As one of the writers of the motion, here is some explanations.
Why session ? Because it’s a good solution to create a routine and to give people some marks. They will know that we have 2 or 3 sessions per year and that they are organized the same way every time. This mechanism is strengthen if we vote on a calendar each year.
A permanent yearly GA is not a good idea. The advantage to divide the year in several session is to have break time that allow delegates that are also involve in other positions in their party to not miss something. They will know in advance when their time will be focused on PPI and when they can be focused on their internal businesses.
About the fact that we need to involve people and not be so focused on statutes: I don’t agree with this argument. Actually the rules are note accessible (I mean, it’s difficult to understand all the nuance in them). You can not opposed the following facts: we spend more time trying to find which rule to apply and how to apply it. This creates very long and boring meetings which have for consequences to scare people and discourage them to participate more actively.
If we want to have more people involve in our organization we need to have clear and understandable rules. We won’t attract people if the organization doesn’t run almost automatically.
About the argument saying that we can’t tell the board how to work: yes we can. The board is a executive organ and the GA can totally decides how it works and what it has to do. Saying the opposite is saying that the board has a free rein over the organization that is not compatible with pirate values. The board is accountable to the GA and the GA can decide how the board must act for the governance of the organization.
About the working group: The last working group on this matter was a total disaster. Nobody shows up. Proposing to create a new working group is clearly not a good idea except if you want to change nothing and keep the status quo.
This motion won’t be an obstacle to physical meetings but it will help to improve their quality. Indeed, The time will be focused on really debates and discussions about things that really matter and not on statutes and rules interpretation. But we need to have rules to be sure that we will act as an democratic organization.