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Hey, ahava3233 here. I have no life, so yeah; even though I said I wouldn't pay attention to congressional affairs in this game at least for the month, and even though I'm not speaker or even a congress member, Imma gonna report on what's been happening since the current session started. After all, it's not like I'm not allowed or anything if I'm not a congress member...lol

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Lyuline, the new Speaker

1. Speaker Election (Nomination and Voting)

The speaker election this month ended up being a total mess. The preliminary results showed a tie, 8-8, Lyuline vs. Alfred Ball. Lyuline then changed her vote to herself in order to break the tie. However, then there was some controversy regarding her ability to change her vote. One party argued for an extension to the voting to break the tie, while the other party argued to recognize Lyuline's vote change. Zodiarque then dropped the ball and masked Lyuline as speaker. As I believed I was no longer acting as speaker at the time (given my mask was gone on the forums, even though, by general consensus, it shouldn't have been at the time), I didn't take any action on the matter until a few hours after the controversy started (after I held some conversation with a few individuals on IRC). However, my action became irrelevant when Alfred Ball officially stepped down as a candidate. Lyuline then won by default.

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2. Japanese Newbie Citizen Army (here and here)

There has been discussion regarding creating an official eJapanese "newbie" MU for Division I and/or Division II players. This MU would work sort of like an ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps) to give military guidance and/or additional supplies to these players through the JNF. Sumeragi Akeiko has in particular mentioned she has some good ideas for such a program, but discussions are currently pending until after the presidential election tomorrow.

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3. The Charter, Zodiarque and the Mod Team (Charter Discussion, Charter Vote, Congress Forum Layout Discussions (here and here), Zodiarque/Moderator Discussions)

I missed reporting on this last session, but first and foremost, the Forum Charter was discussed and voted out before the end of my term.



At any rate, since the Charter has been taken out of commission, Zodiarque, the Head of Graphics under Darshu's Administration, has since still been prominently exercising his power as a forum moderator to keep nippon freeforums tidy as he sees fit. Additionally, he seems to have been upgrading the forum as well, adding a portal to the main page and he has given notice in lieu of the shoutbox that was implemented before to go the offiical IRC chatroom to chat with other people in eJapan.

However, some apparently pent up emotions by some parties regarding his conduct as a moderator were taken to the forefront in congress when he, after some minor consultation with Lyuline, the speaker, locked down the congress section in order to break it up into separate Vote and Discussion sections. He has testified that he did this to make the changes without disrupting ongoing communication. Although you can currently see this proposed organization in the congressional archives, the motion to do so on the actual floor has since been put on hold after some complaints were raised by several citizens and congress members. Since, additionally, several individuals have complained about the manner in which Zodiarque has exercised his power on the forum, this has led to some discussion regarding restructuring the moderation team, with or without Zodiarque on board.

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4. Immigration (Here)

Several individuals have expressed their disatisfaction with the current immigration system. With the current system, essentially, the president is given the power to accept or deny immigrants, but in practice, immigrants are accepted by the MoS (Minister of Security) using power entrusted to him/her by the president. Some parties believe that this system is unfair as it does not allow a second opinion on immigration matters. However, a few cabinet members and congress members have defended the current system, stating using additional opinions in a revised system would only complicate the immigration process.

Punishments to hand out to congress members who illegaly accept people into the country were also discussed.

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5. Additional Matters




A. eRepublik of China Treaty Payment and Chugoku Rental (Discussion and Vote)

I missed reporting on this matter. There was a discussion and a vote regarding sending the rest of the treaty payment to eROC (250 gold) earlier than intended. Congress voted yes and this was completed.

Additionally, as is now apparent, Chugoku has been returned to eJapan and our country is now whole. This is the result of a congressional discussion and vote after eROC offered to continue renting out Chugoku or return it to us last session.



B. Kenji Li's Forum Masks (here)

Since Kenji Li came into the country illegaly, there has been discussion regarding his masking on the forum in light of him being elected to congress. The general consensus was found to be to deny him a citizen mask and a congressional mask, giving him only a tourist mask and barring his access to most of the forum, including congress itself.



C. Minimum Prices on the Marketplace (here)

The matter of instituting minimum prices on the marketplace, in particular for weapons (as weapons now seem to be bought at much higher prices now due to the introduction of Rockets) was briefly discussed in order to maximize tax revenue for the government. However, this discussion found itself in committee quickly once it was determined that such a minimum price was essentially impossible to enforce.



D. Alliances (here)

Some concerns about the political implications of certain alliances our country has been making recently were brought to the floor.

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That's all for today folks, stay tuned for a further updates.

Additionally, if you liked this article feel free to vote it up and subscribe to my personal newspaper, Gougai/号外/Extra. Also feel free to leave a comment, thanks!