• Hi Guest!

    The costs of running this forum are covered by Sea Lion Press. If you'd like to help support the company and the forum, visit patreon.com/sealionpress

Lists of Heads of Government and Heads of State

Europe A Nation

1937-1940: Neville Chamberlain (Conservative leading National Government with Liberal Nationals and National Labour)
1940-1953: Anthony Eden (Conservative)
1941 (National Government with Liberal Nationals and National Labour) def. Clement Attlee (Labour), Archibald Sinclair (Liberal), Oswald Mosley (Union)
1946 (National Government with Union, Liberal Nationals and National Labour) def. Stafford Cripps (Labour/Liberal Popular Front), Oswald Mosley (Union)
1949 (National Government with Labour, Liberals, Liberal Nationals and National Labour) def. Herbert Morrison (Labour/Liberal Popular Front), Oswald Mosley (Union)
1953-1959: Herbert Morrison (Labour)
1954 (Peoples' Government with Union and Unified Liberals) def. Rab Butler (Conservative/National Labour Pact), Oswald Mosley (Union)
1957 Franco-British Union referendum; 54% YES, 46% NO

1959-1964: Herbert Morrison / Guy Mollet (Socialist)
1959 (Unity Government with Union Movement, Christian Democrats and Radical-Liberals) def. Maurice Thorez / Rajani Palme Dutt (Communist), Robert Gascoyne-Cecil (Tory), Roger Frey (Gaullist), Honor Balfour (Left Action)
1962 European Constitution referendum; 61% YES, 39% NO

1964-0000: Oswald Mosley (Union Movement)
1964 def. (Communist), (United Force)
1968 def. effectively unopposed
 
American Jesus

I don't need to be a global citizen, because I'm blessed by nationality/I'm part of a growing populace, we enforce our popularity.
Richard Nixon/Spiro Agnew 1969-1972
1968: Def. Hubert Humphrey/Edmund Muskie, George Wallace/Curtis LeMay
There are things that seem to pull us under and there are things that drag us down
Spiro Agnew/vacant 1972-1973
But there's a power and vital presence that's lurking all around.
Henry 'Scoop' Jackson/John McKeithen 1973-1981
1972: Def. Spiro Agnew/Gerald Ford, George McGovern/Benjamin Spock
1976: Def. Howard Baker/John Tower
I feel sorry for the earth's population because so few live in the USA/At least the foreigners can copy our morality, they can visit but they cannot stay.
Pete Wilson/Paul Laxalt 1981-1989
1980: Def. John McKeithen/Birch Bayh
1984: Def. Joe Biden/Fritz Hollings
Only precious few can garner the prosperity, it makes us walk with renewed confidence/We've got a place to go when we die and the architect resides right here.
Jim Jones/Geraldine Ferraro 1989-1993
1988: Def. Paul Laxalt/Trent Lott, Lee Iacocca/Jim Jeffords
He's the farmer's barren fields, the force the army wields, the expression on the faces of the starving millions.
Dick Cheney/Chuck Grassley 1993-1997
1992: Def. Jim Jones/Geraldine Ferraro
The power of the man, the fuel that drives the Klan, He's the motive and the conscience of the murderer.
David Duke/Ted Bundy 1997-2001
1996: Def. Dick Cheney/Chuck Grassley, Jerry Brown/Jesse Jackson
He's the preacher on TV, the false sincerity....
Pat Robertson/John McCain 2001-2005
2000: Def. Ted Kennedy/Doug Wilder, David Duke/Ted Bundy
The form letter that's written by the big computers.
Steve Jobs/John Edwards 2005-2013
2004: Def. Pat Robertson/John McCain, David Duke/Jim Traficant
2008: Def. Jon Huntsman/Todd Aiken
The nuclear bombs and the kids with no moms...
John Bolton/Joe Arpaio 2013-2021
2012: Def. John Edwards/Deval Patrick
2016: Def. Martin O'Malley/Kirstin Gillibrand
And I'm fearful that he's inside me.
Jesse Ventura/Lawrence Lessig 2021-
2020: Def. Barack Obama/Chris Dodd, Joe Arpaio/Cory Gardner
 
Last edited:
"To Be A Free Nation Forevermore"

Leaders of the Liberal Party (1961-present)
Pinchas Rosen (1961-1965)
1961: 19 seats (2nd) [Prime Minister: David Ben-Gurion (Mapai)]
1965: 10 seats (4th) [Prime Minister: Levi Eshkol (Mapai)]
The Israeli Liberal Party was founded in auspicious circumstances. The centrist to centre-left Progressives and centre-right General Zionists were once working together to present a liberal vision based in what they believed was middle-class values. They strenuously argued against the Workers' Party (also known as Mapai) and their construction of a 'pseudo-state organisation' deeply rooted in workers' unions, much preferring a more capitalist system of governance. They wished a state-organised welfare state and less interference in the economy. And a decade of negotiation due to fears of being polarised between the extremes finally reached fruition with the creation of the Liberal Party, with Pinchas Rosen as its new leader.

All of those mentioned beliefs would have aligned them with the Freedom Party (Herut), but the left of this burgeoning party deeply distrusted the party with a past in ultra-nationalism so extreme even Jews from outside Israel penned a condemnation of their ideas published in the New York Times. Yet Menachem Begin was determined to unite the opposition to Mapai and would try to pressure the Liberals into an electoral deal, which was hotly debated within the Liberals, with the leader opposing it and the former General Zionists broadly endorsing it. Bolstering Rosen's argument was the fact that the Liberals, no matter what, was the chief opposition to Ben-Gurion and Eshkol [even if by two seats], and he believed there was absolutely no need to ally with the hard-right to defeat the government. This led to the party splitting in 1963.

And as Menachem Begin announced his "Consolidation Block" [Likud] with the new "Independent Liberal Party" led by Peretz Bernstein, the outcomes for the Liberal Party looked gloomer than ever. The fact they even got 10 seats in 1965 was an achievement, but it was not enough to save face for Rosen.

Yizhar Harari (1965-1971)
1969: 12 seats (3rd) [Prime Minister: Golda Meir (Alignment)]
The Liberals scrambled to find a new leader to replace Rosen, and in the end, they shifted to the left and picked the man who would have been the Father of the Constitution if Israel ever had one, the instigator of the formal process that would have created one. Known as a man somewhat sympathetic to the left, he was nothing but a rejection of the idea of Consolidation. Under his leadership, the Liberals became more cooperative with the government, even if factional tensions meant that the Liberals wouldn't enter government until the Six-Days War erupted in 1967 which got a national unity government. And even then, their role there was somewhat perfunctory, with Harari getting a honorary post at best.

The later 1960s would see the left parties talk extensively of uniting the left into what they called the "Alignment". Harari himself was in favour of leading the Liberal Party to work within such an Alignment, but this got the party centre and what remained of its right's hackles up. They were only years removed from the ideas of a bloc with Herut, and now they were considering such with the left? At this time, the Liberals was developing a distinct idea of being the "Third Camp" of Israeli politics, rejecting both Likud's ties to ultra-nationalism and the potential Alignment's ties with what they considered the "over-powerful" pseudo-state structure Ben-Gurion set up.

In the end, after the elections in which the Liberals performed admirably, gaining two seats and jumping to third, the "Third Camp" proposal would win out and Harari would receive the Liberals would accept the ceasefire proposal and gain two ex-Liberal defections from Consolidation over Consolidation's withdrawal from the government, bringing them up to 14.

In 1971, Harari announced that he would step down as leader as he was planning to step down from politics at that time. His legacy in the party is mostly remembered for bolstering the party's left at a time when it was in an unclear direction, and shifting it unambiguously away from Likud.

Nissim Eliad (1971-1982)
1973: 17 seats (3rd) [Prime Minister: Golda Meir (Alignment)]
1977: 28 seats (3rd) [Prime Minister: Menachem Begin (Likud)]
1981: 9 seats (3rd) [Prime Minister: Menachem Begin (Likud)]
Eliad was undeniably the peak of the left-wards turn of the Liberals in the 1960s and 1970s. Formerly a youth member of the Workers' Party, he still was an active member of his trade union and perhaps most unacceptably of all for the remnant of the Liberal Right, he was a participant in the General Organisation of Workers, the pseudo-state organisation that previous Liberals sought to weaken. Yet he was a canny man who knew how far he could push his party without them buckling. His leadership would be primarily one of cultivating support with Israeli Arabs, determined to create a strong bloc beyond the notoriously-fickle middle-class, and one of recruiting big names to run in elections. Many older Liberals nowadays name him as the reason they entered the party, and he can be considered in a sense to be the most transformative of Liberal leaders.

As the tide of change came in 1977 as scandals tore apart Alignment's voteshare, the Liberals surged to their highest seat count yet. But would the party that had seemingly went on a more radical direction every leader accept a cabinet spot in Menachem Begin's cabinet? In the end, it was done. The populace had no wish to continue under Alignment, and proportionality did demand they cooperate with Begin. Nevertheless, they were selective about the cabinet posts. Arguably they restrained Begin, but the heated ethnic tensions that stirred in the 1981 election sank the Liberals.

Eliad would announce his plan to step down after the party chose his successor in the following year.

Mordechai Virshubski (1982-1988)
1984: 10 seats (3rd) [Prime Minister: Shimon Peres (Alignment)]
1988: 14 seats (3rd) [Prime Minister: Yitzhak Shamir (Likud)]
Virshubski was one of the people who entered the Liberal Party due to Eliad encouraging a new influx into the party. With the Israeli Arabs now the primary vote base of the Liberals due to the 1981 disaster, the party was more and more aligned to arguing for their interests. Virshubski may have not been an Israeli Arab, but he was undeniably a champion for their interests. Under him, the Liberals rapidly expanded its ideology as Eliad's calls for new ideas became truly integrated under Virshubski as the party announced in the 1984 election that it advocated a wide variety of rights such as women's rights, human rights, civil liberties and unrepentant secularism, and even absorbed the nascent ecological party into its ranks in 1983.

This bold social direction bolstered its voteshare, but would not acquire much gains in the 1984 election as the voters still were polarised between Likud and the Alignment. Shimon Peres would successfully negotiate a deal with the Liberals, delivering him his government.

Virshubski would insist on key positions in the cabinet, and most controversially of all, the push of Harari's Constitution. The Basic Law was never enough for the Liberals, not since Harari's leadership, and the calls for a written Constitution merely amplified since. Under Virshubski, it was ever-consuming, and Shimon Peres, calculating that any deal with Likud would lead to demands of a rotating prime minister, he agreed.

The Constitution would lead to a lot of shouting, Yitzhak Rabin calling it a "dirty deal" and Likud surging higher in the polls. But as per Harari's set out process, the first written Constitution of Israel would be trotted out to the voters in the 1987 referendum. And lost in a landslide.

The election itself was merely an aftershock, as the Alignment was crushed. The Liberal voters were satisfied with what they got, more or less, and they even acquired some new ones due to stronger Israeli Arab recruitment and pro-constitution voters shifting to them. Still, Virshubski would step down.

Tommy Lapid (1988-2000)
1992: 21 seats (3rd) [Prime Minister: Yitzhak Shamir (Likud)]
1996: 30 seats (2nd) [Prime Minister: Yitzhak Rabin (Labour)]
2000: 22 seats (3rd) [Prime Minister: Yitzhak Rabin (Labour)]
The election of media personality and long-time Liberal member Tommy Lapid was seen as a shock. The Liberal Party was led by its left for decades, and by the late 1980s was more or less automatically counted with the Alignment in terms of coalition politics, with the 1977-81 coalition with the right seen as a fluke. Lapid, having held on to his party membership despite it all, would represent the party shifting once again, this time emphasising its economic liberalism and showing more willingness to work with Likud.

Now, this did not mean he would abandon the party's Israeli Arab base, far from it. He would emphasise more than ever the importance of getting them into mainstream Israeli politics to further cross-community understanding, seeing his Liberals as key to that aim. Under him, the calls for peace with the Palestinians was clear. Still, he was a shift away from the party's previous radicalism, and this was noted very much by Israeli commentators.

With Prime Minister Shamir being a key target of Lapid's criticism for working deeply with the religious right, it was expected that the rebranded Alignment (now the Israeli Labour Party) would win a clear victory under its popular leader Yitzhak Rabin, especially with the Liberals assumed to be firmly with Rabin and his advocate of a peace process. But as the numbers came in, and several right-wing parties narrowly passed the electoral threshold, the pendulum swung back to the right. Shamir had his re-election.

The following four years would see a lot of change and turmoil in the Israeli political scene. Shamir, noting that his right-wing coalition partners were increasingly seeing him as too moderate, would shift into their direction, and this would escalate tensions, especially as he announced his retirement in 1994. The hard-right Benjamin Netanyahu would take control of Likud, and this would lead to a major split leading to David Levy's Gesher establishing itself as a credible threat to Likud's previous control of the right. While some in the Liberals would propose a deal with Gesher, perhaps as the "Democratic Movement for Change" or "Dash" for short, this ran right into the hard truth that Levy was someone with a pro-settler past that would alienate the Liberals' Israeli Arab bloc. Nevertheless, Gesher and Liberals would find themselves avoiding criticism of each other.

The 1996 election saw the Liberals return to second for the first time in decades, but Labour was miles ahead of them and easily formed a coalition with Gesher, a move that shocked some and led to defections back to Likud, or even in two cases, to the Liberals. The Liberals would align themselves firmly to the peace process, voting for it all the way through the Knesset, and successfully used their more public presence as the main opposition to expand their member base once more. Still, as Rabin geared up for re-election, it was clear. Likud threw out the unpopular Netanyahu and was now recovering quite quickly as the "real" opposition as contrast to the Liberals who were seen as too compromising.

In 2000, the Liberals fell back to third as Likud, now under Ehud Olmert (one of the party's centre who didn't defect to Gesher) cut deeply into Gesher's votes and reunited the right. Rabin would turn to Lapid to bolster his coalition. This Labour-Liberal coalition would last until the 2008 election.

But Tommy Lapid wouldn't live to see it. Widely hated in deeply conspirational and ultra-nationalist circles as conceding too much as the "false opposition" to Rabin's peace process, he was believed to be in the pocket of the party's Israeli Arab base, and the Labour-Liberal coalition merely confirmed their hateful theories. One fateful day, he walked down a street, a gun was lifted and everything changed.

Naomi Chazan (2000-2001) [acting]
Israel was at a standstill. Nobody could believe what just happened. Tommy Lapid was no more, and it was at the hands of an assassin's bullet. Yitzhak Rabin ordered a thorough investigation in the matter that turned up a deep swirling net of ultra-nationalist sentiments that Israel had to reckon with. The Liberal Party did have a measure in place for a leader's death it turned out. The leadership would go to the deputy, in this case Naomi Chazan, in an acting position until an election the following year. Chazan was known as a strong advocate for women's rights and would be seen as a deeply effective opposition legislator in the previous Knesset legislature. She was also on the party left, unlike Lapid.

Despite expectations of her standing, she would decline, choosing to stay out. As Minister of Equality in the cabinet, she would acquire many successes to her name that would bolster the rights of women in Israel.

Eliezer Zandberg (2001-2004)
2004: 26 seats (3rd) [Prime Minister: Amir Peretz (Labour)]
Zandberg was the sole candidate of the party right in the race, and perhaps that's why he won as he rode the memory of the slain Tommy Lapid to carry on his legacy. A known venture capitalist, he was extremely young when he became leader, and this led other parties to ridicule the Liberals behind closed doors as inexperienced. Zandberg was not someone with a wide base in the party MKs, which tended to the left even after Lapid's long leadership. But they would try to give him a chance. He was noted as someone who did not get on at all with Rabin. It was noted in a later interview that "the only thing that could get Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres to agree on was disliking Eliezer Zandberg".

As Rabin announced his retirement in 2002, Labour was determined to pick a younger face, and it ended up picking Amir Peretz, who was seen as somewhat of a shift to the left due to his radical record as leader of the General Organisation. He and Zandberg somehow got on even worse. Still, despite this consistent leadership clash, the 2000-2004 government did get several key Liberal achievements, including civil marriage and secularisation of many areas of Israeli society. It's just all clouded by the inevitable personality and political clashes.

The 2004 election saw Liberal gains due to the memory of Lapid pushing voters to them, but the end was already approaching for Zandberg's leadership. In late 2004, it came out that Zandberg was pushing for a cut to child allowances that was a key income for Israeli Arab families, and for a party which credited its very survival to the strong loyalty of this demographic, this proved too much. He was quickly challenged and removed.

Zahava Gal-On (2004-2013)
2008: 20 seats (3rd) [Prime Minister: Tzipi Livni (Likud)]
2012: 14 seats (4th) [Prime Minister: Tzipi Livni (Likud)]
What can one say about Zahava Gal-On? On one side, arguably a return to the Liberals' radical tradition, and undoubtedly a strong relief to worried Liberal voters who thought their party was losing its way. On the other side, she consistently failed to expand the party's base and was undeniably the wrong woman at the time to continue Liberal governance. While she was open to working with the moderate Likudnik Tzipi Livni on grounds of civil liberties and furthering the peace process, and would vote against ultra-nationalist attempts to undermine the government through Knesset bills, she kept the Liberals aloof from government, deeming Likud even under Livni to be a party too influenced by ultra-nationalist thought.

In 2013, Livni finally lost power in a leadership challenge to the resurgent hard-right under Benny Begin, son of founder Menachem Begin. It was at this time that the Independent Liberal Party, by this point assumed to be a relic and at that point mostly just ex-Gesher has-beens and David Levy's daughter Orly Levy, announced it would merge back into the Liberal Party. This proved a shock as people was rudely reminded that the ILP even existed. This bolstered the party right, and after nine years in the leadership, Gal-On decided to step down.

Yair Lapid (2013-2019)
2016: 26 seats (3rd) [Prime Minister: Benny Begin (Likud)]
The son of Tommy Lapid hoped he would prove the torch of Israeli Liberalism in the dark days of Begin and his hard-right government. Even as the once disgraced Netanyahu crept back into power and respectability, Lapid would be the chief opponent. Labour at that time was under Shelly Yachimovich and proved rather ineffective after shifting back to the centre from Peretz's perceived centre-leftism. This would lead many to see Lapid as bizarrely enough more left of Labour despite his being on the Liberal right. Lapid however, would be canny enough to avoid any internal spats. Those were not the times of party infighting, especially when Israeli democracy was at sake.

Even as Benny Begin authorised a return to aggressive expansion of Israeli settlements which got American President Crystal Echo Hawk to criticise and call for a respecting of the peace process, the attacks on Israelis managed to scare enough voters into giving his coalition a narrow majority. This majority would be chipped away of course, but Benny Begin would stay on in power, defiant of the tide. The polls were expecting a clear Liberal rise to second place, but record-low Arab turnout sank them to third. Questions would be asked about why.

The following three years would provide the answer. As Begin provoked ethnic tensions as his aggressive ultra-settlement policy while tearing up the old agreements Rabin negotiated with the Palestinian Authority which Begin did not recognise as a valid authority, Yair Lapid proved to be at once forceful yet frustrating. His push to have the official Liberal policy be negotiated withdrawal apart from the biggest settlements (a clear softening of Liberals' traditional forceful peace policy) led to some Arab MKs leaving the party and setting up the United Arab List. Meanwhile, the Liberal grassroots was increasingly dissatisfied with their leader and his perceived compromising nature.

In the end, with the polls stagnating to late 2019 and the UAL sending feelers noting that they would merge back into the Liberals if Lapid was to step down in favour of someone who "would have Israeli Arab interests in mind", he chose to give up the fight.

Orly Levy (2019-present)
2020: 40 seats (1st) [Prime Minister: Orly Levy (Liberal)]
The next leader of the Liberal Party was not exactly who the Israeli Arabs had in mind. While Levy was indeed someone who was consistently pro-peace (and was perceived as to the left of Lapid on other issues, even if not Liberal Left), her stance on the existing settlements was vague. Too vague. The UAL withdrew consideration of a merger, up to when Benny Begin pushed through his settlement bill that would regulate already existing settlements and cement them all as existing Israeli land, and also one that declared that Israel was "The Nation-State of the Jewish People". Orly Levy whipped the Liberals to vote against it all, and the UAL, acutely aware of possible Israeli Arab vote suppression and a possible anxiety to unite behind the Liberals to present a strong bloc against Benny Begin, voted to merge back into the Liberals.

The coronavirus pandemic struck Israel in early January of 2020, leading Begin to call for a lockdown. By the time of the elections in July, the handling was widely criticised, and his attempts at turning the discourse back to nationalist rhetoric fell flat. The Labour Party was considered irrelevant, ever since the 2012 election. And at a base level, a lot of older people still recall David Levy's legacy fondly. With Yair Lapid installed as deputy and prominent in advertisements in certain areas, and Orly Levy promising a return to stability and good government, even having the boon of former Prime Minister Tzipi Livni publicly endorsing the Liberals, the outcome was pretty much inevitable.

And on the day after the election itself, all that was left to do was for Orly Levy to pick which ones of the wiped out parties to make up a majority. She elected to go with Labour and the non-Liberal-aligned Arab parties to form her coalition.

Israel now had its first Liberal prime minister, and everyone waits to see what she will do.

======

Alright, this is just an idea I've been itching to do ever since I've read a lot of Hebrew Wikipedia pages, an ATL Israel list for a surviving Liberal Party.

Everyone I've used has a justification. The Liberal Party ends up a sort of mix of Meretz, Gesher and Yesh Atid by the end, I'll grant you that.

David Ben-Gurion (Mapai) 1948-1954
Moshe Sharett (Mapai) 1954-1955
David Ben-Gurion (Mapai) 1955-1963
Levi
Eshkol (Mapai/Alignment) 1963-1969
Yigal Allon (Alignment) 1969
Golda Meir (Alignment) 1969-1974
Yitzhak Rabin (Alignment) 1974-1977

Menachem Begin (Likud) 1977-1983
Yitzhak Shamir (Likud) 1983-1984

Shimon Peres (Alignment) 1984-1988
Yitzhak Shamir (Likud) 1988-1994
Benjamin Netanyahu (Likud) 1994-1996

Yitzhak Rabin (Labour) 1996-2002
Amir Peretz (Labour) 2002-2008

Tzipi Livni (Likud) 2008-2013
Benny Begin (Likud) 2013-2020

Orly Levy (Liberal) 2020-present
 
Last edited:
We’ve Ran Out Of Cold Storage: Prime Ministers of Singapore:
1959-1963: Lee Kuan Yew (People's Action Party)

1959 (Majority) def: Lee Yew Hock (Singapore People’s Alliance), Syed Ali Redha Alsagoff (United Malays National Organisation), David Marshall (Workers Party)
1963-1976: Lim Chin Siong (Socialist Front)
1963 (Majority) def: Lee Kuan Yew (PAP), Ong Eng Guan (United People's Party), Syed Ali Redha Alsagoff (UMNO)
1968 (Majority) def: Lee Kuan Yew (PAP), Ong Eng Guan (UPP)
1972 (Majority) def: Lee Kuan Yew (PAP)

1976-1984: James Puthucheary (Socialist Front)
1976 (Coalition with Progressive) def: Lee Kuan Yew (PAP), Chiam See Tong (Progressive)
1980 (Majority) def: Lee Kuan Yew (PAP), Chiam See Tong (Progressive)

1984-1988: Devan Nair (Socialist Front)
1984 (Coalition with Progressive) def: Ong Teng Cheong (PAP), Chiam See Tong (Progressive)
1988-1997: Ong Teng Cheong (People’s Action Party)
1988 (Majority) def: Devan Nair (Socialist Front), Chiam See Tong (Progressive)
1991 (Majority) def: J. B. Jeyaretnam (Socialist Front), Ling How Doong (Progressive)

1997-2001: Yu-Foo Yee Shoon (People’s Action Party)
1997 (Coalition with Reform) def: J. B. Jeyaretnam (Socialist Front), Ling How Doong (Progressive), Tan Cheng Bock (Reform)
2001-2011: Tan Cheng Bock (Reform)
2001 (Coalition with Progressive) def: Yu-Foo Yew Shoon (PAP), Ling How Doong (Progressive), Low Thia Khiang (Socialist Front)
2006 (Coalition with Progressive & Socialist Front) def: Tony Tan (PAP), Low Thia Khiang (Socialist Front), Zainal Sapari (Progressive)

2011-2015: Josephine Teo (People’s Action Party)
2011 (Majority) def: Low Thia Khiang (Socialist Front), Zainal Sapari (Progressive), Tan Cheg Bock (Reform)
2015-:Lee Li Lian (Socialist Front)
2015 (Coalition with Progressive) def: Josephine Teo (PAP), Zainal Sapari (Progressive), Tan Cheng Bock (Reform)
2020 (Majority) def: Murali Pillai (PAP), Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss (Progressive), Tan Cheng Bock (Reform)


Socialist Front (Barisan Sosialis): The governing party of the 60s, 70s and 80s the subsequent years of opposition and competition with the Progressive Party and Reform Party managed to get the party out of the malaise of the 90s, now back in power under the charming Lee Li Lian the party has set about bringing in new Democratic Socialist measures and reforms as well as well as strengthening there remaining trade union base (who didn't run off to join the Progressive's) and also keeping the MCP banned because of what they did during the 60s.
People's Action Party: The party that tried to bring Neo-liberalism to Singapore with mixed results, there still constantly having to wash away the stink of Lee Kuan Yew from the party's soul (his smart plan to use his alliance of convenience with the MCP Singapore faction pretty much destroyed the PAP's ability to gain a majority until the 80s when Lee Kuan Yew left). The party now is considered the party of Middle Class Conservative Liberalism and Conservative Trade Unions and not much else really which better than how it was once perceived (as the Lee Kuan Yew party).
Progressive: The Social Liberal/Moderate Socialist split from the Socialist Front during the mid 70s, the Progressive party has come in to it's own as the third party of choice for many Singapore residents who think the Socialist Front are a bit too Socialist for there taste. The appearance of Zainal Sapari and his coalition of moderate Trade Unions has given the party even more success and allowed them to retain there strong support base even as the major parties shift around.
Reform: An attempt by Tan Cheng Bock to break the Socialist Front/People's Action Party hegemony over Singapore politics, the party won surprisingly big in Singapore's first PR election coasting on Bock's populist Social Liberal appeal. The party is still popular though now that Singapore's grand experiment with a third party has passed the party is losing it's way a bit. Some suspect that the party may fold into the Progressive party once Tan Cheng Bock leaves due to his increasing old age since he has no real successor as such but for now the party will exist in an awkward limbo.
 
Last edited:
Singapore as a normal country is interesting. What’s their policy on execution and corporal punishment ITTL?
Singapore is interesting because it was so close to have a normal liberal democracy before Lee Kuan Yew and the other folks who took part in Operation Coldstore got there hands on it.

Still has execution but it's rarely used, mainly in extreme cases like mass murder etc. and most of the time it's commuted to a life sentence. Essentially similar to Japan. Though Lee Li Lian has made airs of just getting rid of it altogether (the PAP have grumbled about it obviously).
 
Last edited:
That's amazing, really. Have you thought about what would ethnic relations be like?
Mixed, Lim Chin Siong and the Socialist Front didn’t have the best relationship with the Federation of Malaya (as in a really bad relationship) and as a result this had a knock on effect with folks of Malay descent are viewed with suspicion and racism against them can be quite prevalent (even if Singapore and Malaya have patched things up). There weren’t any major race riots though there have been incidents.

Outside of that similar to OTL Singapore though, as the Socialist Front tried to showcase that they could build an ‘equal society’ though racism still persists despite it.
 
Jospehine Teo as Prime Minister will keep me up at night in sheer terror.
Well I had temper the good times that was Lim Chin Siong and Barisan Sosialis winning numerous election somehow, Teo works in that fact.
Nicely done work, I do wonder how high up the ladder of capitalism they'd get in this world.
Thank you, means a lot coming from you I have to say. In terms of Capitalism, Singapore ain't the Asian Capitalist Powerhouse it's perceived as in our world. The Barisan Sosialis years were more concerned with building a function Social Democracy (they manage to impalement some Democratic Socialist ideas though the Trade Unions baulk slightly at some of the more radical proposals like Industrial Democracy) though some deals were made in terms of manufacturing as the nation even with a heavy trade union activity the nation is still seen as cheaper than the Western nations.

Attempts in the 1990s under the revived PAP to liberalise the economy go better than expected (helped by the Japan's economy still crashing and burning in the early 90s) though an Asian Stock Market Crisis in the late 90s knocks some of the more radical proposals on the head. The economy undergoes a more radical liberalisation under Tan Cheng Bock with an emphasis towards the expanding digital economy.

In ATL 2020, Singapore is seen as a model of Social Democracy outside of Europe, with an economy that is heavily geared towards the rising digital sectors that allows it to expand it's reach though it ain't the richest country in Asia (though it's doing better than Japan and has at points nipped at the heels of China) and it isn't as rich as the version we all know and love.
 
Well I had temper the good times that was Lim Chin Siong and Barisan Sosialis winning numerous election somehow, Teo works in that fact.
Theresa May but Singaporean is still horrifying and I will never forgive you.

How's Malaysia doing? One of the planned Weber Town follow-ups would have had Mega Malaysia (Malaya, Singapore, Brunei) being a regional powerhouse due to its total dominance of the junction between the Indian Ocean and South China Sea and natural resources and crude oil (uh, excuse me whilst I clean off my keyboard), with LKY and the current Lee being quixotic crusaders for Singaporean independence.
 
Theresa May but Singaporean is still horrifying and I will never forgive you.
Tom, how can I win you back...would a timeline involving David Saul Marshall being the one to allow Singapore to win Self Government? Or Lee Kuan Yew still being a Moderate Fabian Socialist instead of what he eventually became? Or a Left Wing PAP?
How's Malaysia doing? One of the planned Weber Town follow-ups would have had Mega Malaysia (Malaya, Singapore, Brunei) being a regional powerhouse due to its total dominance of the junction between the Indian Ocean and South China Sea and natural resources and crude oil, with LKY and the current Lee being quixotic crusaders for Singaporean independence.
That's a horrifyingly amazing idea there, who are these Weber Town folks (also in this scenario LKY would probably still be a Social Democrat as well, which is something)?

In terms of Malaysia (or it would probably be the Federation of Malaya since they would not be letting a Barisan Sosialis Singapore to join) there doing alright, the bad relationship that they had with Singapore has dissipated massively since Mahathir Mohamad and Devan Nair managed to organise a Economic Alliance in 1986 (in return Mohamad let up on cracking down on the DAP which was Nair's baby until he came back to lead the more powerful NTUC under Barisan Sosialis) and since then the countries have had a cordial relationship with them creating a small economic zone between the Indian Ocean and South China Sea. Having a successful Social Democratic Singapore has allowed the DAP to have more power though it's never managed to have a government in any real sense.
 
Tom, how can I win you back...would a timeline involving David Saul Marshall being the one to allow Singapore to win Self Government? Or Lee Kuan Yew still being a Moderate Fabian Socialist instead of what he eventually became? Or a Left Wing PAP?
SUPER MALAYSIA

In terms of Malaysia (or it would probably be the Federation of Malaya since they would not be letting a Barisan Sosialis Singapore to join) there doing alright, the bad relationship that they had with Singapore has dissipated massively since Mahathir Mohamad and Devan Nair managed to organise a Economic Alliance in 1986 (in return Mohamad let up on cracking down on the DAP which was Nair's baby until he came back to lead the more powerful NTUC under Barisan Sosialis) and since then the countries have had a cordial relationship with them creating a small economic zone between the Indian Ocean and South China Sea. Having a successful Social Democratic Singapore has allowed the DAP to have more power though it's never managed to have a government in any real sense.
Good but SUPER MALAYSIA WHEN
 
Oh god, what have I done?!
800px-1949_Malaya_Flag_Proposal_1.svg.png


ONE ARCHIPELAGO UNDER GOD (ALLAH)
 
so i started a collaborative list on the other place of 'commanders-in-chief' under john brown's provisional constitution

i decided i didnt want to do a write up of the whole thing so i settled with this

Presidents of the United States

1857-1861: James Buchanan (Democratic)
1856 (with John C. Breckinridge) def. John C. Fremont (Republican), Millard Fillmore (Know Nothing)
1861-1864: Joseph Lane ('Southern' Democratic)
1860 (vacant) def. Abraham Lincoln (Republican), Stephen A. Douglas ('Northern' Democratic), John Bell (Constitutional Union)
1864-1865: John C. Breckinridge (Democratic)
1865-1867: George B. McClellan (Peace Ticket)
1864 (with Salmon P. Chase) def. Joseph Lane ('War' Democratic), John C. Breckinridge ('National' Democratic)
1866 Constitutional Convention; adaption of the Provisional Constitution as Amendments

1867-1869: Benjamin Butler (Nonpartisan), as Commander-in-Chief
1869-1872: Salmon P. Chase (Republican)
1868 (Coalition with Adjustment Democrats and Radicals) def. William Mahone (Adjustment Democratic), Benjamin Wade (Radical), Zebulon B. Vance (National Democratic)

It was perhaps inevitable that Butler would be the first Warlord to be nominated to a second term, given the circumstances of America emerging from it's bloody civil war, and the adoption of the Second Constitution. However, 1870 has been and gone and Butler remains as Warlord of America. The shape of the new American democracy has emerged, and it looks far more similar to European constitutional monarchy than what the Old Founders, and possibly John Brown himself, ever intended. The President is elected by the unicameral Congress, not the people, the title is that of a head of government. The head of state is the Commander-in-Chief, but to refer to that title as merely head of state does not do the office justice. There is a reason they are referred to as Warlord. The Commander-in-Chief exercises wide discretionary powers, making them more powerful than any President in the history before the war.
 
another thing based on a collaborative list on the other place (my prompt was party systems from the bicentennial to the tricentennial)

The New American Century

Presidents of the United States of America (Second Republic until 2032, Third Republic from 2032 to 2060, Fourth Republic from 2060 to 2069, Fifth Republic from 2069 to present)

2017-2021: Donald Trump (Republican)
2016 (with Mike Pence) def. Hillary Clinton (Democratic)
2020 (with Mike Pence) def. Joe Biden (Democratic), Kanye West (Independent)

2021-2021: Mike Pence (Republican)
2021-2021: Nancy Pelosi (Democratic)
2021-2027: Mike Pompeo (Republican)
2024; according to the Electoral College; (with Michael Flynn) def. Meghan McCain (Constitutionalist)
2024; according to UN observers; Constitutionalist ticket sole legal opposition, widespread voter intimidation and opposition boycotts

2027-2028: Michael Flynn (Republican)
2028-2031: Michael Flynn (Digital Soldier)
2028; according to the Electoral College; (with Marjorie Green) def. effectively unopposed
2028; according to UN observers; Digital Soldier ticket clearly defeated, President Flynn responded by couping what remained of civilian government

2031-2031: Tom Cotton (Digital Soldier)
2031-2032: Scott Walker (Republican & Constitutionalist leading Provisional Government)
2032-2032: Scott Walker / Pete Buttigieg (Republican, Constitutionalist & Democratic leading Provisional Government)
2032-2033: Pete Buttigieg (Federalist - Pro-Technical Government)
2033-2039: Pete Buttigieg (Techno-Federalist)
2032 def. Scott Walker (Oppo-Federalist), boycotted by Autonomous Zones and Benedictine Communities
2039-2045: London Breed (Techno-Federalist)
2038 def. none (Social Autonomist), Jesus Christ (Benedictine), Saira Blair (Oppo-Federalist)
2045-2051: Jacob Bachmeier (Techno-Federalist)
2044 def. scattered Social Autonomist, Benedectine and Oppo-Federalist candidacies
2051-2057: Kalan Haywood (Techno-Federalist)
2050 def. none (Social Autonomist), numerous Benedictine candidacies, Maxwell Lyon (Electoral Revival Organisation), scattered continuity Oppo-Federalist candidacies
2057-2062: Maxwell Lyon (Electoral Revival Organisation leading New America Alliance)
2056 def. Chelsea Chapel (Techno-Federalist), numerous continuity candidacies opposed to the 'Devil's Bargain' with Maxwell Lyon
2062-2067: Maxwell Lyon (Revivalist)
2062; according to the Electoral Commission; def. Erle Stanaway (Federalist)
2062; according to UN observers; amendment of term limits law, near-destruction of autonomous communities, Federalists sole viable opposition

2067-2069: Amari Franks (Revivalist)
2068; according to the Electoral Commission def. Erle Stanaway (Federalist)
2068; according to UN observers; campaigning suspended in October amidst unfavourable polling for the government

2069-2075: Erle Stanaway (Federalist)
2069 confirmatory election def. Kendall Love (Red-Black Alliance), Savanna Shannon (Revivalist), Hogan Paul (Technolibertarian)
2075-0000: Tegan Stone (Red-Black Alliance)
2074 def. Gene Hopkins (Federalist), House of Ada-Pauline-Tanner Banks (Technolibertarian), Savanna Shannon (Revivalist)
 
Last edited:
Back
Top