Southern Regional Government Questions

[Yelnoc]

Hi friends!

I was poking around the Regional Governments sub-board, and it looks to me like the Southern government is fairly inactive. As a newly re-registered Georgia voter, I made this thread to ask a few questions. My apologies if these answers are posted elsewhere!

The stickied "South Vital Civic Information Thread" appears to be out of date, with the last post made in May 2021. Where can I find a list of current southern office holders?

Similarly, it has been over a year and a half since the stickied "Southern Legislation Noticeboard" was updated. Is there a compilation anywhere of the bills debated and passed in the intervening time?

The only other threads pertaining to the South in the sub-board are currently clustered at the bottom of page one. My attention was drawn to the Southern Census Bureau, where user "theflyingmongoose" called the southern government "secessionist clowns." Did the South secede/try to secede again? It has been over a decade since I was last active, so I know I have quite a bit of catching up to do!

If there have been any other happenings in the south that would be of interest, please fill me in!

[Sirius_]

The south currently uses a direct democratic system, so there is no regional legislature in the traditional sense. That's why when looking on the board the southern government seems dead. All the proposed legislation is put to referendum when elections are held. And yes, last spring there was an attempt at southern secession, which did not succeed.

[Sirius_]

The only real regional offices in the south are the "prince" (governor), held by TheSaint250, and the "hereditary prince" (vice governor), held by Deadprez. Since you haven't been around in so long you'll also probably want to know about how congress works under the current (5th) constitution. There is a unicameral senate consisting of 18 members. 9 are elected on an at large basis. 3 are elected to represent each region. And 6 are elected to represent the subregions, with each region being split into two of them. The South's current senators are Fhtagn for the full region, Reagente for the upper south, and Muaddib for the deep south.

[GM Team Member and Senator WB]

I think it's also worth noting the south's direct democracy has passed some honestly insane bills recently.

Slate of “Medieval” Legislation Passes in the South

By Forumlurker

ATLANTA, GA. — Over the past several months, numerous controversial bills have passed in the South over calls into question regarding their constitutionality, creating chaos as local officials have attempted to reconcile the stark differences between Atlasian law, Southern law, and even their own morals.

The list of laws passed which have received scrutiny by human rights groups is long, but the ones which stand out the most in prominence thus far include the law which overturned women’s suffrage, the law which banned “bastardy” (children of unmarried couples) and a law which effectively has banned “moors, Bosniaks, and gypsies” from entering the region entirely. Of interesting note is the current Atlasian president who himself has publicly identified as Bosniak in past statements and former Upper South Senator LT who also has identified as such, leading some experts to wonder whether some of the new legislation was driven out of political malice.

However, as many in the South have learned, it is one thing to pass a law and another to enforce one. Various interpretations and degrees of enforcement of these new laws has rendered the South essentially a patchwork of kingdoms, each one with varying degrees of restrictiveness on the aforementioned activities. A plurality of municipalities simply have outright ignored the laws, while some such as Fulton County have even outright declared these regional laws null and void, petitioning the federal government to crack down on “human rights abuses.”

As a result of these laws, many companies have begun withdrawing operations and sales from the South. Industrial giants such as Google, Walmart, McDonald’s, and Wells Fargo have announced plans to downsize or completely withdraw activities within the Southern Region over concerns over these new laws and possible liabilities for their company image. Foreign reactions have also been swift. Russia has officially sanctioned Atlasia over these new laws, labelling them as genocide of ethnic minorities. The EU has considered but has not acted upon similar calls by many left-leaning MEPs. Furthermore, countries such as Rwanda which had previously committed to gradually improving LGBTQ rights have since backtracked in a series of public statements, citing “sheer hypocrisy” by the Atlasian government. Although transparent figures have become difficult to source at this point in time, the GDP of the Southern Region could shrink by over 5% in the next year, with a projected net population loss as many choose to move elsewhere for employment and living.

In response, Southern civilians opposed to these acts have begun forming militias of their own, with local SNP politicians having seen their houses burned by these groups. Meanwhile, several counties in Southeast Kentucky are considering officially seceding from the Southern Region at this point in time.

[Yelnoc]

Thank you Sirius for the explanations! And, WB that is bizarre. I'm not sure what to make of that.