[2322.AB] Omnibus Reconciliation of PM Appointed Cabinet Provisions

Hello fellow legislators; I come before you with a very long list of small amendments to just about every law we have.


Following the recent vote to move to an appointed Cabinet, and the immediate ambiguities and oversights that were noticed, I have compiled an omnibus reconciliation of the laws that will hopefully pass the Assembly before the next PM election begins.

Further, I also went ahead and incorporated the Cabinet’s recent Executive Order as an amendment to the existing law, so, if desired, we only need one vote to incorporate the EO while also adopting the omnibus amendments.

I also removed the few remaining references to the Local Council within our laws too.

If I do not get an award for tracking down each reference to the PM or Cabinet (or any other oversight) within our laws, I will coup. You’ve been warned :wink: <3


NOTE: Mr. Chair, please fix any formatting mistakes I may have made while compiling this to bring it into compliance with the Law Standards Act. I might scream if I look at this any longer.


Without further ado:

Amendment(s) to the Charter

V. THE EXECUTIVE

Establishing an executive branch consisting of the Prime Minister and the an appointed Cabinet.

(1) The Prime Minister will be is the head of government and the leader of the Cabinet executive branch. They will be responsible for implementing their electoral mandate the overall coordination of executive activities, being a liaison between the government and the community, interacting with foreign regions and organizations, directing the regional military, filling appointed positions within the government, promoting regional culture, overseeing the Coalition’s interest in World Assembly matters, integrating new members into the community, and protecting defending the Coalition’s interests.

(2) The Prime Minister may appoint a Cabinet will that consist of ministers under the following provisions: with the following portfolios: Foreign Affairs, Culture, Engagement, and Defense.

a. Appointed members of the Cabinet must receive confirmation from the Assembly prior to entering office.
b. The Prime Minister may relieve a Cabinet member of their position at their discretion.
c. The Prime Minister will define the role the appointed minister will occupy upon nomination to the Assembly.
d. The Prime Minister may delegate their statutory powers, but not their responsibility, to their appointed deputy as needed.

(3) As leader of the Cabinet, the Prime Minister is responsible for overseeing a collective Cabinet agenda, and may give directions and instructions to the ministers. In addition, the Prime Minister will also be responsible for appointing and dismissing other ministers. Disputes within the Cabinet are subject to the majority decision and collective responsibility; where there is no majority the Prime Minister’s vote shall be the deciding one.

(4) The Office of World Assembly Legislation will be a permanent executive office, which will be led by a Director, responsible for coordinating the Coalition’s activities in the World Assembly, providing assistance in drafting resolutions, and issuing voting recommendations on World Assembly proposals. At the start of each Cabinet term, the Director will be appointed by the Prime Minister for a term coinciding with the Cabinets. In any vacancy, a new Director will be appointed by the Prime Minister to serve the remainder of the term.

(3) The Prime Minister may issue further regulations to adequately conduct their executive business.

(5) (4) Members of the Executive are required to hold legislator status.

Elections

(6) Executive Prime Minister elections will be held every three four months., where the Prime Minister will be up for election, while all Cabinet positions will be appointed by the Prime Minister.

(7) The date, time, and manner of elections will be set by the Assembly in a by law.

## Minister of Culture

(8) The Minister of Culture will be responsible for supporting the roleplay community and organizing regional cultural activities, events, and exchanges.

## Minister of Engagement

(9) The Minister of Engagement will be responsible for recruiting and integrating new players into the Coalition’s government and community, maintaining public infrastructure such as dispatches and other guides, setting unified presentation standards, and providing graphics to the government and citizens of the Coalition.

## Minister of Foreign Affairs

(10) The Minister of Foreign Affairs will be the Coalition’s chief diplomat. They will be responsible for establishing the government’s foreign policy program, communicating with allies, and coordinating with the military on foreign policy priorities when necessary.

(11) The Minister of Foreign Affairs holds the sole power to initiate treaty negotiations with other regions, groups, and organizations, but may designate officers to handle those negotiations. Upon completion of a treaty negotiation, the Minister must present it to the full executive for majority approval, before submitting it to the Assembly for ratification.

(12) The Minister of Foreign Affairs will be responsible for establishing standards for the creation and maintenance of consulates and embassies.

## Minister of Defense

(13) The Minister of Defense will be the civilian leader of the armed forces of the Coalition, the South Pacific Special Forces. In conjunction with a group of Generals, the Minister of Defense will be responsible for the defense of the Coalition, building military activity, and conducting military operations.

(14) The Minister of Defense may elect to establish an intelligence office, in equal coordination with the Council on Regional Security.

Executive OrdersAuthorities

(15) The executive may exercise the collective authority of executive orders, by unanimous consent among the Prime Minister and Cabinet ministers. (8) The Prime Minister may issue Executive Oorders may only be issued to address an immediate and pressing issue created by ambiguity or holes in a particular law, which will immediately have the effect of law.

(16) (9) Upon issuing declaring an executive order, the order will be presented automatically to the Assembly for three days of debate, followed by a vote according to legislative rules, where it will then expire, and its effects shall be reversed if the Assembly does not incorporate it into law.

(17) The Prime Minister, Cabinet ministers, and other executive offices may elect to appoint deputies and advisors, who will be considered junior members of their respective offices, but will not have voting rights in any executive decision.


VII. THE HIGH COURT

Powers

(5) The High Court may reconcile contradictions within the Charter, constitutional laws, general laws, Cabinet directives, and Local Council laws and regulations and Executive Orders, maintaining the least amount of disruption to the intended purposes of the contradictory parts.


VIII. THE COUNCIL ON REGIONAL SECURITY AND CORAL GUARD

(1) …

Membership of the Council on Regional Security

(2) The minimum qualifications for membership in the Council on Regional Security are: maintaining a nation in the South Pacific and having served at least six consecutive months as a legislator or two terms in the Local Council.

Powers of the Council on Regional Security

(10) …
(11) The Council on Regional Security shall designate an individual as Intelligence Coordinator, who must be notified of and approve all intelligence and counter-intelligence operations. The Intelligence Coordinator will be responsible for disseminating any and all intelligence to the Council on Regional Security and other bodies as needed. The Intelligence Coordinator and the Prime Minister Minister of Defense will maintain a regional intelligence classification system as necessary for ensuring information security.

Membership of the Coral Guard

(12) …
(13) The minimum qualifications for membership in the Coral Guard are: maintaining a World Assembly member nation in the South Pacific; having served at least six consecutive months as a legislator or two terms in the Local Council; and meeting requirements for influence and endorsements which are set and published by the Council on Regional Security.


IX. THE MILITARY

(1) …
(2) The military will be led by the Prime Minister Minister of Defense, along with a corps of generals appointed by the Prime Minister and approved by the Assembly. The Prime Minister and general corps may establish further hierarchy, create programs, and appoint deputies as they see necessary.
(3) The military will have the support of the Coalition in conducting operations to protect innocent regions from attack and oppression and promote legitimate, native democratic institutions across the world. The military may not colonize or annex any region without the express permission of the Prime Minister Cabinet and a majority vote of the Assembly, by a majority vote of both chambers. Nor may the military attack, subjugate, purge, destroy, or vandalize any regions, excepting those regions which espouse hateful ideologies and those regions against which the Coalition has declared an official state of war.
(4) The Prime Minister will Minister of Defense will coordinate with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, to ensure that no military activities harm the government’s diplomatic affairs or public relations.


X. RECALLS AND MOTIONS OF NO CONFIDENCE

(1) …
(2) A Motion of No Confidence may be initiated by the Assembly if the members have lost faith in the effectiveness and activities of the Prime Minister and their Cabinet. Motions of No Confidence must be debated for three days and receive a motion and a second before being moved to vote. Passage requires three-fifths majority support of those voting.

(3) If a Motion of No Confidence is made against a Cabinet member, the Prime Minister is obliged to remove the relevant Cabinet member from their office, and appoint a successor in their place.

(4) [/remove] (3) If a Motion of No Confidence is made and passes against the Prime Minister, they and their Cabinet will resign immediately resign from office, a new Prime Minister elections will be called under relevant laws, and a successor will be elected. After the an election has been conducted [remove]held

XI. THE ADMINISTRATION TEAM

(3) …
(4) While the Administration Team may appoint global moderators if needed, the Prime Minister individual Ministers, the Chair of the Assembly, and roleplay moderators primarily will be responsible for the moderation of their dedicated Discord servers and forums.


Amendment(s) to the Elections Act

Elections Act

4. Offices of the Prime MinisterCabinet

(1) Sixteen days before the first of On the first of every February, May, August, and November, June and October, the Assembly will convene to elect the Prime Minister., who, in turn, will appoint their Cabinet.

a. After the first four days of the election period, during which legislators may declare their candidacy and campaign for only one position, and a campaign-only period of two days, where candidates may campaign and the Assembly will debate the merits of their platforms, the Assembly will vote for three days.

[add]a. The election period will be organized into three phases:

  1. A four-day declaration of candidacy and campaign period.
  2. A two-day campaign-only period where candidates may campaign, and the Assembly will debate the merits of their platforms.
  3. A three-day voting period.[/add]
  1. The respective winner, as decided using Instant-Runoff Voting, will be declared the Prime Minister-elect by the Election Commissioner.

(2) The terms for the incoming Prime Minister and Cabinet ministers will begin the week after elections, on the first of the month. Before this inauguration, any and all election-related disputes must be settled. The outgoing Prime Minister and any appointed Cabinet ministers will maintain their offices until then.

6. Vacancies of Office

(1) A special election will be held for vacancies arising within the Cabinet, if at least half of the term remains. If less than half of the term remains, or the position is vacant due to nobody running in its election, the Cabinet may appoint a replacement until the next regularly scheduled election.

(1) A special election will be held for a vacancy in the office of the Prime Minister. If at least half of the term remains, the elected Prime Minister will serve until the next regularly scheduled election. If less than half of the term remains, the elected Prime Minister will serve the remainder of the scheduled term and the additional subsequent full term.

(3) If a Chair is no longer in office prior to the election of a new Chair, a deputy appointed by the outgoing Chair will serve as Acting Chair to exercise all powers and responsibilities of the office of the Chair, subject to all regulations and restrictions imposed upon the Chair by law. In the event that more than one deputy was appointed, the most senior deputy, according to the order of appointment and availability, will serve as Acting Chair. In the event that no deputy was appointed or is available, the Prime Minister Cabinet will designate a legislator to serve as Acting Chair.

7. Separation of Powers

(1) Offices of the Coalition are the Delegate, the Prime Minister, and appointed Cabinet ministers, the Chair of the Assembly, the Chief Justice, and any of their appointed deputies.

(4) …

(5) No person occupying the Office of Prime Minister, an appointed Cabinet minister position, holding a Cabinet office or the office of the Delegate may hold any equivalent office in a foreign region or organization.

Amendment(s) to the Regional Officers Act

Regional Officers Act

2. Regional Officers

(2) …
(3) The remaining Cabinet Prime Minister may decide which appointed ministers, up to three, will be allotted up to three Regional Officer positions and granted Appearance, Communications, and Polls powers. They will decide which Cabinet The Prime Minister may further determine which appointed ministers among them will be granted Embassies power.

3. Executive Discretion

(1) The Prime Minister Cabinet and/or Delegate may grant Communications, Appearance, and Polls powers to regional members as they see fit.

4. Limitations

(2) …
(3) Exercise of Regional Officer powers must follow all applicable laws and rules. Behavior unbecoming of a representative of the South Pacific may result in the suspension of Regional Officer powers, even for ministers, as determined by the Prime Minster or Delegate. a majority of the Cabinet.

Amendment(s) to the Judicial Act

Judicial Act

1. The High Court

(4) …
(5) To appoint an Associate Justice, the Cabinet Prime Minister will consult with the High Court and present a willing and eligible individual to the Assembly for an approval vote.

(6) The Cabinet Prime Minister is compelled to appoint a fitting individual as per above with all deliberate speed if

  1. there are fewer less than two Associate Justices on the High Court,
  2. the Chief Justice position is vacant, and the Associate Justices cannot determine a new Chief Justice amongst themselves for any reason, or
  3. a case cannot continue due to recusals.

2. Judicial Conduct and Requirements

(2) …
(3) The Chief Justice must fulfill the requirements to be an Associate Justice, and additionally may not serve as the Prime Minister or an appointed c senior or junior Cabinet minister, as Chair of Assembly or their deputy, or as Delegate.

Amendment(s) to the Culture Act

Cultural Act

3. Holidays

(1) …
(2) The Delegate and Prime Minister Cabinet may respectively proclaim days for observance without approval from the Assembly, but such days are not official holidays.

4. Regional Symbols

(3) …
(4) Individual branches of government may adopt alternative symbols for their own use. , such as a military Battle Flag or a Ministry logo.

Amendment(s) to the Proscription Act

Proscription Act

3. Grant of Authority

(1) The Cabinet Prime Minister, together with or the Council on Regional Security, may proscribe an individual that is not a member of the Coalition, or a foreign region or organization, that they determine to be hostile. The Cabinet Prime Minister, together with the Council on Regional Security, may proscribe a member or a group of members that they determine to be hostile.

Amendment(s) to the Legislator Committee Act

Legislator Committee Act

1. Scope

(1) …
(2) The Legislator Committee comprises no less than three and no more than five legislators that have each been appointed by the Prime Minister Cabinet and approved by the Assembly via a simple majority vote.
(3) …
(4) If there is no member of the Legislator Committee available due to vacancy or leave, and there are outstanding duties to be performed, the Prime Minister Cabinet may appoint an emergency member to handle any urgent matters of the committee. The Council on Regional Security may, on security grounds only, rescind the Prime Minister’s Cabinet’s appointment. The emergency member’s tenure will last until the Prime Minister Cabinet rescinds the appointment or until one week after a regular committee member is available, whichever happens sooner.

Amendment(s) to the Military Code

Military Code

1. General Corps

(1) The General Corps is a commission comprising up to three Commanders and the Prime Minister, or their appointed designee Minister of Defense. A Commander on the General Corps shall be called a General.
(2) …
(3) In case of a vacancy on the General Corps, the Prime Minister Minister of Defense may appoint a Commander with approval by the Assembly to become a General. Should there be no Generals, the military shall not operate except for the self-defense of the South Pacific, for the defense of an ally, or for the purposes of explicit treaty obligations.

Amendment(s) to the Treaties Act

Treaties Act

An act defining the Prime Minister’s Cabinet’s treaty-making powers

1. Assembly Ratification

(1) Upon the receipt of a treaty to the Assembly by the Prime Minister by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Assembly will debate the proposed treaty for at least five days before any vote is held.

2. Treaty Dissolution and Repeal

(1) A treaty will be dissolved if the Prime Minister Cabinet reports to the Assembly that a signatory to the treaty has violated its terms. The dissolution report must include detailed evidence, which will be up for a commenting period in the Assembly for one week before the dissolution is legally binding.

(2) If a signatory to a treaty notifies the Prime Minister Cabinet that they have dissolved the treaty on their end, the Prime Minister Cabinet will swiftly notify the Assembly. The treaty will be dissolved automatically upon Assembly notification.

(3) Should the Prime Minister Cabinet wish to dissolve a treaty for reasons other than the violation of its terms, they must notify the Assembly. The Assembly will debate for at least five days, and then vote on its repeal. Should a vote on its repeal pass with majority support, the treaty will be dissolved officially, and the signatory notified promptly.

Amendment(s) to the World Assembly Act

World Assembly Act

1. The Office of World Assembly Legislation

[add] (1) The Office of World Assembly Legislation is a permanent executive office, led by the Prime Minister, or an appointed Director, who is responsible for coordinating the Coalition’s activities in the World Assembly, providing assistance in drafting resolutions, and issuing voting recommendations on World Assembly proposals.

  1. The appointed Director, should one be in office, is to be considered an appointed member of the Cabinet. [/add]

1. 2. Powers

(1) …
(2) In the absence of a recommendation, the Delegate shall consult with the Prime Minister Cabinet to determine which direction to vote in. If the direction is contrary to the vote of all World Assembly nations in the South Pacific, the Delegate may choose to change their vote in collaboration with the Prime Minister. Cabinet…

(3) The Prime Minister Cabinet may override a vote on a World Assembly resolution for security and diplomatic purposes.

3. 4. Legal Impact of Security Council Declarations

(2) …
(3) No declaration adopted by the Security Council will be recognized, abided by, or considered law by within areas subject to the jurisdiction of the South Pacific, unless sent to the Assembly by the Prime Minister Cabinet and ratified by a majority vote of the Assembly.

Amendment(s) to the Sunshine Act

Sunshine Act

2. Publishing of Discussions

(2) The release of discussions shall occur at the following times:

  1. For a Prime Minister Cabinet term, discussions from the executive branch Cabinet shall be released no later than six months after the completion of that term:
  1. Discussions of the February to April June term are due for release in the following October December.
  2. Discussions of the May June to July October term are due for release in the following January April.
  3. Discussions of the August October to October February term are due for release in the following April August.

iv) Discussions of the November to January term are due for release in July.


Resolution on the Cancelation of the May 2023 Prime Minister Election

Resolution on the Cancelation of the May 2023 Prime Minister Election

A resolution to provide for the orderly transition from an elected Cabinet with four-month terms to an elected Prime Minister with three-month terms

Whereas the changes stemming from the Great Council of 2022 were not as in-depth as originally envisioned;

Whereas there was substantial discussion surrounding the movement to a sole election for the Prime Minister whereupon they would be allowed to appoint their own Cabinet;

Whereas the Assembly, in its own right, made the transition to a sole election for the Prime Minister outside of the Great Council;

Whereas the Assembly inadvertently left several ambiguities within the regional laws;

Whereas the Cabinet has issued an Executive Order to correct a pressing ambiguity with regard to vacancies in office;

Whereas the several amendments to regional laws accompanying this resolution necessitate a smooth transition from an elected Cabinet to a Prime Minister appointed Cabinet;

Resolved by the Assembly of the South Pacific:

(1) Upon passage of the accompanying amendments, the next regularly scheduled Prime Minister election for the May 2023 term is canceled.

(2) Vacancies in the Office of Prime Minister or in appointed Cabinet positions will be filled under relevant regional laws.

(3) Upon the conclusion of the current Cabinet term, and the election of the first Prime Minister under new laws, the Chair of the Assembly will archive this resolution for posterity.

3 Likes

Giving the Prime Minister the power to proscribe any player or region without any check is a terrible idea.

2 Likes

Out of pure interest, would it be possible for you to explain why?

And on a personal note, this is a bit too much power being given to the Prime Minister.

I do concur with this. However, the High Court still possesses a final check on all proscriptions, so with the proposed changes, the end result is still the same.

What would you propose to be the solution to this? Perhaps having the CRS also approve the proscription as part of the process? For instance:


I think thats the only practical solution now that we no longer have an indepenedently elected Cabinet.

Included.

I haven’t finished reading it yet, but I found the proposal quite interesting. And congratulations on the job.

This part got me thinking: why? Again, Prime Minister essentially tied to the Assembly. In the end, they only going to nominate whomever the Assembly wants.

I don’t necessarily see it that way. The PM has an electoral mandate to form the Cabinet of their choice. To check against the wrong members being chosen, the Assembly has the power of confirmation. Most of the time, I envision nominees sailing through the confirmation process, with only the more divisive, unknown, or less-competent people having a harder time proving their case.

I also support your idea to remove legislator requirements from holding executive office, but I am more hesitant to support it if the Assembly does not have some sort of check over it.

1 Like

I understand. Overall, your proposal is good. I would very possibly support it.

I wanted to float the idea of a different check on proscriptions, where the Asssembly is involved via an approval vote on the proscription.

I noticed that there is not enough time, even with a motion to wave debate (which would be ill-advised), that upon passage of the Omnibus, the region would immediately be late in starting the election for Prime Minister.

To that effect, I have amended the Omnibus to include a resolution canceling the (proposed) May 2023 Prime Minister election so that we are not caught in ambiguity right off the bat. Take a look at the resolution and let me know what you think. I have never written a resolution (that I wanted to pass) before, so please feel free to point out any glaring errors.

How long would the current PM’s term end up being under that change?

The current Cabinet would leave office on August 1st, assuming a PM resignation didn’t trigger an election first.

This resolution would add roughly a month and a half to the current Cabinet term.

In other circumstances that would be fine with me but we currently have the TNP shitshow hanging over the region and until that is resolved I couldn’t support extending the current executives term.

2 Likes

This seems to be a rather high degree of power given to one person and a very low amount of power to the rest of the government in comparison. I’m not too sure about this…
Why are you suggesting effectively axing the entire Cabinet, again?
To me, this appears as though you’re gutting the entirety of the Cabinet’s independence and power, and effectively making it a puppet group of the PM. Can you clarify whether this is the intention?

The Cabinet, in and of itself, is not going away. It is being codified to allow the PM to actually lead the Cabinet.

Yes, this is the intention, but it is not as ill-intentioned as your previous sentence indicated. The Assembly, by just about a two-thirds majority, changed the Cabinet’s selection method to PM appointment, but that left more holes in the laws that were previously considered (or at the very least, acted upon). This is why the Assembly is also is currently voting on an Executive Order addressing just one of those pressing ambiguities that a present within the law, and I might add that this change is quite the landslide vote thus far.

The Omnibus package before us looks large and daunting, and it is. It is a comprehensive amending of the laws of the region in one package that merely codifies what the move to a PM-appointed Cabinet implied. If this package isn’t adopted, I could easily envision several smaller bills in the Assembly, or cases before the High Court asking them to determine how to proceed regarding the several ambiguities in the law.

Thank you for the questions, and I hope I alleviated your concerns!

2 Likes

But why exactly cancel the May elections?

1 Like

Some random thoughts as I read this:

  • I don’t see the utility in continuing to define OWL in the Charter but not any Ministry.
  • Is there a good reason to keep the week-long waiting period after general elections when there is no other period like it in other elections?
1 Like

Because under the law as proposed, we should have already started elections. So upon passage, we would immediately be in violation of the law, which the High Court would probably be asked to remedy. I’m seeking to avoid that by having the resolution take care of that.

Also, the current four-month cabinet term is only two months in, so we’d be cutting our elected cabinet’s term short.

I actually thought about that when I was drafting and was 50/50 on it. I only decided to leave it in because I thought the least change was a better option. Since then, I have actually flipped my rationale and will make such an edit when I am off the mobile.

EDIT: Changes have been made. I removed OWL from the Charter and moved its powers and mandate to the World Assembly Act. The PM is the director of OWL, unless they choose to appoint a director, under the same system they would use for the other Cabinet positions.

I think that OWL plays an important role within the region, and to dismantle the infrastructure would be a shame. This keeps OWL alive, but outside of a Charter-mandated position/office.

I actually kinda like the week-long waiting period. This way, any disputes that arise will also have a chance to be settled before the term is set to begin. Also, I feel it is much more important to have a waiting period now than before since the incoming PM would need a chance to organize their cabinet appointments. During the week-long waiting period, the PM-elect could submit their nominations for cabinet appointments to the Assembly so that debate could begin. If I was elected PM, I wouldn’t want the first two+ weeks of my (short) term spent trying to get my Cabinet confirmations done.