A new political alliance to be unveiled on August 29th aims at shaking up Scotland's socialist pro-independence camp. Going under the name of RISE, this alliance of parties, civil society movements and unions will stand at the 2016 Scottish Parliament election. Its platform, RISE promoters say, will be based on "participatory democracy, democratic public ownership, the redistribution of wealth and power from the rich to the poor and full independence from the British state and its monarch."

The establishment of RISE (an acronym for Respect, Independence, Socialism and Environmentalism) has been debated since the aftermath of the September 2014 independence referendum. Promoters want to seize the opportunity arising from the fact that the pro-independence camp has since attracted working class citizens disillusioned with social policies by the UK government and with the perceived lack of compliance with promises of substantial enlarged autonomy for Scotland.

Organizations propelling RISE include the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP, had some MSPs elected in the 2003-2007 term) and the Scottish Left Project (SLP), an organization established in October 2014 with the aim of paving the way towards an anticapitalist alliance in 2016.

Individual social and political leaders are also involved in RISE. One of the most prominent ones is independent MSP Jean Urquhart, who was elected in 2011 to the Scottish Parliament as an SNP member. Urquhart left the party in 2012 after the SNP changed its stance regarding NATO and accepted that an independent Scotland would remain a member of that military alliance.

As RISE promoters suggest, the campaign goal will be to seek votes mainly among two constituencies. On the one hand, clearly left-leaning SNP voters; on the other, former Labour voters disappointed with social and national policies of that party.

RISE will stand only for regional constituencies, where it is easier to win seats than in first-past-the-post constituencies. Some 2015 surveys suggest the SSP alone could reach 3% of the votes. That figure would likely be insufficient to get any seat, but now it remains to be seen what impact will the new coalition have. As of today, opinion polls point to a very clear SNP victory, which could even widen its current absolute majority.