I'd just like to ask under what authority you are proposing such amendments. Are you proposing them as a proxy through a member of PPI? Because as far as I understand, no American Pirate Party is a member of PPI, and unless my understand of organisations in general is unclear, non-members of an organisation can't propose amendments to their statutes.<br>
<br>No USA here: <a href="http://int.piratenpartei.de/Members_of_the_PPI">http://int.piratenpartei.de/Members_of_the_PPI</a><br>No American representative's signature on the statutes here: <a href="http://int.piratenpartei.de/wiki/images/a/a6/Statutes_of_the_Pirate_Parties_International.pdf">http://int.piratenpartei.de/wiki/images/a/a6/Statutes_of_the_Pirate_Parties_International.pdf</a><br>
<br>That said, there's nothing wrong with most of what you're proposing, it's just a shame that you couldn't propose them as a member of PPI.<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On 18 February 2011 07:36, Andrew Norton <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:ktetch@gmail.com">ktetch@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
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I realize that, under the strict interpretation of the statutes of PPI,<br>
the deadline for this was Saturday, but since the INTENT was that<br>
amendments be known in advance, so we don't have the farce of them being<br>
presented for the first time AT the event (like last time), and this<br>
more than fulfills that. Also, the actual letters of the statutes have<br>
not exactly been followed with any sort of dogged determination (and<br>
besides, I'm sure most people aren't even aware of what the proposed<br>
amendments are -<br>
<a href="https://spreadsheets.google.com/a/pp-international.net/ccc?key=0AnZcn8ossPs2dHBPTVp5UVh1R21EZ2RsN3Z3VVJfMnc&hl=en&ndplr=1#gid=0" target="_blank">https://spreadsheets.google.com/a/pp-international.net/ccc?key=0AnZcn8ossPs2dHBPTVp5UVh1R21EZ2RsN3Z3VVJfMnc&hl=en&ndplr=1#gid=0</a><br>
so far<br>
<br>
Ok, amendments. (the * marks some commentary and reasons for it)<br>
<br>
To section IX,<br>
- -modify<br>
(4) Member Organizations are represented at any meeting of the<br>
General Assembly by a delegate or delegates not exceeding two from<br>
any one Member Organization.<br>
*This is changed from six to two. Six gives extraordinary weight to<br>
parties local to the event's location (especially those representing the<br>
host country), who can steer the actions to methods more preferential to<br>
them, rather than to the organisation and movement as a whole. An<br>
international body should represent the whole membership, not be biased<br>
by the local groups.<br>
<br>
add<br>
(8) The location of the General shall be held in preference in a country<br>
that has not hosted before. In addition, no more that two consecutive<br>
General Assembly's may be held on the same continent.<br>
* This codifies what has been the general rule for these events back to<br>
2007, when the first one was held. The second part also ensures that it<br>
does NOT remain held in Europe, or indeed any other continent should<br>
another regional group control the board. In other words, it reaffirms<br>
the internationalism of a group that deems itself 'international'.<br>
<br>
To Section XII<br>
- -add to end<br>
(1) To that end, any and all positions in member organizations (except<br>
for that of 'ordinary member') must be terminated before taking office<br>
* This is just plain self-evident. An officer of PPI can not represent<br>
PPI _and_ a member party. The potential for conflicts of interest are<br>
too high. (for a real life example, look at Ban Ki-Moon, who resigned<br>
his post in the South Korean Govt. after being elected UN Sectary General.<br>
<br>
- -modify<br>
(7) The meetings are public unless one third of the members of the<br>
Board vote in favor of a non-public meeting. The decision to hold a<br>
secret meeting must be motivated. Minutes of public meetings have<br>
to be published, in written form, not less than two weeks after the<br>
meeting. The Board has to inform the General Assembly on its next<br>
meeting on the fact of non-public meetings.<br>
* While voice chats seem to be the rage, the problem is they're not very<br>
good as records. We have one audio file for the meeting, consisting of<br>
voices which may be muffled, and comprise people that are often speaking<br>
English as a second language. It's INCREDIBLY difficult to understand<br>
for some people. It's also not searchable/indexable. Finally, it's quite<br>
discriminative against the deaf. Thus a written log. It's much easier to<br>
see what happens, to follow the conversation, to accurately quote the<br>
actions of the board. It's also just good practice for access for the<br>
handicapped. Really, this is a no-brainer.<br>
<br>
- -add<br>
(9) Board members may be removed by a special vote of no confidence by<br>
the General Assembly members. Said vote requires 72 hours notice. The<br>
vote will be open to all member organizations, one vote per<br>
organization, and the results will be published on the . Should the vote<br>
pass by 50%+1, the Board member will be removed from the position<br>
immediately, and be prohibited from running for election to the board<br>
for a period of 12 months.<br>
* For a political movement where so many members have 'accountability'<br>
as a key principle, or underlying message, there is a clear and obvious<br>
lack of any sort of accountability for the board. At present, the _only_<br>
way to remove a board member is to hold a general assembly meeting<br>
(either the regular one, or an emergency one) which requires a 5 week<br>
lead-time. That's a long time to leave someone who is thought to be<br>
acting 'badly' in place, PLUS it requires the entire board to be<br>
re-elected. The barrier is also higher than the extrodinary meeting<br>
route, as reflects the abbreviated timescale.<br>
<br>
XVII<br>
- -modify<br>
(2) The Treasurer supervises the Pirate Parties International budget and<br>
reports to the Board, and the representatives of the General Assembly<br>
every three months.<br>
* This just adds in the mater of informing the GA of the budget, as it<br>
is, after all, them that are contributing.<br>
<br>
END<br>
<br>
Most of my suggestions are fairly clear, and are nothing more than<br>
applying Pirate Party principles, to the structure of PPI. In effect,<br>
showing that we will work by the rules and ideals we champion.<br>
<br>
As I said, they're 5 days 'late', but they're still in plenty of time<br>
for the actual event. As I said, it's not like I'm proposing them the<br>
morning of the event, as was the case with the statutes themselves.<br>
<br>
Andrew Norton<br>
<br>
<br>
- --<br>
Andrew Norton<br>
<a href="http://ktetch.blogspot.com" target="_blank">http://ktetch.blogspot.com</a><br>
Tel: (352)6-KTETCH [352-658-3824]<br>
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____________________________________________________<br>
Pirate Parties International - General Talk<br>
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</blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Regards,<br>Brendan Molloy<br>Pirate Party Australia<br><br>M: +61 434 069 776<br>