FT 15.02 - Succession in Office Act of 2020 (LAW)

[KoopaDaQuick 🇵🇸]

A RESOLUTION
to standardize rules of parliamentary succession

Section 1 (Title)
i. The title of this Act shall be, the "Succession in Office Act of 2020." It may be cited as the "Succession Act."

Section 2 (Rules for determining successors)
i. Whenever a sitting member shall be reelected to the next parliament, they shall be considered their own successor.
ii. Whenever a member is appointed or chosen by means of a by-election to assume a vacant seat, they shall be the successor to that seat.
iii. Whenever a new member is elected and belonging to the same federal party as a retiring member, they shall be the successor to that seat.
iv. All conflicts shall be resolved in favor of the most senior member, as herein defined.

Section 3 (Seniority)
i. The relative seniority of members shall be determined according to the date and minute at which they originally took the oath of office, with the member whose earliest entry into office occurred at the earliest date and time being the most senior. However, a new member having previously been elected senator or first minister for this commonwealth, shall take precedence over all other new members entering office at the same time.

Section 4 (Succession in votes)
i. Should a new member enter into office at the moment when a vote is ongoing, and proceed to vote on the relevant amendment, bill, or resolution, their vote shall replace that of the member who they shall have succeeded in office.

Sponsor: Harry S Truman, FM (Fianna Frémont—Labor, North Dakota)

I hereby give the floor to the first minister so he can present his advocation.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

My thanks to the speaker.

For several years now, we have been operating under the House of Representatives Rules and Procedures when it comes to determining official succession. While at some level ceremonial, succession rules become very important in a couple of cases: votes in parliament that overlap the end of one term and the beginning of another (the most recent example being the Second Great Seal Act signed into law just this morning), and the dual vacancy of the ministry and the speakership (which has never occurred under the present constitution). While it has never been a problem before now, were either of these scenarios to become the source of controversy, the lack of a clear statutory definition of who succeeds whom and who is, in fact, the "most senior" MFP, could spark a damaging and unnecessary constitutional crisis. Hence this bill.

This legislation would formally adopt the House Rules for succession and define seniority by the order in which members took the oath of office. Two important notes with regard to the latter: former senators and first ministers take precedence over other new legislators of the same class, and your first oath is the only one that matters —even if there is a gap in your service. The reasoning here is that seniority mainly matters if the first minister abdicates and there is no speaker; a former senator or first minister, I would argue, is in such a scenario a more legitimate choice to become interim first minister than a freshman lawmaker who happened to swear in a few minutes early.

I yield for a question.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

I move for a vote.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Madam Speaker?

[KoopaDaQuick 🇵🇸]

Sorry, was busy with stuff. Opening a vote.

---

Aye

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Aye

[OBD]

Aye

[AustralianSwingVoter]

Aye

[Continential]

Aye

[KoopaDaQuick 🇵🇸]

Succession in Office Act of 2020
Frémont Parliament Bill 15.02 - Sponsored by Harry S Truman, FM

	LAB	PAX	IND	TOTAL
Aye	3	1	1	5
Nay	0	0	0	0
Abstain	0	0	0	0
Not Present	0	0	0	0

	FF	TR	ML	UL	TOTAL
Aye	1	1	2	1	5
Nay	0	0	0	0	0
Abstain	0	0	0	0	0
Not Present	0	0	0	0	0

First Minister HARRY S TRUMAN of North Dakota (LAB/FF)
Mr. AUSTRALIANSWINGVOTER of Washington (IND/ML)
Mr. ISHAN of Guam (LAB/UL)
Ms. KOOPADAQUICK of Iowa (PAX/TR)
Mr. OREGON BLUE DOG of Oregon (LAB/ML)

Passed, awaiting the First Minister's signature.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

A RESOLUTION
to standardize rules of parliamentary succession

Section 1 (Title)
i. The title of this Act shall be, the "Succession in Office Act of 2020." It may be cited as the "Succession Act."

Section 2 (Rules for determining successors)
i. Whenever a sitting member shall be reelected to the next parliament, they shall be considered their own successor.
ii. Whenever a member is appointed or chosen by means of a by-election to assume a vacant seat, they shall be the successor to that seat.
iii. Whenever a new member is elected and belonging to the same federal party as a retiring member, they shall be the successor to that seat.
iv. All conflicts shall be resolved in favor of the most senior member, as herein defined.

Section 3 (Seniority)
i. The relative seniority of members shall be determined according to the date and minute at which they originally took the oath of office, with the member whose earliest entry into office occurred at the earliest date and time being the most senior. However, a new member having previously been elected senator or first minister for this commonwealth, shall take precedence over all other new members entering office at the same time.

Section 4 (Succession in votes)
i. Should a new member enter into office at the moment when a vote is ongoing, and proceed to vote on the relevant amendment, bill, or resolution, their vote shall replace that of the member who they shall have succeeded in office.