Talk Elections

Preamble:

To build a lasting foundation for this new state, a limited Constitution is deemed necessary.

I: The State

1. The name of the state is South America, a federal republic consisting of the nations of Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Peru, Venezuela, Chile, Ecuador, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Guyana, Suriname. The state does not lay claim to the territories of Las Malvinas (or the Falkland Islands) or to French Guiana.

2. All citizens of the constituent nations will be citizens of South America. The specifics of citizenship and nationality will be determined by law.

3. Dual citizenship is permitted, but, to ensure a strong and independent state, the President, the Prime Minister, any minister with responsibility for foreign affairs, and any diplomat must not hold office in another nation.

II: The Government

1. (a) The President shall serve as the ceremonial Head of State of South America, representing the nation at the highest level. He shall be tasked with the appointment of a Member of Parliament as a Prime Minister to serve as Head of Government of South America.

(b) In order to be appointed, a potential Prime Minister must demonstrate to the President's satisfaction that he can command the confidence of Parliament.

(c) The President will appoint the Cabinet, consisting of government ministers, who must be Members of Parliament, on the advice of the Prime Minister.

(d) If the office of President falls vacant, the Speaker of Parliament shall temporarily discharge the duties of the office.

(e) The Cabinet must include at a minimum ministers with responsibility for financial, foreign relations and legal/law enforcement matters.

(f) The Prime Minister will meet regularly with the President to inform him of the progress of the government and the affairs of the nation.

(g) The Prime Minister shall hold office indefinitely until a successor is formally appointed, including upon his resignation or the dissolution of Parliament. In addition the entire incumbent government will hold office until a new government takes office.

2. All citizens of South America, without restriction, may serve as President, unless they are found guilty of treason against the state or hold office in a foreign nation.

3. (a) In the week preceding the conclusion of the incumbent President's term, the Parliament must elect a new President with a two-thirds majority of all sitting MPs.

(b) Should the President's term end without the election of his or her successor, the Speaker of Parliament shall preside over a special session of Parliament lasting no longer than one week to elect a new President.

(c) If the special session fails to elect a President, Parliament shall be dissolved by the acting President and elections held.

(d) Should the office of President fall vacant before the conclusion of a President's term, the procedure described in sections (b) and (c) shall be used.

(e) The first President, succeeding the interim President, will be nominated one week from the passage of this act.

4. The President will serve a term of three months from the date of his election.

5. A President may not serve more than one consecutive term.

6. Laws passed by Parliament will be considered effective immediately upon their passage - they are not subject to the signature of the President.

III: The Parliament and Elections

1. (a) Parliament is the sovereign legislative body of the state and is responsible to the people, and shall regularly be dissolved to allow its constituents to vote on its composition.

(b) Parliament may not sit for a period lasting longer than ten (10) weeks.

(c) Clause (b) may be suspended in times of war, both external and civil, if no more than one-third of Parliament opposes a motion to recognize such an event.

2. Parliament shall be dissolved by the President and a general election held upon:

(a) The passage of a motion of no confidence in the government, unless the President is convinced that an alternative government can be formed that can command the confidence of the house, in which case he may refuse a dissolution and appoint a new Prime Minister.

(b) The advice of the Prime Minister.

(c) The expiration of its mandate as described in 1 (b).

3. All citizens of South America, without restriction, may serve as Members of Parliament, unless they are found guilty by the courts of treason against the state.

4. (a) The method of nationwide closed-list proportional representation will be used to elect Members of Parliament.

(b) (i) Twenty-one (21) Members of Parliament will be elected representing a national constituency.

(ii) All lists must be submitted by a leader of a political party or by an independent citizen to the Registrar General. Edits to the list are possible, but only by the list's original submitter.

(iii) Election of MPs from the national constituency will follow highest averages by the D'Hondt method, such that a list will first have its votes divided by the number of seats won by constituency candidate affiliated with the list, and then divided by one more than the previous for every seat won through proportional representation.

(iv) Should a list be allocated a seat but lacks an additional candidate to fill it, that allocation will be nullified and offered instead to the list next in line according to the electoral method.

(v) The precise date of an election will be determined by the Registrar General on advice of the Prime Minister. There must be a period of at least five full days, or one hundred and twenty (120) hours, between the dissolution of Parliament and the beginning of the election.

(c) The Registrar General is responsible for the enforcement of Sections 1-3, and will post an official election thread shortly in advance of the election date advised by the Prime Minister.

(d) Elections shall last precisely forty-eight (48) hours from the moment indicated by the Registrar General in the official election thread described in  section 4. (c). Votes that are cast outside of this period shall be disqualified.

(d) To be eligible to vote in an election, citizens must , at least one week in advance of the start of the election, 'sign in' in the indicated thread posted by the Registrar General. In order to vote it is only necessary for citizens to 'sign in' once throughout their time in South America.

(e) Citizens who have 'signed in' before the date of implementation of this Constitution are hereby recognised as having done so and will not be required to repeat the process.

5. Parliament will elect, by majority vote, a Speaker tasked with maintaining order and managing the business of the house. The Speaker must be a Member of Parliament.

6. If a Member of Parliament resigns or is considered inactive, they shall be dismissed by the Speaker of Parliament and replaced by the party leadership of the Member of Parliament who has been dismissed.

7. A Member of Parliament shall be considered inactive if they fail to post in the Parliament thread for a period of 72 hours and fail to vote on three consecutive votes without first posting a leave of absence.

IV: The Game Moderator and Registrar General

1. Parliament will appoint, by a two-thirds vote, a Game Moderator upon the resignation of the incumbent or his impeachment by a two-thirds vote. The Game Moderator will be responsible for providing information to the Cabinet and designing events for the government to react to.

2. Parliament will appoint, by two-thirds vote, a Registrar General upon the upon the resignation of the incumbent or his impeachment by a two-thirds vote. The Registrar General will be responsible for the administration of elections and the maintenance of the citizenship register through the aforementioned 'Sign-In' thread.

3. The Game Moderator and Registrar General must both be citizens in good standing of South America.

4. The Game Moderator may not be a Member of Parliament or of any political party. No such restriction will exist on the position of Registrar General.

V: The Judiciary

1. Parliament will appoint, by a majority vote, a State Justice of South America who will serve as the highest judiciary authority in the nation. He will be charged with passing judgement on criminal and civil matters and will serve a six-month term, renewable indefinitely, or until his resignation, upon which a replacement will be appointed by Parliament.

2. The first State Justice shall be nominated one week from the passage of this Act.

3. The body of criminal and civil law and the corresponding penalties for violation will be determined by the Government.

4. Bringing charges against South American citizens for crimes against the state will be the sole responsibility of the designated minister for law enforcement and legal matters.

V: Amendments to this Constitution

1. This Constitution may be amended at any time by two-thirds vote of the Parliament.

VII: Implementation

1. This Act will come into effect as the Constitution of South America upon its passage by two-thirds vote of Parliament.

I move that this house enter recess from the conclusion of all debates on outstanding matters have been until the second of January