August 20þ, 2019
Article by: Grace Dove

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PM BLASTS 'PARASITICAL ELITE' AT SPANISH ANNIVERSARY PARTY

Mr Isla told supporters that "you'd never catch me getting involved in dodgy stuff in Ibiza"

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Ðe Prime Minister, Emryc Isla, has launched an outspoken attack against many senior figures across ðe European Union in a fiery speech to Citizen Alliance supporters in Hermel.

Addressing ðe gaðering from a balcony in Hermel’s town centre as part of his nationwide summer tour, Mr Isla argued ðat ðe behaviour of ‘elite’ royals and politicians at Spain’s Anniversary Day celebrations in Ibiza was ðe reason for his brand of populism.

“None of our ministers, none of our royals, none of our tycoons were ðere in Spain. None. Not one. And ðat is because ðe Citizen Alliance is here to hold people to account,” Mr Isla asserted.

“I mean it says it all who was ðere and who was not. Was Dragan Trympov ðere? No. Was Paul Craticus ðere? No. Was Tomas de Miranda ðere? No. Ðe good people, ðose who defend ðeir nations’ interests, all stayed home. Ðis was a party for ðe parasitical elite, ðe open-borders globalists who don’t like people like you and don’t þink ðe rules ðat apply to people like you should apply to ðem.”

Mr Isla predicted ðat ðe fiasco, which reportedly resulted in drunken fights involving heads of state and government, and which has now sparked a diplomatic incident between Spain and Derecta over ðe disappearance of ðe latter’s new Prime Minister, Cayetana Valcárcel-Aranjuez, will cause a ‘political revolution’ in favour of right-wing populists across ðe continent.

He told ðe crowd: “What has happened here in Angleter will spread across Europe very quickly now. If we can defeat ðe elite who’ve failed to secure our borders and sent þousands of men and women to ðeir deaþs in Dromund Kaas, ðen how long until ðe people of Derecta, Spain, Icholasen, Red Croatia, and so on do ðe same? Not long, I don’t þink. Ðe political revolution ðat started wið ordinary Angleteric people like you is inspiring more and more people all over ðe EU, and ðe dam is fit to burst.”

Opposition politicians, including candidates for ðe SDP and Democrat leaderships, have slammed Mr Isla’s comments. Ðe SDP’s Mary d’Ivry, a former Foreign Affairs Minister, argued ðat “Emryc Isla inciting revolution in friendly countries is extremely undiplomatic, and yet anoðer example of ðe Citizen Alliance showing ðey can’t be trusted wið Angleter’s interests in Europe.” Democrat grandee Robert Rice shared her criticism, accusing ðe Prime Minister of “dangerous, inflammatory, and careless rhetoric.”

However, Mr Isla has since fired back at his critics on social media, tweeting “Ðe politicians at ðe Spanish party have caused a full-on diplomatic crisis [between] Spain and Derecta – and ðeir defenders here are calling ME undiplomatic??? Ðey’re off ðe wall!”

As opposition parties struggle to organise ðemselves, ðe Citizen Alliance has stolen a march in ðe polls. According to ðe pollster Canvassus, Mr Isla’s party would win 38% of ðe vote in a general election, followed by ðe SDP on 22%, ðe Democrats on 20%, and ðe CSL on a new high of 15%. Oðers are polling at 5% combined.

On behalf of the Apostolic Kingdom of Angleter, I, Hrayr Cruthin, vote FOR this Bill.

On behalf of the Apostolic Kingdom of Angleter, I, Hrayr Cruthin, ABSTAIN on amendments 2 and 14, and vote FOR all other amendments.

EUROPEAN COMMISSION ELECTIONS

NOMINATION OF CANDIDATES

It is time for elections to the next European Commission. In these elections all three offices - Premier Commissioner, Internal Affairs, and Foreign Affairs - will be up for election.

The offices of Premier Commissioner and Internal Affairs are subject to a four-month term, and the office of Foreign Affairs is subject to an eight-month term.

Due to term limits, candidates from Angleter and Gallorum may not stand in these elections.

As is traditional, I shall quote the words of our Returning Officer back in January 2011, who opened these nominations thus:

"These elections are supposed to give our member-states fair representation in this region - if candidates cannot take it upon themselves to be active, then I in particular, question their ability and willingness to take part in a body who must be active, accountable and able. I do not wish to threaten nor scare, but I want, for once, our European Commission to consist of Commissioners who are active and who play a part in the region both on and off this forum."

Interested candidates should fill out all information below:

[Candidate photograph or image]
Candidate Name:
Home Nation:
Office(s) sought:
Incumbent? (Y/N):
Eurogroup Affiliation:
Biography:

Nominations are open from NOW and will close at 4am (GMT) on August 24th, 2019.

People of Europe,

Over the past twelve months our region has, I believe, finally emerged from some adverse times. Our membership is healthy. Nations are talking to each other once again. And even our Council has swung back into action, with healthy debates and legislation being passed.

Reviving the activity of this region and its institutions has been my single guiding priority while in office, and it is unfortunate that this priority has taken up so much of my attention, perhaps to the extent that I have been unable to pursue many of the policies I sought to pursue when I was first elected.

I shall have to be content with the new-found activity of this region being my legacy, and I am proud of that legacy. So too can my colleagues, Commissioner Drake and Commissioner Clinton-Mezvinsky. This has been a joint effort throughout, and without their support and hard work, there was a real chance that our region would have withered to nothing.

At this point I feel confident enough to say that our work is done. I recognise that elections, and therefore the end of my second and final term in office, have been overdue for some time; and now it is clear that we have the political activity here in Europolis to sustain elections. Therefore I am announcing that the Commission election process will be starting immediately, allowing for the new Commission and ECoJ to take office on September 7th.

It has been an immense privilege to serve the European Union and help guide it through a difficult patch in its history. There is more to do to entrench the gains that we have made over the course of my two terms - to develop our membership, to make clearer to our member states what they get out of EU membership, and more - but it must fall to someone else to lead that project, and over the next three weeks it must fall to the nations of Europe to choose those people.

I accept Cllr de Berlanga's amendment to my Amendment 12, and thank him for correcting what was an error on my part.

I would finally also like to table Amendment 12, an alternative form of oath or affirmation, which I believe removes some easily exploitable language, and makes more clear that the Councillor is there to serve their country:

Amendment 12

Subsection III.I
Councillors appointed or elected to office after the passage of this Bill will take either the following oath or affirmation:
a) Oath: “Assuming the office of Councillor for [nation of origin], I, [name of Councillor], do solemnly swear that I shall faithfully serve [nation of origin], and abide by the Constitution of the European Union.”
b) Affirmation: “Assuming the office of Councillor for [nation of origin], I, [name of Councillor], do solemnly affirm that I shall faithfully serve [nation of origin], and abide by the Constitution of the European Union.”

I would also like to petition for a 24 hour extension of debate.

I'd like to propose the following amendments:

Amendment 1

Subsection I.I
The purpose of this Code of Conduct is to assist all Councillors in the discharge of their obligations to the Council of the European Union European Council…

Amendment 2

Subsection II.I
The Code applies to Councillors in all aspects of their representative duties. It does not seek to regulate what Councillors do in their purely private and personal lives.

Amendment 3

Subsection III.I
Delete entire subsection.

Amendment 4

Clause IV.I.b
Integrity: Holders of the office of Councillor should not place themselves under any financial or other obligation to exterior third-party individuals or organisations…

Amendment 5

Clause IV.I.e
Openness: Holders of the office of Councillor should be as open as possible can reasonably be expected about all decisions and actions that they take. They should give reasons for their decisions. and restrict information only when absolutely necessary or if genuine discretion is required.

Amendment 6

Clause IV.I.f
Honesty: Holders of the office of Councillor have a duty to declare any private interests relating to their public duties. and to take steps to resolve any conflicts arising in a way that protects the public interest.

Amendment 7

Subsection V.IV
The acceptance by a Councillor of a bribe to influence their conduct as a Councillor, including any fee, compensation or reward in connection with the promotion of, or opposition to, any Act, Bill, Motion, or other matter submitted, or intended to be submitted to the Council is contrary to this Code. and is a prosecutable offense, resulting in the complete suspension of the convicted Councillor if found guilty through a hearing conducted by the Speakerof the Council. If found criminally guilty by the Speaker of the Council, the suspended Councillor’s nation of origin and its competent authorities may pursue criminal action on a national level.

Amendment 8

Subsection V.IX
Delete entire subsection.

Amendment 9

Subsection VI.III
The Speaker of the Council will consider any report of a breach of this Code to them and report its conclusions and recommendations to the Council. The Council, through an absolute majority a supermajority vote, may impose a sanction on the Councillor where it considers it necessary, which will involve a temporary suspension from their duties as Councillor of a minimum duration of 7 days and not exceeding 14 days. and the payment of 500,000€ per day of suspension by the suspended-Councillor’s nation of origin .

Amendment 10

NEW SUBSECTION V.()
().Councillors must treat their staff, and all Council employees, with respect; and refrain from harassment or bullying in any form. The Speaker of the Council shall establish reporting and victim support services for instances of harassment or bullying in the Council or its offices. No aspect of this subsection, or this Bill, may be used to undermine the precept that all views can be voiced in the Council itself.

Amendment 11

NEW SUBSECTION VI.()
(). In the event that an investigation relating to the Code has, in the view of the Speaker, produced evidence that a crime has been committed by a Councillor, then the Speaker shall inform the police and any other relevant authorities in the Councillor’s nation of origin.

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To briefly explain these:

Amendment 1 is a matter of housekeeping and terminology;

Amendment 2 at least curbs the distinction between 'representative duties' and 'private and personal lives'. Quite clearly, there are things that could be described as 'private and personal' which are elsewhere covered in this bill, such as the requirement to follow the law. Is a drunk driving offence, for instance, actionable under this code? I believe my amendment would eliminate this inconsistency which could potentially prove to be a loophole.

Amendment 3 removes the oath requirement. I would at the very least like this to remain an option since I do not believe that Councillors should have to swear an oath to take a seat which belongs to their nation, and will revisit the oath issue more closely later on.

Amendment 4 rewords the clause to, in my belief, clarify that 'exterior' organisations do not include the government of a Councillor's nation of origin.

Amendment 5 rephrases the clause to prevent it becoming a sort of extremely expansive and unregulated Freedom of Information Act by the backdoor. Under the current wording, private citizens could in theory ask for Councillors' emails, for instance, and the Councillor would have to either turn the information over or prove that it is 'absolutely necessary' that they not do so. This would make it more difficult for us to do our jobs, not least since our offices' workloads could be increased exponentially by frivolous requests for information.

Amendment 6 removes what I believe is a well-intentioned, but underdeveloped proposal. The current text does not define what a 'conflict' is, does not set a baseline that would exclude trivial or tangential so-called 'conflicts', and does not explain what sort of steps would be necessary in what circumstances. I believe this could be revisited at a later date, but for now declaration of interests should suffice.

Amendment 7 removes some unfortunate language - the Speaker is not a judge in a criminal court and therefore cannot find anybody 'criminally guilty' of anything - and removes provisions that should be and are dealt with in Section VI.

Amendment 8 removes the wording about conduct towards other Councillors, which I believe undermines the Constitutional protection of free speech in this Council. I have proposed a broader provision against bullying and harassment in a later amendment.

Amendment 9 jacks up the requirement for sanctioning a Councillor to a supermajority, which ensures that there is more or less consensus that sanctions are appropriate, and reduces the chance of these proceedings being turned into a popularity contest. They also remove the objectionable and trivial financial punishment of Councillor's nations of origin.

Amendment 10 introduces protection for all Council employees, not just Councillors, against bullying and harassment, and institutes some rudimentary procedures for dealing with allegations of such. I have also introduced a line to protect free speech in this chamber.

Amendment 11 deals with any criminal implications of investigations relating to this code, and, I believe, adequately signposts that criminal allegations against Councillors are not to be followed up by Europolis authorities, nor by the Council itself, but only by the member state's authorities. While I continue to have qualms about the provision in the Bill that "Councillors have a duty to uphold the law," I believe this amendment makes clear that Councillors are subject to diplomatic immunity, with the possible exception of Constitution violations, and that nations reserve the right to decide for themselves who to appoint or elect as their Councillor, irrespective of any legal troubles a candidate might have.

@Spain said in Member State Applications:

I would like to change my plot to number 31, as Belarum is inactive on the forums and their activity on NationStates is barely none.

As discussed on Discord, not approved

Given the recent flurry of contributions from multiple councillors, I feel it would be inappropriate for debate to be stopped at this juncture. I'd like to ask the Speaker for debate to be extended, once more, for 48 hours or more.