Sihu Dream

Sihu Dream (シフ夢), is a political party in Sihu. It is the largest party in Sihu and is one of 4 parties represented in the Parliament alongside the Tomorrow Party, the New Party and the Green Future Party.

The party was founded in 1948 by liberals who were opposed to the ongoing CoN mandate over Sihu. The party was initially led by Hara Motoichiro who became Prime Minister in the first democratic elections to the Parliament in 1950. The party won a subsequent landslide victory in 1955. It absorbed the opposition centre-left Sihu Social Democratic Labour Party and centre-right Sihu People's Party to present a united front for independence. After the country gained independence the party implemented policies to remain in office - culminating in the 1962 Sihu student riots which were eventually crushed.

Between 1956 and 1990 it was the only party represented in Parliament. Under the leadership of Hara Yasuo the party began to liberalise and allow for democratic elections after a series of protests in the summer of 1987. Despite this the party has consistently maintained a 2/3rds majority in Parliament in every election.

The party continues to hold a dominant position in Sihuese politics, it supports policies which has led to Sihu's rapid economic growth in the late 20th century. It also supports policies and has implemented many progressive social policies particularly under the leadership of Hara Toshiharu. The party supports Sihuese membership of the Sinju Union and the adoption of the Sinju won as Sihu's official currency. It is a proponent of and increased cooperation with other nations in Bangju and Sinju. In response to the 2019 Sihu floods the party announced new measures to tackle climate change.

Founding and first years in government
Sihu Dream was founded in 1948 by Hara Motoichiro and others to campaign for the 1950 general election which would be the first democratic election in Sihuese history. The party's stated goals were for the swift end to the CoN mandate over Sihu, economic liberalism and to stabilise the country's political situation which had deteriorated following deadly riots led by nationalists in 1947.

Hara's party found support among the country's upper class and received the backing from the largest newspaper on the island at the time, the Yabushi Times. In elections in 1949 for local authorities, the party came in third place behind the conservative Sihu People's Party who had won in a landslide and the socialist Sihu Social Democratic Labour Party. The party did unexpectedly come first within the Yabushi local authority and formed a coalition government with the Sihu People's Party. Hara used the party's position on the Yabushi local authority to ensure political support for the party among the urban population that had backed the Sihu Social Democratic Labour Party. The party illegally used local authority funding for campaign purposes. It also directed local services such as waste collection to areas that had backed the party in the prior election.

In the 1950 general election the party won a plurality of seats in the Parliament of Sihu after scandals had engulfed the People's Party campaign. Hara was elected as Prime Minister with 32.5% of all votes cast, narrowly beating the People's Party candidate. In a show of unity Hara invited the People's Party and Social Democratic Labour Party to a grand coalition to demonstrate the population's desire for an end to the mandate.

In 1952 the party had largely side-lined it's coalition partners, in the same year it also criminalised criticising the government and increased punishments for so-called political crimes. The measures which were packaged in an act to stabilise the country were largely accepted by the country's population. Hara also radically expanded the powers of the Prime Minister and removed the ability for Parliament to remove the Prime Minister through a vote of no confidence. In 1954, the Yabushi Times alongside a majority of other local newspapers were bought by Hara's cousin who was also a Sihu Dream MP. This effectively granted the party a monopoly over all media on the island. In the campaign for the 1955 general election these newspapers all backed Sihu Dream and ran a campaign against the party's coalition partners. In the election the party won 36 seats out of the available 50. Hara was also returned as Prime Minister with 66.1% of votes. Opponents of the government refused to recognise the election's legitimacy sparking deadly riots. The government cracked down harshly on these riots, in a speech to journalists Hara said: "the radical-extremist opposition must be crushed for provoking the people."

Merger with opposition parties
Between 1955 and 1956 the People's Party and Social Democratic Labour Party became mere satellite parties for the Sihu Dream party, both of their leaders were close personal friends of Hara and had crushed all internal opposition within their parties. In 1956 all 3 parties merged to form a united pro-independence anti-mandate movement. The merger prompted outrage from CoN observers who saw the party as leading the country towards authoritarianism. In response, Parliament passed a resolution symbolically expelling all CoN observers from Yabushi and called for an immediate end to the mandate.

In 1957, a new constitution was introduced which removed all references to the mandate and massively expanded the powers of the Prime Minister whilst also reducing the powers of Parliament.

In 1958, Hara issued a unilateral declaration of Sihuese independence after negotiations over independence collapsed. The CoN recognised Sihuese independence two months later.

Authoritarian rule
In 1959 the party's influence grew further after the 1959 electoral law granted the governing party more space for advertising and a 10 seat bonus to the largest party in each election. Constituencies were also heavily biased in favour of the party and incumbent pro-government politicians. The election threshold for list seats was also increased to 12%. With the system so heavily balanced in favour of the government, complacency began to emerge and several Sihu Dream MPs were expelled from the party over allegations of corruption.

Dissatisfaction with the government led to a series of strikes in 1961, the government cracked down on these strikes by ordering all workers involved to be fired and arresting union leaders. The crackdown led to anger amongst pro-union students who began to lead small demonstrations. These demonstrations were faced with severe government action and one student was abducted and killed by the police. The news of the death of a student caused widespread anger and many students in the country joined the demonstrations. On 11 March 1962 the demonstrations had reportedly gotten out of hand and Hara Motoichiro and members of his cabinet were forced to leave the government district and allegedly made preparations to leave the country if the army joined the students. The party's headquarters was burnt down on 12 March whilst police did not attempt to stop the protesters.

To try and quell the situation, certain controversial ministers were fired from the cabinet and the government announced plans for free tuition for higher education. After two weeks of demonstrations, specialised police forces from across the country alongside the army began a crackdown on demonstrators. Mentions of the riots or crackdown was banned from all Sihuese newspapers, radio and television.

After the demonstrations had ceased the party implemented strict restrictions on freedom of speech, expression and assembly and arrested many students involved in the demonstrations. Power also continued to be centralised in the position of Prime Minister, which after the riots was granted emergency powers.

Following the riots the party supported liberalising the country's economy even further and encouraged businesses to invest within Sihu. The subsequent rapid economic growth of Sihu contributed to the party's increase in popularity and stability in Sihu. Hara praised the country's rapid transition as a model for other nations in the area and actively promoted what he called: "Sihuese democracy" to other world leaders. The party's policies also led to the country developing extreme levels of wealth inequality and by 1979 the country had the highest average working week in the developed world.

Liberalisation
In 1982, Hara Motoichiro died from a sudden heart attack. He was succeeded by his eldest son Hara Yasuo on 4 Sawol 1982. Hara Yasuo shortly after called for elections for Prime Minister which he won with 82.7% of the vote, no opposition candidates were permitted to run in the vote. Hara Yasuo was keen to continue the policies of his father. However he also began to loosen the party's dominance on Sihuese society and the first legal opposition party, the New Party. In the 1985 general election the New Party won 1 seat becoming the first opposition party to the government since 1960.

Hara Yasuo's popularity dropped severely in the aftermath of the 1986 Sihuese banking crisis. To quell growing opposition to the party's rule it drafted new laws to allow for fully democratic elections and end the party's grip on the election commission, these were approved at the party's annual conference in 1986. It was also decided that the party would adopt liberal social policies and abandon the party's previously conservative social platform.

The 1990 general election was seen as the first major test for the party in 30 years and followed 4 years of reforms by the party. It won 49 of the 61 seats in Parliament with most other seats being won by the New Party or independent candidates. The election commission certified the elections as free and democratic despite the party openly encouraging votes for it through it's control of the media and new infrastructure projects for regions that leaned in favour of the party.

Hara Yasuo agreed to step down before the 2000 general election. The party subsequently elected Hara Toshiharu, Yasuo's eldest son to become the party's candidate for Prime Minister. Toshiharu's youth compared to other politicians in the party and his progressive policies saw the party achieve it's best result in the democratic period winning 57 out of 61 seats, the New Party lost all representation in the election.

Toshiharu agreed to reinstate corporation taxes in exchange for Sihu joining the Sinju Union and adopting the Sinju won in 2003. In response to this two economically liberal and nationalist MPs defected to the New Party.

In 2015 the party won 41 seats, it's lowest total since 1955, whilst still maintaining it's 2/3rds majority in Parliament. As a result of this Hara Toshiharu agreed to stand down as Prime Minister in 2020. Initially the party's MPs backed Minami Seigo to be the party's candidate for Prime Minister but later backtracked and endorsed Toshiharu's younger brother Hara Eitoku.

Under Eitoku the party regained 6 seats in the 2020 general election. Eitoku faced criticism by the party's liberal wing for being too conservative, certain independent observers have also claimed Eitoku represents a major shift in ideology for the party which could try to re-establish the party's authoritarian position. Eitoku's government was also criticised by other Sinju Union member states for exerting control over the media as well as arresting prominent opposition figures for attending protests.