[ZRT CONVENTION] Constitution of the ZRT

[Miestrâ Schivâ, UrN]

While we wait for our Convention Chair to take his seat, I'll just upload a few documents that we can discuss... Questions? Comments? Suggested amendments?

DRAFT CONSTITUTION OF THE ZRT (by Miestrâ Schivâ)

1. Els Zefençadéirs del Repúblicanismeu Talossán (the ZRT) is a political party active in the Kingdom of Talossa, agitating for the reduction of the King's influence and, eventually, an elected head of state.

2. The logo of the ZRT is as below:


3. The Platform of the ZRT is as contained in Appendix 1. The Platform contains the basic principles which form the basis for Zefençismeu, the ideology of the ZRT, and the basis of membership in the party.

4. Nothing in this Constitution shall abridge the right of all party members to publically and privately organise and agitate for changes to the Constitution, Platform or leadership of the Party, given that such organisation does not otherwise violate the Constitution or Platform.

THE CONVENTION

5. The ruling body of the ZRT is the Convention. The convention shall be called together at least once in the life of every Cosâ. It may be called by the CC or by a petition of at least 5 non-CC members. The Convention shall be composed of all Party members and any non-voting guests as the CC chooses to invite, and shall be chaired by the outgoing Party President.

6. A party member is anyone who registers as such with the General Secretary and agrees to abide by the Constitution of the ZRT. The CC may suspend party members until the next Convention, on presentation of evidence of violation of their obligations under this Constitution.

7. The Convention may amend this Constitution or the Platform by simple majority vote. It may expel members from the Party on a 2/3 majority on presentation of evidence of violation of their obligations under this Constitution, effective as of the end of the Convention.

8. The Convention shall also decide on a Manifesto, containing the key policies on which the ZRT will campaign in forthcoming elections. The Manifesto shall not contradict the Platform.

9. The Convention shall elect a Central Committee (CC) in the following way:
a) a Party Leader by preferential vote;
b) a General Secretary by preferential vote;
[The outgoing Party President shall conduct these elections.]
c) up to five other members by single transferable vote.
[The new General Secretary shall conduct this election.]

THE CC

10. The Central Committee acts as the collective leadership and decision-making body of the Party between Conventions. At Conventions, the CC shall present reports for debate, amendment and ratification by the membership on the previous election campaign, future strategy, and any recommended changes to the Constitution or Platform. The Central Committee shall choose a Party President to chair its meetings.

11. The Party Leader shall be in charge of ideological and political leadership of the Party, and be its chief spokesperson in public. The Central Committee may name other party spokespeople on various issues, who shall be responsible to both the Leader and the CC.

12. The General Secretary shall be in charge of organisation of the Party. S/he shall keep a roll of current members and administer party publications.

13. The Party President shall chair meetings of the CC, and organise discussions within the Party on the content of the Manifesto or of changes to this Constitution or the Platform.

14. The CC may suspend and temporarily replace (until the next Convention) any of its own members by majority vote, on presentation of evidence of violation of their obligations under this Constitution.

15. The CC shall be in charge of bestowing and withdrawing nomination of electoral candidates; for drafting and submitting a Party List of candidates for Cosâ elections, and other formality of nominations; and for giving guidance to the ZRT Caucus on interpretation of the Constitution or Platform in reference to day-to-day decisions. The CC may amend the Manifesto between the Convention and the election.

THE CAUCUS

16. The ZRT Caucus includes all MCs, Senators, and provincial elected officials and members of legislatures who are ZRT members, as well as the members of the CC. Those elected with ZRT endorsement but who are not party members may be observers of the Caucus. A Caucus member who is suspended or expelled from the Party shall be suspended or expelled from the Caucus.

17. The ZRT Caucus shall collectively decide its position on provincial and federal legislation and Votes of Confidence. Freedom to vote against this collective line may be granted on a case-by-case basis by the Caucus to individual members or delegations.

18. The ZRT Caucus shall be bound in all their decisions by the Constitution, Platform and Manifesto of the party.

[C. Carlüs Xheraltescù]

We'll need to specify how many party members can be elected to the Central Committee. My opinion is that the CC should comprise of 3 non-executive members in addition to the Party Leader and the General Secretary.

[Miestrâ Schivâ, UrN]

I got no issue with that, but someone else was suggesting a 5-member-total CC was too small, weren't they?

[C. Carlüs Xheraltescù]

I would invite them to present their argument here and state why our Central Committee should contain more than 5 members.

In a party of our size it's impractical and, generally speaking, pointless for us to hold elections for a CC if the majority of our party's members are going to be a part of the CC anyway. Furthermore, we don't want to run the risk of failing to fill the vacant seats in the CC due to lack of interest.

[Óïn Ursüm]

These issues can all be discussed when the motion for adopting the Constitution is brought before the Convention.

[Sarac'h Txilvertescu]

I think 4 would be sufficient at current party sizes.

[Colonel Mximo Carbonèl]

Simple solution ... start with 3 and add a seat every 10 new members.

Mximo