Liberal Congress

Liberal Congress

Leader: C. Carlüs Xheraltescù

Founded: 4 March 2014

Disbanded:25 September 2015

Beliefs: Liberal, progressive

The Liberal Congress (El Congréßeu Liberál) was a Talossan political party announced on 18 March 2014/XXXV by C. Carlüs Xheraltescù, former leader of the ZRT. He was joined shortly after by a number of Talossans from across the political spectrum.

The Liberal Congress fused with the ZRT on 25 September 2015 to form the Free Democrats of Talossa.

Talossan Liberalism

The Liberal Congress subscribed to the philosophy of Talossan Liberalism, encompassing the comprehensive liberal commitment to the protection of political, civil, provincial and personal liberties in Talossa in addition to radical political and electoral reform ranging from a reduction in the number of Cosa seats thereby preserving political competition, to reforming party registration fees.

Succinctly, the Liberals aimed to provide greater freedom for Talossans to choose their own conception of the good in addition to providing far-reaching reform.

Constitution

On the 23rd of April 2014, the Liberal Congress voted to adopt a Constitution to govern the party. The current version is available below.

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The Constitution of the Liberal Congress

I. El Congréßeu Liberál (the Liberal Congress) is an active political party in Talossa whose purpose is to fight for and defend the liberties of it citizens and provinces.

II. The official slogan of the party shall be ‘livertà pirméis!’ (liberty first!)

III. The Liberal Congress and its internal policy making decisions will be open and chosen democratically by its membership by simple majority vote; a constitutional amendment will require a 2/3 majority. Once a vote has been called, members have 3 days to cast their vote.

IV. The official logo of the Congress shall be as below:

V. The party shall elect from its membership the following officers:
i. A President, who will serve as the party leader of the Liberal Congress and shall be responsible for the distribution of seats in the Cosa.
ii. A Secretary, who will be responsible for conducting elections in the party in addition to preparing important party documents for publishing, and providing the parliamentary party with any assistance it might need.
iii. Provincial Branch Chairs, who will serve as leaders of the party in their respective provinces and be responsible for the distribution of seats in the legislature of the province from which they are elected.

VI. Provincial Branch Chairs shall only be elected from the membership of the province for which they are seeking office. The President shall serve as the de facto Provincial Branch Chair in the event of a vacancy.

VII. All members of the party shall be eligible to both vote in elections to and stand for the above offices. Fourteen days’ notice should be given prior to these elections being held on the forum used for conducting party business, and nominations should open when this notice is given.

VIII. Members are free to organize themselves into caucuses within the party. Caucuses shall annually make available to the Secretary a point of contact, purpose statement, and organizing document. The Secretary shall keep a list of all registered caucuses.

IX. Election of party officers, endorsement of Senäts candidates, and approval of MC party lists shall be conducted annually in a Convention held at the earliest convenience during Winter, defined as December through March. If a by-election is called for whatever reason, endorsements may be made outside of the Convention. Exceptional Conventions may be called by a petition of two-thirds (2/3) of the party membership.

X. Membership shall be open to all Talossan citizens.

XI. In the event that a member is acting in a way that is damaging to the reputation of the Liberal Congress, a petition representing at least half of the party membership may be presented to the party leader asking for the member's removal. The party leader shall schedule closed removal proceedings and notify the member in question, along with a copy of the petition, no less than ten days before such proceedings are to begin. During the proceedings, the member shall be afforded an opportunity to present his defense, and other members may also make their own arguments for or against the removal. On the fifth day of the proceedings, the party leader shall call a closed vote to be held on the removal. If two-thirds (2/3) of the membership vote in to remove, the member shall immediately be removed, and the party leader shall publicly announce the removal. A removed member shall be eligible to rejoin the Liberal Congress after two General Elections following the removal.

XII. Activities such as sewing, knitting and tea drinking are encouraged among members.

XIII. The Liberal Congress adheres to the notion of 'constitutional agnosticism' which can be understood as a commitment to bridging the gap between the existing debate versus monarchism and republicanism. As such, members shall always be free from adherence to a party line that favours either side of the debate.

Party Policy

Initial Policy Points

• Repeal of the Semi-Permeable Wall

• Support the repeal of three-strikes

• Removal of Provincial Military Governors

• Support reduction of seats in the Cosa

• Support a privacy law for information used on private and public sites relating to Talossa

• Support freedom of choice between voting secretly and voting publicly

• Support legislation to prevent associations from discriminating against individuals on the basis of whether they voted publicly or privately

• Support the revival of the Council of Governors to promote greater interaction between our provinces

• Support a more accessibly judicial system for simple disputes

• Prevent government appropriation of private projects through nationalisation, but where possible provide government support for such projects which need it.

Age Minimum for Citizenship Applicants

The Liberal Congress' position on the minimum age for citizenship is such that it supports efforts to require applicants to have turned 14 before the next scheduled balloting day in order to become citizens.

Registration Fee Reform

The party seeks to reform the party registration system so as to ensure fair equality of opportunity between political parties. Their intention is to reduce the fee from $20 to $15, and to require a small contribution of $5 from successful Senatorial candidates until such a time as an alternative source of income can be found.

Cosa Seat Reform

According to the policy motion as adopted on the 8th of May 2014, the Liberal Congress supports the eventual reduction of the number of seats in the Cosa to 20, and to limit the number of seats an MC can hold to one per person. It is their hope that this will preserve electoral competition and to prevent complacency among Talossa's politicians.

Anti-Espionage Policy

As adopted on the 13th of June 2014, the Congress supports the removal of unnecessary espionage laws 'which undermine the trust and friendship upon which Talossa has been built.'

Communications Privacy

The Liberal Congress seeks to prohibit party leaders automatically having access to the e-mail addresses of citizens upon paying a fee of $20, and looks to explore opt-in/out systems of party communications instead.

Slimming Down Government

The party voted to add a policy of slimming down the government by merging governmental departments (Immigration, Home Affairs, and Defence) to their platform for the 47th Cosa elections on the 20th of August, 2014.

Members

• Carlüs Xheraltescù
• Iason Bitxichë Taiwos
• Munditenens Tresplet
• Éovart Andrinescu
• Txosuè Éiric Rôibeardescù
• Cresti Ionescu Newton
• Chris Foster
• Chirbi S. Carriedo
• Françal Ian Lux

External links

• LC Party forum