Motion of No Confidence

2019 Motion of No Confidence against Roussillon, authored by PotaTown. The motion passed by a slim 20-19 margin.

A **Motion of No Confidence**, also known colloquially as **Impeachment**, is when an elected or appointed official of the New West Indies government is removed from office by the General Assembly. Historically, such a motion has been brought due to extensive inactivity by an official, though it is possible that major political disagreements could spawn the motion.

Motions of No Confidence must have either 10% of the General Assembly as initial sponsors or the simple majority of the Secretariat in favor to even consider the motion for voting. If the motion receives a simple majority in the GA after 48 hours, then it passes, and the official is to be promptly removed.

## Constitutional Provisions

There are several provisions of the New West Indies Constitution that relate to motions of no confidence.

Chapter III, §10, Paragraph 2:

> [The General Assembly] is in charge of electing the Secretary-General, enacting new policies by adopting resolutions, including Motions of No Confidence to remove from office members of the Secretariat, the President, or any deputy thereof, or members of any other constitutionally-created branch of government.
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Chapter III, §12.5, Paragraph 3:

> Should either the President or the President pro Tempore be impeached, then a Special Election shall be called to replace only the impeached official . . . Should the President pro Tempore lose office by any means other than impeachment (including succession to the Presidency), then the President shall appoint a replacement to serve the remainder of the original term.
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Chapter III, §13.5:

> Any member of the General Assembly may present a Motion of No Confidence. If a no-confidence motion has enough co-sponsors that constitute at least 10% of the New West Indies voting populace, the motion shall be brought to a vote within seven (7) days after reaching the required amount of co-sponsors.
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> In the case that the motion does not reach the 10% co-sponsor threshold within seven days of proposal, and the motion is not against the President, the motion shall be brought before the President of the General Assembly, who shall approve or disapprove of the motion within three days. If approved by the President, the motion shall then promptly be brought before the General Assembly for a vote.
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> In the case that the motion does not reach the 10% co-sponsor threshold within seven days of proposal, and the motion is against the President, the motion shall be brought before the Secretariat and a special vote between the Cabinet members shall be called within three (3) days whereupon a simple majority, within a voting period of forty-eight (48) hours, the motion shall then promptly be brought before the General Assembly for a full vote.
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> All motions of No Confidence that are validly brought to vote before the General Assembly require a simple majority within a voting period of forty-eight (48) hours to pass, and upon passage, the targeted officeholder is considered impeached and must be dismissed by the founder immediately.
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> If the targeted officeholder was an elected official, and there are more than fourteen days remaining in their term, the Founder shall promptly call a Special Election to fill the duration of the term. The shortened term will not count against any term limit. The impeached official may not run in the Special Election. At least five days shall be allotted for campaigning, and the election itself shall last seventy-two hours. Regular elections shall not take precedence.
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Chapter IV, §20, Paragraphs 2-3:

> A nation serving as Secretary may serve for an unlimited number of consecutive or non-consecutive terms for as long as it is not impeached and re-appointed.
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> Any nation serving as Secretary-General or Secretary will lose its respective seat if:
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> [...]
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> c. it is impeached via motion of no-confidence;
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Chapter VI, §28, Paragraph 2:

> Should a sitting Chief Justice cease to exist, resign, or be impeached via a Motion of No Confidence of the General Assembly, the General Assembly will promptly conduct a special election to fill the remainder of the term. The shortened term will not count against any term limit.
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## Procedure

A motion of no confidence begins via a resolution of the corresponding type being drafted by one or multiple General Assembly members. Then, it is submitted to the President for approval (only regarding formatting).

Following the President's approval, it may head in one of two directions:

1. If it has at least 10% of the General Assembly membership as sponsors, then it proceeds directly to official debate.
2. If it does not have at least 10% as sponsors, then it proceeds to the Secretariat, where they conduct an internal vote. If a simple majority of the Secretariat votes in favor, then the motion proceeds to official debate.

Following official debate, the motion goes to a final vote. If it attains a simple majority, then the official is impeached, and they must be removed from office immediately.

## Formal Motions and Results

The General Assembly has considered two motions of no confidence in its history, and both instances resulted in impeachment. Both were Presidents of the General Assembly.

The following is a list of the officials for whom motions of no confidence were officially proposed.

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## References

1. ↑ GAR3: Motion of No Confidence Against MacAlpine
2. ↑ Motion of No Confidence Against Roussillon