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Greetings eUK, time for my first proper update as the Speaker.

Today I’d just like to give you all a quick (okay, it was supposed to be quick, but ended up as 900 words) update on what Congress has been up to, and give some more detail to both Congresmen and the eUK as whole, as regards what I’ve got planned for this month.

The two group PM messages were set up on Sunday(There are still a few Friend requests of mine that haven't been accepted, they will be added in once I have them all accepted), and so far we’ve been having a chat about different ways that Congress could use to talk to each other, which is the most basic thing Congress has to do. So far, the general consensus is that the PM system and IRC have a role to play in Congress, though neither should form the backbone of Congressional discussion; people generally agree that a forum should be used for debates which don’t require quick action.

The main area of debate has been whether Congress should use a Reddit forum (as suggested by Goku Jones recently) or start using the traditional forums, which have seen a dwindling amount of activity lately. The current eUK Forums have been vocally supported by CottonPicken and Lord Farhan in Congress.



As I mentioned in my last article, one idea which I’m bringing in straightaway are Congress meetings on IRC, which in my opinion can only enhance the quality of debate inside Congress, as it takes place in real time- this could also have benefit when the CP needs Congress’s approval quickly on an issue.
The first Congress Meeting will take place on TUESDAY at 8pm on #eukhoc, and will carry on until we cover all the issues.

These meetings will be at least twice-weekly, with the next one on Sunday evening, at the earlier time of 7pm. The idea behind having two (or even three in the future) meetings a week is so that if a Congressmen can’t make one of the days, they still have a chance to take part. They are not mandatory of course, but I would hope and expect that you could attend at least one a week.
At Wednesday’s meeting we will be debating which method of Forums to use, and there will be set points to discuss Foreign Policy, Defence, Finance and Home Affairs issues, should any Congressmen have any questions to ask or points to raise in these areas.



Following this meeting, I will summarise all of the different points made on the Forum debate to present the two sides of the argument, plus details of what else was discussed, into an article which I will publish on Thursday; this will give the Community a chance to air their views on the issues. This type of article will come out after every Congress meeting, to show the public what Congress have been talking about.

With regards to the question of which forums to use, I will be messaging the PPs of the top 8 parties to ask for their opinions, as they are the people that decides who gets into Congress so I think it’s important we know their views.
Once this consultation process is complete, I will present a proposal for a new system of communication to Congress, and then we will vote on it. If it is defeated, we will amend it so that it passes.

This may seem like quite an overly complicated chain just for deciding how Congress should talk to each other, but it is vital we get a consensus on this, because having a section of Congress boycott it because they are unhappy is not going to make an effective Congress. As well as this, I want to try out this procedure for presenting proposals to Congress before we start debating the second and third of the three problems I want to solve this month, which could prove to be much a more complex.



Now, I realise that legislation has been a bit of a dirty word in the eUK in my time playing, and there seems to be a lot of animosity towards it from certain sections of our community, I guess there is a fear that it simply makes ‘rules for rules sake’ and I can understand this.

However, I think that having a limited amount of legislation governing how Congress works will help Congress in the long run. The position of Speaker itself was created by legislation, and I think we can agree that without the Speaker Act, Congress would be a bit of a mess.

I just want to say that it is my intention to re-introduce the idea of legislation this month, but not legislation that contradicts Game mechanics (such as on immigration), but instead Legislation which supports the game mechanics, and allows Congress to make best use of the power that the game gives it.
There will be a separate article in a week or so where I will spell out exactly what I’m talking about, because I realise I could ramble a bit here.



Right, I do apologise if I’ve bored you to death with some of this, I realise that ‘Congressional Reform’ isn’t the most exciting of topics and I’m not the most exciting of writers but there you go.


Tl😉r

-Congress meetings on IRC are a thing now, the first one is on Wednesday at 8pm

- We’ve been talking about which forum system to use for Congress debates, in conjunction with IRC and the PMs.

- I want to have some kind of legislation this month in connection with the second and third problems with Congress I want to solve this month. This will hopefully help organise Congress and make it effective. It will not contradict game mechanics, but will support them.

Cheers for reading,

Adrastos
Speaker