"The Standing on His Own Legs" Amendment

[Nic Casálmac'h]

Here as promised is my alternative to Lord Hooligan's 'Commonly Associated Act'. It is more or less a rough draft and comments would be appreciated.

"The Standing on His Own Legs" Amendment

WHEREAS Senators are supposed to be elected on their own merits rather than that of their party;

WHEREAS if a Senator vacates his or her seat before the term is up, the successor should be chosen in the same way;

WHEREAS a Senator is meant to represent his or her province and cannot necessarily do so if appointed by the King rather than elected by the people of the province;

WHEREAS the provinces clearly need to be more active and involved in their own politics;

WHEREAS the election of their Senator is one way this is possible;

THEREFORE 37RZ4 The Commonly Associated Act is hereby repealed and Article IV, section 10 of the Organic Law is hereby amended to read (new text in bold):

Section 10: If a Senator vacates his or her seat before the end of the term, the people of the province he or she represents shall elect a new Senator. This election shall take place at the discretion of the executive officer of the province, but no later than two weeks from the time the seat became vacant. the executive of the province shall appoint a Senator to sit until the next General Election or the next provincial election in that province, whichever is sooner, at which time the people of the province shall elect a Senator to serve the remainder of the term. If a seat becomes vacant during the term of a Senator, the King shall appoint a Senator to fill the remainder of the term. The King must appoint the individual designated to him by the political party with which the outgoing Senator was commonly associated. If this is impossible, the King shall appoint the individual designated to him by the executive officer of the province. If this is impossible, the King shall choose the Senator. If the provincial executive fails to appoint a Senator within a fortnight of the vacancy, the King or his Cunstavál shall appoint the Senator.

Noi urent q'estadra så:

Nic Casálmac’h, Senator

[Xhorxh Asmour]

I'll second that, Nic

[Hooligan]

I suggested to the esteemed authoress of this bill, Senator Casálmac'h, that the requirement for a provincial election be dropped and that the executive of the province (if it is organized to have one), who has been elected indirectly by the citizens of the province, be the first recourse.

Secondly, I suggest that if my first suggestion is deemed good, the appointment of a replacement Senator would be on an interim basis until the next general election, when the province would elect a Senator to fill the rest of the unexpired term.

Oh, and thirdly, this act (or some other) would need to include a provision repealing 37RZ4 before it is sent to the people for ratification, as this act and that act modify the same provision of Organic Law in two different ways, and we wouldn't want to risk both of them being ratified because then who knows what the people would really be saying?

Comments on these three suggestions are welcome!

Hooligan

[Nic Casálmac'h]

I am in full agreement with these suggestions and I have modified the proposal accordingly.

that the executive of the province (if it is organized to have one)

What if it isn't? Should the King just choose the Senator as I have it now? Or should there be some other alternative between?

[Sir C. M. Siervicül]

You missed the bit about only filling the unexpired term (to eliminate any question about whether a new senator elected by the people of the province would naturally be elected to a full term, thereby upsetting the rotation of seats). So instead of "the executive of the province shall appoint a Senator to sit until the next General Elections at which time the people of the province shall elect a Senator," maybe "the executive of the province shall appoint a Senator to sit until the next General Elections at which time the people of the province shall elect a Senator to serve the remainder of the term." Since we're looking at unshackling provincial elections, you might even say "until the next general election or the next provincial election in that province, whichever is sooner, at which time. . . ." If a Senator should (God forbid) kick the bucket just after being elected, and there's a provincial election coming up in that province in two months, you might as well allow the people of the province to elect someone to fill the remainder of the term in two months rather than making them wait six.

Looking at this stuff makes me think about how we'd be able to cut a whole bunch of fluff out of the OrgLaw if we took a page from the United States and just said something like "The Senäts, or in English the Senate, is the national legislative council and the upper house of the Ziu, and shall be composed of one Senator selected from each province, in the manner specified by each province's constitution." That'd give the provinces an incentive to enact constitutions.

[Nic Casálmac'h]

Oops I forgot to put that in. Thanks for pointing that out.

until the next general election or the next provincial election in that province, whichever is sooner, at which time

That is a good idea.

[Hooligan]

Senator Casálmac'h asked a good question about what should be done if a province has NO leader that has been elected by the legislature (that is, its Premier by whatever name, to whom this recommending power is given). This could be because the province has no constitution (and therefore the Cunstaval provides government for the King there), or -- and this needs to be taken into consideration -- it could be because the office is vacant.

For example, not a single one of the seven provinces have seen its provincial assembly meet yet this Cosâ. And the assembly, of course, as its first order of business, elects a Premier. So at this point in time, I don't think a single one of them have a Premier. (As an aside, it is not clear to me whether a Premier elected in one Cosâ retains office in his province when the next Cosâ begins, until a successor is chosen; the fact that the provincial assembly is dissolved makes me wonder if a Premier only holds office during the seating of the assembly that elects him.)

My belief is that in these cases, the bill is correct to let the King act to fill the vacant Senate seat without recommendation (again on an interim basis, until the next scheduled election at which the people of the province are called to vote).

Some time limit should probably also be set for the recommendation, for if it happens that a Premier sits on his or her hands and fails to deliver a recommendation, or cannot be contacted, for -- say -- ten days or so, then too I believe the King should get to depend upon his own counsel and fill the seat without waiting any longer for the recalcitrant Premier.

Hooligan

[Sir Alexandreu Davinescu]

We need some major reforms of the provincial law as a whole. I intend to look closely at it and begin brainstorming.

[Sir C. M. Siervicül]

mha said:

Some time limit should probably also be set for the recommendation, for if it happens that a Premier sits on his or her hands and fails to deliver a recommendation, or cannot be contacted, for -- say -- ten days or so, then too I believe the King should get to depend upon his own counsel and fill the seat without waiting any longer for the recalcitrant Premier.

Instead of "if this is impossible, the King shall choose the Senator," how about something like "if the provincial executive fails to appoint a Senator within a fortnight of the vacancy, the King shall choose the Senator"? Maybe even "the King or his Cunstavál."

agbdavis said:

We need some major reforms of the provincial law as a whole. I intend to look closely at it and begin brainstorming.

Take a look at the unshackling act ("Please! Release me!") currently in the Hopper.

[Nic Casálmac'h]

siervicul said:

mha said:

Some time limit should probably also be set for the recommendation, for if it happens that a Premier sits on his or her hands and fails to deliver a recommendation, or cannot be contacted, for -- say -- ten days or so, then too I believe the King should get to depend upon his own counsel and fill the seat without waiting any longer for the recalcitrant Premier.

Instead of "if this is impossible, the King shall choose the Senator," how about something like "if the provincial executive fails to appoint a Senator within a fortnight of the vacancy, the King shall choose the Senator"? Maybe even "the King or his Cunstavál."

That's a good idea. You've got lots of those. Any others?

[Nic Casálmac'h]

Mr. Secretary of State, I would like to ask that this bill be submitted for consideration on the Clark. Thank you.