Carlüs per El Senäts LIX!

[Carlüs Éovart Vilaçafat]

I would like to take this time to announce my run for Senator for Maricopa, the hottest spot north of Havana!
Despite being relatively new and still feeling my way around the laws and politics of the realm, I hope that what I lack in knowledge, I make up for with vigor!
I am an active member of the Kingdom and wish to advance fun and engagement, not just overall but specifically in our province, which is, let's face it, the best one! Hopefully this fact has been evident in my representation of Maricopa across the Talossan Sporting World! (with varied success)
I am a member of the TNC, but I'm not interested in political games. I prefer to simply be earnest and honest because open communication is more important than "toeing the party line".
With all of that being said, if I am elected Senator I pledge to always put the good of Maricopa above all else, and to always be open to the input, discussion, and guidance of my fellow Maricopans.

- Carlüs Éovart Vilaçafat O.SPM (U.PSM)

[Miestră Schivă, UrN]

Couple of simple questions.

1) If elected, will you vote for a bill to amend the OrgLaw to allow the King to choose his own successor?

2) If elected, will you vote for a bill to impose a Government-appointed Deputy on the Secretary of State?

[Carlüs Éovart Vilaçafat]

Sure!

1. I personally think that allowing the King to have a choice in his successor, even if it is a part of a larger process with vetoes, etc., shows Him at least a modicum of the respect He is entitled to by His station. However I am always open to be convinced otherwise.

2. I suppose I would need to know what the hypothetical bill specifically requires. A Government-appointed Deputy (GaD) would, I assume, be under the jurisdiction of the SoS, meaning that his duties (or lack thereof) would be assigned by the SoS. If the SoS was concerned about the GaD being dishonest in some way, then I would go on to assume the GaD would simply not be utilized, making the existence of the position moot. I'm not sure exactly what the utility would be of having a GaD, and considering it's hard enough to fill the positions we do have, I don't think it makes sense to add more that will eventually become defunct for lack of bodies.
I guess this was a long way of saying: it depends, but probably not.

[Miestră Schivă, UrN]

As to answer 2, I'm kind of surprised that you don't seem to know what I'm talking about. The TNC has brought a law of that sort before the Ziu in the two previous Cosas, as 57RZ20 and 58RZ12. If your party tries again, will you support this?

As to answer 1, Ián Lupul ár regeu may well be deserving of respect, but he is not the Lord God Almighty and it is kind of creepy to capitalise his pronouns. This is the kind of thing about Talossan monarchism which sets people's teeth on edge.

[Carlüs Éovart Vilaçafat]

As to answer 1, Ián Lupul ár regeu may well be deserving of respect, but he is not the Lord God Almighty and it is kind of creepy to capitalise his pronouns. This is the kind of thing about Talossan monarchism which sets people's teeth on edge.

We are in agreement that His Majesty is not the Lord God Almighty. It was a stylistic choice because I assumed this was standard practice when referring to a monarch. However, after some research I see pronouns are only capitalized when coupled with appropriate honorifics such as "His Majesty" and I thank you for bringing that to my attention. Having been born and raised in the U.S.A., I admit that I'm an ignorant Yank with only a dim understanding of such minutia.

As to answer 2, I'm kind of surprised that you don't seem to know what I'm talking about. The TNC has brought a law of that sort before the Ziu in the two previous Cosas, as 57RZ20 and 58RZ12. If your party tries again, will you support this?

I do remember 58RZ12 The SoS Succession Reform Act, but I didn't realize this was what you were referring to. 58RZ12 states that "The Deputy Secretary of State shall be appointed under the same procedure as the Secretary of State [...]"
So if you would consider a Deputy SoS to be a "Government Appointed Deputy" why wouldn't you consider the Secretary of State to also be "Government Appointed", and with more power!? That's why I don't see the problem with appointing a successor, in the exact same way, that can step in if the SoS is unable to perform their duties.

58RZ12 was voted down, so obviously there are other opinions. Perhaps I'm missing something that others see, and if so, I would be glad to hear it!

[Miestră Schivă, UrN]

Yes. The whole point is that no other branch of the Royal Civil Service operates like that. Every other branch of the Royal Civil Service, the head of the branch is appointed by the Government in accordance with law - but internally they are independent, i.e. the head of the branch can make their own decisions as to who their staff will be.

The problem with these laws - promoted twice by your own party - and as Free Democrats said at the time, is the interference by the elected Government with how the Chancery operates. An independent Civil Service, operating according to law without day-to-day interference by the elected Government, is a basic safeguard for civil liberties, separation of powers, and rule of law.

Worse still is the connection to the campaign waged by the outgoing Seneschal and other TNC leaders against the incumbent Secretary of State, regularly and without foundation accusing of him of incompetence and political bias. The goal was clearly for a pro-Government TNC appointee as Deputy to be able to extend that campaign inside the Chancery, with the goal of either "catching out" the SoS in some wicked deed, or eventually harassing him into resigning and allowing the Government-appointed Deputy to take over.

In summary, these acts were a repeated attack by the TNC on an important and respected Civil Service leader whom they wanted to undermine, which would damage the rule of law and separation of powers if successful - and they one of the main reasons I've come out of semi-retirement to lead an active campaign in this election, because these things are worth fighting for. What I want to know is whether you will support the TNC continuing those attacks in the next term.

Also, I've often noticed that some of the more, shall we say, gushing concepts of monarchy come from US Americans, who've never actually had to live with an unelected hereditary head of state :D

[Baron Alexandreu Davinescu]

The proposed bill would have had the Ziu appoint a deputy to the Secretary of State in the same way that the Secretary of State himself is appointed, after first consulting and getting their advice.  All the rest of this is a ludicrous fever-dream.  It barely makes sense, even if you believe the fabrication.  Txec is doing a great job, especially under such difficult personal circumstances as he's endured.

This is all I'll say here, since frankly the Maricopan senate race should really be left to Maricopans.  I do think, though, that it might be better for everyone if the FreeDems campaigned on a positive message about their ideas for the country.

[Miestră Schivă, UrN]

Well, Carlüs will be facing a Free Democrat opponent in this election, and our new platform has two bare minimums - one of which is to oppose any 3rd attempt to push this through. So even though I'm not Maricopan, I think it's relevant.

Oh, and thank you for getting my party's name right - a little politeness in among the vitrol does not go unnoticed.

[Carlüs Éovart Vilaçafat]

I think it is disingenuous to characterize the promotion of a bill to allow for a backup SoS to be appointed in the same way as the SoS but with the SoS's input, as an "attack".

This is the kind of polarizing political rhetoric that I don't care for. No matter who proposes it, either you think it's a good idea or you don't. If you don't, that's great and that's something we can discuss and maybe even find a compromise. But to be against it for seemingly no other reason than it was proposed by a different political party or someone you don't care for is a logical fallacy.

In this particular instance, I don't see how this bill would confer any extra power to the government considering that the SoS can already be appointed at the will of the government.
Like you say, this is the only branch of the Royal Civil Service which acts this way, making it sound as though your problem is not with this bill but actually with how the SoS is appointed. Which again, is something we can talk about.


As far as the rest of your response about some kind of campaign against and bad mouthing of the current SoS, I can't speak for the TNC as a whole, but as a member of the current government I am privy to the conversations amongst the cabinet and I have never heard anything negative about the current SoS and my own personal interactions with him have always been respectful and understanding. He has one of the biggest jobs in the nation and I echo the Baron's sentiment that he's doing great and is clearly dedicated to the Kingdom.

[Miestră Schivă, UrN]

Unlike some other Talossans, I don't seem to keep a screenshot of everything annoying my political adversaries say 10 years back, so I don't have a list to hand of all the times that the outgoing Seneschal and Distáin did cast aspersions on the SoS's competence and non-partisanship. But they hopefully haven't gone down the memory hole altogether, so I'll be hopefully present them later.

So I'll just put it to you: why was this apparently anodyne "reform" so important that the TNC had to present it to two successive Cosas? And are you saying you'll support it being presented a 3rd time, yes or no?

[Sir Txec dal Nordselvă, UrB]

There were a few times in recent memory when I was treated unfairly, particularly in regards to my non-partisanship while performing my role as SoS. Some of it can be chalked up to political rivalry. However, I have always strived to be as fair as possible when fulfilling my duties but there have been numerous times it felt like there was a personal or political vendetta. When I was FreeDems leader it was particularly rough and I believe unwarranted because I always performed publicly as apolitical as possible. I was even sued by my own party member over something our Seneschal did that I had no part in. I didn't throw the TNC leader under the bus, but stood shoulder to shoulder with him. I kept doing my job regardless and hired a TNC legal advisor because he was the best person for the job. I may have political views but I'm loyal to the kingdom. The king wouldn't have appointed me to his privy council otherwise.

Let's focus on stuff that is truly important, like the issue of succession to the crown. I hope that a possible senator Villacafat can do that.

[Carlüs Éovart Vilaçafat]

Unlike some other Talossans, I don't seem to keep a screenshot of everything annoying my political adversaries say 10 years back

I would certainly hope not! 10 years is a long time for someone to change their opinions and even regret things they may have thought and/or expressed at the time. I know there are things that I have thought less than 10 years ago that I'm embarrassed about. (like proper pronoun capitalization :-D)

So I'll just put it to you: why was this apparently anodyne "reform" so important that the TNC had to present it to two successive Cosas? And are you saying you'll support it being presented a 3rd time, yes or no?

I can only speculate about why this particular bill was important for Breneir, but I imagine it was because he thought it was a good idea and would be beneficial to the country.

Would I support it being presented a second time? In short, no. It has already been voted down twice, and clearly there is a lot of opposition to this specific idea, so I think there is a lot of discussion that needs to be had on the pros and cons, and if we can work together on a compromise or maybe an even better solution.


Thank you @Sir Txec dal Nordselvă, UrB for your perspective on this matter, it helps keep us from speculating too much, or talking like "you're not in the room". I know there is quite a bit of history that I don't know about and didn't experience, but it's never too late for a brighter tomorrow!

I agree, I think this horse is well and beat, but I'm open to discuss further for clarity.

[Miestră Schivă, UrN]

Thank you, Carlüs, for this generous and reasoned response. The problem we've faced in this debate is that the SoS has to be very careful about responding to accusations of bias, because those very responses can be used against him as further accusations of bias! But the same can be the case if members of his political party stick up for him.

It's not unusual in many countries for there to be tensions between the elected Government and the professional Civil Service, both of whom have their jobs to do and have to act as checks and balances on one another. But we have to nip it in the bud if one side looks to be actively sabotaging the other.

As to the other question, perhaps this will get fleshed out more if there's a leadership-to-leadership public debate on monarchy reform.