Legatus Equus

[center][img]http://i1064.photobucket.com/albums/u367/Lanore2012/Everwhite-1.png[/img] [size="6"]A Declaration of Existence from the Everfree Union[/size] Good evening, Bob! It brings me great pleasure to announce to you the formation of the Everfree Union, a democratic white team alliance. We seek to cultivate a fun and friendly atmosphere where all feel truly valued and welcomed! It's been a long road to get things set up, and we're indebted to the many people who helped us along the way. They know who they are, and to them we say thanks! We look forward to working with all of Bob and making some good friends along the way. Without further ado, let's keep calm and canter on! Our Gov Lineup: LegatusEquus, Consul chachonimrod, Wrangler of Smelly Foreigners Zephyr_Lite, Minister of Morale LeninRoxSox, Minister of Awesome Ignis, Minister of Financial Outreach (MoFo) Our constitution: [spoiler] Constitution of the Everfree Union Preamble The Everfree Union is a white team alliance based around friendship, tolerance, and the rule of law. It is a democratic alliance that strives to provide a security, support, and just governance to its member nations, while still maintaining a fun and positive community. With these goals in mind, this constitution is hereby enacted to serve as the supreme law of the Everfree Union. Article I: The Council (i)The government of the Everfree Union shall consist of one (1) Consul and four (4) Ministers, who shall collectively be known as the Council. (ii)The Consul shall be responsible for the facilitation of votes on all matters which are brought before the Council, although any member of the Council may propose a vote be conducted. (iii)All matters brought before the Council will be decided via a 24-hour voting period, in which all members of the Council are entitled to one vote, and which may be concluded earlier should a consensus be reached before the 24 hour period has elapsed. In the event of a tie, the Consul’s vote shall serve as a tiebreaker. Should the Consul be absent and a tie occur, the designated Praetor may make a tiebreaking vote. (iv)All matters brought before the Council shall be considered approved should they garner a simple majority of yes votes. Majorities will be calculated based on the number of votes cast. Article II: The General Assembly (i)All official members of the Everfree Union shall be considered members of the General Assembly. (ii)The responsibilities of the General Assembly shall include, but are not limited to, electing Ministers and Consuls, approval of treaties, votes to recall any elected official, declarations of war and peace, and approval of Constitutional Amendments. (iii)All members of the General Assembly are entitled to one (1) vote on all matters brought before the General Assembly. Any member found to have attempted to vote more than once by any means shall be subject to stiff penalties up to and including expulsion from the alliance. (iv)Votes on issues not listed in Article III or IV shall be conducted in the following manner: Any member of the General Assembly may propose a matter to be brought before the General Assembly. It must be seconded by another member of the General Assembly within forty-eight (48) hours. After being seconded, the matter must be debated and discussed in a manner that all members of the General Assembly may see and participate in for seventy-two (72) hours. After the debate, the matter shall be open to voting for a time period set by the Consul which shall be no greater than seven (7) days, and no less than twenty-four (24) hours. Should a simple majority approve the matter after the voting period has ended, the matter shall be considered to have passed. In the event of a tie, the Consul may cast a tie-breaking vote. (v)For the purposes of all votes in which the General Assembly is involved, majorities shall be calculated based on the number of votes cast. Article III: Special Votes (i)A Special Vote is a matter brought before the general membership which follows different guidelines than the process stated in Article II(d). The Special Votes include: Constitutional Amendments, Measures to Grant the Council Extraordinary Powers, and measures to disband the alliance. (ii)Constitutional Amendments: Constitutional Amendments follow the same process as normal votes, however, the Consul may extend the debate period by a period of time up to seven (7) days, and in order to pass, a Constitutional Amendment must receive two-thirds plus one yes votes from the General Assembly, with the Consul’s vote deciding ties. (iii)Measures to Grant the Council Extraordinary Powers: In times of war or emergency, the General Assembly may grant the Council extraordinary powers. If granted extraordinary powers, the Council gains the ability to declare war, approve and cancel treaties, and to forbid members from posting in certain threads on the Cyber Nations forums, using the decision-making process described in Article I. A Council with extraordinary powers may not, however, approve any peace agreement to end a war. Peace agreements must be approved by the General Assembly following standard voting rules. Any member may propose to grant the Council extraordinary powers for a period not to exceed thirty (30) days. If seconded by another member, the measure will immediately be put up for a twenty-four (24) hour vote. A simple majority vote, with the Consul’s vote breaking ties, is necessary to pass the measure. (iv)Measures to Disband the Alliance: Any member of the Council may propose to disband the alliance, or merge it into another. Should the Council unanimously approve the disbandment or merger, the measure will then be brought before the General Assembly. Should the General Assembly approve the measure by a three fourths plus one majority, the disbandment/merger shall be considered approved. Article IV: Elections (i)Elections for the Consul and all Minister positions will occur beginning on the first Monday of every March, June, September, and December. (ii)Any member of the General Assembly may run for any office. However, candidates may not run for election to more than one office at a time. (iii) The election process will be divided into three phases. In the first, which shall last forty-eight (48) hours, members will announce their intent to run for a specific office. The prospective candidate must then be seconded by another member in order to become an official candidate. In the second phase, which shall last seventy-two (72) hours, candidates who have received a second from another member during the previous phase may post their campaign platform and participate in debates with other prospective candidates in a public area viewable by the entire General Assembly. In the third phase, which shall last forty-eight (48) hours, the General Assembly shall conduct votes for all currently contested offices. The winning candidate shall be the one who accumulates the most votes at the end of the voting period. (iv)In the event of a tie, the incumbent of the position being contested shall choose the winner. Should the incumbent be unable to perform this duty for whatever reason, the current consul shall select the winner instead. (v)Should only one candidate arise for any given office, a vote of approval shall be held for the candidate during the same time period that the other offices are being voted upon.Should the candidate receive a simple majority of yes votes, with the Consul’s vote breaking ties, the candidate shall assume office. If the candidate fails to achieve a majority of yes votes, the Council may appoint a member to the office in question with a simple majority vote, with the Consul’s vote breaking ties. (vi)Should no candidate arise for any given office, the Council may appoint a member to the office in question by a simple majority vote, with the Consul’s vote breaking ties. Article V: The Consul (i)The Consul shall be the executive of the Everfree Union. The Consul shall serve as the primary public representative, and shall be responsible for facilitating all votes and election processes. The Consul shall be elected via the method described in Article IV. (ii)The Consul may designate a Praetor, who may act in place of the Consul should the Consul be unable to perform their duties for a period of time exceeding seventy-two (72) hours. Should the Praetor be another member of the Council, they may still only vote once in all Council matters in the Consul’s absence, although they will retain the Consul’s tiebreaking vote. (iii)The Consul is responsible for setting the time frame in which all votes may occur, within the previously stated constraints of the charter. Article VI: The Ministers (i)Ministers serve as the overseers of their ministries, which handle various aspects of the day-to-day business of the Everfree Union. Ministers shall be elected via the process described in Article IV. (ii)Should a minister step out of office voluntarily, the minister may choose their own successor. However, this clause may be rendered null and void should the minister be removed from office due to negligence, gross incompetence, sedition, treason, or a recall vote. In such cases of removal a new minister shall be elected by the Council. (iii)Ministers have the power to appoint other members to aid them in their ministry, and to set departmental policies pertaining to their specific area of interest. (iv)The Minister of Finance will oversee the financial aspects of the alliance, including distribution of aid, tech dealing, and trade rings. (v)The Wrangler of Smelly Foreigners will oversee relations with external alliances, both by ensuring foreign diplomats are able to keep in contact with the Everfree Union, and by assigning diplomats on missions to foreign alliances. (vi)The Minister of Morale will oversee projects related to the growth and welfare of member states, including, but not limited to, education, recruiting, and conducting nation audits. (vii)The Minister of Awesome will handle the military aspect of the Everfree Union. They will be responsible for ensuring the member states of the Everfree Union are prepared to defend themselves and their alliance against any threat, and will organize and lead the Everfree Union’s military efforts during times of war. Article VII: Discipline (i)Should a member be found to be in violation of any part of this constitution, or any other official rules or regulations set forth by the Everfree Union to govern its membership, the Council shall have up to 72 hours to convene and decide on an appropriate punishment, up to and including permanent ZI, to be decided via a simple majority vote. Article VIII: Member Rights And Responsibilities (i)Members have a right to freedom of speech, both on IRC and alliance related forums. However, members are also expected to maintain a level of respect towards their fellow alliance members, visiting diplomats, and any other users of the specified network. Any criticism of the current Government, or policies enacted by said government are to be kept to private areas not visible to non-members. (ii)Members are not to share any internal alliance affairs (I.e. Pending Declarations of War, pending treaties, upcoming policies, evil plots, etc.) with any non-member of the Everfree Union in any way shape or form. Should a member share any of the aforementioned information, they may be subject to punishment, determined by the Council. (iii)Members are expressly prohibited from committing or planning to commit any and all unauthorized acts of espionage and/or unprovoked acts of aggression against any nation within or protected by another alliance. (iv)Members will abide by, and follow the military chain of command in a timely fashion when required, and quickly and promptly respond to a roll call unless a reason otherwise is presented. (v)Members must make an effort to protect fellow Members from any and all real and theoretical threats, either through armed defense as handled and organized by the Ministry of Awesome or through the rendering of aid in the form of monies and/or soldiers as organized and directed by the Ministry of Finance. (vi)Potential Members who disregard or do not accept the basic rules and laws of the Everfree Union are not to be admitted to the Everfree Union. (vii)Unilateral military action for the sake of raiding is only to be undertaken with express permission from a Ministry of Awesome official after the needed steps have been taken on the forums. (i.e. Identifying target, asking permission) The Everfree Union has no obligation to render assistance to any nation participating in a raid, and reserves the right to denounce any raid undertaken. (viii)Members will not, in any case whatsoever, violate any contracts held by The Everfree Union with any other alliance. Doing so will result in potential expulsion and ZI. (ix)Members retain the right to propose any measure that follows in accordance with the Constitution and will help advance the Everfree Unions goals, to the General Assembly, and then have it be voted upon post-haste. (x)Members may, with the presentation of a valid reason, bring up a vote that a Member be censured for whatever reason, and that as such their IP be recorded and until such a time that the censure is lifted they not be allowed to reapply. (xi)Members are free to leave the Everfree Union at any time, except during wars and times of extreme crisis. Members who leave the Everfree Union will still be expected to fulfill the terms of any agreement entered into while a member of the Everfree Union. Failure to do so may result in penalties up to and including ZI. [/spoiler] Our forums are here: http://s13.zetaboards.com/Everfree_Union/index/ Please also drop by our public IRC channel #Everfree on Coldfront! [/center]

Grats to all award recipients, especially Onikujo!

Congrats to our friends in TPF and GATO! I can definitely support this arrangement.

o/ United Equestria! Here's to many more NS milestones with you all!

UE sends its regards! Congrats GATO!

THIS. IS. EQUESTRIA!!!!!!!!

[img]http://i.imgur.com/cTxXU.jpg[/img] Join United Equestria, and help us take over the world...WITH KINDNESS!

Best of luck to our friends in TPF!

[img]http://img.ponibooru.org/_images/52cafdd96d972774bff82daea90f18c4/39307%20-%20artist%3Agreenwiggly%20military%20twilight_sparkle.jpg[/img] Join United Equestria, and enlist with the Council of Love and Tolerance! Together, we can love and tolerate the s#@$ out of our enemies!

[quote name='cookavich' timestamp='1316315342' post='2802779'] i hope the grand gayla was terrible [/quote] Actually, a great time was had by all! You should stop in next time, we'd love to hang out with you!