This thread is to discuss the immediate and pressing issue with the Election Act that allows anyone to hold multiple offices with no restriction.
The Charter states:
Quote:Executive Authorities
11. The executive may exercise the collective authority of executive orders, by unanimous consent among the Prime Ministers and Cabinet Ministers. Executive orders 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.
12. Upon 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 expire and its effects be reversed if the Assembly does not incorporate it into law.
We all must agree unanimously on an executive order, so any and all input will be recognized.
Below is the draft I have written:
Quote:The Charter states:
“Executive Authorities
11. The executive may exercise the collective authority of executive orders, by unanimous consent among the Prime Ministers and Cabinet Ministers. Executive orders 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.
12. Upon 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 expire and its effects be reversed if the Assembly does not incorporate it into law.”
Based upon this criteria, the Cabinet has convened to discuss the immediate and pressing issue within the Election Act that allows anyone to hold more than one elected position at any time.
The previous Election act stated the following in regards to holding multiple positions:
“No one can run for or hold more than one Cabinet position, or more than one Justice position, or more than one Local Council position or both a Cabinet, Justice or Local Council position at any given time.”
This clause prevented elected offices from being hoarded or amassed by a single individual, and created a fair and balanced election system. The Cabinet wishes to correct this oversight with utmost speed in order to prevent any issues, both present and future, from hampering the democratic process in The South Pacific.
The new Charter is set up in such a way as to allow separate branches of government that provide checks and balances to each other. Allowing this hole in the Election Act to remain unchecked, the separate branches of government will no longer be able to provide the checks and balances that are envisioned in the Charter.
The Cabinet presents the following Executive Order to the Assembly for review.
“1. Election Commission
(1) An Election Commission will be appointed to administer all forum elections, consisting of at least one unique member from the following bodies, or their duly chosen surrogates--
a. The Forum Administration Team, solely to observe,
b. The Council on Regional Security,
c. The High Court.
(2) The commissioners will be responsible for the creation of election notices, the organization of election forums, the verification of candidate eligibility, the distribution and collection of ballots, and counting and verifying cast ballots.
(3) No member of the Election Commission may run for office or hold the office of Delegate, Prime Minister, or Cabinet Minister, during their tenure on the commission.
(4) The commission will be a permanent body, with members replaced as needed due to inactivity or ineligibility by their respective bodies. Two-thirds of the commission, or a majority of the Assembly, may remove a sitting commissioner for corruption or abuse of power.
(5) Any election-related disputes will be arbitrated by the Election Commission. Commissioners will not finalize any election until all disputes have been settled.
(6)No one can run for or hold more than one Elected position, or more than one Justice position, including the Office of Delegate, Prime Minister, any Cabinet position, Chair of The Assembly, Local Council or Permanent Justice at any given time”
The debate on this Executive Order will last 3 days by law, whereupon a vote will take place on whether or not it will adopted into law.
It's pretty rough, so please provide input 
I would reword it:
Our Charter creates a system of checks and balances, envisioning multiple co-equal branches of government that cannot dominate each other. Central to these tenets is the inability of one person to hold positions of power in branches that are meant to provide checks or balances to each other. The Cabinet is faced with the prospect of this tenet being violated, through holes in our constitutional electoral laws. Because this is such an important part of our democratic system, and we believe our system will fail without it, we must take the step of invoking our executive authority power to remedy this hole in our laws. This authority is vested in us by Article VI, Section 11 of the Charter: "11. The executive may exercise the collective authority of executive orders, by unanimous consent among the Prime Ministers and Cabinet Ministers. Executive orders 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."
We are unanimous in the following:
No person may hold more than one elected or appointed position, or positions in two or more branches of government, except when explicitly allowed for in the Charter and laws passed by the Assembly.
With this executive order, nobody currently holding a position in the Cabinet, the High Court, or the Local Council may be elected for the open position of Chair of the Assembly, being the leader of the legislative branch of our government. We want to stress that we are not acting as a court interpreting the language of the Charter to somehow find this requirement within it all along, but rather using our executive order authority to address an immediate and pressing issue created by a hole in our electoral laws that allows a basic tenet of separation of powers to go violated.
Pursuant to Article VI, Section 12 of the Charter, this executive order is immediately put on the floor of the Assembly for three days of debate. If the Assembly fails to incorporate this order into law under regular order, then it will expire. To expedite debate and drafting of an incorporating law, the Cabinet recommends amending the Elections Act with the following article:
...
6. Separation of Powers
(1) No person may hold more than one elected or appointed position, or positions in two or more branches of government, except when explicitly allowed for in the Charter and laws passed by the Assembly.
7. Constitutional Law
(1) The Election Act is a constitutional law, and further amendments to it must meet constitutional amendment requirements.
(This post was last modified: 08-29-2016, 10:39 PM by sandaoguo.)
Reply
Regarding "nobody currently holding a position in the Cabinet, the High Court, or the Local Council may be elected for the open position of Chair of the Assembly": What about the case that somebody currently holding one of these offices wishes to run for CoA and announces their intent to resign if they win? That'd be legitimate as far as I can tell. So an addendum that addresses that could be "unless a tentative resignation from the current position in case of victory is given". I believe, based on what I remember reading, that historically TSP has allowed this, though I don't know if it was explicit in the laws or just generally understood.
Also "system will fail without it" -> "system risks failing without it".
I think there is some unnecessary paranoia over this issue but I approve of Glen's draft with the provision Roavin's suggested although I would prefer less dire wording than fail. Maybe risks instability?
After brief discussion on Discord, I'm rewording Glen's proposal as such: - Adding my addendum posted earlier
- Changing "system will fail without it" to "system risks instability without it", as per Imki's suggestion
This would be the version we all agree with, then.
Quote:Our Charter creates a system of checks and balances, envisioning multiple co-equal branches of government that cannot dominate each other. Central to these tenets is the inability of one person to hold positions of power in branches that are meant to provide checks or balances to each other. The Cabinet is faced with the prospect of this tenet being violated, through holes in our constitutional electoral laws. Because this is such an important part of our democratic system, and we believe our system risks instability without it, we must take the step of invoking our executive authority power to remedy this hole in our laws. This authority is vested in us by Article VI, Section 11 of the Charter: "11. The executive may exercise the collective authority of executive orders, by unanimous consent among the Prime Ministers and Cabinet Ministers. Executive orders 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."
We are unanimous in the following:
No person may hold more than one elected or appointed position, or positions in two or more branches of government, except when explicitly allowed for in the Charter and laws passed by the Assembly.
With this executive order, nobody currently holding a position in the Cabinet, the High Court, or the Local Council may be elected for the open position of Chair of the Assembly, being the leader of the legislative branch of our government, unless a tentative resignation from the current position in case of victory is given. We want to stress that we are not acting as a court interpreting the language of the Charter to somehow find this requirement within it all along, but rather using our executive order authority to address an immediate and pressing issue created by a hole in our electoral laws that allows a basic tenet of separation of powers to go violated.
Pursuant to Article VI, Section 12 of the Charter, this executive order is immediately put on the floor of the Assembly for three days of debate. If the Assembly fails to incorporate this order into law under regular order, then it will expire. To expedite debate and drafting of an incorporating law, the Cabinet recommends amending the Elections Act with the following article:
...
6. Separation of Powers
(1) No person may hold more than one elected or appointed position, or positions in two or more branches of government, except when explicitly allowed for in the Charter and laws passed by the Assembly.
7. Constitutional Law
(1) The Election Act is a constitutional law, and further amendments to it must meet constitutional amendment requirements.
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