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The Union - November 2019
The Union
Since the founding of The Democratic Union just 4 months ago, we have amassed over 90 nations, over 1/3 of which are WA members. Simultaneously, a structured regional government has been established, with all three functioning branches. The Executive, led by the Prime Minister, has developed a system of guides for welcoming and integrating new joiners, and extended its diplomatic wings to set up embassies with well-established, similarly-minded regions. The next step would be to focus on keeping activity high through polls and events, as well as developing meaningful relationships and stronger ties with embassy regions. Recently, we participated in the annual UCR Con to promote our region and meet leaders and members from other regions. Plans for World Assembly and military activity are also underway, and set to be unveiled soon.
On the legislative front, laws have been passed to create detailed procedures for elections, citizenship and Parliament, and currently, the Constitution is being scrutinised for any imperfections that might not have been noticed during the originally ratification, so that amendments can be made to improve its functionality.
Here's to a prosperous future for our growing region!
In what we hope will be a regular column, we will introduce and welcome some of our new citizens in The Democratic Union.
Let's begin with Agualia. Joining just a month ago, they immediately jumped into regional government, volunteering to be an ambassador, and running to be a member of Parliament (more on that in the next article). Although he missed out, likely due to the low number of seats up for election, their enthusiasm was certainly noticed by region members.
Mrkingsteak, currently a member of The Black Hawks, also jumped immediately into regional politics, and was recently elected to Parliament with a platform to establish a regional military (more on that in the next article).
The legatus is also a new member who ran for Parliament, and their election was helped by the small number of candidates. We wait eagerly for their contributions to the legislature.
Nouvelles eaux, a new member with an interesting knack for French, happily offered their services to the region for web design.
Of course, we're not forgetting all the other nations who have joined our region over the past months:
Woo, that's a lot!
October General Election
October saw The Democratic Union's second general election, and the first one where only 1/3 of the House of Representative is up for election under the staggered system of the Constitution. Incumbents Terttia and Girada both ran for re-election, as well as Santa lucia (Minister of Culture and Communications), Doilandia, Lake of freedom and Pap sculgief (also known as Skundi, founder of The Democratic Republic of Freedom), with 6 candidates competing for 4 seats. All except Doilandia and Girada published campaign platforms, and all pledged to listen to and follow the will of the residents. In addition, Terttia proposed more encouragement of citizen scrutiny over the government and the laws, including setting up a specific Ministry for handling government feedback; Santa Lucia had a similar proposal, as well as creating a regional hub for interviews and debates; Pap Sculgief advocated for an embassy policy. Lake of Freedom focussed on security, believing serving in the government must be a requirement for citizenship, and took a hostile stance against foreign regions, believing they do not respect TDU for its size. He also proposed regular polls and contests, which Santa Lucia also did. Prime Minister East meranopirus took the role of an interviewer and moderator, posing questions to the candidates and prompting them to elaborate on their platform.
Surprisingly, the 4 candidates who posted platforms were different from the 4 who were elected. Doilandia took a surprising win, while Santa Lucia narrowly missed out. Terttia, Pap Sculgief and Lake of Freedom were also elected.
The Founders as they count the ballots cast
November Special Election
The region had a special election after the departures of Members of Parliament Essena and Lake of freedom from the region. The candidates were Agualia, former member of ParliamentGirada, incumbent President Handal ands, Lake of freedom (who returned after a brief hiatus), and Santa lucia, competing for 2 seats.
Agualia promised that they would increase regional positivity and collaboration, and advocated against isolationism, though caught a bit of flak for attacking Handal Ands for using a Republican quote. In contrast, Lake of Freedom viewed some foreign regions negatively, accusing them of not respecting the region - in the same vein as his last election. Handal Ands demonstrated the fulfillment of promises made during their candidacy for Presidency and pledged to continue working on these promises with the Prime Minister, including increasing diplomatic relations and increasing regional activity. In the end, Handal Ands won an overwhelming number of votes, with Santa Lucia coming second, likely because of their long time in the region and work as Minister. However, after the race and hearing from many members of the region personally, Handal Ands decided to continue being the President and not take their seat in Parliament. Thus, the seat was declared vacant, open for election at the next scheduled election.
November General Election
The regularly-scheduled election, which almost immediately followed the special election, saw less competition, with 4 candidates competing for 3 seats, including Prime Minister East meranopirus, who is seeking re-election, as well as Girada and newcomers Mrkingsteak (a Sergeant in The Black Hawks) and The legatus. Incumbent Grand malevor did not seek re-election.
East Meranopirus released a campaign that highlighted his past term as Prime Minister, most notably the increase in number of nations and World Assembly nations, and the wide variety of embassies constructed, then put forward plans for the next term, which includes promoting World Assembly activity and establishing a military force. A military force is also proposed by MrKingSteak, likely due to him being a current member of The Black Hawks. His other plans for Parliament include creating a plan for more involvement in wider NationStates affairs, expanding ministries and creating deputy ministers, and allowing petitions from citizens.
In the end, Girada lost out again on a seat in Parliament, with voters seemingly preferring The legatus, a much newer member, as well as the two candidates with detailed platforms.
TDU citizens present proposals in the General Assembly
The past month has seen citizens of The Democratic Union increase their presence in the World Assembly, or more specifically, the General Assembly. East meranopirus launched an effort to repeal GA#472 "Ban On Sterilisation Of Minors etc." immediately after its passage. THere were two major arguments for the repeal: firstly, that it creates an unnecessary and unprofessional bureaucratic process for any sterilisation of minors to occur, when doctors would be able to make informed decision; and secondly, that it sets a bad precedent in allowing the World Assembly Compliance Commission to create regulations without any input from member nations. After a few weeks of drafting, it was submitted and voted on, but concurrently, a Legality Challenge was launched, arguing the proposal violated the "Honest Mistake" rule for repeals with several wording choices that misrepresented the target resolution. After deliberation by the General Assembly Secretariat, it was deemed illegal, and despite achieving over 60% of votes for, it was discarded at the end of voting.
You can read the proposal 
here.
Terttia has also drafted a proposal on maritime navigation for several weeks, an area that surprisingly has not yet been legislated on. The proposal mainly requires member states to create and share nautical charts of their waters and require vessels to carry charts at all times. It has been largely supported on the General Assembly forums, and appears to be close to the end of drafting with a good chance of passing.
You can read the draft here.
General Assembly Resolution “Amelioration of Maritime Conditions”
This was a resolution in the World Assembly’s General Assembly that failed 11,676 votes to 3,286 votes. Its intention was to reduce the number of pollutants in the hydrosphere. However, it turned out disastrous for the author after many GA regulars pointed out the flaws of the resolution, with one admonishing the author for failing to make any changes to the proposal despite numerous pieces of advice offered before submission. The greatest contribution to its failure was likely the requirement for an exuberant amount of pollutants to be removed from the hydrosphere (5%) which would be nearly impossible for most nations, and it required the recording of all pollutants added to the hydrosphere which again would be nearly impossible. The author apologized for their “travesty” and asked for a second chance, requesting that people “say no” to the resolution. Compassionately, many GA regulars accepted this apology and suggested letting the proposal stay in the drafting period longer, and that the author should heed and take into consideration of advice given. However, as of the writing of this article, the author has not made any effort in re-drafting.
You can read the proposal here.
General Assembly Resolution “Convention on Animal Testing”
Passing by one of the closest vote margins ever witnessed in the World Assembly, this contentious resolution already has a repeal effort moving fast against it. But why? As usual, it came down to intention vs implementation. The resolution was well-written as a whole, having come from an experienced member of the General Assembly community, and had a noble intention. However, a potentially fatal flaw was identified in that the resolution only prohibits intentional harming of animals during testing, but not harm through negligence, thus creating a loophole that can be abused. Another objection raised by against-voters is its reliance on a global bureaucracy, specifically a World Assembly Bioethics Board, which is given powers akin to a judicial entity that many believe is unnecessary. For now, it appears these flaws were not enough to defeat the resolution, but with a repeal in drafting, this may not be the final answer.
You can read the resolution here.
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