Few Fireworks in First Question Time
The government critics in the Senate took their first stab at Question Time this week, and the results were underwhelming. The proceedings were mainly marked by the absence of culture minister James Hanover, foreign minister Earth22, and interior minister Abbey Anumia. Other than that, some of the responses were lackluster and not detail-specific, with the possible exception of President Sopo's detailed accounting of his first week in office. Additionally, the so-called "critics" failed to follow up or dig deeper. In some cases, the opening questions themselves failed to deliver, but if you missed it, or fell asleep during it, here's the highlights:
Information minister Hyanygo, new to the post, has a rather detailed plan to provide a steady flow of articles to the Europeian Brodcasting Corporation, which has seen a slight downturn as of late.
President Sopo provided a very detailed accounting of his first week in office, which seems to have been slightly hampered due to the LoAs of his Ministers and the pornspams across NationStates. He was frank about these issues and is looking to resolve them in the coming weeks.
Vice President HEM has spent much of the week putting the Civil Service Officium in order by his own account, and plans to bring it to life in the coming week. He also stands by his decisions regarding convicted criminal Seymour, proclaiming Europeia "a land of second chances".
Integration minister Ogastein backs the Citizen Integration Act recently passed by the Senate and welcomes the change as a new direction for the Ministry. Little specifics were asked for or provided about actual Welfare policy.
Grand Admiral karthikking appears to be much in the same boat as HEM, getting his Navy in order and ready for the rest of the term. Oliver asked for a private follow-up on the Grand Admiral's answer, as little specifics could be provided with breaching security.
As previously stated, the ministers of culture, foreign affairs, and interior are on Leave of Absence (LoA), with two of the three coming back this coming week. Whether it was the LoAs, some slack for the first time of the term, or the Senate just being unsure of itself, I'd invite these critics to settle into their roles as Opposition and more vigorously question the ministers at the next given opportunity. While we don't want a Senate pitted firmly against the Executive, we should also have accountability, otherwise this new idea of Opposition is just a sideshow and the Senate has better ways to expend its energy.
It is yet to be seen how effective the Cabinet will be this term, and how effective the Senate will be in motivating the Cabinet, but if we can be sure of one thing, it's that this term is like any other and may need a push for activity from the government.
Writer : McEntire
Edited by : Hyanygo
The government critics in the Senate took their first stab at Question Time this week, and the results were underwhelming. The proceedings were mainly marked by the absence of culture minister James Hanover, foreign minister Earth22, and interior minister Abbey Anumia. Other than that, some of the responses were lackluster and not detail-specific, with the possible exception of President Sopo's detailed accounting of his first week in office. Additionally, the so-called "critics" failed to follow up or dig deeper. In some cases, the opening questions themselves failed to deliver, but if you missed it, or fell asleep during it, here's the highlights:
Information minister Hyanygo, new to the post, has a rather detailed plan to provide a steady flow of articles to the Europeian Brodcasting Corporation, which has seen a slight downturn as of late.
President Sopo provided a very detailed accounting of his first week in office, which seems to have been slightly hampered due to the LoAs of his Ministers and the pornspams across NationStates. He was frank about these issues and is looking to resolve them in the coming weeks.
Vice President HEM has spent much of the week putting the Civil Service Officium in order by his own account, and plans to bring it to life in the coming week. He also stands by his decisions regarding convicted criminal Seymour, proclaiming Europeia "a land of second chances".
Integration minister Ogastein backs the Citizen Integration Act recently passed by the Senate and welcomes the change as a new direction for the Ministry. Little specifics were asked for or provided about actual Welfare policy.
Grand Admiral karthikking appears to be much in the same boat as HEM, getting his Navy in order and ready for the rest of the term. Oliver asked for a private follow-up on the Grand Admiral's answer, as little specifics could be provided with breaching security.
As previously stated, the ministers of culture, foreign affairs, and interior are on Leave of Absence (LoA), with two of the three coming back this coming week. Whether it was the LoAs, some slack for the first time of the term, or the Senate just being unsure of itself, I'd invite these critics to settle into their roles as Opposition and more vigorously question the ministers at the next given opportunity. While we don't want a Senate pitted firmly against the Executive, we should also have accountability, otherwise this new idea of Opposition is just a sideshow and the Senate has better ways to expend its energy.
It is yet to be seen how effective the Cabinet will be this term, and how effective the Senate will be in motivating the Cabinet, but if we can be sure of one thing, it's that this term is like any other and may need a push for activity from the government.
Writer : McEntire
Edited by : Hyanygo