Questions about the Cunstavál referendum

[Sir Lüc]

Azul, I was preparing the database for the election and I noticed that 62RZ15 essentially repeals two arguably desirable provisions (no provincial constitution without a referendum, no provincial laws contradicting OrgLaw/national statute) while leaving untouched the one that I assume its final WHEREAS purported to fix (no same person can be Cunstavál in one province and premier in another).

Am I misunderstanding this?

[Baron Alexandreu Davinescu]

Nope, you're not misunderstanding.  I wanted to also change the last thing, but His Majesty requested that we leave that prohibition in place.  I probably should have deleted that whereas clause, in retrospect.  But it passed overwhelmingly, so I guess it wasn't a fatal flaw.

The changes will eliminate any loophole allowing an extralegal change in a provincial constitution and will eliminate the prospect of a military governor.

[Sir Lüc]

Nope, you're not misunderstanding.  I wanted to also change the last thing, but His Majesty requested that we leave that prohibition in place.  I probably should have deleted that whereas clause, in retrospect.  But it passed overwhelmingly, so I guess it wasn't a fatal flaw.

The changes will eliminate any loophole allowing an extralegal change in a provincial constitution and will eliminate the prospect of a military governor.

Right, to be clear, I understand the double job and "military governor" bits you mentioned. But the amendment also repeals two provisions that I thought made sense, namely, that provincial constitutions may not contravene national statutory/Organic law, and that provincial constitutions may only enter into effect through a referendum with a majority of voters taking part, or failing that, a supermajority in favour.

Am I misreading that those provisions sound desirable to me? You speak of a loophole, but I don't quite get what that would be.

[Baron Alexandreu Davinescu]

Every province already has a constitution, so any potential to replace it with a military governor or to try to bring in a new one from the outside with a local midterm referenda should be eliminated, in my opinion at this time.  I'd certainly be open to alternative language with some other form of the threshold requirement, but it'd be tricky to do.

[Sir Lüc]

Again, I'm not concerned about the military governor bit; nearly everyone, including me, agrees about repealing that. I'm concerned about the other two provisions you're seeking to repeal. You mentioned one:

Every province already has a constitution, so any potential to [...] try to bring in a new one from the outside with a local midterm referenda should be eliminated

I don't see how you'd interpret the provision you're trying to repeal that way:

The King or Cunstavál shall not proclaim any provincial constitution which has not been approved by a referendum in which at least either a majority of all citizens of the province or a two-thirds majority of votes actually cast is in favor of the constitution.

To me that reads like a safeguard, not an exploitable loophole - an Organic guarantee that any new provincial constitution must go through a provincial referendum. If that was repealed, unless some other bit of the OrgLaw says otherwise, it'd be fair game for provincial governments, assemblies, Cunstaváis, or any combination of the above, to pass a replacement constitution sua sponte without any requirement for a referendum.

Lastly, just noting, as a footnote, that you didn't address why repealing the other provision, "no provincial laws may contradict OrgLaw/national statute", was desirable or necessary.

[Baron Alexandreu Davinescu]

The King or Cunstavál shall not proclaim any provincial constitution which has not been approved by a referendum in which at least either a majority of all citizens of the province or a two-thirds majority of votes actually cast is in favor of the constitution.

To me that reads like a safeguard, not an exploitable loophole - an Organic guarantee that any new provincial constitution must go through a provincial referendum. If that was repealed, unless some other bit of the OrgLaw says otherwise, it'd be fair game for provincial governments, assemblies, Cunstaváis, or any combination of the above, to pass a replacement constitution sua sponte without any requirement for a referendum.

The provincial constitutions have their own requirements for how they may be amended and the thresholds for doing so.

Lastly, just noting, as a footnote, that you didn't address why repealing the other provision, "no provincial laws may contradict OrgLaw/national statute", was desirable or necessary.

The Organic Law already provides that any law of a province is invalid to the extent it contradicts a national law.  It's the next section of that article.