2024.

During the Jackian administration from 1824 to 1969, Shaoyu, or Niao Dao as it was known at the time, had a relatively minor independence movement. The island's rapid development and flourishing economy lead to the majority of residents being relatively apathetic towards an independence movement. This began changing in the 1950s and 1960s as Jackson's lease of the island was almost ending. In September 1954, the Niao Dao Independence Party was founded. Although throughout the 1950s its membership remained relatively low, it began growing significantly in the 1960s as many residents of the island feared they would be returned to Monsilva, which at the time was administered by a military-led dictatorship which fiercely opposed Niao Dao's liberal government. This led to independence once the lease was over to be a much more favorable option in the opinion of the islanders. In the final congressional election on Niao Dao, the independence party became the second-largest party in the congress. The party's goal was unsuccessful, however, and the island was given to the administration of Zloveshchiy in 1969 instead. This lead to the party being immediately dissolved by the Zloveshchiyan government, and many of the party's members fled to Jackson, where the party remained as a political organization.

Whilst the party was in Jackson, it continued to advocate for the independence of Shaoyu. In 1971, the party renamed itself to the Shaoyu Independence Party. Its membership was primarily Shaoyunese people who had fled the island to Jackson along with the party in 1969. In 1979, after the dissolution of the Kingdom of Monsilva and the re-establishment of liberal democracy in Monsilva under the Monsilvan Republic, the party re-located to Luhai City. It intended to re-register as a political party on the Monsilvan electoral register. In 1981, the party re-applied to be a political party. However, when the electoral commission responded, they stated that the party's application had to be indefinitely suspended. The party's leadership was outraged by this and claimed it to be a 'miscarriage of democracy'. When the party complained to the electoral commission, they stated that they would 'look into it'. The party began sending monthly complaints to the commission, stating that they would continue to complain until the commission accepted their application or provided a valid reason for denial. Although initially this began as a protest, it eventually became a tradition for the party as this continued for 42 years from 1981 until June 2023, when the government of Lin Yao-tang directly requested that the electoral commission approve the Shaoyu Independence Party's application. In 2018, the party chose to send many of its senior members of the party joined the Shaoyu Liberation Party to form the Independence Group when the RSSI Act 2018 was passed. These members returned to the party after the SLP removed its big-tent ideology.

In January 2024, along with several other Shaoyunese parties, the Shaoyu Independence Party was re-registered on the electoral register for the first time in 55 years. In the first election in the newly created Free State of Shaoyu, the Shaoyu Independence Party won ?? seats in the Shaoyu State Parliament. It also won 10 seats in Monsilva's Legislative Assembly. In December 2024, the party renamed to the Shaoyunese National Party, and saw an influx of members from the Progressive Party of Shaoyu which was also undergoing its own changes. 8 members of the Legislative Assembly defected to the SNP, increasing its seats to 18.

Policy

Before December 2024, the predominant policy of the party was to establish of a completely independent country on the island of Shaoyu. However, this policy was changed from an "as soon as possible" goal to a long-term goal, with the party stating it's short-term focuses will be on the welfare and reconstruction of Shaoyunese services and infrastructure after the Zloveshchiyan administration and the OU military intervention. This policy change was highly supported by Shaoyunese voters, with a surge in polling results for the party after the announcement. The policy change was also praised by many members of the Progressive Party of Shaoyu, many of whom decided to defect to the party.

See also

• Federal government of Monsilva
• Politics of Monsilva
• List of political parties in Monsilva