Luthori

[Ligbruderkrieg]

Government's "Representation of the People Act" dead in Committee

June 5616 (backdated)

Fort William, Luthori - It would seem that after weeks of negotiations, that the Prime Minister and First Secretary of State's first version of the "Representation of the People Act, 5617" has been declared dead in Committee, as the Committee on Constitutional Revisions rejected the Government's proposals over the modification of the size of the Luthorian Diet. This Bill had for objective to speerhead an effort to reduce the number of seats from 529 currently down to 300.

This plan was sharply criticised by Labour MPs in both the Diet and the Committee, who attacked the Government on this infringement of the people's right at a "proper and decent" representation at the elected national legislature.

Prime Minister MacGregor stated that he was "dissappointed" with the results of the Committee hearing, stating that the Parliament "had also infringed on the rights of Luthorians by refused to even send this Bill to be studied and voted upon for a first reading at the Diet". He also stated that the Government "would do whatever is in our powers and capabilities" to pass a Bill reducing the size of the Imperial Diet, even proposing a "watered-down proposal" where the lower house's seat number would only be reduced to 400 max.

First Secretary of State Cromwell vowed that "the fight for a smaller government isn't over, we are going to come up with a better Bill that will be approved by Parliament". Mr. Cromwell's Liberal Party had been one of the main proponent of reforming the size of the House and changing Luthori's electoral system, with preference being the implementation of a proportional system when allocating seats to political parties after an election, even though, for this term, the Conservatives, the Liberals' coalition partners, refused to even consider the possibility of the latter.

The Bill in question was about, as stated earlier, the reduction of seats in the lower house, this Act proposed that, before the next general election, the total numbers of seats set to be elected by direct constituency vote was to be 150, while the numbers elected by party-list proportional representation at the regional level was to be 150. According to the Bill, this arrangement could have reduced the "unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles" (Home Secretary) and provide with a more stable, more cohesive and less divided Parliament in the future.

For the Liberals, the Bill didn't meet their requirement for a "discussion" about the electoral system, which was unacceptable to the Tories (as, again, said earlier), but also to Labour, who greatly benefits from this type of suffrage. Liberal MD, Peter Carlson stated to the LBC that: "...it's impossible, for my part, to consider such a Bill which much ramifications for our democracy, without discussing of the electoral system with all lawmakers in both the lower and upper house..".

Leader of the Diet, Sarah Campbell MD repeated this afternoon at Channel 4 that the "Government's position on electoral reform is that the current system of a mixed-member proportional system is fine and will not be subject to any changes", in response, First Secretary Cromwell stated during a Liberal MPs gathering at Darlington that while "the idea of electoral reform now is dead, there is a genuine opportunity towards making some changes to this nation, such as by removing the last imperial vestiges off Parliament, increasing the people's voice in our democracy and, again, and I've spoke with the Prime Minister, reduce the size of the Fort William bureaucracy by slimming Parliament's size."

While saying that, he also reiterated the Liberal position of "no less than 350 seats in the Diet", since, even less MPs in the Diet would create an issue with the people's representation in the Diet. Today, one MP elected in a single-runner district is, on average, the representative of 347.943 people, with 259 MPs in the Diet coming from this electoral system, with the reduction of seats to approximatly 147 seats (if the electoral system remains as it is), one MP would represent, over 613.043 people, while less than the double of constituents, it would pose a very threat to the representation of the people in the lower chamber, and by that, it could boil down to social unrest, economic downturn among other things.

The Government is likely going to introduce in the next few days, alongside the first version of the Budget, a slimmed down version of the Representation of the People Act, with less seats being slimmed down and a "dialogue" being engaged on the very difficult subject of electoral reform, at least according to statements coming from the First Secretary of State and the Leader of the Senate. The Prime Minister, while disappointed with the Government's first Bill being dead in Committee, stated during a Cabinet meeting that the Government's priority wasn't "constitutional reform", but the Budget, which will be announced in some weeks from now during a session in Parliament (likely in September).

In other news, the Foreign Office has stated that they were "in discussions" with Dolgavan embassy staff and government to organise a state visit to Luthori in mid-5620, when the Crown Princess would have become Queen of Dolgava, although a sooner state visit "wasn't excluded".

This marks the Government's first failure to pass through a Bill in Parliament, and this is something that should be very intriguing as traditionally, the Government succeeds in passing legislation with relative ease this early in the term.

@TheTimes