The Uniform Túischac'h Election Act

[Açafat del Val]

WHEREAS, it seems unseemly that the Túischac'h, the presiding officer of the Cosa, should be nominated by the King or by the Government instead of elected by the Cosa;

WHEREAS, a previous bill did not address all manners or causes of the election of the Túischac'h; and,

WHEREAS, the Cosa deserves at all times a present, incumbent, active, and loyal Túischac'h,

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ENACTED by the King, Cosa and Senäts of Talossa in Ziu assembled that the text of the twentieth section of Title H of El Lexhatx (H.20), which reads at the time of the authorship of this bill...

The King shall appoint a Member of the Cosa to serve as Speaker of the Cosa (Talossan: el Túischac'h) for the upcoming term, on the advice of the Seneschal after consultation with the leaders of all parties represented in the Cosa. 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.

...shall, at the time of effecutation of this Act, be stricken entirely and replaced with the following:

The Cosa shall be served actively and loyally by a Speaker of the Cosa (Talossan: el Túischac'h) who shall be one of their members, be elected directly by them, and serve then for the remainder of the term of that Cosa.

1. The Speaker shall preside, direct, and maintain order during Living Cosas and in the Hopper without bias or favor, and otherwise may advise Members of the Cosa of appropriate decorum.

2. The election of a Speaker shall be so done as follows:

2.1. After the results of a General Election of the Ziu shall have been certified as according to law, or during any bona fide absence or vacancy in the office of the Speaker, but in any case until the next following dissolution of the Cosa, a Member or Member-elect of one Cosa shall have individual power to publish publicly a petition nominating an eligible person for the office of the Speaker.

2.2. Nomination petitions for the office of the Speaker may be signed only publicly and only by other Members or Members-elect of the same Cosa. Each signature shall be equal to one vote in favor of the nomination.

2.3. Whenever one nomination petition shall have earned such number of affirmative votes as shall equal a majority of the actual members of the Cosa, without regard to the number of seats which they may hold, then the candidate so nominated shall be declared by the Secretary of State to be the Speaker and all other outstanding nomination petitions shall be moot and nullified.

2.4. No Member or Member-elect of the Cosa shall have signed more than one nomination petition simultaneously for the same cause; but, if a Member or Member-elect wish to support a different petition, then he or she shall retract publicly the earlier signature before signing another.

3. The Speaker shall be considered the honourable president of the Cosa, and shall be awarded all due veneration during such tenure.

4. While the office of the Speaker may be vacant or actually unattended, and until the Cosa shall have elected a new Speaker for the remainder of the term, the Mençéi of the Senate shall perform the duties of the Speaker.

Uréu q'estadra så: Açafat del Val, Senator for Florencia.

[Ian Plätschisch]

IIRC, it used to be this way but the Cosa could never get around to holding an election.

[Açafat del Val]

I would argue that if the Speaker is already one of their own members, let alone their own presiding officer... It would be their choice in the first place whether to elect the Speaker or not.

Do you support the bill, or maybe make some changes?

[Ian Plätschisch]

Experience has taught us the method that gets us closest to "a present, incumbent, active, and loyal Túischac'h" is to appoint one

[Açafat del Val]

Then... why did you vote on a current bill which also causes the Túischac'h to be elected?

Për on all

Obviously you're okay with having the Túischac'h elected rather than appointed. Ergo, what would be your critiques of this bill?

[Ian Plätschisch]

Then... why did you vote on a current bill which also causes the Túischac'h to be elected?

Për on all

Obviously you're okay with having the Túischac'h elected rather than appointed. Ergo, what would be your critiques of this bill?

Oops, when I said that I temporarily forgot all of the other discussion about it.

That said, I do not like how this bill gives each MC only one vote, and I do not like how the Mencei would serve an entirely different house than the one they were elected to in the absence of a Túischac'h

[Açafat del Val]

I intend to clark this again. May other members comment and explain their opposition? I am more than happy to make compromises/amendments so that this passes (for example, giving MCs a number of votes equal to their seats, rather than one vote per member).

[Miestră Schivă, UrN]

Personally, I think the current mechanism for electing the Túischac'h is "good enough", but imperfect. The main imperfection is that it requires active support to nominate a Túischac'h. There is no mechanism whereby someone who just gets a nomination can get the role unimpeded - and if I hadn't actively canvassed support for the incoming Túischac'h, we would just never have had one.

Worse yet, there are no consequences for NOT electing a Túischac'h, at the moment, because it's not an organic role like the Mençéi. So, I will only support further reforms in electing the Túischac'h if it includes writing the role into the OrgLaw, on the same level as the Mençéi; and giving them both a more active role in the legislative process.

[Tierçéu Rôibeardescù]

And here's me hoping I'd get an official uniform like a john Bercow mask or a betty Boothroyd outfit, as the title of the act would suggest  xD