Socialist Party - August 2015 Convention

[Cranberry]

SOCIALIST PARTY OF SOUTH AMERICA
August 2015 Convention

Welcome, Comrades

to the first of many full conventions of the Socialist Party of South America. This convention shall serve as a founding convention, a place for all members of our party to begin craft our party's and our nation's way ahead into a glorious future.

Sign in below!

x T. Cranberry, General Secretary


Scheduled points:

- Election of National Executive
- Election of party list for the next elections
- Creation of party manifesto for the elections
- Discussion on electoral campaign
- Selection of location for the next party convention

[SUSAN CRUSHBONE]

x evergreen

[Murica!]

x Murica!

[PJ]

X PJ

[Filuwaúrdjan]

X - Al

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

X Crabcake

[Cranberry]

With a number of members signed it, we can then go on to the first point on the agenda.

Elections for National Executive

You have 24 hours to declare your candidacy for National Executive, or to nominate another party member.

[Murica!]

I will run for a seat on the National Executive.

[Ban my account ffs!]

Snowguy signing in

[Хahar 🤔]

I will also stand for election.

[PJ]

I will run as well.

[Cranberry]

Alright, with 24 hours expiring, and no further candidates emerging, comrades Murica, Xahar and PJ stand for election to the National Executive.

With three seats open for election, and three declared candidacies, I hereby declare comrades Murica, Xahar and PJ duly elected to the National Executive of the Socialist Party of South America.

x Cranberry, General Secretary

[Cranberry]

Next point of the agenda then - everything related to the elections coming up. While the party constitution says that the list is to be elected just after dissolution, I guess we can use the time until then to talk more broadly about election procedure, meaning for example that party members who wish to be considered for a list position more to the front state said wish, but also that we can start talking about our election manifesto, and the campaign Comrade (and hopefully future PM) Crabcake is going to run.

Should any party member wish to speak in front of the convention on any matter, now is the time to do so, please do not hesitate.

[PJ]

I would like to run for a spot on the party list when we hold elections. Here are some general suggestions for planks of the campaign:

• Instating public funding of elections on all levels of government to fight corruption prevalent in South American politics.
• Transferring control of the social safety net, protection of worker's rights, education, the military, and other pertinent programs to the federal level.
• Decriminalization of homosexuality (which is still de-facto illegal in Guyana), legalization of same-sex marriage, protection of gays in the workplace and in housing, and legalization of abortion on demand.
• Creating a national citizenship law, instating freedom of movement throughout all of South America and abolishing border controls between countries, and crafting an open immigration policy for the country.

These are just general ideas to get the ball rolling that will need more detailed proposals over time.

[Cranberry]

Those are certainly sensible measures, comrade PJ, though I have to say I prefer No. 2 and 4 to the others, as I would rather see our party one focused on economical issues rather than on social matters or corruption or others. This does not mean that we should not tackle those issues as well, rather just that we focus mainly and primarily on the first, and dedicate just a smaller portion of our attention and our manifesto to the latter.

I welcome your interest in serving in parliament again after the elections, from what I could gather you are one of the most active and dedicated MPs, and I would love to see you on the second spot on our party list, and preferably also in cabinet after the elections.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

I think we need to define the nature of our new state; and the federal powers we are seeking for the people of South America. In particular, I wish to emphasise:

- the public ownership of our natural resources. By this, I hope these resources are used for the benefit of the nation as a whole rather than its constituent states.

- the free movement of persons and goods throughout the nation, and the eradication of all existing barriers preventing such movements.

- the setting of minimum standards of both economic and social rights, for all citizens of our nation. (We can define which rights should be central to our campaign here)

- the formation of a small, but unified military; and the consolidation of our constituent nations' significant soft power. It is in our power to transform our nation into a world leader in spreading democracy, socialism and human rights.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Crabcake's suggestions are good ones I think: a pragmatic platform that is also firmly radical is the most likely to prove successful. We can demonstrate to the electorate that there are things that we would institute that would improve their lives, while also demonstrate to other parties in parliament - as we are certainly not going to win a majority alas - that what we propose is a) practical and b) would result in a stronger state.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Oh, and I would like to run for a spot on the Party's list.

[Murica!]

I also support comrade Crabcake's proposal and would also like to be on the party list.

[MalaspinaGold]

X MalaspinaGold

[PJ]

I welcome your interest in serving in parliament again after the elections, from what I could gather you are one of the most active and dedicated MPs, and I would love to see you on the second spot on our party list, and preferably also in cabinet after the elections.

Thank you comrade!

I'm also in full support of Crabcake's proposal.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Comrades, I wish to to propose the following Resolution to the Convention. If passed it would be added to our election manifesto.

1. The Socialist Party is unequivocally opposed to the presence of foreign politicians in our political system and will propose and pursue legislation that will ban foreign officeholders from serving in Parliament.

[Хahar 🤔]

I support Mr. Widdershins's proposal and I also am interested in placement on the Party list.

[Cranberry]

Comrade Crabcake's points are very sensible in my opinion as well, I am especially a fan of his second proposal. In my view, especially this early on in the existence of our nation, our focus should very well be aimed on what we think the nation should be and become. This is obviously a wide-ranged focus, starting with obvious laws dealing with freedoms of movement (here, we can take the example of the EU on how to accomplish this), over a common market and currency, to unifying laws regulations in all aspects of public life, labour and policy making. But I believe that, in this vital forming phase of our nation, we need a strong Socialist voice depicting exactly what we want our nation to be, in order to let this vision become reality.

Comrade Sibboleth's proposal is certainly an interesting one. Correct me if I'm wrong, comrade, but am I reading this right that a law following this proposal would ban officeholders that are currently registered to vote in the nation named 'Atlasia' in the northern part of our continent?

[Filuwaúrdjan]

It would not ban people who merely hold citizenship in our northern neighbour from holding office, Comrade General Secretary, but it would ban people who happen to hold office in our northern neighbour from also holding office here. We must protect the integrity of national institutions at this critical moment in our history.