RNLP
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Revolutionary Nerotysian Labor Party Pàrtiji Kámǔnisti Nirzàcski Rèʋàlǔsiski Nyrtengiai Forradalmi Kommunista Párt Revolucionarne komunistične Partije Črnazske Земљоре Револуционарне Комунистичке Партије Землоре Революційна Комуністична Партія Ziemorzska Rewolucyjna Partia Komunistyczna | |
|---|---|
| File:RNCP Emblem shrunk.png | |
| Chief Secretary | Lara Glasnović |
| General Secretary | Béla Zsolnay |
| Presidium | |
| Founder | Viktor Chalyar Mátyás Lynszk Aleksander Enkolić |
| Founded | 13 October, 1917 |
| Preceded by | Peninsular Socialist Revolutionary Party |
| Headquarters | 727 W Tynko St, 00001 Shynka |
| Newspaper | Rèʋàlǔcijà |
| Student wing | Red Scholars |
| Youth wing | Young Volunteers |
| Membership (2015) |  67.35 million |
| Ideology | Marxism–Chalyism Marxian Economics Avantism Compoundism |
| International affiliation | Orcom |
| Colours | Red & White |
| Slogan | Workers of the World, Unite! |
| Election symbol | |
| RNLP | |
| Website | |
| http://www.revoneroparty.org.nero | |
| Part of a series on the politics and government of |
| Nerotysia |
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The Revolutionary Nerotysian Labor Party (abbreviated in English as RNLP) is the ruling multi-tendency political party of the Nerotysian Social-Democratic Union. Though it’s unity has waxed and waned, it retains exclusive control of the Nerotysian government and political institutions to this day. The RNLP was founded by the Volnik faction of the Peninsular Socialist Revolutionary Party in 1919, led by Viktor Chalyar and Aleksander Enkolić. The party grew rapidly throughout 1919-20 under the administration of Luka Spiranović, who organized a widespread propaganda campaign designed by Chalyar and Alexander Lakatos. Subsequently the party played a pivotal role in the Nerotysian Revolution; party member Mátyás Lynszk came to lead the largest and most popular revolutionary militia in the peninsula, and the ratification of the Nerotysian Constitution in December of 1921 formalized the party’s control over the new Nerotysian government and nation-state. Today the RNLP consists of 67.35 million members.
The RNLP is organized under the principle, developed by Chalyar, of Avantism, which demands intra-party competition and popular control over party operations. New members join Cadres, which are small, localized cells responsible for popularizing Marxist theory, and representing their workers' interests in the party. Before the revolution, Cadres operated quasi-independent of the rest of the party to thwart police investigations, and they have retained much of this independence to this day. These Cadres are sorted into Conferences, which elect representatives to send to the Congress, the highest party organ, responsible for drafting broad policy guidelines and overseeing the rest of the party. The Congress also elects the Central Committee and the General Secretary. The Central Committee used to meet daily and handle basic policymaking, however it’s role has since been eclipsed by the Political Committee, the Perpetual Committee, and the numerous General Committees, Leading Committees, and Special Committees which now hold day-to-day legislative duties, and the Discipline Bureau, which manages party personnel. However, the Chief Secretary of the Central Committee continues to act as the de-facto leader of the party legislature, and the Inner Party in general. The office of the General Secretary (called the Secretariat) is responsible for day-to-day administrative duties, and for ensuring party policy becomes government policy. The Political Committee and the Secretariat are generally considered to be the two most important organs of the party, followed closely by the Discipline Bureau. The individual leader of the party is almost always the Chief Secretary, but the General Secretary is often considered to be a secondary leader due to the Secretariat's wide-reaching responsibilities and powers. The 34th Party Congress met from 11 to 25 March, 2017, and elected Lara Glasnović as Chief Secretary and Béla Zsolnay as General Secretary.
To this day the RNLP professes a commitment to communist and social-democratic thought, adhering to the basic philosophy of Marxism-Chalyism, coupled with the Compoundism developed by Anna Rakoszalya. Under the leadership of Mátyás Lynszk (1921-1938), the party established a state-socialist command economy in Nerotysia, which lasted throughout the Second Endwar (1941-1947). In the 1970s, Dario Sisak (1968-1983) began the transition into a socialist mixed-economy, allowing a form of state capitalism to spur economic growth. The Grand Depression sparked another wave of economic reform, culminating with the current market socialist system formulated and implemented by Anna Rakoszalya (1995-2017).
The RNLP has worked to build and maintain strong relationships with communist and socialist parties in foreign nations to aid international cooperation. Following the start of detente policies in the 1980s, the party established relations with non-ruling socialist parties in anti-communist nations, which it continues to maintain.
History
Foundation & early years (1901-1921)
The RNLP can trace its origins to the Bright Stars Riots of 1904, when unrest over poor working conditions and cultural repression erupted into violence in many of Nerotysia’s cities and mines. Though the riots were largely nationalist, they drove radical ideologies like communism to prominence among peninsular students and intellectuals. Radical agitators like Teodor Kysely and Dávid Antalek saw their popularity grow, especially among younger students who wanted to actively resist Kolish rule in Nerotysia.
In response to the riots, Jovan Hranilović organized a nonviolent movement advocating greater autonomy for the Nerotysian colonial possession, and specifically for the working class to hold more power. While his peaceful approach attracted many young socialists and nationalists, it also drew harsh criticism from agitators like Antalek and Nikola Szarka, who founded the Revolutionary Front to unite all those in Nerotysia seeking independence. Soon after, Lajos Palinkas became the first prominent intellectual in Nerotysia to call for “proletarian separation” from the Kolish Empire.
Palinkas was banished in 1906 and subsequently organized the founding Congress of the Peninsular Socialist Revolutionary Party, which would be held in a hotel suite in Meriad. Palinkas issued an open invitation to Nerotysian socialist radicals who desired violent revolution. The Congress united the top socialists in the peninsula for the first time, as well as many newcomers. Over a determined two weeks, the Congress voted to create a Secretariat, led by a General Secretary, which would conduct the affairs of the party when the Congress was not in session. In addition, the Congress voted to join the Revolutionary Front.
As the party’s first General Secretary, Palinkas directed the PSRP in numerous revolutionary activities, including the training of militia fighters and the publication of Revolucija, an underground socialist magazine. In 1913 Palinkas met two young Marxists who had been banished for university protests - they left little impression, however by 1915 the two had become immensely popular writers for the largest leftist newspaper in Meriad: the Arbeideretidsskrift, or the Worker's Journal in English. The two were Viktor Chalyar and Aleksander Enkolić and, along with their friend Mátyás Lynszk, they swiftly became the ringleaders of the Volniks, a faction of the PSRP who desired an open and popular Marxist party which would incite class warfare. They clashed with the Praksiyaks, who believed the party should be an authoritarian vanguard, and the Omili, comprising all of the non-Marxist socialists in the PSRP who disagreed with the concept of class warfare and emphasized nationalism.
Despite these divisions, the PSRP remained united as they struggled for influence in the burgeoning Revolutionary Front. The onset of the First Endwar in 1915 spawned a wave of discontent in the Kolish colonies, as colonials were conscripted into military service or sent to produce for the war. Wartime rationing and famine fueled the rise of the Front, and the Volniks in particular proved highly effective at recruiting followers. Rebellion had erupted in Nerotysia by 1917, and the Volniks soon left the PSRP to form the Revolutionary Nerotysian Communist Party, whose founding Congress was held from 13 to 27 October of that year.
The new Volnik party became an enemy of the Revolutionary Front, as the Front's right-wing expelled the PSRP and other socialists from the party. The Front attacked several Volnik safehouses and strongholds throughout 1918 and 1919 - in response, Lynszk formed a militia called the Red Guard and struck at Elała-Leśky, a small northern city that the Front had seized from Kolish control. By 1921 rebellion was rampant in the peninsula, especially after Lynszk assembled the Workers’ and Peasants’ Revolutionary Army and overthrew Kolish rule in Shynka, the old capital of the Nyrossic Empire. The outbreak of rebellion also prompted the Volnik party to absorb their former comrades from the PSRP and many other socialist groups, renaming themselves the Revolutionary Nerotysian Labor Party. Kolish imperial control disintegrated soon after the fall of Shynka, and rightist elements in the peninsula, including the Front, were eventually defeated by the immensely popular Lynszk and his army.
Lynszk and the Second Endwar (1922-1949)
December of 1921 saw the proclamation of the Nerotysian Revolutionary Union, ruled by the RNLP. Lynszk became the party’s first and only double-paramount, being elected both General Secretary and Chairperson of the Central Committee. Directed by the RNLP, the new Nerotysian government transferred all lands to local worker’s councils. These councils took total control over the economy, and Lynszk centralized their power in the All-Union Worker’s Congress, which elected him as it's Chairperson. Through this Congress Lynszk exercised total control over economic matters.
In 1922 Lynszk announced “Project One,” which aimed to industrialize the peninsula up to Escari standards over the course of three five-year plans. To accomplish this, he collectivized peninsular agriculture in order to feed the industrial cities, and simultaneously encouraged peasants to move to the cities and become industrial workers. Kolish colonial policy ensured that Nerotysia produced far more coal and mineral ores than it needed, and so Lynszk relied on exports in order to finance factory construction. Eventually, these exported minerals were used to purchase foreign food as well.
By the time of Lynszk’s death in 1938, the Nerotysian economy had undergone an unprecedented expansion, and peninsular economic growth continued to greatly outpace the great powers. However, living standards had not risen in tandem with this economic growth, as Project One focused entirely on heavy industry and productive capacity and largely ignored light industry. Beginning in 1937, unrest over living conditions and Lynszk's authoritarianism began to frighten the nation's economic health. To add to the tensions, Lynszk’s death triggered a vicious power struggle between rival rightist, leftist, and nationalist factions in the party. The political struggle culminated in the 1938 Congress, wherein the right and left wings of the party joined forces to expel the nationalists from power. The reform-minded rightist Aleksander Enkolić was elected Chairperson, alongside the leftist General Secretary, Filip Kyrestesz.
This purge of party officials sparked an armed uprising by several nationalist military generals. They occupied Shynka and other major cities, and arrested hundreds of party functionaries and officials. However, they failed to take total control of the capital and arrest the highest party leaders, and also garnered nearly no support among the party cadres, paving the way for a coordinated counterattack by loyalist army and police units, and numerous popular uprisings against the generals. The coup quickly fell apart, but the chaos emboldened other dissident military officers - the nation soon descended into civil war as local warlords seized small territories.
Thankfully for the party, the Red Guard (officially renamed the Revolutionary Guard in 1922) remained loyal to the RNLP, and was better-trained and better-equipped than the army itself. Aided by loyalist army units, the Red Guard slowly retook the peninsula, battling warlords and their newly proclaimed city-states. Meanwhile, Enkolić oversaw a second, more violent purge of military and party officials, executing or exiling thousands of “traitors and counter-revolutionaries.” The civil war finally concluded in 1941 - the purge would not fully end until late 1943.
In 1941, Kolintha invaded Nerotysia, opening the Western Front of the Second Endwar. The two purges and civil war had decimated the military’s leadership and morale, and as such the Kols were able to make huge gains in the opening months of fighting. However, by late 1944 they had been expelled from the peninsula, and in 1946 Nerotysia mounted an invasion of Kolish-controlled Escar. Subsequently the Revolutionary Union invaded the Kolish homeland and entered negotiations with Khornera over a postwar peace settlement. The RNLP meanwhile orchestrated the creation of numerous communist states in the liberated territories of northern Orda and western Escar, laying the foundations for a communist bloc and helping to spark the Cold War.
Postwar buildup & reform (1950-1992)
Aleksander Enkolić was assassinated by Ivan Balanchenko on 16 February 1949, and it was soon revealed that Daeseong may have sponsored the attack. After a decade of political instability and warfare, the assassination sparked the Great Terror, a period of widespread public hysteria in which over 300 party officials were eventually imprisoned or killed. Thousands of party functionaries and ordinary citizens faced accusations of disloyalty, often facing torture or death at the hands of angry mobs. A coalition of hardline jingoists were swept into power, calling themselves the “Renewed Left” and led by a student-driven new faction, the Returners. The young Lázár Csiszmadia emerged as the leader of this new coalition, alongside Béla Pulszky, who would remain General Secretary until 1968.
The Returners engaged in a massive suburbanization project, aiming to provide both work and housing for millions of returning soldiers. Aranka Lovász and Viktor Karinthy, the architects of the project, drew inspiration from Meriadni suburbs, and designed several easily-replicable model homes. Csiszmadia also strove to further industrialize the peninsula, focusing on energy infrastructure and transportation. By 1963, 78 million people had moved into new housing, and Nerotysian living standards began to catch up with the developed world.
Csiszmadia also oversaw massive military buildup, reorienting Nerotysian foreign policy towards naval strength and power projection. Relations with Khornera, Nerotysia’s rival superpower, remained hostile throughout Csiszmadia’s tenure, and Pulszky organized the RNLP's active involvement in numerous socialist movements across Ordis. The period of Returner rule featured several crises and confrontations with the capitalist world, most notably during the Flauchin War. By 1964, the Nerotysian navy had become the largest in the world, after nearly two decades of relentless construction.
Leftist rule came to an end at the 17th Party Congress in 1965, when the anarchist Ernő Galambos was elected Chief Secretary. A frantic period of social unrest and political protest followed, known as the Road to 66, fueled by anger over the conformist political culture, the ethnic privilege of the Nyrossi, rampant sexism and homophobia, the corruption within the leftist party administration, and Nerotysia’s alliances with authoritarian communist regimes like Vioska and West Transoxthraxia. The 18th Congress in 1968 ended both Galambos’ leadership and the last vestiges of leftist power - the rightist reformer Dario Sisak became Chief Secretary, leading the New Right and his Hypersocialist faction.
Sisak presided over economic liberalization, and implemented reform programs designed and espoused by renowned party economist Dragan Novaković. State industries were partitioned and given to the control of the local republics, which were granted a wide array of new economic rights. Various republics joined together to form Joint-Control Companies, which began to compete and thrive in a new market framework. Novaković also re-emphasized light industry and domestic consumption, orchestrating state investment in consumer industry and offering financial rewards to entrepreneurial republics.
As a consequence of the reforms, the Nerotysian economy underwent a second expansion, spurred by new republican industries and a rapidly growing consumer market. Living standards kept pace with the capitalist world, and GDP growth remained strong well into the 1980s. Republican media companies became especially prominent, giving rise to a flourishing music industry, dominated by three conglomerates: the Kyska Superstar Company, the New Sensations Company, and the Interregional Music Syndicate. This contributed to a booming popular culture, which soon overcame central spending on cultural programs. The reforms were accompanied by social liberalization, giving rise to rebellious youth culture and various counterculture movements. The Hypersocialists ended Nerotysia’s drug war and the war on immorality, which featured campaigns to eliminate alcohol and deviant sexuality in the peninsula. Nerotysia’s constitutional protections for homosexuals and ethnic minorities were strengthened and expanded.
The Secretariat, however, remained under the control of hardliners. Krištofor Melzić was elected General Secretary at the 19th Congress in 1971, and remained in the position until 2004. Nicknamed the “Iron Snake,” he first pursued an aggressive foreign policy before compromising with Khornera to reform the Ordic League and establish direct relations. This gave rise to a détente, which Melzić would later abandon in the 1980s in response to the resurgence of hardline leftism in the peninsula.
The freewheeling social experiments and growing de-facto markets spurred a hardline reaction, which ended Sisak’s reign. Milan Osmović was elected Chief Secretary at the 24th Congress in 1986, leading the “Resurgency,” a leftist coalition led by his Revivalist faction. Economic and social liberalization slowed drastically, with Osmović expanding state control over various industries and forcefully raising wages. Economic growth stagnated, with Nerotysia nearing zero net growth by 1990. Osmović also pursued renewed military buildup, authorizing expensive expansions of the navy and army while placing great financial strain on the Nerotysian state. Melzić shifted back to jingoism, strengthening relations with Vioska in order to antagonize Kolintha, eventually pressuring the latter to back down during a conflict in 1991.
Modern history (1992-present)
Governing style
Avantism & popular leadership
The guiding principle behind the RNLP's organization and leadership style is Avantism. Formed in direct opposition to the Leninist conception of the Vanguard, Avantism argues that any significant centralization of power in revolutionary parties will inevitably corrupt the movement, and that therefore revolutionary parties must be open, politically diverse, and decentralized. Avantists stress that "Marxist thought is complex, given to splintering and diversity; a single, authoritative central body cannot hope to contain all such complexities and diversities." Chalyar, the founder of Avantism, sharply criticized his Leninist rivals for concentrating power in a small group of individuals. He argued that those few individuals would inevitably be corrupted by opportunism, creating a new class which, like the bourgeoisie before them, possess sole control of the means of production and lack any interest in establishing real socialism. Chalyar considered factionalism to be an unavoidable fact of human nature, and so argued the party must embrace and incorporate diverse factions while preserving unity, or else become autocratic and thus doomed to fail. "It is a tight balance to preserve, between diversity and unity - but Lenin kicks diversity out the door!"
Thus, the organization of the RNLP is highly democratic, and highly populist. Unlike in Leninist parties, localized party cadres compete with each other for influence over the proletariat, and the party leadership springs forth from, and is elected by, these competing cells. A cadre's power within the party is determined by its popularity, which currently is determined by that cadre's power within its local worker's council. Cadres have guaranteed their own longevity by entrenching themselves within a specific demographic, and tailoring their activities to that demographic. Cadre leaders whose tendencies no longer mirror their demographic usually step aside, or are ejected, in order to ensure the survival of the cadre. Avantism also prizes freedom of expression amongst the proletariat, for the system rests on the assumption that the revolutionary party must tailor itself to the desires of the workers without abandoning true consciousness.
Social expansionism
Heroic positivism
Organization
Congress
The Congress is the most powerful party organ, convening at least once every three years to draft policy guidelines and elect all Inner Party officials. It is currently made up of 11,570 delegates, who are dispatched from the many cadres across Nerotysia as representatives. The Congress acts as the link between the Inner and Outer party, the de-jure overseer of all other party organs and organizer of the cadres.
Delegates to the Congress are elected every three years by the cadres, in a process known as the selection cycle. All Inner Party leaders must be a delegate to the Congress first, and must maintain their delegacy in order to maintain their position.
Though it used to meet several times a year and issue specific guidelines, the Congress has since been relegated to merely an electoral and symbolic body. It is rarely assembled except to elect party officials every three years, and it no longer issues a new set of guidelines every time it meets. However, only the Congress can resolve conflicts between different party organs, and amendments to the party’s Statute must be approved by a two-thirds majority of the Congress.
Central Committee
The Central Committee was created in 1919 to assume day-to-day policy-making duties, since the Congresses were considered too large and too infrequent to administer the party. Up to the early 1940s, the Committee met twice weekly and drafted policy to be implemented by the party administration and government. However it later lost much of its function to the Political Committee, created in 1942, and subsequently played a greatly reduced role in the party. However, it is still tasked with appointing the other, more active party organs, retaining a degree of importance. Thus, the Central Committee (like the Congress) today acts mostly as an electoral and symbolic body.
The Central Committee currently consists of 2,314 seats, or one for every five delegates to the Congress. Those who occupy the seats are called “full members” of the Central Committee - each of these full members will pick an “alternate member” to serve as their backup in case they are unfit to attend. The Central Committee elects other party organs from the ranks of its full members - alternate members are ineligible to serve in any other capacity.
The week following every Congress, the Central Committee meets for several hours daily to elect its Chairperson and two major party organs - the Organizational Committee and Perpetual Committee. In addition, after all of the party organs have elected their leaders, the Central Committee appoints the Presidium. Finally, the Central Committee appoints a variety of smaller committees and offices which draft policy. After this frenzy of elections, the Committee meets irregularly, convening at least twice a year and whenever else is necessary.
Though party resolutions can only take effect with the formal consent of the Central Committee, its members have little effect on the creation or revision of policy. Decisions about policy are made in other party organs, and by the time a resolution reaches the Central Committee, it has already garnered the de-facto approval of a majority of party members. Oftentimes, even those opposed to a resolution will vote in favor when it comes before the Central Committee, as an informal concession of victory to their opponents. This is why more than half of resolutions are passed unanimously in the Committee.
Chairperson
The Chairperson is elected by the Central Committee to act as its leader and representative. He or she is empowered to regulate debate within the Committee, oversee votes, and sign any passed resolution. The Chairperson can also propose resolutions, and only the Chairperson can hold a non-plenary session of the Committee.
Despite the Committee’s lack of influence, the Chairperson remains the de-facto leader of the party legislature and is almost always the leader of the dominant platform within the party. Though he or she can’t be elected to another party organ, the Chairperson usually wields immense informal influence over the proceedings of the entire party, and often directs the actions of subordinates in other, more important organs. It is for this reason that the Chairperson is referred to as Nerotysia’s “head of government,” even though he or she is not technically a member of the government.
General Secretary
The General Secretary is elected by the Congress to lead the party’s administrative wing, called the Secretariat. He or she possesses supreme power over administration within the confines of the party Statute, and can only be overruled by a majority vote of the Congress, or a two-thirds vote in the Central Committee.
Most of the Secretary’s responsibilities revolve around ensuring party policy becomes government policy through the Central Policy Commission, and directing the actions of government officials through the Central Inspection Commission. Due to the overlapping nature of these duties, the Policy Commission and Inspection Commission tend to compete for greater influence, and the General Secretary is responsible for mediating disputes between the two.
The Secretary also oversees the other Central Commissions. In times of war, the Secretary will commonly assume command over the party’s armed forces, and will oversee the government’s military through the Central Military Commission.
Due to his large variety of responsibilities, the General Secretary is considered to be the second-most powerful party leader, and sometimes even more powerful than the Chairperson. The Secretary acts as the link between the party legislature and the government, and also as the chief administrator of the party's operations. The Secretary’s power is mostly unrelated to his influence in the party legislature, since he is elected by the Congress, allowing him and the party administration to act rather independently. This power and independence leads most political scientists to term the Secretariat as Nerotysia’s second “wing” of government, with the first wing being the party legislature, and the third wing being the executive branch of the official government.
Central Committee Apparatus
Political Committee
The Political Committee (often called the “Polikom”) was created to handle “routine political matters” that could “tie up the Central Committee with needless bickering over countless minutiae.” However, its true purpose was to essentially replace the Central Committee, allowing the reformists to bypass their opposition by filling the Political Committee with allies. Today, the organ serves mostly as a forum for the dominant platform to work out internal disputes.
The Polikom contains 434 seats. Members are selected by the 20-person Organizational Committee, which itself is elected by the Central Committee. Unlike other party positions, members of the Organizational Committee only need a plurality of votes, not a majority. This allows the most powerful platform to fill the Organizational Committee with allies, whom then fill the Polikom with adherents to that platform. Thus, when a new platform takes power, domestic and international observers will often refer to the new leadership as “the new Polikom.” The word “Polikom” by itself is used to refer to the current ruling platform (although international observers also use the word to refer to the entire party).
The Political Committee used to possess the ability to pass and repeal amendments to the Party Statute without the consent of the Central Committee, however now it’s powers have been reduced to those of any other legislative organ. Before any resolution can reach the Central Committee, it must go through the Polikom, allowing dissident branches of the ruling platform to influence policy. In addition, like the Central Committee, the Polikom appoints a variety of Leading Committees and General Committees which draft policy.
Organizational Committee
The Organizational Committee (often called the “Orkom”) was created in 1941, to serve as a council of lawmakers who could directly oversee the military. The Nerotysian high command requires the approval of this Committee before they can take any action - however, Committee members are not allowed to vote against the military’s wishes. These seemingly conflicting rules exist so that the Committee can keep a detailed record of every action taken by the military, without delaying important operations.
In addition to its military role, it also serves a political function - electing the Polikom. Like the Polikom that it elects, the Organizational Committee is always exclusively controlled by the ruling faction, since members only require a plurality of votes in the Central Committee, not a majority. The Orkom also used to oversee the various party organs responsible for researching and drafting policy, but this function was stripped away and is now held by the Perpetual Committee. Today, the Committee serves mostly as a symbolic body which only elects the Polikom, but it can and does still serve its military role when necessary.
Presidium
The Presidium is a collective body of 3-9 seats elected by the Central Committee. Originally created to oversee the party’s informal policy-drafting bodies, the Presidium now serves only to legitimize party actions by ensuring no faction is completely dominating the others. Before any party resolution can take effect, it must be presented to the Presidium, whose members all must agree to sign it. If the resolution fails to gather every signature, it is returned to the Central Committee. Dissident party leaders can ensure that they and their allies’ voices are heard by refusing to sign.
Thus, the organ is largely symbolic. Policy is almost always approved by the minority platforms and cliques before it is presented to the Presidium. Refusal to sign usually indicates either that a clique broke an informal agreement, or has very suddenly changed its mind.
Perpetual Committee
The Perpetual Committee (often called the “Perpekom”) is responsible for receiving and examining policy proposals for “factual accuracy and rigorous style” before passing it onto the Political Committee. It contains 75 seats, and members are elected by three-fourths majority vote in the Central Committee. This ensures that the makeup of the Committee closely matches the makeup of the Central Committee, as no single platform or clique can claim seats without the consent of the other cliques.
All new policy, after it is drafted in any one of many offices or committees, or written by an informal “club” of party members, must be approved by a majority of the Perpetual Committee before it is sent to the Polikom. The Committee meets daily for formal debates, and each Friday holds a voting session during which the members vote on that week’s proposals. The practical work of drafting and revising policy begins in the offices and committees and informal clubs, and culminates in the debates and votes of the Perpekom.