As part of our commitment to helping voters make informed choices, we'd like to address some of the dubious claims made in recent days as part of the campaign:

• In their referenda recommendations, the Progressive Alliance claims credit for 62RZ26. We rate this claim mostly false; on June 1st, the Baron explicitly named both URL President Mic'haglh Autófil and URL Secretary Miestră Schivă as having direct input.
• In their recent campaign mailer, the outgoing Progressive Alliance Government has also claimed credit for the work of the Royal Civil Service, despite the fact that the latter is independent from the Government in the first place, making this claim false.
• In his introduction post, "Independent Progressive" Breneir Tzaracomprada claims to be "a founder of Talossan Progressivism". Unless S:reu Tzaracomprada is Danihel Laurier come back to us, we rate this claim false.

We anticipate further false claims to dispel as the campaign continues.

The Union of Free Reformists endorses the following candidates in the upcoming Senatorial elections in Belacostă, Maritiimi-Maxhestic, and Vuode:

	In Belacostă, the Union endorses @Mic'haglh Autófil, O.Be . Senator Iason Taiwos has represented his province very well, but has indicated a desire not to run again; as the Union's Seneschal candidate, this seems an ideal time for Autófil to continue carrying on a proud legacy of forward-thinking Belacostan Senators.
	In Maritiimi-Maxhestic, the Union is proud to endorse Sir @Marcel Eðo Pairescu Tafial, UrGP . Sir Marcel is the honest and pragmatic candidate in this race, and several of his valuable contributions to our Democracy Agenda have already been passed into law in this last term. He will give the good people of Maritiimi-Maxhestic the fair representation they have been missing out on.
	In Vuode, the Union is proud to endorse incumbent Senator @Eðo Grischun for re-election. Senator Grischun has served the people of Vuode well on multiple occasions, and can be trusted to do so again.

The Directorate of STUFF is aware of a recent partisan campaign mailer in which the work of the Directorate was improperly credited to the Government as a political accomplishment. As the Directorate is in fact an office of the Royal Civil Service, a branch of the Talossan state independent from the elected Government and strictly apolitical in nature, it would seem critical to protect that independence and impartiality from such an unprecedented breach of convention.

To illustrate the point, the offices of the Royal Civil Service also include the Chancery and the Burgermeister of Inland Revenue, respectively charged with overseeing Talossan elections (among a host of other duties) and safekeeping the national finances. One should be able to easily understand why such offices must be kept separate from politics in order to ensure continued public trust in our national institutions.

In order to defend the Royal Civil Service's mission to keep Talossa's administrative functions running smoothly, regardless of the partisan makeup of the Government of the day, officers of political parties are hereby firmly reminded that it is exceedingly inappropriate to drag the work of the Royal Civil Service into the political arena.

Normally of course, I would open this by addressing the Tuischac'h, but with the dissolution of the Cosă there is no Tuischac'h to address! However, the relevant Minister to which I would address this question has graciously agreed to answer it anyway, and so if I may pose the following "informal Terpelaziun" to the Minister of Immigration, @Baron Alexandreu Davinescu :

This Government made the passage of the Public Process Act an issue of the last campaign, and after the URL was able to ensure improvements to the bill to render it enforceable, it did indeed pass with bipartisan support. One of those improvements mandated the creation of a "shadow" email address that would allow the Leader of the Opposition to monitor incoming citizenship applications in order to maintain transparency in the process.

The bill passed in January. We are now in the final days of July. The email address has not yet been created. The Government has not yet complied with one of the key pieces of their own legislative agenda.

Does the Minister have any sort of estimate on when this Government will begin following its own laws, or does he anticipate that this will instead be an issue left for the next Government to fix for him?

Good afternoon Talossa! In our last campaign post, I mentioned that the URL would soon be getting into more of our positive program for the 63rd Cosă term. Don't get me wrong -- we're not done with our recap of the outgoing Government's weaknesses, but we think it makes sense to get a little optimism mixed in there too. After all, it's all well and good to point out why one party has explicitly failed to earn your vote, but that doesn't mean other parties don't have to give you something to vote for, too.

With that in mind, it seems like the most obvious place to start with our intentions for the next term is with our main legislative program:


Since we've already laid out the Democracy Agenda in more detail -- you can read the full text here -- I'm going to keep this one a bit shorter and highlight some of the best bits.

Cosă Size: This is something we've already had one major success on. The URL was able to pass the Pseudo-Real Cosă Act to shrink the size of the Cosă to 20. Talossa is a representative democracy, and is clearly set up as such. But when the legislature is larger than the country's own population, that system starts to break down a bit. A legislature more appropriately sized to the country is a good example of one of our party's principles: "Free Reformists believe that political systems must suit the population as opposed to the reverse."

Electoral Reform: We're making advances on this front too! The Democracy Act and Amendment, passed on this last Clark, is largely cobbled together from various proposals the Union has put forth (even its primary sponsor admitted as much). This puts a more concretely-defined closed-list proportional representation system in place for future elections, presuming it passes its referendum. In addition, the bill clarifies that party electoral lists are always to be respected when assigning seats (even for mid-term vacancies) and requires that people cannot appear on a party list or hold seats without their own consent. An electoral method that allows voters to directly select who sits in the Cosă by approving of party lists is a huge win for improving the balance of power between party bosses and citizens.

However, the work on this front is not done. Improving the Organic Law is a continuous process (and we think it's worth revisiting the idea of encoding a detailed electoral process in Organic Law), but improving the state of Talossan democracy is massively important. We've had discussion on a more open-list system in this term, and from what we've seen there is broader support for this than we may have initially expected. The URL will continue to lead the way on promoting reforms to increase the power of the electorate.

Upper House Reform: Talossa's government is of course appointed under a parliamentary system. As the chamber to which the Government is responsible, the Cosă is by necessity the more prominent house of the legislature. This does not mean that the Senäts cannot hold an appropriate place in the Talossan legislative process; it means that right now, the place it holds is not appropriate. The Senäts ought to function as a reasonable brake on the power of the Cosă, not a roadblock, and for that reason we will continue to support moving to the "house of review" model.

If you agree that the Democracy Agenda is the right path for Talossa, then your vote for the Union in August will make it happen. If you really want to get into the details and help shape the Agenda going forward, our doors are always open!

Good evening, Talossa! As the last Clark of the term has come to a close, we begin to prepare for yet another general election. Like most of the other established parties, the URL will be going into more detail on our platform for the upcoming election and the 63rd Cosă, but perhaps just as important as figuring out where we should go next is establishing where we are now and how we got here. And so this thread will serve as the URL's recap of the 62nd Cosă and the Government that has held office in that time.

There is, to be blunt, quite a bit to critique, and overall we can fit most of it into three main categories. We anticipate that some (or most) of this criticism will be framed as personal in nature by a Government desperate to cling to power. Nothing could be further from the truth; we criticize action (or lack thereof), we criticize principles (or lack thereof too), but we leave personal attacks out of it.

Don't worry -- all is not doom and gloom. We'll get into the Union's positive program for the next term soon, but we think it's more helpful for us to get our bearings first.

And so, without further ado, we jump into the first category...


If we go in chronological order, it makes sense to start with the poor decision-making that the Baron and his Government have shown on several occasions throughout the term. First off is the arrangement that brought this Government into power in the first place. The Baron and his party announced that they were forming a coalition government with IDT. The latter party, In Defensa Traditionis, ran in the last election on an explicitly anti-democratic platform, instead advocating absolute (later "executive") monarchism and socially-conservative "Western Orthodox Christian values". Instead of accepting our offer of a grand coalition, the PA chose to turn away from the political center. Their explanation for this, concerningly enough, can be summed up as "government formation by spite". Personal resentment towards several leading figures in the URL and bitter partisanship drove the PA to work with Talossa's political fringe -- and unsurprisingly, within only a few days, it had already fallen apart. The IDT leader's sympathies for alt-right agitator Nick Fuentes became public knowledge, but after dissolving the coalition agreement after a mere four days, the PA decided working with the IDT to nominate a Seneschal was still somehow better than working across the aisle, and a confidence-and-supply deal was formed.

To be clear, this isn't actually criticism of the IDT's leader and sole member. His views are certainly those we disagree with, but we respect and defend his right to them nonetheless. He is simply a very religious, very conservative young man, lacking in experience. The problem arose when the Baron and his party let their dislike for the URL's members get in the way of making the right decision, and that left "work with an alt-right teenager" as the only option they would consider. Talossa deserves a Government that behaves pragmatically, putting aside personal grievances to serve the country. A URL Government will treat a PA Opposition with the respect and professionalism that was lacking when the tables were turned.

Poor judgment has also been seen when the Government has evaluated someone's fit for a given role. Two big examples occurred in this term. The first regards the Baron's appointment of an Attorney General. Tric'hard Lenxheir is someone I think had shown potential. He is someone I have encouraged to be nicer to himself, instead of constantly putting himself down. I harbor no ill will towards him. These things do not eliminate concerns over whether or not he is suitable as the Government's legal counsel. He is not an attorney, and is therefore unable to provide the legal advice that the A-X is charged with providing by statute. He is quite literally unqualified to perform the main function of the office he held. One wonders if a more suitable candidate would have been available in the talent pool, if the incumbent Government had not been formed out of spite. On top of this, the circumstances of his renunciation are worth mentioning. S:reu Lenxheir renounced his citizenship in solidarity with an unrepentant sexual harasser. These are the sorts of principles welcome in the Baron's government? A URL Government will consider qualifications when forming the Cabinet; appointments made purely for political purposes tend to lead to tasks being done poorly, or simply not being done at all.

Speaking of the unrepentant sexual harasser, he's the other major example of this Government's bizarre and concerning personnel decisions. The Minister of Foreign Affairs named S:reu Tzaracomprada as an Information Liaison to multiple other micronations during the term. When questioned on this, Minister Briga claimed that these postings, made under the authority and direction of a government Ministry, were ... somehow not government positions. He told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears -- but that does not change that he gave multiple jobs to an individual that even the Seneschal has shunned. A URL Government will consider character when forming a Cabinet as well as when staffing Ministries for various duties; we will continue in our promise to refuse employment to those who exhibit chronically antisocial behavior.

We'll be back with more of our 62nd Cosă recap in the coming days. We'll also start getting into our more upbeat 63rd Cosă program. Stay tuned!

Estimat Túischac'h, I rise today with a Terpelaziun for the Immigration Minister, @Baron Alexandreu Davinescu .

Per the Government's numbers, since January 1st of this year, Talossa has received 135 applications for citizenship. Of those, nine have resulted in successful naturalizations, a success rate of 5.88%. Per Infotecă, the previous Government term saw 101 applications, 13 of which resulted in successful naturalizations, for a success rate of 12.87%.

Earlier in this term, the Minister has argued that an increasing number of applicants would naturally lead to an increasing number of new citizens, an argument that appears to be based on the assumption that the percentage of successful applications would remain constant. Given that the success rate has fallen under this Government to less than half of its previous figure, it is obvious that such an assumption was untrue. As the nation still has yet to break even on citizen count from when the current Government took office, can the Minister explain how the Government plans to correct from the unsustainable path they have led us down, with what little time in office remains to them?

Do you have ideas about things Talossa should be doing? Maybe some things you want to see introduced or improved? Do you want to get involved with the group that believes in moving Talossa forward? If so, you're in luck -- all you need to do is join the URL!

The Union of Free Reformists -- l'Uniun dels Reformistaes Livereschti in the national language, or if that's a bit of a mouthful, the URL or simply the Union -- is Talossa's party of progress, democracy, and liberty. If you believe that things could always be better; if you believe that honesty, transparency, respect, and accountability are important; if you have good ideas and want people to actually hear you out; if you want a party that knows you're more than just your vote: the Union is the party for you!

How to get involved? It's pretty easy, really -- all you need to do is message either the party's President (that's me) or the Secretary (that would be @Miestră Schivă, UrN-GC ) and let us know you'd like to join.

As this Cosă term winds down, we'll be going over the state of Talossa's affairs and where we believe the country ought to go next. If you want to help us breathe a little bit of life back into the country, we'd be glad to have you on board.

At the beginning of this term, the incoming Government faced several crises of confidence stemming from its ill-considered deal with the monarchist fringe: first, a coalition deal that collapsed before it even had a chance to install a government, then a confidence and supply deal from which the junior partner briefly withdrew.

Enter the Agreement between the Government and the Union of Free Reformists. This agreement was a mutually-beneficial arrangement in which each side got something quite nice for very little cost at all:

• The Government, of course, was able to effectively ensure that their term of office would run its full length. On top of that, they were able to ensure that they would not be denied supply for the term.
• For our part, the URL secured the passage of the Pseudo-Real Cosă Act and the Broosking Swing Mitigation Amendment, two key pieces to start our Democracy Agenda. We were also able to put one of our party's principles into practice, namely that Talossa deserves a stable government as opposed to turmoil.

As we have now entered the sixth and final Clark of the 62nd Cosă, each party to the Agreement has attained their goals, and after confirming with the Seneschal, we have agreed that this Agreement can be declared successfully concluded, releasing URL MCs from their obligation to abstain on the final Vote of Confidence.

As the Government has continued to provide no leadership on legislation, on this most recent Clark there was a single bill at vote, the Freedom of Conscience Act. This bill would have removed the mention of the Government from the citizenship oath, freeing new citizens of their obligation to swear allegiance to a government they may not support. Such a thing is unbecoming of a democratic nation such as Talossa, and the bill's preface included an acknowledgement of this, repudiating oaths of allegiance to the government as hallmarks of strongman rule and democratic backsliding.

Unfortunately, it seems this repudiation was more timely than we would've liked. That the incumbent Government would reject a bill that affirms the right to dissent is not surprising. What was surprising was the Seneschal's blatant disrespect for Talossan convention throughout the legislative process. As the Attorney General, the Seneschal serves on the CRL, helping to proofread legislative proposals for technical accuracy. The CRL reviews bills' form; judging the bills' content is a political question properly left to the Ziu. In the case of the Freedom of Conscience Act, after the Seneschal openly lying about the bill's preface did not prevent it from moving to the CRL, he used his position there to ensure that the bill would not be added to the May Clark. Because he felt personally offended by a bill, he ignored our customs and usurped the proper role of the legislature to judge a bill's principles.

He could have claimed his party shared in our denunciation of corrupt, self-serving government. Instead, he chose to exemplify the very behavior the bill condemns. It's the sort of thing we might expect to hear from Washington; we don't need to see it on Wittenberg too.

As we begin to look towards the end of this Cosă term, we in the URL want to take stock of the issues currently facing the nation. Make no mistake, we still intend to campaign on the Democracy Agenda, our package of long-overdue reform. But we're not going to campaign solely on the Democracy Agenda -- we need a Government that can work towards its goals while also addressing the problems of the day. And what are some of these problems? Well, to be blunt, a lot of them can be boiled down to double standards. In this 62nd Cosă term, the Government of Baron Davinescu has repeatedly acted in direct opposition to his campaign promises.

On Transparency: The Baron and his party made "transparency" one of the main themes of the last election. He made claims that the previous Government was hiding something over immigration, and he made promises to be open and honest in government; both the claims and the promises clearly resonated with voters. But when it comes to who sits in the Cosă for the current government, the Baron has gone before the Cort pü Inalt to argue that the transparency to voters only extends to the election itself -- after that, what the party boss says, the party boss gets. We in the URL feel that if you saw the list of Progressive Alliance candidates in the last election, decided you supported those people representing you in the Cosă, and voted for them, that's your right as a voter -- but that's the list you should get as your representation!

To be clear, the Government can't be blamed for two of its leading Cosă members dropping out, but we believe their voters should have had a say in who would replace them. We're also not disputing the outcome of the Cort's advisory opinion -- we think it makes sense given the current wording of the Organic Law, to the point that URL Secretary Miestră Schivă noted this possible result in a brief to the Cort. What we're saying is that the opinion shows the need for drastic reform. The law as worded allows for party leaders to make a mockery of accountability to voters between elections -- and that's a good reason to change the law. Regardless of which party list you vote for on the ballot, the URL has long advocated for your right to be represented by those people in the Cosă -- not whoever the party boss says you'll get.

On Immigration: Another key theme of the Baron's campaign in November was immigration. Unfortunately, since taking office, the Baron has managed to lose more citizens than we've had immigrate.
- Seven new citizens have been naturalized since the Baron's government was appointed in mid-December.
- We are now past two full months without any naturalizations.
- Eight former citizens lost their citizenship after failing to vote in recent elections.
- Two more have renounced their citizenship, including the Baron's Attorney General, who renounced in solidarity with a sexual harasser unanimously condemned by the Ziu.

That's a net loss of citizens so far this term. For a guy who spent most of the previous term comparing Talossa's population trends to a house on fire, the Baron seems to be taking the current decline awfully coolly.

In the last term, we argued that levels of immigration are not the direct result of Government action or inaction. The current Seneschal disagreed, and won over many voters by falsely accusing the previous Government of deliberately ignoring immigration and recruitment. A few months ago, he even met concerns about the lack of election candidates by blithely assuring us that there would be no problem keeping the Ziu properly staffed if we doubled the population – something he seemed to consider realistic, with the right government. We are now further from the Baron's own population goals than we were when he took office -- can he claim to be that "right government"?

Now that immigration is his responsibility, however, he has claimed that immigration levels are based on luck -- effectively admitting that everything he blamed the previous Government for was wrong. There is no shame in being wrong. There is shame in winning an election by telling a simple untruth, and then not correcting the record when found out.

On top of this, when the URL suggests possible remedies for the nation's stagnating immigration, they are evidently ignored. We argue that one valuable source of prospective citizens would be political simulationists -- people who engage in sort of "model government"-type situations online. Some of these people are already part of the micronational world, some may be participants in online games such as NationStates, but wherever these people can be found, we ought to be trying to recruit them with the appeal of Talossa's long-running and substantial political system. Why aren't we? Well, it's apparent that these folks and their political interest would go against the Baron's desire to keep Talossan politics apolitical. We've called him out on this contradiction before, and it is apparent his apolitical desires are now choking the country of citizens.

On Active Leadership: One of the duties of a leader is fixing things that don't work. Sometimes this means changing policy within the boundaries of current law; sometimes it means changing the law to allow for better policy. As it is, legislative activity from the Government has dried up completely. Should we take this to mean the Government thinks the nation is in fine shape as it is, or do they intend to put out policy changes to address our problems? If the latter, why have they not done so?

On Concentrating Power: Perhaps the worst of the Seneschal's double standards so far has been the concentration of power. In the last election, he criticized the previous Government for "stacking" -- people holding multiple Cabinet portfolios in order to balance manpower and workload. Some stacking, of course, is understandable, especially when the work is divided among many positions. However, the Seneschal is now into the territory we've said he's been aiming for all along: "Government by One Person". Of the ten Cabinet posts, he now holds five of them personally -- half the Government in one man's hands.

- Seneschal (obviously)
- Minister of Immigration (officially appointed himself to the role)
- Minister of Defence (holding de facto as he never appointed anyone else)
- Minister of Public Records (holding de facto as he never appointed anyone else)
- Avocat-Xheneral (holding de facto after his previous A-X resigned in solidarity with the sexual harasser as noted above)

We in the URL believe that democracy should be a "team sport"; that a successful party should be a team rather than a one-man band. This is why we defend party lists and call for other Ziu reforms, to make sure the voters are choosing a team for government, rather than placing the power into the hands of a strongman. In contrast, when the Baron is in power, to paraphrase an old French saying: el parti, es el Governamaintsch, c'è lo.

To sum up, these are the key issues currently facing the nation, on which the Union of Free Reformists will campaign for a Cosă majority in the next election:

• Ziu reform to shift to a system where voters chose candidates as well as parties.
• Immigration to target sources like politics simulators, and to target quality (which we can control) rather than quantity (which we cannot).
• Team government rather than the dominance of a single personality.

Estimat Túischac'h, I rise today with a Terpelaziun for the Immigration Minister, @Baron Alexandreu Davinescu .

The nation last welcomed a new citizen on the 23rd of March, over ten weeks ago. On top of this, the nation's population has actually declined since the current Government has taken office, with seven citizens immigrating and ten emigrating (including two outright renunciations).

In past terms, the incumbent Immigration Minister has compared multi-month spans with no immigrants, such as the one in which we currently find ourselves, to a house on fire. He also criticized the previous Government on immigration, at one point noting "Talossa is losing citizens faster than she's gaining them", the same situation in which his Immigration Ministry now finds itself.

In his response to a different Member's Terpelaziun on May 5th, the Minister stated:

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on May 05, 2026, 11:57:06 AMI thank the MZ for his question.  In response, I think I'd like to hold off until a few more people are confirmed as possible assistants.

I don't feel there's any immediate time pressure, since we've already been implementing a lot of the other Royal Commission recommendations in extraordinary form:

• The Prime Minister's Patriotic Award has been restored, and we actually have produced a bunch of physical awards that can be sent out to recipients.  They are designed to be displayed on the lapel, collar, or pocket, and that will make them visible in pictures or on Zoom and unusually prestigious (as the only physical award).
• The New Citizen's Guide has been updated, reformatted, and restored in collaboration with the Secretary of State, and will soon be formally unveiled.  You can see a preview here.
  
• Our diplomatic efforts have been very fruitful, with a lot of communications both formal and informal.

We will continue to do even more, of course.  If the MZ hears of anyone of good character who is interested in volunteering for the TalossAssistant program, please send them my way.

To begin with, I would like to follow up on each of these responses, namely:

• Have any Prime Minister's Patriotic Awards been awarded to date?
• It has now been a month since the Minister noted an updated New Citizen's Guide had been completed. Can he state why it has not yet been "formally unveiled"?
• Can the Minister provide to the Ziu or public any evidence or results of the "very fruitful" diplomatic efforts he has described?
• Given that zero new citizens have been naturalized since the above response was given, is the Ministry re-assessing the situation to acknowledge any "immediate time pressure"?

Thank you.

Last year, we had some mullings about a possible Talossan "Tinkers' Union" -- a place for people to talk about their various projects. Well -- here it is!

Introducing what I am tentatively calling el Verbånd Talossan Cufabrichind -- the Talossan Tinkering Society. (I'd also considered el Verbånd Talossan d'Impreschtsch, the Talossan Society of the Toolbox. We can workshop the name, no pun intended.)

What this is: a sort of megathread for whatever projects you might be working on to maintain, repair, and improve...whatever! Be it automotive, electrical, plumbing, woodworking, appliances, electronics, knick-knacks, show your fellow Talossans what you're working on. Whether you want to show progress, get suggestions, or just give a summary of a successful (or maybe not-so-successful) project, this is the place to do it.

---

I guess it's only fair I go first! As those of you who have seen me over our Zoom meetings (or on my Mad Chicken review from 2024) may be aware, based on the browline glasses and whatnot, I have a soft-spot for mid-century things. Old electro-mechanical stuff that's built to last, the aesthetics of the Jet/Atomic/early Space Age, etc. So it's probably no surprise that I bought a fountain pen recently. This is a Parker 45, and much like Talossa itself, it hails from Wisconsin! Parker, now headquartered in France, is originally from Janesville, a city in southern Wisconsin, near the Illinois border, about a 1.5-hour drive from the GTA. The 45 was introduced by Parker in 1960; mine dates from somewhere in the 1970s based on several characteristics.

Purchased for cheap on eBay, last weekend I disassembled it, gave it a bit of a soaking in some distilled water with a light bit of dish soap, and let it dry overnight. The next day I disassembled it further; several pieces around the pen's nib were stuck together by caked-on ink from a previous user and needed the first soak just to unscrew properly. Then I gave the parts another soaking, and let dry a second night.

The 45 comes with a "converter" (the internal refillable ink reservoir), but it also accepts Parker's long-running cartridge design, and that's what I've used here. I seem to still have a few mild issues with ink flow, but that may be due to a bit of soap residue affecting the ink -- or maybe there's still some old red ink in there somewhere. When this cartridge runs out I intend to buy a little bottle of pen flush and give it a good internal rinse to see if it can't be improved further.

WHEREAS, the inclusion of any citizen on a political party's electoral list is currently and entirely up to that party's leadership; and

WHEREAS, it seems reasonable to ensure that the person involved should have some sort of say in their inclusion; then

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE ZIU that Title B of El Lexhatx, Section 2.3.2 is created to read as follows:

Quote2.3.2. The Secretary of State shall confirm to their satisfaction that all citizens appearing on a party list consent to do so. Only citizens so consenting shall be recognized as being on a party's list for the purposes of Lexh.B.2.3, and only said citizens will appear on the party's list as shown on the ballot.

Uréu q'estadra så:
Mic'haglh Autófil (MC - URL)

WHEREAS, Cabinet ministers may currently appoint Permanent Secretaries at any time, including in a "lame duck" or "caretaker" period following the close of an election; and

WHEREAS, this could conceivably permit an outgoing Government to staff ministries with Permanent Secretaries in contradictory ways to the desires of an incoming Government; and

WHEREAS, this seems an obviously unfair move that ought to be prohibited; then

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE ZIU that Title C of El Lexhatx, Section 1.1.1, which currently reads as follows:

Quote1.1.1. A Minister of the Cabinet may recommend to the King the creation of an Office within their Ministry and the appointment of a Permanent Secretary to that office based upon their qualifications, willingness to work and taking into consideration the applicant's performance in prior positions. All Permanent Secretary positions shall exist within the Royal Civil Service and shall be non-political appointments which shall be held until lawful dismissal, resignation or incapacitation.

Shall be altered to read:

Quote1.1.1. A Minister of the Cabinet may recommend to the King the creation of an Office within their Ministry and the appointment of a Permanent Secretary to that office based upon their qualifications, willingness to work and taking into consideration the applicant's performance in prior positions. No recommendations or appointments to a Permanent Secretary role shall be made in the period following a dissolution of the Cosă, until either a petition to name a Seneschal has been presented to the King, or the first Clark of the following Cosă term has opened, whichever occurs first. All Permanent Secretary positions shall exist within the Royal Civil Service and shall be non-political appointments which shall be held until lawful dismissal, resignation or incapacitation.

Uréu q'estadra så:
Mic'haglh Autófil (MC - URL)

Good evening all! The Directorate of STUFF, an office of the Royal Civil Service, is pleased to announce the formal re-opening of our TalossaWare store.

The last several weeks have been spent going back-and-forth with Printify's support staff regarding a few technical issues -- several of which were solved using the tried-and-true "turn it off and then on again" method -- followed by bringing the design of several of our products up-to-date with the current official depictions of the national arms, etc. I have purchased one of the simple round flag stickers as a test run; it arrived fairly quickly from Illinois (production location is dependent on your location) and seems to be of good quality! I look forward to putting it on my Super Cub's fairing to carry a little piece of Talossa with me wherever I ride.

I should note that there are a few items that were previously listed for sale in our store that were removed via the reactivation, including Bicoloreu-branded t-shirts. I have not yet re-introduced these, but if someone expresses interest, it's a fairly straightforward process to add things to our catalog now that they are publishing properly.

I would also like to give a heads-up that our citizens in the European Union may still run into some difficulties ordering; there are some extra hoops we need to jump through that I will be looking into in the next week or so in order to ease the European sales process.

Happy shopping!

Azul all! As Talossa prepares to wrap up the second season of our fantasy hockey league, it seems fair to assert that ice hockey has become one of our more popular national sports (after cycling and of course Talossan football).

But what about playing it a bit more immersively, instead of just numbers and stats on a screen? There's a game for that. It's called Puck, and it's free on Steam.

It's pretty straightforward: first-person view, you use WASD to move around, and your mouse controls your stick. It's the finessing that makes it tough. You can play a private practice session on your own computer, or hop in to someone's server to get some experience. I would definitely recommend practicing shooting a bit if you want to be accurate. On the other hand, if we're all roughly equally bad, then the games should be entertainingly close, right?


I was thinking we could try and do a game of 3-on-3. Maybe if we get really lucky, there could be a three-team round-robin deal? It depends on when people are free and how many are interested. This is just to gauge initial interest, put a feeler out there.

Yesterday, the Comità of the URL was informed by Baron Davinescu that one of his party's members had broosked a prospective immigrant by providing them with a biased description of the Progressive Alliance. While it is certainly fair to chalk this up to the inexperience of the member in question and their ignorance of Talossan ethical norms, it does provide a clear example of the obsessive partisanship which has become increasingly present throughout the country.

While we in the URL believe in a Talossan political scene in which open, honest debate on principles, methods, and goals should be welcomed and encouraged, excessive partisanship can easily corrode such an atmosphere. This incident provides yet another argument for a more personalized, less-partisan form of politics, which we will continue to strive for.

Estimat Tuischac'h,

I rise this evening with a question for the Minister for Foreign Affairs, @xpb . I had initially posed this question to the Minister, represented by the Seneschal, at the Informal Session. However, as the Seneschal admitted he would not be able to accurately account for his Minister in this case, he recommended I pose the question to the Minister directly in order to get an answer. Therefore:

The 2026 eSports Games, an event of the Micronational Olympics Federation, recently began competition. The event features competition in multiple events, including Battleship, Chess, Uno, Pac-Man, and a "National Pride" event reminiscent of the former Olympic art competitions.

I will give fair warning, as I did at the Informal Session, that this question is a two-parter, but the first question is very simply: was the Minister aware of this event?

Estimats cünpartizaes,

As most of you are aware, the aftermath of the last election was a bit of a blessing in disguise, as it showed that the URL is the Party of Talossan Democracy. With this better-defined identity in mind, we have set about over the first half of this term working to define just what a more democratic Talossa would look like in order to know what paths we should prioritize and the directions in which we would like to move as a united party. To that end, I submit to you now that agenda for the Party's endorsement.

The following is something that I have drafted based on the summary of ideas in this post, but is still ultimately open to amendment, as I cannot singularly speak for the party as a whole. As a result, all items are currently open to proposed amendments to their wording (including re-arranging them in a different order to show our priorities). Once our Convention prepares to adjourn, we will move to adoption of each item as it then exists.

Quote

LAS TOCĂS DEMOCRÄTICI DA L'URL

THE DEMOCRACY AGENDA OF THE URL

We, the members of the Union of Free Reformists, the Party of Talossan Democracy, in order to not only safeguard Talossa's fragile democracy, but strengthen it, hereby formally adopt the Democracy Agenda. This package of reforms will bolster the democratic nature of Talossan government, granting actions taken by the state even greater legitimacy. It is intended to show the Talossan people, in plain terms, our intentions in both this Cosă session and in future sessions, particularly those in which they see fit to grant us a Cosă majority.

• Cosă Size: With the passage of 62RZ09, the Democracy Agenda has already succeeded in right-sizing the Cosă to 20 seats. The URL's aim here going forward will be to defend this change, and prevent future Cosă sessions from undoing it.
• Electoral Method Reform: In the interest of lessening the power of party bosses, increasing the power of the voters, and improving the ability to hold individual MCs accountable, the URL supports transition to a form of personalized proportional representation -- any method that combines proportional representation for parties with voter control over which candidates actually receive Cosă seats. We support further debate on the specific method to be adopted.
• Party List Reform #1: The URL supports legislation to prioritize party lists, ensuring that "off-list" candidates can only receive seats if no "on-list" candidates are eligible, in order to improve transparency and allow voters to better judge the intentions of the parties on the ballot.
• Party List Reform #2: The URL supports legislation requiring candidates to confirm with the Chancery their consent to appearing on a party list, in an effort to further lessen the power of party bosses.
• Upper House Reform: Taking into account Talossa's unitary nature and the requirements of responsible government, the URL supports the transition of the Senäts' role to that of a "house of review" in the vein of the British House of Lords, the Canadian Senate, or the Japanese House of Councillors. This reform will retain Senators' ability to critique and improve legislation on behalf of their province's citizens, including a veto on Organic amendments, but will allow the Cosă to insist on its decision on standard legislation if there is sufficient democratic support.
• Public Ballot Reform: The secret ballot is one of the cornerstones of free and fair elections. We support the continued right of Talossans to publicly declare their electoral choices, but believe the polling process on Wittenberg should be reformed so that public ballots are only published after polls close.
• Parliamentary Reform: The URL supports codifying and strengthening the powers of the Tuischac'h and Mençei to allow them to better maintain order and enforce parliamentary procedure within their respective chambers.
• Royal Veto Reform: The URL supports reforming the power of the Crown to veto legislation. This would involve a "suspensory" veto, in which the Crown's veto still serves as an opportunity for the Ziu to reconsider legislation, but can be overriden by a simple majority of both houses. In parallel to this, we support reworking advisory opinions to allow the King to consult with the CpI on a bill's organic Compliance.
• Reform Org.XII.4: This organic provision makes some parts of the OrgLaw almost impossible to amend, anchoring the country in ways that are not justifiable in a democratic nation. The OrgLaw already has a rigorous amendment process for normal amendments; there is no good reason to have such onerous additional requirements.

Given that there has been some internal discussion over the past few months regarding possible amendments to the Party Constituziun, I hereby open the floor to any such proposals.

For example, I believe @Miestră Schivă, UrN-GC has stated a desire to reform the endorsement process for Senäts candidates found in Article III, Section H?

Good evening, fellow Talossans!

The Directorate of STUFF, an office of the Royal Civil Service, is pleased to announce that we are accepting requests for Talossan identification cards.

Here's how the process works:

• Take the Civics Test. This is an open-book quiz on Talossan knowledge, which I have just combed through in the last few days to make sure it's up to date on factual accuracy. You need to get 75% right to earn a passing grade.
• Fill out the Application Form. Please be assured that all information collected as part of this process is deleted after receipt of the ID by the applicant, for data protection.
• Once you've passed the Civics Test and gotten your Application submitted, I'll reach out via PM here on Witt just to confirm that everything looks good.
• The best part is that you will receive your own Talossan ID! The second best part is, you don't need to pay for it!

I will be closing applications when one of two criteria is met:

• Applications will close no later than Wednesday, 1 April.
• Applications may close sooner if I receive nine valid applications. Nine IDs are what fit on one sheet at the printer, so it makes sense to try and maximize an order if possible.

Just in case it needs to be clarified, macronational authorites will not recognize these, so we do not recommend using them as a valid form of identification when it really counts.

Current applications: 3 of 9
(The first one has been waiting on their ID for a bit, ideally they don't renounce partway through this time :P )

I'll be putting up a tracker spreadsheet similar to the previous one, sometime during March, just whenever I get a good moment.

Azul es benveschti, à toct vaes amíci, cünpartizaes, colegas, es cüncitaxhiens!

Welcome to the second Party Convention of the Union of Free Reformists. Once per Cosă term, our party gathers to publicly conduct its internal debates, assess our platform and organization, and make the case for the nation to entrust to us the privilege to govern Talossa in the next term.

This Cosă term has so far been a tumultuous one for the country at best, though we in the URL have played a critical role in calming the situation. In the chaos following the last election, we saw what can happen when personal feuds and bad blood are allowed to rule the day. But even when others may scold us or prefer to work with extremists than with us, we stand on principle. In this case, the rather fundamental principle that Talossa deserves a stable government instead of chaos. To this end, we kept the door open for negotiations, which led to the announcement of the "passive confidence" deal last month. We in the URL know that collaboration is a more effective path than division, and we put that into practice -- while also practicing sound judgment on who to work with.

In making this deal, we have also gained a valuable victory in our pursuit of a more democratic Talossa. The Pseudo-Real Cosă Act, put forward by our good friend Sir Marcel Tafial, has managed to bring the size of the Cosă down below the size of the entire country's population, transforming it from a parody of a parliament into an institution of sensible representation. This was a change that was shown to be welcome to a wide swath of the Ziu, and it's not the only one. One of our next priorities will be to advocate for a more personalized form of proportional representation. Giving voters better control over who exactly represents them in the Cosă and transferring more power from party bosses to the people has proven to be a change that has received broad support from around the country; people like a democracy which they can hold accountable! Our first victory is something we've managed from Opposition -- now imagine how much good we could bring with a majority!

The Democracy Agenda is of course fantastic, but it is also a more of a legislative focus for our party. What about the executive branch? Let's look a bit at the current state of the nation's government.

As already noted, it's been quite the chaotic environment. The nation's government has already almost collapsed twice since the last election: once before it even took office, and a second time just before the close of the February Clark. Without the URL to come in and provide stability, we'd be preparing for an election right now. Yet behind all the hubbub regarding the government's survival, there's been surprisingly little substance:

• There's been a lot of "busy work", so to speak -- translating the Seneschal's List into Talossan, taking a plank from the URL platform and giving the Zuavs a visual refresh, that sort of thing.
• While this government has finally succeeded in welcoming their first immigrants, we've not yet hit "replacement-level" immigration to recoup lapsed citizens after the last election, much less the "double our population" levels the Seneschal argued for as an alternative to reducing the Ziu to more sensible numbers.
• Particularly egregious is the apparent "stacking" of roles going on in Cabinet. While we've actually argued that some stacking is ok -- smaller roles makes for more of them, so it makes sense to have people with multiple titles -- what we're seeing is more of "government by one". The Seneschal has himself noted that the proportion of votes for his party to people capable of "doing the work" is unsustainably high - as shown by not only the dormant Cabinet, but the difficulty in getting Government MZs to endorse the "passive confidence" deal on the last Clark.

Substituting one hyperactive politician for a party is not only unsustainable; it's strengthens the argument for "personalized proportional representation" to make sure votes for parties translate into "teams" for government.

Meanwhile, we in the URL don't need to wonder -- there's no central leader who does everything themselves here, either because they want to, or because they need to. We're a team, and we know that the old saying is true: teamwork really does make the dream work. We take this seriously enough that our party has a collective leadership structure, to say nothing of our regular conventions. We're the Party of Talossan Democracy, and we lead by setting an example. And over the next few weeks, we'll be showing everyone how it's done, yet again.

¡Vivadra Talossa democrätic!

WHEREAS, the current definition of His Majesty's Loyal Opposition sometimes leads to ambiguous results; and

WHEREAS, this is an issue that has been building over time, and is worth fixing now; and

WHEREAS, a simple alteration will avoid future ambiguity while remaining easy to understand; then

BE IT HEREBY RESOLVED, that Title H of El Lexhatx, Section 4.3, which currently reads

QuoteMembers of the Cosâ who (in a given session of the Cosa) have voted NON on the most recent Vote of Confidence, or intend to do so on the next Vote of Confidence, shall be known as El Contrapharti Fieir da Sieu Maxhestà, or "His Majesty's Loyal Opposition" in English, or in short "El Contrapharti / The Opposition". Unless and until the members of the Opposition decide otherwise by majority vote , the "Leader of the Opposition" shall be the leader of the party with the most Cosa seats assigned to MCs who voted NON on the last Vote of Confidence.

is hereby amended to read

QuoteMembers of the Cosă who (in a given session of the Cosă) have not voted Üc on the most recent Vote of Confidence, or do not intend to do so on the next Vote of Confidence, shall be known as El Contrapharti Fieir da Sieu Maxhestà, or "His Majesty's Loyal Opposition" in English, or in short "El Contrapharti / "The Opposition". Unless and until the members of the Opposition decide otherwise by majority vote , the Tanaischteu, known in English as the "Leader of the Opposition", shall be the leader of the party with the most Cosă seats assigned to MCs who did not vote Üc on the last Vote of Confidence.

Ureu q'estadra så,
Mic'haglh Autófil (MC-URL)

Under the provisions of Nimlet Resolution 2026-05, I hereby call to order the Constitutional Reform Committee.

This Committee shall consist of three members:
- Myself as Governor of Florencia, Committee Chair;
- @mximo (Mximo Carbonel), Pastour and Vice-Chair; and
- @Breneir Tzaracomprada , Pastour and Vice-Chair.

Each member shall possess equal voting rights. No other individuals shall be granted a vote, but the Committee may call on representatives from various Talossan organizations for advisory input.

The stated deadline for this Committee's proposed constitutional reforms is the beginning of the Sixth Clark of the 62nd and current Cosa session, which is expected to open on 1 June 2026.

If the Vice-Chairs have any agenda items they wish to see included or any specific areas they wish to address during the course of the Committee's work, the floor is open. I will put forth an agenda on Saturday, 28 February.

WHEREAS, party lists exist to give voters an understanding of who a party intends to assign seats to; and

WHEREAS, parties may assign seats to anyone they wish, within certain criteria; and

WHEREAS, it is reasonable to expect that voters who support a given party list be represented by citizens on that list; and

WHEREAS, honesty and openness of intent should be encouraged in communicating with the electorate; then

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE ZIU that Title B, Section 2.3.1.1.2 of El Lexhatx, which currently reads:

Quote2.3.1.1.2. No one who was not named on the list is assigned more seats than any eligible citizen who was named on the list.

is amended to read:

Quote2.3.1.1.2. No person who was not named on the list may be assigned any seats if a person named on the list is eligible for assignment of additional seats, excepting any person who has already lost or resigned seats during the same Cosa session.

FURTHERMORE, nothing in this act shall be construed to affect any seats already assigned at the time of its passage.

Ureu q'estadra så,
Mic'haglh Autófil (MC-URL)

WHEREAS, Talossa ought to be a nation of laws and principles, as opposed to strongmen and personalities; and

WHEREAS, swearing allegiance to a government appears to conflict with a citizen's Organic right to free expression; and

WHEREAS, swearing allegiance to the nation's constitution is more in line with the ideals of liberal democracy; then

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE ZIU that Title E, Section 9 of El Lexhatx, which currently reads:

Quote9. The following text shall be known as The Oath of Talossan Citizenship:
   From this day forward, I pledge my loyalty, allegiance, and fidelity to the Kingdom of Talossa and to His Majesty's government. I solemnly affirm that I will support and uphold the Organic Law of the Kingdom of Talossa, defend the realm against all enemies, both foreign and domestic, faithfully observe its laws, respect the rights and freedoms of all my fellow citizens, fulfill all my duties and obligations as a citizen of the Kingdom of Talossa, and humbly appreciate the benefits granted unto me by my King, most especially when those benefits take the form of Talossan currency.

shall be replaced in full with:

Quote9. The following text shall be known as The Oath of Talossan Citizenship:
   From this day forward, I pledge my loyalty, allegiance, and fidelity to the Kingdom of Talossa and to its Organic Law. I solemnly affirm that I will respect the rights and freedoms of all my fellow citizens, faithfully observe the nation's laws, defend the realm against all enemies both foreign and domestic, fulfill all my duties and obligations as a citizen of the Kingdom of Talossa, and humbly appreciate the benefits granted unto me by my King, most especially when those benefits take the form of Talossan currency.

Ureu q'estadra så,
Mic'haglh Autófil (MC-URL)

Azul à vaes cünpartizaes!

As per the party Consituziun (Article III, Section A), the Union of Free Reformists will be holding its regularly-scheduled Party Convention for the 63rd Cosă during the third Clark, which is scheduled for March. The Comità Esecutorxheu hereby notifies all URL members of our desire that they attend.

TENTATIVE AGENDA:

• Opening Remarks
• Possible amendments to the URL Constitution and Platform -- current text of each can be found on the URL wiki article
• Finalization of the Democracy Agenda
• Registration of caucuses within the URL
• Election of the URL candidate for Seneschal for the 64th Cosă elections
• Election of the next Comità Esecutorxheu (Executive Committee). (Atatürk, Belacostă, Fiovă, and Vuode each have at least three members and are eligible to elect Provincial Chairs to the Comità.)
• Closing remarks

We hope to see you there!

Polls are something I've been meaning to incorporate into TN for a while now. Figured we'd get divisive off the bat. :P

During the recent Informal Session, MC Miestra Schiva posed a Terpelaziun to the Minister of Propaganda, which was answered in his absence by the Seneschal. "Does the Minister now believe that Breneir Tzaracomprada, condemned unanimously by the last Ziu for sexual harassment, is now a fit and proper person for the Ministry of Propaganda to collaborate with?" The Seneschal's response was genuine, but one that we feel reveals a difference of standards between this Government and the Opposition.

Essentially, the Government's position is that it is improper for the Government to refuse to work with any Talossan, regardless of their conduct. Certainly, it would be inappropriate for the Government to refuse to work with someone due to a simple difference of politics, but this is not a difference of politics, this is a rehabilitation that has not yet been earned. The Seneschal himself has agreed that S:reu Tzaracomprada has yet to offer any apology for his conduct that appears genuine. His response went so far as to liken a refusal to publicize S:reu Tzaracomprada's media channel to a refusal to publicize newspapers published by members of the Opposition. The latter would indeed be inappropriate, as it would represent a stifling of the free press. The former, however, is not tied to what S:reu Tzaracomprada believes, or what he says, but the things he has done. It is his actions that have earned him his current status as a pariah, not his views.

The issue comes back around to what the URL has repeatedly identified as the Progressive Alliance's flaw: an inability -- or a refusal -- to separate the personal from the political. This is an important skill to cultivate in politics, and it would be in the interest of the country if more parties were capable of doing so. Criticism of one's actions and views are taken as criticism of character, and this has led to the sort of political atmosphere that is now unfortunately common in Talossa.

This may surprise some, but we feel it would actually be a good thing for Talossa in the long run if S:reu Tzaracomprada were able to rehabilitate his public image. But the first step must come from him -- a genuine apology to his victim. Perhaps a period of "laying low", so to speak, following his apology. Letting time heal wounds. Unfortunately, the usual responses in times like these are blatantly passive-aggressive in tone, complete with smiley emoticons to really drive home that he does not care to redeem himself. Doubling down, as he does, gives us little confidence in his prospects. Continuing to shun him until he considers his actions would be significantly more effective when it extends to government action. Unfortunately, this Government seems content to give him what he wants anyway. The URL recognizes that doing so minimizes the discomfort he has caused his victim, sweeping everything under the rug for the sake of false positivity yet again.