Post Archive
Region: The Thaecian Senate
My main focus will be completing the history of Thaecia started by Primo.
Korsinia, Xernon, The Islamic Country Of Honour
First, sorry for the delay and thanks for the compliments. I will now answer the questions.
1. As a former Education Secretary I had to recruit the whole staff so I believe I'm ready to do this, my plans to ensure that I have the necessary workforce are to contact lots of thaecians in the smallest amount of time and advertising of course. As I already said I already did something like this with the goal of finding even more people so it wouldn't be a problem.
2. I really support it since I tried it in another region I'm in and it showed its results, I believe it would be a great idea since many times we ended up with sending more recruitment telegrams to the same person.
3.Recruitment and Mentoring. Recruitment because the number of our residents is slowly decreasing and mentoring because it would keep here and involve many more residents that leave after joining or become inactive, it would help the ministries, the secretariats and the region. It would be really helpful to shape our future residents and heads of the region.
4. I would keep the waiver system in his current way until that the Constitutional Convention fixes the Thaempirial Army issue, so flexible. After the Costitutional Convention I will think about the possibility of some changes in the waiver system, even if unlikely to happen.
5.I'm a strong supporter of mentoring, I helped lots of newcomers to introduce themselves into Thaecia since April/May and I have to say that it worked almost everytime, it growed the number of the residents and of the ministries' workforce. One day many experienced Thaecians will be retired and if we don't prepare our newcomers for the future of the region we will end up with not enough experienced people in the region which would put at a serious risk the region since the new Thaecians will not be prepared to be Ministers, Prime Ministers, Presidents. That's why I support the Prime Minister's idea.
6.I will assign small teams, since my previous term as Education Secretary helped me a lot with management because if I would assign bigger teams we would end up with chaos and no results due to lack of organization, I can say that assigning small teams will work because it worked perfectly for my first ever work as Education Secretary, the update of a big dispatch as Thaecia Simplified, I assigned small teams to work on parts of it and the result was fine and fastly done.
7.Me going on a LOA is really difficult to happen but to prevent that situation that's why I keep constantly informed my Deputy so that he can continue with what I planned when I'm in a LOA. Anyway, as my term as Education Secretary showed, I usually keep the staffers informed in order to prevent any situation like the one said by the Senator.
8.At the moment I don't have a name in mind but I will probably have some news about it soon.
Xernon, The Islamic Country Of Honour
The key area I will focus on is everything related to newcomers, as they're vital for the region, so Recruitment, Mentoring, Easier introduction of them into Thaecia and, of course, keeping informations updated.
Korsinia, Xernon, The Islamic Country Of Honour
Primo Order thanks for these answers!
I have a question: you mention your Secretary of Education experience a lot, so could you please name your greatest success and failure in that role?
Secondly, how would the mentoring system work? Would it be individual, one-on-one mentoring or would it be a team of mentors helping multiple newcomers? I feel like a mentor system hasn't always worked as not all newcomers are eager to talk in DMs or stuff like that, but I've also seen some success of mentor actions. So I'd like to know how that would work in this case.
How do you plan on incentivising manual recruitment among existing recruiters? It's no secret that not everyone will always recruit no matter what, so I'm curious to know how you plan on increasing the number of telegrams sent - will there be awards, or any other recognition of top recruiters?
Along the same lines - do you plan on introducing any statistics that show how many people sent how many telegrams, or any other Home Affairs statistics? Former Minister of FA Hulldom once put statistics in a foreign dispatch, and that was a nice idea, but I feel like the Home Affairs ministry should also be doing something similar.
To Nova Anglicum, Primo Order, Ashlawn:
How do you all plan to increase transparency in your ministry? For Primo, it could be recruiting data or something similar; for Nova, it could be communication and tangible project results; for Ashlawn, it's of course foreign updates so I would like to know how you all would go about the task to ensure transparency.
Are there any projects where you have to cooperate with other ministries? If yes, how would you approach the cooperation?
To Xernon:
ICH had an interesting leadership style, being really involved in ministries and project personally but at the same time letting some ministers work independently and taking lots of advice from people. What will your leadership style be?
Furthermore, you have named special advisors. How would they interact with the ministers, if at all?
I'm asking these questions because I want to know the cabinet's dynamics and it could affect my vote on the nominees (either this batch or the other one, but these questions could as well be here)
Thanks in advance for your answers!
The Islamic Country Of Honour, Primo Order
Mr. Chairman, with your permission, I would be honored to address our Senate.
Rt. Honorable Senators, thank you so much for your thoughtful consideration of my nominees so far. Your questions have been fair and articulate and I thank you for meaningfully engaging with our Executive nominees. Before I get to answering questions, I want to emphasize that each of the nominees before you were vetted extensively and were nominated out of a full sense of confidence in their ability to perform in their designated roles. They come with a track record of success and leadership that I am incredibly excited to harness and put to use to fulfill our ambitious agenda for this term. I hope that this has become clear over the course of the hearings for this set of nominees and I am sure that you will see the same ring true for the next set.
Now, a few points. On transparency, I realize that this question was posed for our 3 nominees, but I am going to also reflect on it given that it is a central theme for this administration. As I am sure you have all noticed, our Executive Server has recently underwent a renovation where we cleaned up the server, archiving about 90% of the channels and concentrating on what is minimally necessary to function in order to keep it organized and de-cluttered. As you will see, what is present across each ministry category is an announcement channel where the ministers will be communicating with our citizenry on an at least weekly basis if not more frequently. Outside of this, we have already instituted a policy of sending out weekly region-wide TGs -- updating the region on happenings, upcoming events, and opportunities for service. There is a discord channel where ministers will be able to add their own little blurbs to this weekly update, and that will be another way through which we plan to engage and be accessible to the region. Last but not least, we are also planning to put out monthly press releases and these will be the kind of comprehensive domestic affairs updates that highlight much of what Senator Sevae has posed in their transparency question -- the statistics, the details, and the work performed by the gov't over the past month.
In terms of my leadership style, I view my role as Prime Minister as one focusing around guidance and quality control. That means, I will do all within my power to help my ministers accomplish our goals for the term, but at the end of the day, these ministers were selected with confidence in their leadership abilities and a clear understanding that they would be running the day to day affairs of their ministries. So I plan to give them the autonomy to lead and innovate, but I will still be there to help each of them when needed and to ensure that they are performing to the high standards that we were elected to deliver.
My advisors are almost like guardian angels :P They are there to provide me and the Cabinet with feedback and an outside perspective that I think is oftentimes much needed in gov't. Sometimes just having someone tell you when something is working or not is a game changer. The fact that they are all former prime ministers with significant experience managing our gov't also means that they will be an open-source of experience and trials, and this is something that I expect my ministers to take advantage of.
I think that wraps up all of the questions that were posed for me. As you know, it is difficult for yours truly to stop talking once he starts, so excuse my ramblings if I have went off-topic at times :P As always, if you have any other questions, I am more than happy to answer them.
Still one DM/TG away,
Prime Minister
Korsinia, The Islamic Country Of Honour, Sevae
1. My greatest success was the fine and fast Thaecia Simplified Dispatch's Update, we didn't finish in time the History of Thaecia dispatch but that was a pretty much big work to do, I have been appointed later as Education Secretary so I did less than half a term. I believe these things influenced our performance.
2. The effort will consist one-on-one mentoring within the structure of a mentoring team. Through our mentoring program, we will follow up with new nations 12 hours and 24 hours after they join our region. This follow up will consist of a personalized greeting and an offer to help/assist the nation settle into NS and Thaecia specifically. The mentor will answer any questions the nation may have, they we will get them signed for regional activities, and just in general, the mentor will be a readily available point of contact for the new nation.
3.You got it right, I'm planning an award and recognition system (there could be rankings) but I will ask for some advices before announcing it officially.
About the last 2 questions: It's all about statistics, we're a democracy, and transparency is in our DNA. Well, we would focus on releasing Recruitment and Mentoring Data, maybe something else but I would have to take a look into the HAM first in order to take a decision, of course. Be assured that Data will be released, the only decision I want to focus on more is which one.
Xernon, Sevae
Thank you for your answers to both Xernon and Primo, I believe I am ready to vote in favour of Primo Order
Xernon, Primo Order
a) I served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of TUA and currently serve as a Senior Cabinet member of the URA. During my time as Chairman there were occasions where the FAM would share an upcoming treaty, most recently the EIA one, and as for feedback.
b) There is little to no possibility because as far as Im aware we dont have any officials with the URA or TDR which are the two groups where I hold prominent positions currently.
c) Id first need more information on the current state of Foreign Affairs before I can really give a set region I want to open relations with. I'll keep an open mind, however, and consider embassy requests with the FA Council as they come in.
d) My current R/D alignment can be described as an unaligned anti-fascist and I do support Thaecias current alignment.
e) From what I saw publicly I do agree with the previous administrations direction and policy regarding FA
f) I do intend to continue the FA Council if confirmed as I feel it is important to get as much experienced feedback as possible.
g) I will attempt to do both. I feel that is necessary to perverse or current existing ties but we shouldnt be limiting ourself. I feel that building new ties will open up more opportunities.
h) I do agree that the role of an ambassador should be changed to have greater responsibility. This includes things like interacting with the locals or keeping up to date on political events occurring in our embassy regions.
i) Well first I would like to conduct a review of our existing embassy regions to see who we could try and cooperate more with. This may be trying to host joint culture events with an embassy region we perhaps havent talked to much.
j) Well I plan on designating a specific Senior Diplomat to oversee our foreign affairs should I ever be off NS for an extended period of time.
As I said above I first intend to conduct a review of our existing embassies. I also intend to focus on both strengthening existing ties and trying to build new ones.
I do aim to provide foreign affairs updates whether it be through a ministry specific thing or a part of Xernon's monthly press releases. I would further like to point out that the Thaecian FA server is open to all residents so a citizen could always join that server. There are some areas where we will definitely have to cooperate with other ministries, most obviously the military. However I would need to have more information on our FA before I can give any specifics.
Korsinia, Xernon, Sevae
I'm going to post factbooks of our results and our project when completed.
I do plan to work with HAM to improve citizen integration and welcoming.
Sorry for lack of in depth answers currently not at home.
Xernon, The Islamic Country Of Honour, Primo Order, Sevae
I'm willing to give Nova Anglicum a shot at the ministry, somewhat as a last chance at a ministry of education, but next term all goals should either be accomplished or the ministry should be retired. NA is a capable and competent person, and that's all I need from this rather small ministry. My thinking about whether it's needed now is: Xernon deserves a ministry that can help him accomplish his goals (even if some others disagree with the need for this ministry, it's not my job to decide it now), and the nominee is qualified for the position.
As for Ashlawn, I am sure he's someone who can pull off leading a ministry. He doesn't seem familiar with the inner workings of the ministry, though, and that's something I'm wary of. However, we have a capable team on the Inner Circle who can help him familiarise himself with the ministry. I am also willing to give him a chance.
A question for Ashlawn though - are you planning to make any changes to the Senior Diplomats or are you satisfied with who is a Senior Diplomat now?
The Islamic Country Of Honour, Nova Anglicum
To all three nominees: What sort of structural changes, in terms of hierarchy, administration, etc, would you consider in the running of your ministry, and how would you, in broad stokes, run your ministry in terms of overall bureaucracy?
Well, I would rather decrease bureaucracy but I would need more informations on the HAM before explaining in the specifics. Anyway, I believe I already gave my idea about this when answering the sixth question of the Chairman.
The Islamic Country Of Honour
I do have some more questions for Ashlawn:
1) Despite you declaring there is no conflict of interest, we had to cut ties with TDR (where you happen to be delegate) because of their ties with Enadia, NWE, and Red Wolf Alliance. Furthermore, the URA contains two regions that are our enemies (Karma and Anteria), which also isn't really the best thing for a Foreign Affairs face of the region
2) To Xernon again: why did you nominate Ashlawn, who wasn't even in the Foreign Affairs inner circle and wasn't trained to be a Foreign Affairs person, and didn't get any experience in Thaecian FA (of course he was given treaties but that's not really practical knowledge)? Of course fresh blood is a good thing, yet Nova was helping Primo in Education for a while, Primo was a recruiter, so it makes sense with them, while Ashlawn isn't a natural choice in my opinion
3) In addition, Ashlawn, why did you take this job since you haven't really got *tons* of experience in Foreign Affairs here in Thaecia? Why do you think you're the most qualified candidate for this position and are the one that can accomplish Xernon's goals?
Sorry for maybe being a bit harsh, but you really are the nominee that I'm most cautious about as I've already touched on. Thanks in advance!
Emazia
Hi Sevae, thank you for your questions!
As a bit of a pre-face, I instructed all my nominees to be frank and honest with our Senators. This includes being realistic about their backgrounds and experiences -- highlighting their strengths as well as disclosing areas where they can grow. Ashlawn has had significant foreign affairs experience outside of Thaecia, and as you know in NationStates, that type of experience can be easily transferrable to an FA role in any region. Of course, Thaecia, like other regions, will have unique relationships and alliances, and that will require learning. But at the end of the day, I don't view that as a negative against my nominee whose resiliency I have seen in the past through his service to this very body. I have full confidence that he will have the ability and the resources to succeed in his designated role. Namely about the resources, he will have me, the FA Council, and our team of Cabinet advisors all by his side and ready to help.
You bring up an interesting point about bringing a new face/fresh blood into the role. I will be honest that at first, I was going to dismiss this idea, but innately, I do think it played a factor in this nomination. For a while now, our FA circle has been composed of the same group people, and while I think having that stability is good, I see that circle as much more restrictive to get into than some of the other ministerial executive staffs. I want to open that up for others and allow them the opportunity to transition from a merely ambassadorial role to a more decision-making one. So while we plan on keeping the FA Council mostly together, we do plan to open up a few spots for ambassadors who have shown 1.) a keen interest in foreign affairs and 2.) a record of solid diplomatic service in their assigned regions.
Of Altonianic Islands, Korsinia, The Islamic Country Of Honour, Sevae, Chairman The Islamic Country Of Honour
Satisfying answers to good questions all around 👏
Even if the nominees prove to be not as good, Xernon is still very experienced in leadership roles and will be able to address the shortcomings accordingly
I'm ready to cast my votes when the Senate is
The Islamic Country Of Honour, Primo Order, Chairman The Islamic Country Of Honour
While I do intend to allow diplomats who have shown reasonable degree of FA knowledge and have also proved themselves to be reliable and a voice of reason, to join the Senior Diplomat team later, at the beginning of my term I hope to keep all current Senior Diplomats.
As I said before, I intend to preserve the current structure of the Foreign Affairs Ministry which I feel has worked efficiently and well so far.
1. Regarding TDR the WA Delegate has no role in anything other than the WA, this includes TDR Foreign Affairs. While the URA does contain Karma and Anteria it contains many other regions and as a Senior Cabinet Member there I serve in the interest of the alliance as a whole, not just two regions.
3. The reasons Xernon provided in picking me were reasonable and I came to the same conclusion that you did earlier that should I need any help I could always ask other Senior Diplomats.
The Islamic Country Of Honour, Chairman The Islamic Country Of Honour
I plan to create a second team focused on history alongside the current dispatch updaters. I will also have the deputy as a right hand person who will help direct and plan projects. Overall however the ministry will run similar to before.
Chairman The Islamic Country Of Honour
1. But isn't it still true that you act as a public symbol of the region, especially when you are the most visible part of it on the NS page itself? More than that, doesn't serving in the interests of the alliance as a whole involve serving in the interests of Karma and Anteria, and if so how can you say that you serve the interests of both Thaecia, and say, Karma, when they conflict?
While I may be a public symbol of TDR no one has ever asked me about TDR FA. Should someone ask me I would explain that I dont deal with TDR FA. Even with me holding the position of WA Delegate I wouldnt at all say I am a prominent symbol of TDR.
As I said before Karma and Anteria are not the entire alliance and therefore I dont solely represent their wishes. I represent the wishes of all member regions which may differ from that of Karmas and Anterias. Furthermore in the unlikely scenario in which we would have direct conflict with the URA I will allow the Senior Diplomats and PM to make a decision
Xernon, Chairman The Islamic Country Of Honour
But why should we appoint someone with the possibility of that conflict in the first place?
Hi Emazia, I am going to step in here and address this myself if that is alright.
All cabinet members are appointed on the understanding that they will prioritize Thaecia and Thaecian affairs over the course of their time in their respective offices. I already explained that I view my role as PM as partly one of quality control, and that means ensuring that all Cabinet members remain true to the previously stated standard. I will also note that ministers fulfill a management role in their ministries, and while I do plan to give them the space to innovate and propose new ideas, they do not set new policies or directions unilaterally. Ultimately, all executive power flows through the PM. I say all of this to assure you that all of my nominees will always take Thaecia's best interest in mind, and when there is conflict of interest, we have a system in place to recognize it and deal with it accordingly.
I will also note that conflict of interest will exist any time a nominee is a "cosmo" in the sense that they are a part of different communities. In my opinion, that is not something to shun so as long as everyone is being transparent and opened, and I think we can all agree that has been the case here. In the case of the regions that Ashlawn is affiliated with and that you are concerned about, we do not hold relations with those regions currently nor do we anticipate conducting ties with them any time in the future. If that possibility ever did come about, Ashlawn would recuse himself from those specific conversations.
I hope this helps address your concerns :)
The Islamic Country Of Honour
Thank you for your answer, but with cosmos more generally, I specifically mean that most of our cosmos are from allied regions, so the possibility of an interregional dispute is extremely unlikely, therefore having few circumstances in which their interests would conflict. That's really my main concern, and I do hope you understand.
I do also understand, however, the recusing option, I simply find that to be unsatisfactory, when we could simply avoid such conflicts of interest in the first place. However, I will consider this point further and come to try and understand the other position on this.
I would argue that there is actually a greater chance for conflict of interest when a nominee is simultaneously a member of an allied region. Conflict of interest will be more likely to occur in those scenarios because conflicts/misunderstandings do often arise out of close relationships. There is not going to be much room for conflict of interest to arise with regions that we are not related to or plan to pursue relations with.
In terms of remedies to potential conflicts of interest, I really think recusal is all that anyone can promise. I've already went over the standard that all my Cabinet members will be held to. I don't know that we can do or promise more.
Having said that, I always encourage people to vote the way they want to and believe is right. We've been in hearing mode for 5 days now, and I think it's been informative all around. No matter how Senators vote, I will continue to see you as friends and partners in governance :)
Emazia, Chairman The Islamic Country Of Honour
Closing of the Debate Period and Opening of the Voting Period
I thank the Senators for meaningfully scrutinising the candidates through well-thought out questions.
The debate period has been closed and now the Senate shall move to the voting stage. You are requested to cast your votes within the next 24 hours and while you may no longer ask the nominee questions, you are encouraged to provide the reasoning for your vote along with the statement of intent on how youll be voting.
Since this is the first time the Senate shall be voting for three nominees together, it is my duty to recommend you how to indicate your vote for the nominees.
The Preferred Format is:
Primo Order: Aye/Nay/Abstain
Ashlawn: Aye/Nay/Abstain
Nova Anglicum: Aye/Nay/Abstain
[spoiler=Senators]
[/spoiler]
Xernon, Primo Order
Primo Order: Aye
Ashlawn: Nay
Nova Anglicum: Aye
Primo and Nova are very solid candidates, I've already explained my opposition for Ashlawn, but at the very least I would not be unhappy were he to pass.
Primo Order, Sevae
Theres a small edit, if you are neither for or against the nominee, you can abstain.
Aye to all three
Xernon, The Islamic Country Of Honour, Primo Order
Primo Order: Aye
Ashlawn: Aye
Nova Anglicum: Aye
The three nominees have proved before us that they are well cut-out for the Ministries they have been nominated to head.
Home Affairs Ministry and Education Ministry are expected to be two of the most work-intensive departments in the Government, and Primo Order and Nova Anglicum fit these criteria by far.
Primo has been one of the region's foremost integrators, along with Andusre, Brototh, Xernon, and many others, and given the fact that the Home Affairs Ministry will focus not only on recruitment this time but also on integrating the newcomers, he will be a good fit for this job. And having worked with Primo and also Nova during my time as HAM and PM, I have known both of them to be focused on the tasks they are asked to do, and another plus point is they themselves have a brilliant mentor in Prime Minister Xernon, who can guide them and make sure the departments collectively fulfil their tasks. They both have shown a clear understanding of what is expected of them and that is another factor that works in their favour.
Ashlawn is also someone who enjoys extensive FA knowledge and being in Thaecia for a long time, I expect them to have a good understanding of the region's FA direction. He is also sure to be aided by our capable Diplomats in the Foreign Affairs Council and policy-wise, I am on the same page of the nominee, as both of us believe Thaecia's current FA policy needs not to be changed and it is going on the right direction, so we can expect the nominee to continue the previous Foreign Ministry's policies. He is also a capable bureaucrat, with extensive administrative experience under his belt as Chairman of the Senate, and this also makes me trust their reliability. And furthermore, giving a fresh face the chance to lead the Foreign Ministry gives off a ripple effect in that relatively newer members will not feel they won't ever be able to head the FAM given the fact that in the past, the post used to be headed by mostly long-time members of the region. All in all, as a Senator, I am expected to judge Ashlawn as a nominee, and he passes this exam by far. So he has my vote.
And worth noting, should all of the candidates pass this hearing, they will have my utmost support.
Xernon, Primo Order
Primo Order: Aye
Nova Anglicum: Aye
Ashlawn: Abstain
Primo Order
Primo Order: Aye
Nova Anglicum: Aye
Ashlawn: Abstain
Primo Order
Primo Order: Aye
Nova Anglicum: Aye
Ashlawn: Abstain
I hope Ashlawn convinces me otherwise during his term, but for now it's a nay from me or no I guess
Primo Order
Closing of the Voting Period of the Confirmation Process
As all the Senators have voted, the period of voting on the nominees are hereby closed and the fate of the nominees sealed. I thank the Senators for performing their duty to vote, and I hope this shall be the case for the rest of this Senates term.
As it stands,
Nominee for the Minister of Home Affairs, Primo Order has been confirmed by a vote of 7 Senators in favour, out of the 7 Senators present in this chamber.
Nominee for the Minister of Education, Nova Anglicum has been confirmed by a vote of 7 Senators in favour, out of the 7 Senators present in this chamber.
Nominee for the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ashlawn has been confirmed by a vote of 3 Senators in favour, out of the 4 Senators who decided to issue a vote in favour or against the nominee. 3 Senators have exercised the option to abstain.
The Senate wishes the Ministers and Prime Minister Xernon well for the remainder of their term.
This post has since been edited to reflect on the correct number of abstains in FAM nominee Ashlawns count. The earlier post mentioned 2 Senators abstained, when in fact 3 Senators abstained.
Korsinia, Xernon
Opening of the Hearings of The Nominees For The Posts of Minister of Communications and Civil Service, Justice Minister, and Minister of Culture
We shall now be scrutinising the second batch of the nominees: Nominee for Minister of Communications and Civil Service Bikini-Bottom, nominee for the Justice Minister Cerdenia and the nominee for the Minister of Culture Antenion.
You shall have a minimum of 48 hours to ask questions to the nominees and scrutinising them. Should more time be required, I am prepared to extend that by another 24 hours.
While asking questions to the nominees, keep in mind the different factors the candidates should cover in order to allow for a reasonable scrutiny of the nominees:
a) Management Plan of the Nominees which will give the Senators an idea if they can convert their plans into reality
b) Experience relevant to the field which will assure the Senators that they know the challenges they are going to counter in their term in the office
c) Understanding of the core issues affecting the branches they are nominated for
d) Contingency plans should they have to remain away from NS for a while
e) Opinion on some of the choices they will most likely be making as a Minister
I suggest you to ask the the nominees questions in separate batches because both of the posts require skills technically different from both of them.
And if you are to edit anything in your original post, I suggest you to make a new post with the changes in the original post you wish to bring or if you desire to edit it in your original post itself, making a post stating the changes you have made. The Public has the right to know what you had said/did earlier.
So start formulating questions, Senators.
[spoiler=Senators]
Creckelenney[/spoiler]
Korsinia, Xernon, The Grand Loxian Empire
Questions for Bikini-Bottom aka Emaha:
1. Can you brief the Senate about your experience relevant to the field you have been nominated for? This could be in Thaecia or abroad.
2. The Ministry of Communications and Civil Service is a new project initiated by the Rt. Honourable Prime Minister Xernon, thus so far we haven't seen it in action. Thus this question arises, what responsibilities would the Ministries be charged with?
3. Do you prefer working on multiple projects at a time or not? Given it's a new Ministry, you would have to start from the scratch, so how do you plan to set it up initially, and once it is set up, how do you plan to achieve the completion of the projects entrusted in your Ministry?
4. Regional newspaper is another new project which have been mooted. Do you have a draft of how you aim it to be? If yes, can you describe it?
5. How significant do you think the Ministry will be in the grand scheme of things aka the workings of the Government?
6. Gaining volunteers is a pretty difficult job, and keeping them motivated is an even harder task. How do you plan to set up the workforce of the Ministry and at the same time, keep them engaged/motivated?
7. If you were to leave NS for a few days or weeks, how do you plan to ensure the work of your Ministry isn't interrupted and continues as planned?
8. How do you think the proposed Civil Service will aid the Government and its departments, and why do you think it is needed?
Questions for Antenion:
a) Your last term was marked by considerable inactivity. Can you explain to the Senators why it was the case and how we, the Senators, can expect it not to be the case this time around?
b) Do you prefer frequent holding of small games/events like Gartic Phone, Skrribl.io, Codenames, Among Us, Tetris every 3 or 4 days or do you prefer holding large-scale events after every one or two weeks? Or do you prefer a mix of both?
c) How do you plan to ensure more and more people get to take part in the CM-held events, rather than the same 8-10 people always?
d) Should it require you to take a leave from NS due to IRL reasons for a week or two, what contingency plan do you have in place?
e) One thing I noticed was the fact that the Ministry was highly dependent on the Minister, and once the Minister is gone, everything comes to a standstill. We saw that when IG resigned and the whole CM which was buzzing a few days back was now silent until you took charge. For a stabler Ministry, I do believe there needs to be a system in place which ensures the Ministry isnt dependent on the Minister for its survival. Do you acknowledge and if yes, how do you plan to ensure this happens?
f) During IGs term as Culture Ministry, we saw that there was a monthly/weekly schedule of what the Culture Ministry is going to do. In my opinion, this sets a clear set of goals for the Ministry which helps it in achieving them. What is your opinion on it? Do you plan to implement this?
g) Cultural co-operation has been touted by many as a way to strengthen ties between our foreign allies and so it is clear Culture Minister can play a vital role in this. Do you have plans to help the Foreign Affairs Ministry in this?
h) Aside from the regular browser games, do you have any idea for a more different types of events (should they exist?)
i) What are some of the things you learnt from your last term as Culture Minister?
j) Can you cite some of your achievements from your previous terms in office?
Questions for Cerdenia:
a) The Justice Ministry has traditionally failed to find ways to make the most use of this Ministry and it has mainly been reduced to issuing the government opinions and handling the Bar exams. Do you acknowledge this is a problem and if so, how do you plan to rectify it? Do you have any such activity which you plan to energise the Ministry with?
b) Last term then-Justice Minister Snalland had proposed that the Justice Ministry should aid those who wish to draft legislations, through interpretational and writing assistance. Are you in favour of such a proposal and if you are so, do you plan on introducing it in the next term?
c) There was also a proposal by some in Thaecia that the Justice Ministry should actively play a role in pinpointing the inconsistencies in the laws and then have legislations drafted to fix them. What are your thoughts on it?
d) Mock trials has been something mooted by many previous Justice Ministers but yet we have seen nothing substantial on that front. Do you plan to revive this proposal during your term?
e) Are you willing to co-operate with the Education Ministry on projects involving the legal stuff. Such an example would be the past Education Ministries has attempted to publish simplified summaries of some of our most important laws to aid the newcomers in understanding. If you were asked about this project, would you support this?
f) How do you see the Justice Ministrys role in the overall functioning of the Government and the region and what do you think, are its roles and responsibilities, since I have a sense that this changes due to no such clarity being provided by our regional laws and thus this depends on each individual Ministrys Minister.
Xernon, Bikini-Bottom
a) Is it a problem? Well perhaps to some it might be, but to me the real issue is that the Justice Ministry previously wasn't even able to fulfill it's basic duties, such as properly updating the bar, which is something I had started with the last term AND which I plan to continue, the current bar won't be left abandoned as has happened in the past. One thing we must understand is what people are interested in, there is no point in establishing a series of different programs and activities regarding Legal Affairs because most people aren't into that, they would rather participate in cultural activities, or play politics in the legislature, and that's completely fair.
That being said, one thing that I do plan to do is make better usage of the structure we are creating with our new Bar Association. Typically the Justice Minister or Deputy Justice Minister have just handled all cases, and I wish to change that. I personally still plan to take on cases in the future myself, but I want to provide an opportunity for our Honourable Attorneys to test their legal skills in actual cases, representing the Justice Ministry. Many people who are excited about Law could end up as future Justices, or also future JMs, yet they rarely get an opportunity to practice their skills. TL;DR, I plan to designate more cases to members of the Bar, and help them preparing and elaborating their arguments rather than directly taking on all cases myself.
b) I don't mind helping people sort out legal issues in their drafted bills, all they will need to do is ask me. Not much else to say in that area, perhaps we will advertise that this is a possibility but ultimately people have to ask us for something to be done about it.
c) I think it's a good idea overall, though for the last few months there has been good effort put particularly by the President to replace old legislation with minor legal issues, there is still legislation with possible constitutionality issues which haven't been noticed and could be improved upon. So yes it's something which we can do.
d) To be very honest with you, I don't think mock trials will ever happen. Cool idea sure, but I genuinely don't believe the court is willing to take the extra work to deal with a mock case when they have been having more work to do lately. The replacement to this mock trial proposal however, is my bid to allow Bar Members to also take on cases with aid from the Ministry, which I do see potential in.
e) I think collaboration with the Education Ministry is possible, and I do hope to work on that. I think we can produce documents explaining a lot, particularly in government structure, to help newcomers who actually seek to engage to understand what is happening in the region. A lot of newcomers sound like they have no idea of what they are doing, but plenty of them have potential to get involved and be successful if they get a general understanding about how the government works, rather than letting them be overwhelmed and left to discover all by themselves. That being said one thing which is also necessary is that the Government properly advertises these documents (such as in the welcome telegram, WFE, etc), so that they are easily accessible to newcomers.
f) Ultimately I think we can list the following as the responsibilities of my Justice Ministry:
[list]
[*]Maintenance of the Bar Exam: Keeping it up to date, significantly updating it at least twice throughout my term.
[*]A More Active Role for the Bar Association: Allowing Bar members to participate in cases more often, and providing them with legal advice.
[*]Ensuring the Constitutionality of Legislation and Providing Aid for New Bills if Requested: Basically solving legal issues with existing laws and helping to prevent them in future bills.
[*]Drafting Explanatory Factbooks of Thaecian Law: Factbooks regarding government structure, laws, etc to aid newcomers.
Xernon, The Islamic Country Of Honour, Primo Order, Sevae, Nova Anglicum
Honourable Senators
I answered your questions to the best of my ability. Please see my answers below.
1. As you might know, for all the time I have been here I do not have government experience in Thaecia. However, I gained extensive experience in The Free Nations Region which will be useful for my duties here.
I have considerable experience with communicating with a whole region consisting of hundreds of nations. Currently serving as an Election Commissioner as well as a Supreme Court Justice I regularly need to make use of my communication skills. How? Well, people need to be kept up to date on the whole election process or informed about Supreme Court decisions in an easily understandable way.
Back in the day I also used to be Minister of Immigration. In that position, which I held for a year, I learned to properly manage my own staff and to effectively realise campaign promises over the course of a term.
2. The responsibilities of the Ministry of Communications and Civil Service are the following:
The establishment and maintenance of a Civil Service to recruit ministerial executive staffs
Composing monthly Regional Updates for our foreign allies
Writing monthly Press Releases to inform our own populace on regional happenings
Creating and managing an active and high-quality regional newspaper
3. The initial priority for the Ministry is to set up the Civil Service which is going to be done within one week. I will also look for interested staff for my own Ministry as soon as my term begins.
Considering that we are getting close to the end of this month, I will be working on our very first organised Regional Update and the Press Release at the same time. Both will be released at the start of each month.
So yes, I am able to work on multiple projects simultaneously.
4. The yet unnamed regional newspaper will be an excellent addition to our culture and the opportunities we offer. I am well aware that establishing a regional newspaper that lasts is not an easy task. I cannot do it all on my own, so the first thing I am going to do for the newspaper is to assemble everyone who expresses enthusiasm in becoming a journalist or otherwise help the effort. I already know that there is interest. The Civil Service will surely come in handy when looking for staff.
As far as contents go I imagine a wide range of topics being covered, e.g. articles on elections, special events, opinion pieces and even interviews with famous residents; a mirror of life in Thaecia in a way.
The newspaper is most likely going to be hosted on Google Sites. It will be well designed. Most importantly, articles will be posted as soon as they are ready instead of compiling everything into one monthly or so edition. It will be instantaneous so to say, always up to date.
As with the Civil Service, a rank-based reward system will be implemented for the newspaper. As Xernon explained: "The more articles a writer writes, the higher their rank within the press office will be."
With some help Thaecians are soon going to have the chance to become acclaimed journalists by writing insightful articles for our Residents. I could see journalistic prizes being instituted too as soon as we have the newspaper up and running.
5. It will be quite significant because maintaining a good connection to all Thaecians is crucial for all Ministries and the Government as a whole. Furthermore, the Regional Update will definitely be of great value to the Foreign Affairs Ministry.
6. First of all, I will set a good example to follow by being motivated and engaged in the tasks of the Ministry myself.
Moreover, I plan to divide tasks among my staff members and taking their interests into account. People will contribute by writing on an event they are passionate about for the Press Release and the Regional Update. Or they can become journalists and focus on the regional newspaper, which should be able to run by itself after some time. I know many enjoy this sort of task as a fun activity, writing and working together. Additional motivation will surely come from experiencing the positive impact on the region that is going to stem from our work.
7. As soon as I have assembled an organised staff I will look for a suitable Deputy Minister of Communications and Civil Service among them. In case of a foreseeable period of absence I will naturally make sure to inform everyone beforehand. My Deputy would continue the work of the Ministry along with a committed staff to reach our goals.
8. Active and dedicated executive staffs for every single ministry are extremely important for a functional government. The Civil Service serves this exact purpose. It is going to be a dispatch which will serve as the first point of contact for interested nations. With this easily accessible central hub for jobs and opportunities everyone will be able to straightforwardly apply for any of the listed positions. I envision that the Civil Service is going to be very beneficial to all parts of the Executive. More engaged staff members are always needed to properly achieve the goals of the administration.
Xernon, The Islamic Country Of Honour, Primo Order
I can attribute my short comings as Culture Minister to the following two reasons:
Since Late April-Mid June 2020. I have been on a streak of not playing nationstates, due to the reasons that I grew bored of the game and not being interested in onsite activities and turned my time to other interests I was in
Miscommunications with the ministry staff and leaving no events for the lower staff to do/ not making it clear that they can do it autonomously, as long as they leave the idea in a common area (partially my mistake).
Having these massive game nights can be too much of a drag Senator, and to be frank, it is much more do able to have multiple mini game nights as well as having one massive or overarching events between ministries, like RMB Soccer, or Hunger Games.
Most games cant necessarily handle more then 10 people so I make the mandatory cut off point at 10 people. With that said in some instances less then 8 people are in the game events due to everyone being done with waiting and just wanting to play the game.
Ill probably have Two Deputies, if Possible, so I can have a Snr. Deputy and the Jr. Deputy, these people will be in charge of the duties of the CM where I have not been here for more than 3 days, usually on the weekends due to my IRL Work.
Answer to this is quite simple: give autonomy to the people, either by saying to the deputies You can do what you want with my approval or supervision or say that to the greater thaecian public.
No, this causes much more time to be consumed, of which I am not able to give, as I said I have a job and have greater IRL activities that to be frank, I dont necessarily have the time for. But we will do weekly announcements of planned events. Just not a formalized schedule for the thing.
Yes, I will work with the FAM in Cultural events with other regions.
Yes, I have plans for other events, I wont get too much into the details but I do have some things planned to get some RMB activities and other activities once I am in office done.
That I have to delegate tasks better, what has been the problem for the Culture Ministries of the past is that they rely too much on the Minister and yet does not give any other people to the voice they want as they could simply be shrugged off and ignored if the CM so pleased.
Well early on, we did start the Minecraft Server that is just for thaecians, but I do not know the status of it now.
Xernon, The Islamic Country Of Honour
I'm satisfied with the two nominees' answers. I have another question for Emaha: could you describe your connection to Thaecia recently and why you accepted this nomination despite not exactly being someone who has any experience in the Thaecian government whatsoever?
Furthermore, do you have any particular names in mind who would make a good journalist / deputy minister of communications? You don't have to name those people but I want to know if you have any candidates in mind.
Also, why were Communications and Civil Service even combined? I feel like Civil Service is something more suitable for Home Affairs, so why this choice?
Also I have to note that Antenion hasn't answered the questions yet so I have serious activity concerns already, just to put it out there.
I really am satisfied with Emaha's answers, but as someone who is a relative newcomer and is nominated for a brand-new ministry I hope you understand the rather increased scrutiny
The Islamic Country Of Honour, Bikini-Bottom
I fully support Cerdenias nomination for JM and will be voting aye. Having served with Bikini-Bottom in FNR I have full confidence in their ability to serve as Minister of Communication and will also be voting aye.
One Question for Antenion: You mentioned the two reasons you were inactive for a good time last term in response to ICHs questions. I was wondering what plans you have to avoid these issues and ensure that this term is active and productive?
The Islamic Country Of Honour, Bikini-Bottom
Hi Sevae,
I believe that you posted just as Antenion had posted his own set of answers. Anyway, if you don't mind, I'll answer the bit about the Civil Service. Between recruiting, welcoming, and mentoring new residents, the Home Affairs Ministry will have more than enough on its plate in terms of workload. As I explained in my campaign platform, my vision for that ministry is to focus operations on recruitment and retention and so we are keeping it simple and limiting operations to those two already exhausting tasks.
Communications is the perfect home for the Civil Service for multiple reasons. First, out of all the ministries, Communications will by far see the most inter-ministerial interactions as all other ministries will feed their updates and news through Communications. This gives Comms a unique understanding of what the other ministries' staffing needs are at any given point of time. Second, given that it is a department focused on communication, they will have the capability/interest/skills to promote and advertise the Civil Service to the region.
To address another thing you brought up, Antenion's activity was likewise a concern for me due to his tenure the past term. I take the Culture Ministry very seriously and I have very ambitious plans for it, and so this decision was not made lightly. While not all Senators were around during those times, Antenion was instrumental in the operations of the Culture Ministry during the premierships of Korsinia and Bigtopia, and I have seen how productive he can be. I have had a number of conversations with him and he has assured me that he has drive and passion for the position again. He understands that inactivity will not be tolerated. Given his experience and history of service to the region, I am willing to give him a second chance. This time, though, he will not be alone as he will also have a full staff team to help him navigate his ministry's work.
The Islamic Country Of Honour, Bikini-Bottom, Sevae
Oh my bad about Antenion's post, sorry. Thanks for the Civil Service explanation
Xernon
I have talked about this a bit on Thaecord immediately after my nomination. Thaecia is a region that always had a special place in my heart. I remember back in 2019 when FNR and Thaecia happened to be part of the same faction on N-Day, ANAL. That was when I got to know some Thaecians for the first time and subsequently advocated in FNR for the opening of diplomatic relations with Thaecia. I have been your ambassador from FNR for a long time now and recently felt like the time was ready for me to begin contributing to Thaecia in a meaningful way.
I did not expect to be nominated as Minister. After taking time to think about this office and the responsibilities that come with it, I happily decided to take the opportunity. Now I am enthusiastic to open a new chapter in my personal relationship with this region by serving as your Minister of Communications and Civil Service.
I do not. As I previously said, I will be looking for a Deputy Minister among my staff. As of now I cannot judge if a person is suitable for the position.
Xernon answered this very well.
That is entirely understandable. I ensured that my answers are detailed and comprehensive for that reason. Thank you.
Xernon
Closing of the Debate Period and Opening of the Voting Period
I thank the Senators for meaningfully scrutinising the candidates through well-thought out questions.
The debate period has been closed and now the Senate shall move to the voting stage. You are requested to cast your votes within the next 24 hours and while you may no longer ask the nominee questions, you are encouraged to provide the reasoning for your vote along with the statement of intent on how youll be voting.
Since this is the second time the Senate shall be voting for three nominees together, it is my duty to recommend you how to indicate your vote for the nominees.
The Preferred Format is:
Bikini-Bottom: Aye/Nay/Abstain
Antenion: Aye/Nay/Abstain
Cerdenia: Aye/Nay/Abstain
[spoiler=Senators]
[/spoiler]
Korsinia, Xernon
Bikini-Bottom: Aye
Antenion: Aye
Cerdenia: Aye
Xernon
Bikini-Bottom: Aye
Antenion: Aye
Cerdenia: Aye
Xernon
Bikini-Bottom: Aye
Antenion: Aye
Cerdenia: Aye
Xernon
Bikini-Bottom: Aye
Antenion: Aye
Cerdenia: Aye
Xernon
Bikini-Bottom: Aye
Antenion: Aye
Cerdenia: Aye
Xernon
Bikini-Bottom: Aye
Antenion: Nay
Cerdenia: Aye
Cerdenia: Aye
Bikini-Bottom: Aye
Antenion: Aye
Reasoning:
Cerdenia has gained the reputation of being one of the regions finest legal experts, and undoubtedly has the qualifications for this post. They were the main driving force behind and spearheaded the Bar Exams revamp last term, and helped the Justice Ministry last term through issuing opinions and many more stuff. And from their responses, we can see that they have a really good idea of what can and what cannot be done, which in turn, assures me of their readiness for this job and the required management skills. They also seemingly approve of working with the Education Ministry to help the newcomers know more about the legal aspect of the region.
Bikini-Bottom has always been a special part of our community, during their time as an Ambassador to us from FNR and as a citizen, and I really look forward to seeing them in the Cabinet. They have the required experience needed to helm this Ministry by the virtue of the posts they held in FNR, which required skills needed in this particular post as well. From their statements and response, I can judge that they have the management skills required to build this Ministry up from the scratch and I can say they are perfect for this post.
Antenions performance last term as CM should not make us forget about the candidates ability to helm this Ministry and if they can get their motivation up this term, which they are confident of, they can help ensure the CM is back to its expected activity levels. And not only that, this time apparently he has a backup plan to ensure the Ministry can work even in his absence.
Bikini-Bottom
Closing of the Voting Period of the Confirmation Process
As all the Senators have voted, the period of voting on the nominees are hereby closed and the fate of the nominees sealed. I thank the Senators for performing their duty to vote, and I hope this shall be the case for the rest of this Senates term.
As it stands,
Nominee for the Minister of Communications, Bikini-Bottom has been confirmed by a vote of 7 Senators in favour, out of the 7 Senators present in this chamber.
Nominee for the Minister of Justice, Cerdenia has been confirmed by a vote of 7 Senators in favour, out of the 7 Senators present in this chamber.
Nominee for the Minister of Culture, Antenion has been confirmed by a vote of 6 Senators in favour, out of the 7 Senators present in this chamber.
The Senate wishes the Ministers and Prime Minister Xernon well for the remainder of their term.
Cerdenia, Xernon, Bikini-Bottom
Opening of the Debate Stage on REPEAL OF LR 036
This bill was tabled last term as the Senate went into a recess due to the approaching General Elections July 2021 at that time. Given the docket itself does not contain any other important bills and as the Congress Regulation Act is being voted on at the moment, we will be moving on to this bill.
My initial plan is to grant not more than 3 days for the debate, though according to the law, I can extend that by another 2 days, but given that this bill is a repeal motion, I doubt we will need 5 days. So Senators you have 2 days to debate, and if the debate still has some substantial points remaining to be addressed, I am willing to extend it by another 24 hours.
The author, MP Marvinville, can take part in the debate.
While scrutinising this bill, keep in mind certain factors:
A) Why is it being repealed?
B) The significance of the IC-OOC divide and how this bill violates that.
Senators, I wish you luck as you scrutinise your first bill of this term.
[spoiler=Senators]
[/spoiler]
Marvinville, what positive effects do you see repealing this bill would have?
I supported this in the House and I still do. OOC issues should be handled by moderators not through an IC court
The Islamic Country Of Honour
This bill clearly violates the IC-OOC divide and I am going to brief why this is a divide we must respect and maintain using some analogies and some reasonings.
Take Doxxing or sending inappropriate images to minors for example. Undoubtedly horrible criminal offences which should be punished. But dont you think these should be handled by people who are mature and can deal with and punish such stuff? If we were to forget the IC-OOC divide and let the Court judge on this, wont the Court possibly have a minor Justice? Now this is even more horrible, exposing a minor to such content. But these are all avoided when we let these be handled by moderators who are chosen by the Admins and are above 18+ and have shown rationality and a good sense of judgement (Note: In Thaecia, only Thaecord Admins deal with 18+ stuff). Wont it be illogical for such OOC offences to be handled by the High Court? When we appoint people to the Justice post, we nominate them based on their understanding of Thaecian laws, we dont judge if they are mature enough for these stuff.
And also the OOC things that are advocated are also protected by the Thaecian OOC moderators, and this has been the case since the beginning of Thaecia. If it were not the case, we would not have remained in Thaecia in the first place.
Now let me provide an analogy to prove that IC-OOC divides is absolutely not a new concept. Think of movies. Movies and NS have one common theme-they sometimes portray things which can tread closer to reality. But in movies, do we see the actors displaying their IRL behaviour in the movies? And imagine if we made the Actor act with his IRL family and friends only? Wouldnt it have been one hell of a mess? So when we create films, we leave aside the IRL situation and conditions most of the times, and create an alternate world governed by that world only. This is how exactly NS should be and mostly is practised. NS is a game, and we need to learn how to draw a boundary between IC and OOC. IC High Court will deal with IC offences like violation of Thaecian laws, and when we come out of OOC and see someone committing OOC offences, Admins take charge and make sure to punish them.
As such, putting OOC stuff in laws and under the jurisdiction of Thaecian High Court, which was built with IC factors in mind, is a grave error which we can rectify by repealing this.
Closing of the Debate Stage and Opening of the Voting Stage
Senators, thanks for meaningfully debating the proposal placed on the floor.
Since there has not been much debate in the last 18 hours, coupled with most of the Senators assurance that they do not have any questions, we are now voting on the REPEAL OF LR 036
The Senate shall have a maximum of 18 hours to vote on this proposal and as such I urge the Senators to quickly vote.
[spoiler=Senator]
Emazia[/spoiler]
Aye
I vote Aye
Aye
aye
Abstain
Aye
Aye
Closing of the Vote on The Repeal of L.R 036
With all the 7 Senators voting, the Senate hereby closes the vote on Repeal of L.R. 036.
Six Senators (Senators Ashlawn, The Islamic Country Of Honour, Sevae, Nova Anglicum, Emazia, Creckelenney) have voted to repeal L.R 036, while One Senator (Senator Korsinia) has voted to abstain.
With this, the L.R 036 is repealed.
The Senate shall now move to another business shortly.
[spoiler=Senators]
[/spoiler]
Opening of the Debate Period on The Congress Regulation Act
Senators, we are now voting on the Congress Regulation Act, as was amended and passed by the House of Commons.
Due to my understanding that such a bill might require a decent amount of debate due to its perceived importance upon its passage, I am not setting any maximum time, other than the one set and mandated by the L.R 037.
The authors, Islonia and Brototh, are given the permission to participate in the debate.
[spoiler=Senators]
Emazia[/spoiler]
Islonia, Brototh
I support it without amendments. None of my changes were deleted and I like the ones the House brought. We need this act!
I also support it without amendments and feel it is a reasonable way to streamline our procedural system for the House and Senate.
Needs passing ASAP, Court will probably delay the ruling if we pass this without amendments. That way we can avoid another load of rubbish with bills being struck down. Let's get this bill done.
I thought we finally passed it last term. Anyway I support it like I always have.
While this proposal bill is a huge improvement from the current laws governing the subjects mentioned in the CRA, I intended to propose some amendments to improve and correct some parts of the bill but my understanding is that there is a possibility that the current laws might be repealed in the ruling of the ongoing court case, and thus, if we do not pass this now, we might have to operate without any such law, and thus throwing our Congressional procedures into disarray. As such, Ill propose the amendments after this bill is passed, in the wider interest of the Congress and the region.
Closing of the Debate Stage and the Opening of the Voting Period
I thank the Senators for meaningfully debating this proposal.
Since I am presuming there is a consensus among the Senators that this bill needs to be passed soon and thus it is highly unlikely, any amendments and problems are to be pointed out any further into the debate, I am opening the voting period on the The Congress Regulation Act
You shall have a maximum of 24 hours to lodge your vote on this proposal.
[spoiler=Senators]
[/spoiler]
Aye
The Islamic Country Of Honour
I vote aye
Aye
The Islamic Country Of Honour
Aye
Aye
aye
Closing of the Voting Stage and the Passage of The Congress Regulation Act
Since the outcome of this business is unlikely to be affected by the remaining votes and 37 hours have passed, the Senate, hereby, closes the vote on The Congress Regulation Act.
6 Senators (Ashlawn, Sevae, Emazia, Nova Anglicum, Creckelenney, The Islamic Country of Honour) have voted in favour of this proposal while one Senator (Korsinia) has not voted.
As such, The Congress Regulation Act hereby passes the Senate and is thus a law of our land now.
[spoiler=Senators]
[/spoiler]
Opening of the Debate Period on THE WORLD ASSEMBLY ACT
Senators, we are now debating on the World Assembly Act
I will not be setting any maximum or minimum time for the debate to allow the Senators room to debate this bill for as long as they want.
The authors, Democratized Peoples and The Islamic Country Of Honour, are given the permission to speak on the floor of the Senate.
[spoiler=Senators]
[/spoiler]
On behalf of the Senate, I would like to thank Korsinia for the services he has accorded to the chamber and the region, and wish him well for his future endeavours.
I'm torn on this. I like the idea of a popular vote to approve a resolution but at the same time it takes away power from the President. Also, I do not like II.I.I since it basically makes the President the PM's pet. So I have to think on this for a bit.
Hello, everyone!
So, this was mainly thought out when Article III: Executive was being debated and it's common sense: when two people are elected on separate ballots, they might not always see eye-to-eye on all the issues, and so giving them both powers over a certain aspect might backfire at a point, even though it has traditionally never been the case due to the good co-ordination between serving Presidents and Prime Ministers. We had decided to induct the Security Council clause, into the bill because, unlike General Assembly, the region's decision on a certain commend/condemnation of a region or individual might involve Foreign Affairs considerations, and as the Constitution explicitly delegates the Foreign Affairs' responsibility to the Prime Minister and the Foreign Affairs Minister, they are ultimately in charge of any Foreign Affairs decisions of the region, but the matter of the Security Council vote is a potentially gray area, as you saw the last term, the Speaker and the Chairman of both the Chambers did not agree with a certain action, and this led to the whole action being deferred for a while. So, this just proves we can not guarantee the system will always work as it has always been, and expect the President to always listen to the Foreign Affairs authorities about any potential move involving FA considerations. What if the WA Delegate votes For an individual, an action which the FA Ministry believes might not be in the best interests of the region's foreign affairs and will send out a wrong message? If that ever happens, then we can only hope for good sense to prevail over the WA Delegate, a scenario which we should never hope for, and we have no checks and balances on it, except for perhaps, impeaching the President, which of course, is a very stringent action and would likely not pass. (This is the same principle we applied when we argued in favour of the re-confirmation of Justices, impeachments are way too drastic, and are unlikely to be utilised)
While some might say this is a "fundamental" change to the way our World Assembly votes are being decided, in reality, this is something that has been done for a while now, so it is nothing new. Just like how LR 037 was passed to ensure no matter who the government of the day is, the practice of keeping a law registry is formalized and made compulsory to make sure everyone can access our laws easily, similarly, this bill also intends to ensure no matter who the Delegate of the day is, the right of the people to have a say on how the region should vote on a resolution is protected. When we give our endorsements to the Delegate, we always do it for the purpose of making our region's voting power stronger, not only the Delegate's voting strength, and do you think just because a single person decides our vote, it is representative of the region as a whole? It's a no, that's the entire reason we have a WA Centre in operation, and though it is mainly a "recommendation", I see no harm in ensuring the Delegate follows the votes of the people because of whom they are in power in the first place? Consulting people and going according to their recommendation is something we follow in different areas of governance, for example, most of our major Foreign Affairs Decisions are voted on by the Foreign Affairs Council before they are implemented, but then no one complains that it is chipping away at the powers of the Foreign Affairs Minister, because consultations are the way to go before taking a decision. Yes, decisive actions are needed at times, but there is nothing wrong with a consultive decision.
And you might argue this might chip away some/most of the powers the President has, but why is it that, we are giving that issue the highest priority instead of considering if the law is sensible and fair to the citizens due to whom we have the 108 votes in the World Assembly? And the President's duty is not only to serve as the region's WA Delegate, but to also serve as the Commander-in-Chief of the Military, and also appoint nominees to crucial posts like the Election Commissioner, Justices, serve as a vital help to the Administration in any areas of governance, serve as a respected intermediary between conflicting parties in the region (which Honourable President Brototh did during the reduction issue) and also preserve the Congress from decaying by having the power to dissolve a chamber with conditions attached. And even then, we should not think a WA Delegate's duty is simply to vote.
It includes a whole lot of things:
a)Writing Information For Voters(IFV)s, detailing our region's stance on a resolution, it's a practice adopted by most significant regions.
b)Developing WA learning resources to help our citizens to learn more about the WA (I remember answering questions of newcomers about what the WA is)
c)Encouraging people to get involved in the WA (Remember, we traditionally never knew much about R/D but once the military was formed, it did a fabulous work)
d)Drawing up WA incentive rewards for endo-tarting etc
So, voting is not everything that a WA Delegate can do, there is a whole lot of stuff that can be done, and I also honour and commend the current Delegate's efforts to achieve some of these.
And I clearly know about the importance of a Delegate voting early, and nothing in this bill attempts to block the Delegate from doing so. While a vote is ongoing, you can cast your vote in accordance with the live results, and if the vote shifts, later on, you can shift it. Just because you need to close a vote at a certain time, it does not mean you cannot cast your vote before it ends.
All in all, this is a good safeguard to ensure that no matter who is the Delegate, these practices are not discarded. The Delegate derives their power from the endorsements we give them, and so we should have very much of a say in these votes.
The current President has followed a democratic approach in deciding the region's vote on proposals, and while we highly commend this, we also recognise the fact that the Delegate who might come after her might not be as democratic as they have been. When we make laws, we should consider all possibilities, just because something has not happened, does not mean it won't happen ever.
Democratized Peoples
I'm not really sold on this. I do like that there should be a poll, but it should be optional whether the President follows it. There has to be something to differentiate between presidential candidates during elections other than activity... so I'd like the president to be able to overrule the poll's results about the GA if there's significant reason determined by the President. I'll introduce an amendment within 24 hours or someone else can.
Brototh
Hey all, I'd just like to point out that putting every resolution up as soon as they reach or just before they reach quorum is pretty unrealistic. I've maintained a policy recently of doing one ping a day for the WA Debate. I don't like to overload the region too heavy with both pings and different proposals, I feel like that's going to get people to not understand the proposals/what's going on and/or remove the WA role entirely.
I'd really appreciate an amendment that could perhaps turn it into just a "reasonable time frame". That's intentionally vague- obviously, it has some limits, such as starting it before the vote ends or halfway through or something ridiculous. But it would allow for much greater flexibility. I have my own personal policy issues against this- but I won't abuse my posting privileges too heavy for those.
An amendment doing such would really fix this bill and make it something that can actually be fulfilled without getting on generally everyone's nerves.
The Islamic Country Of Honour
Thanks for pointing that out, I'll talk to Peeps about it :)
Changed from
Sub-section II - The poll for each resolution shall begin when a proposal attains quorum or earlier at the discretion of the World Assembly Delegate or their designee and end when the resolution passes, fails, or fails to attain quorum.
to
Sub-section II - The poll for each resolution shall begin at the discretion of the World Assembly Delegate or their designee, so long as a reasonable period for debate and voting is given, and end when the resolution passes, fails, or fails to attain quorum.
Brototh
Closing of the Debate Stage and Opening of the Voting Period on the World Assembly Act
Thanks for meaningfully scrutinizing this bill.
Seeing that no major points in the debate are left unaddressed and with a few hours remaining before the maximum debate time, as set in the Congress Regulation Act, the Senate hereby closes the debate and starts the stage of voting on this bill.
You have a maximum of 24 hours to vote on this bill.
[spoiler=Senators]
Creckelenney[/spoiler]
Aye
The Islamic Country Of Honour
Aye
Emazia, The Islamic Country Of Honour
I vote aye.
Emazia
Aye
The Islamic Country Of Honour
Aye
The Islamic Country Of Honour
aye
Chairman The Islamic Country Of Honour
Closing of the Voting Period on the World Assembly Act
Seeing that all the Senators have voted on the World Assembly Act, I hereby close the vote on the World Assembly Act.
All the Six Senators (Ashlawn, Sevae, Emazia, Nova Anglicum, Creckelenney, The Islamic Country Of Honour) have voted in favour of this bill and as such, the bill passes the Senate and shall now proceed to the House.
Sma Cyrillic, I hereby present to you the World Assembly Act.
[Spoiler=Senators]
[/spoiler]
Opening of the Debate Period on the Amendments to LR 031
Senators, we are now debating on the Amendments to LR 031
According to my tentative plan, I aim to give this bill a maximum of 3 days for debate, after which we shall proceed to voting on the amendments or the main bill itself, though I reserve the right to extend it by another two days.
The author Marvinville is granted the permission to speak on this Chamber floor during the debate.
[spoiler=Senators]
Creckelenney[/spoiler]
Why should we allow the impeachment of a person simply because they are suspected of a crime?
I would like to mention that this bill has already been enacted into law already after passing both chambers a term or two ago
Brototh, Chairman The Islamic Country Of Honour
Right, I have checked the Senate Logs and can confirm it passed 106 days ago. I am sorry for this.
Opening of the Debate Period on the Amendments to Legislative Resolution 040 Military Commission Act 2020
Senators, we are now debating on the Amendments to Legislative Resolution 040 Military Commission Act 2020
The authors, Brototh and Andusre, are granted permission to speak on this Chamber floor during the debate.
[spoiler=Senators]
Creckelenney[/spoiler]
bill edited due to grammar fix. Thank you Sevae
Assembled with Dot's Region Saver.
Written by Refuge Isle.