Opening Statements

Dykataar - Greetings Thaecia! For those who don’t me, I am Dykataar- certified slow brain. I can’t express how excited I am for today's debate! To summarize my campaign down shortly: A vote for Dykataar is a vote for an active Senator, someone who speaks for the people, someone who will :clap: reduce :clap: the :clap: [hecking] :clap: house (and senate if that’s what your into). It’s time to get rid of those old inactive hashbrowns and put in some new mashed potatoes (that’s me in case you couldn’t tell). Thank you Taungu for organizing this wonderful debate and by-election. I can’t wait to get this party started!

Toerana V - Hi, I'm BowShot, a relative newcomer to Thaecia, and to NS in the grand scheme of things. I've been playing this game for just over 2 years, and have spent most of that time in a mixture of places, largely TRR since April of 2019. I've done my fair share of things, broken the odd regional law here, had my actions result in the odd diplomatic incident here.

I'm looking forward to answering some questions!

Rapid Questions

Let's get into this with some lightheartedness, what's 10 + 9?

Toerana V - 21

Obviously

Dykataar - Well this is a complicated query. Let me take you through my calculations.

I add 10 + 9 which converts to 0 + 9 + 0 + 10. I convert this to sqrt(18) + sqrt(100). As this is now a binomial, I can take the synthesized root, pull out the imaginary number and I am left with 21.

My final answer is 21. Thank you for your time

Toerana V - Adding numbers is just cheating smh

Dykataar - At least I am transparent to the citizens of Thaecia, and showed them my calculations. What are you hiding??

Toerana V - My true genius ;)

Nice nice lol, how often do you check Discord and/or Nationstates?

Dykataar - I am active where my priorities lie, and my priorities are YOU, the people. And TikTok compilations, I must say I am a sucker for the relatable ones. In all seriousness, I’m only inactive when I sleep. I always have Discord and NationStates open and if you DM me then there is a 99% chance I will respond within milliseconds. In the case this doesn’t happen, you can request a refund and one will be given to you.

Toerana V - If I'm available, discord is open

I moderate TRR's RMB though, so I do almost always have an NS tab open, but it's rarely on the Thaecian account

Are you a consensus-builder or decision-maker?

Toerana V - Thaecia is a democracy, we can't and shouldn't do anything without public support. However, I can also make decisions, requiring I have enough information to make them. However, I can't comment on future events, or what may happen in the future of both NationStates and Thaecia.

Dykataar - I consider myself a mixture of both. I can make decisions when needed and those decisions typically lead to all parties coming to an agreement or consensus. Of course to be realistic, not everyone will get what they want which is why I am mainly a decision maker.

Are you an isolationist or globalist in Nationstates terms?

Dykataar - This is a difficult question to answer as it is very situational, but I would say I am an isolationist. We need to put Thaecia’s matter first right now, and ensure that our people are represented and our government is active and fully functional before we move onto Foreign Affairs. I am not implying we halt all Foreign Affairs, but I am suggesting that we focus on Thaecia First, and The Rest Second (see what I did there? I am comedian).

Toerana V - It depends on the circumstances, as Dyk said

Overall, isolationist, despite my cosmopolitan nature

Last of quick questions, what's the ideal number of people in the House and Senate in your eyes?

Toerana V - The ideal number? Well 0. Ideally, the legislature would be made up by the Citizenry, so that everyone in the region can have their say on the laws that govern them.

Dykataar - As I've stated in my campaign, I feel the ideal number of people in the House is 11 (from 15) and in the Senate is 7 (from 9)

To Toerana V: You advocate for a direct democracy?

Toerana V - Of course

Dykataar - Hm. I'll pick you up on that later.

Should the coming amendment to the Constitution concerning the Congressional Reduction/Expansion pass, which many expect it to succeed having seen the Congressional Reduction Act 2020 pass with a two-thirds majority of the overall voting populace. That would lead to a Senator initiating a motion to unilaterally reduce the House from 15 seats to 11 seats, how do you see yourself voting in this scenario?

Dykataar - I will be voting in favor of this. The reason being, as many already know, is that our elections are not competitive in any nature which leads to an inactive and unconcerned Congress.

Toerana V - Well, my ideal legislature would be that of a citizenry one, so I don't have a significant stance here. I would take the advice and discuss the opinions of my colleagues prior to making a vote in the best interests of Thaecians.

Very well, let’s toe off a little, seeing that the Associate Justice Marvinville declared a candidacy for the House of Commons, one cannot imagine that the justice intends to sit in that seat for long, indicating another confirmation hearing for a justice soon after Rayekka. What are your views on how a confirmation should be held and how do you intend to vet a new justice?

Toerana V - Lets "toe" off a little

BA DUM TSSS

I see what you did there

anyhow

Dykataar - As stated in my campaign, I advocate for judicial nominations to be transferred from the Prime Minister to the President.

Toerana V - I'm relatively new to Thaecia and I am yet to get enough of a feel for the community and its members to answer that question.

However since we have a legislature

Judicial appointments should be confirmed by the legislature

but seconded what Dyk said

the President should get the nomination, not the PM

Dykataar - If I may expand on my answer,

As Toe said, I am not experienced enough nor am I educated with our justice system enough to provide a proper answer at this time. I am working to change this in coming days however.

I also agree with my colleague in this statement as well.

Toerana V - We're competitors at the moment :P

Antenion - Hey, Hey mind if I join?

Toerana V - Nothing's stopping you :P

Antenion - Sorry I'm a little late, didn't know that it was delayed until now

Yes always, judicial appointments are confimed by the Senate - how do you see yourselves approaching a likely confirmation to happen in the Senate before this general election?

Dykataar - We may be competing, but we are all citizens of Thaecia. That brings us together as one, hence which is why you are my colleague.

Toerana V - I couldn't possibly comment on a future event without all of the facts to answer the question

Dykataar - I abstain from answering this question as I am not knowledgeable in Thaecia's justice system at this time.

Antenion - Mind if I ask the moderator for a summary of the question?

Taungu

The Associate Justice Marvinville, having declared a candidacy to serve in the House of Commons is unlikely to want to stay in the High Court, leading to the possibility of a Justice confirmation right before the upcoming general election.

How do you see yourself vetting the potential candidate for the High Court?

Dykataar - I believe Congress have already confirmed Rayekka as Associate Justice at this time, correct me if I'm wrong.

Antenion - That is correct

This is about marv and if he wins the house

Toerana V - well I'll sit over here with the popcorn

:couch: :popcorn:

Dykataar - slides in on couch hiya mind if i join ya?

Toerana V - go right ahead

get ur own popcorn though

Dykataar - i have some masala popcorn right here

Toerana V - not bad

Antenion - Anywho, While I do see as a justice conformation as inevitable, The main question of the candidate and who if they are trusted enough, If I can trust them, and the general audience can, then I don't mind the confirmation before the GenElect. However if someone not as trustworthy is chosen. Then maybe not.

Dykataar - Actually, do you mind if I answer the previous question really quickly?

[Anty]'s response got me thinking.

Toerana V - yes I do want to go to sleep tonight :P

Quickly, if you have something to say

Dykataar - If the nominee brought up before the GE, as Marc said, compatible for their position then I will consider voting in favor. However at this time I currently abstain from voting for a judicial nominee before the GE.

Alright, onto some foreign affairs, would you, if elected to the Senate, vote in favour of vetoing a military operation under any circumstances? And if so, under which circumstances? Why?

Antenion - Not at all, mainly because I have full support of the military, as long as they don't disturb or coup the region

Toerana V - I'm a defender, and not the world's most moderate defender either. I would vote against any raiding action that does not act in defence of Thaecia or her allies, especially when a significant community is involved.

Dykataar - During any election, I would vote in favor of vetoing a military operation as R/D can greatly disrupt elections and members of TEA could lose citizenship during their operations, which could alter elections.

However, during other times I would gladly support our military as long as the operations do not go against Thaecia and nothing is harming the region and/or its people.

- or coup the region, as [Anty] pointed out

Antenion - *Note: I am mainly saying that as someone who is unalligned, meaning not a raider or defender

Seeing as Thaecia is, at present, a non-aligned region experimenting with various defences and raids, would you look to block such operations regardless of the community size or interest to the region?

Toerana V - Tagging is acceptable in my eyes, occupations or similar are not.

Occupations hurt regional communities

Antenion - Wouldn't it need 2/3rds support to be stopped?

Toerana V - We would not want Thaecia occupied by a hostile force, so why should we occupy other communities?

Dykataar - So you advocate to protect regional communities that harbor fascists?

Toerana V - I have a neutral opinion on fascists

Dykataar - ....?

Toerana V - On one hand, they're communities too, on the other, they are built on an ideology of hate

Hateful ideologies cannot build communities

Dykataar - That contradicts what you just said.

Toerana V - Oh for sure, It represents how conflicted I am on the issue

Dykataar - Would you vote in favor of an operation that occupies a fascist region?

Toerana V - No, I would abstain

Dykataar - So you would rather not give a say in an operation which could lead to a fascist region prospering?

Antenion - I am more simple to my IRL left leaning nature, I see a fascist region, I try and shoot the region. Simple as that

Dykataar - Keeping in mind Thaecia is tagged and has anti-fascist ideologies.

Toerana V - so are all the regions I have participated in

My stance remains the same

I am indeed anti-fascist, but I would not support occupation of fascist regions

however I would not be against it either

Dykataar - I have no more questions, but I would like to point out to the audience that said candidate has stated "I have a neutral opinion on fascists". I'm ready to move on, moderator.

Let's not get too heated on this, and move to another piece of this, returning to the Senate docket in these closing days are a couple of foreign affairs related topics, notably the White Laurel Act for potentially providing aid to allied regions and a Consortium Concention of Lausanne, an inter-regional organization that Thaecia has been a part of almost a year, until a convention appearing now. Do you believe this increasingly non-isolationist trend should be here to stay and what are your views on WA blocs or inter-regional organizations?

Dykataar - In summary (will expand in a bit)

WA bloc: oh hell no

inter-regional orgs: not atm, but def is something we can look into in the future

Toerana V - erm

At the moment, I would not vote in favour of either

we need to solve our own problems before getting involved in organisations that may come with their own

Dykataar - I agree with Toe on this matter.

Antenion - It's unanimous

Dykataar - Thaecia has lots of issues that need to be addressed and fixed before we move onto inter-regional organizations. While I'm not completely against these organizations, as I am with WA voting blocs, I feel that this is something we should merely put to the side for now. We should definitely revisit this after the general elections to see where Thaecia stands.

Antenion - No WA bloc because WA gae, and thaecia joining Interregional Orgs can become a thing after we address our problems to the best of our abilities

Dykataar - yessir

Also, Toe, I didn't mean to get heated there. I let my personal opinions get the best of me, and I apologize

Toerana V - Not to worry, I've been flamed over less~

Let's take a look inwards, another issue that has surfaced recently, what are your views on reforming or changing the Constitution of Thaecia, is a Constitutional Convention something that should be put into play and how should it work, if so? Do you believe that the Constitution should be drastically changed or otherwise?

Antenion - Absolutely

Toerana V - It requires a drastic overhaul

It's a bad english essay at the moment, not a readable, understandable constitution

Dykataar - Here is what needs to happen.

ctrl+a

del

write new constitution

bam thaecia happy

Toerana V - That is bad for democracy

Antenion - Come our our Consti is wordy and might need to correct the grammar

Alot

Ironic coming from me but it's true

cuz my grammar bad

Dykataar - I believe a constitutional convention should be put into play, as long as the citizens of Thaecia are present and whatever is discussed is put up to a referendum that the general public can also vote on. Closed conventions will hurt our democracy and are against what Thaecia stands for.

Our current constitution is an outright mess. I commend Cerdenia for his work to fix our constitution in it's many grammar errors and loopholes, but to no avail the document is a total and utter mess, and its best bet right now is a full re-write through a convention (as said in my post above).

Toerana V - Out of curiosity, how many more Qs do we have to go?

It's nearing 11 and I like sleep :P

Antenion - Probably a few more and then it's the personal ones

Toerana V - yay

Antenion - Also mind if I have a bathroom break?

Dykataar - Can't wait to see what taungu has ready to haunt us now

Like one or two more, no worries

There have been amendments to transfer away the Minister Confirmation Hearings away from the House and into the Senate, allowing the House of Commons to cover more topics of new legislation and not be bogged down in hearings early in a term. What are your thoughts on such a system, would you support such a change in hearings?

Toerana V - Ministers shouldn't need approval hearings. They should either be elected separately or come with the Prime Minister

It lets the new administration very quickly take over and get to their jobs

preventing any lapses in important programs such as reaching out to new members of the community

Dykataar - I would support this. The House of Commons already has such a short term, and in these 2 months they need to focus on legislation rather than hearings. This job can be given to the Senate who has 4 months to do this.

Antenion - And I would agree would you there, but minister hearings has been the precedent for a while now, and to be elected by the ppl would be kinda dumb because lesser turn out

Toerana V - agreed on the elected

Dykataar - I disagree with Toe. I feel that would give the administration that comes in too much power, and then the elections would get extremely hectic if they became a position someone ran for. And like [Anty] said, that is our precedent.

Antenion - The RP sec has an election every time he gets reconfirmed, and only like 9 ppl go

Toerana V - and re: "Powerful administration"

It's the PM

if they are not able to work with a government they are comfortable with

the gov will grind to a halt

into a messy argument between Minister and PM

Antenion - Yeah I know, but something must happen to make sure they are accounted for

Toerana V - Recalls?

We add in the ability to recall any official

Antenion - transfering that power to the senate make sure that it's alot faster

Toerana V - if they are super bad and the PM doesn't fire 'em

recall them

Antenion - Technically we already do that

Toerana V - then what's the problem

Antenion - I just thing that there should be some account ability for the Ministers

just allowing them to join when the PM is elected seems off

Toerana V - confirmation is not the way to go about that imo

Antenion - and mind you this is coming from a Former Culture Minister

Toerana V - I didn't have a confirmation

Antenion - I did

Toerana V - Thalassia worked different before it went all autocratic

Antenion - Yeah, well maybe the lack of confirmation hearings is a reason why

anyway next question pls

Dykataar - I agree with this

Toerana V - It isn't

it's autocratic moves were paired with an elected legislature

but I'm not here to discuss the failings of Thalassia

Interesting discussion, now to touch on a less policy focused question, with the general election creeping up in just about two or so weeks, what do you intend to do if you either win or lose this election, with the term being exceptionally short? Would you look to run in the general election or something else?

Toerana V - I'm assuming I can't deliver all campaign promises in 2 weeks so I will run again

regardless of whether i win or loose

Antenion - Yeah, People have been yelling at me to run for senate for a while now

Dykataar - I will work to deliver all my campaign proposals if I win this election. If not, I have plans to run again for MP or senate (have yet to made up my mind) in the general election.

Toerana V - not senate?

Dykataar - Sorry, I forgot that last part

Antenion - looks at Marv Snowflame and Ashlawn dragging me out of retirement SMH

Antenion - Nearly three months ago now, you emerged out of what has been commonly described as a disastrous term as Speaker of the House, having been plagued by inactivity and stagnation. In your final message on the issue, you professed that legislative work had come to bore you, do you still hold that belief for this remainder of the term, if elected?

Antenion - Yeah I still find it particularly boring, but it's better than doing nothing at all, as I've been in the government for a full year at that point hadn't have a real experience outside of it to realize how boring it was not being in it

ofc i am not looking for a leadership roll at all

Dykataar - You say in your campaign dispatch that "I listen to the people. I will not take my position for power as granted. If I see or hear about something corrupt or something that isn't for the betterment for the people, I will call it out." - nearly every single candidate out of the past two years has proposed such a guarantee, what makes yours effective?

Dykataar - I will be as transparent as I can with my answer.

Absolutely nothing.

There is nothing to back up my word and promises, other than my word.

However, I can ensure each Thaecian watching (and you TEP spies) that what is listed in my campaign will happen. I have said over and over again I am for the people. Everything I do will be for the people. I work for the betterment of the people. I'm sorry I don't have the Thaecian political experience to back myself up, but what is said is what will happen. In recent times we have kept on putting in inactive legislators who haven't been putting the wants of Thaecia first. I ensure each person watching that I will put you first. I will put Thaecia first.

Toerana V - One of the primary tenets in your campaign is to change up the legislature of Thaecia. Thaecia has long been a region with a bicameral election legislative structure, why do you believe that a different system would work better for the region here and how would you work towards such a structure?

Toerana V - I hope to work my changes into thaecia slowly

None of this "turn thaecia on its head and redo everything overnight" people are fear mongering about

I think that a citizenry legislature is better for democracy in general because it enshrines the citizen's right vote on the laws that govern them

Including the laws that may give them that right to begin with

Simple as that

My personal stance is that a democracy with an elected legislature is lying to its about its true nature, no matter its intentions

Solid responses, but now we appear to have reached the time to wrap up this debate, before the closing remarks, if you have any cross-questions you wish to ask any of the other two candidates, feel free to do so now.

If not, please indicate that so I can move on to closing.

Toerana V -Closing statement: Send me any questions you may have further in dms and I will pick em up in the morning

G'night Thaecia

Dykataar - Bow, can you please explain your plans for a direct democracy, and how you hope to achieve and works towards this?

Oop

Well, that's my only question.

Seeing no further discussion, I invite the candidates to make a closing remark on why the voters should vote for you to fill in one of these two seats in this by-election. This is the closing statement to wrap up the debate.

Antenion - Vote for me, I have a headache, see you guys later

Dykataar - I would like to thank Taungu for hosting this wonderous debate. I can't express how much I enjoyed debating and discussing with my fellow colleagues. While I may not agree with their stances, they are very good candidates.

--

For far too long we have voted in inactive and unconcerned legislators. Thaecia, I am calling on you to make a change. Vote Dykataar as your first choice in the February 2021 Senate By-Elections.

VOTE FRESH, VOTE DYKATAAR

#Dyka4Senate

Thank you for a wonderful discussion and debate to learn the views of these three candidates looking to make it into the Senate!

With that we will conclude our last debate for the February Senate and House By-Elections!!!! Voting begins later tonight, get ready for the results in the days to come.

Opening Statements

Snalland - Hello I am Snalland vote me please

Saint Songbird - Hello Thaecia, you all know me, you all probably hate me at this point, but here I am again and I'm running for House (also again). This time we'll hopefully see it all the way through : I'll vote as much as humanly possible for me, I'll debate as much as I'll can, I'll give you the activity and the voice you deserve but have been denied by our inactive reperesentatives. Excited to be here and debate with the other candidates today.

Marvinville - Hello everyone! I am excited to participate in this debate before the election for the vacant seats in the House of Commons. You all know me and how much experience I have in this region but if you are not planning on voting for me in this election, I hope I can sway your opinion today in this debate.

Rapid Questions

What's 9 + 10?

Saint Songbird - ninety ten

Marvinville - ^

Snalland - See the answer is actually incredibly complicated. While at first it might be simple it is important that we look at all sides of the argument. But first you must ask, are we in Base Ten?

How often do you check up on Discord or Nationstates?

Snalland - Incessantly

Marvinville - Quite a few times a day

Saint Songbird - Every day, most of the day, I'm available to check if needed.

Do you feel that you are a globalist or isolationist in Nationstates?

Marvinville - isolationist

Snalland - It is important that all nations have their opinions heard. So I’d say I’m a Globalist

Saint Songbird - Overall, I'm probably a globalist, but in Thaecia I'd consider myself an isolationist. I believe the foundations which are region are built upon lend themselves much more to that: our emphasis on the legislature, engaging an active citizenry, and so forth. When we do these things we can move on to outside our own region.

Last one of these for now: Favorite letter of the alphabet?

Snalland - Which alphabet?

Saint Songbird - B, for my bb Brototh. Totally not trying to earn his vote back... :smirk:

Marvinville - B for thot because he is my bb, not chips

Latin Alphabet :p

Snalland - Which version of the Latin Alphabet

Definitely W, for Wumbo

What do you hope to achieve if elected to the House of Commons, given that this is an exceptionally special late election occurring in the middle of the last month of a two month term for the House of Commons? And if elected, how would you ensure that these plans come to fruition?

Snalland - We’ve very little time to accomplish much of any sort of great magnitude, however it is important that we republish the simplified constitution in a manner that is not riddled with spelling errors and typos. And is written in such a manner that it is not just understandable to the average reader, but is presentable for foreign diplomacy as well.

Saint Songbird - To keep the House from falling apart and remain active, frankly. It's unfortunate that that's a high bar for our elected officials these days, but alas, it is. I also would like to focus on amending and editing all bills that come before me so that they are as concise and as effective as possible.

Marvinville - My hope is to bring decency and competency back to the House of Commons. For so long, we have seen such an inactive house, with many just not voting at all which is a dereliction of duty. I will debate and express my thoughts on each bill and will not miss a vote if elected for the remainder of the term. There is not a lot that can get done legislatively but we need to start now to work on making this region better

Although the term is rapidly coming to a close, you would be faced with some interesting questions in the coming days, key of which has surfaced is the Constitution in a slew of amendments. Do you think that it should be amended by way of a Constitutional Convention or otherwise?

Marvinville - Yes I believe we should hold a Constitutional Convention that would be fair to all citizens in the region, just not those in the government. However, this convention, if it were to happen, should be pushed forward to the next term.

Snalland - If reform is going to happen, I say let it happen all at once. Rewriting the constitution may sound radical, but it frankly isn’t. Keeping large majorities of the constitution and adding bits that will help the people is mandated by our position as elected representatives. Simply, Constitutional Convention sounds pog.

[Saint Songbird]: I am personally of the belief that we need a full rewrite of the constitution - there are just so many errors and inconstencies within it that it's the responsible thing to do. In this we would keep all the same content but reword it to be, as I said before, as concise and effective as possible. This obviously would entail a constitutional convention.

Although many a candidate speak loftily about amending a bill or act or introducing legislation, few do so. Do you have sections of the Constitution or laws that you feel are most pressing to amend?

Snalland - It would take time for me to find which one exactly it is, but the Vice President should not be an appointed position.

Marvinville - I'm sure there are multiple laws that needs to be amended and it would be our job as a legislature to fix bills that are outdated.

Saint Songbird - There's a lot of little issues. One of the most pressing ones is the one we discovered when unfortunately, the reduction amendment failed. But there are plenty of things I know many of us have realized and become aware of lately, and the overall theme is this: the constitution just isn't that stable, it isn't that foolproof, it's not that good.

Marvinville - ^ and once we finish up a newer, updated constitution, we would need to conduct a major LR review to update laws to make them in accordance with our constitution

Saint Songbird - Agreed

Marvinville - this would be a long, but needed, process

On that note, one topic that is soon to arrive in the House is an amendment to change to the confirmations for Ministers and Justices. For a while now, Justices have been confirmed in the Senate on rare occasion while Minister are confirmed every four months in the House. Senators such as Cerdenia have recently advocated for flipping that around, allowing the bulkier House to not get bogged down in confirmations early in a term, what are your views?

Marvinville - I strongly support Cerdenia's constitutional amendment that flips this process

Saint Songbird - I support this. It makes sense from a timing perspective.

Snalland - The House must retain the ability to balance the President. We must retain the power to deny nominees for minister. After we have approved it, I believe it should go through the Senate AS WELL, to thoroughly ensure that the ministers are the best they can be.

Marvinville - why make ministers go through both chambers? that would prolong the process, which goes very slowly currently

Saint Songbird - Snalland, I have to disagree, that sounds like a colossal waste of time given how ineffectual one chamber inevitably is. The fact is that the Senate has more time, and should handle the more time-consuming tasks.

Snalland - I appreciate your input, but in order for democracy to function, it must be as democratic as possible. Regulating the flow of ministers will ensure that the executive branch does not get to hold power through its powerful supporters. The legislative bodies must restrict the executive branch from over reaching.

Marvinville - our region is democratic enough already and the congress does a fair enough job in holding the executive accountable

Saint Songbird - All due respect, but we've never had any issues before? What makes you think this is needed?

Snalland - No issues yet. Key word being yet. Theoretically, a strong-man ideologue could be elected as President, and stack the ministry with supporters. All it would take is a bit of luck in the House to allow this to happen.

It’s unlikely, yes I will acknowledge that, but it must be prepared for in any case.

Marvinville - The President does not have the ability to nominate nor fire ministers

Saint Songbird - So we should take three times as much time to confirm ministers on the absolutely miniscule offchance that we elect a bad PM?

Snalland - That’s literally what a ministry is why is it called that if he can’t

Saint Songbird - Uh... no.

The Prime Minister appoints the ministers.

Snalland - I was mistaken, but my point remains. Replace the President with prime minister and we are good, I think. Not sure, I’m a yank

Feel free to continue the discourse, but for now let's push on, on this line of confirmations, as we saw first raised in the last Senate by-election, the High Court has experienced quite a tumult as criticisms came about for the first time in many months leading to ideas on holding re-confirmation votes for the justices? Do you feel this is a change you wish to see?

Saint Songbird - Yes, it is. Life terms are rather ineffectual in the NationStates context.

Snalland - No real opinion on this one, unfortunately. But more voting is always good so I could get down with it.

Saint Songbird - That's a... flawed ideology at best.

Snalland - All ideologies are flawed, intrinsically.

Saint Songbird - Not my point.

Snalland - No, but I did state I didn’t have a real opinion either way, I’m too uninformed on this topic.

Marvinville - I abstain from this topic

Saint Songbird - Does the value of the vote outweigh the time waster of the vote, is my question.

I believe in this case it does.

Snalland - It wouldn’t waste much time if we could get the legislature to work efficiently, though.

Saint Songbird - How do you plan to do that, then?

:PikaThink:

Snalland - No clue, just a hypothetical

Good question though, wish I could answer it in a manner that would provide some satisfaction

Very well, and the issue that has dominated the past couple election cycles, what are your views on the move to reduce the size of the House of Commons from its present 15 seats to 11 seats? Is this something that can counteract what many view as a ponderous chamber plagued by inactivity as bills have passed with just eight out of fifteen voting and what are your opinions on "The Amendment To Fix a Problem In the Constitution Which Is Very Big and Should Definitely Get Fixed Because If it Doesn't That Probably Means The Legislature Isn't Smart" with its forthcoming referendum?

Saint Songbird - Well I'm of the opinion that legally we can't hold another referendum on reduction before the general election, but I do support it, yes.

Marvinville - I strongly support the push to reduce the size of the House of Commons from 15 seats to 11 seats but we should go further than that and reduce the Senate from 9 seats to 7 seats as well.

Saint Songbird - ^^

Snalland - Efficiency versus democracy is an interesting question, one that goes a bit more in depth than can be stated in a discord post.

But reduction, for now, I am behind.

Saint Songbird - What about reduction?

Snalland - I’m behind it, so long as we keep in mind potential growth of Thaecia and the necessity of adding more representative the more people join, should probably be in the constitution imo

Marv, why do you feel that the Senate should be reduced alongside the House, many a Senator has expressed their feeling that the chamber is sufficiently operating on the current number, resulting in no move to reduce that chamber with the last Congressional Reduction Act?

Saint Songbird - I hate to push, but what sort of amendment would you propose adding?

Snalland - Some sort of ratio, one that allows for growth.

1:50 maybe

Marvinville - We have seen that Emaz has resigned from the Senate, Rayray is leaving for the Court, Hulldom is not going to run for re-election. Last time we had an election to fill 9 seats in the Senate, there were only 10 candidates. I believe that the Senate should be reduced to continue a longstanding tradition of competitive elections and to prevent there being a lack of candidates to fill seats

Onto a different note, although the House might not be the most involved in Foreign Affairs as a chamber, as asked by Dykataar, what are your thoughts on Thaecia being in a WA voting bloc or in any other interregional organizations like the Consortium?

Marvinville - I believe that Thaecia should not be in any WA voting bloc nor should we be in any interregional organizations such as Consortium. I am a proud isolationist and we should be focused within our own region, not with others

Saint Songbird - No to a voting bloc, yes to an interregional organization, although it depends on the specific agreement. We'll have to see with Consortium.

Snalland - I am very against the voting block as it actively works against what we have constructed with regards to our ideals of democracy. If the inter regional organization shares similar ideals, I could support it.

Now, as a final note before some targeted questions, a candidate in another by-election for the Senate, Toerana V has suggested other systems to running the Thaecia legislature, "Do you support the removal of an elected legislature, and instead have a citizen legislature, with all citizens participating in the legislature?"

Snalland - In the abstract I support direct democracy, but seeing as how often times 15 people can’t come up with the time to vote on simple issues, it wouldn’t work here.

Saint Songbird - Yes, but in due time.

Marvinville - An elected legislature is a hallmark of our region so it would be a mistake to remove it.

Chip, could you expand on what you mean, do you envision Thaecia as a region with such a legislative outlook in the future?

Saint Songbird - If there is popular support for it, yes, but it would need a referendum similar to the way we had unicameralism.

Chip - The last time you ran for office was a couple weeks ago in a Senate by-election, saying that you were looking to retire from political life here and exiting with a last hurrah. Yet now we see a serious campaign with the flairs of memes as in your campaign posts, why's that?

Saint Songbird - I can't get into specifics as it's personal issues, however, circumstances have changed within the region that make it feel more like a safe space for me again and I'd like to be involved now that that is the case.

Marv - As of now, you are serving as an Associate Justice in the Supreme Court after having resigned from your Senatorial post to accept that nomination just last month. Why have you decided to leave the court so soon after confirmation?

Marvinville - The court itself is incompetent and we all have seen it in the last trial. I can serve this region better in the legislative branch as I have for well over a years time

Snalland - In your campaign dispatch you look to change the Constitution to make a "simplified yet robust version", could you detail some of these changes and how you intend to make it more "robust" and "simplified"?

Snalland - I apologize, it’s going to take a bit of time to respond in any sort of half decent way.

Give a brief synopsis if you will, after all, this is the primary point in your campaign promises.

Snalland - The idea of the constitution is to outline the laws of the nation, and how it is run. Our constitution barely does the second, and not the first at all. To simplify a new constitution, is to keep its meaning, but (for lack of better term) dumb it down a bit.

The robustness requires that we recognize that too much simplification will allow for faulty, incorrect analyses of the constitution. We must be certain that the constitution means what it says, and what it says can’t be confused for something it is not.

Solid responses, but now we appear to have reached the time to close off this debate, if you have any cross-questions you wish to ask any of the other candidates, feel free to do so now.

Saint Songbird - Marv, you just became a court justice in the past two months, and now you're already running for house. What's to keep you from getting bored of the House, too?

Snalland, I again ask for specific examples of places you'd like to cut down the Constitution.

Marvinville - I am a legislative person. I have served for over a years time in our Congress and I like participating in our legislative process to pass and amend laws

Snalland - Removing bits isn’t the point, it’s to take the bits that exist, refine them. Then simplify from there. You can go on and on about what needs to be added, we should in fact go on and on, but in its current state a “baby’s first constitution” should be released.

I see this being brought up, but what do the other candidates feel about this seat warmer election?

Seems most people are kinda pissy about it

Can’t say I blame them, a bunch of guys got elected then just gave up halfway through. If they weren’t committed they shouldn’t have started, no?

Closing Remarks

Very well, seeing no further responses on the floor, I now invite the candidates to give some closing remarks if they wish. If so, I invite you to include somewhere what 10 + 9 is.

Snalland - I don’t have the experience, or the expertise my fellow candidates have.

But I can promise each and every one of you that I will work twice as hard as they will to make sure the people get what they deserve.

Saint Songbird - I think this debate has painted a pretty clear picture of who is prepared and who is qualified to fill the shoes of MP. We need someone competent, we need someone active, and we need someone tested, in these critical days before our general elections I would like to be that chipmunk-unicorn-person.

Marvinville - Thank you Taungu for hosting this debate. I enjoyed debating the other contestants and wish them luck in the election. I hope to earn your vote in this election so this house can have decency and competency again

#VoteMarvMP

Thank you to all these wonderful candidates for taking the time to participate in this debate, letting us take a closer glance at their views and visions for their potential terms as MPs.

It has been a wonderful time to see some of their views on new or old contentious topics in the discourse of Thaecia!

If you would like to give your thoughts on who you feel performed the best in this debate, leave it down below, till next time for the Senate debate tomorrow!