Leader of the Opposition

The Leader of the Opposition, sometimes referred to in Talossan as Tanáischteu (from the Irish Tánaiste, which means "Deputy") or more rarely as Omnicanerie ("the sort of person who makes white noise"), is the nominal leader of His Majesty's Loyal Opposition - the collective grouping of the political parties in the Cosa that are opposed to the sitting Government. The position has often shifted from being a statutory one to being informally picked by the largest non-Government party. Often, the largest non-Government party's leader effectively functioned as a Westminster-style Leader of the Opposition, without formally assuming the role. Unlike in the Westminster system, though, there is no requirement or convention that either the Prime Minister or the Leader of the Opposition sit in the lower house (the Cosa, in Talossa's case).

The current leader of the Opposition is Üc R. Tärfă MC, of the Free Democrats of Talossa.

History

The office of Leader of the Opposition has traditionally been an informal one; various politicians held it without it being an official statutory office, and in early history it was cited in certain bills (such as 14RZ9) despite not being exactly defined. It was finally first estabilished in 1995 by 20RZ20 (The Leader of the Opposition Act), which gave the King the prerogative of appointing it. The method of appointment was modified by the Opposition Leader Appointment Act of 1998, but this didn't meaningfully alter its status.

This version of the leader of the Opposition had certain privileges, such as being able to be consulted by the Government in some instances (such as immigration); however, said privileges were seldom exercised and the position was often vacant, and the post was abolished in 2005. Despite its abolition, references to the Leader of the Opposition were retained in law, in sections regarding the Living Cosa.

The post was reestabilished in 2019 by the Free Democratic government of Miestrâ Schivâ.

Current status

Under 53RZ10, the Loyal Opposition is defined as being formed by all MCs who have voted (or intend to vote) against Confidence; the Leader of the Opposition is by default the leader of the party with the most Opposition MCs, but this can be overridden by majority vote of the Opposition.

List of Leaders of the Opposition

The list includes self-styled and de facto opposition leaders. Statutory leaders are shown in bold.

Pre Reunision

Leader of the Opposition		Party	Tenure	Opposing		Notes
	Danihel Lauriéir	Democratic Dandipratic Party and PUNK	1st Cosa to 4th Cosa		Ián von Metáiriâ (TNP)
	Ben Madison	Progressive Conservatives	5th Cosa		Danihel Lauriéir (PUNK)
	Ben Madison	Progressive Conservatives	7th Cosa (4th Clark)		Robert Murphy (BFT)
	Ián von Metáiriâ	Talossan Nationalist Party	8th Cosa and 9th Cosa		Tom Buffone (PC)
	Danihel Lauriéir	Peculiar Way	10th Cosa		Jack Schneider (PC)
	Dave Kuenn	Liberal Party (1994)	18th Cosa		Gary Schwichtenberg (PC)
	Albrec'ht Lupulardit	Zefençadéirs dal Päts Talossán	23rd Cosa		Dale Morris and Dan Wardlow (PC)
	Cheneþ Velméir	Zefençadéirs dal Päts Talossán	24th Cosa		Tamorán dal Navâ (PC)
	Cévaglh Scurznicol	Talossan Liberal Party	25th Cosa		Tamorán dal Navâ (PC)
	Davïu Foctéir	Rally of the Citizens of Talossa	26th Cosa		Michael Pope (PC)	The leader of the biggest Opposition party was Danihél Roðgarüt (TLP)
	Xheralt Conâ	Zefençadéirs dal Päts Talossán	27th Cosa		Michael Pope (PC)	The leader of the biggest Opposition party was Danihél Roðgarüt (TLP)
Vacant
	Xheralt Conâ	Zefençadéirs dal Päts Talossán	30th Cosa		Michael Pope and Gödafrïeu Válcadác'h (PC)	de facto
	Michael Pope	Progressive Conservatives	31st Cosa		Mximo Carbonél (MN)	During the Halloween Crisis
Vacant - post abolished in 2005
	Owen Edwards	LRT	38th Cosa		Ma la Mha (RUMP)	Self-appointed as leader of the Edwards Shadow Cabinet. Ceased upon reformation of the LRT into the PP.
No other self-appointments until Reunision.

Post Reunision

Leader of the Opposition		Party	Tenure	Opposing		Notes
	Miestrâ Schivâ	ZRT	1 May 2012/XXXIII - 24 Nov 2012/XXXIII		Ma la Mha (RUMP)	Self-appointed as ZRT leader.
	Carlüs Xheraltescù	ZRT	24 Nov 2012/XXXIII - 24 Jan 2014/XXXV		Ma la Mha (RUMP) Cesli da Chilseu (RUMP) Txec dal Nordselva (RUMP)	Self-appointed as ZRT leader in the Xheraltescu Shadow Cabinet. Ceased upon taking office in the Da Dhi Cabinet.
Vacant during the Centre-left coalition. T. dal Nordselva and A. Davinescu were RUMP leaders during the three terms.
	Miestrâ Schivâ	FreeDem	28 Mar 2016/XXXVII - 31 Jan 2017/XXXVIII		Cresti Siervicül (RUMP)	Self-appointed as leader of the Schivâ Shadow Cabinet. Ceased upon taking office in the Second Da Schir Cabinet.
Vacant during the 2017-2019 MRPT governments - post officially restored in 2019
	Sir Alexandreu Davinescu	RUMP	1 Jul 2019/XL - 26 Jul 2019/XL		Miestrâ Schivâ (FreeDem)	First Opposition Leader under 53RZ10. Resigned.
	Éovart Grischun	RUMP	26 Jul 2019/XL - 22 Aug 2019/XL			Resigned from the Cosa and the party.
	Béneditsch Ardpresteir	RUMP	25 Sep 2019/XL - 25 Oct 2019/XL			Acting, not publicly announced as party leader. Terminated with dissolution.
	Eiric Börnatfiglheu	NPW	1 Jan 2020/XLI - 30 Jul 2020/XLI
	Ian Plätschisch	LCC	1 Sep 2020/XLI - 30 Apr 2021/XLII
	Sir Xhorxh Pol Brigă	Balançeu	22 Jul 2021/XLII - 27 Feb 2022/XLIII		Txoteu Davinescu (FreeDem)
	Breneir Tzaracomprada	TNC	22 May 2022/XLIII - 25 Feb 2023/XLIV		Ian Plätschisch (FreeDem)	First Leader of the Opposition to transition directly to Seneschal
	Antaglha Xhenerös Somelieir	FreeDem	25 Feb 2023/XLIV - 28 Mar 2023/XLIV		Breneir Tzaracomprada (TNC)
	Üc R. Tärfă		28 Mar - 9 Sep 2023/XLIV			Elected at the March 2023 Free Democrat party conference
	Miestră Schivă		9 Sep - 31 Oct 2023/XLIV			Elected at the September 2023 FreeDem Extraordinary Convention
			31 Oct 2023/XLIV - 6 Jan 2024/XLV		Bråneu Excelsio
			6 Jan 2024/XLV - present		þerxh Sant-Enogat	Enogat became Seneschal following Excelsio's resignation