Provincial Referendum

[Deleted]

Citizens,

Below is the final draft of our constitution, approved by the Provincial Chancellery. Polls will open Saturday the 15th through Wednesday the 26th of November at midnight. Please cast your vote of PER or CONTRA.




CONSITUTION OF THE SOVEREIGN PROVINCE OF BENITO

We, the people of Benito, do hereby endorse this constitution for the government of our great Province and do therefore ordain it to be the rule and guide of our government and the guardian of our rights.

The State

Art. 1. The Sovereign Province of Benito is an autonomous and self-governing member of the federal Talossan nation and pledges eternal allegiance to His Royal Majesty, and the Regipäts Talossan.

Art. 2. The name of the state is la Provinçù Soveran da Benito. In English, it is the Sovereign Province of Benito.

Art. 3. The sacred and irremovable territory of the Sovereign Province of Benito shall consist of the cantons of Garibaldi and Mazzini.

Art. 4. The capital of the Province is Garibaldi.

Art. 5. The sole historic and national language of the entire Talossan people, and therefore of the Benitian Province, is the Talossan language (el glhetg Talossan). The Benitian government shall also recognise English as a useful working second language, and may adopt tertiary working languages by law.

Art. 6. The Provincial flag shall be registered with the College of Arms with the blazon, Per fess vert and gules an inescutcheon per tierce vert, argent, and gules fimbriated or in chief a royal crown proper.

The Provincial Chancellery

Art 7. Legislative power in the Sovereign Province of Benito is invested in a Provincial Chancellery. The Provincial Chancellery shall consist of 11 seats filled by representatives of political parties granted legislative seats in the general election.

Art 8. The Provincial Chancellery shall have power to pass any bill into law by a simple majority vote of its members. Voting sessions shall open at the first hour of the first day of each month except during national General Elections. At the dissolution of the Cosa, the Provincial Chancellery will also be dissolved. Seats in the Provincial Chancellery will be redistributed according to the ballots cast in the General Election by citizens of the Province.

Art 9. Members of the Provincial Chancellery shall be known as Chancellors and must participate in each open session of the Chancellery. Failing to vote or abstain in 3 consecutive legislative sessions shall make a Chancellor eligible for removal.

Art 10. A Chancellor may be removed from their seat in the Provincial Chancellery following conviction by the Cort pü Inalt, Dismissal from the Talossan Military, death, incapacitation or failing to vote or abstain in 3 consecutive legislative sessions. Removal shall not be automatic. Following one or more of these incidents, any member of the Provincial Chancellery may present a Writ of Impeachment at the next legislative session which shall clearly state for which of the aforementioned reasons a Chancellor should be removed. The Writ shall be authorized upon receiving a 3/5 majority vote and then presented to the applicable party leader by the Maestro. Political Parties will have until the next session or 30 calendar days, whichever is greater, to fill vacant seats. Any seats left vacant after such time will be turned over to the Viceré for distribution.

The Maestro

Art 11. The Maestro shall be the majority leader in the Provincial Chancellery. He shall have the power to issue proclamations which have the force of law. These proclamations may be appealed or amended as regular laws.

Art 12. A new Maestro may be chosen at any time by a resolution approved by a majority of the Provincial Chancellery, but a resolution electing a new Maestro or continuing the current Maestro in office must be approved by the Provincial Chancellery at least once in every term of the national Cosa. The first order of business of each newly assembled Provincial Chancellery will be to elect a new Maestro from among its members.

Il Viceré

Art 13. The Viceré, or Viceroy is the representative of the King of Talossa, and as such, shall have veto power over all laws of the Chancellery. The Viceré is appointed by the King pursuant to Organic Law.

Art. 14. A veto by the Viceré may be overridden by a 3/5 majority vote of the Provincial Chancellery.

El Representanteu Noval

Art 14. Benito’s delegate to the Senäts shall be known within the Province as el Representanteu Noval and styled “Senator.” The Representanteu Noval shall be selected pursuant to Organic Law.


Distribution of Power

Art 15. So that no conflict of interest may occur, or that no one individual may take over the province in a hostile attempt, no-one may hold more than one of the offices of Maestro, Viceré, or Noval Representanteu simultaneously. The Viceré also may not hold seats in the Provincial Chancellery.

Justice

Art 16. The Cort pü Inalt shall have original jurisdiction to try all cases arising under Benitian law.

Art 17. The Province of Benito reserves the right to form a justice system to meet its needs pursuant to Organic Law.

Amendments

Art 18. This Constitution may be altered by a resolution of the Provincial Chancellery, which must be approved by a referendum of the people attaining the favour of three-fifths of those who vote and promulgated by the Viceré.

[Deleted]

As a private citizen, I cast my vote: PER

A constitution for Benito!

[Flip Molinar]

As a humble member of the great province of Benito, I vote PER on this glorious constitution for our province.

[EM Vürinalt]

Per Per a thousand times PER!

[Bleic'h Ianescu]

Aye, aye, cap'n.
Or minister rather.

[Cresti Caveglhet]

Anche io voto PER

[Deleted]

Nov 18, 2008 21:17:05 GMT -6 Bleic'h Ianescu said:

Aye, aye, cap'n.
Or minister rather.

Just to be clear, is that a vote of "PER?"

[Vit Caçeir]

I apologize for the belatedness of my response; my involvement in a missing member of my community has slowed my actions... everywhere, really.

Before I vote Per, I must ask... is changing the names of the canton really necessary? I understand the intention to "Italianize" the province, but the canton names do hold some sort of purpose. For example, "Riverside" is named after "Riverside Park" which falls within the borders of the canton.

I am not voting against this measure, just questioning whether change for change's sake is absolutely necessary.

[Deleted]

I don't really view it as "change for change sake" simply for this reason...

While Benito has its own unique history, we are turning a page and moving into a new era. This began when we renamed the province "Benito." Since taking over, our government has instituted a few changes which, we thought would focus more on the italian heritage of our Province. In this way, things are just a bit more uniform and orderly.

I understand your concern regarding the renaming of Riverside. I would like to leave you with these assurances, first, our renaming is symbolic of the Italian reunification and thus, I felt appropriate for our brand spanking new constitution. Second, we will preserve the name of Riverside through legislation to ensure that it isn't lost forever.

When a person buys a new home and tears out the old carpet because they want new carpet, we don't say they are changing for the sake of change. I don't mean to imply the level of ownership with which one owns a house by any means. I simply mean to say that the bulk of our Province and names of things and places within our province remains unchanged. The changes that have been made are rather small. We can preserve the integrity of our proud history through legislation so that we can still hold on to the old while embracing the new.

Just my thought.

[Vit Caçeir]

Understandable, and even if, the name change wasn't enough to hold me back from voting in favour anyway.

To make it official, I vote Per.

[Deleted]

I hereby declare the polls closed. By unanimous vote, the referendum has passed and the people of Benito rejoice!

[EM Vürinalt]

Huzzah!

However, I must say one thing- only five people voted...the only five active to semi-active citizens of this Province. Let's get some life going and kindle the fire for Benito!

[EM Vürinalt]

Maestro Asmourescu, what is the current status of this document?

[Flip Molinar]

I have spoken to the king, and he will promlegate it in a week or so I hope.

[Owen Edwards]

Though I might have concerns about my own application of particular words in the document, I find this constitution to be admirable and in accordance with the Organic Law of which we are loving subjects.

And so, by my hand, in King John's name, this day, the 5TH OF MAY 2009, I promulgate this Constitution for the governance of Benito!

Huzzah!