Post by kri on Jan 27, 2005 22:20:36 GMT -6
Azul, citizens of Talossa's seven provinces!
We are now just a little more than two weeks away from the renaissance of provincial government in Talossa. The referendum on provincial government reform appears to be passing by a very large margin, which means that all seven Talossan provinces will have their own elected assemblies and the Prime Minister (whoever that may be) will be called upon to appoint heads of government in the various provinces.
Which raises the question: What are these assemblies and heads of government to be called?
I spent a good part of today delving into the national archives to answer these questions. The names of provincial institutions are, for the most part, governed either by law or tradition.
In Atatürk province, the provincial constitution (which I think was suspended, given that a Military Governor was appointed some years back) mandates that the provincial parliament should be called the House of Commons, and the head of government, the Premier.
In Vuode, the only province with a consistently functional provincial government ('consistently functional' by Talossan standards, that is!), the existing constitution calls the legislature the States General, and the head of government, the Premier.
In Mussolini Province, the existing constitution (which is blatantly inorganic and undemocratic) makes the province a one-party state with a 100-year term of office for the head of government, the Maestro. And it does not provide at all for a provincial legislature. The earlier constitution, which it replaced, had a democratically elected legislature called the Corporative Chamber, and a head of government known as the Duce. All these names and terms are available for consideration by the soon-to-be-elected Mussolini provincial assembly. (Incidentally, the Mussolini situation is shaping up to be exceptionally complicated, and will all come down to the vote or non-vote of Alberto Manassero... currently the ZPT and Tom Buffone's TLFN party are splitting the vote evenly for the provincial assembly!)
Maricopa Province may or may not have its own constitution. There is no such document in the archives. The earlier draft document, never formally adopted, establishes the Legislative Assembly and a Chieftain (Talossan: Mençéi) to oversee it.
Maritiimi-Maxhestic has no tradition of legislative government. From the earliest days, its constitution has defined the province as an "elective autocracy" with executive/legislative power vested in an elected Grand General Secretary. Some other name will have to be chosen for the new provincial legislature. ("Reichstag"?)
Cézembre has a constitution, evidently written by Evan Gallagher (of Penguinea fame) in May of 1997. No copy of it exists in the national archives, so the terms it uses for legislative and executive offices are unknown. I remember them being silly, however. The previous constitution named the legislature the États de Cézembre and the head of government, the Sénéchal. Both terms are deeply rooted in the Norman-French culture of the region in which Cézembre is located, and were approved by the province's founder, Frédéric Maugey.
Finally, we have Florencia. The existing constitution calls for a bicameral legislature (soon to be scrapped) called the Nimlet. (It was made up of two houses, the House of Shepherds and the House of Sheep.) The new provincial government will have these names to build on. And the local head of government is called, in American fashion, the Governor.
In short, each province will be able to determine the names of its own institutions. The Organic Law does provide for some federal intervention in this department, to prevent transient majorities from imposing goofy, ridiculous, and non-historical institution names on the country's provinces. But I for one am eager to see what the new elected assemblies do!
BTW, in Vuode, assuming the RV/VIP ticket is elected, you can rest assured that the titles "Premier" and "States General" will be preserved. Tradition!
Ben
We are now just a little more than two weeks away from the renaissance of provincial government in Talossa. The referendum on provincial government reform appears to be passing by a very large margin, which means that all seven Talossan provinces will have their own elected assemblies and the Prime Minister (whoever that may be) will be called upon to appoint heads of government in the various provinces.
Which raises the question: What are these assemblies and heads of government to be called?
I spent a good part of today delving into the national archives to answer these questions. The names of provincial institutions are, for the most part, governed either by law or tradition.
In Atatürk province, the provincial constitution (which I think was suspended, given that a Military Governor was appointed some years back) mandates that the provincial parliament should be called the House of Commons, and the head of government, the Premier.
In Vuode, the only province with a consistently functional provincial government ('consistently functional' by Talossan standards, that is!), the existing constitution calls the legislature the States General, and the head of government, the Premier.
In Mussolini Province, the existing constitution (which is blatantly inorganic and undemocratic) makes the province a one-party state with a 100-year term of office for the head of government, the Maestro. And it does not provide at all for a provincial legislature. The earlier constitution, which it replaced, had a democratically elected legislature called the Corporative Chamber, and a head of government known as the Duce. All these names and terms are available for consideration by the soon-to-be-elected Mussolini provincial assembly. (Incidentally, the Mussolini situation is shaping up to be exceptionally complicated, and will all come down to the vote or non-vote of Alberto Manassero... currently the ZPT and Tom Buffone's TLFN party are splitting the vote evenly for the provincial assembly!)
Maricopa Province may or may not have its own constitution. There is no such document in the archives. The earlier draft document, never formally adopted, establishes the Legislative Assembly and a Chieftain (Talossan: Mençéi) to oversee it.
Maritiimi-Maxhestic has no tradition of legislative government. From the earliest days, its constitution has defined the province as an "elective autocracy" with executive/legislative power vested in an elected Grand General Secretary. Some other name will have to be chosen for the new provincial legislature. ("Reichstag"?)
Cézembre has a constitution, evidently written by Evan Gallagher (of Penguinea fame) in May of 1997. No copy of it exists in the national archives, so the terms it uses for legislative and executive offices are unknown. I remember them being silly, however. The previous constitution named the legislature the États de Cézembre and the head of government, the Sénéchal. Both terms are deeply rooted in the Norman-French culture of the region in which Cézembre is located, and were approved by the province's founder, Frédéric Maugey.
Finally, we have Florencia. The existing constitution calls for a bicameral legislature (soon to be scrapped) called the Nimlet. (It was made up of two houses, the House of Shepherds and the House of Sheep.) The new provincial government will have these names to build on. And the local head of government is called, in American fashion, the Governor.
In short, each province will be able to determine the names of its own institutions. The Organic Law does provide for some federal intervention in this department, to prevent transient majorities from imposing goofy, ridiculous, and non-historical institution names on the country's provinces. But I for one am eager to see what the new elected assemblies do!
BTW, in Vuode, assuming the RV/VIP ticket is elected, you can rest assured that the titles "Premier" and "States General" will be preserved. Tradition!
Ben
