The Radical Party
proclaims justice and law, also political objectives of the Radical Party,
proclaims the respect of justice and law as the insuperable source of the legitimacy of the institutions,
proclaims the duty of disobedience, non-collaboration, conscientious objection, the supreme forms of nonviolent struggle for the defence - with life - of life, justice and law.
Calls on itself, and on every person who wishes to hope in life, in peace, in justice and in freedom, strictly to respect and actively to defend the following two fundamental laws:
The Declaration of the Rights of Man (with the hope that the expression will be changed to "Rights of the Person") and the European Convention on the Rights of Man, as well as those constitutions which respect the principles contained in the two charters; and to refuse to obey and acknowledge the legitimacy of those who violate them, who do not apply them, who reduce them to verbose and merely non-peremptory declarations, that is to non-laws.
Declares the commandment "do not kill" to have the value of a historically absolute law, without exceptions, not even that of legitimate defence.
STATUTE
1.1. Structures and organs
1.1.1. The Radical Party is a transnational political body.
The organs of the Radical Party are the Congress, the Assembly of Parliamentarians, the General Council, the Co-ordinating Committee, the Area Congresses, the Secretary, the Treasurer, the College of Auditors.
1.1.2. Members can form Radical associations.
Non-Radical associations and groups which pursue their own political ends can become federate members of the Radical Party.
1.2. Finances
1.2.1. The finances of the party come from the fees paid by individual members, the contributions of non-Radical associations or groups who become federate members of the party in accordance with art.4, from other contributions - including those of persons or bodies who have no associative links with the party - and also from specific activities and initiatives that are to be proposed, publicly and in advance, by the Secretary and the Treasurer, and from contributions from public sources (local, national, or international bodies), on condition that they are approved by the Congress or the General Council. The party accounts are public and are prepared in the form of accounts sheets drawn up according to the standards of orderly book-keeping. The criteria for the drawing-up of the accounts and the accounts sheets, as well as the budget, are decided by the Treasurer and approved by the General Council.
1.2.2. The minimum fee for membership of the Radical Party is set by the Congress in relation to the pro capita gross national product (GNP) of the country of residence of each member. For countries in which membership may lead to persecution by the authorities, payment of the membership fee is voluntary.
1.3. The members of the Radical Party
1.3.1. Any one can join the Radical Party. Membership is annual.
The conditions for membership of the party are acceptance of the present statute and payment of the membership fee set by the Congress.
Enrolments are collected by the executive organs of the party.
Members are not bound to any party discipline and, except in the case of resignation, cannot be deprived of their status as members for the entire period of the membership.
2.1. The Congress
2.1.1. The Congress is the the deliberative organ of the party, whose political orientation it establishes, setting out specific objectives and deciding on areas of activity. The ordinary Congress takes place every two years, and must be convened by the Secretary for the last two months of the two-year period. The extraordinary Congress can be convened by the Secretary, by the General Council (with an absolute majority of its members), and by one third of those members who have been in the party for at least six months.
The Congress is formed of the members of the Radical Party. Representatives of non-Radical associations and groups can attend in the numbers and the ways established by the agreements of support.
2.1.2. Policy motions adopted by a majority of two-thirds of members are binding for the executive organs.
The rules of the Congress establish procedures for the discussion and voting of motions to enable a two-thirds majority to be reached on general political motions. In laying down the procedures for the presentation of political motions, the rules also establish that they must be backed by at least one third of the members of the Co-ordinating Committee.
2.1.3. The Congress
a) elects the President of the Radical Party;
b) elects the Secretary of the Radical Party, and ratifies the Secretariat proposed by the Secretary;
c) elects the Treasurer of the Radical Party, and ratifies the Treasury Committee proposed by the Treasurer;
d) elects 25 members of the General Council;
e) elects the College of Auditors;
f) sets the membership fee.
2.2. The Assembly of Parliamentarians
2.2.1. The Assembly of Parliamentarians is the organ which, in collaboration with the other organs of the party, plans and co-ordinates action at legislative and parliamentary level for the implementation of the Congress motion.
It is formed of all the parliamentarians who are members of the Radical Party and is convened by the Secretary and chaired by the President of the Party.
Its meetings are attended by the Secretary and the Secretariat, and the Treasurer and the Treasury Committee.
In a special meeting during the Congress it elects 25 of its members to the General Council.
2.3. The General Council
2.3.1. The General Council is composed of:
- 25 members elected by the transnational Congress;
- 25 members elected by the Assembly of Parliamentarians;
- members elected by the Area Congress according to the following criteria:
areas with between 11 and 50 members of the RP = 1 member
areas with between 51 and 200 members of the RP = 2 members
areas with between 201 and 1000 members of the RP = 3 members
areas with more than 1001 members of the RP = 4 members;
- representatives of non-Radical associations and groups who support the Party according to the criteria established by the agreement of support.
The Secretary, the Secretariat, the Treasurer and the Treasury Committee attend the meetings of the General Council, though without the right to vote.
The General Council is chaired by the President of the Party and meets once a year. Extraordinary meetings may be convened by the Secretary or on the request of at least one third of its members.
2.3.2. The General Council
a) approves the budget submitted to it by the executive organs before its first meeting, as well as subsequent updates. Approves the annual final accounts presented by the Treasurer and checked by the auditors;
b) deliberates, with congressual powers, on matters which have been remitted to it by the Congress;
c) expresses its opinion on initiatives for the implementation of the decisions of the Congress;
d) passes judgement on initiatives not dealt with by the Congress; when the judgement is expressed with a two-thirds majority, the executive organs must implement it;
e) expresses its opinion on initiatives regarding financial policy which are submitted to it by the Treasurer;
f) on the matters referred to in the previous points, it can make proposals and ask the executive for information;
g) on the proposal of the Secretary, it determines the geographical areas referred to in art.2.4.1.;
h) on the proposal of the Secretary, it ratifies by simple majority the federation agreements of non-Radical associations and groups;
i) on the initiative of the Secretary, it approves the agenda and the proposal for the Presidency, the rules, and the order of proceedings of the Congress; it presents a report to Congress.
2.4. The Area Congresses
2.4.1. The Area Congresses are attended by all the members in a particular geographical area, which may or may not coincide with a particular country. The areas are determined by the General Council, on the proposal of the Secretary, before the convocation referred to in point b) below.
The Area Congresses meet ordinarily once a year, within the following deadlines and with the following tasks;
a) within three months of the end of the transnational Congress, to discuss the implementation of the Congress motion in the particular geographical area and to propose consequent initiatives for the action of the executive organs of the party in the particular area.
On this occasion they elect their representatives on the General Council;
b) within the period between the seventh and the fourth month before the transnational Congress, to put forward indications of political priorities and proposals for initiatives to be included in the Congress motion. These indications and proposals must be adopted by a two-thirds majority.
On this occasion, each Area Congress elects one member to represent it on the Co-ordinating Committee, assigning him the task of illustrating the indications and proposals voted for and of supporting the views expressed by the Congress.
2.4.2. The Area Congresses cannot elect organs or adopt decisions that are binding for the organs of the party and associations. They are a forum for discussion among members and facilitate the constitution of associations of members.
2.5. The Co-ordinating Committee
2.5.1. The Co-ordinating Commitee is composed of the President of the Party, who chairs it, the Secretary, the Treasurer, and one representative of each Area Congress.
Its task is to co-ordinate and synthesise the different proposals for political priorities and initiatives adopted by the Area Congresses, so that, well in adavance of the Congress, it can send a basic platform for the elaboration of Congress motions to all members and then present the platform to the Congress.
2.6. The President
2.6.1. The President of the Party is elected by the Congress: his mandate lasts until the following Congress.
The President checks on the observance of the statute, settles the differences of interpretation of the statute between other party organs, chairs the Congress, with the help of the Presidency proposed by the General Council and ratified by the Congress, and chairs the General Council and the Co-ordinating Committee.
2.7. The Secretary
2.7.1. The Secretary is elected by the Congress and is responsible for the implementation of the policy of the Radical Party, in keeping with the general motion voted by the Congress. His mandate lasts until the following Congress. The Secretary is assisted by a Secretariat formed of a minimum of five and a maximum of ten members, nominated by the Secretary himself and ratified by the Congress or, with the authorization of the Congress, by the General Council. The Secretary can delegate specific duties to members of the Secretariat.
The Secretary is the legal representative of the Radical Party, with the exceptions referred to in art.2.8. In particular, in the exercise of this legal representation, he proposes all the judicial actions he believes necessary for the safeguard of the rights and the interests of the Party and represents the Party in such actions.
The Secretary
a) takes all the action he believes necessary for the achievement of the objectives that have been set;
b) can ask the opinion of the General Council on the implementation of the decisions of Congress and on the pronouncements of the Council itself;
c) proposes to the General Council initiatives on which the Congress has not given its opinion;
d) convenes the Assembly of Parliamentarians, the General Council, the Party Congress and the Area Congresses;
e) promotes agreements for the federation to the Party of non-Radical associations and groups to be submitted for ratification by the General Council.
2.8. The Treasurer
2.8.1. The Treasurer is elected by the Congress. His mandate lasts until the following Congress. He is assisted by a Treasury Committee composed of a minimum of three and a maximum of five members, nominated by the Treasurer himself and ratified by the Congress or, with the authorization of the Congress, by the General Council. The Treasurer can delegate specific duties to members of the Treasury Committee.
He administers the funds at the disposal of the Party and is responsible for their management. He promotes initiatives for self-funding and the acquisition of any other financial resources; he reports on these initiatives, to hear its opinion, to the General Council.
He is the legal representative of the Party in relation to all its financial and economic activities. In agreement with the Secretary, he presents the budget and subsequent updates to the General Council and presents the annual final accounts, once they have been approved by the auditors, to the General Council.
2.9. The College of Auditors
2.9.1. The College of Auditors is composed of three members elected by Congress. It has the power to revise and inspect the accounts; it approves the budget and presents a financial report on the final accounts to the General Council.
3. RADICAL ASSOCIATIONS
3.1.1. Radical associations are formed by members of the Party who join together to achieve specific objectives determined by the Congress motion or for independently determined political or cultural aims.
They speak in the name of the members who join them and not in the name of the Radical Party as a whole, and do not have the right to monopolize the organized presence of the Radical Party in a particular geographical area.
They are self-financed and create their own organs and regulations.
4. FEDERATED NON-RADICAL ASSOCIATIONS AND GROUPS
4.1.1. Non-Radical associations and groups which pursue their own aims, political, cultural or other, can become federate members of the Radical Party in order to carry out specific political initiatives for common aims. The federation of such associations or groups does not involve the enrolment in the Party of their members or supporters. The period of federation may also be limited in time or determined in advance.
Federation takes place on the basis of agreements between the executive organs of non-Radical associations or groups and the organs of the Radical Party. For the Radical Party the agreements are concluded by the Secretary and ratified by the General Council. The agreements specify the amount and the form of payment of the financial contribution to the federal party on the part of the association or group which becomes a federate member, the commitments for mutual support, and the forms and level of representation of the federate associations or groups on the organs of the party.
Amendments: (1993, 1995, 2001, 2002)
Motion of the 36th Congress of the Radical Party (Rome, 4-8 February 1993)
The Congress (…) decides:
a) to adopt the draft statute presented by the First Secretary - final ratification is postponed until the next Congress;
b) to proceed to the election of the Secretary and the Treasurer, and also - provisionally - of 60 members of the General Council according to the methods established by the Rules of Procedure for the election of the Federal Council.
- the elected organs will take office in mid-May, and in any case not later than 15 June, after which the current organs will be confirmed in office;
- on the same date the Secretary will convene a special electoral meeting of the Assembly of Parliamentarians and the 60 members elected by the Congress in order to proceed to the election of the President of the party as well as of a further 40 members of the General Council, which will proceed, thus constituted, to the election of its President;
- the Secretary will present to the General Council the lines of political initiative defined in agreement with the outgoing organs.
The Congress also decides that in the first implementation of the statute:
a) articles 2.4 (area congresses) and 2.5 (co-ordinating committee) shall not be applied;
b) the General Council shall elect its President from among its members;
c) the next Congress shall take place 18 months after the statutory organs have taken office.
Motion of the 37th Congress (Rome, 7- 8 April 1995)
(…)
the 37th Congress - in the same way as the 35th Congress for the transnational refoundation of the Party in 1989 - delegates its statutory powers to the Secretary, the Treasurer and the President of the Party for a maximum of one year, to be exercised jointly and by unanimous agreement for all decisions relative to the life of the Radical Party. In particular, the Congress charges them with the task of drawing up a project for the refoundation of the Party, taking the measures for reorganisation they believe to be necessary to this end.
The Congress also decides that the General Council shall be composed extraordinarily of 31 members elected by the Congress.
These modifications constitute provisional norms of the Statute of the Radical Party.
Relaunch of the TRP: Extraordinary Political Executive Committee. Letter of announcement from Olivier Dupuis (Secretary) and Danilo Quinto (Treasurer) - (10 July 2001)
Dear fellow Radicals, dear friends,
as you know, due to difficulties that seemed to us to be objective and insurmountable, it has not been possible since 1997 to run the party in accordance with the rules of the statute.
The political activity of the party has continued, despite the difficulties, in that party leaders and activists have been involved mainly on other fronts and priorities. An eloquent, though critical indication of this continuing political life is provided by the increasing importance of our initiatives within the UN, by the battles for the affirmation of human and political rights conducted either directly or indirectly through or in conjunction with other Radical organisations or persecuted minority groups in various parts of the world; and also by the number of people in Italy (and in Russia) who have continued throughout these years to renew their membership and support. Also, however, by the discontinuation of political activity in all the other regions and countries in which we had established a Radical presence.
At this point, we can no longer delay the attempt to rebuild the statutory and organisational structure of the party; for this reason we have decided to appeal to colleagues to form an EXTRAORDINARY POLITICAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE which will perform the political and organisational functions necessary to re-establish statutory normality, with the convocation of the TRP Congress.
The following colleagues have agreed to join us on this Extraordinary Political Executive Committee: Marino BUSDACHIN, Marco CAPPATO, Paolo CHIARELLI, Luca COSCIONI, Gianfranco DELL'ALBA, Sergio D'ELIA, Benedetto DELLA VEDOVA, Nikolaj KHRAMOV, Ottavio MARZOCCHI, Marco PERDUCA, Paolo PIETROSANTI, Olivia RATTI, Sergio STANZANI, and Maurizio TURCO.
The Executive Committee will hold its first meeting by 25 July. We will keep you regularly informed of its proceedings and decisions.
Olivier DUPUIS
Danilo QUINTO
Motion of the 38th Congress (Geneva, 2002)
The Congress (…)
Decides:
· to elect an interim President-Coordinator of the Party, entrusted with the powers of Secretary and Treasurer in the execution of the mandate assigned by the Congress;
· to set up a Committee of Presidents composed of 4 people elected by the Congress, including a President of the Congress, a President of the General Council, a President of the Executive Committee, a President of the Senate, plus a President nominated by Radicali Italiani.
· to confirm the current members of both the General Council and the Extraordinary Political Executive Committee;
· to invite Radicali Italiani, the Radical Delegation at the European Parliament, No Peace Without Justice, Hands Off Cain, Esperanto Radikala Asocio, the Coordinamento radicale antiproibizionista (CORA), Radio radicale/production centre, TASS/Media Watchdog, and the Radical Anti-militarist Association to become the first "Constituent bodies of the Radical Party", modifying their statutes and nominating their respective representatives on the Senate of the party;
(…)
TEMPORARY PROVISIONS FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SENATE OF THE PARTY
a- Functions
The Senate:
1 - Shall express its opinion on proposals for the modification of the Statute.
2 - In the event of the failure by an organ of the Party to respect the obligations laid down by the Statute, shall, on the initiative of the President, take over the exercise of the said organ, with respect only to the acts necessary to restore respect of the Statute.
3 - Shall, on the initiative of the President or on the request of the Secretary and the Treasurer, express its opinion on the projects proposed by one or more bodies, either Radical associations or non-Radical bodies and groups federated to the Party.
4 - Can make written requests to the Secretary and to the Treasurer of the Party, and to the secretaries and the treasurers of the constituent/founding bodies, for information and clarification about their financial policies. The information and clarification must be supplied in writing.
b - Constituent bodies.
Each body shall include the term “constituent body of the TRP” in its statute. This term can be cancelled according to the body’s procedures for the modification of its statute, thereby causing the elimination of the body from the statute of the party. In the case of “non-agreement” on the part of the executive organs of the party, the decision to cancel the term becomes operative after a minimum of 10 months’ notice;
The prior assent of the Senate, which shall decide by simple majority, is required for the inclusion of new constituent bodies.
c - Composition
For each of the constituent bodies indicated, the two persons who hold the highest office, either internal or with respect to other parties, shall be part of the Senate. Senators must have full powers to represent their respective bodies. The Secretary and the Treasurer of the Party shall be invited without voting rights.
Senators shall take part in the proceedings of the General Council without voting rights.
The office of Senator is not compatible with other Party offices.
d - Operation
The Senate, convened by the President with at least three days’ notice whenever he believes it to be necessary, and in any case at least once every two months, shall deliberate by simple majority, when at least half its members are present.
If the quorum is not formed, the President shall reconvene the Senate after three days. If the quorum is not formed for two consecutive convocations, the President shall decide on the items on the agenda of the first convocation.
e - Rules of Procedure
The Senate shall approve its Rules of Procedure on the occasion of its first meeting.
