Osiris Fraternal Order

Ahoy hoy! I have a few amendments I'd like to offer for the council's consideration.

First, the previous amendment which formed the Council of Guardians and Priests vested all emergency powers directly in the Pharaoh. Prior to this the council of priests were able to override and end a state of emergency (and also had, for the interim, emergency legislative powers vested in it). I'd think restoring that particular check in the checks and balances of our government may be a good idea.

To that end, I think we can revert to the previous legislative language but instead reserve this power for the Council of Guardians. The folk holding those ingame security positions are ideally suited to serve as an explicit check on any future Pharaoh's excesses.

This would require the following amendment to Article III, Section 1(8) of the Scroll of Ma'at:

Current text:

(8) The Pharaoh may declare a regional state of emergency, dissolving the Council of Scribes, vacating all other government offices, and vesting executive, legislative, and judicial power in the office of the Pharaoh.

Amended text:

(8) The Pharaoh may declare a regional state of emergency, vacating the offices of Chief Scribe and Chief Vizier, suspending the Council of Scribes, vesting executive power in the office of the Pharaoh, and vesting legislative power in the Council of Guardians. The Council of Guardians may, by two-thirds majority vote, override and end a regional state of emergency.

Along with that, we've got an issue with the acting pharaoh having the capacity to declare states of emergency and radically alter the government of Osiris during what should be a completely temporary position. I personally believe that states of emergency should be carefully considered and only instituted by a full pharaoh, and this amendment to Article IV, Section 1(4) of the Legal Code will reflect that:

Current text:

(4) The Acting Pharaoh will be vested with all powers of the Pharaoh for the duration of service as Acting Pharaoh, except the power to abdicate the office of Pharaoh on behalf of the Pharaoh or the power to vacate the office of Heir Apparent.

Amended Text:

(4) The Acting Pharaoh will be vested with all powers of the Pharaoh for the duration of service as Acting Pharaoh, except the power to abdicate the office of Pharaoh on behalf of the Pharaoh, the power to vacate the office of Heir Apparent, or the power to declare a regional state of emergency.

Following that is another security based amendment relating to acting pharaohs. Given that the Viziers and Guardians are somewhat smallish institutions, it could become quite problematic if Article IV, Section 1(5) of the Legal Code were invoked to approve or disapprove their ascension to the delegacy and they failed to recuse themselves from those votes (as they very may well be a Vizier or Guardian). As such, a simple change is needed:

Current text:

(5) The Acting Pharaoh will not assume the World Assembly Delegacy except by permission of the Pharaoh, or if the Pharaoh cannot be reached in an emergency, by permission of the Council of Guardians with the concurrence of the Council of Viziers.

Amended text

(5) The Acting Pharaoh will not assume the World Assembly Delegacy except by permission of the Pharaoh, or if the Pharaoh cannot be reached in an emergency, by permission of the Council of Guardians with the concurrence of the Council of Viziers. The Acting Pharaoh may not participate in such a vote.

And that's that. Let's discuss it.

I support these amendments. The state of emergency language is too broad, in hindsight, and the latter two issues were just oversights that need to be corrected.

I agree as it ads some much needed description to the state of emergency regarding who can declare it and how it is declared

Makes sense.

[class=members]Treize Dreizehn[/class] coughs

Any more discussion for this?

Is this still being discussed?

If so, I support this, even if, in my opinion, there should be a better check of power. Even so, this is a modest push forward for fair checks and balances.

(I'm new to Osiris, so, if I'm oblivious in my comments, I apologize)

Ciloss wrote:Sun Sep 18, 2016 12:18 amIs this still being discussed?

If so, I support this, even if, in my opinion, there should be a better check of power. Even so, this is a modest push forward for fair checks and balances.

(I'm new to Osiris, so, if I'm oblivious in my comments, I apologize)

To be honest, I can't see anyway in which to increase the checks and balances on the Pharaoh.

Despite having declared a regional state of emergency under the current text of the law, I continue to support these amendments.

If I can suggest a slight tweak to the wording of the first proposed amendment, though:

(8) The Pharaoh may declare a regional state of emergency, vacating the offices of Chief Scribe and Chief Vizier, suspending the Council of Scribes, vesting executive power in the office of the Pharaoh, and vesting legislative power in the Council of Guardians. The Council of Guardians may, by two-thirds majority vote, override and end a regional state of emergency.

This changes "dissolving" to "suspending" the Council of Scribes, which is more accurate, as well as removing superfluous use of "all."

Changes make good sense, edited 'em in.

Bummer, I really liked the "Priests" name fitting into the Osiris Egyptian theme... xD