Still getting used to the region, but I had already posted in the election area my interpretation of the constitutional issue. IN short, since the new constitution is now in effect with no sunset provision for the old legislature (like these changes will take effect in the next regional election after the constitution is ratified by the people), the new legislature is now in effect. This means 5 with one of them being the Lt. Gov.
Hope you do not mind the interuption, but I find the issue very interesting and wanted to let people know what I thought.
It was a mistake that we didn't include a provision that would have solved this conflict, but basically this is the way we're interpreting it: the new Constitution applies, but the part of it that reduces the number of seats in the legislature will have to come into effect when the next election comes around. If we only put up five seats in the last election, that would have been in violation of the older Constitution which had been in effect at that time. If you disagree, however, you are free to take this issue to the courts.
You are right that only putting up 5 seats would have been wrong. My point is that once the constitution was ratified, the legislature was changed and the two seats were dissolved. Not trying to pick an argument, I just was catching up on the region that I joined, saw the discussion and thought I would let you know what I thought. More than anything else, it is A very interesting legal dilemma.
