The Party

Officially dubbed the Communist Party of Lazarus aka CPLAZ.

Structurally and ideologically, CPLAZ is a centrist organisation with all authority vested in its elected and appointed officials. In reality CPLAZ is something of a mess in terms of actual structure and its ideological purity has become diffused over the last two centuries of settlement and arrivals of newcomers.

Traditionally an organisation like CPLAZ is comrpised of the following organs:

• General Secretariat - handles day to day affairs of CPLAZ as well as membership, can overrule decisions by the Politburo and Central Committee
• Politburo - Political Bureau, determines policy direction
• Central Committee aka CENTRAL - oversees appointments to the Politburo and election of the General Secretary
• Presidium - oversees the various organs of government; Internal Security, Education, Resources etc. Members of the Presidium are appointed by the Central Committee

Tacked onto these organs are:

• Soviet American Space Treaty Adminnistration (SASTA)
• Soviet American Space Forces (SASF)

These two organisations having been responsbile for Soviet American settlement of Lazarus have significant sway in party meetings and deliberations. For the first fifty years of the settlement SASTA/SASF members held the positions of General Secretary and dominated the membership of the Politburo.

Time has changed this, now much of the leadership roles are taken by rank and file party members who have no connection to either SASTA or SASF. With a return to focusing on the study of the various ruins, relics and monuments of the precursor societies there is also a growing number of Diggers or Digger aligned individuals joining the party.

Factionalism is also a major element within Party politics; this began with the establishment of Dig Zero and has continued among the rank and file. The arrival of Chinese influenced party members has also widened the base of party factions, where there was Old Guard and Kropotkinists now there is New Era Socialists.

To those who dwell within the municipality of Krasnygorod and its satellite communities, CPLAZ is simply referred to as the Party. To those outside of the northern regions it is the Communist Party, and while Krasnygorod may be its stronghold and heart its ideals have spread beyond that area. Something that was an unintended aspect.

Consequently at the planetary level the various factions have candidates running for either lower house or senate positions as their respective faction rather than as the Party as a whole. Naturally this is a major issue and CENTRAL is discussing how to turn this to the advantage of CPLAZ.