Socialist Party (Sober Thought)
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The Socialist Party of Sober Thought identifies with and is supported by unionised industrial workers, urban intellectuals, waged agricultural employees and social democrats. It is a big tent party like the Moderate Party, so its policies too are forced towards the centre and allow it to invariably finish elections in the top three parties.
It believes in big government, a centralised government and the ability of government to ameliorate conditions for the working class with which it identifies. Management's rights to freedom of action are not seen as important as labour's rights to freedom of unionisation, but within these constraints the party recognises and respects the fundamentals of private ownership and free enterprise.
This sensible position allows the party to have cordial and even sometimes collaborative relations with its moderate right-wing counterpart, the Conservative Party. Consequently, fellow left-wingers in Liberal Democratic Action, regard Socialists as unenthusiastic if not apostate adherents to the true path of socialism. Activists tend to poke fun at the logo and read opportunism and revisionism in it: the Crescent wrench is adjustable to any size, and the pencil supposed to represent office workers has an eraser on it.
It is officially secular, but tends to have a somewhat anti-clerical and anti-religious orientation. This is because it sees its support of individual rights and commitment to social liberalism are incompatibale with religious faith. Such mindset tends to alienates the party's small but influential and thoughtful Christian socialist faction who are an even worse fit for the archconservative Christian Unity Party.
Socalists are equally likely to be in the governing coalition as to be out of it. Their ministerial posts are most frequently one or both of the Minister of Community Wellbeing or Minister of Community Connections, and the Chief Ministry when they are the most numerous parliamentary party in the coalition.
