When advocating a party organisation, the NLF does not seek to replicate traditional mainstream party machines in which the bulk of its focus is on winning elections. The party mechanism is usefull in terms of maintaining ideological consensus and ensuring its activisits work together towards a common goal with the effect that their results of their co-operative enterprise are greater than if they acted alone. The party's involvement in elections will be limited for reasons of resources, serious campaigns cost money that is not available and any attempt at campaigning at a national level, without such results will result in demoralising failure. For example, demoralisation set in amongst the members of the National Front following the 1979 general election when all its candidates lost their deposit. That said the NLF will concentrate its resources on the local level, where is there a reasonable chance of success with a view to raising the profile of the party and gather recruits.
The NLF will not be an election focused party machine but will engage in not only intellectual battle against the ideas propping up the current regime but will also engage in what is euphemastically known as the 'struggle for the streets', engaging in extra-parliamentary activism such as grass roots community activism, marches, demonstration and entryism. It is through such activities that the NLF will create the conditions that will enable it to take power.
Saturday 29 August 2009
Tuesday 25 August 2009
Mass Mobilisation 2. Democratic Centralism
Finally the NLF needs a formal structure, not only do party meetings need to be structured formally, but the party organisation should also be similarly structured. The communist party, for instance, has a model the NLF should do well to emulate. The smallest unit of organisation in the Communist Party is a cell, which is made up of 3 people, then comes the party branch, then the regional organisation, then the national organisation. The smaller groupings will meet more frequent and the regional and national groups will hold congresses every few years, when they adopt resolutions and make amendments to the constitution and party program. As in a normal party the rank and file membership elects delegates to the regional and national congresses.
Though it may seem presumptious of a small fledgling organisation like the NLF to begin by setting up regional and national organisations, but it is important to have the skeleton structure in place and all mass movements have begun with a handfull of people. For instance the at the first Bolshevik party conference only nine delegates showed up and and a central committie of five were elected. (Those five were arrested a month later by the Russian secret police).
Though it may seem presumptious of a small fledgling organisation like the NLF to begin by setting up regional and national organisations, but it is important to have the skeleton structure in place and all mass movements have begun with a handfull of people. For instance the at the first Bolshevik party conference only nine delegates showed up and and a central committie of five were elected. (Those five were arrested a month later by the Russian secret police).
Monday 24 August 2009
Mass Mobilisation 2. Democratic Centralism
3. Formal Meetings - A Meeting should be conducted in an orderly and efficient manner and governed according to a set procedure. This set procedure is known as 'parliamentary procedure' (Regardless of whether the meetings are held in parliament or not.) These rules specify that meetings must have a chairperson, a secretarty, minutes, an agenda. The reason for this is not to strangle the NLF in bureacracy but that real politics is a time consuming buisness and and mainly consists of work undertaken to support the conduct of the political party, such as fund raising, the creation and distibution of propaganda and tasks to obtain facilities where the party can do its work i.e. to book a meeting room for a bar for a party assembly. Such bueracratic procedures are put in place to ensure that plans are put in place and then executed and the meeting does not degenerate into a purely social event. This is not to denigrate the value of socialising but it should not get in the way of generating positive activism. Better a meeting passes swifty and all outstanding points are addressed and then the committe members have the rest of the evening to drink and socialise at the bar.
A futher purpose of the formal meeting is to promote openess and accountability, any grievances can be put on the record and be dealt with through legitimate channells and not through gossiping. Having things put on record ensure that goals can be measured and ensure agreements on ideological positions and organisational changes are voted on and put in place. Minutes can also help identify potential trouble makers in the party ranks intent on sowing division in the party. Through evidence of the minutes of meetings a case can be built up
and presented to the party's disciplinary committe and deal with the individual in question. Having a formal disciplinary process is more important for a nationalist orientated party as time and time again Nationalist parties have been infiltrated by hostile elements intent on wrecking these parties. These must be identified early and thrown out of the party before they are able to do any serious damage. It should be pointed out the infiltrator works much better in a cloudy and uncertain party atmosphere where everything from ideological positions, the nature of activism and the vetting of new members is done without reference to a strict and defined process. Finally in any political organisation that handles money financial transparency is essential, every penny must be accounted for and subject to examination by the membership.
It should be pointed out that in keeping these records that security will be paramount. No potential damaging personal information should be released in them and it may also be in the interest of the NLF to keep certain dealings more secret than others. The NLF for instance will not publish the address of a meeting rooms it has organised in advance and will instead inform the relevant members on a one on one basis.
A futher purpose of the formal meeting is to promote openess and accountability, any grievances can be put on the record and be dealt with through legitimate channells and not through gossiping. Having things put on record ensure that goals can be measured and ensure agreements on ideological positions and organisational changes are voted on and put in place. Minutes can also help identify potential trouble makers in the party ranks intent on sowing division in the party. Through evidence of the minutes of meetings a case can be built up
and presented to the party's disciplinary committe and deal with the individual in question. Having a formal disciplinary process is more important for a nationalist orientated party as time and time again Nationalist parties have been infiltrated by hostile elements intent on wrecking these parties. These must be identified early and thrown out of the party before they are able to do any serious damage. It should be pointed out the infiltrator works much better in a cloudy and uncertain party atmosphere where everything from ideological positions, the nature of activism and the vetting of new members is done without reference to a strict and defined process. Finally in any political organisation that handles money financial transparency is essential, every penny must be accounted for and subject to examination by the membership.
It should be pointed out that in keeping these records that security will be paramount. No potential damaging personal information should be released in them and it may also be in the interest of the NLF to keep certain dealings more secret than others. The NLF for instance will not publish the address of a meeting rooms it has organised in advance and will instead inform the relevant members on a one on one basis.
Sunday 23 August 2009
Mass Mobilisation 2. Democratic Centralism
Once a handful of regulars have known and socialised with each other long enough and have built up the bonds of trust a meeting shall be arranged to establish the constitution of the political party. The NLF is to be a party and not a lobby group, scholarly journal or such like.
In nationalist and libertarian ciricles there is widespread division and faction over ideological matters and much energies are wasted in unproductive arguments amongst the faithfull, which rarely if ever result in consensus. The NLF will avoid factionalism by imposing consensus from the start by ensuring the political party is governed according to the principles of democratic centralism.
Democratic Centralism owes its political origins to Lennin's particular brand of marxism. Its keys tennants are listed below:
1. Ideological Consensus - The NLF develops its ideological principles through vigorous debate which are then adopted by formal democratic vote and then sticks to it through thick and thin. In the inagaural party conference the delegates of the party elected by the party. These delegates then through debate will adopt a constitution, a program (which sketches the aim of the group over the long-term) and resolutions. In future congresses, constitutions and programs are ammended by votes from the delegates - paragraphs are struck out, new ones added and new resolutions aopted.
Once this has been done, each NLF member agrees to abide by the program and the resolution, when representing the NLF's position to non-members, even if the individual member does not personally agree with the position. (This is a common enough phenomenon in mainstream, liberal democratic political parties: the MP in the Labor or Liberal Party has to support the position adopted by the party membership at the time, even if he does not agree with it, and refrain from criticising it in the public eye). Public criticism of the NLF by a member on any of its points should result in disciplinary action.
2. Members and Cadres - Only paid up, card-carrying members who chose to subject themselves to discipline of the party are truly members. Anybody else is merely a sympathiser. Furthermore there must also be gradations of memberships i.e. the Cadre who devotes more time to the party than a member who does nothing apart from pay his dues on time should be afforded a greater voice in how the party is run.
In nationalist and libertarian ciricles there is widespread division and faction over ideological matters and much energies are wasted in unproductive arguments amongst the faithfull, which rarely if ever result in consensus. The NLF will avoid factionalism by imposing consensus from the start by ensuring the political party is governed according to the principles of democratic centralism.
Democratic Centralism owes its political origins to Lennin's particular brand of marxism. Its keys tennants are listed below:
1. Ideological Consensus - The NLF develops its ideological principles through vigorous debate which are then adopted by formal democratic vote and then sticks to it through thick and thin. In the inagaural party conference the delegates of the party elected by the party. These delegates then through debate will adopt a constitution, a program (which sketches the aim of the group over the long-term) and resolutions. In future congresses, constitutions and programs are ammended by votes from the delegates - paragraphs are struck out, new ones added and new resolutions aopted.
Once this has been done, each NLF member agrees to abide by the program and the resolution, when representing the NLF's position to non-members, even if the individual member does not personally agree with the position. (This is a common enough phenomenon in mainstream, liberal democratic political parties: the MP in the Labor or Liberal Party has to support the position adopted by the party membership at the time, even if he does not agree with it, and refrain from criticising it in the public eye). Public criticism of the NLF by a member on any of its points should result in disciplinary action.
2. Members and Cadres - Only paid up, card-carrying members who chose to subject themselves to discipline of the party are truly members. Anybody else is merely a sympathiser. Furthermore there must also be gradations of memberships i.e. the Cadre who devotes more time to the party than a member who does nothing apart from pay his dues on time should be afforded a greater voice in how the party is run.
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