Sanctus – The Joint Committee on Devolution and Governmental Affairs yesterday, Friday, had their first real chance to review in great detail the highly controversial – at least in the halls of Parliament – “Great Devolution Bill”. Though many pieces of the bill were fed piecemeal to the press by the Government over the past number of weeks, members from all sides of the debate took great glee in questioning Devolution Secretary Ben Jackson on the finer points of the bill for over 10 hours. As a result of those questions, and the answers provided, we’re in a much clearer position on what the government’s plan, and schedule, looks like.
Firstly, the Government is expecting the bill will pass through the Joint Committee by the end of June, just before Parliament rises for the summer. When it returns in September, it’s expected that the House of Deputies will take a week to review, the Senate will take a week to review, and then it’ll be back to the Joint Committee to iron out any differences between the two houses. The Government is tentatively scheduling final votes in the Committee for the first week of October, with the House of Deputies taking a final vote that week also, and the Senate the next week. They intend for the President to sign the bill into law by the end of the second week of October, with a constitutional referendum giving effect to all changes proposed scheduled for the first week of December. If the referendum is passed, which the opinion polls suggest it will comfortably, changes will take effect between 2019 until 2023 when at the next general election, full federalisation will be in effect.
It was revealed that the cities of Sanctus, Corpus, and Haven, which will become three of the six states, will be fully federalised by 2020; the reason given for this was that the cities already have a very high degree of autonomy and devolution, and that a process of moving them to full federal states will involve a singular piece of legislation from the government transferred the powers currently not devolved but intended to be under the federal system. The cities already have Mayors who act as chief executive officers for the cities, with enlarged city councils. The existing city councils are already responsible for much of what is intended to be federalised, and the Joint Committee today acknowledged no significant delay or problems are expected in the 3 city-states becoming officially and legally established.
Concerns were raised over the other 3 states – Aquitanium, Glorionis, and Novum Aeternum – specifically over laws having to be established and passed and put into effect – if full federalisation occurred overnight then “there’d effectively be no laws in those states”, according to a number of SCP and CUP members on the Committee. Secretary Jackson confirmed the government had thought of this and it was planned that there’d be a sunset provision in the Sanctarian Constitution until 2023, allowing the Sanctarian Parliament to pass laws on a federal state’s behalf, and should there be no legislation on a federalised matter in a particular state, then federal law would fill the gap. Jackson said with state elections envision at the same time as the Senate elections in 2020, it’d give the new states 3 years to fill the gaps. He also confirmed that, before the 2020 state elections, the Parliament would pass a standard state constitution for each state to give them a basis of fundamental laws for each state. Each state would then be free to amend their constitution to fit their own needs. Secretary Jackson further confirmed that, as with most federal republics, the federal Sanctarian Constitution would reign supreme.
As part of the discussion into basic democracy and laws for the states, mentioned above, Jackson confirmed that if the referendum is passed, that gubernatorial elections and state house and senate elections would take place in 2020 for the three states of Aquitanium, Glorionis, and Novum Aeternum – the city-states already have their own scheduled elections, and city charters. He said each state constitution would provide for a Governor, a State House, and a State Senate. Once these organs of government are in place, the states will be free to amend their constitutions to however they wish.
He further confirmed that the city-states would not have to change their function of governance significantly – he said the Mayor would remain in charge as both head of the State and head of the government, and that instead of a State House and a State Senate, their city councils would remain in place. He said the federal government would work with them throughout 2019 to ensure any changes necessary to their respective city charters would be made in time.
Jackson yesterday also confirmed that the Sanctarian Court Service would be changed, though not particularly significantly. The Supreme Court of Sanctaria would remain as the nation’s highest court, and all Justices thereon would remain in situ. He said that the proposed state constitutions would establish High Courts for each of the States, and existing Justices on the equivalent national courts would be redeployed, and those courts disestablished in favour of the state ones. “We currently have 16 judges on the Court of Appeals. This Court of Appeals would be disestablished, and the judges redeployed to the 6 new State High Courts. We don’t envision Circuit or District Courts to change, though where they cross newly drawn state jurisdictions, the Sanctarian Parliament will make the final decision”, Jackson relayed from a memo written by Secretary for Justice Eric Hill.
Also confirmed today was the redeployment of civil servants along similar lines. The proposed splitting up of the Sanctarian Police Force will continue along the lines set forward in depth a number of weeks ago – Jackson yesterday said that the cities would have their own police forces by July 2019, with Sanctarian Police Force officers currently stationed in the cities being transferred to the new forces, their salaries and pensions being grandfathered in. He said he understood the Mayors of the three cities were already in preliminary stages of recruitment for heads of their respective new police forces.
Revealed today also was further Senate reform. The Senate would be cut from 100 members to 40; each of the six states would elect, in state-wide constituencies – non-negotiable, Jackson said, and this would be in the federal constitution – 6 Senators each. The remaining 4 Senators will be elected by Sanctarian citizens living abroad, the first time Sanctarians abroad will be able to vote in elections in the country, and be entitled to representation. As to the House of Deputies, Jackson today confirmed it’d be cut in half to about 400 and that the Federal Constitution will specify that the Nation Census will dictate how many Deputies each State will send to Parliament; he did, confirm, however that once the Census sets the representation, the States would be free to determine districting etc. He said he anticipated the new Senate would come into effect after the 2020 Senate elections, and the House of Deputies after the 2023 election.
In terms of an overall schedule for how federalisation will go, Secretary Jackson said the following was the Government’s timeline, post-referendum passage:
The Divine Republic of Sanctaria will change its name to the Divine Federation of Sanctaria.
The Parliament of Sanctaria will change its name to the Federal Parliament of Sanctaria; the House of Deputies will remain the same, while the Senate will also not changed, but will be given the secondary name of the Federal Senate.
The title of Prime Minister of Sanctaria will be changed to the Federal Chancellor of Sanctaria. It’s expected this will be referred to colloquially as the Chancellor.
July 2019 – Sanctarian Police Force officially split up into 7 – 6 separate police forces for each state, and the remainder becoming the Sanctarian Federal Police. Functions transferred to each state – the Department of Justice will regulate the police forces of the 3 non-city states until after their state elections in 2020.
January 2020 – Sanctus, Corpus, and Haven become full federalised states of Sanctaria.
February 2020 – State Elections will take place in Aquitanium, Glorionis, and Novum Aeternum.
July 2020 – Sanctarian Court Service officially split up amongst the States.
July 2020 – February 2023 – Federal Parliament of Sanctaria will continue to assist the new non-city states come into establishment through legislative safety nets and federal oversight and control of services not yet properly established.
March 2023 – Once the House of Deputies elections conclude, Sanctaria will be a fully federalised country. Redundant federal departments will be disestablished as their functions will have been transferred to the States.
Outside of this timetable, Jackson said the Parliament would be passing laws and transferring laws “as and when it’s appropriate”; until January 2020 for the 3 city states, and until then plus thereafter until 2023 for the others.
Further changes to include the President of Sanctaria getting a full veto over laws passed by the Federal Parliament, excluding money bills and those passed by constitutional referendum. The President would also be given more expansive pardon powers, including over state crimes, not just federal ones.
Jackson said yesterday that he fully comprehends this will be the biggest overhaul in Sanctarian history since independence in 1974, but that for Sanctaria to continue to expand as a power, it was necessary. The opinion polls agree with him, with 68% of respondents saying they supported the idea, 20% saying they opposed it, and 12% saying they had no opinion.
JOEY SESSIONS, Political Editor
