(Defenders of Talossan Republicanism)
for
the 47th Cosâ Elections
FOREWORD
After just over six months of government, election
season has come to Talossa... a mite early.
The ZRT was overjoyed to be asked to help form the
first non-RUMP government in something like seven years in Talossa.
It was a sign (we thought) that the old Kingdom vs Republic binary
had broken down, and Talossans were now making political decisions
based on the merits of the parties. We happily took a secondary role
behind our monarchist allies, the Moderate Radicals, and set out to
prove ourselves as fair administrators and level-headed political
leaders, rather than the hot-headed barricade-stormers of our
opponents' fevered imaginings.
Now we come before you, the voters, to give us a
chance to take the next step – the step to lead
a government, by becoming the largest party in the Cosâ, or at least
the largest in a governing coalition. We are not deciding in advance
whom we will ally with. We exclude none of the other parties running
in this election.
But only on two
conditions. Firstly, we need the right policies.
The Defenders of Talossan Republicanism have proved we can
compromise, and have patience, but we will not
sell out
on our basic principles of democratisation, the pre-eminence of the
elected government, and of a cultural renewal of Talossa. And the
second is, we need the right administration.
If
there is an area in which the previous Coalition Government can be
rightfully criticised, it is of a certain lack of leadership and a
few balls dropped in administrative areas. The ZRT campaigns first
and foremost this time on making sure that does not
happen again – that the next Seneschál will be present, active,
and show leadership.
The recent drama with leaked documents only shows
why Talossa needs the ZRT in government. These documents will soon be
tested in Cort. Nevertheless, they seem to show an intense suspicion
of and bias against the citizens who joined this Kingdom through
Reunision; non-elected Government officials who consider themselves
“above the law” (and definitely above Government oversight); and
a Monarchy which nods its head at this. The ZRT believes that the
elected government must definitely assert authority over the
bureaucracy. More controversially, we also believe that the Monarchy
must be “cut down to size”. At least, it should be separated from
Wittenberg administration.
The
ZRT therefore pledges itself to democracy
in action.
We wager that Talossa is not ready to return to the slow, slothful
and stultifying days of RUMP majority government. And we wager that a
vast majority know that the defenders of Talossan republicanism and
democracy are an essential and welcome part of our nation's politics.
Give us a go behind the steering wheelof State. Love us or hate us,
you know we get
things done.
Miestrâ
A. Istefaneascâ Schivâ
ZRT
Leader
0.
FIFTY-WORD STATEMENT
We've
had a term in government; now we want to lead it. The ZRT promises an
active Seneschál who gets things done; our national websites,
including Wittenberg, under democratic control; more use of el glheþ;
and working for Constitutional reform with other democratic parties.
Vote ZRT for Democracy in Action!
ACTION
A ZRT-led government will be an activist
government. All administrative
duties of the Seneschál and Ministers will be enacted in a timely
and efficient manner. All Ministers will be regularly available for
questioning both in the Ziu and by members of the public. All
Ministers will actively pursue their oversight function over the
Civil Service and the Royal Household.
DEMOCRACY
A ZRT-led government shall enact the following democratic reforms:
- The Ministry of Stuff will take effective control of all Talossa's official websites, including the Wiki, and appoint administrators who will be responsible to the Government. We will investigate nationalising Wittenberg (that is, making it part of the official Kingdom websites), or else creating a new “official” Kingdom of Talossa webforum.
- a programme of "slimming down" the OrgLaw, leaving it with only the basics of government - for example, moving electoral law into statute law. We will push with the other democratic parties for a broadly-agreed Constitutional reform, or even a Constitutional Convention, rather than trying to push a ZRT vision of the future.
- judicial reform; the current system is opaque, accessible only to specialists, and delays and therefore denies justice.
- support for a smaller Cosâ, to make elections mean something;
- a compulsory secret ballot and mandatory candidate lists for Cosâ elections;
- a financial report from the government at the end of each Cosa term, to provide a starting point for the next term's budget;
DEMONARCHISATION
The ZRT will shift power from the Royal
Household to the elected Government and Ziu, including the
following reforms:
- The Head of State should not also be the admin of our national forum. This is an impermissible confusion of roles which has enmeshed the Monarchy in political and judicial controversies.
- We aim to eliminate everything but the College of Arms from the Royal Household into the Civil Service. For example, the Chancery will become an independent branch of the State; the Scribery and Archives will come under the elected Government with their own Minister; and the University of Talossa will be devolved to a provincial government.
- We shall enact a popular initiative option to remove an incompetent monarch as well as the current Ziu-based one. We also wish to explore the concept of elective rather than hereditary monarchy, which has been Talossan tradition until recently (cf. Kings Robert II and Florence I.)
CULTURE
A ZRT-led government shall take the following
cultural initiatives
- The Ministry of Culture will work with the Ladîntsch Naziunál on a strategy to teach every Talossan the basics of the national language, or at least “aliquand mocts” (a few words) they can use in daily life.
- State suppport for a Talossan-language news service.
- Review and discuss revision of the large number of current public holidays / days of observance. Are all of these relevant to modern Talossa? Should we have more?
- The production of attractive plaques which may be awarded to valued institutions and businesses in Talossan history. The last Ziu allocated the budget for it – let's spend it.
- To promote Talossa online, the sponsorship of legislation providing for the appointment of authorised “ambassadors” to various social media sites, forums, and the like who are ready to answer, in an official capacity, any questions about Talossa, its history, the citizenship process, and so on.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
A ZRT-led government will:
- support the "Live and Let Live" attitude to other micronations and Talossa-like entities.
- establish a neutral and informative presence on micronational forums, and encourage the Head of State to do a Reddit AMA.
- set up a new subforum on Wittenberg open to friendly micronationalists to discuss things with Talossans.
- offer Talossa's invincible moral support to all movements for new and unrecognised nations seeking their freedom from currently established United Nations states.
FEDERALISM
A ZRT-led government will revitalise the
provincial governments of Talossa.
At a federal level, we shall:
- legislate to allow the Ziu to step in to fill provincial offices, according to provincial law, when it is clear that the stipulations of that province's constitution have been neglected.
- legislate that that a single person cannot simultaneously be the head of a provincial government and the Cunstavál of a province.
- amend the Organic Law so that the currently unelected position of Cunstavál is replaced with an elected position of the same nature, who will be appointed by the King following their successful election.
ZRT members of provincial legislatures will:
- support their provinces to shift to a framework of direct democracy.
- agitate to rename provinces with the names of foreign politicians, replacing them with Talossan names instead.
CANDIDATE LIST
Senator
from Benito
- Luc da Schir (MRPT candidate)
Senator
from Fiôvâ (by-election)
- Miestrâ Schivâ
Senator
from Maritiimi-Maxhèstic
- Magniloqeu da Lhiùn (MRPT candidate)
Senator
from Vuode
- Eðo Grischün (Progressive candidate)
Members
of the Cosa
- Moritz Fernaodescu
- Gödafrïeu Válcadác'h
- Óïn Ursüm
- Mximo Carbonél
- D. N. Vercáriâ
