Foreign Update LVI
UPDATE LVI
September 2, 2011
36th Congress, 36th Cabinet, 31st Senate
Population: 741
NS Regional Power: Extremely High
Current Government of Europeia
Executive Government
Supreme Chancellor: HEM
President: Sopo
Vice President: HEM
Grand Admiral: karthikking
Foreign Minister: Earth22
Interior Minister: Carracalla
Culture Minister: Fortana
Welfare Minister: Ogastein
World Assembly Delegate:Swakistek
Legislative Government
Senators:
Oliver
Jusduckria
North East Somerset
ACKJVR
Crist Seymour
Vacant
City Council Mayor: Elections Ongoing
Judicial Government
Chief Justice: Cordova I
Associate Justice: Peaceful Llamas
Associate Justice: Bootskitten
Associate Justice: Asperta
Attorney General: Jusduckria
A Note From the President
Yes, I'm still here.
Friends and Allies of Europeia,
The past few weeks have seens ups and downs, and I'm proud to say that Europeia is surviving a Sopo administration and going strong! There are still plenty of areas which need work, and now that I'm settling into my new life stage, I should have time to get to work on them. The Cabinet has really come together as a cohesive group, and I'm proud to be able to work with them every day. I continue to relish in my position as President, though it does come with it's share of negatives. I am very excited about the remainder of the term and can't wait to build on the progress we've already made!
Now, I won't put you through quite the same punishment as last time (that joke was truly awful), but I will leave you with a thought: "
She was only a whiskey-maker, but he loved her still."
President Sopo addressing the Cross-Cultural Conference.
At the Heart of Europeian Politics - Senate Update
The first business of the term for the Senate is always the election of the Speaker. This was a clear cut race with
Oliver taking 5 of the 6 available votes. The next matter at hand was dealing with the Cabinet nominations. All the core Ministries were approved, though the Minister of Information was rejected, as well as a Minister without Portfolio. Around this period,
Bootskitten and
Jusduckria were also approved by the Senate as Associate Justice and Attorney General, respectively. The Senate then moved decisively to Veto EO 70, which the President made to rename the Welfare Ministry to Integration. The Speaker
Oliver accused President
Sopo of ?reckless? and ?offensive? behaviour in not making the necessary alterations to the Act?s affected by the change. The President soon withdrew the EO and around one week later, the
Citizen Integration Ministry Act (2011) was passed by the Senate, which resolved the issues to the satisfaction of all involved.
Peaceful Llamas was approved by the Senate as an Associate Justice, as
Lethen was approved access to the EAAC under EO68. The
Fourth Amendment to the Separation of Powers Act was approved, which means Senators can no longer serve simoultaneously as Vice President. This prevent future Vice Presidential abuse of the Executive Order powers. The
Legislation Accessibility Act (2011) which was championed by Senator
Klatonia was also passed. The Act ?tasks the Senate to provide citizens with a comprehensible summary of laws, so that each citizen, whether or not familiar with legal language, may understand his or her duty and act accordingly?. Business from the previous term in the form of the
Judicature Bill (2011) was concluded with the passing of a version produced primarily by
Skizzy Grey. There was public consternation over the length of previous proposals, and though the final version passed was more concise, it still exceeded 2,000 words in length. The bill comprehensively covers all details of Europeia?s world class Justice System.
One of the more controversial issues to be put before the Senate so far this term was the nomination of OnderKelkia as an Associate Justice by President
Sopo. After a long and unconventional interrogation, the nomination failed with 2 votes for, 2 against, 1 abstention, and 1 not present. Senator
Somerset who did not make any posts in the nomination thread, said the whole procedure was ?a farce that should never have been brought to the Senate? citing the nature of the objections raised as "irrelevant". Former Vice President
Asperta was later nominated for the same role, and the Senate approved him unanimously after some discussion.
![[Image: onder-2.jpg]](http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd307/pinecrest3/onder-2.jpg)
OnderKelkia?s foreign judicial experience was not enough for the Senate.
Recent opinion polls held by the
Europeian Inquirer rated the Grand Admiral and the Minister of Culture?s performance very poorly, and the latter was ultimately removed by the President.
Fortana was nominated for the position and approved by the Senate. The retirement of
Abbey from active service in Nationstates also meant that a new Interior Minister had to be found, and veteran
Carracalla was called nominated, and promptly approved by the Senate. The opinion polls were not just focused on the Government, as they also featured a section for the Senate. The overall Senate rendered a rating of 64.8%, which was deemed to be decent, but not exceptional. The ratings for individual Senators are; Senate Speaker Oliver: 58.3%, Senator Jusduckria: 51.7%, Senator NES: 68.3%, Senator Klatonia: 55.0%, Senator McEntire: 63.9%, Senator ACKJVR: 50.6%.
Senator North East Somerset led the pack in Public Approval Ratings.
Senator
McEntire resigned from the Senate during the opinion polling period, citing a lack of available time, and was replaced by
Crist Seymour after a by-election in which the underdog defeated former Senate stalwart
Peaceful Llamas, by 14 votes to 12.
The Speaker introduced an informal system of ?Critics? to question Government Ministers on policy and progress, with each Senator assigned to a different Ministry, early in the term. However the idea appears to have floundered with neither Senators nor Ministers taking naturally to the concept. The Committee for Formal Scrutiny in Government was therefore set up, with the aim of formalising procedures, which may be the only way to make such a system of Executive accountability take hold properly. A Committee for the Creation of a Military Code has also been created, which is Chaired by Senator
Klatonia.
The
Executive Elections Act is currently in its Second Reading, and discussion is focused around the issue of how the President should be able to call early elections. The most recent proposal was the
The Extreme Measures Act which proved highly controversial, and was rejected by all involved. The discussion however got particularly heated, and resulted in the resignation from the Senate of the Bill's author
Klatonia and also
Oliver stepping down as Speaker after a failed attempt to bar Senator
Somerset. The region quickly moved on from the debacle, but it proves Europeian politics can be dynamic and fast moving, when such matters arise.
Senator Crist Seymour thanking voters for their support. He promised to be ?the most fabulous Senator in the Senate!?
Stay Classy: City Council
Recently the City Council of Europeia has seen new activity. Under the look of Rachel Anumia as Mayor, the City Council created its own newspaper. The Council Telegraph was newly introduced to the people of Europeia. Tyler Curone has been named editor of ?the Telegraph?. The Council thinks this is a step in the right direction to bringing the inner workings of the City Council to the people of Europeia.
Also numerous discussions have begun inside the City Council. The C.C. has begun discussions on a decision to create a new bill that would bring changes to the Euro University. Also talks have continued on the fifth constitution. These talks have been going on for a while and are expected to continue. More updates to come from the City Council.
So for now, that?s all from the City Council for now and we hope to bring you more soon in the near future. From everyone in the C.C., Stay Classy!
The Importance of The Republic Square in Europeia
For those of you who haven't visited Europeia at some point, well, firstly, I'd encourage you to, because it's a really lovely place and we'd love to see you pop by and say hello. To return to the topic at hand, though, The Republic Square is a relatively historical name for the forum in which most of the non-Government activity in Europeia takes place.
It's been around for a while and is probably easily the most viewed forum in Europeia, despite its sitting in a fairly inconspicuous part towards the bottom of our main page.
The Republic Square serves no particular function. It's barely ever used for any official purpose. However, I suggest that its very existence simultaneously embodies and unites our entire region...or at least our forum population. Crazy conversations and fun debates take place as Europeians get to know each other better.
The Foreign Ministry Spotlight
The Foreign Ministry has been the happening place the last few weeks. We're in the middle of hosting a Cross-Cultural Convention, originally with
Land of Kings and Emperors, The New Inquisition, The United Federation, and
United Kingdom. We've discussed many different topics including: griefing, fun warzone games, and feeders. Also, FRA Arch-Chancellor
Spartz was invited to join the discussion on ending TNI and LKE's wars with the FRA. The United Federation left the Conference abruptly but discussion has continued on track without them. LKE and TNI have offered peace negotiations to the FRA and we all wait to hear back.
We've also rewritten parts of our Broad Foreign Policy. You can see the whole thing here, but the major changes include: Quote:
Extremism: Europeia takes a harsh stance against extremism, on either side of the spectrum. We strongly support battle mindset to remain on the battlefield, and cordial communications off of it. We strongly support inclusive communities. We condemn regions that preach hate and separation.
Acts of Terrorism: Europeia does not tolerate any sort of off-site terrorism, such as porn-spams, anonymous hate messages, and/or forum destruction. We condemn other regions that condone such actions, and seek for across-game punishment for terrorists.
After a punishment, we are not against opportunities for redemption as long as no laws are broken for the terrorist's redemption.[/quote]
Europeia has opened new embassies with Jethnea and Avarene! We'd love to hear from our new friends and our old on our forums! Also, join us for End of Summer-fest!
Written By: Sopo, NES, Earth22, Swakistek, & PASD
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