Presentation by Dr. Peter Koeppinger, resident representative in the Philippines of Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) at the Institute for Autonomy & Governance - KAS training on political party building attended by senior leaders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) | Intramuros, Manila | March 27-31, 2014

1. From Movement to Party:
Creating the Political Party
Structure and Organization
The Importance of Clear Constitution
and Bylaws
Dr. Peter Koeppinger

2. A. What is a party? And what is a party
supposed to do? - 2 -
(1) The party as a legal personality in order to be
permitted to participate in elections
(2) The party as a community of persons with
similar objectives
(3) The party as a player in political decision
making
(4) The need to clarify the relations between the
MILF as a liberation movement and the party

3. - 3 -
Fundamental questions to be answered by you:
1.What are our main objectives?
2.What type of members do we want to have and
what shall be their rights and obligations?
3.Do we want to be an open and democratic
organization or do we have a personal or
institutional patron?
4.Do we want to be a top down or a bottom up
organization?

4. - 4 -
5. What type of activities do we want to have –
only electoral, general political or even social
activities?
6. How do we want to finance our activities:
membership dues, patronage, projects…
7. How do we want to resolve internal
problems?

5. - 5 -
Here are the International standard criteria for
democratic political parties:
1.Based on dues paying members who control
and run the party
2.Clear and detailed ideological orientation and
programmatic profile
3.Internal democratic structure and procedures
4.Ongoing activities on local/regional/national
level
5.Democratic political parties – citizens and
political office holders as members

6. Some more questions to you: - 6 -
1. Who shall be members of the MILF organized
party?
2. What shall be the role, the rights and obligations
of the members in this party?
3. How many members shall the party have?
4. What shall be the criteria and preconditions for
interested citizens to become members of the
party?

7. - 7 -
6. What shall be the relation between the MILF and
their political party, what role shall the leaders
of MILF play in this party?
7. Shall the members of the party pay dues, how
much, how shall they be collected?
8. How shall members of the party be recruited?
9. What shall be the role of the normal party
members with regard to the political positions of
the party, how shall they be involved?

8. - 8 -
10.Will the members of the party have the right to
have their own ideas on the issues on which the
party has developed political positions?
11.What are their rights and obligations if they
differ from the party positions?
12.What are the rules on limiting damage to the
party by members opposing positions, and
which type of reconciliation and conflict
resolution measures can be installed for such
problems?

9. - 9 -
(1) Procedure:
Break up into three groups
Elect Coordinator and Presenter of Results
(2) Task:
Try to come up with answers to the seven
questions on page 3 and 4, 6, 7 and 8
Report to the plenary after 30 minutes with 5
minutes per group

10. And this should be the structure of
Constition and By-Laws - 10 -
1. Who we are
2. What are our objectives
3. Who are our members and their rights and
obligations
4. What are our activities
5. How are our internal structures and procedures
6. How do we finance ourselves
7. How do we solve problems and conflicts