Assembly of the South Pacific
Assembly of the South Pacific | |
|---|---|
| 47th Presidium | |
 Seal for the Assembly & the Chair | |
 Logo for the Assembly | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| History | |
| Founded | January 19, 2006 |
| Preceded by | General Assembly of the South Pacific |
New session started | 1st November 2023 |
| Leadership | |
BlockBuster2K43 since 1st November 2023 | |
Vacant since 1st November 2023 | |
Vacant since 8th August 2022 | |
| Structure | |
| Authority | the South Pacific |
| Website | |
| Assembly on the Forums | |
| Constitution | |
| Charter of the South Pacific | |
| Footnotes | |
| The Assembly Gazette Office of Assembly Affairs Legislator Committee | |
The Assembly of the South Pacific is the supreme legislative authority in the South Pacific. It has existed in some form since 2003. Members of the Assembly vote on the laws and representative officials of the South Pacific. The leadership of the Assembly is made up of the Chair of the Assembly, the Deputy Chair of the Assembly, and the Clerk of the Assembly.
Role
The Assembly of the South Pacific is made up of Legislators. Legislators may propose and vote on bills concerning the governance of the South Pacific, though they cannot vote on bills that would affect only the on-site community. Legislators vote in the Cabinet, Delegate, and Chair elections and legislator status is required to run for these positions. The Assembly also votes on appointments made by the Cabinet, such as nominations for the Legislator Committee and the High Court. The Assembly may recall officials for dereliction of duty, abuse of authority, or violations of the law.
Any legislator can propose a bill to the Assembly. There is a debate period of three days for bills on general laws and five days on constitutional laws; after this, bills may be moved to a vote if there is a motion and a second from separate legislators.
Chair of the Assembly
The Assembly elects a Chair of the Assembly who will remain in office as Chair, unless they are absent, recalled or generally not in office, if this is the case, new Chair elections will be called. The Chair is responsible for maintaining order and decorum in the Assembly, guiding debate into bills, bringing bills to vote, and recording changes to law. Alongside this, the position of the Chair performs various other administrative, maintenance and secretarial functions, this includes, bringing bills to vote, recording votes, maintaining the MATT-DUCK law index, and making records of vote and debate threads. The Chair is responsible for enforcing legislative procedure and law standards, and for determining if bills contradict the Charter or other constitutional laws.
Deputy Chair of the Assembly
The Deputy Chair of the Assembly is the second-highest ranking official within the Assembly of the South Pacific. The Deputy Chair of the Assembly executes the functions that will assist in the day-to-day running of the Assembly, they are also responsible for helping the Chair of the Assembly with their tasks as the chair. In certain circumstances, the Deputy Chair of the Assembly may issue tasks and execute the functions of the Chair of the Assembly if the Chair is absent or away. If the Chair of the Assembly resigns of leaves their position as Chair of the Assembly, the Deputy Chair will assume the acting role of Chair of the Assembly until an election can be held.
Clerk of the Assembly
The Clerk of the Assembly is a de facto Deputy Chair of the Assembly. However, they are primarily responsible for maintaining the Journal and the Assembly Record, publishing and writing Chair's Briefings, and ensuring that the Gazette is up-to-date and they do not possess the same powers as the Deputy Chair of the Assembly. Their powers within the Assembly are defined by the Chair of the Assembly at the start of each session of the Assembly.
History
The legislative body known as the Assembly was founded in late June or early July 2003, when it was known as the General Assembly of the South Pacific.[1] The name was changed to Council of the South Pacific in July. In the Great Council of January 2006, the name of the Council was changed to the Assembly.[2]
Until the Great Council of 2016, members of the Assembly were known as Citizens rather than Legislators.[3] Currently, legislators refers to members of the Assembly while citizens refers to all members of the South Pacific.
Membership
Legislators are admitted to the Assembly by the Legislator Committee. They may lose legislator status if their nation leaves the South Pacific or if they do not meet the voting requirements (a legislator must vote in at least half of the votes in a month where a minimum of two votes are held).
The roster of legislators is publicly viewable here.
Further Reading
References
- ↑ Slackervania, 7 July 2003. https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/thespacific/new-name-t5.html#p27
- ↑ Fudgie, 19 January 2006. https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/thespacific/council-results-t4148.html#p116933
- ↑ Assembly Resolution on Citizenship Continuity, 3 July 2016. https://tspforums.xyz/thread-4282.html