General Assembly

## Legislature

**General Assembly**

General Assembly President CelestiamPresident pro Tempore Frellor

Secretariat • Executive agencies

## Judiciary

High Court of the New West Indies

Chief Justice Karteria

## Elections

Electoral History • SecGen Elections • Presidential Elections • Other Elections

## Foreign Relations

Department of Foreign AffairsSecretary of Foreign Affairs: Funky Goats

World Assembly

The **General Assembly** (GA) is the legislative body of the New West Indies. It was formed on March 21, 2018 along with the enactment of the Constitution.

The Assembly maintains the power to legislate the rest of government and the region at large (outside the administrative jurisdiction of the Executive Branch). Its legislation comes in the form of "resolutions," which may amend the Constitution, repeal previous resolutions, or present motions of no confidence for particular elected officials.

Every citizen may propose resolutions, informally and formally debate, and vote on their passage. The Assembly's first resolution was written by Achipel on May 6th, 2018. Since then, the body has passed 54 resolutions and counting.

## History

### **Establishment**

The General Assembly was established by the first and only Constitution of the New West Indies, authored by Achipel and published on March 21, 2018. The Constitution set in stone the inherent legislative power of the New West Indies and guaranteed each citizen's participation in it.

### **First General Assembly (2018)**

The first session of the General Assembly was defined by very few prominent actors trying to fully establish the authority and legitimacy of the regional legislature.

The first GA resolution was passed on May 6, 2018, creating new citizenship procedures. Prior to this resolution, every nation who had entered the New West Indies was considered a citizen and, thus, a full member of the General Assembly. Every resolution in the first legislative session, not surprisingly, was authored by Achipel alone. These resolutions largely centered around refining the Constitution, addressing issues of the World Assembly Delegate, and de facto defining the role of the General Assembly.

However, the nascent legislature had its moments of instability. Its third resolution was a motion of no confidence against the sitting President, MacAlpine, for alleged inactivity. Predictably, the region found it difficult to find competent governors and legislators. The fourth GA resolution, an effort by the Founder to exclude his own ability to run for President of the General Assembly, is the only resolution thus far to be defeated. With only one apparent author and some issues, the General Assembly had many obstacles in the way of stability.

### **Second General Assembly (2019)**

This session began immediately with the first author besides the Founder to pass a resolution, Karteria, who authored a law that established procedures for World Assembly opinion polls. Indeed, the second General Assembly was defined by a new generation of authors who paved the way for a relative explosion of legislative activity that has continued to the third session.

The General Assembly passed a multitude of resolutions this session, establishing landmark laws on division of powers, General Assembly procedure, Presidential Powers, protections against hate speech, elections, and the High Court. It was a revolutionary period for the legislature, growing the number of authors and participants and areas by which the Assembly affected. Perhaps most of all, it created a new branch of government that has proven to have tremendous influence.

### **Third General Assembly (2020)**

The Third General Assembly continued many of the same responsibilities and actions as the Second General Assembly.

## Structure

The General Assembly is housed in a separate NWI General Assembly region overseen by the Founder and the President. The region showcases legislative guidelines, resolutions in debate or at vote, or miscellaneous lawmaking resources. It is also where formal debates take place preceding final resolution votes.

Informal affairs take place in the New West Indies discord server. The main chamber hosts a variety of discussions on policy while other channels are focused on specific legislative areas.

## List of Presidents of the General Assembly

The New West Indies has had 11 GA Presidents over its lifespan. Of those 11, two successfully won reelection, and two others were impeached via motions of no confidence.

The first President to be impeached was also the first President of the General Assembly, MacAlpine. One of the two to win reelection (Roussillon) was impeached midway through their second term, which led to Thyostega being elected to serve the remainder of that term. As a result, Thyostega is the only elected official to have won multiple nonconsecutive elections. The current President, Volirum, is the only one to have previously served as a leader of another government branch (they were the 2nd Secretary-General). No President thus far has gone on to serve as a branch leader following their presidential term.

Following the passage of GAR23 on December 13th, 2019, every President thereafter ran on a ticket with a pro Tempore. There have been four Presidents pro Tempore in total.

## List of Authors

The following citizens wrote at least one General Assembly resolution.

 Frellor
 PotaTown
 Ventus Prime | 1

\*Co-author

## Miscellaneous

On October 7th, 2019, President Reno established the Filibuster's Pub & Grill for "the informal legislators." Prominent lawmakers regularly partake in the festivities, using the pub for cathartic venting about their deepest political stresses.

## References

1. ↑ Resolutions of the General Assembly.
2. ↑ "Introducing Citizenship Application Procedures"
3. ↑ Final tally was 8 yeas, 10 nays.
4. ↑ Motion of No Confidence Against MacAlpine
5. ↑ **Motion of No Confidence Against Roussillon**
6. ↑ **Election Archive**
7. ↑ **List of Secretaries-General**

## See Also

1. General Assembly Docket
2. Resolutions of the General Assembly