Vice Delegate Appointment

[Dalimbar]

This is by no means even a first draft, but more relevant laws to the case that I have found so far (and will be updating as we go along), along with some commentary of mine.

Regarding vacancies in elected offices:

"Vacancy" in an office or position occurs when the holder of an elected office or position resigns, is removed, abandons, or is recalled. Vacancies are filled through a special election unless an special election cannot be completed prior to the beginning of the general or judicial election cycle; or in all cases pending an election, however, a vacancy may be temporarily filled as provided by the Constitution, the Legal Code, or by rule adopted by the appropriate body.

1. A special election shall be held in the event of a vacancy in any elected office or position in accordance with this Law. A special election cycle shall last for no more than fourteen days, which must be completed prior to the beginning of the next election cycle for the vacated office or position.

Regarding who constitutes a member of the "Executive":

3. The Delegate is responsible to ensure the good governance of the Executive Branch of TNP and may appoint and remove at will executive officers from the Assembly to serve at his pleasure. Executive officers must maintain membership in the Assembly.

Bold mine.

b) The Delegate and the Executive officers appointed by him or her shall be delegated the task of informing the Assembly of any governmental action not already disclosed by the respective officers of the Executive.

Bold mine.

Regarding the importance of the Vice Delegate to regional security:

8. In any instance where the Delegate is absent, incapacitated, unwilling or unable to carry out his duties the Vice Delegate shall exercise the powers of the Delegate.
9. The duty of the Vice Delegate is to have the second highest endorsement count. The Delegate shall exercise discretion in banning nations whose endorsement count exceeds that of the Vice-Delegate.

Regarding existing laws on Delegate succession:

3. From time to time, the Council may, by majority vote, recommend an order of succession to the Delegacy beyond the Vice Delegate among members of the Security Council who are members of the Assembly. The order of succession shall be determined first, by length of current service on the Council, and if necessary, then by influence level, and then by endorsement level of Council members who have equal levels of service and then, of equal influence level. The Assembly shall immediately vote on the adoption of such recommendation by a majority vote.

It must be noted that since the establishment of this Constitution, none of the provisions in this section have ever been used.

Given all of this information, I do believe that the Security Council does have the authority to establish an order of succession which needs to be ratified by the Assembly, and there should be that list in order to ensure that proper security is maintained pending a Special Election. As far as I can see, the Delegate does not have the authority to unilaterally designate an interim Vice Delegate, given that the office does not fall under the Executive Branch.

Please note that I have not reviewed over precedent yet, and invite the rest of you to include other passages that may be applicable. It should be noted that, provided Article V, Section 2, Clause 3 was actually in place, then Pasargad would have been the designated successor, following the various requirements. Thus, this case is not about him being selected, but the fact that there was no established succession at the time to seat him.

 

[Greater Peterstan]

Agreed, except for one thing: wouldn't Pars be ineligible to be the designated successor due to the lapse in his RA membership that started this whole thing?

He was ineligible to run, ineligible to vote, it is a bit of a stretch of logic to think he would be first in line to fill the vacuum caused by his own ineligibility.

Beyond that I agree - security council should decide succession based on the requirements.

I don't think Pars. did anything wrong, in fact, I think he acted admirably by immediately stepping aside with no fuss when the eligibility issue came up. Grosse owns the appointment, although there is enough gray area that he might be excused for it.

 

[Cakatoa]

Agreed with GP except for the 'Gray area' bit. I don't see it as being Gray, it should have been dealt with by the SC.