Updated this to address royal/viceregal countersignatures on gubernatorial proclamations, as well as adding a possibility for newly-naturalized citizens of the province to join the Provincial Assembly mid-term.

Quote from: Munditenens Tresplet on November 16, 2024, 05:56:14 PMI will concede, though, that a VoC which automatically results in the leader of the largest party in opposition becoming Seneschal (rather than this motion thing) would take away a lot of these arguments above, save for my belief that the voters should immediately weigh in.

This is ultimately what I was looking for -- if this is an opportunity for me to reach a compromise (despite having done so already), then I am willing to explore it at a minimum.

What if we did something like this:

Quote(6): Article VII, Section 8, which currently reads:

QuoteThe Clark must contain, in every edition, a Vote of Confidence. Each MC may answer this question in his Clark ballot every month, either with a "yes" or a "no." If at the end of any Clark the "no" vote outnumbers the "yes" vote, the King shall dissolve the Cosa and call new elections.

is replaced in its entirety with the following:

QuoteThe Clark must contain, in every edition, a Vote of Confidence. Each MC may answer this question in his Clark ballot every month, either with a "yes" or a "no". If at the end of any Clark the "no" vote outnumbers the "yes" vote, the Leader of the Opposition shall become the Seneschal.

This particular change may require a slightly more formalized process for naming a Leader of the Opposition, but those changes would be relevant to El Lexhatx, not the Organic Law.

Apart from the calling of new and too-frequent elections -- which as Member Tzaracomprada has already noted is what this legislation is explicitly intended to do away with -- would you say that this addresses your main concerns?

Quote from: Munditenens Tresplet on November 16, 2024, 01:06:11 AMWe can still have a fixed election schedule ... It would merely shift the schedule.

QuoteI think it's ridiculous to suggest that the remedy for no confidence in a government would not be to call for an immediate election, but rather just to have the current Cosa try to elect a new Seneschal. Especially when each motion requires a candidate to be selected, meaning that the Cosa that already has no confidence in the current government must somehow solidify behind another individual?

Seems to be working rather well for Norway, actually. The Storting is constitutionally required to serve its full term, but the Norwegian PM must retain the chamber's confidence.

QuoteAnd not to belabor the point, but assuming this situation arises, how bad is this government? Did the ministers resign en masse? Will Talossa's entire cabinet be led by a single individual Seneschal who doesn't possess the confidence of its parliament for several months because the King no longer possesses any power to call for early dissolution, and the Cosa no longer has the power to order it either?

That situation (emphasis mine) is entirely what the motion's availability avoids in the first place.

QuoteBy the way, I won't repeat what has been said above about a motion of no confidence technically allowing for the same Seneschal candidate to be placed on each Clark, which defeats the purpose of removing the VoC. But I would point out, nothing prohibits multiple motions from being made in the same Clark for different people. (Nor should it, because forcing a first come first serve motion would encourage the government to put up a deputy for every motion just to vote them down.) Additionally, nothing prevents a single MC (hint) who isn't afraid of stirring the pot from making several no confidence motions in the same Clark each nominating another MC to be Seneschal (because nothing requires the nominated MC to accept the nomination, which would create more issues), repeating in every single Clark, until the Clarks are nothing more than entire lists of no confidence motions each time.

And if we decide to make this motion non-repeatable if the same candidate is listed, then nothing stops the government from doing what I just said above, only all in the first Clark, thereby preventing anyone else from nominating anybody in a subsequent Clark.

Fair enough, I will concede that the bill as originally written does produce a better outcome. I do want to touch on the part I've italicized though -- expand on these issues you foresee.

QuoteOr, we could just keep the VoC.

Sure, if a failure thereof would simply result in the Leader of the Opposition becoming Seneschal, so as to not derail the schedule.

Quote(And I forgot, if the Cosa elects a new Seneschal with 30-60 days left in a government term, would this be enough time for the outgoing government to transition the information necessary to run the country to the new Seneschal's government? Is there a known period of delay built in like there would be with, say, a general election period?)

There is not, but I can see the wisdom in building in a transitional period.

Hello friends! You  may be interested to know about some of the updates I've recently made to some of the templates we use on the wiki.

I made an interesting discovery today: the Composition Bar template, which parties can use to show their share of the Cosa or Nimlet or what have you, does use RGB color values, which default to red. However, most partys leave their bars red because trying to use nominal RGB values seemed to screw everything up (in my case, it would frequently turn my bar white). This is because you have to use "standard" RGB values -- instead of a 0-255 scale, you use anything from 0 to 1. So take your preferred color, divide each coordinate by 255, and then put that in the parameters like so:


10 seats awarded, 200 seats total, then the color values



The infobox for political parties now has spaces to enter three colors (col1, col2, and col3). The first two continue to act as the border and separator, respectively, on the infobox. If col1 is blank it defaults to gray, and col2 left blank defaults to col1. Any colors entered (use "rgb(r,g,b)" for this, which each value between 0 and 255!) will appear in little colorboxes at the bottom of the infobox, and you can add names (or clarify if your party uses a somewhat difficult color to see in the box given its size). Color values and names that do not have an entry will not show up, preventing your party's infobox from being filled with blank entries or any sort of error text. I've also fixed a few formatting issues re: spacing. Also, did you know I previously added a parameter to describe where your party sits on Talossa's political spectrum?

Quote from: Sir Lüc on November 15, 2024, 08:40:39 AMChiming in against my own better judgement because I should really get back to work, but 1) I broadly support this bill, and 2):

Technically this provision is not applicable - a CMoNC would be a motion by its own definition, not a bill.

(Incidentally, this would also mean Senses of the Ziu are not limited by H.2.1.6.1. - a nonbinding resolution is also not a bill.)

Quote from: Sir Txec dal Nordselvă, UrB on November 15, 2024, 09:00:02 AMI agree with Sir Luc that the constructive motion is exactly that, a motion, not legislation. If it isn't hoppered, the law against duplication doesn't apply. The same person could move for the same Seneschal as many times as he or she wished to under this legislation.

If that bit about skipping legislative review were removed, but then Lex.H.2.1.2 were further amended to permit these to bypass the CRL, which was really the intent to begin with, would that move it into the territory of "non-repeatable act"?

Quote from: Breneir Tzaracomprada on November 14, 2024, 07:40:15 PMIt was expected but is still, no less, disappointing to not see annual elections in the package. Something to keep championing, I suppose. I'm glad you've gotten this far Mic'haglh. Open Society supports this legislation.

We can keep pushing for it. Perhaps it's just because I have Thursday Night Football on at the moment, but sometimes it's better to take the three points and kick the field goal, you know?

Quote from: Munditenens Tresplet on November 14, 2024, 08:54:24 PM

Quote from: Mic'haglh Autófil, SMC EiP on November 14, 2024, 05:39:26 PM#3 changes when the King may (or must, going forward) issue Writs of Dissolution.

#5 removes the Seneschal's ability to request a premature Writ of Dissolution.

Why?

Quote#6 alters the Organic basis of how Votes of Confidence work, creating the Constructive Motion of No Confidence in its place.

I disagree with this fundamental change to how the Cosa has always operated. Also, what would prevent an MC from bringing a motion every single Clark, effectively functioning as the VoC?

On your first question, premature Writs of Dissolution would seem incompatible with the idea of a fixed electoral schedule, would they not?

On your second -- in addition to the current VoC model being incompatible with a fixed term length -- in those El Lex. changes I mentioned earlier, it is required that the CMoNC name a specific candidate to take over as Seneschal. Since identical (or even substantially identical) bills are prohibited from being proposed twice in the same term, the Opposition would need to propose a new candidate every month. Seems like it would be smart to not completely empty your clip of prospective candidates beforehand, no?

As a brief explanation of each change:

#1 clarifies that there are six months to a Cosă term; coupled with the two months required for an election, this produces an eight-month long cycle overall, which means three Cosăs over a span of two years.

#2 changes months of recess in that they no longer push subsequent Clarks back, becoming a simple substitution to keep elections on schedule.

#3 changes when the King may (or must, going forward) issue Writs of Dissolution.

#4 clarifies that majority petitions to name a new Seneschal may be presented at any time, while still mandating that they be performed at the start of a Cosă term.

#5 removes the Seneschal's ability to request a premature Writ of Dissolution.

#6 alters the Organic basis of how Votes of Confidence work, creating the Constructive Motion of No Confidence in its place.

There are a few changes that are also necessary to El Lexhatx to fully complete this portion of the reforms, which I do already have a draft of, but I see no sense in formally proposing those before this amendment is ratified by the people.

WHEREAS, the standardization of the electoral schedule is beneficial to the further development of non-political activity in Talossa, and

WHEREAS, the nationwide discussions on consensus have demonstrated a desire to fix the length of Cosă terms, and

WHEREAS, this makes modifications to confidence votes and Cosă dissolutions necessary,

BE IT RESOLVED that the following Amendments to the Organic Law are made:

• Article IV, Section 7, which currently reads:

  QuoteA newly elected Ziu shall convene on the first day of the month after its general election, to coincide with the publication of the first Clark. Its term shall be equal to seven Clarks, subject to the provisions elsewhere in this Organic Law. During its last month, the King shall issue a Writ of Dissolution ending its term. Whenever the Cosâ may be dissolved, all its members shall resign.

  shall be amended to read:

  QuoteA newly elected Ziu shall convene on the first day of the month after its general election, to coincide with the publication of the first Clark. Its term shall be equal to six Clarks, subject to the provisions elsewhere in this Organic Law. During its last month, the King shall issue a Writ of Dissolution ending its term. Whenever the Cosă may be dissolved, all its members shall resign.

• Article IV, Section 8, which currently reads as follows:

  QuoteThe Seneschal may insert between any two Clarks, or after the final Clark, a "month of recess" in which no Clark is published. No more than one "month of recess" may be declared during any one term of office.

  is hereby amended to read:

  QuoteThe Seneschal may insert in place of any single Clark, a "month of recess" in which no Clark is published. No more than one "month of recess" may be declared during any one term of office.

• Article IV, Section 9, which currently reads as follows:

  QuoteThe Seneschal may appeal to the King to issue a Writ of Dissolution to dissolve the Cosa before its term has expired and call new elections. If the appeal is presented accompanied by the explicit support of members of the Cosa representing a majority of seats therein, the King shall dissolve the Cosa effective immediately or, should there be a Clark in progress, upon the completion of the Clark. If the appeal lacks such an explicit expression of support from a majority of the Cosa, the King shall not act on the appeal for a period of three days following its receipt, and shall then accede to the appeal but only if the Crown has not been presented during that time with a petition, supported by members of the Cosa representing more than half the seats therein, praying that the Cosa be not dissolved. A Writ, once issued, takes effect only at the end of the month in which it was issued, and may be rescinded before it has taken effect.

  is replaced in its entirety with the following:

  QuoteThe King shall issue a Writ of Dissolution to dissolve the Cosă in the month of August in odd-numbered Gregorian years, and in the months of April and December in even-numbered Gregorian years. A Writ, once issued, takes effect only at the end of the month in which it was issued, and may not be rescinded before it has taken effect.

• Article VI, Section 2, which reads:

  QuoteThe Seneschal shall be selected by each newly elected Cosâ. When the King is presented with a petition to appoint a Seneschal, signed by MCs who together hold a majority of seats in the Cosâ as then constituted, the person named in the petition shall be appointed by the King to be the Seneschal. Should no such petition be made by the first day of the first Clark, that Clark shall include a Ranked Choice Vote to select the Seneschal. Each party holding seats in the Cosa may nominate one candidate for this election.

  is amended to read:

  QuoteThe Seneschal shall be selected by the Cosă, including a mandatory selection by each newly elected Cosă. Whenever the King is presented with a petition to appoint a Seneschal, signed by MCs who together hold a majority of seats in the Cosă as then constituted, the person named in the petition shall be appointed by the King to be the Seneschal. Should no such petition be made by the first day of the first Clark, that Clark shall include a Ranked Choice Vote to select the Seneschal. Each party holding seats in the Cosă may nominate one candidate for this election.

• Article VI, Section 3, which reads:

  QuoteThe Seneschal has duties of the State. He may advise the King to dissolve the Cosâ and to appoint and remove members of the Cabinet, and such advice to the King shall not be refused. He may also declare war and write treaties with the approval of the Ziu, expedite the Ziu's consideration of legislation, and issue Prime Dictates.

  shall be amended by removal of the phrase "to dissolve the Cosâ and ".
• Article VII, Section 8, which currently reads:

  QuoteThe Clark must contain, in every edition, a Vote of Confidence. Each MC may answer this question in his Clark ballot every month, either with a "yes" or a "no." If at the end of any Clark the "no" vote outnumbers the "yes" vote, the King shall dissolve the Cosa and call new elections.

  is replaced in its entirety with the following:

  QuoteMembers of the Cosă may submit a Constructive Motion of No Confidence to the Clark, which shall not be subject to the normal process of legislative review. This bill is voted on by the Cosă only, and must name a specific candidate for Seneschal. Should a majority of votes cast on this bill be in support, the candidate named therein becomes Seneschal. Such a bill may not be vetoed by the King, and any Seneschal removed from office by such a bill is prohibited from becoming Seneschal again until after the passage of a general election.

Uréu q'estadra så:
Mic'haglh Autófil MC

Estimat Tuischach:

I thank the Member for this question. If he will allow me to answer in two parts:

The first priority is the re-nationalization of the nation's web presence. I am still waiting for the Permanent Secretary of Backend Admin to give final agreement, but the plan at this point looks like this:
* At the moment, the PermSec is overseeing server hosting using a service called Digital Ocean; we have a "droplet" (a piece of server space) with DO under the PermSec's name.
* The PermSec will create a separate DO account to be controlled and funded by the Government. (I will ensure that he works with the Burgermeister to set up relevant payment information.)
* Once this account and a nationally-run "droplet" is set up, our web presence will be migrated to it, completing this process and achieving the goal set out at the beginning of the term.

Overall, a fairly straightforward process, I am simply waiting to make sure that everyone agrees on what the plan is so that we can implement it.

Regarding the new database possibilities:

* I am similarly waiting on some final feedback from the Deputy Minister regarding his suggestion of a possible solution, but from what I understand it will be a good fit for our needs. (I anticipate that the last few weeks have been a bit busy for him, what with setting up the Heir Presumptive referendum and whatnot.)
* However, this does not mean that I will not honor my commitment for a public review of the suggested solutions. I would look for this sometime within the next two weeks; sooner, if we can get the server transition done quickly.

As Deputy Minister, I may be able to assist here. (And I thank the Member for this question.) The Permanent Secretary of Backend Administration is currently working through an authentication problem on our webmail accounts, but I anticipate it will be resolved shortly.

Quote from: Marcel Eðo Pairescu Tafial, UrGP on November 03, 2024, 04:01:17 PM

QuoteThus, l'Academieu Rexhital dal Drapëuloxhà or l'Academieu Rexhital Drapëuloxhal?

The regularly derived adjective form of drapëuloxhà would be drapëuloxhanal, but that aside both would work.

l'Academieu Rexhital Drapëuloxhanal it is, then.

Quote from: Marcel Eðo Pairescu Tafial, UrGP on November 02, 2024, 05:02:09 PMYeah, that works. We could also look into having a proper word for vexillology -- which could potentially be any of the following: drapëuloxhà, drapëuloxhïă, vexiloloxhà, vexiloloxhïă -- and use that in the name. (drapëuloxhanal? vexiloloxhic?)

Given that, as per Oversteir, most "-ology" words end in -loxhà (it's a 4:1 ratio over -loxhïă), it would seem drapëuloxhà makes the most sense.

Thus, l'Academieu Rexhital dal Drapëuloxhà or l'Academieu Rexhital Drapëuloxhal?

Well, I'm sure @Marcel Eðo Pairescu Tafial, UrGP or @Iac Marscheir can correct me, but it would seem a fairly straightforward translation could be

l'Academieu Rexhital per l'Estudiă dels Drapéux (The Royal Academy for the Study of Flags)

Proposed leader title: Prevuost (Provost)

Azul Belacostaes! (?)

Without performing necromancy on an old thread, I wanted to return to the idea of reform to our province's constitution.

Specifically, I wanted to re-submit this proposal for your review. (It has received a few minor updates since then.)

Key Points:
- The province moves to a unicameral "citizens' assembly" legislature where each interested citizen may claim a seat at the beginning of a term.
- The provincial executive is replaced with a three-member Provincial Council; Consuls are elected by the Borda method. A Governor serves as the primus inter pares presiding officer.
- The proposal includes several clauses that address the possibility of provincial mergers, which is (hopefully) an issue picking up steam among the nation as a whole. (More on this elsewhere soon...)

Two things this Constitution does not do:
- Describe in any way a provincial flag, which I thought would be more sensible to adopt by statute.
- Provide for a newly-renamed Order of Benito, which I believe is also better addressed by statute.

Does anyone currently do anything with the Royal Academy of Vexillology?

If not, I would volunteer as its head; it may not also be an awful idea for us to delineate the Academy's responsibilities and powers a bit more clearly going forward.