We are working on a brand new version of the game! If you want to stay informed, read our blog and register for our mailing list.
Bill: Speaker of the House Act of 2885
Details
Submitted by[?]: House Lusk-Nat'l Syndicalist Party (UM)
Status[?]: defeated
Votes: This bill is a resolution. It requires more yes votes than no votes. This bill will not pass any sooner than the deadline.
Voting deadline: May 2886
Description[?]:
| Given the difficulty in the election of the speaker of the house under the current system, we would like to propose an amendment. This act completely supercedes the previous act of 2882 ( http://classic.particracy.net/viewbill.php?billid=277597 ) I. The Speaker of the House is the presiding officer of the legislature, serving a ten-year term and being responsible for record-keeping of the transactions and proceedings of the legislature. The Speaker of the House represents the legislature at cabinet meetings. II. When the current Speaker has a single year left on his term, parties shall be invited to propose a nominee. Each party may put forth one nominee, who must be a sitting member of the legislature and not have previously served as speaker of the house. The period of nomination shall not exceed eight months. III. After the nomination period is completed, each party shall have eight months to cast a ballot. Each ballot shall rank all the nominees by preference, with the parties own nominee, if one has been put forth, excluded. The ballot shall be registered by a reading of the list of preferences to the House. No party, having failed to put forth a nominee, shall be denied a ballot. The ballots shall be counted according to instant runoff voting. |
Proposals
Debate
These messages have been posted to debate on this bill:
| Date | 21:43:18, January 26, 2010 CET | From |  House Lusk-Nat'l Syndicalist Party (UM) | To | Debating the Speaker of the House Act of 2885 |
| Message | Comment appreciated, but keep in mind that it may be easier to amend than to change this as it stands-- the oft-proposed amendment to make the Speaker legally nonpartisan would be a good example of something that would be better proposed in a separate act. |
| Date | 10:24:29, January 28, 2010 CET | From | Conservative-Libertarian Party (UM) | To | Debating the Speaker of the House Act of 2885 |
| Message | Re Article I - Mr Speaker, the office of Speaker and the position of Head of Government should never be joined, in any circumstances. This misinterprets the role of the office of Speaker. The Speaker is very much the spokesman and representative of the legislature, not of the government. It would undermine the principle of a government and an opposition were the imartial adjudicator suddenly to find himself leading the government. To whom then, would backbench MPs look to to uphold their parliamentary rights? The matter of appointing a Head of Government is very much a matter for parliament, based on the current principles, remembering that the office of Prime Minister is pretty much a "first among equals". Re Article II - Mr Speaker, I would like to see the period of nomination extended to eight months, in the same way that voting on a bill gives eight months. Re Article III - Again, we believe this length of time should be eight months. Mr Speaker, rather than putting all of one's choices down, can I suggest that it should be the first and second choices only, to make it a slightly easier process. Furthermore, Mr Speaker, I do not believe that the Lord Great Chamberlain should have any role in this whatsoever, for a couple of reasons. It links one particular political party to conducting Speakership elections, which should not be the case. It is a parliamentary affair, and as the Lord Great Chamberlain is barred from sitting in parliament, his role would not be welcomed - we would not, Mr Speaker, thank the monarch for interfering in parliamentary business. Furthermore, should the Lord Great Chamberlain or the NSP ever become incapacitated, then the election of Speaker cannot occur until legislation has been changed. This should be an open process, Mr Speaker, with parites casting their votes publicly. It will then be obvious as to which candidate has the most votes and is entitled to the office of Speaker. |
| Date | 21:23:51, January 28, 2010 CET | From | House Lusk-Nat'l Syndicalist Party (UM) | To | Debating the Speaker of the House Act of 2885 |
| Message | Mr Speaker, we have made the amendments to this bill as suggested by the CLP. |
| Date | 14:12:12, January 29, 2010 CET | From | Conservative-Libertarian Party (UM) | To | Debating the Speaker of the House Act of 2885 |
| Message | Mr Speaker, I do not believe that the Speaker has a right to attend government meetings. The Speaker is simply the presiding officer of the legislature and its public representative, upholding the rights of parliamentarians in the debating chamber. This does not confer upon him a right to sit in government meetings, although it does give him a right to call ministers to parliament to fully and comprehensively explain their actions. |
subscribe to this discussion - unsubscribe
Voting
| Vote | Seats | |||||
| yes | Total Seats: 74 | |||||
| no |
Total Seats: 289 | |||||
| abstain | Total Seats: 28 |
| Random fact: When it comes to creating a Cultural Protocol in a Culturally Open nation, players are not necessarily required to provide a plausible backstory for how the nation's cultural background developed. However, the provision of a plausible backstory may be a factor in whether Moderation approves the Cultural Protocol if players in surrounding nations question its appropriateness for their region of the game map. |
| Random quote: "If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator." - George W. Bush |