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February 2019 Update

New Delegate Elected
By Ministry Member North Prarie

On Friday, January 18th, Erinor (known offsite as Seraph), won the election for Delegate of the South Pacific by a 40 vote margin over a newer face on the political scene, Beepee. Erinor provided the South Pacific with great leadership in his first term, which took place from January to July of 2018, leading TSP to many advancements in areas such as communications, the World Assembly, and Delegate approachability, to levels unseen to that scale before. With the assistance of a strong WA Initiative effort and the support of our amazing allies, Erinor took the gameside delegacy of the South Pacific at major update on January 31st.

Please congratulate and wish luck to our new Delegate!

Amerion’s Assembly Account
By Chair of the Assembly Amerion

Chair of the South Pacific’s legislature, Amerion presents a few highlights of the numerous discussions currently ongoing in the Assembly.

Minister presents embassy proposals to the Assembly

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, His Llamalency, the Right Honourable Somyrion recently presented to the Assembly the Ministry's proposals for embassies with the Frozen Realm of Wintreath and the South Pacific.

These proposals represent a shift in how foreign relations are conducted, with embassy requests having previously been under the exclusive purview of the Minister. In a statement before Legislators in the appropriately named Legislators Lounge, the Minister elaborated on his new approach, stating:

'I dislike the fact that gameside embassies have been in the past treated as something like consulates, of no real consequence other than as a side order of a treaty or event, where the minister can just decide on them, even though they matter a lot more to gamesiders on the RMB. And they provide a handy half-step between a consulate and an alliance, so our FA outlook isn’t just that alliances are everything :P So by doing these discussions/advisory polls— not quite a single decision like a consulate but also not quite a vote like a treaty, I’m trying to push up the value of a gameside embassy.'

Should these proposals garner support within the Assembly, the Minister intends to proceed with a gameside poll to establish whether to finalise the construction of embassies.

What's in a Name?

A debate is currently ongoing regarding a small change in the name of Election Commission used in legislation. The Commission was reduced from three members to the singular position of Election Commissioner. This came after multiple election cycles where only one Election Commissioner was present. However, with this change now comes a series of amendments to existing legislation revising the terminology used.

These corrections are not without discussion. A Local Councillor (gameside government official), His Nocturnal Excellency, the Right Honourable Divine Owl questioned whether such changes were necessary. In response, the Right Honourable Chair, Amerion, stated:

'Unfortunately, at the moment it is. However, an amendment proposed by Awe which, if passed, will allow the Chair to exercise discretion in correcting future errors of a similar sort should mean that amendments of this nature will no longer be necessary.'

The Chair referenced an amendment proposed by Mr. Awe which would include changes to names of institutions and positions as part of the Chair's discretion. Under the Legislative Procedure Act, the Chair may correct typographical errors, grammatical errors, or formatting inconsistencies at any time, as long as these corrections do not alter the original intent of the law.

These amendments are expected to come to a vote within the first ten days of February.

Mass telegrams in the spotlight

Mr. The Sakhalinsk Empire's proposal to restrict the use of mass telegrams in an election period has sparked considerable debate. Associate Justice, the Right Honourable Belschaft raised concerns about the increased regulations, noting:

'I don’t think it’s appropriate to expand regulations on use of government communications via the RO function to cover private communications by individuals. You might find it objectionable to have people send mass TG’s during elections, but it is a legitimate form of free speech that anyone can access.'

This issue brought up by multiple Legislators centred on the possibility that any private citizen could be charged under the existing framework should they send out mass telegrams. In following revisions, Mr. The Sakhalinsk Empire amended the language to reflect that such restrictions related only to the abuse of power by government officials.

The amendment is expected to be voted on soon.

Upcoming Elections
By Minister of Foreign Affairs Somyrion

With the South Pacific’s Delegate election and transition barely over, another series of elections is right around the corner. Beginning on February 1st, elections open for the four offices of the Cabinet, the South Pacific’s executive leaders: the Prime Minister and the Ministers of Regional, Military, and Foreign Affairs. A poll of the members of TSP’s Assembly carried out by the Chair a week ago, including a section asking respondents about whom they would like to see run in the Cabinet elections, has sparked thoughts about potential candidates, though no campaigns have yet been launched and potential candidates remain fairly muted. The comprehensive poll also included sections asking about the current Cabinet’s performance and approval of various other branches of the government and initiatives.

Elections for the Local Council, TSP’s gameside governance body, will begin shortly after Cabinet elections conclude in late February.