This previous Monday, the Chamber was officially sworn in. Incumbents and newly elected members alike, each swore an oath to the Doatian constitution and took their seats for the first time this session.
The Chamber, during the first day of its new session, began the nomination and election process for the Chancellorship.
The Progressive Socialists (PS) nominated Jax Bertoni with a vote of 337/16, with 2 PS members abstaining. The Mushiki Justice Party (MJP) and the Gungi Collective (GC) both elected to not nominate a candidate from their party, with leaders endorsing Bertoni.
While the Mushiki Justice Party opted to not join any coalition and remain a standalone party, the Gungi Collective signed a coalition agreement with the Progressive Socialists. The PS and GC are officially the Majority Coalition, with 364 seats (351 majority).
The Conservative Party (CP), the Righteous Coalition, and the Doatian Nationalists signed a coalition agenda, and formed the Conservative Opposition Coalition. Collectively, they nominated former Chancellor and CP Chair Rebecca Loaz as Chancellor, with a vote of 209/15, with four members not voting.
After no other contender reach a consensus within their party or coalition, the two candidates were submitted to a vote on the floor for electronic voting. After nearly 24 minutes of voting, the results were:
Bertoni: 348 (PS), 8 (EJP), 2 (PLP), 35 (MJP), 7 (GC), and 16 (IDEP) = 416
Loaz: 172 (CP), 7 (RC), 38 (DN), 6 (MJP), 1 (GC) and 22 (IDEP) = 246
Other/Abstain: 7 (PS), 9 (EJP), 1 (PLP), 2 (MJP), 1 (GC), 2 (CP), 9 (DN), and 7 (IDEP) = 38
After being elected Chancellor, Bertoni rose to be recognized within the Chamber. He delivered an address on the Progressive Majority’s 100-day agenda.
PS 100-Day Agenda
- Economic Reform
- Privatization of all industries, excluding Education, Healthcare, Welfare, Mail Service, Law Enforcement, Fire Protection, and other critical government ministries/agencies.
- Invest Billions into rejuvenating the Doatian economy and creating millions of good paying union jobs
- Tax Reform
- Raise the corporation tax
- Increase taxes on wealthy Doatians
- Decrease taxes on low-income Doatians
- Cut the payroll tax
- Institute a child tax credit
- Mandate that companies that use androids pay severance to laid off employees and contribute to the social security, unemployment, and healthcare funds for each android in use
- Unemployment Reform
- Expand unemployment benefits and eligibility
- Increase unemployment benefit duration
- Universal Jobs Guarantee
- Create an agency to help Doatians find a quality and decent paying job
- Labor Reform
- Make Unionization mandatory for companies with more than 10,000 employees
- Increase workers benefits
- Raise the Minimum Wage
- Infrastructure Investment
- Invest in failing Doatian infrastructure and community improvement initiatives that also create new human-only jobs
- Increase funding for Education
- Increase teacher pay, renovate older buildings, ensure each student has a laptop for school-use, hire more counselors, provide more mental health support, update the curriculum.
- Make 4-year university to obtain a bachelor’s degree OR 4-year trade school enrollment or 3-year apprenticeship participation mandatory for all secondary-school graduated Doatians, expanding required enrollment to those aged 24 and under (with exceptions)
- Invest in Healthcare
- Cut wait times, increase the number of doctors and nurses, renovate older facilities
- Environmental Justice
- Transition to 100% renewable energy (currently, Doatians utilize clean energy for 65% of demand) within 4 years
- Renovate existing eco-friendly infrastructure, increase the carbon tax, and lower the carbon footprint of Doatia
- Abolish the Monarchy
- Abolish the Doatian Monarchy (Requires constitutional amendment) and absorb its monetary reserves for the agenda and reallocate its revenue
Chancellor Bertoni’s bold and ambitious 100-day agenda is popular among the Doatian electorate, with over 64% of Doatians supporting these policies. The Chancellor seems to have the support, both from his coalition majority, some smaller parties and independents, to accomplish his agenda.
Although, the threshold for Abolishing the Doatian Monarchy, which would require a constitutional amendment. It would require a 65% majority in the Chamber and 10/14 state legislatures to approve ratification. Currently polling suggests 72% of Doatians support abolishing the Monarchy, but support greatly varies across the nation. In Doa City, for instance, support for abolition is 89%. In indigenous communities, such as the Mushiki or Gungi states, a plurality support keeping the Monarchy.
The odds that the Chancellor is able to get a constitutional amendment drafted, proposed, passed in the Chamber, and ratified by 10 states within 100 days are against him. That being said, Chancellor Bertoni when asked said he specifically included the proposal in his 100-day agenda because it is “A centerpiece in bringing Doatia fully into the 21st century. We are committed to promoting the principles of justice, dignity, opportunity, democracy, and liberty.”
Chancellor Bertoni will have the unenviable task of filling his cabinet (nominating and getting nominees approved), pushing his agenda through the Chamber, and restoring stability to Doatia after the DRF uprising, the treason of Ayana Bokum, and the rockiness of the Recardo Administration.
The Chamber also elected Helen Fitzgerald Renee Speaker of the People’s Chamber, with her receiving a few more votes than Bertoni. She will now lead the Progressive Majority in the legislature, as Chancellor Bertoni leads the executive, and will be critical to getting Bertoni’s agenda passed.
Kody James, Doatian Journal Political Correspondent
