15RC26 - Government Formation and Dissolution Amendment

The following articles are rewritten as follows.

Art 31. The Cosa is the Talossan national parliament and is elected by universal popular vote of all participating citizens.The Cosa shall be the sole legislative body elected on a nationwide level. Elections to the Cosa shall occur after every dissolution.

Art. 32 When a Writ of Dissolution takes effect at the end of a month (see Art 57), the Cosa shall be considered empty till the end of the next election. A two-week period shall begin during which political parties may rally their forces and submit the required materials to appear on the ballot (see Art 30).

Art 33. All elections to the Cosa are to be conducted by post (including hand delivery), commencing on the 15th day of the month and concluding at 7:00 p.m. on the 14th day of the following month. The first day of this period is called the "Balloting Day" and the last day of the period is called the "Election Deadline." Elections shall only occur if a Writ of Dissolution has been issued (which may be automatic in certain circumstances).

Art 56. Each Cosa is elected to a limited term of office. The term of office shall be defined as six months and two weeks, Le. the time from the fifteenth day of the calendar month in which the election is completed (e.g. January) until the end of that month, and then six further calendar months (e.g. starting in February). During the sixth calendar month, the King shall issue a perfunctory Writ of Dissolution to herald the expiration of the Cosa's legal term of office.

Art. 56a. It is intended that parties shall apportion their seats and that the new Prime Minister shall form his government and name his Cabinet within the two-week period following elections. If he does so, his government is entitled to six Clarks, one during each successive full calendar month. But if there are extenuating circumstances preventing an orderly and speedy set-up of a government, the Prime Minister may issue a Warrant of Prorogation and extend the government formation period from two weeks until the end of the following calendar month (giving him six week to form his government). If this option is used, however, his Government is entitled to vote on five monthly Clarks rather than six, as given in Art. 56.

Art 56b. If the PM fails to organise a government by the end of the two-week period, or if he issues a Warrant of Prorogation and subsequently fails to organise his government by the end of the extended calendar month, the King must immediately issue a Writ of Dissolution.

Art 57. The Cosa may be dissolved before its six-month term has expired. The King may issue Writs of Dissolution to dissolve the Cosa. The Prime Minister may petition for a Writ of Dissolution, and the King may under no circumstances deny such a petition. A Writ of Dissolution, once issued, takes effect only at the end of the calendar month in which it was issued. If there is a Clark during the month in which the Writ was issued, the Cosa may complete it work on that Clark before the Writ takes effect. The effect of a Writ of Dissolution is to dissolve the Cosa and suspend its operations until after new elections are held. No Clark may be issued until after new elections are held.

Art 58 The Clark must contain, in every edition, a Vote of Confidence ("VOC"). This reads as follows: "Do you wish the current Government to continue in its term of office?" Each MC must answer this question every month, either with "üc" (or "yes") or "non" (or "no"), except if a Writ of Dissolution has been issued during the month in which the Clark is voted on, in which case the Vote of Confidence is not tallied. If at the end of any month the non/no vote outnumbers the üc/yes vote, the provisions of the following article come into play.

Art. 58a. If the non/no vote on the VOC outnumbers the uc/yes vote at the end of any month, the King shall choose at once to issue a Writ of Dissolution, or to appoint a new Prime Minister to complete the government's term of office. If he chooses the latter, the new month's Clark shall proceed as usual and the King shall have the first two week of the new month to designate a new PM and have him form a government. If the designated PM succeeds in forming a government by the end of the first two weeks of the month (i.e. prior to the 15th of the month), the old PM and his cabinet shall be considered "deposed," and the new PM shall be sworn in (and receive the 15 appointive seats). If the newly-designated PM fails to attain majority support for his government, the old PM is returned to office but the King shall immediately issue a Writ of Dissolution. The old PM may not, during the time from the end of the VOC to the swearing-in of his replacement, request a Writ of Dissolution.

Uréu q'estadra så,
Ben Madison (PC-Vuode)