la garçâ malpadert
Group: admins
(4379 posts total)
(last post: March 13, 2008 - 16:29)
Citizen #22:
Miestrâ Schivâ | I give the following speech in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic, 2.3.12.
ADDRESS FROM THE INCOMING GOVERNMENT
Estimat Túischac'h; estimats Deputats; eßernats citaxhiens és amici dal Repúblicâ. Eu voi gráiteu dîn la nôminâ del governamáintsch electat dal Talossa livereascâ.
Esteemed Speaker, esteemed Deputies; distinguished citizens and friends of the Republic: I greet you in the name of the elected government of free Talossa.
I'm sure that all of you understand the massive historical irony in that I stand before you today as your elected Seneschál. For too long, my name has stood in the history books as that of a black monster, seething with hatred for the Talossan people and devoted to the destruction of their nation state. But then the Revolution happened - and those who went on to found this Republic found themselves painted in the same black tones in the propaganda of the former dictatorship. This is what happens when ideology runs smack bang into experience. I once again express - as I expressed eleven months ago - gratitude that the founders of the Republic decided to give me, and other members of the "Talossan diaspora", a chance to prove that the former dictatorship lied about us as they lied about you.
And now, I have been gifted with an awesome responsibility. I have been chosen by the elected representatives of the free Talossan people to lead their government - in conjunction, of course, with the President of the Republic, whoever he might be. It has been my responsibility to draw together a team of Ministers who will set the direction for this nation for the next four months - longer, if we are re-elected in August! And it will be my primary responsibility to make sure that the new laws we need are passed through our Parliament, in the face of testing and questioning from the esteemed Opposition.
This shows that the people of Talossa have faith in my energy, my determination, and my judgement to do what is best for the nation. Again, this is a humbling experience.
I was elected on the platform of the Popular Front. However, I have chosen to govern in conjunction with the Movement for Republican Peculiarism, and with non-party citizens. The programme for government which I set forth in this speech has been approved by the Cabinet which contains these disparate forces, in the hope that it represents the consensus of the mainstream of the Republic.
The first priority of the Schivâ government will be a new Immigration Act to replace the Omnibus Immigration Act which served us well during the provisional phase of our existence. This Act will only make three significant changes to the provisional legislation. Firstly, once a prospective citizen has passed all the tests of citizenship and asked that a vote be taken on whether to admit him or her, this vote will be taken by the whole Talossan people in referendum, rather than by a Parliamentary majority. A great problem with the immigration system of the former dictatorship has been the politicisation of the admission of new citizens. A referendum on each new citizen will take the decision out of the hands of self-serving politicans, while keeping the borders of the Republic under the control of the nation as a whole.
The second major change will be to the traditional method whereby a Talossan can lose their citizenship. Traditionally, this was by not voting in elections. However, this had the perverse effect of giving rise to "pocket votes" - disinterested citizens who were kept around only as voting fodder for the ruling party. I wish to replace this by a system of citizen re-registration . Under this,every two years the Immigration Minister will conduct a census of all Republican citizens - anyone who does not reply to such a census would be stricken from the citizenship rolls. I believe that this is a far better means of testing who is really still a Talossan at heart than casting a ballot in an election - which, let's face it, is something a trained monkey could do.
The final change is that we shall once and for all abolish the obsolete prohibition on "dual citizenship" in another micronation. Our new Foreign Minister, if this law was enforced, would be kicked out of the country. Let's just admit that the time for that has passed.
These changes will be overseen by our past and continuing Immigration Minister, the esteemed Ián Anglatzarâ. I have every confidence that he will carry on his good work.
Another major piece of legislation for my government will be a National Webspace Act. The contradiction whereby private citizens own major pieces of Talossa's intellectual property - and can sometimes use this against the interests of the nation as a whole - must be rectified. A longer-term goal of this Government is to commission an Official Report into the practicalities and legalities of some kind of legal recognition of the Republic as a property-owning entity under macronational law.
Until that happens, however, we have to deal with the pressing issue of who will be responsible for the contents of the Republic's official webpages, and for our discussion fora. Our National Webspace Act shall put responsibility for the content of the official Talossan webpages under the control of the elected Information Minister; and responsibility for the content and format of Wittenberg and allied discussion fora under the non-partisan Secretary of State. We envisage that our current webspace administrator will continue (for now) to do the technical work necessary to maintain our online presence; but responsibility for content should be with Republic officials rather than a private individual, no matter how dedicated and talented.
Chirischtôval C. Cavéir, current Dean and acting President of the Republic, is, in my opinion, the ideal person for the portfolio of Immigration. I am sure that under his tutelage our official webpages will be the most attractive, user-friendly and genuinely useful to outsiders that they can possibly be.
The alert among you will have spotted that I have taken the Culture portfolio for myself. When I first came across Talossa in April 1997, it was el glheþ bél which attracted me - and very little has changed. I will establish a Talossan Academy, which will be responsible for research and publication into all fields of Talossan language, history and culture. It will also assume responsibility for making the Talossan language easier to learn and more widely used.
This Academy will be open to all those - citizens of the Republic or not - who are dedicated to the pursuit of such matters, and will elect its own leadership and decide on its own structure. The Minister of Culture will preside over the establishment of the Academy, but will not interfere once it gets up and running. I will therefore issue a call for all those who are keen to advance Talossan language, history or other culture to discuss the founding of the Academy - and how to draft the legislation to establish it - at my earliest convenience.
The Foreign Ministry has been something of a dead letter in Talossan history since the "Berlin Wall" went up in 1998 and the old Kingdom broke off all relations with other micronations. It is the firm belief of this Government that this is bad for Talossa. Certainly, it is pleasant to be rid of the whinings of tiny micronations who have nothing better to do than spout diplomatic verbiage at one another. However, not all micronations are like this. Some are of antiquity and cultural richness on the same level as Talossa. Further, we believe that future streams of Talossan immigrants will come from citizens of tiny micronations, fed up with the "sand-box" character of their own nations, and wanting to step up to real nation-building.
My government will commission our Foreign Minister - the esteemed D. N. Vercáriâ - to explore the possibilities of cultural exchange with other, serious, stable, non-wacky micronations, and to explore the possibilities for the Republic to advertise itself in micronational circles, the better to attract new, keen, experienced citizens.
The minor portfolios in my cabinet are those for Women and for Linguistic Minorities. It is well known that those who do not have English as their first language are at something of a disadvantage in the verbal cut-and-thrust of Talossan debate. Similarly, it is also known that Talossa has traditionally been something of a "boy's club", unwelcome to women. What can we do about both of these problems? I will commission the ministers above - Rischâ Scovaglh and Ián Anglatzarâ - to make suggestions to the Government on how we can make Talossa more welcoming to people who're not English-speaking men - and therefore a more vibrant and diverse nation.
Finally, we also intend to place a bill in front of the Chamber for a new "lower" Court which will take the primary responsibility away from our High Court for hearing any case that comes forward. This will introduce an important element of "right of appeal" into the Talossan legal system, as well as offering "training" for citizens who see themselves as future High Court justices. The Attorney-General, D. N. Vercáriâ, will be the guiding force in what such a lower court would look like and how it will function.
I should also remind the Republic of the further duties of the Attorney-General set out in the Constitution (2.3.7b) - to "represent the Government in any suits before the High Court, and advise the Government on the legality of its policies and the constitutionality of its bills". Dp. Vercáriâ's experience as a member of the Provisional High Court, and his status as a non-member of the majority party, give him the perfect combinations of skills and perspective to carry out this task.
There. That should keep us going for the next four months, at least. I thank all the citizens of the Republic who have sat through this long-winded platform for government, and encourage them to a copy of this speech for easy reference. A Government is only as good as the citizens who keep an eye on it and force it to uphold its promises.
Så vivádra la Repúblicâ!
Miestrâ Schivâ, Seneschál.
Miestrâ Schivâ
Seneschál dal Repúblicâ Talossán / Prime Minister of the Republic of Talossa
"The Republic's Most Articulate Spokeswhatever" - R. B. Madison
Every bloody emperor claims that freedom is his cause
And he buffs up on his common touch as a get-out clause. |
