The record of Miestra Schiva, Free Democrats candidate for Seneschál, as Distáin, Attorney-General and Interior Minister in the 56th Cosa:

• applied for and successfully received membership in the Talossan Bar;
• increased the powers of the Legislative Review Committee, to improve the quality of Talossan legislation;
• successfully replaced Wisconsin law in Talossan statues with an indigenous improvement;
• proposed several Organic Law amendments which received serious cross-party support;
• revived the monthly Government newsletter La C'hronica, emailed to all citizens.;
• initiated a New Citizen's Information packet;
• revived the dormant ID cards programme, solicited an excellent new design, and began work on a Civics Quiz;
• restarted the TalossAssistant programme;
• and most importantly, when Seneschal Davinescu was unable to perform his duties, Miestra took up the slack, and fronted up to the people of Talossa taking responsibility (something which our political opponents seem to think is a bad and shameful thing, to gloat about in nasty emails)

The record of Breneir Tzaracomprada, TNC candidate for Seneschál, as leader of the main Opposition party in the 56th Cosa:

I'm calling you out, Mr Senator from Florencia and Talossan National Congress leader. A debate between candidates for Seneschal.. Prove your mettle.

As the challenged party, it's your call as to format and moderator. Best to do it before people start voting, though.

Clock's ticking, va amic. "If you want to be the champ, you've got to whup the champ" - Muhammad Ali

Under El Lexhátx C.1.1, as Deputy Minister of STUFF acting with the consent of the Seneschál, I recommend to the King that @Eovart Grischün be appointed to the following role:

Permanent Secretary to the Minister of Stuff for Webmonkey Business and NUMB-Skullery

FURTHERMORE, I notify the Crown and the Nation that the following terms of contract have been agreed between the Ministry of Stuff and the recommended Permanent Secretary:

(i) The Permanent Secretary to the Minister of Stuff for Webmonkey Business and NUMB-Skullery shall be responsible to the Ministry of STUFF and shall be head of The National Upkeep and Maintenance Bureau (NUMB).

(ii) The Permanent Secretary to the Minister of Stuff for Webmonkey Business and NUMB-Skullery shall be responsible for keeping the Kingdom's web presences up to date and performing general maintenance on same; including performing system backups when required, assisting in troubleshooting of system errors and any other tasks required by the Ministry of Stuff in relation to the ongoing upkeep of the Kingdom's web infrastructure.

(iii) The Permanent Secretary to the Minister of Stuff for Webmonkey Business and NUMB-Skullery shall be responsible for maintaining at all times the passwords to the National Webspace and to the national social media accounts, and granting/removing access to these websites and accounts for the Seneschal, the Minister of Stuff, and such other responsible officials as may be named by the Government, as and when necessary.

La C'hronica Fevráglh XLIII / February 2022

PARTIES GEAR UP FOR COSA ELECTION
Existing parties the Free Democrats of Talossa and the Talossan National Congress have officially registered for the 57th Cosa election in March, alongside new entry the Partì da Reformaziun and the revival of a party last seen in 2003, the Raßemblamaintsch dels Citaxhiens Talossáes https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=1111.0

ZIU UPDATE:
The February Clark passed an amendment to the Organic Law to allow seats in the Cosa to be given to new citizens who immigrate between elections (http://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=1074.0) and a bill re-organising the Cabinet Ministries (http://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=1095.0)

WELCOME BACK MY FRIENDS TO THE SHOW THAT NEVER ENDS
Former Seneschál Miestra Schiva announced that she would be standing again for her old job at the head of the Free Democrats Cosa list: https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=1137.0

FLURRY OF ACTIVITY
Senator for Florencia and TNC leader Breneir Tzaracomprada went on something of a flurry of activity this month, initiating a Talossan Book of Cuisine (https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=1133.0), a campaign for regular pledges to the Talossan treasury (https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=1147.0), a potential visit to the Greater Talossan Area itself (https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=1125.0) and a new, "what's happening in Talossa list" (https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=1142.msg9391#msg9391).

INFORMATION AND ID CARDS
Cabinet has approved a final text and design for the New Citizens' Information Packet, to be distributed to all new immigrants (https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=1082.msg9106#msg9106).
Cabinet has also approved a scheme whereby physical ID cards will be mailed out to all citizens (new or established) who can pass a 20-question Civics Test on Talossan history and culture (https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=1110.0)

IMMIGRATION NEWS
Mic'haglh Autófil became a Talossan citizen (https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=1102.0), celebrating in the traditional manner by starting his own political party.

Applications arrived for Talossan citizenship from Mark Salego, Asad Ashiq, Riccell Piovischini, Pablo Muller, Anna Tkachenko, Jodie Orr, Tomasz Mazurek, Johnnie Ortiz and Caleb Ashworth. (https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?board=2.0)

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La C'hronica is the monthly news summary provided by the Ministry of Stuff, for the enlightenment and interest of Talossan citizens and all other interested parties.

Doesn't mention Talossa, but is still a fun read. Check out those cosplayers at MicroCon. Should we be involved in that?

Esteemed members of the General Assembly of the Free Province of Fiova:

According to the Constitution of our Province, elections for a three-person Praisidïeu (standing committee of the General Assembly) will be held at the same time as every Cosa election. That is, if I understand the national electoral calendar correctly, this election will run from March 15 to April 1 this year, i.e. starting in just over a month.

Under the Elections and Referendums Law, Title I Section 3, as Secretary of State I am required to submit to the General Assembly the rules by which I will carry out this election.

Therefore, I hereby declare that the rules for the upcoming election of the Praisidïeu will be as follows:

1. Nominations for the Praisidïeu (Title III Sections 1-2) will open on March 1 this year and will close 1 week after that, on March 8.

Under Title III Section 2.1, such a nomination includes the candidate's full name; their party affiliation (if any); and a statement, no longer than fifty words, of the candidate's aims and objectives (optional).

Please make these nominations in this thread, or by personal communication with myself.

2. The period between close of nominations and start of voting (Title III Section 4) will therefore be one week, as determined by the Chancery's timetable for the national elections.

3. the actual process of voting and the production of the "ballot paper" (Title II Section 2) will be delegated to the National Chancery, whom I have asked to use the same voting mechanism as used for Senäts elections. This will allow "write-in" candidates (Title III, Section 5.3.1): the voters may give any citizen, not just the officially nominated candidates, a preference.

4. Once the Chancery reports all the votes, I will count them using the OpaVote website using "ERS97 STV" rules. I certify that this will provide a result as close as makes no difference to that set out in our law. (Title V, Section 12).

Questions? Comments?

Estimadas es amadas cüncitaxhiens:

Against my own preferences, but rising to face necessity, I am presenting myself as the Free Democrats' candidate for Seneschal in the 57th Cosa election. "Just when I thought I was semi-retired in a hole, they pull me back in again."

The reason I gave up the presidency of the party, and stepped aside from the job of leading the Government, over the last calendar year was a feeling that I had reached a dead end.

The decades-long struggle to reform Talossa's Organic Law to decrease the unilateral, unaccountable power of the monarchy – and its seemingly inevitable effect of encouraging every King of Talossa in lazy, self-righteous defence of power for power's sake – had been mostly effective, but had bogged down at the very last hurdle of basic democratic accountability. Political struggle against a group of people who are convinced not only of their right to set the agenda for the nation regardless of lack of mandate, but of their right to be taken seriously, takes a lot out of you, and you have to question at what point you say "enough".

I also had to have the humility to admit that I had no answers to the most fundamental question facing Talossa – where are new citizens going to come from? Because Talossa's leadership – on both sides of the Cosa – is old, tired, and burned out. I mean old in "Talossa years", which are something like "dog years", in that you get tired at an accelerated rate. Much the same people are running the institutions and having the debates as they were at the time of Reunision. This is not healthy.

The most articulate monarchists, of course, have an argument that it's precisely the smug pomposity of monarchist Talossa that attracts new citizens, and things like democracy, equality, making the "top jobs" open to all, are no fun and ruin the essence of Talossanity. But that can't be true. Can it? If it is, I've wasted 25 years.

This speech is difficult for me because I have to be honest about the consequences of my decisions. I have to admit that the Government of the 56th Cosa has mostly been a failure.

Part of this was its inexplicable sabotage at the beginning by one of the three initial Coalition parties – who, after campaigning in the election on the basis of supporting the "Monarchist-Republican Compromise" – turned tail, broke for Opposition, and subsequently loudly opposed the compromise. And they never gave any explanation why, apart from insults. The fact that this party now provides a home for veterans of the RUMP gives a hint as to what might be going on, though.

I know that the study of Talossan history is not fashionable at the moment, but even King Robert I knew why the Kuenn/Rosalez faction, known as "Davron", were such bad news. Unprincipled politicking and backstabbing in the search for power alone is even worse than KR1's tyranny, which at least had a vision of Talossa behind it. This might sound like picking a fight. But I'm always stunned at people who defend their right to behave as they want, to break commitments, and not only suffer no consequences, but for it never be mentioned again. What goes round must come round.

But that could have been surmounted, if the Free Democrat and LCC Ministers had subsequently pulled together and did their job. But mostly, we didn't.

I have to be honest here. The performance of my successor as Seneschál, Txoteu Davinescu, has not been satisfactory. Up until this point, my personal friendship with Txoteu and the requirements of Cabinet solidarity and party loyalty have led me, publicly, to avoid this particular elephant in the room. But the Talossan people are not fooled. You all know what's going on. Some of you have even noticed the point where the old Distáin had to step up and publicly take up the slack.

I have been honest with the Seneschal about this behind closed doors. Txoteu has had a string of difficult things to deal with in his extra-Talossan life that have taken attention away from his duties in leading the Government. I bear him only the best of will and I hope to see him representing the Free Democrats in the next Cosa. But to pretend there was no problem with the 56th Cosa government would be rightfully scorned by the Talossan public. It also would also make my decision to resume the leadership inexplicable.

Of course, it wasn't all the Seneschal's fault. At least one Cabinet Minister has done precisely nothing in his role in this term, and we couldn't fire him because there hasn't been an obvious replacement. But "the fish rots from the head", as they say. Culture is set from the top down. A Seneschal has to lead.

My main qualification - perhaps the only one - for the top job is that I do what I say I'm going to do, regardless of personal convenience. The 56th Cosa cabinet had six policy portfolios with targets to be achieved. I ended up doing two of those – Justice and Interior – all on my own, and hitting virtually every goal for achievement we set. But I did this at the cost of burning myself out, personally.

What all this has shown is that running the Talossan government is a lot of hard work. But it has also shown me that our Organic and statute laws make this much harder work than it has to be. Contrary to the opinions of certain of my Cosa colleagues, "overly formal and pompous rules" are not a good thing. They are part of the reason Talossa grinds to a halt. There is too much that the laws say have to be done, and not enough people to do it.

I mean, the Electoral Commission, to start with. Why do we have to go through that rigmarole every time? I'll tell you why – because when the secret ballot was first brought in, the RUMP party (fearing electoral disadvantage) professed anxiety about how easy it would be for a secret ballot to be rigged by the Chancery. And things are MUCH harder to abolish than they are to establish in Talossa. So: this vestigial body has to be appointed every time to do nothing.

There is a temptation for the party in power to run on its record. "Re-elect us because we're the only ones who know how things work". That's how the RUMP party stayed in office. The Free Democrats are not going to do that. We couldn't claim, on the evidence of the last term at least, that we're superior in activity or administrative 'chops' than a putative opposition. (I might note here the good record of the Balançéu party's leadership in the Cézembre provincial government. That's what the provinces are there for.)

So the two central platforms of the Free Democrats in this 57th Cosa election are:

1)   Enact the Monarchist-Republican Compromise, finally. We're serious this time. We will need a 2/3 Cosa majority – along with whatever other parties decide to support us – to finally bring Senator Plätschisch's much watered-down "Compromise on the Compromise" bill to a public referendum. This is the last step in the drawn-out process of removing the old, corrupt, RUMP-system in Talossa. There is a layer of people in Talossa who have no political mandate, and yet are given power by the King precisely because they protect his right to unaccountable exercise of power. The King himself has stated this openly. How anyone cannot see that this is the definition of corruption is beyond me. While this bill is not how I would choose to solve the problem – a "legislative decapitation" would be more to my liking – this is the last throw of the dice before a large segment of Talossans understand that it is impossible to put John I under any accountability under the OrgLaw, and draw the appropriate conclusions.

2)   Cut red-and-green tape. There is just too much law. There are too many Government offices who cannot be filled. We'll repeal all of it that we possibly can. We'll merge provinces where-ever we can. If we could, we'll downsize the Talossan state to the point that three or four people can comprise a full Cabinet, and do everything to keep our ImagiNation running smoothly.

I have to conclude with a solemn promise. If Talossa is not fundamentally different by the end of this term – if our programme has not succeeded in a buzzing country where new citizens become active with enthusiasm, where many more people are keen to take positions of responsibility, where the political leadership is actively competed over rather than being a "booby prize" – then this will be my last venture into national politics. If Talossa is not significantly better, if it has not become a fun pastime for me rather than an annoying and infuriating chore, I will retire from active political leadership at the end of the coming term, and scale my Talossanity back drastically, perhaps only to language nerdery and writing, perhaps to zero. This would require the current opposition to get a Government together and run stuff, which might be funny to watch, from a distance.

But I have promised at least one more term to my Free Democrat colleagues. Because I still believe in the possibilities of what Talossa might be. I still refuse to believe that Talossa is better and more fun when run by a self-declared aristocracy. I believe in the principles for which I fought in 2012, 2004 and 1997. Even if I am burned out before the end of the year, those principles must be fought for to the last drop of my will to be Talossan.

Vote Free Democrat. That is all.

I am pleased to announce the Cabinet decision on distribution of physical ID cards to citizens.

The plan is that the Government will pay for physical ID cards - based upon the design of cxhn D. Txechescu - which will be mailed out to citizens upon their successful completion of a Civics Test showing their knowledge of Talossan history, government and culture.

The format of this test is envisaged to be a 20-question, multiple choice test, for which the answers will all be found in articles linked from the front page of talossawiki.com. Probably it'll be best to have about 50 questions in total and randomly choose between them for the test, to prevent simple copy-pasting.

Questions? Comments?

La C'hronica Január XLIII / January 2022

La C'hronica is the monthly news summary provided by the Ministry of Stuff, for the enlightenment and interest of Talossan citizens and all other interested parties.

KING'S INDEPENDENCE DAY SPEECH: https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=1071.0

ZIU UPDATE:
There were no bills on the November Clark.
The December Clark passed the "Compromise on the Compromise" bill, with the necessary 2/3 of the Cosa, which would require the King of Talossa to be chosen by a National Convocation every 7 years. This bill was vetoed by King John. https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=848.0
The January Clark passed two small Organic Law amendments, removing the Seneschál's right to "fast-track" bills onto the Clark, and making the Túischac'h (Speaker of the Cosa) a position enshrined in the Organic Law. https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=1061.msg8762#msg8762
Bills currently under discussion in the Hopper would allow the Secretary of State to give seats in the Cosa to new citizens between elections (https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=1095.0); and abolish the Interior Ministry, splitting its duties between Culture, STUFF and a revived Immigration Ministry. (https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=1095.0)

FREE DEMOCRATS ELECT NEW LEADERSHIP
Talossa's ruling party the Free Democrats had their annual convention in December. Secretary of State Txec dal Nordselva was elected Party President, replacing Seneschál Txoteu Davinescù. Read the full convention proceedings at https://freedems.proboards.com/thread/124/free-democrats-convention-december-thread?page=2&scrollTo=820

GOVERNMENT CHANGES THE GUARD
Seneschál Txoteu Davinescu announced a Cabinet reshuffle https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=1078

OTHER MOVEMENTS
Baron Alexandreu Davinescu becomes Clerk of Courts: https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=1072.0
Distáin Miestra Schiva is confirmed to the Bar by the Uppermost Cort: https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=976.0

CÉZEMBRE HOMESTEADING
The government of Talossa's island province continues its campaign of land grants: https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=1073.0

IMMIGRATION NEWS
Applications arrived for Talossan citizenship from Ivan Viieru, Abid Masih, Pavel Solovev, Mic'haglh Autófil, Agyat Jeevan, and Teemu Vanhanen. (https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?board=2.0)
The TalossAssistant programme was officially revived (https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=979.0) while the Interior Ministry began public consultation on what should go into a New Citizen's Information Packet (https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=1082.0).

Quote from: Mic'haglh Autófil on January 17, 2022, 04:31:28 PM
I would be happy to help with designing the next generation of TalossaWare, if it's not stepping on anyone's toes at least

That's great! TalossaWare comes under the Ministry of STUFF. If you have any initial proposals, you can post them here or DM me and I'll put them before Cabinet.

It has been my opinion since ages ago that new Talossan citizens no longer know exactly how to "be Talossan" when they immigrate. When I became Talossan way back when, you actually had to buy at least one hard-copy book on Talossan history and culture (written by KRI and full of lies, but with basic facts in there as well) and pass a test on it to make sure you knew what you were doing.

So I would like to open this question for public input. What should be in a Packet given to all new immigrants explaining in as basic terms as possible how Talossa works and how they can contribute?

I would especially like input from @Tric'hard Lenxheir, who I believe was the last person to actually become a citizen. But older citizens might want to think back in time about how they were helped to become Talossan.

So the Premier of Maricopa has mentioned that he supports the concept of provincial re-organisation, and is interested in opening talks with Fiova on the issue.

Hopefully this won't blow people's brains out as badly as the F-F merger proposal (esp. since the two partners are territorially contiguous this time, I think). Anyone got any suggestions? Or want to join me on an official negotiation team?

On the one hand: the old system whereby political parties could give seats to whoever they wanted enabled corruption and meant no democratic accountability of who got in the Cosa.

On the other hand: it allowed new citizens to get involved in national legislation right away, should they want to.

POSSIBLE COMPROMISE: reserve a certain amount of seats in the Cosa (7.5% of the Cosa, 15 out of the current 200? or in addition to the current 200?) for the Secretary of State (not the parties) to allocate to people who immigrated since the last election, maximum of 1.5% of the Cosa per person. This is not dissimilar to how other countries have reserved seats which are nominated (not elected) to bring minority or marginalised groups into the legislature. So random newbie turns up, SoS says "here are your 3 seats". If we run out of seats because more than 5 newbies show up, the SoS can redistribute the allocations. I doubt we'd get more than 15 per term.

This would allow newbies to get involved right away without having to pledge allegiance to one or another political party right off the bat. It would mean influence over legislation, and possibly over VoCs, but not disproportionately so (perhaps the allocated seats wouldn't get to vote on the VoC?) However it would need an OrgLaw amendment to IV.1 and IV.2.

Comments?

Going away with the family for Christmas, should be back on or around Independence Day. I'm reachable on Facebook or via email in case of emergency. There'd better still be a country when I come back.

The Organic Law Small Amendment #1 (Cosa Seats) Act

WHEREAS it is good for there to be some kind of flexibility in the size of the Cosa, within limits:

BE IT ENACTED by the King, Senäts and Cosa of Talossan in Ziu assembled that the Organic Law IV.1 be amended by the addition of the following underlined text:

QuoteThe Cosa is the national legislative assembly, and is composed of 200 seats apportioned among political parties based on their performance in the General Election. It may administer itself as it sees fit. The number of seats in the Cosa may be changed by law, with the provisos that any such change will not take effect until the next general election of the Cosa; and that the number of seats in the Cosa may never be less than twice the number of Senators minus one.

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The Organic Law Small Amendment #2 (Seneschál's Rights in the Hopper) Act

WHEREAS when the Comità da Redacziun Legislatïu was set up, there were complaints that the combination of the new system with Organic Law VII.6 gave the Government too much power to bypass the system with its bills, compared to those of private MZs:

BE IT ENACTED by the King, Senäts and Cosa of Talossan in Ziu assembled that Organic Law VII.6:

QuoteThe Seneschál shall have the right at his discretion to withdraw any legislative proposal from the Hopper and instruct the Secretary of State to treat it as a properly submitted bill.

is hereby deleted entirely.

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The Organic Law Small Amendment #3 (Dignity of the Túischac'h) Act

WHEREAS the Chair of the Senäts, the Mençéi, is an Organic position, but the Chair of the Cosa, the Túischac'h is not;

and WHEREAS there appears to be no good reason for this;

BE IT ENACTED by the King, Senäts and Cosa of Talossan in Ziu assembled that a new section of the Organic Law, to be numbered IV.12, read as follows:

QuoteThe Cosa shall elect one of its members to serve as Speaker of the Cosa (Talossan: el Túischac'h) for the upcoming term. The Speaker shall preside, direct and maintain order during Living Cosas and in the Hopper, in an unbiased fashion. Otherwise, his function will be to advise Members of the Cosa of appropriate decorum. He is considered the honourable President of the Cosâ and shall be awarded all due veneration when serving as such. In the absence of the Túischac'h from the Hopper, the Mençéi shall perform these duties.

and that El Lexhatx H.21, which has this identical text, is hereby deleted entirely.

The Free Democrats, Talossa's currently dominant political party, have elected Secretary of State @Txec dal Nordselva as Party President at their currently ongoing convention. Miestra Schiva was re-elected Party Secretary and Gödafrïeu Valcádac'h was elected chair of the party in Fiova Province.

This new party leadership will be in charge of choosing the Free Democrat list of candidates at the next election, including the question of whom the Free Democrats will suggest as the next Seneschál, subject to approval from the party membership in secret ballot.

The Convention is currently concluding with an open debate on the current Talossan crisis of activity/immigration, led off by the new Party President. Non-members of the Party are welcome to observe, and to contact the Party Secretary if they wish to make a guest speech.

Part of the Government's plan for the Justice portfolio in this Cosa has been to revitalise the Talossan Bar. I determined that the most efficient way to do this was to apply for the Bar myself.

The CpI set me a written examination, which I completed on the 28th of August this year. In response to a Terpelaziun in the Cosa in October, I had to report that I had had absolutely no formal response from the Cort to this examination. This situation has not changed, almost two months later.

My sources within the hallowed halls of Talossan justice have led me to believe that the answer for this is that three out of the existing four CpI Judges have not made any response to my examination (as opposed to the 2 which I had previously reported). The remaining Judge is of course not authorised to give any formal response on their own.

This, not to put too fine a point on it, stinks. Sure, Talossa is in a bit of a soporific patch at the moment. But the job of CpI Judge in Talossa is very, very low-workload as it stands.

This is my formal announcement of the fact that I intend to communicate personally with each of the absent CpI Judges to ask whether they still have any interest in being on the Cort. If not, I will happily accept their resignation on behalf of the Government. If so, I will ask them to give me an immediate date by which my application for Bar membership will be considered. If a satisfactory response is not forthcoming, from one or more Judges, it will be my sad duty as Avocat-Xheneral, to use the provisions of Organic Law VIII.8 and El Lexhatx G.11.1 et seq. to ask the Ziu to compel these Judges to retirement by means of a Notice of Reprimand.

Questions? Comments?

¡Feliceu aniversar ad ár Seneschal amat, @Txoteu Davinescu!

!Qe la moart ischà imbraif à sieux enemici!

The Free Democrats of Talossa, the leading political party of Talossa, are holding their annual decision-making and leadership election convention starting December 1, and recruitment is now open.

The convention will elect a new President and Secretary, and discuss any amendments to the Party Platform or Constitution.

All Talossans who agree with the central principle of the FreeDems - liberty and democracy for Talossa's citizens and provinces - are invited to join the Free Democrats and claim their right to vote, raise motions and stand for election at this convention. Just let me know.

https://youtu.be/8Yzv0UgstZE