Opening of Senate business for the 54th Cosa

[Lüc da Schir]

Esteemed colleagues, I am pleased to once again open a new term of the Senate. Congratulations to the Senator for Fiovâ, who was reelected to this house, and to the newly elected Senators for Cézembre, Florencia and Maricopa - two of which are complete freshmen to the Ziu and whom I heartily welcome to these chambers, with the hope that they might stay with us for a long time.

A further word concerning the unique situation of the Senator-elect for Cézembre is in order. My interpretation of the Standing Rules and of the law is that the Senator is only barred from "voting", and therefore can take part in the nomination process. However, should a vote on the nomination be necessary, I'm afraid the Senator will not be able to cast a vote. This should be treated as a ruling from the Chair.

Furthermore, I have to acquaint my colleagues that I am still reviewing the possibility on invoking Rule 3 in this case. By invoking Rule 3, the Senator-elect for Cézembre would effectively not be seated until March, and therefore arguably not lose his seat due to not voting, as she never was seated in the first place. This is because, according to Rule 3, a Senator-elect is technically not considered to be seated until "his or her first floor vote has been recorded"; and until such a vote is cast, a ruling of ineligibility would cause the Senator-elect not to assume his seat. The hope is that this is sufficient to thwart the Organic provision that she should lose a seat that he doesn't actually sit on.

Naturally, I will have no reason to take action should the Powers That Be find another way to save Senator Merþedes's seat, but I just figured that the Senate should be advised about the tools that the Senate itself has at its disposal.

The order paper for this month can be found here.

The first order of business of the new Senate is the election of a Mençei. I direct your attention to the appropriate thread.

(The floor is open should anyone wish to speak, and I would encourage my colleagues to make their opinions heard on the Rule 3 possibility.)

[Açafat del Val]

Standing Rule 3 | Questions of Eligibility

1. Questions over the eligibility of members of the Senate shall always be in order; and the Mençei, either of his or her own accord or acting on a petition from another Senator or the Secretary of State, shall rule on any issues of eligibility of a member of the Senate, a Senator-elect or a Senator-designate, in accordance to the law. Such a ruling can be overturned by a majority of the Senate.

2. Should a Senator be ruled ineligible to hold his or her seat, he or she shall be barred from voting on any matter laid before the Senate, and his or her attendance not counted for the purpose of ascertaining the presence of a quorum, until such time as a majority of the Senate rules that the issue of eligibility is resolved.

3. Should a Senator-elect or a Senator-designate be ruled ineligible to assume his or her seat before his or her first floor vote has been recorded, he or she shall not be seated, until such time as a majority of the Senate rules that the issue of eligibility is resolved.

Speaking for myself, I do not question the eligibility of our honorable friend Amada Merþedes; I resolve that she is a bona fide and duly elected member for the province of Cézembre, and her mandate violates no necessary qualification. By extension of that logic, this house lacks the power to bar her from voting (edit: and thus also lacks the power to prevent her from being seated).

However, the Organic Law supersedes us and does prevent her from voting until March 26.

I argue that she must be seated but may not vote; and that, when she will have failed to vote on two consecutive Clarks, either in February or in March, we must take up the issue at that time and not sooner... unless a more able organ of the State (say, the Government or the Corts) has begun adjudication already.