Nimlet Session XVII (Sep 2020-May 2021)

[Breneir Tzaracomprada]

With thanks to the new Secretary of State all appointments to Nimlet seats have been completed.

It is my pleasure to announce the commencement of our latest session, on this 1st day of September 2020, of Florencia's provincial legislature, the Nimlet.

Pastours, are there any motions members would like to bring forward for consideration?

[Breneir Tzaracomprada]

RESOLUTION 2020-01

Based on the advice of both the current and former Secretaries of State I propose the resolution below amending our provincial constitution at Article III, Section 5 (The Government, Composition of the House of Shepherds)

This amendment is necessitated by the reticence of The Chancery to complete the additional administrative tasks after the completion of voting as is currently mandated by the Constitution.

Article III, Section 5 currently reads:

Section 5. Composition of the House of Shepherds.

Whichever authority shall have conducted a provincial election for the whole House of Shepherds, either the Chancery of Talossa or the Constable of Florencia, shall publicly and at the same time, but not later than the tenth day following the certification of the same election:

   (a) Determine and fix the total number of seats for the new term of the Shepherds, which number shall be equal to the number of ballots returned in the election, less those returned and indicating "Present", plus one additional seat for each incumbent Senator for Florencia, plus one additional seat for the Governor;

   (b) Apportion among those political parties, which have received votes in the election, their respective proportional share of the number of remaining seats with respect to their electoral performance, after the assignments to the Senators and Governor; and

   (c) Fix the date for the commencement of the session of the new Nimlet, to be not later than the thirtieth day following the aforesaid certification.

Before or at the commencement of the session of a new Nimlet, and again at any time during the same session, the commonly recognized and known leader of a political party which be entitled to any number of seats in the House of Shepherds shall assign the same in any whole number without personal limit, but only to bona fide citizens of Florencia who remain qualified residents thereof; and such assignments shall be made publicly, given to the Governor of Florencia, and maintained in good faith by him.

Those seats which remain unassigned by a political party shall remain vacant until such assignment be made and received by the Governor.

Those changes by party leaders in the seating assignments, which have been effectuated during a pending resolution of the Shepherds, shall have no effect on the matter; and those votes yet made or already made may be altered before a deadline only by those persons who have held the same seats originally.

If there be a ripe and unmoot controversy with regard to the actual assignment of seats of the Shepherds, the same shall be adjudicated in first instance by the Constable alone; and if a party to it be unsatisfied, an appeal may be made directly to the Uppermost Cort of Talossa, provided that the remedy of the Constable remain in effect until or unless the said court render a judgement.

Be it resolved that Article III, Section 5 is amended to read as follows (changes in bold):

Section 5. Composition of the House of Shepherds.

No later than the tenth calendar day following the certification of the election, the Governor of Florencia, or in the absence of an incumbent Governor, the Constable of Florencia, shall:

   (a) Determine and fix the total number of seats for the new term of the House of Shepherds, which number shall be equal to the number of ballots returned in the election, less those returned and indicating "Present", plus one additional seat for the incumbent Senator for Florencia and for the Governor of Florencia;

   (b) Apportion among those political parties, which have received votes in the election, their respective proportional share of the number of remaining seats based on their electoral performance, after the assignments to the Senators and Governor; and

   (c) Fix the date for the commencement of the session of the new Nimlet, to be not later than the thirtieth day following the aforesaid certification.

Before or at the commencement of the session of a new Nimlet, and again at any time during the same session, the commonly recognized and known leader of a political party which be entitled to any number of seats in the House of Shepherds shall assign the same in any whole number without personal limit, but only to bona fide citizens of Florencia who remain qualified residents thereof; and such assignments shall be made publicly, given to the Governor of Florencia, and maintained in good faith.

Those seats which remain unassigned by a political party shall remain vacant until such assignment be made and received by the Governor.

Those changes by party leaders in the seating assignments, which have been effectuated during a pending resolution of the House of Shepherds, shall have no effect on the matter; and those votes yet made or already made may be altered before a deadline only by those persons who have held the same seats originally.

If there be a ripe controversy with regard to the actual assignment of seats of the House of Shepherds, the controversy shall be adjudicated in the first instance by the Governor alone; and if a party to it be unsatisfied, an appeal may be made directly to the Uppermost Cort of Talossa, provided that the remedy of the Governor remain in effect until or unless the said court render a judgement.

Voting will close at 9:00AM TST on September 15th, 2020.

Submitted by Breneir Itravilatx, Governor of Florencia; Member-House of Shepherds

[Breneir Tzaracomprada]

I vote PER on Resolution 2020-01

[Breneir Tzaracomprada]

Voting has now closed on Resolution 2020-01. It has passed with 8 votes in favor, 0 votes in opposition.

Pursuant to Article IV, Section 6 of the Florencian Constitution I, Breneir Itravilatx, Governor of Florencia, do hereby place my signature for Resolution 2020-01 as duly approved by a vote of the current session of the House of Shepherds.

I send this Resolution for consideration to our Constable. @King John, please advise on your consideration of this Resolution. The deadline for Constable Consideration is 9:00am TST, September 29, 2020. Should the Constable fail to issue an Approval or Veto the Resolution will be considered approved.

/s/
Breneir Itravilatx

[Breneir Tzaracomprada]

Resolution 2020-02

Resolution 2020-02 is presented to propose a new provincial day of observance in Florencia.
With the promulgation of the province's third constitution, mere weeks ago, Florencia is experiencing a renewal of activity and civic spirit.

Provincial Day of Observance – Florencia Day

Inspired by this zeitgeist, this resolution proposes the creation of Florencia Day to be observed annually by Florencians on the day of the province's creation, 1 September. Suggested methods for celebrating Florencia Day include display of the provincial flag and emblem, public readings of the provincial constitution, singing of the provincial anthem, or visiting provincial landmarks.

Voting closes at 9:00AM TST on September 30, 2020

Submitted by Breneir Itravilatx (Florencia Governor, Member-House of Shepherds)

[Breneir Tzaracomprada]

I vote PER on Resolution 2020-02

[Açafat del Val]

I was rather uninspired and unmotivated to speak before now, in part because a single person controls a supermajority of seats in this new term of the Shepherds and it was hence a wasted effort during a busy day to log in, think, write a reply, and hit 'post'.

That said, this amendment to our provincial constitution is a travesty. Talk about the death of democracy.

When I wrote these original provisos, I wrote them specifically so that the person who may benefit most from jockeying with seat assignments, i.e. the Governor, is not the same person getting to run or oversee the election that determines those same seat assignments. To say that it is a conflict of interest is an understatement.

But worse, you wrote this amendment so that any challenge to the seat assignments has to be adjudicated by the Governor directly, rather than the Constable, the Uppermost Cort, or literally any other third party who has nothing to gain or lose by the outcome. In effect, whosoever becomes the Governor can very well ensure that they stay in control of the Nimlet and, by extension, remain the Governor forever.

It does not matter whether these are "likely" or "plausible"; the fact that it is possible is the issue entirely.

If this were not evidence of a powermove to ensure total ideological domination of Florencia, then I don't know what would be.

An utter disaster.

[Açafat del Val]

I vote PER on Resolution 2020-02.

[Breneir Tzaracomprada]

I vote PER on Resolution 2020-02.

As to Resolution 2020-02, with the vote of the only other remaining member of the House of Shepherds now cast I would ask if there is objection to closing the voting period early. If there is no response to this inquiry then I will leave the voting period open to the original expiry date just in case.

Breneir

[Açafat del Val]

The law is pretty clear: even with unanimous support, we'll have to wait till the deadline has passed.

[Breneir Tzaracomprada]

That is a fair and reasonable point, I had assumed there would be some flexibility but the new Constitution does not appear to have allowed for it. Vote closing date (edited to add: for Resolution 2020-02) remains 9:00am TST September 30, 2020 then.

[Breneir Tzaracomprada]

I rise to submit a petition to the Talossan Sovereign, @King John

Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florencia reads as follows:

Section 1. The Constable.

The Sovereign of Talossa is represented in the province and attends to provincial affairs through a Constable, or in Talossan "Cunstavál", who shall be appointed in accordance with the Organic Law.

If the office of the Constable be ever vacant or generally unattended, the Governor shall petition without delay that the Sovereign appoint a new Constable and shall repeat this petition so often as may be necessary to effectuate the appointment.

The Sovereign shall assume all powers and duties of the Constable while the latter office be vacant.

The position of Constable is currently vacant and this petition is submitted as an early effort to ensure we have an active and cooperative relationship between the Sovereign and Florencia's provincial government.

Therefore, as Governor, I officially petition @King John to appoint a new Constable.

This is the first submission of this petition to the Sovereign.

/s/
Breneir Itravilatx
Governor of Florencia

[Breneir Tzaracomprada]

It is my honor to submit Resolution 2020-03 for consideration by the House of Shepherds.

The Order of Florencia

Florencia joins our sister subdivisions of Cezembre and Benito in creating an award to honor citizens who have made exceptional contributions to the province.

The House of Shepherds resolves to create a new provincial honor to be known as the Order of Florencia.
•   Recipients of the honor may use the postnomial "O.Fl" and to go by the titles Sir, Dame, or the gender neutral Miscellus (Misc).
•   When awarded the new provincial honor recipients shall be selected in a cooperative fashion by the Constable and Governor. Recipients may also be privately submitted to the Constable and/or Governor by a petition representing an absolute majority of votes in the House of Shepherds.
•   Recipients shall be announced in a joint statement by the Constable and Governor, as a part of Florencia Day celebrations.

Voting closes at 9:00AM TST on October 6, 2020

Submitted by Breneir Itravilatx (Florencia Governor, Member-House of Shepherds)

[Açafat del Val]

I'd like to vote PER; my only concern is that the order be granted "as a part of Florencia Day". Could this not be granted on any regular day, or at least any general day of significance? Seems odd to restrict this to one day of 365.

[Breneir Tzaracomprada]

I'd like to vote PER; my only concern is that the order be granted "as a part of Florencia Day". Could this not be granted on any regular day, or at least any general day of significance? Seems odd to restrict this to one day of 365.

The House of Shepherds, Governor, and Constable are free to conduct preparatory work for the granting of the honors on any other day or days of the year. But the setting of the announcement date in connection with a new day of observance to celebrate Florencia doesn't seem all that odd. On the day in which we celebrate Florencia we announce honors for those who have contributed to Florencia.