Samuel Clarent
Registered
Elections! Elections? Elections!
Britons went to the polls on January 21st to elect a new Prime Minister and Parliament. For the first time in NSUK history, the House of Commons passed a resolution to dissolve itself and petition His Majesty for an election. At the same time, Prime Minister Alec Stewart had advised the King to call for elections across the board.
Parliamentary Elections saw the Liberal Party, British People’s Union, and Sinn Fein almost contest the election, but the last minute dropout of Lucas Stewart (Lib) ended up bringing the candidate number to 5, the size of the elected House of Commons. “I’m actually quite confident in the field of candidates that we have. Likewise, I’m confident in my own ability to be a part of the parliamentary process,” said Stewart. Samuel Clarent and Klaus Mikaelson of Sinn Fein returned to parliament with Johannes Maayst (BPU). New members of the Commons include Elisha Parks (BPU) and Speaker John Laurens-Wessex(Lib).
In the contest for the Premiership, regional veteran Samuel Clarent (SF) squared off with relative newcomer Elisha Parks (BPU). “This is a very serious election. Recently we’ve seen a downswing in activity during parliamentary terms, going back to well over a month ago. We’ve seen debates stalled, ideas perishing, and the fraternal spirit that built this region being whittled away,” said Parks in his opening speech of the campaign trail. Kicking off his bid, Samuel Clarent said, “Every election, we are at a crossroads. Over the past year, things have looked bleak, but we have continuously risen up to the challenges laid before us...The region deserves a domestically active government, and that is exactly what I hope to deliver.”
The end result didn’t shock many Britons. Mr. Clarent secured 10 Downing by a vote of 19-7.
Prime Minister Clarent quickly assembled a big-tent government of Klaus Miakelson as Deputy Prime Minister, Henry Windsor (CON) as Home Secretary, John Laurens-Wessex as Culture Secretary, and Elisha Parks as Foreign Secretary.
Constitutional Court Case: The Mathematical Result
After being passed the Commons, Passed by the Lords, Then sent back to the Commons, a Constitutional Amendment to remove the House of Lords as the Highest Court of NSUK was set to head to referendum, but few concerned Citizens had questions about the final vote in the Commons. As Andrew Fraser MP was of a Leave of Absence due to RL reasons, the final vote came down to 3-1 with Prime Minister Alec Stewart casting the sole negative vote. Under the NSUK Constitution, Constitutional Amendments must have the support of ⅔ of each House of Parliament. Taking the LoA Mr. Fraser, the Speaker Samuel Clarent considered the Amendment duly ratified as the available members had voted as ⅔ in favor of the Amendment. As Election Commissioner Sir Jay Dee Bonaparte was about to present the Amendment for referendum, Mike Stewart and Constance St. James sued the Commissioner and the House of Commons over whether or not the Commons had properly ratified the Amendment
After a long Court Case with both sides arguing the validity of applying the precedent established in Silver Steps vs. HM Government (that the Court can overturn unconstitutional Parliamentary Procedure) and the definition of “chamber” as it applies to legislative bodies and personnel. The biggest surprise was in the Court Order that the Amendment was properly ratified as the mathematically proper handling of ⅔ as it relates to the 5-member House of Commons necessitates the rounding down of 3.3333 to 3. Lady Georgiana Stewart as Chief Judge ruled, “The Judiciary Constitutional Amendment Act received 3 votes in favor, 1 against and 1 absent, with the final tally being 3 out of 5. With the new calculation, the aforementioned bill received an absolute two-thirds majority and can, therefore, be presented to the people. I, therefore, rescind the injunction against the Elections Commissioner in this matter,” allowing the Amendment to go to the British People.
Devolution Revolution!!! New Era for NSUK
A new idea to spark regional activity and citizen engagement has gripped NSUK!!! After conversations sparked by Klaus Mikaelson, Samuel Clarent proposed the Potential for Devolved Administration Act, which would pave the way for citizen-led governments to have jurisdiction over areas of the Forum that contain private properties. The Prime Minister was summoned by the House of Lords for questioning when they considered the bill. Mr. Clarent responded to the Duke of Northumberland, “I hope that it is clear that myself and HMG is pro-devolution in the broadest and widest sense.” The Bill passed unanimously in both Chambers.
With a recent influx of antsy citizens and seeing the prospects for devolution, citizens have resurrected old estates and applied for properties at a remarkable pace. The Prime Minister issued Executive Order LVIII that lays out how the Forums will be reconfigured to provide for the mechanics of devolution!
In the past, NSUK had the London City Council which was composed of all citizens having democratic control over an area of the forums. With that faring relatively unwell, the new idea is aiming to prevent the Tragedy of the Commons event and let citizens really feel their impact on decision making in NSUK, beyond the bi-monthly election. Final preparations are being made, and the program is set to go live on February 28th.
Address from the Prime Minister