Voting - Amendments to Key Statute (ends Aug 14)

[Sevastáin Pinátsch]

To vote on changes to the Key Statute. For reference, the existing Statue is reproduced below:

(Md-0)

THE KEY STATUTE

PART I. THE MRPT
#1. The Moderate Radical Party of Talossa is a political party in the Kingdom of Talossa.
#2. The symbol of the MRPT is a seahorse.
#3. The official colors of the MRPT are electric blue and orange.
#4. The official logo of the MRPT is the word “MRPT” in electric blue, with the “M” having a wider left bar with an orange seahorse inside it, and an orange horizontal bar of 1/3 of overall logo height beneath.
#5. The primary goals of the MRPT as an organisation are, amongst others, the following:
5.1. To represent its’ members and other MRPT voters in the Cosâ and provincial assemblies.
5.2. To constructively contribute to Talossan politics.
5.3. To promote activity, individual freedom, diversity, democracy and other moderate-radical values in Talossa.
5.4. To stand for the protection of both Talossan democracy and the Talossan monarchy.
5.5. To support the cause of Moderate Radicalism in Talossa.
5.6. To give its members an opportunity to engage actively in Talossan politics.
#6. The MRPT consists of Party Members. Party Members can be appointed offices (see parts II and III)

PART II. MEMBERS
#7. Every Talossan can express his wish to enter the MRPT. New members will be approved as soon as they have the support of at least 1/3 of the membership. If within one week support for the application has not been given by 1/3 of the members or if within one week more than 10% of the members have objected to the application, a Referendum will be held on the matter. (See Part IV)
#8. Every Party Member can quit the party simply and clearly stating his wish. Party membership is renounced once a Member has stated his desire to quit or loses his Talossan citizenship or dies.
#9. Members can be removed from the party by a vote of at least 2/3 at the Party Congress. Such a vote will only be held if at least 1/3 of the members sign a petition asking for such a vote. During the Congress, the member who is the subject of this vote will still have full voting rights.

PART III. PARTY OFFICES.
#10. The Party Leader is the elected leader of the party. He is responsible for every party office that isn’t filled by any other member, except that of campaign leader.
#11. If the Party Leader resigns, is no longer a party member or is removed by the members of the party in a Referendum, or whenever this is required by the Congress regulations, an election will be held according to Part IV or the Key Statute or, in case this happens to coincide with the party Congress, the Congress regulations. Until a new Party Leader is elected, the Vice Party Leader will serve as an interim Party Leader.
#12. The Party Whip is the leader of the MRPT in the Cosâ. Should the MRPT get seats in the Cosâ, the candidate who was the Cosâ list leader will become Party Whip. The Party Whip is responsible for leading the Clark discussions, getting all the MC’s of the party focused and on the same line and, in the absence of a Party Speaker, possibly explaining certain decisions made by the MRPT MC’s. Should the Party Whip vacate his Cosâ seats, the MC who was next on the candidate list for that Cosâ becomes the Party Whip.
#13. There always must be a Vice Party Leader to replace the Party Leader in case of absence. Should the Party Leader lose his function for whatever reason, the Vice Party Leader will automatically become the Party Leader until a new Party Leader is elected. When the MRPT has a Party Whip, the Party Whip will automatically be Vice Party Leader as well. When the Cosâ is dissolved or when the MRPT vacates all its seats in Cosâ, the former Party Whip will remain the Vice Party Leader until the Party Leader appoints a new Vice Party Leader, or a new Party Whip is appointed.
#14. The Party Recruiter is an optional office the Party Leader can appoint. The Party Recruiter’s duties include searching for potential party members from the scores of the Talossan Citizens. The Party Recruiter is appointed by the Party Leader. Every member can be a Party Recruiter.
#15. The Party Speaker is an optional office the Party Leader can appoint. The Party Speaker’s duties include communicating with the outside authorities and citizen, improving the MRPT presence into Talossa, Wittenberg and the Web, including taking care of any information about the MRPT and its members on newspapers and Wikis. He should be able to answer any question regarding the party policy. The Party Speaker is appointed by the Party Leader. Every Member can be a Party Speaker.
#16. The Party Secretary is an optional office the Party Leader can appoint. The Party Secretary’s duties include updating the Party Digest and other party documents, and conducting elections and referendums (see part IV) outside the Congress and election season. The Party Secretary is appointed by the Party Leader. Every Member can be a Party Secretary.

PART IV. PARTY DECISION MAKING OUTSIDE ELECTORAL SEASON.
#17. Internal party decision making can take forms of an Election, or a Referendum.
#18. An Election is a form of a party decision in which the members have the choice between a number of candidates for the appointment of an authority.
#19. When an election is announced outside congress, any member, who is eligible for the position, can write himself in the list of candidates. This period lasts for 3 days since the Elections started. An Election takes a week to be officially valid, if 2/3 of the Members have voted. Otherwise, the Elections are to be prolonged for one more week.
#20. A Referendum is a vote on a motion concerning the party policy or party regulations or documents, or any other party-related issue not linked with the current Clark or the Leader Election. A Referendum can be called by any Member on any issue on which the party has authority. Any decision made by the party leadership, including appointments, can be subject to a referendum. Once a Referendum has started, every Member has to exclaim his opinion (“PËR”, “AUS” or “CON”) with optional explanation. Except where otherwise provided a motion passes a referendum if the PËR votes outnumber the CON votes. The Referendum will end after 2 weeks, after one week if ¾ of the members have voted, or when there’s zero mathematical possibility for a change of the final result.
#21. Clauses 17-20 are only valid outside election season. (See part V.)
#22. The party leader will be in charge of any negotiations with the intention of forming a coalition government, assisted by the Party list leader, unless the party congress decides otherwise. Any coalition deal must be approved by a majority of MRPT members in a vote taking at least 3 days.
PART V. PARTY DECISION MAKING DURING ELECTORAL SEASON.
#23. Election season will be defined as the period between the start of the congress and the end of the General Elections, or in case the congress decides not to participate in the elections just the end of the congress.
#24. The congress is the gathering of MRPT members for an event of active party decision making held before each General Election.
#25. Congress dates and rules are determined by the Congress Regulations (see Md-5)
#26. After the Congress until the end of the General Elections the Party Leader is allowed to make small changes to the manifesto and candidate lists and to make additional decisions on behalf of the party. The decisions made by the party Congress must be respected as much as possible.
#27. All party candidates for the Cosâ have the right to veto a change to the Manifesto.
#28. If more than 10% of the party membership or a candidate for the party objects to a decision made by the Party Leader a vote lasting at least 2 days will be held on the matter in which the original decision must get a majority of those who voted.
#29. The Manifesto and candidate lists of the party may no longer be amended after the start of the Elections.
#30. The Party Leader is responsible for the registration of the party.
#31. Both the Party Leader and the Cosâ list leader are registered as party leaders for the Cosâ elections.
#32. MRPT members are entitled to any seats the MRPT receives during the election based on the order of the candidate list, once they indicate their willingness to accept seats for the party. Seats that are not accepted or vacated are also assigned based on the order of the candidate list starting with the first spot on the list that wasn’t originally assigned a seat
PART VI. PROVINCES.
#32 Type A provinces are provinces where the MRPT members in that province have drafted and approved democratically their own statutes, unless they are no longer used.

#33 Type B provinces are provinces where the MRPT has no provincial party statutes, but where the MRPT members have democratically elected a provincial party leader.

#34 Type C provinces are provinces where the MRPT has no provincial leader and no provincial statutes.

#35 In Type A provinces, decisions about provincial candidate lists, provincial office endorsements and provincial party leadership are made along the line of the provincial party statutes. Provincial party statutes may not conflict with the national statutes of the party.

#36 In Type B provinces decisions about provincial candidate lists, provincial cooperation with other parties, provincial office endorsements and other provincial party issues are made by the provincial party leader.

#37 In Type B provinces, all decisions made by the provincial party leader can be overruled by a majority of the provincial MRPT members. The provincial party leader can also be removed by a majority of the provincial MRPT members. Any MRPT member in that province may call for a vote on provincial party issue.

#38 Any MRPT member in a Type B or C may propose provincial statutes. They can be approved by a 2/3rd majority of the MRPT members in that province/

#39 In Type C provinces decisions about provincial issues are made by the national party leader and can be overruled by a majority of national MRPT members.

#40 Whenever a provincial party leader in a type B province resigns, is removed from office or is no longer a member of that province or has been in office for more than 15 months or whenever a member in a type C province propose to hold an election on a provincial party leader, an election will be held to elect a new provincial party leader using a preferential voting method.

PART VII. PARTY DIGEST, KEY STATUTE AND OTHER DOCUMENTS.
#41. The Party Digest is a collection of all relevant party documents and regulations.
#42. Every document should be given an index number. MRPT Documents are numbered with the “Md-number” pattern. “Md” stands for “MRPT document”.
#43. The Key Statute, the party primary document, holds an exclusive “Md-0” index. Every other document is to be given an index starting from “Md-1”.
#44. The Party Secretary is the main editor of the Party Digest and is responsible for its’ content.
#45. The Key Statute and Congress regulations may only be amended in a vote in which the PËR votes outnumber the CON votes by a factor 2 or more.
#46. Any major change to documents or other regulations is subject to Referendum or vote at the party Congress, except where otherwise provided.

[Sevastáin Pinátsch]

The following amendments have been received:

Ortographic amendments

Motion 1:
#6. The MRPT consists of Party Members. Party Members can be appointed offices (see parts II and III)
#6. The MRPT is composed by Party Members. Party Members can be appointed to Party Offices. (see parts II and III)

Motion 2:
#7. Every Talossan can express his wish to enter the MRPT. New members will be approved as soon as they have the support of at least 1/3 of the membership. [...]
#7. Every Talossan can apply for membership in the MRPT. New members will be approved as soon as they have the support of at least 1/3 of Party Members. [...]

Motion 3:
#8. Every Party Member can quit the party simply and clearly stating his wish. [...]
#8. Every Party Member can quit the party by simply and clearly stating his wish. [...]

Amendments

Motion 4:
#20. [...] The Referendum will end after 2 weeks, after one week if ¾ of the members have voted, or when there’s zero mathematical possibility for a change of the final result.
#20. [...] The Referendum will end after one weeks, after four days if half of the members plus one have voted, or when there’s zero mathematical possibility for a change of the final result.

Submitter's note: Right now, it takes an absurd amount of time to pass a Referendum, about three weeks if you count the discussions that eventually lead to voting. I'd like to shorten the period, since 90+ % of the votes are usually cast in the first few days.
I'd like to lower the quorum to end the election as well. Three quarters of the total number of members is an absurdly high quorum to end the voting in advance.
Motion 5:
#22. [...] Any coalition deal must be approved by a majority of MRPT members in a vote taking at least 3 days.
#22. [...] Any coalition deal must be approved by a majority of MRPT members in a Referendum.


Submitter's note: Since we're shortening the length of a referendum, I'd also like to employ it for this kind of decisions, instead of a generic "vote taking at least three days".
Motion 6:
#28. If more than 10% of the party membership or a candidate for the party objects to a decision made by the Party Leader a vote lasting at least 2 days will be held on the matter in which the original decision must get a majority of those who voted.
#28. If more than 20% of the party membership or a Cosa candidate for the party objects to a decision made by the Party Leader a vote lasting at least 2 days will be held on the matter in which the original decision must get a majority of those who voted.

Submitter's note: 10% is two members. Two members out of fifteen or so disagreeing is too few to delay/block a decision.

[Glüc]

Almost forgot we were voting on this too.

1. AUS (The first sentence is weird, but I think the alternative is too)
2. PER
3. PER
4. AUS Unsure about this one. Outside election season we usually have lots of time, while participation is low.
5. CONTRA, even a week is too long I think. Unlike with normal referenda, when building a coalition we are actually in permanent hurry.
6. CONTRA, honestly, at some times,if I would have declared myself supreme leader of the party for eternity, I doubt whether 4 members would even notice. A small group of active members must be able to keep an eye on the party leader, not block decisions, but allow for a vote.

[Lüc]

1 - PER
2 - PER
3 - PER
4 - PER! Participation with a 50%+ turnout has already been achieved and I feel it's not low at all, and "lots of time" is very wrong since we started voting on CCX's inclusion when it was happening and finished when we barely remembered what the referendum was about. It's statistical: 90%+ of votes are cast in the first days of the referendum.
5 - AUS, I see your point.
6 - PER, because if few than four members notice and disagree, they will normally ask to other members for opinions, and right now we do have at least four permanently active members - I daresay we have at least six.

[Sevastáin Pinátsch]

1. PËR
2. PËR
3. PËR
4. PËR
5. CON
6. CON