21st National Congress of the Champanois Socialist Workers' Party
| Native name | 21e congrès naciônal deu Partit sociâlist obrières xampânès |
|---|---|
| Date | March 27 – April 2, 2022 |
| Venue | Plaça deu congrès naciônal |
| Location | Lièn, Champania |
| Type | Party conference |
| Theme | elect 21st Central Committee of the Champanois Socialist Workers' Party |
| Organised by | 20th Politburo of the Champanois Socialist Workers' Party |
| Participants | 1,269 delegates |
The 21st National Congress of the Champanois Socialist Workers' Party (Champanian: 21e congrès naciônal deu Partit sociâlist obrières xampânès; Gaullican: 21e congrès national du Parti socialiste ouvrier champanois) was held between 27 March and 2 April 2022. It was attended by 976 members and 59 invited guests to represent the party's 2 million members. Preparations and planning for the 21st National Congress began in 2017 and ended on 20 March with a plenary session of the 20th Central Committee. Throughout 2021, local and regional organizations began electing delegates to attend. It will not be succeeded until 2027 with the 22nd National Congress.
The congress was notable for amending the party constitution, which added amendments that emphasized and strengthened Neo-Tretyakist ideology, party-building, and socialist law. Additionally, the congress laid out goals for Champania to have an increased role internationally and to become a "viable alternative to the Association for International Socialism." The congress also set a timetable for achieving domestic policy goals.
The 21st Nation Congress elected the Central Committee, which in turn elected the politburo and its standing committee. The congress resulted in election of Merxê Cruèsêłes, the current premier and previous general secretary of the Orangeois branch of the PSO, as the party's general secretary, becoming the first woman to hold the position.
Preparations
Normal procedure for the preparation of the National Congress consists of a multistep process involving all levels of the Socialist Workers' Party. Sitting members of the Politburo appoints a committee that is designated to research major topics believed to affect the party-at-large, the country, and other facets, and set up investigative teams to realize this. After a set period, the committee reports their findings to the standing committee of the Politburo, who dispenses the report to regional party branches, currently consisting of the Bregalian, Lemovician, and Orangeois party sections, various institutions of the Champanian government, the National People's Army, and select mass organizations including the Red Guards of the Revolution and various trade unions. The report is approved by the leadership committees, nowadays considered to be largely symbolic and a formality, and the Politburo moves on to setting dates and topic list for the congress.
For the 21st National Congress, it is believed planning started in mid-2020 with an investigative research committee being established in late-2020. The committee drafted their report to the Politburo in early 2021. A party communique published in Ł'Humanîtat revealed the 21st Congress would be held in the second half of 2022. Research continued throughout 2021, and by June, cables were already being established between the politburo and regional party leadership to review the drafted reports. The draft report was approved in July of that year. It is estimated that the draft report was sent to upwards of 2,500 individuals spread out between regional party branches, the military, and trade unions and other mass organizations before it was finally approved.
The December Crisis saw the ousting of then General Secretary Ponç Guinovaerd, with most of the Generalitat resigning in the aftermath. An emergency Generalitat was elected the following week, which saw a split conservative-centrist Generalitat, with former Orangeois PSO first secretary Merxê Cruèsêłes elected as premier. As premier, Cruèsêłes's doubled as the temporary General Secretary of the PSO until one could properly be elected at the 21st National Congress.
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A plenary session of the Central Committee was held from 17 March, 2022 to 22 March and was attended by all 100 standing members of the central committee, all 75 alternate members, and all 30 members of the Committee for Intraparty Discipline (CID) in a non-voting capacity. The purpose of the session was to establish the framework for the 21st National Congress, including relevant topics of discussion and possible dates. The 20th Politburo made several proposals to the plenary session that were to be sent to the 21st National Congress. Amongst those proposals were the Report of the 20th Central Committee, the Report of the 20th Committee for Intraparty Discipline, and amendments to be made to the PSO party constitution. Acting Politburo Chairperson Luiç de Môntełs presented the Report of the 20th Central Committee, Claudì d'Astaragu·es presented the Report of the 20th Committee for Intraparty Discipline, and Cruèsêłes presented the constitutional amendments to the plenary session.
Four days later, a preparatory session of the National Congress was held and was attended by all 1,269 delegates. The preporatory meeting elected the Presidium of the 21st National Congress, the Credential Committee, and elected Bernart Marxâtièr as the Secretary-General of the 21st National Congress. The attendees also approved the main tasks of the secretariat of the congress, and approved an agenda for the National Congress to be released to the public. The public agenda was posted in a special edition of Ł'Humânîte published on the morning of 27 March, the opening day of the 21st National Congress. The agenda was:
- To hear and examine a report submitted by the 20th Central Committee of the PSO
- To hear and examine a report submitted by the 20th CDI
- To deliberate and adopt amendments to the PSO's constitution
- To elect the 21st Central Committee of the PSO and the 21st Committee for Intraparty Discipline
Delegates
Selection of the delegates to the 21st Congress took place over the course of the 2020 and 2021 calendar years. Criteria for the election of delegates was initially approved at the conclusion of 4th plenum of the 2020 year, believed to be mid-June. The criteria was published and included qualifications, election methods, and the quota. Since the early 2010s, anti-corruption campaigns (targeted largely at extant patronage systems) resulted in more stringent criteria for delegates. For the 21st National Congress, the 20th Central Committee published the criteria for delegates, stating delegates must "be politically and ideologically knowledgeable, have a good lifestyle, be competent in discussing affairs of state, and be successful in their career."
Twenty-six electoral units are responsible for selecting the attending delegates. The units correspond to administrative divisions, regional party branches, geographic and ethnic regions, and the central government and party. The delegate quota for each unit does not reflect population nor party size in the region, but rather is reflective of the region's importance. Traditionally, the National People's Army is afforded a large delegate quota, while Lièn, Sènpremaiz, and Prouvença are the largest civilian units. As part of integration campaigns,Tòpagunha has experienced a steady increase in the number of delegates it elects.
Leadership changes
Overall, the 21st Congress saw a complete overhaul of the leadership within the PSOC. The congress resulted in the near complete dismissal of supporters Guinovaerd from leadership positions, and replaced with hardliners and self-declared centrists. Aside from the position of general secretary, the Congress elected the 21-member politburo, 7-member politburo standing committee, 30-member Committee for Intraparty Discipline, and other leadership organizations.
Politburo Standing Committee
Merxê Cruèsêłes was elected as General Secretary of the PSOC, becoming the first woman and the youngest person elected to the position. The electoral process of the standing committee remained much the same as with previous congresses. In addition to Cruèsêłes, the other representatives elected to the standing committee are, in order of precedence:
| Name | Born | Internal Faction | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
1983
|
General Secretary of the Champanois Socialist Workers' Party Premier of Champania President of Champania (until May, 2023) Chairwoman of the Revolutionary Defence Committee | ||
1958
|
Chairman of the Committee for Intraparty Discipline Deputy Chairman of the Revolutionary Defence Committee Deputy Premier of Champania | ||
1950
|
Party Secretary of Lièn Member of the Presidency | ||
1965
|
General Secretary of the Orangeois Socialist Workers' Party Former Premier of Orange | ||
1972
|
Responsible Secretary of the Red Guards Former Party Secretary of Cassavia | ||
1953
|
Chief of the General Office of the Champanois Socialist Workers Party Former Party Secretary of Lemovicia. | ||
1960
|
Former Party Secretary of Sènpremaiz Former Secretary of the Department of Ideological Theory |
1: Sole Lemovician in the politburo
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Politburo
The politburo election took place on 2 April, and followed previously established electoral conventions. Requirements for members entering the politburo in 2022 had to have been born after 1947 – that is being younger than 75-years-old at the time of the 21st Congress. The majority of the politburo was not reappointed despite meeting the relevant age requirements. To fill in the new politburo, many political allies of Cruèsêłes were elected. Not including the Standing Committee, membership to the 21st Politburo saw a turnover rate of 80% when compared to the 20th Politburo. This also broke the previous convention of Politburo members serving for two consecutive terms if they remained eligible. Consequently, this also marks the youngest politburo in PSOC history, with a median age of 58.3 years.
Secretariat
Like the politburo, the Secretaritat saw significant turnover. Responsible for the day-to-day running of the politburo, membership of the secretariat shares overlap with politburo. Membership of the Secretariat includes:
- Vèlè Xastânièr (also on the Standing Committee), Head of the General Office
- Jôan Prouvenxièr, Secretary of the Department of Party Organization
- Viela Tôssants, Secretary of Political Affairs Commission
- Lôcian Vauès, Secretary of the Legal Affairs Commission
- Pèir Pàła, Secretary of the Media Affairs Commission
Central Committee
The 21st Central Committee was elected on 1 April. Unlike the Politburo, which saw significant turnover, the central committee experienced very little itself with a "mere" 36% of the previous Central Committee being replaced, the majority of which was due to members reaching retirement age. Much of the selection process for candidates is done privately with consultation done with both the Politburo and Politburo Standing Committee. Members are elected through a simple confirmation vote on a candidate list. Despite private deliberation on candidates being done beforehand, the number of candidates has trended higher than the number of available seats. Nominees who receive the lowest amount of votes are thus not elected to the Central Committee. For teh 21st Central Committee, 202 candidates stood for 185 seats, and 147 candidates stood for 109 alternate seats. This resulted in 9.4% of the full member candidates, and 25.9% of the alternate member candidates being rejected.