Table of Contents
The 2009 Susano Territorial Reform Bill
The good governance of the AHcom Territories was one of the key issues of the 2009 legislative season for both major coalitions. MP Paladin (E) introduced the Paladin Territorial Reform Bill to Parliament on September 19. Within hours, MP Susano (FFF) introduced a competing bill incorporating much of the Paladin Bill, and a good deal longer and is broader in scope. Voting has been along party lines, with EVIL rallying around the Paladin Bill and the FFF-ESP coalition supporting the Susano Bill.
Article VII, calling for Parliament to relocate to a Moon Base, proved the most controversial part of the bill. Susano amended and later withdrew the article. The current version before Parliament is below, with the deleted Article VII set apart from it.
Voting, amendment, and debate are still underway.
Text of the Bill
I. Regional and National Competencies
1. Be it established that the issues listed here shall exclusively be the domain of the single territories:
-Its own finances
-Territorial Militias
-Executing the mandate for pacification of the region
-Organisation of its own political structure, within the limits set by Section II, and administrative organisation of its territory
-Creation and maintenance of its own coat of arms, flags and other symbols
-Infrastructure within the territory
-Economical organisation within the territory
-Citizenship laws for territorial citizenship, under the condition IV.1 and IV.2 are kept.
2. Be it established that the issues listed here shall exclusively be the domain of the national level:
-National finances
-National political structures
-National coats of arms, flags and other symbols, and those of the national institutions
-Currency and other monetary issues
-Customs and Tolls
-All military matters besides the territorial militias
-Trans-territorial economical measures and infrastructure
-All matters of the nobility
-Foreign Politics
3. In all issues not covered by the fields listed in I.1 and I.2, both the national level and the single territories may create laws, under the principle that in those issues national law, unless specified otherwise, breaks territorial law.
4. The national legislative may intervene in issues reserved for single territories, as listed in I.1, with a 2/3 majority of Parliament and approval of Landsraad (by single majority or non-objection). Likewise, popular initiatives on the national level as defined by the Direct Democracy Bill may intervene in issues reserved for single territories with a 2/3 majority.
5. The entirety of territorial militias may not be larger than half of the Regular Military and Imperial Guard taken together. Single territroial militias are alloted shares of this entirety based upon its registered citizen population as percentage of the entirety of the registered citizen population of all territories.
6. The President of AH.com may nationalise territorial militias for the duration three months. After the end of the nationalisation, President may only do so again after a period of 9 months. Those restrictions are waivered in case of a state of war or state of of armed insurgency, both to be either declared by Parliament, or to be confirmed by Parliament after the end of the state of war or state of armed insurgency.
II. AH.com Citizen Rights relating to Territories
1. All AH.com citizens have the right of free settlement in, any free movement through all parts of the AH.com Commonwealth. There shall be no internal customs inside the AH.com Commonwealth
2. All AH.com citizens have the right to apply for territorial citizenship for any territory, and may only be rejected based on the citizenship laws of the territory they applied for.
3. Regardless of their territorial citizenship status, all AH.com citizens shall have the same rights in every AH.com territory, except for political participation, which territories may make an exclusive domain of territorial citizens.
4.Territories may not discriminate against AH.com citizen on the base of their territory of origin, political affiliation or number of posts, or on the base of any other arbitrary characteristic
III Presidential and Parliamentary Territories
1. Both President and Parliament may annex AH.com territories. Depending on who annexed them they start as Presidential or Parliamentary territories, respectively.
2. In Parliamentary territories, Parliament appoints the governor with a plurality of votes. In Presidential territories, the President appoints the governor.
3. Acts of Parliament concerned solely with the annexation of territory or appointment of governors to parliamentary territories cannot be vetoed by the President of AH.com
4. A territory may change status as part of a bill of law.
IV. Regulating Territorial Organisation
1. All organised territories shall organise and maintain an official list of its registered citizens starting at the latest within 6 months of the passing of this bill.
2. Territorial citizenship may not exclude applicants on the base of their territory of origin, political affiliation or number of posts, or on the base of any other arbitrary characteristic. They may however exclude multiple territorial citizenships at the same time, and may demand an application test, which under all circumstances must be non-ideological, and may not serve to circumvent the rules of IV.2
3. In all organised territories, the executive in the form of territorial governors shall continue to be appointed by either Parliament or President, depending on its designation, while the Legislative shall be elected by the respective citizen populations of the single territories. The latter may, but does not need to, include special rights for the official nobility, in which case those special rights may not render the general citizen population politically irrelevant.
4. The participation and interaction of AH.com forum members being the goal of the AH.com Political System, the balance between the institutions elected by the citizen population on the one hand; and the governor, his or her institutions and self-perpetuating institutions on the other hand may not be excessively in favour of the latter. All AH.com territories must be democratic at least to a basic degree.
5. Judgement on wether the conditions of section IV are kept shall rest jointly with Parliament and President. A simple majority of Parliament and President or a 2/3 majority of Parliament and approval of Landsraad (by single majority or non-objection) may suspend the territorial constitution, in which case, upon decision by Parliament, the territory becomes unorganised again, or a contest for a new constitution is started as described in section IV.
6. Territories already organised at the passing of this bill must either have their constitution fit to the requirements listed in this section, or else have 6 months time to pass a new constitution fitting these requirments according to the provisions outlined for constitutional modification outlined in their existing constitution. Should no such provision exist, it falls to the current governor to write up a new constitution fitting these requirements.
V. Organising Specific Territories
1. At the passing of this bill, the governors of the AH.com Territories of Cyprus, Michigan and Somalia shall be recalled.
2. Parliament shall hold contest for applicants to submit proposals for the constitution of those three states, which shall keep to the conditions set out in section IV. Among those applicants, Parliament shall choose the future governors of said three territories, and their constitution shall take effect.
3. Regardless of this, those three territories shall still be considred presidential territories, and President shall further have the power to recall its governors. However, such a recall shall not mean the suspension of the territorial constitution associated with the governor, an action for which IV.4 applies.
VI. Future Organisation of Territories
1. Parliament may at any time, with a simple majority, decide to further organise specific territories by recalling its governor and starting a contest for constitutions fulfilling the conditions set out in section IV. Should the territory in question be Presidential, that territory shall still be considered a presidential territory, and President shall further have the power to recall its governor. However, such a recall shall not mean the suspension of the territorial constitution associated with the governor, an action for which IV.4 applies.
2. Territorial governors may also, independantly of President and Parliament, organise their territory, provided they draw up a territorial constitution meeting the requirments outlined in ssection IV.
Article VII (withdrawn)
VII. The Moon
1. The Moon being a possible future location of Parliament, the Sultanate (AH.com Territory) of the Moon shall be converted into a parliamentary territory.
2. To remain the exclusive domain of Parliament, the Moon shall remain an unorganised territory, and the Prime Minister of AH.com shall automatically also be territorial governor of the Moon. Unless and until Parliament moves to the Moon, Sultan Abdul Hadi Pascha shall remain Vicegovernor of the Moon and head the territory in the absence of the Prime Minister.
3. The Moon shall not have a territorial militia, and no other troops than the Imperial Guard shall allowed to be stationed on it, with the exception of the case of a state of war or state of of armed insurgency, both to be either declared by Parliament, or to be confirmed by Parliament after the end of the state of war or state of armed insurgency. The Tripods, being the current garrison of the Sultanate of the Moon at the moment and hence its de facto territorial militia, shall be absorbed into the Imperial Guard.
4. Should Parliament move to the Moon and hence the Prime Minister take over full governate of the Moon, Sultan Abdul Hadi Pasha, current Sultan and Governor of the Sultanate of the Moon, shall be compensated with a governate in a newly created presidential territory as soon as it is feasible.
Results
Voted Aye
Susano (FFF), Jimbrock (FFF), ImperialVienna (ESP) (3)
Voted Nay
Douglas (E), maverick (E), Keenir (E), Paladin (E), lothaw (E), Benkarnell (ESP) (6)