First Clark procedure amendment

[Lüc da Schir]

Chapter III, Article 5, Section 3 (Formation of the Government) be struck in full and replaced by the following:

Part 1. Intent to Form a Government. Upon certification of the general election, and apportionment of seats, until the day before the first Clark of the upcoming Cosa, which shall begin on the first day of the month following the last day of the Election, any Party may announce to the Secretary of State their intent to form a government. Such a statement of intent shall include a candidate for Seneschal, a candidate for Distain and a list of ministers.

Part 2. No Statement of Intent. If the Secretary of State does not receive a statement of intent from any party, the Secretary of State shall postpone the first Clark by one month, and the maximum number of Clarks in the upcoming session of the Ziu, as defined elsewhere in this Organic Law, shall be reduced by one. If the Secretary of State still does not receive a statement of intent from any party, the Secretary of State must promulgate a Writ of Dissolution and a new election must be held.

Part 3. Election of the Seneschal. During the First Clark, the Cosa shall select between the various candidates for Seneschal using Instant Runoff Voting, with one option being the election of no Seneschal. The Monarch shall appoint the Seneschal elected by the Cosa, who shall take the office from the previous Seneschal.

Part 4. Appointment of Ministers. Each Minister must receive a simple majority vote of the Cosa. A Minister shall hold office until a new Minister is appointed to that portfolio, provided the Minister does not leave office in some other manner.

Part 5. Failure to Elect a Seneschal. In the event that the Cosa does not elect a Seneschal, a new ballot shall be held during the second Clark; the parties shall be empowered to amend or rescind any statement of intent that they had previously submitted, until the day before the second Clark. If again the Cosa does not elect a Seneschal, the Secretary of State must promulgate a Writ of Dissolution and a new election must be held.

Part 6. Royal Assent to Ministers. The Seneschal shall immediately seek Royal Assent for each Minister, excluding the Seneschal. If the Crown is silent for a period of two weeks, assent shall be deemed automatic, and if Royal Assent is withheld for a specific Minister, the Cosa may reconfirm the Minister by a simple majority.

Chapter III, Article 1, Section 5, Part 1 (Duration of the Ziu), the words "The First Clark shall consist only of electing a Seneschal and cabinet and of considering any outstanding Royal Veto. The subsequent Clarks shall consist of introduction, passage, and certification of legislation." be struck in full to read:

[...] Each Clark shall last from the first day to the twenty-first day of a month, and Clarks shall take place in consecutive months unless otherwise specified elsewhere in this Organic Law. The Final Clark, to occur immediately preceding the next general election, shall consist only of elections to the Electoral Commission, or for passage of bills in their second recording, as described elsewhere in this Organic Law, or of considering any outstanding Royal Veto. [...]

In Chapter V, Article 2, Section 5, Part 3 (Overcoming Royal Veto), the words "be the only legislation that may be submitted to vote in the First Clark and may" be struck from Provision (c) to read:

[...] (c) a Third Reading shall not contain any changes

[Lüc da Schir]

Fixes general First Clark weirdness:

• the "nine clarks" bug;
• no Senate-only budget vote linked to the Seneschal;
• all business is admitted.

[Sir Alexandreu Davinescu]

Props to you for working hard at this and doing great work!

[Lüc da Schir]

Thank you. Everything I proposed so far is pretty common sense stuff. I just want the final draft to actually be something I can support.

[Sir Alexandreu Davinescu]

I doubt I can get there, myself, but at least it can be fixed a bit so it won't destroy the entire country (which is a very real possibility, and I say that entirely without melodrama).

[Ian Plätschisch]

I support this.

[Sir Alexandreu Davinescu]

So does this mean there will be a vote to approve the amendment? I'd love to get a roll-call of everyone working on this. Have rules for the voting already been established?

[Lüc da Schir]

Dec 9, 2018 12:04:10 GMT -6 Sir Alexandreu Davinescu said:

So does this mean there will be a vote to approve the amendment? I'd love to get a roll-call of everyone working on this.

I hope so.

Have rules for the voting already been established?

I don't think so, and we really need to set those. If we go by one-MZ-one-vote, we have 23 "seats" in the "convention", 7 RUMP, 8 MRPT, 7 FreeDem and 1 MTGA. If there'll be a quorum required, it will be interesting to see if we can get 12 people to actually vote on amendments...

[Miestrâ Schivâ, UrN]

Dec 9, 2018 15:17:54 GMT -6 Lüc da Schir said:

If we go by one-MZ-one-vote, we have 23 "seats" in the "convention", 7 RUMP, 8 MRPT, 7 FreeDem and 1 MTGA.

I always intended, and the Túischac'h has said he agrees, that one-MZ-one-vote is the way to go. Don't forget that the King also has a vote if he deigns to use it (I bet he won't and will just be content with vetoing after it's all done, because that's the way our absentee monarch rolls... don't say I didn't try to include him.)

As to quorum, there's no quorum in the Cosa or Senäts, why should there be one here? Watch out for people trying to make sure this convention does nothing. Sabotage.

[Lüc da Schir]

Dec 9, 2018 15:24:21 GMT -6 Miestrâ Schivâ, UrN said:

Dec 9, 2018 15:17:54 GMT -6 Lüc da Schir said:

If we go by one-MZ-one-vote, we have 23 "seats" in the "convention", 7 RUMP, 8 MRPT, 7 FreeDem and 1 MTGA.

I always intended, and the Túischac'h has said he agrees, that one-MZ-one-vote is the way to go. Don't forget that the King also has a vote if he deigns to use it (I bet he won't and will just be content with vetoing after it's all done, because that's the way our absentee monarch rolls... don't say I didn't try to include him.)

Yeah, I think it makes sense. I forgot about the King too.

As to quorum, there's no quorum in the Cosa or Senäts, why should there be one here?

No idea. I'm supposing, not proposing. Considering the highly unusual nature of the proceedings, I was worried about MZs not turning out to vote.

Watch out for people trying to make sure this convention does nothing. Sabotage.

The fact you said this to me, who already proposed multiple draft amendments that have the support of your government, is an insult to your own intelligence. You're better than that.

[Sir Alexandreu Davinescu]

The rules have not yet been set, and so I am hopeful that the judiciary and SoS will get a vote and that there will be an open call for citizens who want to participate. It seems very weird to me that the process to define anew our whole government is being set up to exclude much of it as well as those that it is formed to serve, and I still want to hear justifications for that. We are not elected delegates to a convention, after all, but elected legislators.

Dec 9, 2018 15:24:21 GMT -6 Miestrâ Schivâ, UrN said:

Dec 9, 2018 15:17:54 GMT -6 Lüc da Schir said:

Watch out for people trying to make sure this convention does nothing. Sabotage.

This is pretty harsh criticism, and I don't think it's warranted. Yes, you guys did propose this whole big process and now refuse to participate except in drips and drabs, but I am sure there's good reasons for it.

[Lüc da Schir]

To be honest, in the absence of legislation regulating this "convention", to me the process feels like a sort of Select Joint Committee of the Ziu, so it's reasonable that MCs + Senators + King get to vote on amendments to a bill they will ultimately have to take a regular vote on. On the other hand, this is a peculiar set of circumstances.