[CRL] Opposition Redefinition Act

[Mic’haglh Autófil, O.Be]

WHEREAS, the Fixed Electoral Date Amendment (60RZ21) was not ratified by the Talossan People at the most recent General Election, and

WHEREAS, that amendment included a streamlined, updated definition for HM Loyal Opposition, and

WHEREAS, this definition is worth implementing into El Lexhatx, where the Opposition is currently defined, then

BE IT RESOLVED, that Title H of El Lexhatx, Section 4.3, which currently reads

Members of the Cosâ who (in a given session of the Cosa) have voted NON on the most recent Vote of Confidence, or intend to do so on the next Vote of Confidence, shall be known as El Contrapharti Fieir da Sieu Maxhestà, or "His Majesty's Loyal Opposition" in English, or in short "El Contrapharti / The Opposition". Unless and until the members of the Opposition decide otherwise by majority vote , the "Leader of the Opposition" shall be the leader of the party with the most Cosa seats assigned to MCs who voted NON on the last Vote of Confidence.

is replaced in its entirety with

All political parties holding seats in the Cosă but not having representation in the Cabinet shall be known as El Contrapharti Fieir da Sieu Maxhestà, or "His Majesty's Loyal Opposition" in English, or in short El Contrapharti or "The Opposition". Unless and until the members of the Opposition decide otherwise by majority vote , the "Leader of the Opposition" shall be the leader of the party within The Opposition with a plurality of seats. Should more than one party within the Opposition possess a plurality of seats, a majority vote shall be conducted among Opposition MCs upon the seating of a new Cosa to select a Leader of the Opposition from among those parties so tied for a plurality. This shall include multiple rounds of balloting as necessary in the event that more than two parties are initially so tied until one eligible candidate receives the support of a majority of Opposition Cosă seats. In the event this vote results in a tie among the final two participants, one of those two shall be chosen by random draw conducted by the Chancery.

Uréu q'estadra så:
Mic'haglh Autófil MC (PdR/Avant)

[Baron Alexandreu Davinescu]

I support simpler definitions, but I notice one serious problem: this proposal seems like it locks out a party like the Progs from volunteering to help the Government, right?  I mean, if you guys decided that it was in the best interest of the country to appoint a Prog as the Minister of Immigration or whatever, it seems like it would make the Greens the official Opposition, with its associated privileges, right?

[Mic’haglh Autófil, O.Be]

I support simpler definitions, but I notice one serious problem: this proposal seems like it locks out a party like the Progs from volunteering to help the Government, right?  I mean, if you guys decided that it was in the best interest of the country to appoint a Prog as the Minister of Immigration or whatever, it seems like it would make the Greens the official Opposition, with its associated privileges, right?

I mean, that would quite literally make one of their members part of the Government, which is notably not the Opposition. :P

However, given that this sort of thing would presumably only happen as the result of negotiations for added support or what have you, I guess I'm confused as to what your concern is. It's not so much that the Progs would be unable to help the Government -- at least at the Cabinet level, anything below that would not change their Opposition status -- it's just that they would need to be mindful of what that help would entail before they offer it.

Granted, since the Fixed Electoral Date Amendment was not adopted, the big draw of being Leader of the Opposition (being the automatic Seneschal if a VoC fails) never applied. The only other real perks at the moment are being permitted to offer a rebuttal to the Speech from the Throne (or designate someone to do so) and being able to greenlight bills as being from HM Opposition as opposed to being private members' bills.

[Baron Alexandreu Davinescu]

We're a small country and a lot of us care about making sure things work okay, and there have been several times in the past when the Opposition has helped out the Government by serving in the Cabinet.  This might predate your time in the country.

I wanted to point out that this bill would make that kind of cooperation from a minority party much less likely.  If that's intended, okeydokey, but it's a sad change to put in the law.

[Miestră Schivă, UrN-GC]

Hey @Mic'haglh Autófil, O.Be do you want to send this to the CRL?

[Mic’haglh Autófil, O.Be]

Hey @Mic'haglh Autófil, O.Be do you want to send this to the CRL?

I would, yes. (Paging @Sir Lüc )

[Sir Lüc]

Done!

[Munditenens Tresplet]

In my capacity as a CRL member, no objections.

[þerxh Sant-Enogat]

At the time (in https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=3628.30 ) I suggested to add :

All political parties holding seats in the Cosă but not having representation in the Cabinet shall be known as El Contrapharti Fieir da Sieu Maxhestà, or "His Majesty's Loyal Opposition" in English, or in short El Contrapharti or "The Opposition". Unless and until the members of the Opposition decide otherwise by majority vote , the "Leader of the Opposition" shall be the leader of the party within the Opposition with a plurality of seats. Should more than one Opposition party possess a plurality of seats, Opposition MCs will hold a majority vote upon the seating of a new Cosa to select a Leader of the Opposition from among those parties tied for a plurality, including multiple rounds of balloting as necessary in the event more than two parties are initially so tied. In the event this vote results in a tie among the final two participants, one of those two shall be chosen by random draw conducted by the Chancery.

Question : As the PermSec of Propaganda is listed in Title D (Government) of The Seneschal's List, does this mean that the incumbent is not a member of the Opposition ? Is there a formal definition of Cabinet ? To avoid confusion, and to encourage cross-party collaboration (as spotted by Baron Alexandreu] I would replace the first sentence by :

All political parties holding seats in the Cosă but not having representation in the Cabinet of Ministers shall be known as El Contrapharti Fieir da Sieu Maxhestà, or "His Majesty's Loyal Opposition" in English, or in short El Contrapharti or "The Opposition"

[Mic’haglh Autófil, O.Be]

At the time (in https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=3628.30 ) I suggested to add :

All political parties holding seats in the Cosă but not having representation in the Cabinet shall be known as El Contrapharti Fieir da Sieu Maxhestà, or "His Majesty's Loyal Opposition" in English, or in short El Contrapharti or "The Opposition". Unless and until the members of the Opposition decide otherwise by majority vote , the "Leader of the Opposition" shall be the leader of the party within the Opposition with a plurality of seats. Should more than one Opposition party possess a plurality of seats, Opposition MCs will hold a majority vote upon the seating of a new Cosa to select a Leader of the Opposition from among those parties tied for a plurality, including multiple rounds of balloting as necessary in the event more than two parties are initially so tied. In the event this vote results in a tie among the final two participants, one of those two shall be chosen by random draw conducted by the Chancery.

Question : As the PermSec of Propaganda is listed in Title D (Government) of The Seneschal's List, does this mean that the incumbent is not a member of the Opposition ? Is there a formal definition of Cabinet ? To avoid confusion, and to encourage cross-party collaboration (as spotted by Baron Alexandreu] I would replace the first sentence by :

All political parties holding seats in the Cosă but not having representation in the Cabinet of Ministers shall be known as El Contrapharti Fieir da Sieu Maxhestà, or "His Majesty's Loyal Opposition" in English, or in short El Contrapharti or "The Opposition"

I have updated the proposed change to include a vote if necessary; while I did alter the language slightly, I believe it achieves your proposed goal, no?

As to the second part, I would argue that the clarification is unnecessary -- to continue the given example, the PermSec of Propaganda is explicitly not part of the Cabinet, as Permanent Secretaries are prohibited from holding Cabinet ministries. As a result, the incumbent remains a member of the Opposition, as does the rest of his party -- the Opposition is delineated on the basis of Cabinet, not on the basis of the broader Government at large.