Socialist Party

[Filuwaúrdjan]

X - Sibboleth

[Filuwaúrdjan]

There are different structural models to consider anyway. As a general point I would recommend a division between the management of the party as an organisation and the party leader/prime ministerial candidate/etc.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

And I hate to be that guy, but I would also suggest a re-write of the platform. It currently reads like something produced by a Student Union and will be an open invitation from other parties to not take us seriously.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Oh I totally understand that.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

So how about this? The first part may be familiar to some people here but is a classic for a reason...

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[Filuwaúrdjan]

How can we have internal elections for posts that we have not even established yet? I motion that any internal 'elections' are immediately suspended until we officially adopt a Party Constitution.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

It is the norm for socialist parties (of whatever stripe) to have a permanent National Executive of some kind, which functions as sovereign on internal Party matters at all times when there is no Party Conference/Convention/Congress. I recommend that we adopt this system ourselves. I would suggest an Executive of five seats: one for the Leader, one for the General Secretary and three to be directly elected by the Members. Alternatively we could have two directly elected seats and one seat elected by the members of our affiliated organisations. This would also mean that there would be no need for a Deputy General Secretary (which would make the Party less top heavy). A National Executive would also make it easier to have reasonable disciplinary procedures: having such a body suspend or end someone's membership would obviously be preferable to an individual taking such decisions.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Anyway, I would like to announce the formation of a Party faction to be called Socialist Unity. We stand first and foremost for a strong Party structure.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Made a couple of modifications to PJ's (actually pretty good) draft:

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Article VI: Membership
a. Any person agreeing to the Party platform shall be allowed to join the Socialist Party of South America.
b. Any member who brings the Party into disrepute or who engages in anti-Party activities is liable to have their membership suspended or canceled by the National Executive.
c. Any member who runs in an election against a duly nominated candidate of the Socialist Party of South America shall be automatically expelled from the Party pending appeal to the National Executive.

Article VII: Conventions
a. A convention shall be called once per year by the General Secretary at a time of his or her choosing.
b. All members of the party shall be allowed to participate in the proceedings of the convention.
c. Convention is absolutely sovereign over all Party matters when in session.
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[Filuwaúrdjan]

But less democratic.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

The advantage also is that at an early stage of the game the party leadership does not develop into an exclusive clique.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

We can just slot in something like 'amendments to the Party Constitution may only be made during Convention'  or something.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Aye

[Filuwaúrdjan]

We can perhaps use them in our first election manifesto? Such a document should be more detailed than a party platform.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

In which case the time has come to elect a Leader. I wish to nominate comrade Crabcake.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Cranberry would make a fine first General Secretary I feel. He has the enthusiasm and drive required.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Its an uncontested election so there is no need for a vote.