A Senate in Turmoil
By: Josephto, Writer
This week, the Union faced an unusual and unfortunate crisis in our government. As per our Constitution, the Senate is up for reelection at the end of January. However, this election cycle highlighted a key issue within our government. The Senate is supposed to be made up of 5 Senators. But in this election, only three candidates stepped up to the plate to run for the Senate. Of these candidates (being Deputy Speaker Isles, Senator Sacento, and former Chief Justice We The People), only one of them is a new Senator! While it is clear that our next steps regarding this matter will be handled by the Chancellors, this election brings forth the biggest problem with our Senate, and indeed, with our entire government.
For months, Deputy Speaker Isles has spoken of abolishing the General Assembly. He introduced an amendment to the Senate that did just that, though a majority of Senators strongly voted against the measure. Isles said the GA was ineffective and it did not do enough to increase Citizen participation in the Union. What Isle’s abolishment proposal led to was a series of constitutional amendment attempts by our legislators to increase the efficiency of the General Assembly. These amendments tried to create a roster of active citizens who would participate in the GA, but the amendments were ultimately voted down due to wording issues (again). Now, given that only three candidates have been voted in as Senators, our legislature has been brought to a screeching halt.
You see, in our Constitution, it states that the entire legislature shall be in session only betweenSenate elections, which means that while the Senate is being elected, no one can get things done. This whole debacle has shown that it is in fact the SENATE that is inefficient and slow. The interruption of a week long Senate election that doesn’t even completely fill the Senate has caused two vital bills, the “Delegacy Act” and the “Explicit Revocation Grace Period Amendment”, to halt in place.
There is almost a bit of irony in it all. Just a week before these events occurred, the Senate voted on a measure that would expand its numbers from five to seven. While the amendment did fail, it raised a question as to why such a bill was introduced at all. In the last Senate election, only six candidates ran. This election, only three did. With the lack of participation, and hindrance to our legislative process, one must ask the glaring question:is it time to abolish the Senate?
By: Josephto, Writer
This week, the Union faced an unusual and unfortunate crisis in our government. As per our Constitution, the Senate is up for reelection at the end of January. However, this election cycle highlighted a key issue within our government. The Senate is supposed to be made up of 5 Senators. But in this election, only three candidates stepped up to the plate to run for the Senate. Of these candidates (being Deputy Speaker Isles, Senator Sacento, and former Chief Justice We The People), only one of them is a new Senator! While it is clear that our next steps regarding this matter will be handled by the Chancellors, this election brings forth the biggest problem with our Senate, and indeed, with our entire government.
For months, Deputy Speaker Isles has spoken of abolishing the General Assembly. He introduced an amendment to the Senate that did just that, though a majority of Senators strongly voted against the measure. Isles said the GA was ineffective and it did not do enough to increase Citizen participation in the Union. What Isle’s abolishment proposal led to was a series of constitutional amendment attempts by our legislators to increase the efficiency of the General Assembly. These amendments tried to create a roster of active citizens who would participate in the GA, but the amendments were ultimately voted down due to wording issues (again). Now, given that only three candidates have been voted in as Senators, our legislature has been brought to a screeching halt.
You see, in our Constitution, it states that the entire legislature shall be in session only betweenSenate elections, which means that while the Senate is being elected, no one can get things done. This whole debacle has shown that it is in fact the SENATE that is inefficient and slow. The interruption of a week long Senate election that doesn’t even completely fill the Senate has caused two vital bills, the “Delegacy Act” and the “Explicit Revocation Grace Period Amendment”, to halt in place.
There is almost a bit of irony in it all. Just a week before these events occurred, the Senate voted on a measure that would expand its numbers from five to seven. While the amendment did fail, it raised a question as to why such a bill was introduced at all. In the last Senate election, only six candidates ran. This election, only three did. With the lack of participation, and hindrance to our legislative process, one must ask the glaring question:is it time to abolish the Senate?
