28.08.2002

Reviewing our constitution

The constitutional review sub-committee of the Socialist Alliance executive committee met last week to begin the task of drafting suggested changes to the SA constitution. The committee - comprising SA chair Liz Davies, national secretary Rob Hoveman and Marcus Ström, SA nominating officer - will submit a report to the executive. The NEC will then prepare a report for annual conference with recommendations for any constitutional changes. Areas of review identified by the committee include: national/local membership structure; conference standing orders; committee majority and minority reports; election of the executive committee; regional structure; appeals; selection process for SA candidates; finance and auditors; and affiliation to the Socialist Alliance. Given the uneven development of SA branches and the cumbersome and bureaucratic process of ratifying membership at both national and local levels, the committee was unanimous in the view that the membership structure should be streamlined so as to achieve a single national system. This will be reviewed in consultation with the membership officer, the treasurer and the branches. There is a strong case for moving to a national membership structure on the grounds of the electoral commission's requirement for financial accounting units. There is no suggestion of doing away with the 50-50 division of membership subs. National office would send 50% of membership fees to the relevant branches. A suggestion for standing orders for national conferences was raised. While the committee recognised the need for flexibility and for the possibility of the rapid convening of national conferences in cases of emergency, it was felt that there should be a standard timeline for submitting motions. The committee also felt that there should be a threshold of a mover plus nine seconders for a motion to reach conference floor. The draft proposal is for notice of national conferences to be set at 10 weeks, the deadline for motions at six weeks, with amendments due two weeks before conference. This would allow final composited motions and amendments to be made available one week in advance. There was a debate - and a difference - on the committee about proposals to change the method of election to the executive committee. The majority - comrades Davies and Hoveman - agreed on an amended slate process, whereby any member of the SA may be individually nominated as a candidate, provided they have 10 sponsors. Election of the executive will then be achieved through the nomination of competing slates which may only be comprised of people who have been individually nominated beforehand. Votes would be cast for the slate as a whole and the election would be conducted by exhaustive vote. I proposed individual election to the executive with a recommended list coming from a democratically elected conference arrangements committee. Delegates to conference would be free to put forward alternative recommended lists. Conference would decide upon the size of the executive for the coming 12 months. If this were to be, say, 19, then the 19 candidates standing for election with the most votes would be elected. Delegates to conference would have 19 individual votes. The executive will discuss both suggestions. I also proposed that any executive report to conference may also be accompanied by a minority report. It would be up to the executive to decide what minority report went forward, hence placing political responsibility for this on the executive majority. The committee agreed that candidates of the Socialist Alliance should be SA members in every case. We also agreed that a regional structure for the alliance should be strengthened. This will be particularly important in the lead-up to the European parliamentary elections in 2004. We agreed that there should be scope in the constitution for socialist, working class and progressive organisations to affiliate or sponsor the Socialist Alliance. Such affiliation would incur a fee but would give no organisational or voting rights to such affiliates. We also discussed the role of the appeals committee. I raised the issue of potential problems, given that the executive committee and the national council had equivalent powers. There may be the possibility of differences between these two bodies - I gave a scenario of the EC supporting a two-states slogan for Israel/Palestine while the national council supported a single state. Which slogan would be national policy? I feel that the executive committee should have final say if such conflict arose. The EC is elected by the whole, by annual conference, while the NC is organised on a federal delegate basis. I believe it is important to uphold the democratic rights of annual conference. To do this, the executive committee should be the leading committee of the SA between conferences. The meeting was workmanlike and productive. Liz Davies will draft a set of proposals for the executive to consider. Marcus Ström * 'Youth conference' stitch-up * Resistance and class independence