So I was editing TalossaWiki to re-add Luc da Schir as the Deputy SoS when I noticed I am no longer listed as the BHAID Administrator under the Foreign Affairs ministry. Honest question. Have I been removed as administrator of the BHAID? I had assumed it was more like a civil service position and that is why I submitted the Palestinian Children's Relief Act recently. @Bentxamì Puntmasleu

Who is the current president of the Royal Society? Unless I am mistaken the last president was the esteemable Sir Tamoran. I am curious if the Minister of Culture plans to seek interest for the next president as this could be an area for expansion of apolitical activity.

@Sir Txec dal Nordselvă, UrB Txec I wanted to consult with you on this too as the sitting SoS.

One problem that was mentioned in the past is the difficulty in finding successors for the position of SoS. A past proposal I made to address this problem ran into concerns that it reduced the control the SoS had to name a successor. In the simple proposal below I suggest keeping other members of the Chancery as "unofficial Deputy SoS's" but changing the current rules so that they may be allowed to succeed the SoS on his or her leaving. The SoS is still allowed to appoint whomever they wish as members of the Chancery but those appointees would now not be prohibited to from being a successor.

Quote1.2.3. Members of the Chancery are to be considered as if they were Deputy Secretary of State, without the ability to replace the Secretary should he become unavailable. Members may act in the name of the Secretary of State and perform official business as delegated to them by the Secretary. Once the requirements of M.2.1[r 8] above have been fulfilled, at least three members of the Chancery at any time shall have all the access required to carry out the Chancery's functions under this section.

Is amended to read as follows:

Quote1.2.3. Members of the Chancery are to be considered as if they were Deputy Secretary of State, with the ability to replace the Secretary should he become unavailable. Members may act in the name of the Secretary of State and perform official business as delegated to them by the Secretary. Once the requirements of M.2.1[r 8] above have been fulfilled, at least three members of the Chancery at any time shall have all the access required to carry out the Chancery's functions under this section.

Whereas, the costs of war are frequently felt most heavily by women and children, and

Whereas, any action or contribution no matter how small is warranted to prevent further suffering or reduce current suffering, and

Whereas, Talossans are known for their care and concern for conflict-burdened peoples around the world.

Therefore, the Ziu authorises the Bureau of Humanitarian Aid and International Development to make a one-time contribution of $50 (USD), to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund, at https://www.pcrf.net.

WHEREAS Lex D.8.9 seals Cabinet discussions for seven years following the demise of the government of the time of said Cabinet,

WHEREAS Lex D.8.9 gives the responsibility of preservation of those records for seven years to the Royal Archivist,

WHEREAS a stopgap needs to be in place in case of something happening to the Royal Archivist before said records are released under El Lexhatx D.8.9,

THEREFORE, the Ziu adds the following to El Lexhatx:

QuoteD.8.9.3 The Royal Archivist may designate the current Scribe of Abbavilla or Deputy Scribe of Abbavilla to assist the Royal Archives in preserving Cabinet archives per D.8.9. [end new text of El Lex]

Uréu q'estadra så
Breneir Tzaracomprada (MC-OPEN)

Túischac'h,

I submit this question for the STUFF Minister. @Bråneu Excelsio

It has been a little while since last publishing of the government gazette, La C'hronica, unless I am mistaken. When will the July and August editions be released?

Open Society has filed the following Cort case with the Clerk of the Cort, @Baron Alexandreu Davinescu  concerning the A-X's interpretation of the Second Talossan Government Transparency Act. We believe the interpretation is incorrect and have asked Talossa's judiciary to determine whether this government is not obeying the law.

Tzaracomprada v. Plätschisch

Application for Judicial Review: Lawfulness of the Avocat-Xheneral's interpretation of El Lexhatx D. 8.9, the Second Talossan Government Transparency Act.

Applicant: Breneir Tzaracomprada

The applicant, hereby, petitions the Court to carry out a judicial review over the interpretation of the Avocat-Xheneral on September 9, 2024 pertaining to El Lexhatx D. 8.9 or the Second Talossan Government Transparency Act. The legal advice delivered to the Schiva IV Cabinet concluded that the Government may release previous internal and confidential Government communications before the "seven-year release" period described in El Lexhatx D. 8.9.2.

Facts:
On September 5, 2024 Breneir Tzaracomprada lodged a terpelaziun to the Seneschal concerning the extent to which the current Government is using the Cabinet board on Wittenberg, as follows:
"Tuischach, I rise with a question for the Seneschal. Recent governments have held their deliberations in the Cabinet thread here on Wittenberg which is an eventual archive accessible to the public. Where is the current Cabinet holding its deliberations? And if in multiple areas, to what extent are the deliberations being held in the Wittenberg Cabinet thread?"

On September 7, 2024, the Seneschal, Miestra Schiva responded as follows:
"I thank the Member for his question. When the Cabinet board on Wittenberg was opened to us, we found a note the from the previous Government, where a Cabinet Minister said to his colleagues something along the lines of "this is a permanent record, so don't put anything on here you'll be embarrassed for future Governments to find out". So, we are trying to emulate our predecessors in this regard. The current Cabinet uses this board for substantive discussions, alongside a Discord channel for real-time communication. I have asked Ministers who raise things that are long or substantive in the Discord channel to put them in the Wittenberg board."

In a later comment on September 7, 2024, the Seneschal, Miestra Schiva agreed that the Cabinet board on Wittenberg was indeed confidential with the following statement:
"The Cabinet board is not a "private" board, it is a confidential but official board."

On September 9, 2024, the Avocat-Xheneral issued the following statement in the same thread:
"My legal advice to the rest of the Cabinet is that Lex.D.8.9 does not stipulate that no contents of the cabinet forum may be released until the after the 7-year period. It only stipulates that all of the contents (except contents exempted by D.8.2 - D.8.4) shall be released at that time."

REQUESTED REMEDY:

The applicant seeks a judicial review of the September 9, 2024 interpretation by the Avocat-Xheneral of El Lexhatx D. 8.9. The applicant, as the author of the controlling legislation, contends that both the original intent and plain reading of the text confers privacy and confidentiality on the internal Government discussions until the 7-year period has elapsed. It is the Archivist not the Government of the day which determines the release of these internal Government discussions as mentioned in El Lexhatx D 8.9.2.

The applicant also seeks a determination as to whether the actions of the Seneschal were not in compliance with Lex D. 8.9 when she released the following statement of former Government minister, Baron Alexandreu Davinescu, in her response of September 7, 2024:
"...this is a permanent record, so don't put anything on here you'll be embarrassed for future Governments to find out."

Tuischach,

I rise, with concern, to direct a question to the Avocat-Xheneral @Ian Plätschisch who stated as follows:

Quote from: Ian Plätschisch on September 09, 2024, 05:52:53 PMMy legal advice to the rest of the Cabinet is that Lex.D.8.9 does not stipulate that no contents of the cabinet forum may be released until the after the 7-year period. It only stipulates that all of the contents (except contents exempted by D.8.2 - D.8.4) shall be released at that time.

Please inform the Ziu of the basis of this determination that the Cabinet may release cabinet discussions of a previous Government before the time period designated for release by the Archivist according to the Second Talossan Government Transparency Act?

Tuischach,

I rise with a question based on answers to a different terpelaziun actually. This is for the Seneschal. I would direct her attention to this provision in the Second Talossan Government Transparency Act:

Quote8.9 Automated Governmental Information Transmittal

8.9.1 All internal government communications on Government-owned fora shall be transmitted to the Royal Archives as soon as feasibly possible after the conclusion of that Government's term of office.
8.9.2 These transmittals shall be released to the public by the Royal Archives seven (7) years after the conclusion of that Government's term of office.

Seneschal, please inform the Ziu on what efforts have been made to implement 8.9.1?

As it currently stands voting on 60RZ4 indicates it will be rejected. Open Society is concerned we are continuing to fail to deal with the worrying precedent created when the nation's election administrator is also the leader of one of the election's contestants. This is a textbook case of a conflict of interest and must be prevented from happening again. For those hanging their opposition on the supposition that this was an anti-Txec crusade we present Open Society's leader who was the first to propose Txec as King John's successor (November 2023) and then helped initiate the events eventually leading to King John's abdication and to Txec's potential ascension to the throne. Further, Open Society does not plan on stopping its campaign for a non-partisan Chancery once we have King Txec. For those proposing this is an inOrganic infringement on association rights, I simply direct you to a succinct refutation of this assertion by a former secretary of state: https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=2922.msg24245#msg24245

This matter hinges on an important principle for the preservation of our democratic society not personal animus. Open Society will continue to defend this principle so long as the actions or inactions of other individuals and parties necessitates it.

Tuischach,

I rise with one final question for the Distain. @Bråneu Excelsio

On the following point, there is strong agreement between Open Society and the Government:

QuoteThis Government also intends to move forward on a long standing priority, to enhance the scope of the Royal Civil Service. It is our firm belief that the rancor inherent to Talossan politics can be toned down only by decentralising politics in Talossa – that is, by making more functions of the Kingdom Civil Service jobs rather than political appointments.

I must, however, point out that in the most recent opportunity to enact this priority the Government appears to have declined to take it. Appointing a civil servant to administer immigration policies. The governing party also appears to be supporting the ability for the Secretary of State to serve as a partisan official as several of its MCs are voting against placing a restriction on the SoS's ability to do so (The Nonpartisan Chancery Act).

How do these two actions square with the stated priority of "making more functions of the Kingdom Civil Service jobs rather than political appointments?"

Tuischach,

I rise with a question for the Finance Minister. @Sir Lüc

The Government has successfully submitted the required financial legislation by the second Clark. Now that that important requirement has been fulfilled I request the Finance Minister please inform the Ziu on other plans for ministerial activities.

Tuischach,

I rise with a question for the Defence Minister. @Bråneu Excelsio

What efforts are underway toward the holding of a live promotion ceremony in the Royal Zouaves?

Tuischach,

Upon review of the following commitment from Avant, I pose a question to the Culture Minister:

QuoteWe also intend - once again - to work closely with the Ladîntsch Naziunal, and the whole Talossan-speaking community, towards the age-old goal of getting as many Talossans using and learning our national language as possible.

What close work has occured already by the Culture Ministry toward this laudable goal?

Tuischach, I rise with a question for the Technology Minister, upon review of the following Avant coalition commitment:

QuoteIn conjunction with this, we will investigate finally ending our relationship with DeRoyal Servers, and investigate possible replacements for both Government email hosting and our domain registrations. In the process of this, we will seek to drop various "ghost" domains where appropriate.

Where are we on this investigation and associated processes?

Túischac'h, I rise to submit an enquiry to the Minister of Immigration. @Miestră Schivă, UrN

During the discussions on immigration reform the Minister of Immigration brought up the important issue of broosking.

What efforts, either in the current reform proposal or other activities, is the Immigration Ministry undertaking to educate prospective citizens about broosking, why it is discouraged, and who to contact should it occur during their immigration process?

Tuischach,

I rise with a question for the Seneschal. Recent governments have held their deliberations in the Cabinet thread here on Wittenberg which is an eventual archive accessible to the public. Where is the current Cabinet holding its deliberations? And if in multiple areas, to what extent are the deliberations being held in the Wittenberg Cabinet thread?

Tuischach,

Last month, the Foreign Affairs minister informed the Ziu that there are steps being undertaken for the Kingdom to participate in next year's MicroCon. I request that the Minister @Bentxamì Puntmasleu provide an update on these steps.

Azul fellow Talossans,

There is much to be lauded in the Government Statement from Seneschal Schiva. I note with approval the plans for the Foreign Affairs (while encouraging some activity for the BHAID) and Technology ministries along with work already underway on a public and open-ended discussion on Organic Law reforms. We would reiterate our support for fixed election dates and longer Cosa terms supported by an expanded Civil Service as an important part of the effort to open up more space for apolitical Talossans.

I would also begin by applauding members of the Cabinet on their prompt, respectful, and informative responses to opposition enquiries. As was stated in Open Society's policy on government accountability, where we agree with the incumbent Government we will make every effort to ensure, through regular and up-front terpelaziuns, their commitments are brought to fruition. And where we have concerns we will raise them in a constructive and respectful manner. Government accountability is not an effort to annoy or harass but to ensure the government of the day is held account to their commitments and to the right of all Talossans to an effective administration.

During the closing weeks of the last Cosa term and the subsequent election, I pushed for a rapid close to the reign of King John. The historic multi-party cooperation that followed was a testament to the potential to rise above personal animosity and produce results for the Talossan people. As a part of that historic cooperation, King John has promised to abdicate once a successor is found and, rumor has it, that the King prefers as his successor, Baron Alexandreu Davinescu, who he previously appointed as regent. I encourage the King to not incur any further delay and make that proposal to the Ziu so that it can be voted on. As I stated in a recent terpelaziun, which appears to have been misunderstood by Baron Davinescu and Minister Autofil, whether it be the King's preference or my own, Sir Nordselva, we must move on from his reign as soon as possible. Talossans must have an active, present, and unifying head of state as soon as possible.

As I mentioned, at the start, we will push for upholding commitments where we agree with the Goverment. And question and critique where we have concerns. But we will not engage in pointless squabbles. One early example is on the question of notifying the public on leaves of absence. There is a clear disagreement, on approach and apparently principle, but it does not rise to the level of other more pressing issues.

Please continue to take the opportunities presented to rise above grievance, no matter how well nurtured, to better serve the Kingdom of Talossa.

For the Kingdom,
Breneir

Túischac'h, I rise to submit an enquiry to the Minister of Immigration. @Miestră Schivă, UrN

During the recent election campaign, the parties of Avant made the following commitment:

Quoteto set up a process for thorough reform of provincial assignments for new citizens.

The recent influx of prospective immigrants notwithstanding, please update the Ziu on any early progress concerning this commitment.