[Assembly of Benito] Proposal: The Expedition of the Thousand Act

[Mic’haglh Autófil, SMC EiP]

WHEREAS multiple Talossan provinces are facing a crisis of low activity;

WHEREAS these provinces are experiencing difficulties with local governance due to a scarcity of active citizens;

WHEREAS the Province of Florencia was once part of the territory of the Sovereign Province of Benito;

WHEREAS these two provinces have each developed a history of their own following the secession of Florencia from Benito;

WHEREAS The United Provinces of Vuode and Dandenburg are likewise experiencing administrative dysfunction for want of active citizens;

BELIEVING that the best way to solve this issue would be to merge provinces, allowing the few active citizens within each province to operate effectively within the same government; and,

DESIRING to acknowledge the equal footing these provinces now come together on;

BE IT HEREBY RESOLVED that the Sovereign Province of Benito hereby expresses its intent to pursue a merger with the Province of Florencia and The United Provinces of Vuode and Dandenburg, to result in a new province, tentatively referred to herein as Garibaldi. This intent shall empower the Maestro of Benito to negotiate with the Governor of Florencia, the Premier of Vuode, and the Ziu regarding the terms under which the merger is to be proposed.



As a note, Vuode is not being thrown in there randomly, but after some discussion with the more active among them that I can find.

[Tric'hard Lenxheir]

As far as I know Vuode does not currently have any leadership to negotiate with

[Miestră Schivă, UrN]

Question. Florencia died in a ditch to make sure they wouldn't merge with Fiova a few years ago. The King himself took a case to the CpI to try to stop the process, and finally Florencians defeated it in a referendum. It turned out by the King's own admission that they were primarily motivated by the thought of losing the "safely monarchist" Florencian Senäts seat - and also, of course, disgust and distaste for Fiova's Republican heritage. What has made you think that Florencia - now the only monarchist seat in the Senäts, held by the Leader of the Opposition - has changed its mind?

I mean, great if it happens IMHO, but I'm sure once the King or other Florencians see this there will be rage-gasms.

[Baron Alexandreu Davinescu]

Question. Florencia died in a ditch to make sure they wouldn't merge with Fiova a few years ago. The King himself took a case to the CpI to try to stop the process, and finally Florencians defeated it in a referendum. It turned out by the King's own admission that they were primarily motivated by the thought of losing the "safely monarchist" Florencian Senäts seat - and also, of course, disgust and distaste for Fiova's Republican heritage. What has made you think that Florencia - now the only monarchist seat in the Senäts, held by the Leader of the Opposition - has changed its mind?

I mean, great if it happens IMHO, but I'm sure once the King or other Florencians see this there will be rage-gasms.

That is an uncharitable and unkind account of those events, and you're taking pains to be contemptuous of other Talossans for their deeply-held beliefs.

Perhaps this would have been a good opportunity to "treat each other with respect and kindness" as part of a commitment to "raising the level of political discourse?"  Not every conversation needs to be combat.

[Miestră Schivă, UrN]

If you want to start a fight, dear Baron, let's do it elsewhere. I only came in here to give some historical context that the Benitians might be unaware of, and to find out whether they'd actually asked any Florencians.

[Baron Alexandreu Davinescu]

I am actually asking the very opposite: please, there's no need to turn every conversation into a combat.  There's no reason to speak about other Talossans the way you're doing, and we all announced we'd try to do better just yesterday.

I'm not going to reply anymore, since I don't want to derail this conversation, but come on... it's only been a day.  Let's try to be kind to each other.

[Mic’haglh Autófil, SMC EiP]

For reference, regarding the Senate seats, since I believe we had some discussion earlier this year on the topic, it would likely need to be that current Senators are not permitted to be "grandfathered in" for the rest of what would have been their respective terms -- instead, the new province must drop to one and only one Senator immediately.

Basically, the process as I envisioned it is:

- Provinces in question negotiate and draft constitution
- Ziu passes legislation saying merger can proceed if constitution is acceptable to both provinces. New province's Senator is to be chosen from among current Senators of merged provinces (at this point, that means the candidates would be Senators Bornatfiglheu, Tzaracomprada, and Grischun if all three successfully merge)
- Provinces vote to adopt new constitution, with any adopting it successfully merging into new province
- Election happens for new Senator. If this means my new Senator is the leader of the TNC, well, that's democracy, isn't it.

Regarding the opinion of the Leader of the Opposition, well...obviously, he can speak for himself, but at the very least earlier this year when we had spoken on the topic he seemed quite supportive.

[Mic’haglh Autófil, SMC EiP]

I feel it was rather obvious -- most people tend to vote for bills they propose themselves -- but I cast my four votes in favor of the proposal, resulting in its passage.

[Flip Molinar]

Sorry to barge in, but is there anything like this still being looked into?

[Miestră Schivă, UrN]

Sorry to barge in, but is there anything like this still being looked into?

Sorry to barge in myself. The question of provincial mergers is still a live one though there are no proposals on the table yet. The big issue has always been that a province that merges loses its Senäts seat and no-one wants to "unilaterally disarm"; also that you can't change that rule without 2/3 of the Senäts itself. But we'll see what's possible after the election (only if you vote for one of the AVANT parties though lol)

[Baron Alexandreu Davinescu]

There have been two provincial mergers in the works.  One of them, Florencia and Fiova, was rejected by Florencians.  The other, Vuode and Maritiimi-Maxhestic, is currently in progress.  I hope to have the time to push forward on it soon.  We solved the Senats issue by simply avoiding it: the provinces will merge on a provincial level and in most ways, but will still be technically classified as separate electorates who will elect their own senators.

[Flip Molinar]

Thank you both.