Lately, I've been very disappointed in the Senate. They have been so busy with this Line of Succession Act that I've had to delay my series of articles on the Criminal Code. :'( Needless to say, I've done everything I can in an attempt to get them back on track: hate letters, love letters, giving a lap dance to every member of the Senate. Sadly, none of these attempts were met with any real success. However, if there's one thing that my actions have taught me, other than the fact that Anumia really enjoys lap dances, it's that this Line of Succession thing is generating a lot of heat, much like Anumia's underpants during that lap dance. So, since we're here, we might as well take a look at this piece of legislation and the current Senate discussion of it.
The Line of Succession Act (2012) tells us that it is "An Act to provide for the Continuance of Government in extreme circumstances." It details all of this in seven evil sections, each of which we will have to defeat if we want to continue to date Ramona Flowers... or something like that. Before getting into the talk going on in the Senate over this act, let's first examine what it is that this act is saying.
What are these "extreme circumstances" that would have to exist for this line of succession to come into play? According to the section titled "Activation of Provisions," specifically Section 3,
"Where the Office of the President and the Office of the Vice President are simultaneously vacant, or in other extreme circumstances as specified by legislation, the Office of the President shall devolve upon the highest-listed citizen on the Line of Succession, providing that they are duly confirmed as per s5 of this Act."
In other words, if both the President and the Vice President have lost their positions, we have an extreme circumstance on our hands. But that's not all; this act also allows anything specified as an extreme circumstance by legislation to be one as well. So far, there is no legislation on the books that specifically states any other "extreme circumstance," however the Emergency Powers Act (2014) comes pretty close. This act lays out, basically, two different types of regional emergencies: inactivity of the Executive and the Senate (of 10 days or more), and forum inaccessibility (it is destroyed, damaged, or rendered inaccessible). In both of these circumstances, a regional emergency can be declared, and I think we can all agree that could be classified as an "extreme circumstance." However, in these scenarios, it is the Office of the Supreme Chancellor who would gain power, not the line of succession, which has been thoughtfully set out for us below.
Here is the order of succession, according to Section 7 of the Line of Succession Act:
1.The Speaker of the Senate
2. The Chief Justice
3. The current Ministerial Line of Succession decreed by the President under s2 of this Act
4. The Deputy Speaker of the Senate
5. Other Senators in order of election
6. Other Justices in order of appointment
The Emergency Powers Act actually has its own line of succession in case the Office of the Supreme Chancellor is also inactive, but that's getting us off-topic. The Ministerial Line of Succession, mentioned in item 3 on the above list, is spelled out in Section 2, which states,
"The President may decree a Ministerial Line of Succession, including one or more of his Ministers in an order of his choosing. The Ministerial Line of Succession shall expire at the end of the each presidential term."
So, the President gets to choose who he wants to be first-in-line to be third-in-line in the line of succession, from his ministers. Once all that is out of the way, the successor, whoever that may be, must be confirmed into office. That is where Sections 5 and 6 come in, and they say,
"(5) Upon circumstance such as to require the activation of the provisions of this Act, it shall be necessary that successors to the Office of the President be confirmed by a Supreme Chancellor or a designated representative in order to assume said office.
(6) Where no Supreme Chancellor or designated representative is available to provide confirmation as required by s5, the confirmation shall no longer be required for the candidate to take office."
Once the confirmation is over, the deed is done and we have a new President. That's pretty much it as far the act itself goes, but there is discussion in the Senate, proposed by Anumia, to change the order of succession, thereby destroying the very fabric of our republic... or at least shifting it around a little bit. Coincidentally, "shifting it around a little bit" is one of Anumia's favorite pastimes. The proposed change is to move the Ministerial Line of Succession to first-in-line, thus bumping down the Speaker of the Senate and Chief Justice to second and third, respectively. The logic behind this is that Ministers would better carry on the legacy set in place by the current executive, whereas the Speaker and Chief Justice would have no direct link to the executive, as well as cause an upset in their respective branches, as a replacement for either one would require an immediate replacement, but if a Minister moves up, there is less urgency involved in finding a replacement.
Opponents of the proposal, Drecq and modernsin being the most vocal, argue that the direct link should not be to the executive, but to the people. Both the Speaker and the Chief Justice are elected, albeit to another branch of government and not in the traditional sense of the word "elected," while Ministers are appointed by the President. Another argument is that the individuals elected to the Speakership are traditionally more experienced than those in Minister positions, and while more experience does not always lead to better leadership, it is still something to consider. Lastly, just in case that wasn't enough for you, PhDre suggests doing away with the entire line of succession, instead preferring that a presidential election be triggered if both the presidency and vice presidency are vacant. The will of the people, he says, is not accurately represented by either the Speaker or the Ministers, and therefore the best way to ensure the people have the leader they want is to have them elect one.
And so ends this article covering the Line of Succession Act (2012) and the current Senate discussion of it. As always, I encourage the people of Europeia to find out more about this topic, either by looking at the Law Index and reading through the laws mentioned in this article, or by looking at the Senate thread of discussion, under "Amendment to the Line of Succession Act (2012)." I hope to be back soon to further discuss Senate matters and the laws they deal with, but until then, I'm Calvin Coolidge, keeping a sharp eye out for an Anumia in heat, crooning "You Belong With Me."
The Line of Succession Act (2012) tells us that it is "An Act to provide for the Continuance of Government in extreme circumstances." It details all of this in seven evil sections, each of which we will have to defeat if we want to continue to date Ramona Flowers... or something like that. Before getting into the talk going on in the Senate over this act, let's first examine what it is that this act is saying.
What are these "extreme circumstances" that would have to exist for this line of succession to come into play? According to the section titled "Activation of Provisions," specifically Section 3,
"Where the Office of the President and the Office of the Vice President are simultaneously vacant, or in other extreme circumstances as specified by legislation, the Office of the President shall devolve upon the highest-listed citizen on the Line of Succession, providing that they are duly confirmed as per s5 of this Act."
In other words, if both the President and the Vice President have lost their positions, we have an extreme circumstance on our hands. But that's not all; this act also allows anything specified as an extreme circumstance by legislation to be one as well. So far, there is no legislation on the books that specifically states any other "extreme circumstance," however the Emergency Powers Act (2014) comes pretty close. This act lays out, basically, two different types of regional emergencies: inactivity of the Executive and the Senate (of 10 days or more), and forum inaccessibility (it is destroyed, damaged, or rendered inaccessible). In both of these circumstances, a regional emergency can be declared, and I think we can all agree that could be classified as an "extreme circumstance." However, in these scenarios, it is the Office of the Supreme Chancellor who would gain power, not the line of succession, which has been thoughtfully set out for us below.
Here is the order of succession, according to Section 7 of the Line of Succession Act:
1.The Speaker of the Senate
2. The Chief Justice
3. The current Ministerial Line of Succession decreed by the President under s2 of this Act
4. The Deputy Speaker of the Senate
5. Other Senators in order of election
6. Other Justices in order of appointment
The Emergency Powers Act actually has its own line of succession in case the Office of the Supreme Chancellor is also inactive, but that's getting us off-topic. The Ministerial Line of Succession, mentioned in item 3 on the above list, is spelled out in Section 2, which states,
"The President may decree a Ministerial Line of Succession, including one or more of his Ministers in an order of his choosing. The Ministerial Line of Succession shall expire at the end of the each presidential term."
So, the President gets to choose who he wants to be first-in-line to be third-in-line in the line of succession, from his ministers. Once all that is out of the way, the successor, whoever that may be, must be confirmed into office. That is where Sections 5 and 6 come in, and they say,
"(5) Upon circumstance such as to require the activation of the provisions of this Act, it shall be necessary that successors to the Office of the President be confirmed by a Supreme Chancellor or a designated representative in order to assume said office.
(6) Where no Supreme Chancellor or designated representative is available to provide confirmation as required by s5, the confirmation shall no longer be required for the candidate to take office."
Once the confirmation is over, the deed is done and we have a new President. That's pretty much it as far the act itself goes, but there is discussion in the Senate, proposed by Anumia, to change the order of succession, thereby destroying the very fabric of our republic... or at least shifting it around a little bit. Coincidentally, "shifting it around a little bit" is one of Anumia's favorite pastimes. The proposed change is to move the Ministerial Line of Succession to first-in-line, thus bumping down the Speaker of the Senate and Chief Justice to second and third, respectively. The logic behind this is that Ministers would better carry on the legacy set in place by the current executive, whereas the Speaker and Chief Justice would have no direct link to the executive, as well as cause an upset in their respective branches, as a replacement for either one would require an immediate replacement, but if a Minister moves up, there is less urgency involved in finding a replacement.
Opponents of the proposal, Drecq and modernsin being the most vocal, argue that the direct link should not be to the executive, but to the people. Both the Speaker and the Chief Justice are elected, albeit to another branch of government and not in the traditional sense of the word "elected," while Ministers are appointed by the President. Another argument is that the individuals elected to the Speakership are traditionally more experienced than those in Minister positions, and while more experience does not always lead to better leadership, it is still something to consider. Lastly, just in case that wasn't enough for you, PhDre suggests doing away with the entire line of succession, instead preferring that a presidential election be triggered if both the presidency and vice presidency are vacant. The will of the people, he says, is not accurately represented by either the Speaker or the Ministers, and therefore the best way to ensure the people have the leader they want is to have them elect one.
And so ends this article covering the Line of Succession Act (2012) and the current Senate discussion of it. As always, I encourage the people of Europeia to find out more about this topic, either by looking at the Law Index and reading through the laws mentioned in this article, or by looking at the Senate thread of discussion, under "Amendment to the Line of Succession Act (2012)." I hope to be back soon to further discuss Senate matters and the laws they deal with, but until then, I'm Calvin Coolidge, keeping a sharp eye out for an Anumia in heat, crooning "You Belong With Me."
h43r: