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by The WA Delegate of Rayekka. . 120 reads.

Progressive Parliament Political Party | The Reform | ARCHIVE


"The Reform" is the political reform that Progressive Parliament aims to achieve in Thaecia. This reform involves a massive reworking of the constitution as shown below.
Please note that this proposed constitution is not final and subject to change.
Any changes are highlighted in bold.


FOURTH CONSTITUTION OF THAECIA PROPOSAL

Article I - The Executive Branch
  • Section I - The Executive Branch shall be headed by the President who shall serve as Thaecian Head of State and World Assembly Delegate. As Head of State, the President shall have all regional powers, however should only use these with permission from the Government or House of Commons. The President shall serve as Thaecia's primary representative to the World Assembly.

    • Sub-section I - If a citizen acquires more endorsements than the President, they may be ejected to preserve the power of the President to be the WA Delegate.

    • Sub-section II - The President, as WA delegate, has the power to sponsor and propose World Assembly legislation.

  • Section II - The President is responsible for the State Opening and Closure of Congress. The President has the responsibility of signing off any legislation before it becomes law. The President must sign a bill within fifteen days, otherwise it will automatically be signed. The President has the power to veto any legislation that does not receive two thirds majority backing, not including abstain votes, in the House of Commons.

  • Section III - The President is responsible for appointing a Prime Minister who will serve as Head of Government. The MP he appoints must have been recommended by the leading party/coalition in the House of Commons. The President must inform the Speaker of the House of Commons who they have appointed. The Prime Minister must then win a confidence vote in the House of Commons through a majority of at least 50%+1 votes in favour, where abstention will not be counted as a vote.

  • Section IV - The Prime Minister serves as Head of Government and selects a Cabinet. The Cabinet must consist of elected members of the House of Commons. The Prime Minister is free to create, close and change Ministries, however, the Cabinet shall at least be composed of a Ministry tasked with Foreign Affairs, a Ministry tasked with Domestic Affairs, and a Ministry tasked with Legal Affairs. The amount of Ministry's a Cabinet can have is limited at 8. Other non-Cabinet Departments can be created by the Prime Minister that do not have to elected Members of Parliament as the Head of Department. Any Ministry creation, change or closure must be approved by the President. The Prime Minister has the right to unilaterally appoint and dismiss Ministers of State.

    • Sub-section III - The Prime Minister shall be granted with full regional powers. The Prime Minister chooses, upon the creation of a Ministry, what regional powers the Minister in charge of the department shall be granted with.

  • Section V - The President can be impeached when the House of Commons acknowledges the impeachable offenses as is decreed by law, this by a two third majority vote in the House of Commons, followed by a two third majority vote in the Senate to impeach the President from office, following immediate election for the vacant seat of the Presidency. During this time, the Presidency shall remain vacant.

    • Sub-section IV - Should the President be found to not be completing their duties through inactivity or refusal to do so, after 10 days, it shall be deemed an impeachable offence.

  • Section VI - The President has the legal power to ban in the event of a regional emergency. The Cabinet must give its consent to the President before this action is taken. The Court has the power to overturn this decision, provided there was no regional emergency.

  • Section VII - The Prime Minister and any other ministers the Prime Minister delegates the power to have the power to sign inter-regional pacts and treaties and the Prime Minister has the power to withdraw from inter-regional pacts and treaties once they've been ratified. Both these actions require Congressional approval in the form of a simple majority vote in the House of Commons.

  • Section VIII - The Prime Minister can only be impeached by a vote of no confidence held in the House of Commons where if a majority of at least 50%+1 votes in favour, when abstentions are not be counted as votes, the Prime Minister must resign. This triggers a 10 day period where a new Prime Minister, who is appointed by the President, must have a successful confidence vote. If 10 days pass and no Prime Minister has gained the confidence of the House, a House of Commons election is called. After any House of Commons election, a Government must be formed within 10 days. Should no Government be formed, the President can extend the deadline by up to a maximum of 10 days. When this deadline is reached, a snap House of Commons election shall be held. Votes on no confidence in the Prime Minister are capped to once every 30 days.

  • Section IX - No ruling body is required in the Senate after an election. A Senate snap election can be called by either, the President calling for one and receiving approval from the House of Commons through a vote where a majority of at least 50%+1 votes are in favour, when abstentions are not be counted as votes. Or, the House of Commons passes a Senate Snap Election motion with a two thirds majority vote. The President can not call a House of Commons election.

  • Section X - The Roleplay Secretary shall serve as Head of Roleplay and run the Roleplay. They shall be exempt from the cabinet. The Prime Minister reserves the right to appoint and fire the Roleplay Secretary. After appointed the Roleplay Secretary shall then go to a confirmation vote within the Thaecian Roleplay, organised by the Electoral Commissioner. Only thaecian citizens who have been officially roleplayers as per the procedures of the Roleplay Secretary shall be allowed to vote on this confirmation vote. Should a Roleplay Secretary confirmation vote occur during an RP reset, those who were in the Roleplay at the point of reset shall have the right to vote. The Roleplay Secretary does not have to be an elected Member of Parliament.

Article II - The Legislative Branch

  • Section I - The Legislative branch of government, also known as congress, shall be a bicameral legislative. The lower chamber shall be called the House of Commons and shall consist of at least fourteen members of parliament (MPs). The upper chamber shall be called the Senate and shall consist of at least five senators. In order to expand the number of seats in either chamber, two thirds of both chambers and region, in the form of a referendum, must approve the expansion. Any House of Commons expansion must result in an even number. Any Senate expansion must result in an odd number and the number of seats cannot surpass 60% of the size of the House of Commons.

  • Section II - Bills can only be drafted and proposed in the House of Commons. A bill must first achieve a majority of the House of Commons support, before it goes to the Senate where it needs to reach a majority. If it fails to reach a majority in the Senate, it will be sent back to the House of Commons to be amended or scrapped. If the bill does command support of the Senate, it will become law once signed by the President. The Senate cannot draft or propose legislation, instead they are responsible for checking any legislation passed by the House and amending it if necessary.

    • Sub-Section I - A majority shall be defined as:

      1. a simple majority: a majority of at least 50%+1 votes in favour, where abstention will not be counted as a vote.

      2. a two third majority: a majority of at least two thirds of votes in favour, where abstention will not be counted as a vote.

  • Section III - At the start of each term, before any government is formed, the House of Commons must hold a Speaker election. The Speaker of the House of Commons is elected through a vote held by the Electoral Commissioner in the House of Commons. Candidates must put their name forward to the Electoral Commission and candidates are eliminated in a succession of votes until one Candidate achieves a majority. The Speaker must then leave their political party and sits as a neutral, independent and unbiased figure. The role of the Speaker is to run Parliamentary business and work with the Government to set House Agenda.

    • Sub-section I - In the event where successive House of Commons snap elections are held due to no government being formed, Speaker elections do not need to be repeated unless the Speaker loses their seat in the election.

    • Sub-section II - During election campaigns, the Speaker may rejoin their party to run for re-election.

    • Sub-section III - The Speaker is forbidden from serving in Government or any other role in legislative or executive.

  • Section IV - The House of Commons will be lead by the ruling party/coalition who is headed by the Prime Minister, as appointed by the President and a confidence vote. The leader of the largest opposition party/coalition shall be known as Leader of the Opposition. The Speaker of the House of Commons may be removed through a vote of no confidence by the House. These shall be held by the Electoral Commission and in the result where a majority is reached, the Speaker will be removed and a Speaker election triggered.

  • Section V - The Senate will be lead by a party/coalition that is controls greater than half of the total number of seats in that chamber. The Senate Chairman must be elected by a simple majority vote by Senators. Parties can only put forward one candidate for the chambers leadership elections. In the event where no candidate received more than 50% of the votes, a run-off is held between the two candidates who received the most votes. The Senate leadership election shall be officiated by the Electoral Commissioner.

  • Section IV - The Senate Chairman can be removed by a 'constructive vote of no confidence'. The constructive motion can be initiated with the support of at least one third of members of the Senate. The debate and voting on the motion shall be presided by the Electoral Commissioner. The motion must receive a simple majority of the Senate, and at least two third of Senators must have cast a vote. A constructive vote of no-confidence shall be capped at one every 60 days for the Senate.

    • Sub-section IV - a constructive vote of no confidence: a motion where a replacement (coalition) for a certain function is already present and nominated in the motion. It fuses both the 'vote of no confidence' as the 'election' afterwards in one vote. When both motions require the same type of majority.

Article III - The Judicial Branch
  • Section I - The Judicial Branch will be composed of the High Court, which itself will be composed of three justices: the chief justice and two associate justices.

    • Sub-section I - Justices shall be nominated by the President following a Confirmation vote in the Senate with a majority vote. Amongst themselves they shall elect one Chief Justice in Conclave.

    • Sub-section II - The court is under no obligation to accept every case which is filed before it.

    • Sub-section III - The court can review criminal charges - where a law has been violated, civil lawsuits - where one resident sues another, or constitutional challenges - where a law or action violates a portion of this document. The court is the only body which can approve a revocation of citizenship.

    • Sub-section IV - The justices on the court shall give their opinions on a case, and the opinion (for example, whether a bill is constitutional or not) with the most votes from the justices shall be the ruling. The opinion considered of the highest quality by the justices will be the majority opinion, and the justices which support it will be listed as assenting justices; the justices who disagree shall be listed as dissenting justices.

    • Sub-section V - Justices have no term limits and their tenures end when they are impeached or resign.

    • Sub-section VI - The Court has the power to unban someone.

  • Section II - If a Justice ceases to exist, they lose their Justice position. If they are revived, they may be nominated again, but do not automatically regain their position as Justice.

  • Section III - The Legislature shall be entitled to create more judicial courts or chambers, these courts created by law shall be lower courts, of which the High Court shall be deemed as the supreme judicial authority.

Article IV - Constitutional Amendments
  • Section I - The Constitution can be amended by a bill originating in the House of Commons. The legislation must receive two thirds support in each chamber. Afterwards, the amendment shall go to a regional vote where 3/5ths approval must be achieved.

Article V - Supremacy
  • Section I - The Constitution is bears the greatest legal authority in the region - all legislation, treaties, et cetera shall be considered less powerful and if they violate this constitution, they should be struck down by the High Court.

Article VI - Citizenship
  • To be a citizen, residents must be in the World Assembly (WA). This requirement may be bypassed by sending the Prime Minister, President or Home Affairs Minister a telegram from a nation in the WA confirming the non-WA resident is a puppet of the WA nation elsewhere. The waiver may also be revoked by the Justice Ministry, which can be challenged in court if the person whose waiver was revoked feels it was wrong or unjust. One person may have no more than 1 nation as a citizen in this region.

Article VII - Rights
  • Section I - All residents are guaranteed the following liberties without government interference:

    • The right to speak their mind, provided this does not breach NS rules.

    • The right to form or join a political party.

    • The right to challenge the government, by means such as no confidence votes and court cases.

    • The right to run for public office, provided they are citizens.

    • The right to a due process and a fair and free trial.

    • The right to be a part of regional media.

    • The right to run and vote in elections, provided that they are a citizen.

    • The right to personal privacy.

Article VIII - Elections
  • Section I - Elections shall be held for the Senate, the House of Commons, and the Presidency.

  • Section II - Elections for the House of Commons shall be every three months; elections for the Senate and Presidency shall be scheduled for every six months, regardless of if a snap election takes place.

  • Section III - Voting for President shall be held using the Immediate Runoff Voting (Alternate Vote) system. Voting for the House of Commons and Senate shall be held using the Singular Transferable Vote system. Each political party with 5 or more registered members who are Thaecian citizens shall be allowed to register to be added to the ballot. Independents who are Thaecian citizens shall be allowed to register to be added to the ballot. The Electoral Commissioner shall be given the task of organising this process.

  • Section V - If there is no clear successor (e.g. a deputy), an snap election shall be held for elected posts.

  • Section VI - Should a Congressperson be recalled or resign, a Snap Election shall be held to fill the vacant seat.

The WA Delegate of Rayekka

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