SB 120-10: Default Party By-laws Act (Debating)

[PPT Spiral]

Default Party By-laws Act

Applicability
1. This default by-laws promulgated in this act shall apply to any federal party founded after the enactment of this act or any current federal party without any by-laws.
2. The default by-laws mentioned in this act may be amended or removed by a party at any point, provided such amendments are done according to a party's rules
3. For all federal Parties, the Supreme Court of Atlasia shall have original jurisdiction over cases involving disputes about party rules, unless party rules designate another venue for such adjudication. Only those currently registered as a member of a party shall have standing to file suit for disputes over party rules.

Default By-Laws
1. Until elections are held to determine otherwise, the first person to register as the member of a party shall be recognized as the acting Party Chair. If that person is no longer a member of the party, the acting Party Chair shall be the longest registered member.
2. Nomination periods for any party officials must run at least 24 hours. This period cannot be waived except by unanimous consent of all party members.
3. Votes for Party Officials must be kept open for at least 48 hours. This period cannot be waived except by unanimous consent of all party members.
4. Votes for Proposed by-laws must be kept open for at least 48 hours. This period cannot be waived except by unanimous consent of all party members.

Sponsor: Reagente

Debate has commenced and the Senator is recognized.

[reagente]

I am of the belief that the actions undertaken targeting Hui Liliʻuokalani yesterday were illegal and without legal force, but I think that passing a set of default by-laws would help make future attempts at hostile takeovers of smaller parties more difficult.

[Pyro]

It is not the government's job to mandate how independent political parties run their affairs. It is the responsibility of party officials to govern themselves appropriately and responsibility.

[reagente]

It is not the government's job to mandate how independent political parties run their affairs. It is the responsibility of party officials to govern themselves appropriately and responsibility.

Are you suggesting Hui Liliʻuokalani was at fault for what happened? Besides, federal law already mandates rules regarding how parties are ran. We might as well make federal law work to protect small parties from hijacking.

[Pyro]

It is not the government's job to mandate how independent political parties run their affairs. It is the responsibility of party officials to govern themselves appropriately and responsibility.

Are you suggesting Hui Liliʻuokalani was at fault for what happened? Besides, federal law already mandates rules regarding how parties are ran. We might as well make federal law work to protect small parties from hijacking.

Forcing "default by-laws" onto political parties is the wrong way to go about this. It is long-standing tradition that the federal government not play a major role in the operating business of party management. The few laws we do have on the books, like Sec. 5 of the Federal Electoral Act, are extremely minimal. To demand that all new parties immediately implement specific details regarding nomination periods specific and unanimous consent exceptions frankly robs them of their independence. Instead of implementing rigid rules as how parties can operate, let's pass a measure that will protect the autonomy of minor parties and prevent this from happening again.

[reagente]

It is not the government's job to mandate how independent political parties run their affairs. It is the responsibility of party officials to govern themselves appropriately and responsibility.

Are you suggesting Hui Liliʻuokalani was at fault for what happened? Besides, federal law already mandates rules regarding how parties are ran. We might as well make federal law work to protect small parties from hijacking.

Forcing "default by-laws" onto political parties is the wrong way to go about this. It is long-standing tradition that the federal government not play a major role in the operating business of party management. The few laws we do have on the books, like Sec. 5 of the Federal Electoral Act, are extremely minimal. To demand that all new parties immediately implement specific details regarding nomination periods specific and unanimous consent exceptions frankly robs them of their independence. Instead of implementing rigid rules as how parties can operate, let's pass a measure that will protect the autonomy of minor parties and prevent this from happening again.

Current federal law mandates that a majority of registered members (seemingly including members expelled from the party) can propose by-laws or elect a chair at any point in time, regardless of what a party's by-laws claim. Wouldn't it make sense to require that those by-laws or chair elections be voted on for a period longer than few minutes rather than leave open the current ambiguity?

Also, these are hardly "rigid rules" if they can be repealed and modified at will. It would stop outsiders from seizing control within a few minutes and leaving just as quickly after they accomplished their scheme.

What alternatives do you think would work better to protect small parties from these tactics?

[YE]

Strongly opposed to this for the reason Pyro mentioned.