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Dispatch → Bulletin → Campaign
Rhyssua for HoC! Again!
The short answer is: I'm Rhyssuan Peoples/Rhyssua
But you probably don't want the short answer, so here's the long one (my resume, if you will).
-I was an Associate Justice of the High Court from its inception until late August 2019 I believe.
-After Saint Ryvern's resignation, I was confirmed as Chief Justice, where I served from then until late March/early April 2020.
-Then, President Titanne approached me with an urgent request: he needed an Electoral Commissioner to replace Terentiland, who was retiring. I figured that I might as well step up and serve the region I loved, so I agreed.
-I didn't particularly like being EC, but I made sure that the transition from me to Dizgovzy was as smooth as possible. After briefly serving as an Assistant Commissioner, I ran for House of Commons in May and served one term as an MP and Deputy Speaker.
-As you probably know, I'm the founder and chairman of New Thaecia Now. As a result, many of the ideas and policies I'm campaigning on are reflected in NTN's official manifesto, found here:
Over the past few months, I've watched as our great region has slid into decline. The death of party politics, initially heralded as a crowning achievement that would elevate its political discourse, instead led the region astray. Now the bland and inoffensive triumphs over the bold and spirited, often with pitiful amounts of votes and little enthusiasm to try new things. That's why I've decided to resist this backsliding by forming New Thaecia Now. -Rhyssua
New Thaecia Now is a catch-all, populist party dedicated to increasing regional activity and engagement, both in politics and culture. Everything we support, everything we stand for is designed to make the region more interesting, our elections more competitive, and just plain fun.
-We support decreasing the House. Seriously this should be a no-brainer. Right now, MPs are being elected with only 2 votes. Combined with the astounding number of low-effort, "safe" candidacies, this makes our elections uncompetitive and uninteresting. Should the House be decreased to 11, the Senate should similarly be decreased to 7, in order to preserve the distinction between the chambers.
-We support the increased presence of RP legislation in congress. The vast majority of bills presented today are either amended versions of existing laws, useless bureaucracy, or covering the minutiae of Thaecian law. While some of these bills can be important, they certainly aren't interesting to debate if the legislature's rmbs are any indication. While we of course support the passage of the Yogurt Viscosity Act, creative RP legislation has the potential to spark engaging debate and make being a legislator more than just busywork.
-We support the concept of RP Dependence. Many months ago, an RP independence movement cut it off from the rest of the region. The dispute, principally due to the Reformist debacle, ended long ago. By treating the RP as something tangential rather than integral to the region, activity and enthusiasm in the RP is lowered. An increased RP presence in the region can also help bolster recruitment and engagement for the region. To that end, New Thaecia Now proposes creating a nationstates forum roleplay. While the format is a bit unwieldy, a Thaecia-only thread on the forums can generate much-needed visibility for the RP and the region as a whole.
-An active, visible Culture Ministry is essential to our regional identity and promoting activity. The Ministry as a whole is a sleeping giant, with the power to invigorate the community. It should remain a Ministry, and should be staffed with active, capable people. With public consultation, the Ministry can revive Thaecian culture.
-Overall, New Thaecia Now leans globalist. While our government should of course prioritize the needs and desires of Thaecians, we've come a long way since our scrappy youth. Cooperation with other regions on events such as Paradoxical, joint military operations, and even the World Assembly all enhance Thaecia's reputation on nationstates. Furthermore, it provides opportunities for Thaecians to get involved in the region and the game as a whole, convincing them to remain active.
-We wholeheartedly support the Thaempirial Army. It's popular, a lot of fun for the people involved, and sets Thaecia apart from other UCRs in terms of recruitment. Past incidents are nothing more than growing pains in a new part of Thaecia, and will improve as time goes on. New Thaecia Now believes the Thaempirial Army should remain independent, however, and it should not conduct operations during elections.
-While the WA-wide recruitment telegrams had an undeniably positive effect on our growth as a region, future "tg nukes" could decimate our foreign relations. However, there is an alternative. Manual recruitment is very promising, and easy for all citizens to do with a few simple instructions and a format to copy. New Thaecia Now will encourage all Thaecians to manually recruit, and supports it as an alternative to more damaging methods.
-Our judicial branch is in need of some drastic reform. We need active, capable justices who understand our constitution and legal code to replace those retiring.
-The court procedures were created with the best of intentions, but they need a serious rework to fix redundancies and make it an easier read. Furthermore, at least parts of the procedures should have some basis in actual law (such as the legal definitions/limits of pleas and some guide for punishments). Once in congress, NTN intends to pass a law containing this in addition to broad definitions of civil and criminal suits, designed to operate alongside the new legal code currently making its way through the legislature.
-Furthermore, the next court should undo several unwritten precedents that slow the branch and hurt the region. These include: only proceeding with one case at a time (even if that one case is moving far too slowly), rejecting cases based on authority to file (which will jointly be addressed in the above bill), not moving on cases based on a vacancy in the court (should the case be urgent, it needs to be addressed, even if the Court only stands at two justices).
-Lastly, a constitutional amendment setting a six-month term limit for justices could ensure that their performance is held to a high standard by the legislature. At the end of a Justice's term, they should have to face reconfirmation, allowing the legislature to hold them accountable without using the unwieldy device of impeachment.
-NTN believes that the constitution should include a preamble to state the document's goals, and believes the constitution itself is in need of a drastic overhaul to fix inconsistencies and poorly-thought out procedures.
-All members of New Thaecia Now will be equal partners within the party.
-Once a month, there will be an election for Chairman of the Party. The Chairman shall be the main party organizer, holding primary elections, organizing campaigns, and developing strategy.
-Once a month, there will be an election for Premier of the Party. The Premier is the ideological leader of the party, who is responsible for getting the New Thaecia Now agenda enacted by the region and recruiting new members.
-Any changes to the Party Charter must be approved by two-thirds of members.
However, there are some areas where I deviate from the party. High priorities that I will put front and center as NTN's House Caucus leader and MP are displayed in the next section; the rest of these are to help you get a general profile of me as a candidate.
-I'm pro-military. NTN was founded upon the desire to engage its citizens and draw potential recruits. The Thaempirial Army is a lot of fun for the people involved and raises our profile on the website. While maintaining the balance between operational security and congressional oversight is tricky, it's an essential part of our democracy and an effort must be made by both TEA and the legislature to be accountable, forthright, and communicative.
-I support an 11-7 congress (11 MPs, 7 Senators). It's critical to making our elections more competitive, and while I have some misgiving about trying to force through a congressional reduction right before an election, it's still sorely needed. I say 11-7 to preserve the differences between the chambers (my inner bicameralist shining through I guess).
-I support all the things that everyone else supports, but while others might stretch this out into half their manifesto I'll keep it brief. Rule of law, equality, liberty, etc. I mean seriously, who doesn't support this stuff?
-Pass the Yogurt Viscosity Act. It's time our yogurt received proper regulation and oversight; I don't want my yogurt to have the consistency of either soup or cheese. It's time to give this region the yogurt it deserves!
-Work with the High Court to fix our judiciary and legal code. I wholeheartedly support Senator Brototh's proposed revision of the legal code. Furthermore, recent events have shown our judiciary is in need of a drastic overhaul. While much of this needs to be accomplished within the High Court (like ending precedents that prevent the justices from hearing cases), there's work the legislature needs to do as well. The Court Procedures need a revamp, and sections of them should be encoded into law, such as the definitions of pleas and a guide to sentencing.
-Support the Culture Ministry in any way I can. While Antenion is doing a great job as CM, I firmly believe that the Culture Ministry is a sleeping giant in terms of regional activity, participation, and fun. Any way I can help from the House, I will do so. Regional media, contests, games, and other things all create a stronger sense of community within the region.
-Be as transparent as possible. "But Rhyssua!" I'm sure you're saying. "The government is already transparent!"
Well yes. However, for every bill that comes to the table, I'll publish my opinions on not only the HoC/Senate rmb, but also the discord and regional rmb. This would encourage discussion amongst ordinary citizens, and help people know what we're up to in the House/Senate.
-Be a capable, active, and productive legislator!
