[OPEN] Open Society policy placeholder

[Breneir Tzaracomprada]

Whether he was rude to you is something you should hash out with him directly.

Well, no. It's a question of how Ministers should react to Terpelaziuns. Decorum, honestly, respecting the opposition's role in seeking accountability, etc.

While Free Democrats were in government we got a whole lot of what we considered annoying and bad-faith TERPs, but I think we at least attempted to answer all of them and didn't say "it's a secret" or "I'll tell you later" to any of them - I'm sure you'll correct me if I'm remembering wrong.

I'd recommend taking that up with Mximo directly if you genuinely believe he was lacking in decorum or not respecting your role as the Opposition. Sorry to hear you were annoyed by some of those terps we sent your way though.

[Miestră Schivă, UrN]

Well, if the Open Society is welcoming people with such a track record as new members with a "Yayyy", then surely the party becomes politically responsible for that record? I should emphasise that this doesn't just refer to your party - the Red/Green party, as the party of the outgoing Seneschal who also thought there was no problem with that way of dealing with TERPs, faces the same question.

I just realised that the haughty refusal to answer a simple question ("do you think that style of answering TERPs is appropriate, or don't you")... kind of answers the question in and of itself. It seems that we have to start all over again with the question of whether political differences in Talossa justify outright rudeness and hostility.

[Breneir Tzaracomprada]

Well, if the Open Society is welcoming people with such a track record as new members with a "Yayyy", then surely the party becomes politically responsible for that record? I should emphasise that this doesn't just refer to your party - the Red/Green party, as the party of the outgoing Seneschal who also thought there was no problem with that way of dealing with TERPs, faces the same question.

I just realised that the haughty refusal to answer a simple question ("do you think that style of answering TERPs is appropriate, or don't you")... kind of answers the question in and of itself. It seems that we have to start all over again with the question of whether political differences in Talossa justify outright rudeness and hostility.

Ok, Miestra.

[Breneir Tzaracomprada]

2 June 2024:
Minor Government Reform-A-X Advisory Opinions: During the last term there was opposition to allowing the Government's chief legal advisor, the Avocat-Xheneral, the ability to seek advice from the Judiciary. An eminent Talossan or two have agreed that the A-X, at the least, should have the ability to do so. I will be resubmitting this legislation as I believe it is an obvious role of the A-X. These common-sense fine-tuning reforms will be a hallmark of Open Society's participation in debates next term and we look forward to proposing them for public debate.

For voters, please feel free to review the Hopper debate on the previously proposed CpI Advisory Opinion Expansion Amendment. It appeared to have some multipartisan support.

[Breneir Tzaracomprada]

31 May 2024:
An apolitical Chancery: Some call it a crusade, some call it a hobby horse. I call it defending the norms that underpin Talossan democracy. And that is something for which I will never tire. In the absence of any internal policy to address the precedent set by the current Secretary of State I will resubmit previous legislation concerning an apolitical Chancery. If it comes, as a part of broader Civil Service rules, all the better but this issue ain't going anywhere just like me.

We just might reach some agreement on this issue?

[Breneir Tzaracomprada]

2 June 2024:
Minor Government Reform-A-X Advisory Opinions: During the last term there was opposition to allowing the Government's chief legal advisor, the Avocat-Xheneral, the ability to seek advice from the Judiciary. An eminent Talossan or two have agreed that the A-X, at the least, should have the ability to do so. I will be resubmitting this legislation as I believe it is an obvious role of the A-X. These common-sense fine-tuning reforms will be a hallmark of Open Society's participation in debates next term and we look forward to proposing them for public debate.

For voters, please feel free to review the Hopper debate on the previously proposed CpI Advisory Opinion Expansion Amendment. It appeared to have some multipartisan support.

I am wondering if there is any opposition to this Amendment still?

[Breneir Tzaracomprada]

31 May 2024:
An apolitical Chancery: Some call it a crusade, some call it a hobby horse. I call it defending the norms that underpin Talossan democracy. And that is something for which I will never tire. In the absence of any internal policy to address the precedent set by the current Secretary of State I will resubmit previous legislation concerning an apolitical Chancery. If it comes, as a part of broader Civil Service rules, all the better but this issue ain't going anywhere just like me.

We just might reach some agreement on this issue?

Folks, choosing to not engage will also not cause this issue to go away.

[Breneir Tzaracomprada]

30 May 2024:
Making Talossa more than a political playground: An election season every 8 months leads to constant political fevers. We would like to pursue electoral reforms which extend Cosa terms to one year while expanding the Civil Service to address any increased burden from this subsequent increased government terms. We also support a unicameral legislature.

We plan to propose an Electoral Reform bill on the legislative terms specifically at the start of the next session. We believe that if we are to open space for non-political Talossans then we might want to reduce the frequency of election seasons.

[Breneir Tzaracomprada]

31 May 2024:
An apolitical Chancery: Some call it a crusade, some call it a hobby horse. I call it defending the norms that underpin Talossan democracy. And that is something for which I will never tire. In the absence of any internal policy to address the precedent set by the current Secretary of State I will resubmit previous legislation concerning an apolitical Chancery. If it comes, as a part of broader Civil Service rules, all the better but this issue ain't going anywhere just like me.

We just might reach some agreement on this issue?

@þerxh Sant-Enogat Congrats on bringing Sir Briga back to politics as that is a big get. Will the Progressive Alliance be supporting Open Society's effort to ensure a nonpartisan Civil Service and Chancery?

I have an answer from the FreeDems on the Chancery but they seem open to a larger initiative covering all of the Civil Service. No word from COFFEE, Dien, the Independent Party or Reform Party though.

[Breneir Tzaracomprada]

Cross-posting...

There is indeed a fundamental difference in principle between the parties. We agree that there is a real need to make sure that the Secretary of State, the Chancery and the whole Royal Civil Service act without any hint of partisan bias. We do not agree that limiting the civil rights to free association of the Secretary of State are necessary or justifiable in that regard; nor that, when the Secretary of State briefly served as Free Democrats Party President during a crisis, he behaved improperly or even criminally.

This is you from February 2024. If the bolded part is still your stance then it is a reasonable potential distinction between the FreeDems and the Progressive Alliance. Certainly between Open Society and the FreeDems.

I also wanted to check as to why "you needing a break" (Txec's words) is considered a crisis on a scale to cause an appearance of partisanship for one of the nation's most powerful civil servants?

[Breneir Tzaracomprada]

31 May 2024:
An apolitical Chancery: Some call it a crusade, some call it a hobby horse. I call it defending the norms that underpin Talossan democracy. And that is something for which I will never tire. In the absence of any internal policy to address the precedent set by the current Secretary of State I will resubmit previous legislation concerning an apolitical Chancery. If it comes, as a part of broader Civil Service rules, all the better but this issue ain't going anywhere just like me.

We just might reach some agreement on this issue?

@þerxh Sant-Enogat Congrats on bringing Sir Briga back to politics as that is a big get. Will the Progressive Alliance be supporting Open Society's effort to ensure a nonpartisan Civil Service and Chancery?

I have an answer from the FreeDems on the Chancery but they seem open to a larger initiative covering all of the Civil Service. No word from COFFEE, Dien, the Independent Party or Reform Party though.

I am deeply disappointed in the inability of other parties to take this issue seriously.
Especially when the solutions are rather straightforward and quick.
I look forward to continuing to advocate on it during the coming Cosa term.

[Breneir Tzaracomprada]

Separation of politics from the Royal Civil Service. Talossans have to be able to do jobs for the Kingdom without having to join/agree with the party of Government. But to require civil servants to renounce political activity would require most Talossans to make an impossible choice, and reduce activity. We support an explicit Code of Conduct for civil servants, enforcing penalties for allowing partisan politics to interfere with their work.

Open Society will withdraw its own legislation should a coalition of parties propose legislation creating a Civil Service-wide code of conduct that is enforceable without the nebulous qualification of "interfering with their work." This is not about work interference it is about the reasonable "appearance of impropriety." There is no question as to whether Txec allowed his service as FreeDems Party President to infere with his work as Secretary of State. The question is whether the taking of the position created a reasonable appearance of partisanship for a Civil Service official. The answer to the latter is far clearer than the one to the former.

I will say again that norms in democratic society apply even to our friends. They apply even if they've not committed other infractions. And they should be defended even if the one doing the defending is hated.

[Breneir Tzaracomprada]

In recognition of the emergency going on with Txec and his family Open Society will discontinue campaigning during the election on the Civil Service. Our concern on the issue is well-known but it is connected with something involving Txec as SoS. Further discussion of the issue would add no benefit to advancement on the issue and has the risk of adding to any potential stress. We do not want to do that and wish Txec and his family well during this emergency.

[Breneir Tzaracomprada]

Open Society itself is new but its members have a history of getting things done. Did you know that two of the three recent efforts to revise catchment areas for the provinces were authored by the Open Society party leader? The first updates to the areas that determine which province new citizens go to was done by Breneir Tzaracomprada. Part of this update was to enlarge the catchment area of Vuode. The second update which compensated Vuode for its loss due to a Benitian catchment area change was also authored by Breneir and supported in the Florencian parliament by another Open Society member @mximo

When we say we get things done we mean it. And we think you can easily see in the two actions above. We look forward to working with other parties on another Open Society idea: making the regular review and updating of catchment areas mandatory.

[Aleksandr Belkin]

I agree, where should I sign?