Gov't Assembles Negotiators; Establishes Scrutiny Committee

The dissolution of the Brokenshire administration caused exit negotiations with Hastiga and Veldunium to be less than gracefully interrupted, but with the new year comes the re-opening of negotiations as the new government has assembled its team of negotiators for the job.
Imperial Chancellor Sheldon Whitehouse will of course be deeply involved with the negotiations. The Chancellor was barraged by reporters asking about his plans. He stated only that "[he's] been clear on [his] intentions for the negotiations since the election campaign." The Chancellor also recently stated that he will be in contact with the Imperial Office as the negotiations progress.
Secretary of Union Donald H. Rumsfeld is said to be the lead negotiator. Known earlier in his career for his work in the Education Department, Rumsfeld is now most famous for his strong - or hardline, depending on which side you ask - unionist stances. Rumsfeld will definitely be on a bit of a leash from the Chancellor - though he was certainly given the job for a reason.
Deputy Imperial Chancellor John Waters nominated two of his confidants to represent the Democrats in the negotiations - Guy Verhofstadt and Michel Barnier. Verhofstadt serves as the Democrats' Spokesman for Union and has been known for minor roles in government over the past decade. Michel Barnier is quite unknown compared to the other negotiators, and as such is seen as something of a wild card.
Committee for Negotiation Scrutiny FormedThe Imperial Chancellor also announced the formation of a Chamber of Deputies special committee to allow independent and opposition parties to review transcripts of the negotiations and make recommendations if desired. This comes at the recommendation of the opposition and has been called "a healthy practice to ensure that none of parliament is blindsided by the final result" by Whitehouse himself. The 11-member committee will be composed as follows, where each party listed may nominate whichever of their members they choose to fill their seats:
*Coalition of Conservative Unionists: 3 delegates
*Conservative and Imperialist Party: 3 delegates
*United Falleen Imperial Democrats: 2 delegates
*United Left Coalition: 1 delegate
*Federal Liberal Party: 1 delegate
*Falleentium's Equality Party: 1 delegate
Asked about the Veld Unity Council and New Falleentium Order, the Chancellor stated that "Veldunium's government will obviously be directly engaged in the negotiations, the VUC attending the scrutiny council would seem quite redundant. As for the NFO, we as a society need to be honest and say that the NFO's positions on many issues including the issue of these negotiations is completely out-of-touch and unacceptable."
Category:The Imperial Constitution