Secretary-General

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Incumbent | Central Birdland | Since July 1, 2021

The **Secretary-General**, also known as **SecGen** or **SG**, is the head of government for the New West Indies and leads the Office of the Secretary-General and the Executive Branch. The current holder of the office is Central Birdland, who has served since July 1, 2021.

The Secretary-General is the primary executor of New West Indies law and carries out administrative matters for the Executive and the region at-large. They are the head diplomat, head of security, and head of recruitment for the region. Below them, there are four distinct departments that assist in such affairs, and they in turn assist them.

In terms of non-NS political science, the Secretary-General can be considered the equivalent of a prime minister in a parliamentary system, where members select one among their own to the lead the government. However, the Secretary-General also maintains powers conducive to that of a head of state, partially overseeing both security and foreign affairs.

## Origin

The position of Secretary-General was created upon the enactment of the Constitution of the New West Indies on March 21, 2018. Achipel, founder and author of the Constitution, was also legally considered the first Secretary-General. Therefore, he conducted what government existed.

Achipel focused mostly on initial infrastructure and administrative affairs, such as recruitment, building up the role-play, and conducting polls. It is apparent, though not confirmed, that he did not maintain a cabinet during the first few months of the region's existence.

## History

The first election for Secretary-General was called on June 18th, 2018. Three days later, Canilu was chosen as the first elected Secretary-General ever with 9 votes as opposed to runner-up Roussillon's 5.

Canilu concentrated on maintaining the state of affairs with the region and the cabinet. Role-play was the primary activity during this era. The majority of government action was centered around updating the role-play map, approving new citizens, and occasionally updating the Constitution when new amendments were passed.

Volirum, when elected in January of 2019 to serve until June, largely followed his predecessor's footsteps with a focus on stability and maintenance.

Former Secretary of Administration Karteria was then elected the fourth Secretary-General of the New West Indies on June 17th, 2019. Inaugurated on July 1, he served out his first term until December. Unlike his predecessors, Karteria championed major reforms and initiatives. He was then reelected in a no-contest vote on December 17th, 2019. His second term was marked by stability, a few major initiatives, and outsourcing resources to private organizations.

## Powers and Duties

### **§17 of the Constitution**

#### **Primary Powers**

The Secretary-General is granted explicit powers of overarching regional enforcement and administration:

> *The Secretary-General is responsible for faithfully executing the law of the New West Indies. The Secretary-General may represent the region abroad, command its security, oversee its recruitment, maintain its communication platforms, assist its administrative departments, and oversee the day-to-day operations of the Executive Branch.*
>
>

This paragraph was appended to the Constitution following the passage of GAR29 on February 9, 2020. There have been multiple examples of legal enforcement from the Secretary-General, namely including Executive Decree 024, which enforced GAR26. Enforcement includes the compelling of observance of the law or the carrying out of its statutes in some other way, though the appropriate extent of this action is up for debate.

Meanwhile, the Secretary-General has routinely represented the New West Indies abroad, such as in the negotiation of the Treaty of Conservation, Treaty of Novia, and routine updates in foreign servers.

Prior to GAR52, maintenance of communication is found through the Secretary-General's Discord Communication Rules and the appointment of moderation teams for various platforms. Now, while the SecGen still maintains security powers, the moderation teams maintains their own jurisdiction under the guise of the Founder.

#### **Cabinet Appointments**

Among the chief duties of the Secretary-General is to appoint a Cabinet of four other citizens dedicated to regional administration. Cabinets are normally elected alongside the Secretary-General before they assume office. Should a vacancy within the Cabinet arise mid-term, the Secretary-General is obligated to appoint a replacement within a week's time.

#### **Subsidiary Onsite Authorities**

The Constitution grants the Secretary-General all onsite authorities available to a regional officer besides the Executive authority and World Assembly Delegacy. However, the Secretary-General may simultaneously hold the Delegacy alongside the elected position (as Karteria has done for two terms).

Onsite authorities amount to four sets of powers: Appearance, Border Control, Communications, and Polls. Each one has their own distinct attributes, and each allow the Secretary-General to exercise their duties.

* "Appearance" allows the Secretary-General to manage the World Factbook Entry, which is the informational cover on the region's main page. There, updates can be disseminated, links can be shared, and important dispatches can be pinned. The Secretary-General can also change the flag and regional tags.
* "Border Control" allows the Secretary-General to effectively act as the head of security; they can spend regional influence to ban nations from the region or alter a regional password. The former power has been regulated by §1 of the Constitution and other laws, and the latter has never been used.
* "Communications" allows the Secretary-General to send region-wide mass telegrams without stamps, oversee recruitment, create a Welcome Telegram, and suppress posts.
* "Embassies" allows the Secretary-General to submit embassy requests to other regions or consider those sent to the New West Indies from other regions.
* "Polls" allows the Secretary-General to create on-site polls.

## Selection Process

### **Eligibility**

According to §15 of the Constitution, a nation may serve as Secretary-General as long as they are "a member of the General Assembly" (or a citizen) and are not also the Founder, President of the General Assembly, a Secretary, or a member of the High Court. Under this section, the Founder was temporarily considered the Secretary-General until the first election could be held.

### **Election**

The Secretary-General is elected via popular citizen vote in either June or December. The election has customarily been held on the 14th of the month; legally, it is necessary to hold it at least 14 days prior to the end of the current term. The voting period is 72 hours and held on an on-site poll. The winner is declared when all votes have been validated (or invalidated) based on who won the highest number of votes.

The President of the General Assembly oversees the validity of all votes cast for the election. Customarily, the Founder creates the poll itself. 36 hours prior to the start of the voting period, each candidate for Secretary-General must provide a cabinet ticket to the Founder or President. No cabinet list may be congruent with the other.

## Tenure

### **Inauguration**

The Secretary-General is inaugurated on the 1st of July or the 1st of January, whichever applicable. On that day, they and their Cabinet are given their respective on-site and off-site powers by the Founder.

### **Term Limit**

§20 of the Constitution limits the Secretary-General to a maximum of two consecutive terms (or a total of 12 months in office). Non-consecutive terms are unlimited.

### **Motions of No Confidence**

The Secretary-General may be impeached from office should a Motion of No Confidence be passed by the General Assembly. This result would occur should the motion garner sponsorship from 10% of the General Assembly and be subsequently passed; otherwise, it would need approval from the President of the General Assembly and subsequent passage.

The voting would take place on-site and last for 48 hours. If a majority has no confidence in the Secretary-General, they will be removed from office by the Founder. If there is more than 14 days remaining in the current term, a special election will be held to fill the remainder of the term.

## Political Affiliation

The first three Secretaries-General (Achipel, Canilu, and Volirum) were not affiliated with any political party. The only Secretary-General to maintain a political allegiance was Karteria, who later become *unaffiliated* when, as founder of the Progressive Party, disbanded it in December 2019.

## Post-Secretary-Generalship

*This section treats of an ongoing or unfinished event.*

Following their term as Secretary-General, Canilu briefly became World Assembly Archivist for the Department of Administration. They primarily recorded every nation who was a World Assembly member and whatever they did within the organization.

Volirum, after leaving office in June 2019, decided to run again for the position in December 2019. However, they later recused themselves from the race after a heated argument with opposing candidate Karteria. On December 10, 2019, they became the first Public Attorney under the Department of Internal Affairs, serving on multiple cases including *Frellor* (19-02). They later resigned. Volirum was also elected to be the 11th President of the General Assembly between October – December 2020.

Karteria went on to serve as the 2nd Region's Attorney and a diplomat following their two-term administration, and they were subsequently elevated to the bench of the High Court as the 2nd Chief Justice of the New West Indies. Karteria is, to this day, the only citizen to have been inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Celestiam decided not to run for reelection in December 2020. They soon thereafter returned to broadcasting with Faux News, later becoming the 13th President of the General Assembly in May 2021.

Ventus Prime continues to roleplay in the current canon.

## References

1. ↑ Inauguration Announcement.
2. ↑ §15 of the Constitution
3. ↑ Press Release: "Achipel's Distinctions"
4. ↑ Canilu Election Results
5. ↑ Regional Admin Page
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 August. "Regional Controls Documentation [REF]." NationStates Encyclopedia, February 6, 2018. Accessed July 3, 2021.