NationStates Jolt Archive

Fellow Nation States players,

Despite my recent self removal from the N.S.U.N I feel it important that a dialogue be raised on this issue I present to you today.

It has come to my attention that repeal power has been granted to the N.S.U.N. which may be used to evoke the removal of any legislation on the books. It acts in a similar fashion to passing a resolution by which a repeal act may be passed to target a specific past passed N.S.U.N document of law.

* Please see the news page for further information.

With the recent action of organised voting blocs and the general apathy to the rule of past international law I think it critical that the N.S.U.N. be aware of the present danger. With repeal actions already being played out on this forum, the N.S.U.N. finds itself on a ledge with the expanse of a golden age of responsive democracy before it, but the chasm of its darkest hour still waits beneath.

I urge you all to educate your-selves in this matter, and think before you jump. Your actions will champion the direction the N.S.U.N will take.

I grant the floor to the next speaker of the house.

As of this morning, NationStates now has the ability to repeal passed resolutions.

Please see the "News" page: http://www.nationstates.net/news/

I leapt before I looked, and now there are twin proposals in the approval queue to remove the obviously useless Axis of Evil.

READ the news item.
LOOK at the List proposals view
THEN consider your argument for removing proposals.

It's my guess that the UN will screamingly remove virtually all the previously passed resolutions over the next several months. We'll end up with a lawless body that votes out each newly passed resolution almost immediately.

The old Chinese curse, 'May you live in interesting times', has been cast upon us. It's about to get interesting.

The ACA are already in discussion and, well, we're worried. I'll post more when I know the full ramifications of this ruling.

Varia Yefremova
Speaker to the UN

EDIT: OK, so repeals have the reverse effect on your nation (irrespective of whther or not it was around at the time), albeit milder. What are the odds that the moaning conservatives come flooding back to undo all the work that so offended them?

The ACA are already in discussion and, well, we're worried. I'll post more when I know the full ramifications of this ruling.


My government is convinced that this change in UN policy only requires that our arguments and resolutions be based on sound principles. That said, it would be most helpful if the debates associated with all resolutions could be indexed and easily available to any UN Delegate when weighing if he / she should consider repealing a proposal.

I'll point out that the UNA has voting ratios listed with the outcomes of most UN resolutions and might be useful for members wishing to repeal or fight against a repeal.

My government is convinced that this change in UN policy only requires that our arguments and resolutions be based on sound principles.
My government is convinced that anyone stating, "i don lik this prupsl so vot aginst it" will probably get quorum in this modern Goonish UN.

Set up a Blue Ribbon Commission. Form a Committee. It's not going to matter. The dismantlement of the UN begins today.

Oh, shit. This is an opportunity to do so many great things, and like all such occasions, it is also an opportunity to do so many horrible things. We can only hope that it is the former opportunity which will be taken, not the latter.

Oh, shit. This is an opportunity to do so many great things, and like all such occasions, it is also an opportunity to do so many horrible things. We can only hope that it is the former opportunity which will be taken, not the latter.

Indeed. It will probably be several weeks before the consequences of this become clear; until that time, we must restress the importance of vigilance alongside the sound principles that Mikitivity highlighted.

We note with some alarm that already, around two hours after repeals went live, there are currently three proposals to repeal Fight The Axis of Evil - one of which comes from the esteemed Frisbeeteria, and one from a Goontopian nation. This will, we suspect, be the first of many such.

My reaction: I feel that the resolutions that passed with any considerable margin are safe for the time being as they'll surely have ample supporters still in the UN. However if, as has been suggested, the UN soon becomes saturated with repeal-crazed nations who don't like the previous resolutions, the short term life of narrowly passed resolutions looks bleak. And perhaps, in the long term, even the most well supported resolution could come down.

It seems, now more than ever, it is the UN Delegate position which holds the most power. Even if there are enough UN members supporting a repeal, if the delegateship decides that the repeal is not worthy of consideration the resolution is saved. This troubles me, since we've been having so many troubles with delegateship recently. This new ability to repeal seems as if it will only magnify these problems and exaggerate the weaknesses of the UN's delegate corps.

It will be interesting to see how this turns out. Maybe not pleasant, but interesting.

there are currently three proposals to repeal Fight The Axis of Evil - one of which comes from the esteemed Frisbeeteria,
Uhh, yeah ... [embarrassed shrug]

I've opened a topic in moderation asking that the duplicates (including mine) be removed. Based on an IRC conversation last night with Melkor and Karma, I think we're only likely to see UN queue moderation from Cogitation, The Most Glorious Hack, and GMC Military Arms. Most of the rest don't have time or interest in the UN, though this new ruling may change that focus temporarily.

I personally wish to see any and all environmental ones repealed, as well as that dumb DVD region one.

:eek: Woah. We're just going to have to be ready to collaborate on big TG campaigns against repeals of good resolutions.

What's the stance on amendments? Because if they're submitted as repeals, the stats will be a complete reverse, even if this is incongruous with the aims of the amendment.

Thank goodness I resigned. May God have mercy on your souls N.S.U.N. members. :p

:eek: Woah. We're just going to have to be ready to collaborate on big TG campaigns against repeals of good resolutions.

What's the stance on amendments? Because if they're submitted as repeals, the stats will be a complete reverse, even if this is incongruous with the aims of the amendment.
That's under discussion. At the moment, it looks like amendments, per se, are not going to be implemented, so it's likely that any amendment will have to be done in two steps: repeal the old resolution and then pass the new resolution. However, my response here is unofficial as I'm still discussing this with the Admins and other Mods.

--The Democratic States of Cogitation

Damn. So if I wanted to replace the euthanasia resolution with something which cleaned up the loopholes, repealed the obligation for governments to allow relatives to "pull the plug", but retained the UN-mandated right of adults to make their own decisions on death, I would probably have to fully repeal the original, then submit a new proposal re-implementing parts (in a neater way).

My government has directed me to make the following statement:

The Supremely Democratic states of Hirota are disappointed by this move to permit repeals. Whilst we recognise the immense potential improvement, but also the immense damage this could inflict on the UN. It all depends on the UN memberstates, and quite frankly, I'm inclined to consider the negatives outweight the benefits.

We have representitives who can barely tie their shoelaces together, who probably don't even know how to vote No to a proposal. We have regional delegates approving anything that comes in front of them. We have petty delegates having as much influence in the proposal stage as any of the largest regional delegates.

If repeals are to be permitted fine, but lets seperate the wheat from the chaff. Cut the influence of the small regions, get member states reading the arguements presented here. Get dialogue and discussion flowing.

There are other problems that need to be sorted before the ability to repeal was introduced....and Hirota stands on the brink of walking away from this body in protest.

We will monitor events closely.

If a repeal-fest starts, you bet I'm outta here. This is besides the fact that I support the vast majority of the passed resolutions.

The following is a memo to all UN member nations.

Fellow UN Members and Delegates,

Firstly; please forgive my lack of attendence to this important session. I regret that recent business of State has my attention and presence occupied elsewhere.

Secondly; while I understand that the recent decision to allow resolution repeals is one of portent misgivings, we must remember its significance to a great victory as well.

The PEWF, as a UN member, and as regional delegate of the NSSRC, feels that now is the time to solidify political alliances and develop stronger voting alliances to ensure that key legislation of the UN does not become undone. Many can agree that some resolutions currently guiding our governing body are ill-worded, of little significance, and/or a pure intrusion on the sovereign law that we all hold dear. The PEWF therefore seeks political alliance with other UN members of similar mind, to oversee the safety of critical legislation as well as the necessary removal of other.

All interested UN delegates are urged to respond with quickness through telegram or messenger.

Thank You for your time and attention to the communication.

Sincerely,

Kestral Lei
--President, PEWF
--Founder, NSSRC

The Rogue Nation of Flibbleites was both eagerly anticipating and dreading it ever since we first heard that [violet] was coding repeals into the UN. We could hardly wait because of several resolutions that we disagreed with, and dreading it because of we were afraid that people would try to repeal resolutions like crazy (and it turns out we were right).

If a repeal-fest starts, you bet I'm outta here. This is besides the fact that I support the vast majority of the passed resolutions.

Sometime this morning the proposal queue went from being 20 pages long to around 15. While there most certainly were a ton of duplicate repeal motions at one time ... they seem to have largely disappeared. It is as if the Gods just simply reached down and pushed the duplicates away.

I personally would hope that you'll stay and put your faith in the hands of these mysterious Gods. ;)

Ignore my proposal to repeal resolution #1. Sorry.

If a repeal-fest starts, you bet I'm outta here. This is besides the fact that I support the vast majority of the passed resolutions.

Yes, as Mikitivity encouraged, it's probably best fro everyone involved that you staying the UN.

Certainly there will be a large number of repeals proposed early on. Many have had a grudge against many of the existing resolutions and have been closet-vetoing them in their own countries. I believe however that if A) the UN general assembly remains firm to beliefs and B) that the regional delegate problems are worked out, so as to combat the domination currently in place, there will be a good outcome.

The most sustainable and supported of the resolutions will remain. After the first few are repealed, there will be a drastic slowing in repeals assuredly. Since this UN members often have a fairly short attention span, there is little possibility that the strongly supported (or, for that matter, even the more modestly supported) resolutions will fall. I predict that people will grow tired of finding enough delegate support for, and, subsequently, receiving enough general assembly support, to continue repeals too far beyond the "Fight the Axis of Evil".

Sometime this morning the proposal queue went from being 20 pages long to around 15
And now it's back up to 21, if only people would look at the list before submitting a repeal attempt.

Stephanie moved towards the podium.

"Fellow representatives, thank you for agreeing to hear me today.
"I am here to announce that the Conselin of Enn is at an impasse. For the first time in our history, we are beginning to doubt that the United Nations can be of use to us, in its current form. Many of you may ask why this is, as Enn has always been a stalwart supporter of the UN, to the point of successfully passing a resolution.
"Our problem is the recent announcement that repeals have been allowed. Whilst we understand that this could be used to remove certain objectionable resolutions, we also suspect that all that we have worked for for so long here will be torn apart and destroyed.
"For now, the Conseilin of Enn shall remain a member of this organisation, but that stance may change quickly.
"Thank you for your time."