Well, quite a bit has happened since I last posted. This is a long one, sorry guys :/
Here is the results of our Election:
- Welsh Cowboy (Independent) was elected President.
- The Wiggle (Synarist Party) was elected Vice President.
- Aaraya (New Capitalist Party), Birkinghamia (Synarist Party), Commonwealth (Synarist Party), Minecraftia (Independent), and Zaharawi (Independent) were elected to the Congress.
- Birkinghamia (my main nation, actually) was later elected within Congress to the position of Speaker.
- Whovian Islands was later appointed to Chief Justice, which has been approved by Congress.
Currently, Congress, in collaboration with the President, other government officials, and ordinary citizens are working on a Regional Code of Law.
In other news, guess who came back, again?! Yes, our lovely friend Gladia, as Dromerdeener. He arrived during the first day of the elections (Friday).
Because of his past history, I would have banned him from the forums on the spot. However, he didn't make it so easy for us to figure out he was Gladia.
He signed up to the forums with a proxy IP, in order to vote, but I told him that we had no way of knowing whether his vote was a fraud vote or not (recall, at this time we didn't know he was Gladia). So, he proceeded to post somewhere on the forums with an ordinary IP, which was different than Gladia's. This gave him the okay to vote and participate.
Then just a few hours ago, he told me via TG that he was Gladia (
http://i.imgur.com/N8gxk.jpg), and then proceeded to send most of the members of our region this message:
http://i.imgur.com/Clpzl.png
Recall from above, Welsh Cowboy is our newly elected President. A member of our region contacted the NS mods to ask if it was a legitimate telegram, and the mod stated that he/she believed that the TG was probably photo-shopped (but wasn't 100% sure).
NationStates Moderators:
Regarding
http://imgur.com/Clpzl
Having spent a bit more time examining the image, I believe it to be photoshopped. What should be a horizontal rule under Welsh Cowboy II instead appears to be a series of dashes. Also, the two checkboxes are too small. It's not definitive proof (as I have access to only two browsers, neither of them a phone), but it looks shopped to me.
This leads me to believe that he is trying to ruin Welsh Cowboy's reputation (Dromerdeener stated, "The telegram is accurate and correct. Believe it or not, but it is real. You would only be hurting yourself to ignore it.")
Then he stated that he deserved a trial before being banned. However, our new chief Justice stated:
Chief Justice Whovian Islands:
Regarding the issues surrounding The Matriarchy of Dromerdeener...
Much of what Dromeerdeener says regarding due process for broken laws, etc. is true - but may, in fact, be irrelevant in his situation.
Let me explain. If the only thing that he has done (or is accused of having done) is "breaking a law" - then yes, there should be a trial, in which he would have the right to argue for his own defense, etc. Even if the accusation against him is treason.
But there is an extremely important distinction which he is overlooking (or, possibly, ignoring and hoping we won't see).
If he committed an act of treason (i.e. while he was a citizen) - yes, punishment must be preceded by due process.
However, protecting the region is something different from punishing the traitor - and may well include - indeed, may well demand swift action on the part of the president (or the vice president, acting in his stead - if the need for action to protect the region was immediate and the president was not available).
(Further, if he attacked the region while not a citizen of the region, then it is not at all a case of "breaking the law" - or even "treason" - it is, purely and simply, an act of war. In that case, the Supreme Court has no role. In such cases, the constitutional response is a declaration of war from the Congress - or, again, if a more immediate response is required by the circumstances, then immediate responsive action is indeed within the perview of the president (or acting president)).
(For example: When Trilobitia launched his "denial-of-service" attack on the Region forum, he was not a citizen (having left the region of his own accord (even though subsequently banned after his voluntary departure)). Therefore that attack was not a question at all of "breaking a law" or not - it was entirely an attack from a foreign region (or more accurately, a single nation from a foreign region). So, "breaking the law" was never the issue, nor was due legal trial processes, etc. Simply did not apply because he was not a citizen of the region - again, having left of his own accord before his attack.)
As far as I'm concerned, the president (or VP, in his absence) has full authority to protect the region from further damage from a known attacker.
(That said - I think there's lots of mistakes and sloppiness in our current constitution which we should address - but really, none of it helps Gladia's arguments).
In essence, he's screwed around with our region enough. I put my foot down on this issue, in order to protect DUAN's regional and democratic integrity, and banned him from the region and his IP's from the forums.
).
