Citizens HQ - Provisional Convention coming

[Lumine]

Citizens

Foreword:

The current party system appears to be more broken than ever. We appear to be badly served by an imperfect form of two-party politics which have drawn us into what many Atlasians describe as the “Nyman Consensus” or “Echo Chamber Consensus”. With many brilliant independent-minded Atlasians shut out of the political process due to not belonging to either main party, now more than ever Atlasia needs a strong, alternative political force willing to break the mold and reform our nation for the better. This is where “Citzens” comes into play. We purport to be a centrist, reform-minded party which can welcome independents and disaffected members of either main party. Not so we become “Labor-lite” or “Federalist-lite” or the “Moderate Hero Party” (far from it), but to offer genuinely different points of view, promote new and novel ideas and instill greater life in our political and party system. We want to serve as a platform to help newer or independent-minded Atlasians to rise, run for office and help change things for the better. If you feel independent voices require a stronger presence in Atlasia, if you want to see our Republic thriving under reasonable reform, if you believe in responsible governing in matters such as fiscal responsibility, technological development, constitutional reform, regional devolution or environmental protection (to name a few), then “Citizens” may just be the party for you.

[Lumine]

A New Beginning

Press Release: Former President Lumine founded the new party "Citizens" today, citing the need to renew the current political system and offer a new centrist, independent and reform-minded party to the public.

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[Lumine]

I guess I'll be forever member #2.

Hmm...sounds interesting...I'll join.

I'm excited to join Lumine's new party and to continue fighting for the same ideals that we ran on!

Gentlemen, glad to have you on board!

Is the name of this party be abbreviated to C's? (Similar to the Spanish party)

Ideally yes, I did draw some inspiration from Ciudadanos.

[Lumine]

So, Mr. Former President, will you also show you have nothing to hide á la Albert Rivera?

The one question on all of our minds.

Madam Speaker, nothing would be more satisfactory than to show I have nothing to hide. Alas, there are no risque pictures of Lord Heseltine (and thank god for that!)

[Lumine]

Now for an incredibly important question: what is the hex code for this party's official color?

#0092f4

[Lumine]

Figured I'd be the first elected officeholder to join this party.

Spiral, that's great news! Welcome to the party.

Now that we have several members I think it's time to move into the leadership and having our by-laws (and hopefully then moving into a more detailed platform). I think we should have a Chairman and a Secretary, and a Vice-Chairman only if there is interest.

So I'll leave 48 hours open for people to be nominated or to nominate themselves for an office. I'll be running for Party Chairman, of course.

[Lumine]

A welcome to our newest members! Citizens is by numbers the third-largest party now, and we still have room to grow!

I won't join, but I wish you the best of luck! Congratulations on your new party!

Many thanks, Haslam, that means a lot.

So far our nominations are as follows:

Chairman:
Lumine

Vice-Chairman:
Spiral

Secretary:
Rpryor
Simfan

[Lumine]

Should we begin working on the platform soon?

Indeed, we'll hold a brief election for Vice-Chairman and Secretary (no other candidate has risen as Party Chairman) for 48 hours, and then I'll open the process for by-laws and the platform. We'll be recieving ideas for platform planks, debating them and voting, a process which I hope will take anywhere from a week to two weeks (so we do this well).

Also, I'll remember the party members that some elections are coming in November (particularly in Fremont), so please consider whether you can or wish to run for office!

I hereby open the election for Secretary and Vice-Chairman for 48 hours, please rank the candidates:

Vice-Chairman:

[ ] Spiral
[ ] Simfan

Secretary:

[ ] Rpryor
[ ] Simfan
[ ] Spiral

[Lumine]

Spiral is elected our Vice-Chairman, Rpryor our secretary. Congratulations, gentlemen!

I leave a period of a week open to debate the platform and the by-laws. I will be posting a basic framework for simple by-laws, and I encourage party members to propose planks to our platform so we can debate them and then vote on them.

[Lumine]

Apologies for not having been around, I'll be posting proposals soon. Evidently the time for by-laws and platform is extended.

[Lumine]

I assume candidates will be chosen by primaries?

(Since I appear to be headed toward a tough primary against Talley, this is something i'd like to know.)

Ideally, yes, there should be primaries. I have the draft of by-laws almost ready and will post them in a few minutes. There will be 72 hours for further proposals, and then we vote (so we can have this ready ASAP).

[Lumine]

By-Laws Proposal:

CITIZENS
By-Laws

I.- Members:

1.- All members registered by the Registrar General as belonging to Citizens will be considered as full members of the party.
2.- Party members are expected to behave in a dignified manner suitable for a political party, and therefore can be subject to censure or expulsion from the party. Motions for reprimands or expulsions can be raised by either the Chairman, Vice-Chairman or at least two party members. Censure votes require a simple majority of voting party members, and Expulsion votes will require a two-thirds majority of voting party members.
3.- Party members are entitled to the endorsement and full support of the party in elections in which they are candidates, unless the number of party candidates is superior to the available seats, in which case primaries shall be held. The only other exception to automatic endorsements are Presidential Elections.
4.- Primaries for party endorsement will be run with an STV vote organized by the Chairman, or in his absence, Vice-Chairman or Secretary.

II.- Party Leadership:

1.- The Citizens party leadership will be comprised by a Chairman, Vice-Chairman and Secretary, all  offices to be voted on at every party convention.
2.- The Chairman will provide executive leadership for the party and will be in charge of overall strategy and planning.
3.- The Vice-Chairman is entitled to lead the party as Acting Chairman in the absence of the Chairman, and tasked with party recruitment and GOTV efforts regarding elections.
4.- The Secretary is tasked with keeping record of the party's activities, running online and wiki efforts including updating of articles and necessary information. The Secretary is entitled to lead as Acting Chairman in the absence of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman.
5.- Leadership Elections will be held by Citizens at every party convention with an STV vote to last 48 hours. Should there be a single candidate for a particular office said candidate will be immediately appointed to that office.

III.- Party Conventions:

1.- Citizens will hold party conventions on February, June and October. These conventions will provide for the election of the party leadership, endorsement votes for President and Vice-President, debates on the platform and by-laws.
2.- These conventions must begin at least three weeks before the scheduled presidential election.
3.- A week before the convention is to open the Chairman will open nominations for the location, accepting one nomination per-party member during a period of 48 hours and then holding a 48 hour STV vote to determine the winner.
4.- All Citizens members who sign in at the convention will be granted status of delegates, as long as they joined Citizens at least a week before the start of the convention.
5.- The schedule of each convention is left to the party leadership.

IV. - Party Dissolution:

1.- Dissolution motions for Citizens can be brought up by a party member on the Citizens HQ, and if seconded by at least one party member an immediate 48 hour debate will commence. Then a public 48 hour vote (between YES and NO) will be held, dissolution only passing with a majority of at least two-thirds.

[Lumine]

You know the drill, ladies and gentlemen, 72 hours for amendments or alternative proposals, and then we vote.

[Lumine]

Just joined today -- count me in for Citizen's!

Great to have you in the party, DFL, welcome!

[Lumine]

Just joined today -- count me in for Citizen's!

Great to have you in the party, DFL, welcome!

Alright, officially running for Fremont House of Commons with the Citizens Party!

Excellent news!

Quite a strong team we have running now, let's hope for a great opening performance once the election comes.

[Lumine]

Sorry, been busy writing my thesis. I'll consider the by-laws adopted since there was no dissent or any public issues with it. And absolutely, work should begin on the platform.

Please feel free to post potential ideas or planks!

[Lumine]

Gentlemen,

I must offer a public apology here. My thesis was up to be delivered today, and I've been forced to write at least 50 pages over the past three days. I've managed to finish writing it, but the process has left me utterly drained and exhausted, and I had to give my full, complete priority to it.

So I apologize for not being around, the party deserves better from a party chair. I commend the party members who have taken the initiative in platform and running for office, and offer my sincerest apologies most of all to them.

I'll probably be downscaling the time spent on the forum (beyond hosting a game) as I need to recharge my own batteries after the effort of the past few days, so I'll be considering whether to offer my resignation tomorrow if I truly feel I can't commit. I prefer to be on the serious side of the matter here, and not kill a rising party out of my own inactivity.

Anyway, I'll think carefully about this and issue a clear decision ASAP. Congratulations on wxtransit if he won, truly an excellent result for an excellent candidate!

[Lumine]

72 hour vote on by-laws open, then I'll make an announcement.

[Lumine]

Aye.

By-laws approved.

After much consideration and reflection I've made up my mind to stand down as Party Chairman in the coming days. I'll call for a first party convention (as we still have a long way to go until February), with the first order of business being to choose a new leadership to take the party towards the future, settle the platform, and so on. I don't have the energy right now, and there's plenty of able people to take over.

I'll leave a day or two for people to reflect on whether they want to stand, and open the convention no later than Thursday.