With the current version of the Charter, we are left to interpret the meaning of "regional cultural activities". I believe that polls falls into that definition, however some may disagree with me, which is why I went to the court for this matter. I don't believe any MoCs have created a poll before (while they were MoC), and in this current time where LC activity with polls is low, I believe it essential for someone to be able to step in to take the reigns of poll-creating while the LCs are away or have an idea drought. In this case, I believe this person to be the Minister of Culture, since their job description in the Charter, in my opinion, aligns with creating polls.
I do not think it is necessary for the court to rule on this. During my term as MoRA, I was able to post polls while making a request to the LC out of deference. I don't see why it would be different for the MoC to do the same.
Your Honors,
Today, I argue that no law in the Coalition of the South Pacific exists that prevents and prohibits the Minister of Culture from creating a poll on our regional page on the
NationStates website except limitations based on moderation policy.
The petitioner correctly mentions that Article V, Section 3 of the Charter of the Coalition of the South Pacific states:
(3) The Local Council may not be denied the authority to run regional polls, create and pin Dispatches, and to suppress messages on the Regional Message Board according to a standard moderation policy. However, it may not alter the regional flags or tags, and may not send out mass telegrams, without the approval of the Delegate.
As written, the Charter effectively grants the right of the Local Council to publish polls with limitations concerning moderation policy. However, Article V, Section 3 in no way denies the Minister of Culture the right to publish polls as well, nor does any other existing law of the Coalition. The only other mention of polls in our laws exists in the Elections Act, which outlines the polling process during the delegatorial election. Observing the laws as currently written, there are no explicit prohibitions on the Minister of Culture from publishing polls other than limitations made based on "reasonable moderation policies", as stated in Article III, Section 1 of the Charter.
In 2020, as Minister of Regional Affairs, I made requests to the Local Council to publish regional polls out of deference to their authority to publish polls and ensure that these polls I created did not conflict with whatever polls the Local Council planned to publish. However, this course of action I took at the time was an unwritten precedent that carried no legal weight. For all intents and purposes, I had the authority to publish polls without permission from the Local Council, and the Minister of Culture, existing as a successor to the now-defunct Minister of Regional Affairs, has the same authority to publish polls on South Pacific's regional page on the
NationStates website, provided that the content of these polls do not violate regional moderation policies.