We are a country of great natural wealth and resources, we have abundance of all of the primary sources of food and we have the knowledge to exploit it.
5.1 The fundamental organization of the CPPC is the constituency Convention which is organized according to the system of Dáil constituencies. All decisions by the people are made in the constituency Conventions and directly through their mandated representatives in the Dáil.
An Chomhdháil Phobail l The People’s Convention (CPPC)
Preamble
We are a country of great natural wealth and resources, we have abundance of all of the primary sources of food and we have the knowledge to exploit it.
We are a highly cultured people who have contributed much to world civilization – in the arts, sciences and politics, over some thousands of years.
As a people, we are known the world over for our empathy with, and freely given practical assistance, to peoples facing crisis of all kinds – famine, natural disasters, war and persecution.
Since the foundation of the state in 1922, the Irish electorate has laboured under a political regime which has seen our sovereignty usurped by a system of contending political parties who have acted in favour of vested interests, both national and foreign.
The entitlement of the people themselves to call a referendum was a provision of the first Constitution, but from the beginning the powers-that-be frustrated the exercise of this right, and then removed it altogether.
The electoral system has been reduced to a choice between parties with no discernible policy differences, who have fundamentally sold our birthright to vested interests and in the case of our mineral, oil and gas resources, virtually given them away.
CPPC’s aim is to renew the electoral system in a way that not only allows the people to choose candidates of good character and competence but also to instruct them on all matters of policy and legislation as well. Such selection of candidates taking place in each constituency before the actual voting of the election.
We believe that the people do not need political party representatives in Dáil Éireann but that we need directly selected, elected members of our communities who will cooperate to propose to, and consult the electorate on all laws, budgets and treaties before they are voted upon. Such representatives will seek a mandate on each issue, and will be subject to recall if they fail in their high responsibilities.
CPPC will establish a system of People’s Conventions in every Constituency so that people can exercise their sovereign rights directly, and not just for a few minutes at each election time, but on a day to day and week to week basis – continuously.
The reason for existence and main objective of CPPC is to create the means for the people of Ireland to exercise control over our democratic systems and processes.
1 The Party
1.1 An Chomhdháil Phobail I The People’s Convention (CPPC) is a political party of the Irish electorate.
(CPPC is a party of a new type. It is registered so that the slate of candidates chosen by the People’s Conventions in every constituency are identified on the ballot paper as candidates of CPPC in accordance with the law governing registration of political parties.)
1.2 The guiding principle of CPPC is that sovereignty in Ireland rests with the people of Ireland and that all affairs of State must be subject to the will of and decision by the people.
2 Motto & Emblems
2.1 Our motto is: “Secure, Exercise and Defend our Democracy!”
2.2 Party name & acronym are An Chomhdháil Phobail l The People’s Convention (CPPC)
2.3 The party colours are gold-ochre and turquoise-green (RGB 189,79,25 and RGB 0,73,73), Font ‘Arial Round Bold’ – Name and Acronym colours are reversed.
3 The Aims of CPPC
3.1 The purpose of CPPC is to ensure the broadest democratic involvement in exercising our sovereignty as a people.
3.2. We seek to ensure the practical exercise of our democratic rights in selecting, electing and instructing our elected representatives on all affairs of the Irish State, its internal and external relations, including the provisions contained in the national budgets and governing our international relations and treaties and conventions to which we are signatories.
3.3 We will create a People’s Convention in every constituency.
3.4 CPPC will organise fund raising, establish administrative supports, acquire technology and equipment, conduct advertising and anything else deemed necessary or helpful to the achievement of these aims.
3.5 CPPC will cooperate with every democratic organisation of the people (cultural, political, and social) to achieve effective democracy in Ireland.
3.6 CPPC will not endorse any candidate unless they have been properly selected by the Constituency convention and have formally accepted the candidate undertakings in section 9 below.
4 CPPC has one Policy
4.1 CPPC does not set forth policy on any matters other than those that ensure and safeguard our democracy and the exercise of that democracy.
4.2 It is the right of the people to decide all policy matters that are properly the business of the State to regulate.
4.3 Policy decisions must involve the entire community, through discussion and decision at constituency level and through mandate of representatives.
4.3 We hold that the people, through their local Convention, have the right to immediately recall and replace their representatives or to call for new or changed policy on any matter though popular constituency or national referenda.
4.4 Four immediate proposals of CPPC are that the state’s Constitution should be amended to:-
4.4.1. Enshrine the right of the people to recall their representatives.
4.4.2. Enshrine the right of the people to call referenda.
4.4.3. Incorporate and formalise the system of People’s Conventions.
4.4.4. Set the legal voting age to 16 years of age and above.
5 The Fundamental Organization of CPPC is the Constituency Convention
5.1 The fundamental organization of the CPPC is the constituency Convention which is organized according to the system of Dáil constituencies. All decisions by the people are made in the constituency Conventions and directly through their mandated representatives in the Dáil.
5.2 The Constituency Convention has the right to select candidates and to vote on all policy matters independent of any other constituency convention or the National Convention.
5.3 All voters in their area of residence without restriction have the right to participate and vote in the constituency Convention, including those who may not be on the electoral register at any particular time. As such, all voters are considered members of the People’s Convention and are ordinary members.
5.4 In addition CPPC allows all citizens 16 years of age and upwards to take part in and vote on all matters in the constituency Conventions.
5.5 There is another type of membership known as the registered member. Registered members of CPPC in the constituency regulate the affairs of the Convention at the local level in accordance with this Constitution. In addition to the qualification of ordinary members, registered members pay modest annual subscription and have their names entered on the Party register for the purpose of the law governing registered parties.
5.6 The Constituency registered members send delegates to the National Convention for the purpose of regulating the affairs of CPPC and complying with current electoral law on registration of political parties.
6 The National Convention
6.1 The National Convention is the ultimate decision making body for approving and amending this constitution, electing the officers of CPPC and submitting the list of candidates for national elections compiled from the names selected in the constituencies.
6.2 The National Convention has no right to change candidate lists selected by the constituency conventions and does not make policy other than to ensure democratic decision making throughout the State.
7 Party Organisation and Officers
7.1 There are Constituency Conventions (CC).
7.1.1 Officers are elected from the list of registered members by all ordinary members. Each CC will have a Chairperson, Secretary, Treasurer and Election Agent. In addition, each CC will have a Constituency Convention Spokesperson.
7.1.2 Each Constituency Conventions elects delegates 50% from the list of registered members and 50% from ordinary members to attend and vote at the National Convention and regulate affairs of CPPC.
7.1.3 The People’s Conventions will organise constituency meetings as required by CPPC in the area.
7.1.4 5% or 2,000 ordinary members on the electoral roll may call for a referendum on any issue in their constituency.
7.2. National Convention (NC)
7.2.1. Officers will be elected at the National Convention – National Spokesperson, Chairperson, Secretary, Treasurer, Public Relations Officer, Internet Facilitator, Election Manager, General Manager and Fundraising Manager
7.1.2 The National Convention will meet at least once a year.
8 Selection of Candidates
8.1 Candidates are selected by popular conventions held in the of each constituency. The people look for citizens of good reputation, who live in their area and are active in the service of the community and society. Those identified are invited to allow their names to go forward to general meetings of the Constituency voters for selection as candidates of CPPC – for Dáil, European and local elections and as relevant elections to Údarás na Gaeltachta.
8.2 Candidates agree to become registered members of the CPPC and to conduct themselves according to the candidate’s undertakings, outlined in the next section.
8.3 A candidate for selection is always an individual citizen but can be a member of another political party who is proposed in the meetings of the Convention by the people of their area.
8.4 Candidates for selection are free to advocate policies on any matter in the election but to be eligible for selection as a CPPC candidate they must:
8.4.1. Agree to the Candidate Undertakings (see 9), and
8.4.2. Join CPPC as a member, and
8.4.3. Allow their name to go forward as a Convention candidate on the ballot paper.
9 Candidates’ Undertakings
9.1 All elected Convention members must seek policy mandates from their constituency convention on all matters. They must organize Constituency wide meetings on the principles of all proposed legislation, budgets and treaties and accept the ultimate decision of the Constituency Convention on each matter. The CPPC organisation in each constituency is responsible for organising the widest consultation, meetings in every area of the constituency and the vote on the issue of principle involved.
9.2 Candidates who stand on behalf of the people’s Conventions undertake to accept a vote of recall and resign from office (in the Dáil or elsewhere) even if they hold ministerial or other office.
9.3 Candidates who are elected on the platform of CPPC undertakes to support a resolution in the Dáil to organise a referendum to amend the State’s Constitution (Bunreacht na hÉireann) for the provisions outlined in section 4.4 above.
10 Rules (to be elaborated)
10.1 Conventions – Constituency
10.1.1 The Business of the Convention
10.1.2 Election of Officers
10.1.3 Duties of Officers
10.1.4 Selection of Candidates at Constituency Meetings
10.1.5 Discussing and deciding policy for new or amended legislation, national budget or international treaties and conventions
10.1.6 Selection of Delegates to the National Convention
10.1.7 Standing orders for the conduct of meetings and voting
10.2 The National Convention
10.2.1 The business of the National Convention
10.2.2 Election of Officers
10.2.3 Duties of Officers
10.2.4 Standing Orders for the conduct of meetings and voting
11 CPPC Websites
11.1 CPPC has created the website http://www.cppc.ie as a primary means of reporting our progress, promoting and developing the organization in every corner of Ireland and a forum for discussion of the problems of democracy and overcoming the obstacles. New Constituency Conventions will be registered and their work supported via this website.
11.2 The website also allows for individuals to sign up as registered members.
11.3 The web will be used to provide a facilitate for organising formal discussion around specific proposals and to collect opinion via online voting – prior to proposal being brought before local conventions for final decision.
Comments
Comment by: Maurice sheehan | Monday November 29, 2010 at 00:19
Comment by: Diarmaid | Monday November 29, 2010 at 11:14
Thanks for your comments, we will contact you directly as we would like to assist in any way possible.
Comment by: Pat Kavanagh | Wednesday December 01, 2010 at 16:52
A lot of work gone into that Diarmaid, well done. I have tabled a motion in support of your idea to our next Fís Nua convention on Dec 18th, in the hopes that a People’s Convention, whereby the citizen is consulted in all government policy making will be adopted as part of our own policy. You can check out my proposals here:http://fisnua.com/?p=407 .
I still think that all of us small, new groups should be coming together to work out a new political agenda for our country.
Kind regards
Pat
Comment by: CPPC | Friday December 03, 2010 at 12:20
Hi Pat,
That’s great to hear, if we can help clarify matters please let us know. We don’t look at CPPC as in competition with anyone, CPPC is for all of the electorate. The important thing for us is that all who agree with democracy, the right of the people to be the decision makers in our society, should cooperate – regardless of anything else.
We don’t expect that everyone has to be in agreement on every issue of policy – we all have different perspectives and that is just natural. Political parties have their role to play as well, however the important question is who holds power in the state?
Democracy requires that the people be empowered, as decision makers and as deciders of all policy. Political parties who proclaim democracy should have no trouble recognising this principal.
To achieve this the Peoples Conventions must be established.
Diarmaid.
i’m in cork city and we are having a local meeting this week to see is there support for a similar idea. i have read your constitution and broadly i agree with a lot of what you have said therein, there are however certain things which you should reconsider. i see nothing wrong with a convention of people selecting a candidate to represent them in Dail eireann but this recall is probably un workable and unenforceable legally or otherwise.
There is no reason why a model like this can not elect a number of representatives to the oireachtas. people want change they want new politics they, want new people they want hope give them that right now. change is a slow thing it comes in trickles which eventually becomes a flood.
There is a number of us having local meetings here in cork we’re calling ourselves New Politics. we would be interested in working with you as we have unbelievably similar ideas.
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