FREE DEMOCRATS PARTY CONVENTION starts February 15

[Bentxamì Puntmasleu]

I would also like to suggest that the provinces can have value as "laboratories of Talossanity" similar to how U.S. states have been conceived of as "laboratories of democracy."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laboratories_of_democracy

[Bentxamì Puntmasleu]

I submit two proposed planks that deal with federalism reform. The first is intended as a compromise between pro-federal and pro-unitary positions within our party. It calls for a centralized federation and a unicameral Ziu, coupled with a change of how the Organic Law is amended so that ratification requires the majority of voting citizens of Talossa at large AND a majority of voting citizens in a majority of provinces. The second calls for the right of Talossan citizens (other than denizens of Metropolitan Talossa) to relocate among provinces after a minimum period of time. I have detailed my rationale for this in post #29 of this convention.

1.) "We advocated for a centralized federation in which the provinces are constitutionally guaranteed their right to exist, the right to territorial integrity, and their right to sustain a population of citizens; but in which all powers of the provinces are granted by legislation of the national Ziu, rather than by the Organic Law. We also support the abolition of the Senäts, coupled with a change in how the Organic Law is amended so that ratification requires both a majority of voting citizens of Talossa at large and a majority of voting citizens in a majority of provinces."

2.) "We wish to promote the organic development of diverse and distinctive provincial identities within the Talossan national identity. To this end, we call for the right of Talossan citizens to relocate to another province of their choosing after a set period of time as citizens of the province they were assigned by catchment area."

[Bentxamì Puntmasleu]

I withdraw the second of my above proposals as it does not appear to have consensus.

[Miestră Schivă, UrN-GC]

Okay cünpartiaes, I'm going to set up a draft post here outlining everything we've got so far to vote on. WE ARE NOT VOTING ON IT YET - that'll wait until after the guest speeches.

Nominations for Party President:
Miestră Schivă

Nominations for Party Secretary:
@Antaglha Xhenerös Somelieir

Nominations for Provincial Branch Chairs:
(none yet))

Proposed Amendments to the Party Constitution (need 2/3 majority):

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT 1: MEMBERSHIP
That Section IV of the Constitution be changed from:

IV. Membership shall be open to all Talossan citizens. The Secretary of the Party shall be entitled, no more than once a year, to conduct a Census of all party members to make sure they still see themselves as Party members and that their contact details are up to date. Any member who does not respond to this Census within 30 days shall be deemed to have resigned from the Party.

to:

IV.
a. Membership shall be open to all Talossan citizens who agree to abide by this Constitution, endorse the Party Policy, and are not currently members of another nationally registered party. However, the rights of any party member in good standing to seek changes to the Constitution or Policy in accordance with this Constitution shall never be infringed.

b. A prospective member must provide such contact information to the Party Secretary as the Party Secretary may ask for. The Party Secretary shall keep this information confidential, to be shared only with the Party Leadership, and used only for party business.

c. The Secretary of the Party shall be entitled, no more than once a year, to conduct a Census of all party members to make sure they still see themselves as Party members and that their contact details are up to date. A Party member who does not reply to this census within 30 days shall be deemed to have offered their resignation, which shall be accepted at the discretion of the Party Leadership.

CONSTIUTIONAL AMENDMENT 2: SUSPENSIONS AND EXPULSIONS
That section XIII of the Constitution be changed from:

XIII. In the event that a member is acting in a way that is damaging to the reputation of the Free Democrats, a petition representing at least half of the party membership may be presented to the party leader asking for the member's removal. The party leader shall schedule closed removal proceedings and notify the member in question, along with a copy of the petition, no less than ten days before such proceedings are to begin. During the proceedings, the member shall be afforded an opportunity to present his defense, and other members may also make their own arguments for or against the removal. On the fifth day of the proceedings, the party leader shall call a closed vote to be held on the removal. If two-thirds (2/3) of the membership vote in to remove, the member shall immediately be removed, and the party leader shall publicly announce the removal. A removed member shall be eligible to rejoin the Free Democrats after two General Elections following the removal.

to:

XIII.
a) The Party Leadership, upon petition of at least 1/2 of party members or at its own initiative by majority vote, shall suspend members for:
i) stated violations of this Constitution;
ii) publicly voting for or joining another nationally registered party;
iii) bringing the party into disrepute in a stated way.

b) A suspension decision, the justification for it, and the provisions for lifting this suspension (as contained in the rest of this section) shall be communicated to the suspended member as soon as possible and through all possible means of communication. A suspended member's rights under this Constitution shall cease to apply during their suspension, including the right to participate in Party discussion forums.

c) On the first day of the next Party Convention, the Party Leadership shall publicly announce a recommendation for every suspended member whether to lift their suspension, continue their suspension until the next Convention, or to expel the member. A recommendation to lift suspension shall be effected immediately. A recommendation to continue suspension or to expel shall take effect after 5 days, unless the suspended member addresses the Convention requesting a hearing.

d) A hearing shall be held in closed session and shall be chaired by a Talossan citizen agreed to by both the suspended member and the Party leadership. The Party Leadership shall make the case for continued suspension or expulsion, and the suspended member may make a case against this decision. Debate shall then ensue, in which other party members may make their own arguments or statements, moderated by the chair of the hearing. After no fewer than five days, the chair of the hearing shall call for a vote as to whether to accept or reject the Party Leadership's recommendation. A quorum of no less than 1/2 of current membership shall be required to endorse a motion to continue suspension or to expel. If the vote fails, the member's suspension shall be immediately lifted. The outcome of the hearing shall be immediately publicly announced.

e) An expelled member shall be eligible to rejoin the Free Democrats after two General Elections following the expulsion.

Proposed Amendments to the Party Platform (majority vote):

PROPOSAL 1:
That Section B of the Party Platform be changed from:

B. CUTTING THE RED-AND-GREEN TAPE
Talossa's government and legal structure is top-heavy, unwieldy, hard to navigate and no fun. We support the repeal of all laws and abolition of all Government posts and procedures which are more trouble than they are worth to keep going. We want a smaller, consistently active Cabinet, a Ziu which offers active oversight of the Cabinet and intelligent scrutiny of laws, and a functioning Judiciary.

to:

B. A POLITICAL SYSTEM FOR EVERYONE
Free Democrats want a political system where *democracy and expertise* balance each other. We want an end to "green-and-red tape"; our politics and laws have to be simple and straightforward enough that any citizen can become a political leader or seek justice in the Corts with minimal training. In turn, the Royal Civil Service should recruit those with specialist skills to work for the Kingdom independently but under political supervision.

PROPOSAL 2:
That Section A of the Party Platform be amended by adding the following:

We oppose any attempts to change the current provisions to replace or establish a successor to the Monarchy - that is, the standard provisions of Organic Law amendment - without a full reform and/or replacement of provisions for Talossa's Head of State.

PROPOSAL 3:
That a new Section  of the Party Platform be added:

SECTION E. FEDERALISM REFORM
We advocate for a centralized federation in which the provinces are constitutionally guaranteed their right to exist, the right to territorial integrity, and their right to sustain a population of citizens; but in which all powers of the provinces are granted by legislation of the national Ziu, rather than by the Organic Law. We also support the abolition of the Senäts, coupled with a change in how the Organic Law is amended so that ratification requires both a majority of voting citizens of Talossa at large and a majority of voting citizens in a majority of provinces.

[Miestră Schivă, UrN-GC]

I would like to see, if I can:

a) one or more provinces putting forward a Branch Chair;
b) someone suggested making our current policy on Ár Glheþ more substantial, but I didn't see any concrete suggestions

[Miestră Schivă, UrN-GC]

Okay, here is my counterposed Federalism policy plank:

Provincial governments in Talossa only function intermittently; by and large the provinces only act as electoral districts for Senators. We support reforms to the Senäts and other Organic provisions to provide incentives for provincial governments to be more active, or to create new provinces, either by splitting or merging.

[Miestră Schivă, UrN-GC]

Happy to say that Bentxhamí has accepted my proposed alternative Federalism plank.

Any other nominations for office, or amendments to Party Policy or Constitution? Since the proposed guest speeches don't seem to be happening, might roll onto voting phase soon, which will last 72 hours so if you snooze you lose.

[Breneir Tzaracomprada]

Happy to say that Bentxhamí has accepted my proposed alternative Federalism plank.

Any other nominations for office, or amendments to Party Policy or Constitution? Since the proposed guest speeches don't seem to be happening, might roll onto voting phase soon, which will last 72 hours so if you snooze you lose.

Saddened to see the guest speeches are canceled. I was looking forward to speaking to FreeDems.

[Miestră Schivă, UrN-GC]

Saddened to see the guest speeches are canceled. I was looking forward to speaking to FreeDems.

... they're not cancelled. You just never sent me your draft speech so I assumed you were no longer interested. Please do so and we can continue.

[Breneir Tzaracomprada]

Saddened to see the guest speeches are canceled. I was looking forward to speaking to FreeDems.

... they're not cancelled. You just never sent me your draft speech so I assumed you were no longer interested. Please do so and we can continue.

¡Azul!

I've put forward a proposal to the party as to allowing you to give a guest speech. You realise that, as the effective leader of our opponent party, this is a matter of great delicacy. The suggestion I have made is that you speak after Lüc da Schir has given his guest speech, and that you give us a draft of your speech in advance to ensure that you're not going to use our platform to trash us. If these conditions are acceptable, I can confirm or deny within 24 hours.

If the opportunity has not passed then those conditions are acceptable to me. I did want to reassure you that Therxh is both the de facto and de jure TNC leader. We have disagreements and he has the final say. And I think you will like my speech.

So this was the message I can find but there was another communication from you saying that you didn't have Luc's speech yet and that the opportunity is still available until Luc gives his speech. I can't actually see whether Luc gave his speech and have not heard from you in a couple weeks now. :)

As I mentioned I am more than happy to have you review my speech to be sure you are not being trashed.

[Miestră Schivă, UrN-GC]

I'm not sure what you're waiting for, Brenéir. I still haven't seen your draft speech and we're about to go to the close of the convention.

[Breneir Tzaracomprada]

I'm not sure what you're waiting for, Brenéir. I still haven't seen your draft speech and we're about to go to the close of the convention.

I think it was clear that I was waiting to hear from you concerning whether Lüc had given you his speech. That is why I mentioned you telling me you were waiting for his speech. Because you told me I would go after his speech, Miestra. I can't see whether he has given his speech and I never heard from you as to that fact either.

Please let me know, Miestra.

[Miestră Schivă, UrN-GC]

I assumed you want would give me your draft speech in plenty of time for feedback? Waiting until your speaking slot and only then providing the draft doesn't seem to leave much time for that, or perhaps I'm mistaken.

I don't think Lüc wants to speak any more, so please go ahead.

[Breneir Tzaracomprada]

I assumed you want would give me your draft speech in plenty of time for feedback? Waiting until your speaking slot and only then providing the draft doesn't seem to leave much time for that, or perhaps I'm mistaken.

I don't think Lüc wants to speak any more, so please go ahead.

That's all I needed to know. Thanks Miestra.
Speech has been sent to you just now.

[Breneir Tzaracomprada]

Guest speech to the FreeDems convention:


Azul to you as proud co-citizens of our Kingdom. Let me be clear in saying I know you love our nation as much as I do. So, I first want to thank you for making space for someone with whom you have had rancorous disagreements and may still not trust to speak. And trust, the rebuilding of it, in a fashion that endures is the goal of this speech. I aim simply to tell you where I am coming from and hope that an increase in understanding will lead to a higher likelihood of trust even if there is no agreement. I must, however, preface my words by saying I speak as a private citizen not as Distain nor as a member of the Talossan National Congress.

I support the immediate end of the reign of King John. The legacy of his service to Talossa is already beyond doubt. But the status quo threatens the institutional maintenance of the monarchy. I am a fundamentally pragmatic person so if forced to choose between the continuance of a reticent and distant monarch and a republic with an active head of state then I will choose a republic. It is not only people who serve in institutions but it is also institutions existing in service to the people. The goal is an active head of state whose close relationship with the citizenry helps to nurture and strengthen the necessary bonds between Talossans.

In the recent past, I took a step back from this as I wanted to give our current monarch one final chance to increase activity and nurture the necessary bonds between a head of state and their people. I also lost trust in my partners engaged in that effort. But I have closely observed the King's activity levels since then and as a supporter of the institution it is necessary to ensure its continuance by placing someone on the throne with the interest and abilities to perform the duties. My close observation of the current Secretary of State, Sir Txec dal Nordselva, is what convinced me to propose his elevation to the throne. This is not a machiavellian maneuver. This is an attempt to place someone who is competent and capable of being a unifying and active symbolic representative for the nation.

During the next term of the Cosa, no matter who is in Government, I will personally support efforts to resolve this enduring issue. Either through a potential revisiting of the previous legislation, through the consideration of my own proposal, or in cooperation with a broad-based convention focusing on this issue. I acknowledge it will be difficult for some to trust these words based on what has happened in the recent past but I hope this public statement will allow cross-partisan progress. And that this basic exercise in multiparty problem-solving can be the foundation of good faith lowering of temperatures and trust-building.