The Túischac'h Election Bill

[Miestră Schivă, UrN]

Reposting the thread from OldWitt's Hopper to make sure it doesn't get lost

[Açafat del Val]

Text pasted below for easy reference...

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;

and WHEREAS the measure proposed by Senator da Schir for the nomination of the Seneschál seems as good as any;

BE IT ENACTED by the King, Cosa and Senäts of Talossa in Ziu assembled that el Lexhatx H.20, which currently reads:

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.

is amended to read:

The 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.

The Cosa shall elect the Túischac'h as follows.

1. At any time between the Election Deadline and the following Dissolution of the Cosa, any Member of the Cosa shall be empowered to publish and open for signatures a petition nominating an eligible person for the office of Túischac'h.

2. Once a petition is published, any eligible Member of the Cosa shall be empowered to second the nomination by countersigning the petition in public.

3. Members may not second multiple nominations concurrently; if a Member wishes to support a different petition, he/she shall first publicly retract the earlier countersignature.

4. Following any number of petitions, presented as above and supporting the same candidate, being signed or counter-signed by members currently representing an absolute majority of seats in the Cosa, the candidate named in the petition(s) shall be declared by the Secretary of State to be the Túischac'h.

5. Petitions may not be carried over from one vacancy in the office of Seneschal to Túischac'h. Once a Túischac'h is elected as above, all petitions shall be made moot.

This petition should happen simultaneously with that for the Seneschal. Having two different petitions is too messy. One ballot for two offices - a parallel election - should be preferred.

Alternatively, may I suggest that we abolish the office altogether? It's nothing more than a sinecure. What affirmative argument is there that the office be maintained?

[Miestră Schivă, UrN]

Alternatively, may I suggest that we abolish the office altogether?

Why should the Senäts have a Chair/Lord President, and not the Cosa? I endorse giving more powers to the Túischac'h so it won't be a sinecure.

[Sir Lüc]

I do too, though it has to be said that no recent Tuischac'h has been particularly eager to use the powers they already have, eg. policing the Hopper. (The only recent exception is Dien.) Sometimes, eg. with my own role of Mençei, all it takes is the personal will to build upon the role, as a matter of dignifying the institution of the House itself.

[Açafat del Val]

I see reason to abolish both positions, to be frank. Is that a bad idea?

In any case, what about the proposal to have a parallel election? Could the Cosa choose the Seneschal and the Túischac'h at the same time?

[Miestră Schivă, UrN]

I see reason to abolish both positions, to be frank. Is that a bad idea?

In any case, what about the proposal to have a parallel election? Could the Cosa choose the Seneschal and the Túischac'h at the same time?

There is a weird situation where the Mencéi is in the OrgLaw but the Túischac'h isn't. Ideally that should be changed, but we're proposing enough OrgLaw amendments at the moment. My personal preference is that a lot of what the SoS currently does re: organising votes in the Ziu should be devolved to the Chairs of the Houses, but that's just me.

I would PREFER the Seneschál and Túischac'h elections happen simultaneously, but sometimes it won't (if one or both of them quits halfway through a term, for example)

[Sir Lüc]

I see reason to abolish both positions, to be frank. Is that a bad idea?

Well, while I have tried to be a primus inter pares in my tenure as Mençei, I didn't think my role would have been deemed so irrelevant as to not justify its existence. We had very recently a thorough, unprecedented, nonpartisan vetting process that might not have happened, or might not have gone so relatively smoothly, without some form of guidance from a presiding officer.

That aside, I find it odd that a certified parliamentarian does not see the utility of some sort of presiding officer.