in Esperanto
Chapter 9: THE PROCESS OF THE UNARMED REVOLUTION
4. Advance the process of the transition period.
4.1. Preparation for the transition phase process
The greatest mission of the Revolutionary Transition Commission (Transition Commission) is to advance the process of the transition period toward the opening of a communist society. During the transition period, the political and economic turmoil that often accompanies revolutions is expected. How this period can be shortened will determine the success or failure of the revolution.
As a guideline, it is desirable to complete the transition period within 3 to 5 years. In order to make this possible, it is necessary to discuss the transition period in advance within the Commons' Convention and to make careful preparations and plans.
The most important transitional steps are listed below. However, the economic transition plan will be the most important and most difficult part of the transition period, so I will specifically discuss it in the next article.
4.2. Drafting of the initial Charter (constitution)
As pointed out in the previous chapter, the Transition Commission must aim to establish a constitutional system as soon as possible, but since it is difficult to quickly establish a constitutional system in the face of a large-scale revolution, it is necessary to consider the process separately.
When we say "constitution" here, we must be careful that it is different from the constitution as we know it today. The constitution as we know has the characteristics of a fundamental law of the state that determines the structure of the state. On the other hand, in a communist society, as has been stated repeatedly, the state is abolished, so the constitution cannot be the basic law of the "state."
Instead, the constitution becomes the rules that determine how the people should run society, and these rules are expressed in the form of the "Charter of the Commons' Convention" (hereinafter simply referred to as the "Charter").
There are two processes involved in the enactment of this Charter. The first is the "initial Charter" that corresponds to the earliest communist society - a "newly born communist society" so to speak, and the second is the "complete Charter" that corresponds to the mature communist society after this earliest communism.
Immediately after the revolution, the Commons' Convention establishes a "Charter Drafting Committee" to work on drafting the first initial Charter. This committee, in collaboration with the World Commons' Convention, which is also the headquarter of the Commons' Conventions in the world, will use the already established Charter of the World Commons' Convention as its source of law, and will carry out the full transitional process with the aim of formulating an appropriate draft Charter.
Furthermore, under the Commons' Convention system, local Commons' Conventions in each zone are also able to enact their own Charters within the scope of the zonal Charter, so local Commons' Conventions at all levels can proceed with the drafting of Charters.
4.3. Establishment of a republican polity
In connection with constitutional issues, the choice of political regime, which is itself a constitutional issue, is also an important one. A communist political system is essentially a republic, and the system of Commons' Convention requires a transition to a "commons' republican polity" in which the people themselves govern through Commons' Conventions, rather than delegating administration to the president or other chief adminisrator.
Such a commons' republican polity is incompatible with a monarchy or a similar hereditary form of regime. This is an issue related to the existence and abolition of monarchies that have lost their political authority and become symbolic (symbolic monarchies), including Japan's symbolic emperor system.
In conclusion, the symbolic monarchy will inevitably be abolished after the communist revolution. However, the meaning of "abolition" needs to be carefully analyzed.
In other words, what is being "abolished" here is the monarchy as a political system. This can be distinguished from whether or not the royal family itself should be abolished.
Of course, the most thoroughgoing republic would require the abolition of the royal family itself itself. Historically, when a monarchy was overthrown by a popular uprising, the entire royal family was dissolved, sometimes leading to the execution of the monarch (as in the French Revolution and the Russian Revolution).
However, these events are based on the people's hatred of autocratic monarchies, and symbolic monarchies that have long since lost their political authority are not usually the targets of popular hatred. The dissolution of the royal family in a symbolic monarchy, much less the execution of the monarch, would only arouse the sympathy of the people and could provoke a counter-revolutionary uprising among the royalists.
Therefore, when it comes to abolishing the symbolic monarchy, rather than taking a thorough policy of abolishing the royal family as well, it would be wiser to take an incomplete policy of abolishing the monarchy but keeping the royal family alive.
However, the continuation of the royal family only means allowing the ceremonial title of a member of the royal family to continue without any privileges. Therefore, not only will domestic administration departments such as the Royal Households be abolished, but members of the royal family will be encouraged to become ordinary citizens.
4.4. Revolutionary defense
Since the transition period is also a time when counter-revolutionary movements are developed in various forms, building defense of the revolutionary system as the mission of the Transition Commission itself becomes an important policy during the transition period. Regarding this defense of the revolution, we can distinguish between domestic measures and foreign measures.
(a) Domestic measures
Throughout history, domestic revolutionary defense measures have often served as a symbol of human rights violations, creating an image of fear against revolution. In particular, the creation of a political secret police whose direct purpose is to defend the revolution should be avoided, as it creates a breeding ground for human rights violations.
Therefore, instead of relying on the political police for revolutionary defense, we should establish a grassroots revolutionary defense organization with the intention of actively enlightening society about the significance of the revolution and including people in the revolutionary work. That is to say, the Liaison for the Defense of the Revolution (LDR).
In other words, we are not limited to passive revolutionary defense such as collecting information and monitoring the movements of groups and individuals suspected of involvement in counterrevolutionary activities, but we also have to actively provide information on revolutionary policies in the region and building relationships with Commons' Conventions. Furthermore, it is a comprehensive revolutionary defense organization that also carries out public opinion enlightenment for the general public.
For this purpose, the LDR has staff members (mediators) who are in charge of providing information on revolutionary policies and building relationships in the region, and personnel (publicists) who are responsible for enlightening revolutionary public opinion to the public using the Internet and other information means, and agents who collect information and monitor movements regarding counter-revolutionary activities. (*)
Revolutionary defense through such an inclusive civilian revolutionary defense organization also has the effect of avoiding heavy-handed measures such as mass purges, which have been a staple of previous historical revolutions. As will be explained later, during the transition period, the old government structure still remains, so general civil servants must be preserved for the time being, and it is sufficient to individually dismiss civil servants who clearly engage in counter-revolutionary sabotage.
However, in countries where the military has strong political influence, a certain degree of vigilance is required against a military counter-revolutionary coup. To this end, it is necessary to assign a veteran officer with understanding the revolution to the Deputy serving under the Transition Commissioner in charge of peace issues , who controls the military, and to strive to integrate the middle-level officers and below into the revolutionary system.
*Because members of the LDR require a particularly strong belief in the defense of the revolution, they are recruited through selection from suitable candidates rather than through open recruitment.
(b) Diplomatic measures
Historically, many revolutions have involved interference from foreign countries that are afraid of their spread, and this often leads to war. Therefore, it is essential to take diplomatic measures to defend the revolution.
What is important in doing so is the transnational organization of Commons' Conventions. The communist revolution will ultimately be the first of a series of revolutions (domino revolutions) that spread throughout the world to defeat the interference of counter-revolutionary foreign forces and be completed. The domino revolutions, which I will touch on again in the next chapter, are not just "exports of revolution" but a global wave of revolution.
In this sense, the essence of revolutionary defense in diplomatic aspects is the transnational solidarity of Commons' Conventions, which is different from technical diplomacy itself, that is, the existence of the World Commons' Convention. For this reason, revolutions are not unilateral, it is necessary to promote the creation of the World Commonwealth from the beginning.
4.5. Economic transition plan
The transition from a capitalist economy or other market economy system to a communist planned economy is the most important and most difficult event in the transition period, and must itself be guided by careful "planning." Regarding this matter, as announced at the beginning, I will discuss later.
4.6. Transitional administration
Although the state is abolished in a communist society, the old governmental structures still exist in both the central and local areas during the transition period.
During this time, the Revolutionary Transition Commission will be in charge of each administrative field at the central government, while the main ministries will continue their administrative duties for the time being and begin preparations for organizational change toward becoming a policy think tank.
Regarding local administration, in accordance with a special ordinance issued by the Transition Commission, the remaining heads and councilors of all local governments will first be dismissed all at once. In addition, former local governments of wide-area such as prefectures are transferred to the control of the Provisional prefectural Commons' Convention, and the Commons' Convention will work toward integration into provincial area by dispatching "temporary administrative commissioners" (equivalent to governors) and "deputy temporary administrative commissioners" (equivalent to vice governors).
On the other hand, in the case of municipalities, the Provisional Municipal Commons' Convention will immediately take control of municipal administration, and for the time being, the chairman of the Commons' Convention will inherit the position of mayor of the municipality, and will carry out reorganization work into communist communes and regional areas.
4.7. Promotion of military abolition plan
What requires attention in the transitional administration is the handling of the military (including armed organizations equivalent to the military). In a communist society, the standing army will eventually be abolished, but this can only be done based on world law (treaties), so until then it is necessary to maintain the military while integrating it into the revolutionary system. However, during the transition period, it is necessary to move forward with plans for total disarmament, not just arms reduction, with an eye toward the future abolition of standing armies.
The manner and scale of the process will be determined strategically, taking into account the domestic and international situation of armed interference from counter-revolutionary countries and counter-revolutionary coups from within the military. To this end, it is extremely important that the Transition Commissioner in charge of peace issues, who is in charge of military abolition, takes the lead.
By the way, many of the military skills that the military has accumulated can be applied to advanced rescue operations in large-scale disasters, etc., so it is beneficial to partially reorganize into advanced rescue teams that cover the entire territory or wide area.
4.8. Transitional justice
During the transition period, the creation of a new judicial system that is not based on the police and court systems, as discussed in Chapter 4, will also begin.
However, since the judiciary is involved in maintaining order and is also a key area for the defense of the revolution, we must proceed while taking careful transitional and emergency measures to avoid confusion. Therefore, the new judicial system should be implemented with plenty of time to coincide with the implementation of the initial Charter.
4.9. Implementation of delegate license examination
The Commons' Conventions in each level during the transition period are still provisional, and formal Commons' Conventions consisting of delegates with delegate licenses will be convened promptly after the promulgation and enforcement of the initial Charter. To this end, it is necessary to establish a delegate license examination early in the transition period, and to conduct the first license examination before the initial Charter draft is completed.
4.10. Convening of the Constituent Commons' Convention
Once the initial draft Charter is completed, the Constituent Commons' Convention will be established and convened. Delegates to the Constituent Commons' Convention are drawn from among license holders who have passed the unified representative licensing examination, just as in the official Commons' Convention. With the convening of the Constituent Commons' Convention, the previous General Assembly of the Commons' Convention shall be dissolved.
4.11. Passing and enforcement of the initial Charter
Once the above transition phase process is nearing completion, we will begin the final process of establishing an initial Charter. Although various methods can be envisaged, the following method is considered to be the most thorough and efficient.
After the Charter draft by the aforementioned Charter Drafting Committee was submitted to the Constituent Commons' Convention and passed by a majority vote, it is further passed by a majority vote at two-thirds or more of the provisional Commons' Conventions at each level of local areas.
As the name suggests, the initial Charter is preliminary and has a strong provisional nature, so direct voting by the people may not be necessary at this stage. Thus, the transition period will be completed with the promulgation and enforcement of the initial Charter.
