Greens Amid Political Crisis
Song Yi missing on campaign trail, Chen Ruogang silent
Leader of the Greens, Song Yi (pictured left) and the Greens' Internal Affairs Critic Chen Ruogang (pictured right)
[Tian’an]: Leader of the Greens Song Yi acknowledged that her party is much less united as it was when she formed it 4 years ago. Blaming the current shift to monarchy proposed by the Nationalist Party – she sees this as a vital issue to the country, but notes that there are more pressing issues to focus on. Worried that this issue will dominate the election in November of next year, Song Yi has been trying to rally her party to fight for the issues it was founded on – rather than give in to the political firefighting in the National Conference. This effort has been met with deep resentment from the loyal republican section of the Greens. Led by Internal Affairs Critic Chen Ruogang, there appears to be an entire swath of the Greens’ caucus who wish to abandon their social democratic routes in favor of a more aggressive, republican agenda that would see the Greens shift to the right.
A popular misconception about the Greens (besides their unity) is the political leanings of a majority of its members. While Song Yi has championed a leftist agenda that saw the country introduce a minimum wage, as well as publically funded childcare and a nationalized post office, the Greens’ base is mostly made up of farmers who simply wanted some form of political representation. At the time of the Greens formation, the brilliance of Song Yi was found in her ability to bring people together around a common desire: Environmentalism. But now that the party has proven it can pass laws and instill its political will in the National Conference, its base sees an opportunity to further a hidden agenda – one that Song Yi could never have imagined.
Today an unconfirmed source leaked to the media that Chen Ruogang is leading an effort to take over the Greens and eliminate Song Yi’s leadership “by whatever means necessary.” While this information is unconfirmed to be true, Mr. Chen has refused to comment – which has only furthered speculation. Song Yi has not been in the Capital for the past 3 days as she is currently on tour around the country trying to grow her party’s support ahead of next year’s election. When reporters flocked to the farm residence where she was supposed to be staying, she was nowhere to be found.
Song Yi has a full load of legislation waiting to be voted upon in the National Conference, yet the party she once called dear is nowhere to be found.
More to come…