Ep Inxheneu Crovâ
Group: admins
(1303 posts total)
(last post: March 13, 2008 - 03:56)
Citizen #34:
Dermot | Tuischa'ch,
The Bill as proposed is an excellent restatement of current ZRT policy on the national question-and as such should not be confused with a majority position, let alone a consensus one. Being of the opinion that there is more than enough Talossa to go round, I do not see the need for the liquidation of any Talossan state.
That being said, there is much in this Bill that is stimulating, and I congratulate Dp Schiva for that at least. I would however take issue with the logical core of this legislation. This Bill as it stands, I fear, answers a question that has never been seriously asked-"what would it take from us in Abbavilla to get you to come under our flag?" I see no reasonable likeliehood that it ever will be asked by the present leadership.
I should also note, Tuisca'ch, that our governments policy has not, as far as I am aware, changed either-that the Republic should retain its independent existence as the homeland for those Talossans who reject a monarchical form of government. This was a position held by a majority of the Deputies elected in the last general election, a hard fought contest if there ever was one. Whatever else may be said, the issue has not been ignored-far from it.
Who therefore, aside from the Blue Wave, is even talking about unification as a serious priority? I should remind the Chamber that while my esteem for that party's distinguished founder and Deputy remains unstinted, his is an extreme minority viewpoint in both states. The proof is in the results-it is not apparently such a raging priority for either state that even "talks about talks" have begun.
That is why I propose that this Bill, which is sweeping in its implications, be moved into a Committee of the Whole House, under a chair selected by the Committee, to allow not only a free and open debate, unlimited by the necessary business of state that must flow through this Chamber, but also to permit this Committee to hear submissions from outside witnesses from within and outside the Republic, in a way that would be impractical for this Chamber.
One may take the New Ireland Forum of the early 1980s as an example of this process. While this was an unsuccessful initiative in and of itself, it did provide a new basis for discussion among nationalists and much of its thinking informed elements of Anglo-Irish discussions on Northern Ireland, and the later Peace Process.
I would further propose Dp Schiva as Chair of this Committee, considering her experience in such roles in her political career.
An answer to the National Question will become necessary. But we cannot be alone in providing it. We must first pose the National Question in a way that makes sense for all involved. Not merely the twenty citizens of the Talossan Republic but the 30-40 odd active citizens of the Abbavilla state as well, whatever the predjudices of their leaders. I am a sceptic when its come to "civil society" solutions in the Talossan context-we have so little of it, it seems a feeble basis for progress. But a call for ideas and thoughts, founded on a democratic mandate, which is open to all points of view cannot be a bad start.
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Would to God that all the Lord’s people were prophets
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