What is the 1989 analogy here: is it Wenceslas Square, or a prelude to Tiananmen Square? Nobody can quite work out whether it's safe to topple the statues, as news breaks that the post of General Secretary of the Alba Party is to be sensationally ABOLISHED

I follow the Moskva

Down to Gorky Park

Listening to the wind of CHA-ANGE

An August summer night

Soldiers passing by

Listening to the wind of CHA-ANGE

Take me 

To the magic of the moment

On a glory night

Where the children of tomorrow dream away (dream away)

In the wind of CHANGE

Mmmmm

As has been well-rehearsed in recent weeks and months, Chris McEleny has sweeping powers over members of the Alba Party that would make many a dictator blush, even though on paper he is no more than a paid employee of the party.  It's rather akin to giving a civil servant powers to impose the death penalty on random passers-by.  To the best of my knowledge Mr McEleny holds no elected position within the party whatsoever.  So what happens if his paid job suddenly disappears?

We may find out in the relatively near future, because the weekly Alba email has dramatically revealed that the positions of General Secretary (held by Mr McEleny) and Deputy General Secretary (held by Corri Wilson) are likely to be abolished, although this will be dependent on constitutional amendments.  It's not clear whether the true underlying motivation for the decision is primarily cost-saving (as the email implies), or whether concerns over the way Mr McEleny has exercised his dictatorial powers, and the countless casualties he has left in his wake, are shared in the upper reaches of the party.

The email states that Mr McEleny's functions will be replaced by dedicated roles among party staff covering areas such as "media" and "campaigning".  But there's no word on what will happen to his regal powers allowing him to arbitrarily suspend party members at his whim and press for their expulsion.  One obvious possibility is that those powers will simply be transferred to the unelected party chair, Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh, which will not constitute any sort of improvement at all.  Or perhaps Mr McEleny will just carry on, and even double down on the purges, with a new job title.

Whatever the details turn out to be, the change is unlikely to save me from expulsion, because presumably Mr McEleny and Ms Wilson will still be in harness when my appeal is heard on 8th January.  But in the best case scenario, there may now be an unexpected glimmer of hope for those Alba members who have yet to be expelled or suspended or bullied out of the party (it was only ever a matter of time, guys).