[FDP] Announcing the FDP Party Constitution
Arthur Wellesley
PREAMBLE:
The Free Democratic Party is a party committed to efficient government, effective government, and energetic government. We operate along the lines of a state that is as large and involved as is necessary, but as small and disinterested as possible. We believe in personal freedoms, both social and economic, and we believe in the importance of market reliance in questions of economic stability and growth. We believe in the rights of national self-determination, and the rights of a people to decide the path they wish their government to pursue through a free and fair democratic process. These are our bedrock political principles. Party policy will be derived from these basic beliefs, and the FDP will challenge all governmental policy that runs counter to them.
Article I: Party Membership
Section 1: The Free Democratic Party accepts any and all individuals who wish to join. Party membership shall follow the typical in-game procedures for membership. However, all party business will be conducted on the eUK forums (forums.erepublik.co.uk), and individuals interested in FDP membership shall request admittance through the standard processes thereof.
Section 2: Individuals may be dismissed from party ranks through the proper procedure. The procedure shall be as follows: an FDP member shall propose disciplinary action against the offending member and present the case against them to the Party President. The Party President, if he or she feels the matter to be serious enough to merit further action, shall inform the offending member of the charges against them and bring forward a public discussion on the matter. A party vote shall be held for fourty-eight (4
😎hours, requiring a 66% majority of present voters to dismiss. If a majority is reached, the member will be dismissed from the user group and the ejection shall be made publically known. If a majority is not reached, it will be the job of the Party President to ensure reconciliation.
Article II: Party Structure
Section 1: The structure of the party shall be largely defined based upon need by the Party President. However, there shall be several permanent positions. The Party Vice President shall be a permanent job without a function that will automatically fall to the member with the highest experience in the party. They will be required to be an active and involved FDP member. This is to ensure continuance of leadership in the unlikely event of the resignation, banning, etc. of a current Party President.
Section 2: The Party President shall be required to hold a Shadow Cabinet when the FDP is not in government. This will be composed of individuals within the party skilled in Economics, Foreign Affairs, Domestic Affairs, and Military Planning that will assist the Party President and any potential Prime Minister with policy formation. The Shadow Cabinet shall be appointed by the Party President, and the Prime Ministerial candidate can request changes to the Shadow Cabinet during the campaign.
Section 3: The Party President shall appoint a Party Whip to aid in matters of party discipline, electioneering, candidate recruitment, development, guidance, and recruitment.
Article III: Elections
Section 1: On the 6th of every month -- the day after the CP elections -- all prospective Party President candidates must have announced their intention to run. By the 9th of every month, those candidates must have posted their manifestos. On the 11th, the Party President shall start a 48 hour vote between all candidates. Unless a clear majority for a single candidate emerges, the Party President shall then launch a 24 hour vote between the top two candidates. The process should conclude by the 14th of the month. All losing candidates will be asked to withdraw their candidacy at this time except for the candidate who has won the forum vote, and this decision shall be made publically known through the public relations apparatus. Any losing candidates who do not withdraw their in-game candidacy shall be subject to party discipline as defined in Article I, Section 2. Should there be a tied vote, runoff elections will be held until there is a victor, or until the in-game vote occurs and the two candidates will be decided by that mechanism.
Section 2: On the 16th of every month -- the day after the PP election -- all prospective Prime Minister candidates must have announced their intention to run. By the 19th of every month, those candidates must have posted their manifestos. On the 21st, the Party President shall start a 48 hour vote between all candidates. Unless the top candidate has a supermajority of 66%+, the Party President shall launch a 24 hour runoff vote between the top two candidates. The process should conclude by the 26th of each month. The Party President shall, on the 26th, propose the candidate in-game, and the campaign shall then be begun. Should there be a tied vote the Party President shall negotiate with the top candidates and negotiate a winner.
Section 3: On the 20th of every month all candidates for the General Election must have registered their intention to run with the Party Whip. This must include a peer reviewed manifesto. The Party Whip will make recommendations to all candidates regarding constituency and has the authority to request a candidate to defer his campaign to another candidate, move his campaign to another region, or to stand down. The Party President has the authority to override the Party Whip in these circumstances, but is strongly encouraged to place confidence in the Whip.
Article IV: Constitutional Changes
Section 1: Any FDP member in good standing may recommend a change to the Party Consitution. The member may post the idea on our forums and, if the Party President feels there is sufficient support for the measure, he will begin a formal seven day long debate thread on the matter. At the end of the seven day debate, there will be a fourty-eight hour vote. The measure must reach a 66% supermajority to pass, and the change will then be made to the Constitution.
Section 2: In times of crisis, political instability, etc., the Party President may request an Emergency Resolution to be adopted by the Free Democratic Party which may change procedures from the proper Constitutional guidelines. To do this, he must have at least five members in good standing sponsor the act. If he has five co-sponsors, he may proceed for up to seven days under the temporary guidelines. At the end of this period, he must either revert to the old process or follow the procedure laid out in Article IV, Section 1 to amend the Constitution.
Comments
FDPmaxxx
The FDP is p. awesome.
Nice copy of the TUP Constitution 😛
Hey guess what, you ass, I've never seen the TUP constitution.
How dare you sir!
RFAmaxxx 😮
Isn't that all copied off TUP? I wish you look, but like Tesco branded coke vs. Coca Cola, FAIL!
Vote TUP ppl, don't be fooled by cheap imitations.
"Fat cats". No?
"Any FDP member in good standing may recommend a change to the Party Consitution" but if you're not one of the elitist few who thirst for power and created this party in an attempt to control the nation for their own personal benefit then you can forget having any say at all.
lol
TUP trolls, how adorable.
No, not adorable, sad.
Anaxima 44 minutes ago
lol
TUP trolls, how adorable.
+1
I like a lot of your members but your arguments simply derive from simple insults. Critics here are being shouted down as trolls.
zumbum, "Troll" is the battle cry of the elitism cabal which is the FDP.
I would like to state that it was not our intention as a party to imitate the format of The Unity Party and we did not consider this as a possibility when it was drafted.
While we understand there are concerns about the nature of the Free Democratic Party, these should be voiced in a logical and reasoned manner, unlike the views presented from both parties within this comments section.
Should anyone have any issues they wish to raise with the party or hear our voices on key issues, do not hesitate to contact one of our party members, who will guide you in the right direction.
Thank you.
I like the majority of this constitution, but one bit which I dont really understand is the preliminary out of game Party Elections. Surely by making running for Party President in-game totally symbolic, it will only discourage people to run.
Prehaps a better system would be the exact same as above, but without any candidates forwarding the nomination before the final vote is taken, saving people gold.
@Dan
How would you know? You're not even a member.
I love how 'experience players who want something different in a party' somehow equates to 'snobby elitists who sit around sipping tea and discussing how great they are'.
Still Peace Mongrols?
Whilst I hold all that you have done and achieved in the past in high regard, I see little that is good in this document.
I fail to see how it helps the general population of the eUK; this looks more like a skeletal set of Party rules, not a manifesto.
It is always good to see policies in Party manifestos - not list of procedures and rues!
CC
@Certacito - This is not a manifesto of policies nor is a constitution for the general public. It is a constitution of rules and regulations for the membership of the Free Democratic Party. Our manifesto and proposed constitution will be announced at a later date.
Woooooooooop FDP
Now pass that tea Caoimhin, 'we are great' 😛
I love it! A completely amoral party with absolutely no underlying philosophy whatsoever.
"What do we stand for?"
~"Nothing!"
"When do we want it?"
~"Whenever!"