September-October 2020 Speaker of the Union Election
In accordance with Article 3, Section 2 of the Third Constitution of the Social Liberal Union as well as the Voting Reform and Fair Political Practices Act, it is now required that an election be triggered for a World Assembly Delegate to serve for the term beginning 14th October 2020 and ending 3rd March 2021.
I, Jyskmark, will serve as Election Administrator and shall perform the duties of this role to the best of my ability.
The powers and duties of the Speaker of the Union are primarily detailed in Articles 3 of the Constitution, but a more digestible outline may be found here. The term shall last from 13th October 2020 to 3rd March 2021 and may be renewed once consecutively. Nominations shall last from 17:00 UTC on 26th September 2020 until 17:00 UTC on 3rd October 2020, after which voting shall open as soon as possible.
Any Member state may, if eligible, nominate themselves for this office or, subject to their acceptance, another eligible Member state.
Eligibility for the office of Speaker of the Union is defined as such: the state must be a current Member in accordance with the constitution, the state must have been a Member for at least two months prior to 13th October 2020 (that is, since before 18th August 2020), and the state must not have served two consecutive terms as Speaker immediately preceding this election.
IN THE COURT OF JUSTICE OF THE SOCIAL LIBERAL UNION
Administrative Order Appointing a Registrar of the Court
WHEREAS, a vacancy exists in the office of Registrar of the Court of Justice;
NOW, THEREFORE, pursuant to authority granted in Article 5, Section 2 of the Civil Service Act,
IT IS ORDERED that Member State Ramelia, an active Member of the Bar in good standing and not otherwise disqualified by said Act, is HEREBY APPOINTED the Registrar of the Court of Justice, said appointment to become effective immediately and during the pleasure of the Chancellor.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that during the continuance of the said Ramelia in office, they shall be authorized, empowered, and commanded to exercise and perform all and singular the powers and directions contained in the applicable laws of the Social Liberal Union and orders of this Court now in effect or which may hereafter come into effect.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that all others whom these presents may concern do take notice hereof and govern themselves accordingly, especially with respect to the establishment of a new point of contact concerning the filing, processing, archival, transmittal, and adjudication of court documents and cases within the Court of Justice.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that only a Chancellor duly elected by the Open Parliament may appoint or dismiss the Registrar of the Court of Justice, and as a statutory civil servant, their tenure shall remain unaffected by vacancy or incapacity in the office of Chancellor or Founder. Provided, the Registrar and all other officers of the Court so concerned shall render reasonable aid or advice to a duly-appointed special judge as if though they were the Chancellor, but a special judge is not authorized by law to issue, revise, or revoke the general standing orders of this Court.
Hello!
I'm running yet again for deputy FA, and I'm gonna see what happens.
Track Record
I've been deputy for... a while, and nothing's burned down yet. I collaborated with Goncar (and before him, Freeland Newworldia) to improve ties with existing embassies, and to create new ones, whilst simulataneously keeping track of raiding threats and the like. I was one of the many proponents of getting the SLU into NSLeft, and I will hope to continue to deepen our relationship both with them, and the other regions individually.
Why not aim for Minister?
Many reasons. So many reasons.
How do we vote for you becoming Deputy?
Simple, just put your choice for Minister as your first choice, and me as your second.
If you've any questions, don't hesitate to drop me a message!
Who Am I:
I am Goncar, the current Minister of Foreign Affairs. I have been in the Social Liberal Union since July 6th of 2011. I have been an active member of the community since my arrival except for my brief retirement in early 2016 until my return in August of 2017. My Qualifications:
During my time prior to retirement, I served as the 2nd Minister of Defense in the Millylandish Constitutional Period which now exists as a subdivision of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I also served as Minister of Foreign Affairs during the delegacies of Avaerilon and our current Chancellor Anaaxes. Post-Retirement, I served as Minister of Foreign Affairs during the delegacies of Courelli (the first time), North American Republics, Courelli (the second time) and Koiho. I have also served as a two-term WA Delegate in fall of 2018 to summer of 2019. I say all of this to express that I’ve have plenty of experience whether that be as Minister of Foreign Affairs or Delegate who have to understand the position and role to be re-elected. Accomplishments:
While I haven’t been involved in many legislative things, I have been in a few, including the creation of CUSA warning system and Intel team. I also was involved in the creation in the Interregional Legislative Coalition and it’s workings, though I give most of that credit to Courelli. In regards to FA things, majority of time, I have been able to keep ambassadors filled and of the current 11 embassies we have at the time of this post, 9 of them were opened by yours truly (only A Liberal Haven and International Democratic Union were not). Of those 9 embassies, I (Along with help from my deputy Harndon, current MoDA North American Republics and ambassador Wildy) have managed relations with The East Pacific, a massive Game-Created Region. The SLU also has joined NSLeft during this last term. Overall, this past few terms have very successful and I believe even more can come. Plan:
My plan for the upcoming term as Minister of Foreign Affairs is to 1. Fill the ambassadors team as there was an ambassador who left two spots open. 2. Continue weekly reports that will feature in the DA report to the region. 3. Continue prosperous relations with our current embassies and NSLeft. 4. Look for future embassies that will make us diplomatically stronger as well as safer as a region. 5. Anything Helvurium may request within reason of the Constitution.
Thank you for reading if you got this far and I’m grateful for the opportunity to run once again. If you any questions or comments, please leave them below or feel free to DM me on Discord! If you do TG me, I may not see it for some time but I will get around to it when I log in!
In accordance with Article 6, Section 1 of the Third Constitution of the Social Liberal Union as well as the Voting Reform and Fair Political Practices Act, it is now required that an election be triggered for all Ministerial positions of the Social Liberal Union.
I, Jyskmark, will serve as Election Administrator and shall perform the duties of this role to the best of my ability.
Nominations shall last from 17:00 UTC on 20th June 2020 until 17:00 UTC on 27th June 2020, after which voting shall open as soon as possible.
Any Member state may, if eligible, nominate themselves for this office or, subject to their acceptance, another eligible Member state.
Eligibility for the Ministerial offices is defined as such: the state must be a current Member in accordance with the constitution, and the state must not otherwise be disqualified from holding office by the Court of Justice.
In my five years since joining the Social Liberal Union, I've been consistently impressed by the community and solidarity our region consistently fosters. It's unlike any other region I have found on NationStates, and it is something I have been glad to be a part of. The SLU has shaped my development in terms of politics and frequently been a place where myself and others have shared the happenings of real life, good and bad. For all of that, I'm thankful and feel lucky to have found the SLU.
I suppose it's best not to obfuscate the obvious here: I am running for World Assembly Delegate of our esteemed region, and hope you'll consider voting for me. In this platform, I will try to outline where I think the SLU is as a region, what I've done to justify seeking such a high office, and where I hope we can go if I am elected.
Where We Stand
The SLU is at a pretty unique and opportune point right now. Thanks to extraordinary recruitment work by North American Republics (and maybe a bit of Youtuber intervention) we've grown our membership by a factor of more than two in the last few months. This has translated into quite a bit of activity by our newer members, which is a great sign and speaks well of our existing involvement programs.
Outside of sheer numbers, the SLU is pretty well set for an era of prosperity. We have just joined the NSLeft and our ties to other leftist regions in NS are as such better than ever. Thanks to the consistent and careful work of Goncar, we also recently were able to open embassies with The East Pacific, the first in-game embassy we have had with a GCR in memory. Our laws have been tuned over the years to be fit well for an expansion like the one we're seeing. NAR's building this new forum and the elections portals has been a further boon for us.
Overall, we are at a crossroads, where we can grow into a better and greater region if we choose. Such a moment is quite rare, so I hope we can make the best of it and would like to a part of that.
What I've Done
I have been in the SLU for quite a while now, and have spent around half that time serving in governing capacities as Speaker of the Union and Minister of Domestic Affairs. In my two Speakerships in particular, I have seen in very significant legislative change. In 2017, this meant coauthoring our Third Constitution with Anaaxes at a time where it was necessary to start fresh. In more recent years, I've tried to ensure our laws are appropriate, modern, and helpful for governance, while not being especially burdensome. In that time I also managed and improved accessibility in the Library of Parliament, a massive resource for our laws and history, and assisted with the creation of the Bar Exam. Not all of my tenure in government has been perfect, and I fully and freely admit I have made mistakes. However, I can confidently say that my effectiveness in governance has improved over the years; a lot of that is thanks to the community in this region.
I realize that experience with the SLU's legal system does little on its own, especially with a role like the Delegacy. It is nonetheless helpful in terms of active management (which the Delegate does). Additionally, my consistent activity in official capacities would serve me well as Delegate; we're best served by one who gives frequent updates and can readily give explanations.
Where We Can Go
In past years we've seen several campaigns (especially for the delegacy) where good promises were made but not followed through with. In some cases, the promises (like a new forum) actually did come about organically when the campaigner's term had ended. There's a reason for this: the role of the Delegate is fairly limited, and plenty of that promised is simply beyond their hands. A good Delegate coordinates and encourages practices that are working well; that is what I would seek to do.
To the end of coordination, our Constitution provides a potentially powerful tool—setting a Cabinet doctrine after the Ministerial elections. While burdensome regulation is not my goal, doing this would give the region a chance to hold their leaders accountable and an outline for that leadership. I would have Ministers submit plans for their terms soon after their election to compose the Cabinet doctrine, and through roughly monthly updates it could be maintained and Ministries remain on course.
As Delegate, I clearly would have an important hand in molding Ministerial function beyond collating their input. I think, first and foremost, having fully staffed Ministries would be helpful. Our Civil Service Act provides a neat outline for the executive branch that I would encourage Ministers to utilize—Domestic Affairs handling a variety of roleplay and non-roleplay engagement, especially with new recruits; Foreign Affairs continuing to help us keep involved with our allies; and Immigration looking for more people with the time or technological prowess to help with our highly successful recruitment program. (A couple of issues have come up with the Civil Service Act in the past year, and I would have Ministers suggest revisions to the departments in their Ministries as part of the Cabinet doctrine so that maximum effectiveness is possible at the departmental level.) I would further ensure my availability to fulfill tasks as requested by other governmental officers as necessary.
Besides dealing with the Cabinet, the World Assembly Delegate has a few other responsibilities and powers. One of those, obviously, is handling World Assembly affairs and votes. At a minimum I would be careful not to miss votes, but I would like to provide explanations on each vote I take and make open discussions on our region's position more common. Checking resolution proposals for those I should approve would also be an aim of mine. Otherwise, I would try to make public updates and encouragements to join government (by running for office or applying for department roles) more frequent to boost activity.
I freely admit that this component of my platform is mostly taken from my opponent, Helvurium, but I agree strongly with it and think it is important to include. Over my years here, there have been a number of people who come to or are residents in our region at a time of particular need for them. Taking a more active approach to helping them, especially in finding organizations that can provide aid, should be an aim of our government. I also think we should more frequently provide information and opportunities for donation for those who can about relevant humanitarian projects and organizations. Building solidarity, on and outside of NationStates, is crucial and needful in this world.
As one last thing, I would like to bring back the weekly fireside chats of a few delegates prior. They provide an opportunity for all Member States, in and out of government, to get involved with the happenings of our region and suggest changes, and deserve to return.
Thank you for reading! If you have any comments or questions, feel free to ask them at your convenience and I would be more than happy to respond. Whoever you think is best fit for the Delegacy, please do vote! Our region has been fortunate to have a large number of fantastic members and candidates for office over the years, but our democracy is far more important than any given campaign. Cookies!
Open Thread
This year will be my three year anniversary in being in the Social Liberal Union, and things have changed for both myself and this region. Three years ago I hadn’t finished college and hadn’t had any serious thoughts about what starting university would be like. I’ve now just recently completed my second year of university, in unusual circumstances that have been the cherry on top for the past few years of unusualness in both my life and the world.
I’ve shared a lot of these experiences with you, and so many of you have trusted us with your real-life experiences. This community has been instrumental in helping me improve myself, understand who I want to be, and deal with situations that seemed impossible to deal with at the time. This is part of why I am running for Delegate. I want to give back, in a way which I feel best suited for.
This region has changed as well, in more ways that one. We’ve seen steady growth and new forums, thanks to NAR and all his efforts. Goncar has led the way to improve our foreign relations and now, thanks to Courelli’s fingers in every corner of Nationstates, we are reopening formal pacts with the rest of the NationStates Left. There are too many people to name as so many other people are involved in making this region what it is, and I am so privileged to know you all. I hope to see everyone continue to contribute to our region. Without further adieu, below is my credentials and platform:
My Credentials
I have now had the privilege to serve as a member of the SLU government for well over a year, and in that time I’ve had a variety of roles. I’ve been a minister, twice-serving deputy minister, and even had a brief stint as Acting Speaker of the Union. I’ve learned a lot in that time, from how to work with people to how this region works in a governmental capacity. I’ve been able to learn from people much smarter and more effective for me, and I will carry what I’ve learned forward - regardless of this election result.
The SLU is not the only region I have served, as I am now somewhat of a veteran when it comes to NationStates government. I have served as Delegate in many regions, most recently The Versutian Federation. I know how the World Assembly works and how it matters in both the issues presented to it and our influence on an inter-regional basis.
This is not all, as a lot of the experience I would bring to this role comes from real life. First and foremost, I’m a committed activist for the UK’s Labour Party in which I have campaigned both locally and nationally to help bring positive change to my country. I had the honour to serve as Co-Chair of my university’s Labour Club, in which I learned how to effectively manage a team like our regional government and how to effectively take the initiative in working with other societies and institutions outside of the university. These roles have informed a lot of my values and given me invaluable experience that I use on the daily. I believe all of this makes me a Delegate candidate that can take our region forward, continue to bring our community together, and make us a better region overall.
My Platform
Firstly, it is important to state that the job of any Delegate is to work with our Ministers and to encourage the best of their abilities. If elected, I want to be a colleague of the SLU’s Ministers - someone they can work with and rely on, not an overbearing boss they feel they cannot approach for help or advice. I would work with the MoFA and make myself known and become a friend of our allied regions and organisations. I would encourage the MoDA to join me in engagement programs, and work with them to ensure that any regional events proposed are fully realised. It is also important to continue our impressive recruitment steak, and I would be here to help if either NAR or our MoI wasn’t able to run the auto recruiter or we had other recruitment issues.
My delegacy would be committed to improving regional engagement. Recently, we have seen a massive increase in the number of nations in our region, friends in our discord, and endorsements to Koiho. Chances like these don’t come around often, and we need to use it to its fullest extent. I will do more to ensure that we have game side activities, including regular telegrams to update the region about the goings-on of our region, to advertise events that are somewhat exclusive to the discord, and encourage new nations to join both our forums and our discord. The discord is an important part of our region, but it is not the region, and if elected I will do much more to ensure that those who would rather focus on the game side of NationStates are also represented and regularly informed.
This means it is also important to raise engagement in other areas, especially our government. For a long time now, elections have rarely been competitive and, I hope, we have a real chance to change that. We have nothing to fear and nothing to lose by encouraging engagement with our democratic processes, but everything to gain. If elected, I will work with new nations in our regions, give them detailed advice on how to get involved, and advice on how to run and what they’d need to know about the SLU government. I want new people in our government, perhaps people we don't even know yet, and the only way to do this is to have a hands-on approach, one that encourages and firmly stands behind any member state that wants to try something new and help our region in their own way. To keep our region fresh and engaging, we must bring new ideas in while utilising the experience of longtime government members.
Finally, I believe it is important to expand the support we give to members of our community. Many people come to us when they are vulnerable, scared, or dealing with situations with life consequences. Sometimes, unfortunately, people have even come to us while in unsafe environments at home. I want everyone in this region to be happy and healthy, but to do that we need to ensure that if people come to us with serious problems than we are able to guide them to real-life organisations that can give them the appropriate help they need.
Thank you for reading, and feel free to message me or publicly ask any questions related to this platform or my campaign!
In accordance with Article 5, Section 2 of the Third Constitution of the Social Liberal Union as well as the Voting Reform and Fair Political Practices Act, it is now required that an election be triggered for a World Assembly Delegate to serve for the term beginning 21st June 2020 and ending 11th October 2020.
I, Jyskmark, will serve as Election Administrator and shall perform the duties of this role to the best of my ability.
The powers and duties of the World Assembly Delegate are primarily detailed in Articles 5 and 6 of the Constitution, but a more digestible outline may be found here. The term shall last from 21st June 2020 to 11th October 2020 and may be renewed once consecutively. Nominations shall last from 18:00 UTC on 5th June 2020 until 18:00 UTC on 12th June 2020, after which voting shall open as soon as possible.
Any Member state may, if eligible, nominate themselves for this office or, subject to their acceptance, another eligible Member state.
Eligibility for the office of World Assembly Delegate is defined as such: the state must be a current Member in accordance with the constitution, the state must have been a Member for at least three months prior to the 21st June 2020 (that is, since before 29th March 2020), and the state must not have served two consecutive terms as Delegate immediately preceding this election.
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