Posts made by Inimicus

The Empire of Inimicus votes AGAINST this Act.

Nicholas Benfield
Deputy Speaker

The Empire of Inimicus votes AGAINST this Amendment.

Nicholas Benfield
Deputy Speaker

The Empire of Inimicus votes *AGAINST Amendments I, III, IV, and VI; and FOR Amendment V,

Nicholas Benfield
Deputy Speaker

'No Talk With the Trigger-Happy': Palace Announces No Backing Down on Duchies & Reitzmag Sanctions

Telum, 15th January 2023 -- The Imperial Palace announced this morning "now is the wrong time" to renege on financial sanctions announced against the United Duchies and the Kingdom of Reitzmag in response to those nations' declarations of war against Svarna Surya. In a press statement this afternoon, His Imperial Majesty Emperor Artabanos further said He was "unfazed" by Duchian threats to seize His personal financial assets in the United Duchies, as well as the Artabanos Foundation's 8% share in Duchian conglomerate Roscoes.

"Not only are My personal affairs much, much smaller in stature and importance than international war", the Emperor announced, "But the value of goods already seized from Duchian citizens and companies since the announcement of sanctions last month has approached the total €143bn the Duchians are threatening to seize." The Imperial Government and the Confederal Government of North Diessen announced last month their unilateral seizure of any and all financial or economic assets held by citizens of the United Duchies, Svarna Suyra, Gadalland and Aspern, or the Kingdom of Reitzmag, under the powers prescribed by the Inimician Constitution and the Diessenar system of Presidential Decrees.

Sources tell Nuntius Inimici that offcials from the United Duchies have been especially intent on alleviating these sanctions. Before sanctions were introduced, Duchian companies were highly active in Inimicus and North Diessen, activity which now benefits only the Imperial and Confederal governments. Critics of this sanction policy, including Imperial Councillor Jeff Speller, have accused the Imperial Government of "playing with people's livelihoods over a mundane cause", and have called on the Government to negotiate with Duchian representatives.

Emperor Artabanos appeared this morning to give no heed to this advice. Asked whether the economic burdens of sanctions weigh up against their political message, He stated the sanctions will remain in place until "the Inimician Peoples can be reassured the nations around us are no longer led by reactionary, jingoistic zealots", and that "the safety of our Peoples, and the People of North Diessen, could never cost too much."

The Imperial Government further announced additional funding to be sent to companies and individuals in North Diessen who may be particularly affected by the current sanctions. "President Karaman has agreed to hand any seized vessels and goods to Imperial Authorities", the Emperor announced, "And Inimicus will, with its large coffers, support the People of North Diessen financially and politically, like We have always done."

No end date for the current sanctions package has yet been announced.

The National Imperial Council of the Empire of Inimicus has determined its vote for Commission as follows:

For the Office of Premier Commissioner:

1. Jean-Claude JUNCKER

For the Office of Internal Affairs Commissioner:

1. Writ HARLAND

I find myself, for once, agreeing with Cllr Lallana. While discussions around common sanctions are ongoing, unilateral action from a couple of member states have already led to armed conflict. The purpose of this Act is therefore null and void. Not to mention that the EU has an established procedure of implementing region-wide sanctions under the European Commission (Sanctioning Powers) Act, and as such introducing an Act such as this is beyond superfluous.

I will oppose passage of this Act. The Empire of Inimicus hopes for a speedy end to this useless conflict.

Nicholas Benfield
Empire of Inimicus

The Empire of Inimicus votes AGAINST this Act.

Nicholas Benfield
Deputy Speaker

Artabanos hated children. But not as much as Strathclyde hated children. And not as much as Strathclyde hated singing, either. The two Inimicians, one tall, lanky, and enjoying the effects of the President for Life's excellent whisky selection, the other short, round, business-like, with a face of stone, must have made for quite the sight for the children of Czech Slavia. What way to represent the Empire of Inimicus.

Nevertheless, Artabanos was nothing if not a great improviser. It had been a combination of extensive planning and proper impulsiveness when it really mattered that had seen Him elevated to the Inimician Throne, that had seen Him fend off countless challengers and internal rebellious sentiments, and most recently, that had seen Him technically double the Empire's land mass. So, He felt confident He could inspire the youth of Czech Slavia to great things.

"Children, students, teachers, it truly is a great honour to be among you, and to be in the presence of your magnificent President for Life. How touching, and how incredible, your pledge of allegiance to her really is. I consider Myself incredibly lucky to call her My friend, and you should consider yourselves incredibly lucky to call her your President for Life. You should all aspire to be like her - although, of course, not to be in her position, as that would be high treason and... well... anyway, yes. Uh. Just, just be inspired by her presence. And, if any one of you here today ever find yourselves in Inimicus, give Me a shout. I'll gladly show you around My most beautiful estates. In fact, perhaps this is something we could organise, Madam President for Life? Wouldn't that be jolly?"

When it was Strathclyde's turn, a period of silence so tense anyone in the room could have touched it began. After a while, all eyes fixed on Strathclyde, the Consul did something Artabanos had never, ever seen him do: he took off his beige jacket. As if possessed by some spirit -- or, perhaps, simply by social pressure -- the Consul quietly yet melodically and passionately sang the refrain from one of the Inquistan Archbishop's number one hit singles. As soon as he had finished, the Consul stormed out, and Artabanos thought He saw the glint of a tear on His number two man's face.

The Consul did not ride back to Prague Castle with the two leaders, although curiously they found him in Albína's office on their return. He said nothing. He did not look at anything but the files he had in his hands. To ease the tension, the Emperor spoke. "Would it be terribly rude of me to ask for another drink? Thanks. Anyway, Albína, to come back to your previous point. Yes, the Artabanos Foundation would certainly like to expand its operations in your beautiful country. Plus, if this gives Me a reason to come visit you more often, I'm all for it anyway.

"The main hurdles we're facing are, as you can imagine, legal ones. We need to get our products approved by your regulatory agencies, we need to get mining, farming, production permits. Any, uh, any leeway or assistance you could give us in this regard would be... most welcomed. And, perhaps, in return, the Foundation and its enterprises could do something for you in return? Or, perhaps, the Inimician government could?"

The National Imperial Council of the Empire of Inimicus casts its votes as follows:

1. Benjamin STEYN (Inimicus)
2. Carlos Lesmes SERRANO (Spain)
3. SVEN LORENZEN (Vayinaod)
4. Dayo Faith MWANGI (Elthize)
5. Christopher VADJA (Reitzmag)

Candidate Name: Justice Benjamin STEYN
Home Nation: Inimicus
Incumbent? (Y/N): Y
Biography:

• 1982: Juris Doctor, Imperial University.
• 1983 - 1997: Practised as a civil lawyer in Astro, Terra Quaestoris.
• 1997 - 2012: Senior Lecturer in Inimician and European Constitutional Law, Imperial University of Telum
• 2001 - 2009: Justice of the Appelate Court for Terra Quaestoris
• 2009 - 2012: Justice of the the Republican (now Imperial) Court of Appeals
• 2012 - present: Justice of the Imperial Crown Court.
• 2012 - present: Emperor's Senior Legal Counsel, responsible for advising the Imperial Government on all legal matters.
• June - November 2021; June - November 2022: Justice of the European Court of Justice
• November 2021 - March 2022: Chief Justice of the European Court of Justice

Justice Benjamin Steyn has served the European Union as a Justice and Chief Justice almost uninterruptedly since June 2021; under his Chief Justiceship, the Court began a process of completing old, semi-dormant cases and heard several new petitions.

Consul Strathclyde took a sip of water. So far, this had been the meeting of his dreams: Artabanos wasn't there to add what He would call "wit" into the discussion, or to somehow steer the whole thing to talk of drones, whisky, or Nestor Karaman. The Consul's counterparts were direct, pragmatic, and sensible. He had been able to approach the topic of arms sales confidently yet relatively discreetly. Things were progressing even better than he had anticipated. "Yes, of course, Minister, Inimician companies have only had a fairly limited scope in your nation thus far. As you'll know, we have mainly established chemical industries which naturally have a fairly small consumer base. However, part of my mission here today is to work with you on expanding our interests. The Imperial Government is ready to commit to investments in agriculture, production and sales of luxury products, as well as other potential avenues you may think are suitable. We have the cash, we just need to decide where to spend it."

If Consul Strathclyde had been granted another 20 minutes at the table without Artabanos there, he was sure he would've integrated the Czech and Inimician economies almost to the level of North Diessen's. Sadly, it was not to be, and the Emepror's booming voice could be heard in the corridor before the heads of state barged into the room: "Aw, what a shame you no longer have a court to preside over, Albina. I really think you should try to reinstate this - I'll send you some tips on fancy court language in the group chat with Mikaela and Vistek. It's always fun to be able to slag someone off and make it have legal legitimacy, if you know what I mean."

The leaders sat down at the table and Artabanos looked at the water Strathclyde had requested rather sadly. "So, what seems to be the talk of the day? President Reiserova and I just had the most fabulous walk through Prague. Christopher, you really should have joined us. Anyway, I take it you've mentioned expanding our business interests in Czech Slavia? It will please you all to know, my Czech friends, the Artabanos Foundation and the Imperial Government are ready and willing to commit to opening multiple series of factories, processing plants, luxury goods stores, and even homeware and department stores, under the brand name HomeBanos Stores. Or something else, if you have a better marketing brand that might strike Czech consumers more effectively, of course..." The Emperor looked at Albina.

"Ah, yes, well, you see, President Reiserova, Inimicus has recently become a major player in aircraft and especially unmanned aircraft production. I'm sure you've heard of My good friend Boris Mancov, the Imperial Commissioner for Drone Warfare?" Strathclyde could be seen rolling his eyes and grabbing for the nearest bottle of water at the mention of Mancov's name. "Well, he used to be My Defence Officer, actually, but we all know how that ended. Anyway, his plants are producing so many drones, electronic warfare systems, and even F-35 jets, that we couldn't possibly use all of them. We were hoping to export loads to Telum allies, but then of course I didn't realise that the Duxburian Union is a member of the Telum Treaty and produces pretty much everything in greater and better quantities than we do. So we're looking for other markets."

Strathclyde swiftly took over the Emperor's bargaining plea: "As His Imperial Majesty eloquently described, our offers mainly consist of UAVs - of both reconnaisance-focused and weapons-focused types - as well as highly advanced EW systems which you could mount on ships, planes, wagons, whatever fits Czech interests, and possibly a small supply of Eurofighter Typhoon and F-35 combat aircraft. This should make Czech Slavia very well equipped to counter the threats of the 2020s."

The Consul could feel his Czech counterparts would need some time to think about this unexpected offer. He looked to the Emperor, who, to His credit, immediately recognised the conversation had to move on. "Anyway, President Reiserova, about your other requests. President Grimwald is quite the guy, although I haven't really had the pleasure of speaking with him for long -- he was at My Canal Party, of course, where he made a bit of a mess of himself, but these things happen. Perhaps we could set up a chat with the three of us? I'm sure he'd be open to it. I actually don't have his cell, though, so we'd have to go through the official channels. Ugh. I know Mouri-Kudo slightly better - that fiend Augustus Barrington hid from Me in Leagio a few years back, of course - but again, I'm not in constant contact with him. I'd be more than happy to get you guys chatting though. You know how good I am at coupling up others." If only, the Emperor thought, He was as good at coupling up Himself.

"Well, perhaps we should give everyone some time to think about what's been discussed so far?", Artabanos announced, sensing Albina wanted to take this meeting behind closed doors - where, in Artabanos's view, all good meetings took place. He whispered to the President for Life: "I could really do with a drink, Albina." Nodding at Strathclyde: "And I know someone who certainly could."

"Ah, eh, well, you always look radiant, Albína. Truly, always", said Artabanos, feeling slightly caught out. Swiftly, He turned the subject to the environment in which He now found Himself, the quaint streets of Prague and the age-old sights He had read about in so many old books. "I must also congratulate you on the lovely ceremony you organised, actually. Perhaps I could hire your military band sometime, their rendition of the Imperial Anthem was quite something." The Emperor was bemused by the sight of people turning their heads to watch the duo walking casually through Prague; tourists, Czechs, perhaps even some Inimicians were around. In any case, there was nothing Artabanos liked more than being slightly eccentric.

"Gosh, yes, well, we've certainly had an eventful time since we last met, Albína. I have to credit ol' Strathclyde for most of the work on this new Constitution -- it's all way too much faffing around for me, as you'll understand. But yes! Important changes, for sure." The topic of the Emperor's love life was one He would rather not approach, not even with someone like Reiseróva, who He trusted more than most. "I guess uh, I guess we'll see about who crosses My path - if, that is, people cross other people's paths at My age. But anyway, what's new with you? It's been such a while since we caught up, you'll have to tell me all about what's been happening here!"

Artabanos gladly indulged the opportunity for some joint selfies with the President, and by Himself. "I guess we're not waiting for this clock to strike? Probably for the best, we don't want to get mugged or hassled. Not -- not that people would uh, would do that here, of course." Turning back to the direction of the castle, the Emperor could be seen busily texting on His phone, sending the photos just taken to someone the crowds could only guess the identity of. "Anyway, Albína, to answer your question about Mueller -- such a promising lad, but so disappointing, wouldn't you say? -- I really just wanted the pleasure of trying him Myself. It'll be in the Crown Court, you see, I've arranged for that. Nestor -- I mean, President Karaman -- doesn't mind. He's way too busy with... things. I guess."

Meanwhile, Imperial Consul Strathclyde was being led through the intricate corners of Prague Castle. He had heard of the things that went on inside here, and was keen to learn of the intricacies of Czech government, the intrigue of minister to minister, the ways in which President Reiseróva managed to keep this entire web together. A quality which he admired, greatly. "Thank you for your welcome", the Consul said, "I'm of course very keen to get straight down to business, and pleased you have been appropriately briefed on our investments in the Democratic Republic thus far."

The Consul spoke with the general, weird feeling of condescension that was usual to him. Not intended, per se, perhaps simply a result of his extremely business-like and knowledgeable state during meetings such as these. "It's exciting to hear about the benefits Imperial investments have brought to regions in your nation. We hope that, very shortly, they shall start paying off on the Inimician side, too. So far, revenues have been steady, but not fantastically impressive, so I am happy to hear these suggestions of yours to improve them wherever possible."

"Hmm, well, lowering property prices is always an attractive solution, in general - although of course I cannot make robust assurances without His Imperial Majesty's consent. We'll have to return to this once He is present. As for natural gas, we would be extremely happy to provide this to you. Our reserves are, incidentally, nearly at capacity, so we can have juices flowing as soon as we sign a document."

The Consul took a sip of water, which, to his pleasant surprise, was far less hard and contained far less taste than Telum river water. "I suspect you possess just the rare earth minerals we could use, Minister!" Strathclyde chuckled, before ruffling his papers with a short "let's see", looking for his files on mineral deposits. "Ah, here we are. Yes, the Empire would be open to a trade here. Gas for minerals, perhaps? Or would a monetary exchange suit you better?"

"We can further offer you our three main export products: bauxite ore -- very useful for building all manner of things, including warplanes, cars, tinfoil -- uranium ore, which, well, you'll know the use of, and weapons." The slight bemusement on the Czech ministers' faces was exactly the response he had intended. "Yes, the Empire is, by Imperial decision, now open to exporting our full range of arms and armaments to the Democratic Republic, should they be needed. Whatever you could think of, chances are we have it. There are also some... less conventional... devices we would be happy to export. I'm sure His Imperial Majesty shall tell you all about them."

Vicarius Wilfred Cocx and EU Councillor (and Deputy Speaker) Nicholas Benfield strolled through the vast corridors of some gigantic EU building in Europolis. On Benfield's insistence, Cocx had come down to Europolis the night before the EU Leaders' Summit was due to start, as both men went way back in Inimician politics and would not pass up on an opportunity to spend an evening rousing the EU Council's bar staff and gossip like the days of old.

Now, though, Benfield had apparently forgotten where the exact entrance to this summit was located. Cocx, who already felt out of place due to his being "only" second in charge in the Empire (Artabanos was currently in Czech Slavia and, in His words, "couldn't be asked to deal" with several of the leaders who were supposed to be present today), followed Benfield through various corridors and around an infinite number of corners, until eventually the welcome area, outside, came into view.

"Well Nicholas, I hope last night didn't do too much to my general appearance", Cocx said, trying to straighten his tie in a faint window reflection. "At least some familiar faces will be here, I guess. You're probably more familiar with some of them than I am at this point."

"You're fine. We've met hundreds if not thousands of foreign politicians together and have only embarrassed ourselves half the time. I know we didn't set up an agenda as we were supposed to have done last night, we instead used our draft papers for a drunken game of Guess Who? - but that shouldn't spoil the fun today. Just go with the flow."

With that, the Vicarius and Councillor stepped outside, where they were meeted by European staff and the other leaders who had already arrived, and who looked in slight bewilderment to find the Inimicians strolling calmly towards them, rather than arriving in some armoured motorcade.

The Empire of Inimicus votes AGAINST this Amendment.

Nicholas Benfield
Deputy Speaker

Artabanos sipped His water during the speeches by the other leaders, wishing for something stronger. Talk of Straits, fending off Reitzmic and Duchian silliness, and other people using His canal, always made Him thirsty. Nevertheless, a prolonged silence seemed to indicate it was time for Him to respond, and a traditionally curt nod from the Inquistan Archbishop certainly did. He spoke: "Yes, of course, My friends, the Canal was constructed for all of us. The press have left the room, haven't they? Just making sure I don't need to go on with that nonsense about it benefitting the Diessenar Peoples. With all due apologies to Nesto-- I mean, President Karaman, of course. From now on, My friends, military and civilian vessels flying under the colours of any of our nations shall enjoy free and prioritised passage through the Canal, and shall further enjoy maintenance and resupplying opportunities in the many military shipyards that have been build along the canalside.

"If that isn't benefitting the Diessenar Peoples, I wouldn't know what will." The Emperor looked at Nestor Karaman, who confirmed with a short smirk his willingness to throw his entire nation, his entire existence, at Artabanos's feet. "On to the Straits. I understand, Jesús, your intentions to seize as many shorelines as you can, and Inimicus will fully support you in so doing. But, well, last time this happened, and I got involved, I was forced to sack My Defence minister and appoint him to some other post to keep him in My circle. You will understand that the Imperial Navy is reluctant to assist you in the near future. However, all is not lost, and indeed we have My sacked Defence Minister to thank for that.

"You may have noticed...", Artabanos continued, taking another sip of His lukewarm and far too weak water, "...the Empire's recent investments in, and development of, new generations of war kit. I'm talking drones, electronic warfare capacities on small ships, things that could jam Simon Bridges's erotica stash from 1000 miles away, that sort of stuff. We have also -- the press is really gone, right? Good -- we have also managed to develop a tactical nuke we can drop from our most advanced type of drone. So we can assist you, Jesús, without putting any boots on the ground - or on the seashore. Isn't that fancy?

"And this brings Me to the excellent point the Archbishop raised. Indeed, it may be desirable for the Empire to lodge a request with the ENAA for an expansion of its nuclear weapons license. You can never have too many nukes, am I right, Erik? I thought so. But, and this is where the problem lies, I have never won the Inquistan X-factor. Inimicus has never won EuroVoice - which is why it hasn't participated, on My insistence - so applying for an expanded licence, and having it refused, would be worse than not applying for one at all. This is the conundrum we face.

"Finally, I thank Erik for the offers of taking part in various Duxburian-led schemes. It's good to finally see the DU on our side - I still remember when the High Steward wouldn't let My yacht through the Persian a few years back. And then what would have happened at the Canal opening party? In all seriousness, the Empire is all for development of new tech, as I said just a moment ago. We've been actively working on modernising every inch of our armed forces - and I certainly have the receipts to prove it; My poor Chancellor is having to balance so many wonky books these days. We're ready to commit; at any time."

Artabanos hated travelling with Consul Strathclyde. Not only did he suffer from a bad case of body odour, especially when amplified by his nervousness on planes, but he would also not speak a word about things not related to the work at hand. There was no chit-chat to be had with Christopher Strathclyde. No gossip, no "how's the family", no talk of men. The Emperor would have asked anyone else to come with Him, but Strathclyde had insisted.

To be fair to Artabanos's old war horse, Strathclyde was the main architect of the Empire's economic operations in the Democratic Republic, and had been since the restoration of Czech-Inimician diplomatic ties. He knew what he was talking about -- as always, really -- and Artabanos recognised this. Indeed, during the hours-long flight to Prague, Artabanos observed Strathclyde reading over files, making more notes than the Emperor had made in His entire reign, and generally being a very good student. Meanwhile, Artabanos had had to ask the pilots to charge His phone twice during transit, having played way too much of that new, addictive puzzle game.

After landing, the two statesmen were taken to a motorcade for their ride to Prague Castle. "See, Christopher", Artabanos said, "These folks know how to do marketing. We can learn from them." Receiving only a curt 'Hm' in return, the Emperor continued waving and smiling at the crowds, wondering how many had been coerced into standing where they did, and then deciding that this was something He could not care less about, as He had done the same many times in the past. "Do you know what they used to call me here?" No answer. "The Vampire of Telum. Isn't that the most epic nickname? Although sadly I've no idea what the Czech translation of this is. Remind me to ask Albína, would you?"

The cars arrived at Prague Castle, and Artabanos was filled with the excitement that usually accompanied the peculiar mix of statecraft and seeing His friends -- of which He did not have many these days. "Albína, you look absolutely radiant today!", the Emperor exclaimed as the President for Life greeted Him, "And what is that new perfume I smell? You'll have to give me your guy's number. Amazing. Well, you've met Imperial Consul Christopher Strathclyde, albeit briefly. He's grumpy, but he knows his stuff. You'll find him a useful addition to the negotiating table."

Turning to the queue of Czech ministers in front of Him, the Emperor said "Ah, so these are your fine statesmen, I take it? Excellent. Lovely to meet you all, I've heard so much about you." Artabanos made sure to add a particular intonation to His voice whenever He spoke to those lower down the food chain, perhaps to toy with them, perhaps to scare them, or perhaps to give Himself the impression that He could do either of those things. "A walk around the city sounds like an absolutely fabulous idea, Albína. My jet was so cramped, I've barely stood up for the last few hours. What do you say, we leave dusty Strathclyde here to start the workings of whatever it is he needs to do, and enjoy some time downtown?"

Strathclyde seemed perfectly fine with this idea. The Consul stood around awkwardly in his beige suit and blue shirt, files still clutched in his hands. He had managed to return a quiet "thank you" to the offer of drinks, and his rehearsed lines of "I'm so honoured to finally meet you properly" had also managed to leave his lips. But the Consul was here for work - he was one of the most, if not the most, capable negotiators and statesmen in the Empire, and he knew what to do. He was not here for city strolls. "This sounds like a plan, President Reiserova, Your Imperial Majesty", he finally said, "I shall be sure to begin speaking to these fine Ministers immediately."

The Empire of Inimicus remembers the efforts of its own Dr Walter Cocx IC, who, as Premier, was derided and accused of a 'power-grab' through his implementation of the Sanctioning Powers Act. I do not accuse anyone of ill will lightly, but not only is this amendment written with almost admirable unclarity, leaving far too important matters in the hands of far too many court cases and procedures, but the nature of granting the Commission, which is not subject to the same democratic legitimacy and direct national representational standards as we, Councillors are, a veto over us as the Council, is fantastically undesirable.

I do not, however, think this Amendment is completely without hope as Speaker Tilkanas suggests. I look forward to hearing the reasoning behind some of the support this Amendment may gather, and suggestions of possible further amendments.

Nicholas Benfield
Deputy Speaker

Imperial Council Passes Major Constitutional Amendments: A Full Overview

The National Imperial Council meeting room inside the Imperial Palace

Telum, 10th August 2022 -- With a near-unanimous majority, the National Imperial Council has passed a set of Constitutional Amendments proposed by Executive Representative Leader and Imperial Consul Christopher Strathclyde, in conjunction with His Imperial Majesty Emperor Artabanos. As rumours suggested, the Council itself has lost the power to depose the Emperor by double supermajority, with Article XXIV (which set out these procedures) scrapped completely.

Another surprising and potentially inflammatory change was made to Article I (The Empire), which specifies the territories that constitute Inimicus. The phrase "The Empire of Inimicus is inextricably bound to the People and Government of the Confederacy of North Diessen" was added, reportedly to signify "the new and deep partnership" between the two nations.

Article XX (Marital Abdication) was also scrapped. This Article specified that the Emperor shall be deemed to have abdicated if He contracts a marriage without obtaining the consent of the Council. In the summer of 2015, this Article nearly led to a government crisis when Emperor Artabanos signalled His intention to marry despite opposition from the Council. Strathclyde repoted "no institution has the right to prescribe whom one should love, least of all whom the Emperor should love."

The Regency Question, which plagued government when Emperor Artabanos was incapacitated by the Needletail One crash in 2020, has also been resolved. Previously, the Council automatically became the regent, but retained the right to appoint a single person as regent if it so wished. With an amendment to Article XXVI (now XXIV; Regents) the office of Vicarius is officially designated as acting as regent. Since the Vicarius was not hitherto a constitutionally-recognised position, this office was also added to Article XXIX (now XVII; Duties and Members of the National Executive) as part of the National Executive, and to Article XXVI (now XVIII; Legislative Acts).

Given the unpopularity of the House of Commons, the already announced amendment to the regulations calling the Commons together was also followed through. While the lower house was originally mandated to meet "every year" by Article XXXIV (now XXXII; House Duration), this has now been changed to "when called by Imperial Decree", reflecting the regulations agreed upon in June this year.

The final major change is, as reported before, an amendment to the process of electing the National Imperial Council. Thus far, provincial delegates (two from each Terra) were mandated to be elected by popular vote (Article XLI, now XXXIX; The National Imperial Council). From now on, however, the text reads "Provincial delegates shall either be elected by popular vote or elected by the Provincial Assembly of the Province represented." This move is aimed to give Provincial Assemblies, who have complained about a lack of representation in the national government for years, a more direct voice in Telum.

Other minor changes include the scrapping of the phrase "telegraph" in Article X (Privacy of Communication), which Consul Strathclyde termed a "necessary modernisation" of the text. Previously, the article had specified that the privacy of the "telephone and telegraph" shall not be violated. Telegraph communications, which have not existed in Inimicus for several decades, are now no longer covered by this Article. Additionally, the controversial Article XVI (Education Regulations) now prohibits only the teaching of religious beliefs in private schools, rather than the teaching of religious and political beliefs together. Consul Strathclyde explained this change such: "With society becoming more and more connected every day, the prohibition to teach political theory while politics is all around our minors at any point in the day was archaic. We must educate our minors in the handling of political statements the verification of campaign claims."

Jeffrey Speller IC, would-be green soap assassin and the only Councillor to vote against the ratification of the Amendment package, called the proposals "yet another power grab" by the Emperor and His administration. Speller has been a vocal critic of the Emperor ever since His accession in 2014, which Speller has previously called "the greatest calamity in Inimician history".

Nevertheless, Councillors approved of the Amendment package by near-unanimous vote late last night. By Constitution, the Emperor has the right to Decree amendments which then merely need a simple NIC majority to pass. However, as a gesture of goodwill, the Emperor devolved the task of developing these Amendments to Christopher Strathclyde and the NIC itself, and Decreed the passed Amendment package into law this morning.

Public opinion, thus far, is shown to be widely in favour of the newly-enacted changes. The dismissal of the House of Commons as a permanent body was especially welcomed (79% approve, 11% disapprove, 10% don't know/don't care). The most controversial change appears to have been the amendment to elections for the NIC, with only 54% approving of giving Provincial Assemblies the power to elect NIC delegates, with 32% opposing and 16% don't know/don't care.

The newly amended Constitution of the Empire of Inimicus can be read here.

The Empire of Inimicus votes FOR this Motion.

Nicholas Benfield
Deputy Speaker

The Empire of Inimicus votes AGAINST this Amendment.

Nicholas Benfield
Deputy Speaker