How do you establish a new (national) political party in your country?

8 comments

1. – A registered legal foundation,(I think that’s the accurate translation)

   – 5000 “support cards” meaning 5000 people who have the right to vote in Finland, must be in favour of registering the new political party. After that the party can apply for registration, and if the two above criteria are filled, it becomes an official party

2. Basically you write a document proclaiming yourself a party and notify the government about it and provide them with a copy.

   Done.

   [Here’s the official how to by the government.](https://www.ch.ch/en/political-system/political-parties/political-parties-in-switzerland/#how-can-you-create-a-political-party)

3. Not a huge amount: you just have to fill in a form (which can be done online) and pay a registration fee of £150. The government actually tightened up the rules a little only 2 months ago, so you also have to declare whether your party owns assets worth more than £500, and if it does then you have to list what all of these assets are.

   It should be mentioned that at every election you stand in, every single candidate has to hand in a deposit of £500. If the candidate gets less than 5% of the total valid votes (generally speaking around 1,500 votes) then they do not get their deposit back. This is the bit designed to stop people from abusing the system. There’s also a rule where registering a party which does not submit at least one candidate for every election can land you in court, but I’m not sure what the penalty is for it exactly (probably just a slap on the wrist).

   You can also register a “minor party” (one which cannot contest national elections, only local council elections) – otherwise known as “an irrelevance which nobody will ever know exists”. Our local authorities have next to no power, so the only reason for registering a minor party is if you really, really care so much about fixing one specific local issue that you figure you might as well try to fix it yourself.

4. In Italy founding a party follows the same process as an association, at least at first.

   1- With two other people, you need to go to a notary and sign an act where are specified the titles of the founding members (one as president, one as secretary and one as treasurer), the name and logo of the association and the party program.

   2- Constituent phase. In this phase new members are allowed in, with leading positions filled or changed and with eventual new rules/political program enstablished. The association must also have an official VAT number and a bank current account. Everything certified by a notary and sent to the provincial Guardia di Finanza hq, the Electoral Tribunal, the Chamber of Commerce, the Questura (provincial police headquarters), the Prefecture and the Municipality in which the association is located.

   3- A request to the “Commission for the guarantee of the statutes and for the transparency and control of the accounts of the political parties” of the National Register of Recognized Political Parties is sent and if the answer of the commission is positive, the association officially becomes a party.

   4- To take part in the national elections, various documents must be filled and signed and sent to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, after which are needed a specific number of signatures that differ between the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate and in how many electoral districts the party wants to participate

5. Denmark.
   There really isn’t any established rules for making a party, in theory you can just declare you made a party, and then that’s it, you have a party.
   Now running for elections is a different matter. To run you need to gather a number of voterdeclarations, you need 1/175th of the number of the last elections previous valid ballots (roughly 20000, equal to 1 seat), these are not voters that promise to vote for you, just voters that will back you actually running in an election. These need to be registered with the ministry of the interior 15 days before the election. To begin the collection of these declarations you will need to register a partyname and get it approved by the electoral commision (don’t have a name that can be misunderstood as another party or is offensive). And of course you need to be a danish citizen that is resident in Denmark, if you’re stationed ny govt. Or company a spouse of one and are planned to return within 2 years you count as a resident.

6. There are no rules, besides [certain criterias for the party name](https://www.val.se/for-partier/partibeteckning/krav-pa-partibeteckning.html).

   You just have to fill in and send your registration form, for free, to the Election Authority at least 30 days before the next election.

   There are some more things to do if you want a closed candidate list and such. But for the most basic party, this is all that is required.

7. – First you have to be a human being, over 18yo, in full exercise of your rights and not have been convicted of illicit association.
   – Trick two friends into forming a political party with you
   – In a founding minutes, draw up the party formation agreement, which should include the party’s statutes, name, logo, objectives, and so on (this step actually requires a lot of documentation and legal knowledge to comply with the law)
   – Then with all the documentation you submit an application for registration in the Register of Political Parties
   – Within 20 days you must receive a reply, giving you the approval or not (if it is for something that can be solved, they will give you a period of time to correct the documentation)

   And that’s it, once registered you have your political party and you can dedicate your life to watching yourself lose your principles in the quest for power.

   Edit: format

8. Hoo boy. Last I checked….

   You need at least 3 founding members, and to go to the Bucharest Tribunal and with the following documents:

   – Request to establish a political party, signed by the leader of the party’s executive organ and 2 other cofounders

   – The party’s statute, in authenticated form (i.e signed in front of a lawyer/notary); stuff like name, emblem, abbreviation, how it is organized, etc.

   – The party’s program (what you want to do)

   – An establishing paper signed by at least 3 founding members, in authenticated form

   – A statement on the headquarters (with something to prove you have the right to use it as such) and the party’s patrimony (the initial war chest so to say)

   – Proof of the party’s bank account being set up

   Oh and the list with the founding members’ signatures must also follow some formalities: it must have the names and forenames, birthdate, address, type of ID card, series and number of said ID, and signature. Also the founding members must be citizens with the right to vote.

   And a statement set up by the leader that you are aware of the legal ramifications if the signatures are fake and that all signatures thus gathered are legit.

   Also, for the founding members:

   – Criminal folder

   – Proof nobody is a member of another political party

   – Proof you paid a judiciary “stamp tax” (taxa de timbru)

   – ID card copy in authentic form

   Then a whole lot of waiting and dealing with courts and hoping they dont find some flaw.

   My info is a bit old as the ID card copy may be going away soon-ish, and there may be other stuff that changed in the meantime, but tldr: you need to undergo a lot of bullshit. For any other Romanians, [I checked here. Feel free to add more or correct me](https://www.inovarepublica.ro/ghid-infiintare-partid-politic/)