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[DISCUSSION] Laws governing the Administration Team
#1

I'd like to examine the laws governing the administration team in the region and amend them for better transparency and accountability.

Other than Tsunamy, the members of the administration do not form an apolitical body and indeed have taken many political responsibilities for themselves. Members of the administration team have run for political positions, campaigned during the recent elections for and against candidates, have held advisory positions for ministries and have made or are making political treaties or attempted to end treaties with allies.

This has created some dangerous situations and precedents which must be addressed. In addition, the concentration of power that only has to answer to itself (considering the court system has two admin on it as well so there really is no check anymore) is anathema to the principles of the original charter and to our democratic region.
Quote:XII. THE ADMINISTRATION TEAM

Creating an independent, apolitical body to manage the forums

1. The Forum Administration Team will be responsible for the technical maintenance of the forums and the integrity of the database. Administrators will not be given responsibilities of a political nature.

2. The Forum Administration Team will be responsible for the appointment and removal of its own members, except when an administrator is removed from the position following a guilty verdict in a fair trial for abuse of administrative powers. Additionally, new administrators must be approved by a majority of the Assembly before being granted administrator permissions.

3. The Forum Administration Team must create standard administration and moderation policies. These policies will be submitted to the Assembly for a one-week review and comment period before going into effect.

4. While the Forum Administration Team may appoint global moderators if needed, individual Ministers and the Chair of the Assembly primarily will be responsible for the moderation of their dedicated forums. 

I'd like to hold the forum administration team to the same standards as any official of the region and therefore propose the following:
Quote:2. The Forum Administration Team will be responsible for the selection of new members and must make a public application available to legislators along with clear standards of what is expected of administration members. Additionally, new administrators must be approved by a majority of the Assembly before being granted administrator permissions.

Any member of the Administration team may be recalled by an Assembly resolution passed with two-thirds majority of those voting.
a. Recalls should only be initiated for dereliction of duty, abuse of authority, or violations of the law, and not for purposes of political rivalry.
b. Upon initiation, recall resolutions must be debated for three days and receive a motion and second before being put to vote.
c. Upon passage, the recalled administration team member will immediately be removed from the team.

Perhaps we can make the threshold higher for a recall but considering the highly politicized actions of our admin team members, and their overlap in almost every institution of power - we need a better way to make sure we stay fair, open, and democratic.

Escade

~ Positions Held in TSP ~
Delegate | Vice Delegate 
Minister of Regional Affairs, | Minister of Foreign Affairs | 
Minister of Military Affairs
~ The Sparkly One ~


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  • Flemingisa
#2

i agree. Admins should not be political in nature and to let them be political allows for serious chances of bias and can allow power blocs to form. The only thing i would change would make the vote require 2/3rds of votes. that provides for a very clear majority and protects against political reasons for removal
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  • Escade
#3

I like that suggestion and have amended it to 2/3s majority! Thank you Smile

Escade

~ Positions Held in TSP ~
Delegate | Vice Delegate 
Minister of Regional Affairs, | Minister of Foreign Affairs | 
Minister of Military Affairs
~ The Sparkly One ~


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#4

We already have an apolitical way to remove administrators who abuse their powers. It's right there in the portion of the Charter you quoted-- "a guilty verdict in a fair trial for abuse of administrative powers." What your proposing has been rejected time and time again because it will invariably lead to the massive politicization of the administration team by people with personal grudges against administrators.

If you have a case that one or more administrators have abused their authority in their jobs as admins, the High Court is there to hear the case in a fair trial, rather than a politicized mess of an Assembly "debate" and vote.
#5

I would just like to ask if you could change your proposal so I could see the changes. Thanks
The Sakhalinsk Empire, Legislator of the South Pacific
Currently a citizen and legislator of TSP. I am active as Sverigesriket in Europe.

Complete Conflict of Interest
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#6

I do believe that things like this shall not be solved and dealt with through bills but rather through the High Court. The court was established to preserve and defend justice in this region, and in the case of public officials committing crimes like abuse of power, you can file a case against such official for their wrongdoing, for the Court will bring those who commit crimes to justice.
[Image: VCUpXJI.png1]
 
BZERNELEG 
 
South Pacifican. Public Servant. Creator. In that order.
  
 

Official Thread • Lampshade Broadcasting Company • The Tsunamy Institution of the Law and Public Policy
 
 
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#7

(08-25-2018, 10:15 AM)sandaoguo Wrote: We already have an apolitical way to remove administrators who abuse their powers. It's right there in the portion of the Charter you quoted-- "a guilty verdict in a fair trial for abuse of administrative powers." What your proposing has been rejected time and time again because it will invariably lead to the massive politicization of the administration team by people with personal grudges against administrators.

If you have a case that one or more administrators have abused their authority in their jobs as admins, the High Court is there to hear the case in a fair trial, rather than a politicized mess of an Assembly "debate" and vote.
 
(08-26-2018, 10:36 AM)palaisbellevuebz Wrote: I do believe that things like this shall not be solved and dealt with through bills but rather through the High Court. The court was established to preserve and defend justice in this region, and in the case of public officials committing crimes like abuse of power, you can file a case against such official for their wrongdoing, for the Court will bring those who commit crimes to justice.

Here is the issue:
Kris Kringle is both an admin and the Chief Justice (along with being in the Ministry of Regional Affairs as a department head\council member).
Glenn is both admin and a Court Justice (along with being in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a team member).
Roavin is both admin, Chair of Assembly (and on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs team and a general for the MoMA).

That overlap (power being concentrated in all three branches among a few players in democratic region) is problematic for two reasons:
1. Positions that could or should be held by new players are now being cemented into a permanent role by establishment players who keep taking more and more positions of power and roles without question. Some of these admin are also responsible for some controversial decisions and political actions.

2. How is admin being held accountable for their professional and personal conduct in the region and on behalf of the region? This is an ongoing theme that was begun by at least two of the admin in May of this year. They've taken it upon themselves to police the region for "professional and personal conduct\misconduct" but who is holding them accountable for their own behaviors?

The Legislators themselves are the only branch of government that can actually hold admin accountable here especially when the admin have chosen to be extremely political and actually forced out or tried to force players out of the region.

Therefore, here is my proposal that gives the legislator the power to do this (as they would for any elected official):
Quote:2. The Forum Administration Team will be responsible for the selection of new members and must make a public application available to legislators along with clear standards of what is expected of administration members. Additionally, new administrators must be approved by a majority of the Assembly before being granted administrator permissions.

Any member of the Administration team may be recalled by an Assembly resolution passed with two-thirds majority of those voting.
a. Recalls should only be initiated for dereliction of duty, abuse of authority, or violations of the law, and not for purposes of political rivalry.
b. Upon initiation, recall resolutions must be debated for three days and receive a motion and second before being put to vote.
c. Upon passage, the recalled administration team member will immediately be removed from the team.
 

We cannot forget that the two of the current admin are the reason three players were forced out of this region and therefore were never actually held accountable for abusing their admin powers. This way at least any admin and their professional and personal conduct is answerable to someone not themselves.

Escade

~ Positions Held in TSP ~
Delegate | Vice Delegate 
Minister of Regional Affairs, | Minister of Foreign Affairs | 
Minister of Military Affairs
~ The Sparkly One ~


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  • The Sakhalinsk Empire
#8

...When you have to put "don't do this as part of a political rivalry" into the law, you just know your region is fucked.

I may be willing to support the first proposal (the one regarding forbidding administrators from holding political office), but the second is just unacceptable. The mere possibility of a recall process for the administration is just a foul one, one that we should not prosecute at any time. It will set a horrific precedent which this region cannot afford, as when the administration is politicized thoroughly, you get the Sinker's package: coups, general instability, corruption, the whole deal.

I shiver with fear thinking about legislation that shall only serve to further politicize the administration. There is already controversy regarding the issue of toxicity. Do we wish to forge an optimal breeding ground for poison? Is this what we want? A region filled with toxicity? The risk of an administration so unbearably toxic, anything related to it will be radioactive waste of the highest order? Whatever you believe of the current administrative team, this will only serve to advance the destruction of the region from the inside.
Deputy Regional Minister of the Planning and Development Agency(March 8-May 19, 2014)

Local Council Member(April 24-August 11)

Court Justice of TSP(August 15-December 7)


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  • USoVietnam
#9

(08-26-2018, 06:59 PM)Ryccia Wrote: ...When you have to put "don't do this as part of a political rivalry" into the law, you just know your region is fucked.

I may be willing to support the first proposal (the one regarding forbidding administrators from holding political office), but the second is just unacceptable. The mere possibility of a recall process for the administration is just a foul one, one that we should not prosecute at any time. It will set a horrific precedent which this region cannot afford, as when the administration is politicized thoroughly, you get the Sinker's package: coups, general instability, corruption, the whole deal.

I shiver with fear thinking about legislation that shall only serve to further politicize the administration. There is already controversy regarding the issue of toxicity. Do we wish to forge an optimal breeding ground for poison? Is this what we want? A region filled with toxicity? The risk of an administration so unbearably toxic, anything related to it will be radioactive waste of the highest order? Whatever you believe of the current administrative team, this will only serve to advance the destruction of the region from the inside.

Please note, the language was taken from the Charter of the Coalition without any particular changes other than applying it to the administration team. The Charter, if you need to peruse it before launching into empty hyperbolic speeches, is available here:
http://tspforums.xyz/thread-4111.html

It would behoove one to familiarize themselves with the language of the charter before referring to it as toxic. 

On the other hand, it seems that a few select players have very little faith in the Assembly and the Legislators and that sort of thinking in itself is highly anti-democratic. 

When the administration, barring one member, has chosen to involve itself in every political sphere - to the degree that they now dominate the one institution mean to check them is of a deep concern.

Ryccia, parsing through your rhetoric - is it possible that you are arguing that no administration member should hold any office is another solution to this grave problem? If so, then perhaps we can expect administration members to choose whether they will be court justices or admin but have to choose one and not the other. Or make that a legal provision that no administration member may hold any type of political position at all. If so, please propose the language for it or post it as an alternate proposal.

Think of how important it is, considering how many new players we recently have joining us that want to contribute, that the same few won't be holding multiple positions across all three branches of government.

Escade

~ Positions Held in TSP ~
Delegate | Vice Delegate 
Minister of Regional Affairs, | Minister of Foreign Affairs | 
Minister of Military Affairs
~ The Sparkly One ~


My Pinterest




 
#10

The application to the administration team is my point. The fact that we gotten to this, to have to tell people "don't remove admins for political feuds" in our laws is frightening. That politicizes the positions, which hold power beyond comparison. Hmm, a political rival of mine is an admin? I'll just orchestrate a recall vote with my political buddies and sway the people! No biggie! Oh, no, I won't say it is because of my feud. I'll point out something minor, and blow it out of proportion! Or fake it!

A clever politician can remove an admin by staging a crisis. Do you really want that? Do you want a populistic euphoria, or a highly-toxic Assembly, to remove an admin for petty political reasons?

You are involving the position of administrators into the political sphere. This is unbelieveable. When you are able to recall such a volatile position, you will only corrupt it to the extreme. I have no doubt that those disgruntled with the administration team may attempt to wipe them out with recalls. Seriously, with NSGP being stereotyped with good reason as a climate rife with toxicity, backstabbing, scheming, tricks, secret deals behind the curtains, private backdoor chats and the like, you know this can happen. I don't have any illusions of the contrary.

Also, I said I may be able to consider it. The position of a Cabinet member or a Court Justice is different from that of the Administration. I haven't decided anything yet regarding the prohibition of admins into politics.

You believe it yourself: the current team is rotten to the core. Do you want to politicize the position even further? Do you want them to use their administrative cards, now bestowed with political consequences, and thus politicizing the position with our laws? Do you want their positions as administrators to count in politics even more than before by codifying this into our legislation? Do you want this recent intense toxicity to heat up even further? Do you want the region to burn?

Do not put words into my mouth just yet. This requires thorough consideration and reasoning, and I have not reached a conclusion yet. This is a serious matter, one that needs a lot of thinking. I am not presenting anything as of this moment. Take what you will of my words - just don't claim that I said something else.
Deputy Regional Minister of the Planning and Development Agency(March 8-May 19, 2014)

Local Council Member(April 24-August 11)

Court Justice of TSP(August 15-December 7)


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