Our current system, which works great in its own terms IMHO, is that the Seneschal is elected only by a special Clark at the beginning of each new Cosa.
What if the Seneschal disappears or is run over by a Ukrainian tractor towing a Russian tank in the meantime? Then the Distáin takes the role. But what if the Distáin were to disappear too? Or no Distáin were appointed due to a screw-up?
The obvious answer would be: a No vote on the VoC leading to an early election. And a possible Government vacuum for more than two months?
A possible solution: "if the Seneschalsqab becomes vacant and the Distain does take the role (or there is no Distain), a Seneschal Suffect may be nominated by petition of 2/3 of the Cosa seats to the Secretary of State and confirmed by the King, to act on behalf of the Seneschal for the remainder of the term. This appointment shall take effect two weeks after receipt of the petition unless the Seneschal reappears."
Comment? I put 2/3 in there to make it more of an emergency situation than just bringing down the Govt on the VoC.
Just playing devils advocate here, but what if the Cosa can't muster a 2/3rd vote, or enough of a vote to end the government by the VoC?
I'm actually surprised, after all these years, that this hasn't already come up. I'm curious as to ideas in this topic
Quote from: Dr. Txec Róibeard dal Nordselvă, Esq., O.SPM, SMM on April 04, 2022, 04:47:31 PM
Just playing devils advocate here, but what if the Cosa can't muster a 2/3rd vote, or enough of a vote to end the government by the VoC?
Then we don't have a government until after the election and a vote by the new Cosa.
What if we put the Tuischac'h as second in the "Seneschal line of succession"? The Cosa elects a Tuischac'h by majority, so if something happens to both Seneschal and Distain, the Tuischac'h takes over as Seneschal and the Cosa elects another Speaker in their place.
.... I would have never thought of that :D
I like this idea. But next question: what if the vacancy happens while the Cosa is dissolved? Can we just "let it slide until the new Cosa" in that case?
Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN on April 04, 2022, 04:56:44 PM
.... I would have never thought of that :D
I like this idea. But next question: what if the vacancy happens while the Cosa is dissolved? Can we just "let it slide until the new Cosa" in that case?
I would think that's acceptable, since the odds of a Cabinet reshuffle around that time would be pretty high anyway. The various Civil Service offices would be more than capable of clicking along until a new Cosa is inaugurated, at which point there would be a regular Seneschal election.
Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN on April 04, 2022, 04:56:44 PM
.... I would have never thought of that :D
I like this idea. But next question: what if the vacancy happens while the Cosa is dissolved? Can we just "let it slide until the new Cosa" in that case?
If the Cosa is dissolved, the Secretary of State or another member of the Royal Household could perform the basic functions in the intervening time period, until the end of an election, when a new Speaker could be quickly elected. At most, it would be an intervening period of not more than 30 days.
May I suggest that we could keep it even simpler than that? There used to be a provision that allowed the cabinet to declare the seneschal was absent or not doing his duties. Why not simply add that provision back in and let the Cosa do an election again? That would allow for democratic input in the form of our legislature, prevents an unnecessary general election, and permit any qualified candidate to take the role if they have the confidence of the legislature. It also means we don't have to invent another procedure, but can use the existing one, which is good for a whole bunch of reasons.
Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on April 08, 2022, 12:22:08 PM
May I suggest that we could keep it even simpler than that? There used to be a provision that allowed the cabinet to declare the seneschal was absent or not doing his duties. Why not simply add that provision back in and let the Cosa do an election again? That would allow for democratic input in the form of our legislature, prevents an unnecessary general election, and permit any qualified candidate to take the role if they have the confidence of the legislature. It also means we don't have to invent another procedure, but can use the existing one, which is good for a whole bunch of reasons.
Good idea. In case the Cosa cannot convene for some reason, an interim PMship would be in order imho with the following line of succession in case the PM and DPM are both run over by that Ukranian wheelbarrel carrying Russian ammunition:
1. PM's party leader (if still around and was not PM or DPM)
2. Tuischach
3. Mencei (though possibly with restrictions to keep an imperial PMship from forming)
4. Senior Justice (with same restrictions)
Or...
The Party or coalition of the PM submits to the Tuischach at the start of term a succession list with the Opposition submitting their own list to follow the PM's party or coalition. This combined list (or separate lists for PM's party and Opposition) is voted seperately from that of the PM, though concurrently with the PM.
The finding of holes, loopholes, and what-not never ends. The Republic of Talossa ca. 2006 had to completely re-write at least a quarter of its Constitution.
At least from what I'm seeing, if the Cosa is in session then basically what I or AD proposed would be sufficient, and neither solution really invents any new procedures (which I agree is a good thing).
If it isn't in session, perhaps the Cabinet could choose from among themselves an Acting Seneschal? This would be vaguely similar to what AD is suggesting, just accounting for the fact that there's no Cosa at the moment. A position with certain limitations on the powers of the "real" Seneschal, but still someone that can keep things running until the conclusion of the election that is presumably happening during that time.