SO 2017-63 Motion to Convene an Extraordinary Constitutional Convention

 
IN LIGHT of various changes to the law concerning the Amendment of the Constitution of the Union;
CONSIDERING the number of Constitutional Amendments agreed to before such changes that were unanimously agreed to in Parliament and in the community at large after substantial debate amongst and reflection by all active participants in Union activities, but that were ultimately defeated due to a lack of sufficient quorum of active voters amongst the Union population;
BELIEVING that after nearly two years of existence as a region, during which much has changed on NationStates at large and in the community more specifically, there is a need to comprehensively review the fundamentals of our democracy, and judge collectively as to whether our Constitution as it currently stands accurately reflects the principles and values of our Union; and
WE MOVE, as the Parliament of the Union, as follows;-
 
Article 1
There will be a temporary Commission of Parliament called “Extraordinary Constitutional Convention” (hereafter referred to as “ECC”), which will operate under the guidelines set out in this Motion, being chaired by the Minister of Jurisprudence.
 
Article 2
The Minister of Jurisprudence will be a member of the ECC, as will two (2) other members of the Cabinet, elected by the latter as Cabinet Representatives; three (3) members of the ECC will be elected by the Parliament as Parliamentary Representatives, and the citizenship at large will also elect three (3) members of the ECC as Citizen’s Representatives. The Founder, President, and Prime Minister will also be members if they are not so as elected representatives, but in that case they shall have no vote in the ECC.
 
Article 3
The election of Cabinet Representatives will be overseen by the Prime Minister, the election of Parliamentary Representatives will be overseen by the Chair of Parliament, and the election of Citizen’s Representatives will be overseen by the Founder.
 
Article 4
On the first day after the passage of this Motion, the Prime Minister, Chair of Parliament, and Founder will open nominations for the elections of Cabinet, Parliamentary, and Citizen’s Representatives respectively.

Article 5
The elections of Cabinet, Parliamentary, and Citizen’s Representatives will be held under the Single Non-Transferable Vote system, and if a there a relevant tie, the nation(s) with the longest permanent residence in the region are preferred.
 
Article 6
Nominations for Cabinet Representatives will close on the second day after the passage of this Motion, and the election of the two (2) Cabinet Representatives will be held on the second and third days after the passage of this Motion, the electorate being composed of all those nations holding a Cabinet post at the opening of the polls on the forum and residing in the Union’s region on NationStates throughout the election. The results will be declared immediately following the close of the polls.
 
Article 7
Nominations for Parliamentary Representatives will close on the fourth day after the passage of this Motion, and the election of the three (3) Parliamentary Representatives will be held on the fourth and fifth days after the passage of this Motion, the electorate being composed of all those nations holding a seat in Parliament at the opening of the polls on the forum and residing in the Union’s region on NationStates throughout the election. The results will be declared immediately following the close of the polls.
 
Article 8
Nominations for Citizen’s Representatives will close on the sixth day after the passage of this Motion, and the election of the three (3) Citizen’s Representatives will be held on the sixth and seventh days after the passage of this Motion, the electorate being composed of all those nations residing in the Union’s region on NationStates throughout the election, held on the regional page. The results will be declared immediately following the close of the polls.
 
Article 9
The ECC will assemble on the eighth day after the passage of this Motion, and it will have a designated topic created for it by the Chair of Parliament in the Parliament’s section on the forum.
 
Article 10
On the first through fifth days of the ECC, members of the ECC may table Proposals to Amend the Constitution of the Union (hereafter referred to as proposals), which will be individually reviewed and debated following.
 
Article 11
From the sixths day of the ECC on, the Chair of the ECC will set its agenda, but he may not schedule the simultaneous debate of more than one item at a time, and the time allocated to the debate of an item may not exceed five days in total. The ECC will review and debate all Constitutional Amendments previously proposed to Parliament throughout the history of the Union, as well as those Proposals to Amend the Constitution of the Union tabled during the ECC as per Article 10 of this Motion, as individual items.
 
Article 12
The Committees of Parliament will have three weeks from the opening of the ECC to review each of the items on the agenda of the ECC, at the end of which they will report to the ECC as to the effect of each item on the area of regional administration that is their purview.
 
Article 13
After each item has been reviewed and debated by the ECC, and at least three weeks following the opening of the ECC, the Chair of the ECC will schedule a simultaneous vote on all items that will last for five days, in which the voting members of the ECC may vote in favor, in opposition, or in abstention on each item.
 
Article 14
With the aid of the Chair of Parliament, the Chair of the ECC will prepare a Constitutional Amendment to introduce to Parliament which includes all the provisions of those items that garnered the votes in favor of at least one (1) Cabinet, Parliamentary, and Citizen’s Representative each and at least two thirds of the voting members of the ECC.
 
Article 15
Following the introduction of that Constitutional Amendment to Parliament, the Chair of the ECC will dissolve the ECC, at which point it will cease to exist as a Commission of Parliament.


August 23, 2017
The Rt. Hon. Prime Minister Abdoa, MP LSM GSM
The Rt. Hon. Minister of Jurisprudence Libertarian Democracy, MP LSM GSM
The Hon. Aralunya, MP LSM

Debate scheduled August 24-27, 2017

Seeing no major topics of debate in the Drafting Table, I hereby table a Motion to Pass to a Vote.

I second the Motion to Pass to a Vote.

I second the motion.

The debate is hereby suspended: please go vote in the Voting Chamber.