by Max Barry

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Region: The Parliamentary Union of Nations

Nassau-windsor

Libertarian democracy wrote:To the Right Honourable Founder, Nassau-Windsor, LSM:
I hereby request a second seat in Parliament. I do not believe there is a statute against it, and the seat is uncontested as of now. Furthermore, I recommend to my Honourable and Right Honourable colleagues that they too request a second seat so that Parliament is able to dutifully execute the powers and functions vested in it by our Constitution and Laws.

To my Rt. Hon. Friend, Lord Libertarian democracy, Greeting!

I write this message in response to your earlier correspondence regarding the request of another Seat in Parliament.

I am afraid that I cannot determine your request favourably. Please allow me to elaborate on the reasons why.

First, it may well be true that there is no express statute law that prevents the cumulation of an office in this manner. I have looked at the statutes I thought could be relevant (such as the Parliamentary Elections Act and the Electoral Notifications Act). However, I still think that there are some rules that presuppose the rule that no member can hold more than one Seats in a single Session of Parliament.

Section D of Article I of the Constitution reads as follows: "All Members have the right to run of Union Offices". In my interpretation, the office is that of "Member of Parliament". At this moment in time, you already hold the said office, as you were already elected and appointed to serve as MP in this Session. It would be a contradictio in terminis to argue that one could run for an office that one already holds. It is also worth explaining, I think, why it would not be such a contradictio if one candidates oneself for the next Session of Parliament. The office that we now both hold, could be more specifically described as "Member of Parliament for the fifteenth Parliamentary Session". Therefore, we would not already hold that of Member of Parliament for the sixteenth Session, and thus we can be enrolled on the ballot paper for such subsequent terms.

Another point I would like to make is that under the current electoral statute law, a Member of the Region (which, in my eyes should be read as "player" or at the very least "account") cannot be placed on the ballot paper as both an individual candidate and a candidate for a party. Furthermore, if a party receives sufficient votes to hold more seats than it has candidates to fill them, the remaining seats will be distributed amongst others. In other words, they will not be allocated to the party that - some might say - ought to receive them.

I think it is only proper to extend these provisions by analogy to individual members who receive more entitlements to seats than they can fill. Please bear also in mind that if this rule is not accepted, it could theoretically be possible for a single member (player) to hold all Seats in Parliament by himself as an individual candidate.

I understand that there is a serious concern regarding the number of members within the region and the activity of some of them. That is why I have asked questions about this to the Prime Minister. I think I might be able to say that I am as concerned for this region as you are yourself. But changing our constitutional conventions and practices in a way proposed in your request, is in my view not a proper response to the current situation, nor is it a solution for our troubles in the mean time.

If you have any further questions or points regarding this issue, please let me know, and I will do my absolute best to work things out for all of us.

[Signed]

Nassau-windsor

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