Ženië

From Almeopedia

The fako Ženië [ˈfa qo ʒɛ ni ˈjɛ] or People's Party is a faction of the Verdurian Esčambra. It arose during the controversy surrounding prime minister Onvaďra Anëtey, who seized power after the death of Vlerë Vočnor in 3404, as Onvaďra 2ë.

The Esčambra was split over the usurpation: perhaps a third of the members opposed it, a third supported it, and the rest were undecided. A substantial minority of the queen's own Navirora party were deeply opposed; for years, however, the party was held together by the political skills of Onvaďra's old ally Tegen cont Menla, her own prime minister, who encouraged the disgrunted to pursue (or waste their time with) legal avenues of protest.

In 3407 the dissident faction won control of the party; its leader Nečeron hipcont Borodino became prime minister. After Menla died the next year, the Esčambra was virtually deadlocked: the divided Navirora party could barely get anything done, and the opposition Caďin had no interest in helping either faction. When Borodino's commission of inquiry seemed to be ready to depose the queen, Onvaďra accused it of treason and seized its records. Her zealous supporter Obadrot cont Scušana began his own commission investigating the investigators.

The end result was a formal split. Most of the party followed Scušana to form a new party, the Ženië. The party had a plurality of seats and Scušana became prime minister; its lack of a clear majority however crippled the government, and the public soured on both parties. In the elections of 3412 the Caďinî won a clear majority.

This was enough to bring the Navirora and Ženië into a sullen alliance. In 3414 the coalition regained control of the Esčambra; the prime minister was the more accommodating Teronél Sáluer, a rich merchant who pressed the common need to proceed with mercantile and industrial development over parliamentary wrangling. In 3418 he was succeeded by Comblon Samirey, who was the first prime minister chosen from one of the poor kešanî.

After Onvaďra's death, the split remained, but became something of a capitalist/progressive one. The Ženië retained the queen's most fervent supporters: petty bourgeois, scholars, and people from her home region of Zeir. As such its numbers were always fewer than those of the Navirora, though it was almost always needed to form a majority. Its power largely comes from its ability to withhold its support, which would give control to the Caďinî. It was by such maneuvering that its leader Orest Täl became prime minister from 3444-51.

The party presently holds 58 seats, compared to the Navirora's 218. Its present leader is Urez Cördu, kešoro for Sarniëma.