Regarding S:r Autófil's observation, it is completely fair to point out that in the past term the Green Party would have outranked the Progressive Alliance among the Opposition in three VoCs out of six; however, that should not be taken as binding precedent, as there really is no grey area or empty space in the law as written.

Had the error been pointed out then, I would have ruled the same way, while instead, S:r Sant-Enogat was marked as LOTO from the get-go based on the election results, and I never noticed S:r Tzaracomprada should have taken over during the Second and Fifth Clark based on the results of the First and Fourth Clark VoCs respectively.

I would say I'll pay more attention in the future, but I imagine the law will be changed anwyay.

I have marked S:r Tzaracomprada as LOTO on the Database, since by the letter of the law the Opposition is presently comprised of 28 Green seats and Sir MPF.

For the purposes of holding an early vote to select a different LOTO, the law says that the Opposition is also formed by MCs who "intend to [vote NON] on the next Vote of Confidence". I am ruling that means they must cast a NON vote either on the Database or on Wittenberg, but that it is not necessary to wait for the vote to close for them to be considered as members of the Opposition, as long as they do not change their VoC vote later.

Therefore, it would be enough for URL MCs holding 29 seats to vote NON on this month's VoC *now*, and that would make them eligible to select a different LOTO by holding a public vote on this board. That selection would be recognised immediately.

Those darned unintended consequences...

Quote from: Mic'haglh Autófil, O.Be on Yesterday at 11:43:54 PMFrom my understanding, the precedent -- exemplified as recently as last term when Baron Davinescu consistently voted against confidence, while other members of his party would sometimes vote in favor -- was that because at least one part of the Progressive Alliance was part of the Opposition, they were the largest Opposition party, and therefore as their leader, S:reu Sant-Enogat was LOTO.

As Sir Marti-Pair voted Non on the last Clark, under the precedent, the URL qualifies as "the Opposition" for the moment still.

That being said, as someone who has authored legislation intended to make approximately the same change, I think it should be clear I think the current definition is bonkers, so yes, we should make a change.

As the current Opposition Leader under the current definition, as stated in actual law not precedent, I reiterate my support for changes that clarify the definition.

Taking time out of my vacation to post this weeks results. Good morning from sunny Cancun!

Banqeu da Cézembre Zambonis def. Manager-less Team 1 543.00-341.50
Tigreux dal Belacostă def. Els Talossaes Rexhitais 474.10-462.20
Cézembrean Amateurs on Ice def. Cjovani Squilats 441.00-355.70
Maritiimi-Maxhestic Mençeis def. Maricopa Havana Hijinks 355.90-324.00
Vuode Villains def. Gordon Hiatus Support Team 464.00-401.20

Here are the standings after week 18

1. Tigreux dal Belacostă (13-4-0) 5,678.80
2. Vuode Villains (11-6-0) 5,640.60
3. Els Talossaes Rexhitais (10-7-0) 5,138.40
4. Banqeu da Cézembre Zambonis (9-8-0) 5,177.90
5. Manager-less Team 1 (9-8-0) 4,802.50
6. Cjovani Squilats (8-9-0) 4,863.50
7. Maricopa Havana Hijinks (8-9-0) 4,433.50
8. Maritiimi-Maxhestic Mençeis (7-10-0) 4,259.20
9. Gordon Hiatus Support Team (5-12-0) 4,679.80
10. Cézembrean Amateurs on Ice (5-12-0) 4,244.30

Finally here is the week 19 schedule

Els Talossaes Rexhitais v. Manager-less Team 1
Cézembrean Amateurs on Ice v. Maritiimi-Maxhestic Mençeis
Tigreux dal Belacostă v. Gordon Hiatus Support Team
Maricopa Havana Hijinks v. Banqeu da Cézembre Zambonis
Vuode Villains v. Cjovani Squilats

Good luck this week everyone, I am going to get some breakfast and then start drinking!

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)

From my understanding, the precedent -- exemplified as recently as last term when Baron Davinescu consistently voted against confidence, while other members of his party would sometimes vote in favor -- was that because at least one part of the Progressive Alliance was part of the Opposition, they were the largest Opposition party, and therefore as their leader, S:reu Sant-Enogat was LOTO.

As Sir Marti-Pair voted Non on the last Clark, under the precedent, the URL qualifies as "the Opposition" for the moment still.

That being said, as someone who has authored legislation intended to make approximately the same change, I think it should be clear I think the current definition is bonkers, so yes, we should make a change.

Quote from: Marcel Eðo Pairescu Tafial, UrGP on Yesterday at 09:15:02 PMIt's not in my position to interpret the law, but in my unqualified layman's opinion that seems to be the case.

Personally I believe it would be more reasonable to define the Opposition as whoever has not voted ÜC or does not intend to vote ÜC on the VoC instead (i.e. everyone who isn't explicitly part of the Government; this would match my intuitive understanding of what "opposition" means in parliamentary contexts). Perhaps something that this Cosă should look into.

Sincere respect for this response, Marcel. I agree there needs to be some reworking of that definition.

In the meantime, the Greens will do our best as HM Loyal Opposition.

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN-GC on Yesterday at 03:18:50 PMthe US strike actually killed former President Ahmedinejad

Ha ha, apparently he's all like "Teu vivat, garça"