2022 Free Territory Charter Convention Elections
On July 2, 2022, an election for the Second Charter Convention of the Free Territory was held. The convention, consisting of 99 seats, was formed to draft a new governing document for the Free Territory in the aftermath of the Freeport Spring and the overthrow of the Comrade-General, Alexandra Petrova.
The Anarchist Alliance, a loose and informal grouping of anarchist groups, won the most seats. In concert with their allies in the United Left Coalition, leftist parties held 73 of the 99 seats, an overwhelming majority. Other parties included the Galethii Revivalist Association, the Union for Progress and Liberty, various independents, and three right-wing delegates who were not seated.
Background
As the Free Territory was founded on anarchist and broadly leftist ideals, the authoritarian nature of the Comrade-General's government was always a source of friction. However, it was not until a cascading series of controversies and issues - rising food prices, extensive conscription for the Spirit War, and the Oksana Controversy - that the people of the Free Territory rose up against the Comrade-General's regime. Even as the rebels held all of Freeport and significant numbers of military units mutinied, what brought down the Comrade-General's regime before the revolution could was the June 19 Coup from the Livadia Clique, a group of high-ranking military officers who sought to remove the Comrade-General to forestall a larger revolution.
In the aftermath of the Revolution and the Coup, a temporary military government was formed under Admirals Mikhail Kozulov and Valentina Oksana, and new elections for a Second Charter Convention were announced. A vast group of parties, ideas and ideologies were present in Freeport and the Free Territory at that time, each with different ideas on the best way forward for the Free Territory. However, the bulk of public opinion and organizational prowess was on the side of leftist (and, more specifically, anarchist) groups, who had been at the front lines of the Revolution. More centrist or right-wing politicians and ideas were not only already unpopular before the Revolution, they were discredited by their association with the old regime.
Leftist groups such as the Federation of Labor, the Federation of Anarchists, and the Communist Party were all alarmed by the June 19 Coup and the establishment of the military government. Thus, representatives from several leftist tendencies and groups met on June 21 and agreed to the United Front Agreement for the duration of the Convention. This framework included four main points: an endorsement of Democratic Confederalism (a decentralized form of government based on extensive popular participation), a pledge to eject any right-wing or restorationist delegates elected, a pledge to avoid vote-splitting, and a pledge to restart massive street action should the military government attempt to cancel, postpone or otherwise meddle with the election. This coalition, encompassing groups from radical anarchists to reformist social democrats, ran as the United Left Coalition.
Other parties ran candidates for the election as well. Galethii in both the Galethii Free State and in the Free Territory were split between the revivalists, lead by Suhra Stonehand and his Galethii Revivalist Association, and the traditionalists. Only revivalist Galethii participated in the election, hoping to secure constitutional guarantees of equal rights and the use of Galethii in government business.
The center and right of the Free Territory, including many former regime officials, formed the Union for Progress and Liberty. Endorsed by Admiral Kozulov and the Livadia Clique, the UPL was an attempt to slow the pace of change in the aftermath of the Freeport Revolution. However, despite the endorsement of many regime officials, the UPL only won 10 seats.
Results
| Party Name | Seats Won |
|---|---|
47
| |
11
| |
10
| |
8
| |
8
| |
7
| |
Independents
|
5
|
Right-Wing Candidates*
|
3
|
*Not seated by the Convention
|
The results of the election were a resounding victory for the United Left Coalition and leftism generally in the Free Territory. It was also a strong showing for the Galethii Revivalist Association, which tied with the Communist Party of the Free Territory for the fourth-largest party in the Convention. The Union for Progress and Liberty underperformed expectations by only securing 10 seats, and was unable to meaningfully affect the Convention except for protest votes. The Livadia Clique had already been disarmed by mutinies as well as the sequestration of Regime-loyal military units by those who had rebelled, and their failure to meaningfully influence the Charter Convention Elections meant an end to their brief influence. They would be tried under the Commission for Truth and Reconciliation in August 2022 and issued various penalties.
The Second Charter Convention would pass the Social Contract and Constitution of the Free Territory on July 15, 2022, with voters approving it in a referendum on July 22, 2022. The first government under the new Constitution would be elected on July 30, 2022.
The debates over the Constitution, however, would end up splintering leftist factions in the Free Territory. Anarchists split into two broad camps - those denouncing the Constitution as too bourgeois and statist, and those who supported it. These groups would become formalized with the creation of the Anarchists for Total Liberation and the Anarchist Collective Action Front, which would compete in the July 30 elections as separate and competing parties.