[LibCon Convention]

[Dr. Txec dal Nordselvă]

If I'm allowed to, I second Dame Miestra's motions.

[Gödafrïeu Válcadác’h]

GV has entered the room...awww, yeeeeah...

I support this merger (however belatedly) and look forward to the future. Miestrâ for Secretary!

[C. Carlüs Xheraltescù]

Any other comments before proceeding? I feel like we've waited long enough.

[Munditenens Tresplet]

I would like to offer an amendment myself, to supplement Dame Miestra's proposed amendment:

To change all instances of "Liberal Congress" where it occurs throughout the Constitution to "Free Democrats" or "party" (where grammatically appropriate), with the exceptions of Sections I and IV. Specifically, these changes would be as follows:

III. The Liberal Congress party and its internal policy making decisions will be open and chosen democratically by its membership by simple majority vote; a constitutional amendment will require a 2/3 majority. Once a vote has been called, members have 3 days to cast their vote.

V. The party shall elect from its membership the following officers:
i. A President, who will serve as the party leader of the Liberal Congress Free Democrats and shall be responsible for the distribution of seats in the Cosa.
ii. A Secretary, who will be responsible for conducting elections in the party in addition to preparing important party documents for publishing, and providing the parliamentary party with any assistance it might need.
iii. Provincial Branch Chairs, who will serve as leaders of the party in their respective provinces and be responsible for the distribution of seats in the legislature of the province from which they are elected.

XI. In the event that a member is acting in a way that is damaging to the reputation of the Liberal Congress 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 Liberal Congress Free Democrats after two General Elections following the removal.

XIII. The Liberal Congress adheres Free Democrats adhere to the notion of 'constitutional agnosticism' which can be understood as a commitment to bridging the gap between the existing debate versus monarchism and republicanism. As such, members shall always be free from adherence to a party line that favours either side of the debate.

[Munditenens Tresplet]

I would also like to propose that we hold nominations for all party positions open for seven more days, those being for Party President, Secretary, and the Provincial Branch Chairs, if we are going to be electing officers during this convention. For the moment, we only have one nomination, and that is for Secretary.

I would further like to inquire as to whether or not we are going to go ahead and set our party list during this convention, as well as make our endorsements, or whether we plan to do all it outside of this convention at a later date. If it is the latter, then we may have to amend our constitution to allow it, assuming we don't call another convention in a couple months.

[C. Carlüs Xheraltescù]

Oct 18, 2015 18:05:10 GMT -6 Munditenens Tresplet said:

XIII. The Liberal Congress Free Democrats adheres to the notion of 'constitutional agnosticism' which can be understood as a commitment to bridging the gap between the existing debate versus monarchism and republicanism. As such, members shall always be free from adherence to a party line that favours either side of the debate.

That should probably read as 'The Free Democrats adhere...' but otherwise it's looking good.

[C. Carlüs Xheraltescù]

Oct 18, 2015 18:07:21 GMT -6 Munditenens Tresplet said:

I would also like to propose that we hold nominations for all party positions open for seven more days, those being for Party President, Secretary, and the Provincial Branch Chairs, if we are going to be electing officers during this convention. For the moment, we only have one nomination, and that is for Secretary.

I would further like to inquire as to whether or not we are going to go ahead and set our party list during this convention, as well as make our endorsements, or whether we plan to do all it outside of this convention at a later date. If it is the latter, then we may have to amend our constitution to allow it, assuming we don't call another convention in a couple months.

Sounds like a good plan.

I'll write something up in the next couple of days which enables us to call an Exceptional General Meeting or something, which will be empowered to change the constitution, approve/withdraw endorsements, set Cosa lists etc. without us having to worry about internal elections.

[Munditenens Tresplet]

Oct 19, 2015 4:20:14 GMT -6 C. Carlüs Xheraltescù said:

Oct 18, 2015 18:05:10 GMT -6 Munditenens Tresplet said:

XIII. The Liberal Congress Free Democrats adheres to the notion of 'constitutional agnosticism' which can be understood as a commitment to bridging the gap between the existing debate versus monarchism and republicanism. As such, members shall always be free from adherence to a party line that favours either side of the debate.

That should probably read as 'The Free Democrats adhere...' but otherwise it's looking good.

That's how it reads already. It's difficult to see the strikethrough of the "s", but it's there. In any event, I made it easier to read.

Oct 19, 2015 4:23:12 GMT -6 C. Carlüs Xheraltescù said:

Oct 18, 2015 18:07:21 GMT -6 Munditenens Tresplet said:

I would also like to propose that we hold nominations for all party positions open for seven more days, those being for Party President, Secretary, and the Provincial Branch Chairs, if we are going to be electing officers during this convention. For the moment, we only have one nomination, and that is for Secretary.

I would further like to inquire as to whether or not we are going to go ahead and set our party list during this convention, as well as make our endorsements, or whether we plan to do all it outside of this convention at a later date. If it is the latter, then we may have to amend our constitution to allow it, assuming we don't call another convention in a couple months.

Sounds like a good plan.

I'll write something up in the next couple of days which enables us to call an Exceptional General Meeting or something, which will be empowered to change the constitution, approve/withdraw endorsements, set Cosa lists etc. without us having to worry about internal elections.

I like the idea of proposing constitutional amendments during conventions, but I don't think we'd need to change anything in our constitution to allow for amendments outside convention, because we've done it in the past. I do agree with you regarding the endorsements and Cosa lists--we already have a provision that allows endorsements to be made in the event of a by-election (but not Cosa lists, interestingly), and that will need to be changed.

[Iustì Tíçhern Corneir]

So, in the spirit of exercising my freedom in this democracy, Id put myself forward as Maricopa Provincial Branch Chair, if there's no opposition.

And it's not just so I can start putting stuff on the signature line of my profile...

Although I will.

[Dr. Txec dal Nordselvă]

So, in the spirit of exercising my freedom in this democracy, Id put myself forward as Maricopa Provincial Branch Chair, if there's no opposition.

And it's not just so I can start putting stuff on the signature line of my profile...

Although I will.

Maricopa seems to be growing into quite a FreeDem stronghold as both the Senator and it's provincial governor (me!) are members. If our newest member wishes to be branch chair, I have no issues with that.

[Munditenens Tresplet]

Oct 22, 2015 12:43:35 GMT -6 Dr. Txec dal Nordselvă said:

So, in the spirit of exercising my freedom in this democracy, Id put myself forward as Maricopa Provincial Branch Chair, if there's no opposition.

And it's not just so I can start putting stuff on the signature line of my profile...

Although I will.

Maricopa seems to be growing into quite a FreeDem stronghold as both the Senator and it's provincial governor (me!) are members. If our newest member wishes to be branch chair, I have no issues with that.

And as the current Maricopan Branch Chair, I also would have no problems with that. Is there anyone else who is a FreeDem from Maricopa, or can we move that nominations be closed for this position?

[C. Carlüs Xheraltescù]

Oh, I should probably nominate myself for the position of President and leader of the party.

[C. Carlüs Xheraltescù]

I'd like to propose the following change to the constitution as well:

IX. The election of party officers, endorsement of Senäts candidates, and approval of MC party lists shall be conducted annually in a Convention held at the earliest convenience during Winter, defined as December through March. The party may, should it be deemed convenient, vote on the endorsement of Senäts candidates, and approval of MC party lists. If a by-election is called for whatever reason, endorsements may be made outside of the Convention. An Exceptional Conventions may be called by a petition of two-thirds (2/3) of the party membership, or by a simple majority vote of the party's officers, where the party may also vote on the endorsement of Senäts candidates, and approval of MC party lists if it has not yet done so for the electoral cycle. Should a by-election be called for whatever reason, endorsements may be made outside of Conventions.

[Munditenens Tresplet]

Oct 23, 2015 5:19:15 GMT -6 C. Carlüs Xheraltescù said:

President and leader of the party.

Wow, president and leader? Someone is power hungry!

[Miestrâ Schivâ, UrN]

Can I just ask: does this Convention set policy? Because I think we need to take the debate we've been having on FB, re: a programme of constitutional reform, into the formal and public arena.