URL Statement on 62RZ25

[Mic’haglh Autófil, O.Be]

As the Government has continued to provide no leadership on legislation, on this most recent Clark there was a single bill at vote, the Freedom of Conscience Act. This bill would have removed the mention of the Government from the citizenship oath, freeing new citizens of their obligation to swear allegiance to a government they may not support. Such a thing is unbecoming of a democratic nation such as Talossa, and the bill's preface included an acknowledgement of this, repudiating oaths of allegiance to the government as hallmarks of strongman rule and democratic backsliding.

Unfortunately, it seems this repudiation was more timely than we would've liked. That the incumbent Government would reject a bill that affirms the right to dissent is not surprising. What was surprising was the Seneschal's blatant disrespect for Talossan convention throughout the legislative process. As the Attorney General, the Seneschal serves on the CRL, helping to proofread legislative proposals for technical accuracy. The CRL reviews bills' form; judging the bills' content is a political question properly left to the Ziu. In the case of the Freedom of Conscience Act, after the Seneschal openly lying about the bill's preface did not prevent it from moving to the CRL, he used his position there to ensure that the bill would not be added to the May Clark. Because he felt personally offended by a bill, he ignored our customs and usurped the proper role of the legislature to judge a bill's principles.

He could have claimed his party shared in our denunciation of corrupt, self-serving government. Instead, he chose to exemplify the very behavior the bill condemns. It's the sort of thing we might expect to hear from Washington; we don't need to see it on Wittenberg too.