UKIP Uncovered
What motivates the leaders of the United Kingdom Independence Party?


Tuesday, February 10, 2004 

EGM Rule Change

As warned ahead of the January NEC meeting in our post of 6th January, (refresh memories from this link "Changing the Rules for an EGM') more means of stamping on the last remnants of democracy in UKIP are always underway with Farage & Co in charge. We have received this request to alert members to the latest danger from the (removed? - ex) General Party Secretary and others. Of course the likelihood of those presently running UKIP actually appearing to be guided by received ballot papers seems to this observer to get daily more remote. However, here in full is their plea:-

From: "Michael Harvey"
Reply-To:
Date: Mon, 9 Feb 2004 20:30:20 -0000
To: "Michael Harvey"
Subject: UKIP Constitutional Change - Calling an EGM

Members have received a ballot paper with 'Independence News' in which the Party Secretary proposes a Constitutional amendment to make the calling of an Extraordinary Conference (commonly known as an Emergency General Meeting or EGM) far more difficult than it is at present.

We strongly urge members to use their ballot papers to vote NO to this proposal.

An EGM is the branches' only means of restoring order to the Party if the Leader and/or NEC make a mess of things, as they did in 1999. Then, months of deadlock threatened the survival of the Party.
Finally, in exasperation, the branches took the matter out of the leadership's hands and called an EGM. This gave Party members the opportunity to tackle the problem. After heated debate, both Leader and NEC were voted out of
office. New elections took place in 2000 and the Party subsequently enjoyed three years of relative harmony.

So why is the question of an EGM suddenly troubling the Party Secretary?

Because in recent months various problems have arisen which many branches consider the leadership and NEC to have handled very badly.

Several branches have suggested that an EGM is the way to deal with these problems, although many others (including us) are hoping that the problems can be resolved without an EGM, which would inevitably be a distraction in the approach to the June elections. An EGM is very much a weapon of last resort, the prospect of which can be used to put pressure on the leadership to put its house in order.

Unfortunately, the siege mentality on the NEC is now so entrenched that instead of trying to resolve the root problems, the leadership responds by trying to remove this option from the members. So much for democracy! The panic is such that the amendment is being rushed to a vote with no consultation with the Standing Orders Committee, whose job under the Constitution is to review such proposals.

Consequently the amendment is badly drafted and ill-considered. This constitutional change is a craven and misplaced attempt to protect the leadership from the scrutiny of members, and we urge you to reject it.

Please feel free to circulate this message to other UKIP members.

Michael Harvey
Former Party Secretary (2000-02) and General Secretary (2002-03), Standing Orders Committee Member (2000- )

Damian Hockney
NEC Member (2001- )

Sandra Robinson
East Midlands Regional Organiser

Marilyn Swain
Standing Orders Committee Member (2000- )

posted by Martin | 6:21 PM
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