Tumgik
#Ministerial position in Legislative Council
leadertelugunews · 2 years
Text
ప్రతిపక్షం అడిగే ఏ అంశమైనా చర్చించేందుకు ప్రభుత్వం సిద్ధం -శాసనమండలిలో మంత్రి బొత్స
ప్రతిపక్షం అడిగే ఏ అంశమైనా చర్చించేందుకు ప్రభుత్వం సిద్ధం -శాసనమండలిలో మంత్రి బొత్స
అమరావతి: ప్రతిపక్షం అడిగే ఏ అంశమైనా చర్చించేందుకు ప్రభుత్వం సిద్ధంగా ఉందని విద్యాశాఖ మంత్రి బొత్స సత్యనారాయణ అన్నారు. శాసనమండలిలో ప్రతిపక్షం చేస్తున్న గందరగోళంపై మంత్రి బొత్స అభ్యంతరం వ్యక్తం చేశారు. ప్రతిపక్షం ఏ అంశంపై చర్చకు సిద్ధమో శాసన మండలి చైర్మన్‌కు నోటీసు ఇస్తే, దానిపై చర్చకు సిద్ధంగా ఉన్నామన్నారు. గత ప్రభుత్వం 600 పైగా హామీలు ఇచ్చి ఏ విధంగా తుంగలో తొక్కిందో రాష్ట్ర ప్రజలందరికీ…
Tumblr media
View On WordPress
0 notes
raducotarcea · 10 months
Link
0 notes
elonasblog · 1 year
Text
Characteristics of Benito Juárez
Benito Juárez, in full Benito Pablo Juárez García, (conceived Walk 21, 1806, San Pablo Guelatao, Oaxaca, Mexico — kicked the bucket July 18, 1872, Mexico City), public legend and leader of Mexico (1861-72), who for quite some time (1864-67) battled against unfamiliar occupation under the head Maximilian and who looked for protected changes to make a vote based government republic.
Early profession Characteristics of Benito Juárez: He was brought into the world of Mesoamerican Indian guardians, both of whom kicked the bucket when he was three years of age. At the point when he was 12, he left the uncle who was really focusing on him and joined his sister in the city of Oaxaca, where he started his conventional schooling.
He initially read up for the organization, however in 1829 he entered the Oaxaca Foundation of Expressions and Sciences (1827; presently Benito Juárez Independent College of Oaxaca) to concentrate on regulation and science. In 1831 he got a regulation degree and won his most memorable public office, a seat on the civil committee. Immaculately legit, he never involved public office for individual addition, and his humble lifestyle mirrored his straightforward preferences, even after his marriage in 1843 to Margarita Maza, an Oaxacan lady 17 years his lesser. Governmental issues before long turned into his labor of love: he was an individual from both the state and public councils, he turned into an appointed authority in 1841, and he filled in as legislative leader of his express, a post that brought him into public unmistakable quality.
Benito Juárez: Personal Life And Characteristics get sufficiently close to selective substance. Around the same time, Ignacio Comonfort was chosen president, and the new Congress picked Juárez to manage the High Court and thusly, as indicated by the constitution, additionally to act as the powerful VP of Mexico. The court position was basic in deciding his future profession, for when the moderates revolted and expelled Comonfort in January 1858, Juárez had a legitimate case to the administration. Lacking soldiers to control the region around Mexico City, in any case, he resigned toward the eastern port city of Veracruz.
At Veracruz Juárez confronted serious hardships, for he needed to make an administration and maintain a reasonable level of control through fights, disloyalties, and rout; to uphold and execute the constitution; and to keep up with armed forces in the field and rout the moderate powers. He was a phenomenally constant and independent man, nonetheless, ready to think his energy and interest, and he substantiated himself the expert of his administration.
Since the church was supporting the traditionalists against the legitimate government, Juárez ordered a few regulations to control ministerial power. He nationalized all congregation property, absolving just those structures really utilized for love and guidance. To debilitate administrative impact even further, he likewise nationalized the burial grounds and put birth enlistments and relationships under the common power. At last, the public authority isolated church and state and dependable strict freedom to all residents.
Administration By late 1860 the traditionalists were wavering, and in January 1861 Juárez had the option to get back to Mexico City and was unavoidably chosen president. He was, be that as it may, confronted with numerous difficult issues: the resistance's powers actually stayed in salvageable shape, the new Congress questioned its leader, and the depository was practically unfilled. As an answer for the last issue, Juárez chose in July 1861 to suspend installment on all unfamiliar obligations for quite some time. Britain, Spain, and France chose to mediate to defend their speculations, and by January 1862 the three nations had landed troops at Veracruz. In any case, when England and Spain understood that Napoleon III planned to vanquish Mexico and control it through a manikin, Archduke Maximilian of Austria, they pulled out their powers. The French experienced a significant loss at Puebla on May 5, 1862, yet with fortifications they had the option to possess Mexico City in June 1863, and Maximilian before long showed up to assume command over the public authority.
Driven away from the capital once more, Juárez kept himself and his administration alive by a long series of retreats that finished exclusively at El Paso del Norte (later named Juárez) at the Mexican-U.S. line. From the get-go in 1867, because of proceeded with Mexican obstruction, expanded U.S. strain, and analysis at home, Napoleon chose to pull out his soldiers. Before long subsequently Mexican powers caught Maximilian and executed him.
Juárez then, at that point, committed the best error of his political vocation. In August 1867, not long after his re-visitation of Mexico City, he gave a call for public races and for a mandate on whether Congress ought to make five changes to the constitution. General assessment didn't protest the president's running for re-appointment, yet the sacred changes excited quick and savage response in many quarters, including those thoughtful to Juárez. His proposed changes experienced harsh criticism since alterations sanctioned by Congress alone were illegal, and the progressions would reinforce the leader power. Juárez was reappointed, however the contention had made such an emergency of certainty that the organization didn't try to count the decisions on the revisions.
Notwithstanding disease and individual misfortune — in October 1870 Juárez experienced a stroke, and after 90 days his significant other kicked the bucket — he chose to run again in 1871. After a severe mission he was reappointed, however a large number of his compatriots, declining to acknowledge the outcome as last, waged war against him. Juárez spent the most recent couple of months of his life attempting to reestablish harmony. He passed on from a coronary failure in 1872 and was covered in the Pantheon of San Fernando in Mexico City.
Heritage Mexico City: Benito Juárez landmark
Juárez's political ascent was a ceaseless battle to change his liberal thoughts into a long-lasting political reality and to defeat the predominant social mentalities toward his Indian foundation. The biases of the nineteenth century effectively underscore and upgrade Juárez's exceptional characteristics and accomplishments. His homegrown changes set up for Mexico's momentous modernization in the last quarter of the nineteenth 100 years and liberated Mexico from the most-blatant leftovers of neocolonialism. His initiative against the French procured Juárez his place as a public legend.
Rurales, government corps of rustic police laid out on May 6, 1861, by the Mexican president Benito Juárez to battle the banditry that undermined travel and business all through Mexico. Such a power had been arranged four years sooner yet couldn't be laid out during the Conflict of Change. In 1869, after the defeat of the domain of Maximilian, it was reconstituted under the Service of the Inside (Ministro de Gobernación) and accused of watching the roadways and rail routes, helping the military, monitoring exceptional shipments of merchandise and bullion, and policing neighborhood races. Under President Porfirio Díaz (represented 1876-1911), its powers were significantly extended to incorporate accompanying detainees, watching public structures, scaring political rivals, and going about as a sort of praetorian watchman for the tyranny. It gained an extensive standing (somewhat misrepresented) for mistreatment and productivity. Toward the finish of Díaz' rule, the Rurales numbered around 2,700 men. The Rurales were disbanded in 1914.
In 1926 another power, the Rustic Safeguard Power (Guardia Country), was made out of various worker powers that had created after 1915 for nearby self-assurance. However this corps actually exists as a military hold, by the late twentieth century it was being gotten rid of, and its powers dropped from more than 100,000 in the mid 1970s to less than 15,000 by the mid 21st hundred years. Volunteers don't get pay however are liable to bring in public crises.
0 notes
antoine-roquentin · 3 years
Link
As thousands of Haitians protest each Sunday against Jovenel Moïse, their embattled and increasingly authoritarian president, their protest signs and songs exhort the U.S. ambassador and the head of the United Nations mission in Haiti, who is also a career U.S. diplomat, “to stop supporting a dictatorship.” The protests reflect a broad consensus among politicians, intellectuals, lawyers and others in Haiti, supported by human rights experts and members of the U.S. Congress, that the Biden administration is propping up Moïse and preventing the emergence of a Haitian-led solution to the political crisis.
The Trump administration had backed Moïse despite revelations of spectacular corruption, government-linked massacres, and the expiration of Haiti’s parliament. In just one incident, the 2018 La Saline massacre, government-allied gangs killed at least seventy people to retaliate against anti-government organizing in the neighborhood. I interviewed survivors, and their stories were eerily similar to the stories I had heard 30 years before from the survivors of the 1988 St. Jean Bosco Church massacre — also in La Saline — by the vestiges of Jean-Claude Duvalier’s Tonton Macoute death squad.
Haitians were hopeful that the Biden administration would change course before February 7, the day that Moïse’s term in office ended, according to Haiti’s judicial oversight body, the bar federation, and religious leaders, as well as the leadership of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee. But on February 5, the State Department, citing the position of Luis Almagro, Secretary-General of the Organization of American States, pronounced that Moïse’s term extended until 2022. This interpretation is based on a constitutional ambiguity generated by election delays in 2015 and 2016. But, as most commentators note, it is inconsistent with electoral law and with precedent set by Moïse himself.
Taking Moïse’s side might have been an attempt to manage Haiti’s political crisis at a time when the administration’s attention is focused elsewhere. But Moïse proceeded as if this support provided a green light for continued repression. Before sunrise on February 7, his police arrested Supreme Court Justice Yvickel Dabrésil and at least 19 other suspected dissidents, illegally, alleging they were planning a coup d’état. The next day, Moïse, fired Dabrésil and two of his Supreme Court colleagues, who, under the country’s constitution, can only be removed by parliament. Haitians who protested the arrests and other autocratic measures were met with police beatings, tear gas and bullets, as were journalists covering the protests.
The State Department added gaslighting to its green light on February 12, claiming there had been a “remarkable lack of popular response to calls for mass protest in recent weeks.” The State Department knew very well that Haitian demonstrators had been subjected to violent attacks by government forces and allied militias once they marshaled in the streets. Indeed, the Department of Homeland Security reported in February that the government was using gangs “to repress the opposition,” and noted “President Jovenel Moïse’s increasingly authoritarian tendencies.” With Washington nevertheless still backing Moïse, police escalated their attacks, shooting one journalist with rubber bullets 14 times on February 14. Moïse’s Washington public relations firm ensured that the international press saw the State Department’s statement.
Braving the anticipated police attacks ordinary Haitians provided a remarkable popular response to the gaslighting with huge protests the following four Sundays in Port-au-Prince and several regional capitols. Haiti’s judges announced an indefinite strike to protest Moïse’s latest moves by closing down the courts.
Moïse’s most audacious power grab was setting a June 27 constitutional referendum, to precede parliamentary and presidential elections now set for September. If it goes forward, a referendum would flagrantly violate the existing constitution that was drafted just two years after “Baby Doc” Jean-Claude Duvalier “won” a constitutional referendum affirming him as President-for-Life. It requires supermajorities in the parliament to approve amendments, and expressly prohibits “any popular consultation designed to modify the Constitution through a referendum.”
Moïse’s referendum is subtler than Duvalier’s, but possibly more dangerous. It would abolish the Senate and replace the prime ministerial system — which balances executive and legislative power — with a vice president named by the president, and would provide for direct presidential control over the ministries. The referendum would also allow Moïse to handpick the electoral council that would organize the next two presidential elections, potentially extending his personal power as far as 2032. It would allow the president to directly command the army and grant total immunity for any actions “linked to his functions and accomplished in his role as President.”
62 notes · View notes
politicotalk · 3 years
Text
The impact of Brexit on Northern Ireland
On the 23rd of June, 2016, the United Kingdom’s population went to the polls and voted whether or not they wanted to stay a part of the European Union. The result was shortly declared: 51.89% of the population was in favour of leaving the Union. Even so, a majority of the population of Northern Ireland voted to remain. It’s possible the population understood the consequences of Brexit, and the impact it had on them, being the only part of the UK not in Great Britain and sharing a land border with a member of the European Union, the Republic of Ireland.
To understand the impact of Brexit on Northern Ireland, we must first understand the history of Northern Ireland: from the Troubles to the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. It is also necessary to understand the content of the Good Friday Agreement. Afterwards, we will discuss the impact of Brexit and the major problem that will bring imposing a hard border, and the consequence it poses on people’s opinion as to remaining or leaving the United Kingdom.
History
Before we talk about the issues brought in by Brexit, it is important to talk about the history of Northern Ireland.
For centuries, Ireland was controlled by Great Britain and was a part of the Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. With the Irish language being outlawed, differences were marked significantly in religion, Great Britain was mostly protestant and Ireland, Catholic. Nevertheless, areas in Ulster, in the North of Ireland, had a significant protestant population. The Irish had made several rebellions against the British occupants, but these really picked up in the beginning of the 20th century, bringing in the creation of Sinn Fein, a nationalist party popular especially amongst Catholics, in favour of home rule. To simplify the events up to World War I, a Ireland was seeing a lot of violence between British and Irish.
World War I put a pause to negotiations, as Britain’s attention was on the front. This didn’t put a stop to violence in Ireland nevertheless, and might have actually worked in favour of Ireland’s independence. Realizing that they had to quickly before losing everything, Britain passed the Government of Ireland Act in 1921. This split Ireland into two parts: 26 counties would be independent and form the Republic of Ireland, and six counties, in the North where most Irish protestants lived would remain under British occupation and form Northern Ireland.
Almost immediately, troubles arose in Northern Ireland. These troubles became more intense starting in the 1960’s and peaking in the 70’s. This period in question is known as the Troubles. In this time, the Irish National Army, or IRA was formed, a pro-nationalist terrorist group. This group was opposed to the British Army, both responsible for the deaths of many civilians. From the 1970’s, many talks were made between nationalists and unionists in favour of peace, but these never brought any solutions. It wasn’t until 1994 that Northern Ireland saw a paramilitary ceasefire and 1998 until the Good Friday agreement was signed.
 The Good Friday Agreement
Before diving into issues in Northern Ireland, it is very important to understand what the Good Friday Agreement is. This was an agreement signed between the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom and members of Northern Ireland, voted in favour by adults in Northern Ireland, became active in December 1998 and agreed on the following.
1. The creation of a Northern Irish Assembly at Stormont. 2. The North-South Ministerial Council 3. The British-Irish Council
The Northern Irish Assembly, simply put, is an assembly created for Northern Ireland to debate issues that fall under Northern Irish legislation, issues brought in by devolution, which were previously decided by Westminster. There would be two leaders with equal power, a First Minister, elected as leader of the party with the most votes, and a Deputy First Minister, leader of the party in the 2nd largest community designation. This means that one of these is a Unionist and the other, Nationalist. For the record, the DUP (Unionist) has always held the position of First Minister and Sinn Féin (Nationalist), Deputy. In this system, if either of the two resigns, the other one gets taken down and an election is called.
The North-South Ministerial Council was set up to develop cooperation between both northern and southern parts of Ireland. It created institutions for the promotion of social, economic benefits for the habitants of the island of Ireland.
On the question concerning whether Northern Ireland should remain part of the UK, it was agreed that this question can only be answered by the people of Northern Ireland alone, with agreement of the majority.
 Issues with Brexit
With Brexit and Britain’s will to put in place a hard border, this causes great issue for Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland relies on goods imported from Great Britain and Ireland trades a lot with Northern Ireland, goods that include milk and eggs, for example. This means that, by imposing a hard border, trading between the two will impose customs checks. This border, by default, would be placed between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Neither Northern Ireland nor the Republic of Ireland want this, as both countries’ economies are dependent of each other, and imposing customs borders would impose sanctions on certain goods. The idea of fences being built would also bring in memories of the Troubles, as described above, and could potentially cause tensions and violence to reignite. Another option that was brought forward was the idea of checking the content of trucks before they get to the border, either by checking the contents before reaching the border, or by using technology that could read the content of the cargo.
Another solution, brought by Brussels, is to push back the border to the Irish Sea. This would mean that Northern Ireland would be treated differently from the rest of the UK, therefore keeping Northern Ireland in the customs union. As it stands, the European Union does not allow the importation of chilled meat products from any non-EU members, meaning that, in this scenario, Great Britain would not be allowed to send meat products to Northern Ireland. The European Union is showing no signs to changing their policy in regards to this. A solution brought forward by Theresa May suggested keeping all of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in the customs union with the European Union, through her Soft Brexit approach. This approach, to place a border in the Irish Sea, is the approach that Boris Johnson favours.
Arlene Foster, then First Minister of Northern Ireland and leader of the DUP, sought to gain more advantages of this situation for the sake of Northern Ireland and refused May’s proposition. Meanwhile, in the UK, Theresa May was replaced by Boris Johnson who was more in favour of a Soft Brexit approach. Unfortunately for Foster, Johnson’s Conservatives had the majority in the Houses of Parliament and did not need the DUP’s support to pass the Brexit plan in Northern Ireland. This was a major slip for Foster who found herself obligated to resign, calling an election in Northern Ireland.
The issue with the impact of Brexit on Northern Ireland has long been debated to be an incentive for Northern Ireland to consider holding a referendum in regards to whether or not they would like to leave the UK or not. The tendency in Northern Ireland is for Catholics to be Nationalists and Protestants, to be Unionists, but this tendency is more blurred as religion is generally losing its impact on people’s political opinions. Several Protestants have expressed their annoyance and sense of betrayal in regards to Boris Johnson’s approach. In consequence, more and more people in Northern Ireland are reconsidering their political opinion. In 2012, 25% of the population was in favour of reunification and 55% people were in favour of remaining in the Union. In 2021, this number jumped to 40% for both opinions.
Several people are seeing Arlene Foster’s actions as having a direct impact on this rapid shift in opinion. By putting a border in place, this means that their closest trading neighbour, the Republic of Ireland, is a member of the EU. This means that regardless of the type of Brexit, Northern Ireland will still have to work closely with the EU in terms of trade. Furthermore, several British companies have seen this border as a burden, and have ceased trade to Northern Ireland. Now, we don’t need to worry, Northern Irish grocery stores’ shelves are not bare! Instead, there has been a shift to an “all island” economy that has been flourishing recently. Several experts have also pointed the finger at Boris Johnson for being the catalyst for the change in public political opinion.
Several supporters of a reunification are welcoming the difficulties that Brexit has brought. This is truly a big moment in the history of the island of Ireland. However, these same experts and politicians agree that a majority of the public is not in favour of a reunification, and that the moment still isn’t right for holding a referendum.
 Conclusion
Northern Ireland has had a very troubled history, which saw a lot of violence, terrorism and death brought to innocent people. This violence is still fresh in the minds of several people, and is a state to which the population does not wish to return. The consequences that Brexit would bring might have the consequence of reigniting these tensions and violence. Several solutions have been offered but all have very dire consequences. Though Brexit’s aim is to leave the EU, it might just cause a member to rejoin the United Kingdom as a consequence.
4 notes · View notes
rjzimmerman · 4 years
Link
Excerpt from this story from the New York Times:
When John Kerry served as President Barack Obama’s secretary of state, he helped steer the negotiation of the Paris Agreement, locking down commitments from nearly 200 nations — including his own — to begin to reverse the dangerous warming of the planet.
Now his diplomatic task may be even tougher.
On Monday, president-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. said he intended to name Mr. Kerry his special presidential envoy for climate, a cabinet-level position in the new administration. In that role, Mr. Kerry will need to persuade skeptical global leaders, burned by the Trump administration’s hostility toward climate science, that the United States is prepared to resume its leadership role — and will stay the course, regardless of the Biden administration’s future.
Those who know him best say Mr. Kerry is well suited to the role. He has been advocating for action on climate change since he attended the first Rio Earth Summit in 1992, where the framework of United Nations climate talks was formed.
He also knows the struggle of persuading his own country to take action, having co-authored climate change legislation as a Massachusetts senator that ultimately failed. Then, after joining the Obama administration, he made climate change a core part of the State Department.
As special presidential envoy for climate, Mr. Kerry will participate in ministerial-level meetings with a cabinet rank. He will not have to face Senate confirmation, according to Mr. Biden’s transition team.
The move marks the first time the National Security Council will include an official dedicated to climate change, “reflecting the president-elect’s commitment to addressing climate change as an urgent national security issue,” the transition team said in a statement.
According to Mr. Biden’s transition team, the president-elect also will name in December a White House climate policy coordinator who will help streamline domestic climate change policies throughout the various federal agencies.
15 notes · View notes
Text
VETERANS AFFAIRS BACKLOG & WAIT TIMES “A PERFECT STORM”
By Brian Forbes, Chair of the National Council of Veteran Associations and Chair of the Executive Committee of The War Amps
**(Note: This must be credited as reprinted with permission from The Hill Times – it appeared in their Oct 14, 2020 edition)**
The National Council of Veteran Associations in Canada (NCVA) continues to call for dramatic and innovative steps to be taken by Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) to address the current unacceptable backlog and turnaround times experienced with respect to veterans’ disability claims. As Veterans Affairs Deputy Minister Walt Natynczyk stated before the House Veterans Affairs Committee earlier this year, we have indeed reached a “perfect storm” which has only been compounded by the onset of the COVID-19 crisis.
The following represents the core elements of NCVA’s position in relation to this ongoing administrative crisis: 
The department should adopt the position that veterans’ claims be considered at face value and be based on the reasonable evidence provided by the veteran and his or her family, with the proviso that individual files could be monitored over time and “spot audits” carried out to address any potential abuses. The clear reality that medical reports usually required by VAC to support these applications continues to be almost impossible to obtain at this time must be recognized in assessing this present dilemma.
Even though medical offices and therapists’ clinics are starting to re-open, these individual health professionals are simply overwhelmed with their own backlog and rescheduling delayed appointments. The preparation of medical reports to support veterans’ claims is not a priority at this time for these beleaguered physicians and therapists. 
Unless creative steps are taken, the adjudicative delays and turnaround time dilemmas will not be relieved in the short term given the reality of the extreme difficulty in obtaining these medical and or therapist reports to substantiate individual veterans’ applications.
There is a general consensus among major veteran stakeholders that this administrative and or adjudicative measure leading to a form of fast-tracking or automatic entitlement deserves immediate attention.
It has been the longstanding view of NCVA that this form of automatic entitlement approach should have been implemented by VAC years ago in regard to seriously disabled veterans, with the objective of expediting these specific claims so as to circumvent governmental “red tape” and in recognition of the fact that nearly all of these cases are ultimately granted entitlement in the end, often following many months of adjudicative delay. It is our considered position that now is clearly the time to extend this thinking to all veterans’ claims.
It is noteworthy that the current mandate letter received by the Minister of Veterans Affairs from the Prime Minister contains a specific direction that VAC should implement a form of automatic entitlement with respect to common disabilities suffered by Canadian veterans.
It is also extremely significant that many financial assistance programs rolled out this year by federal and provincial governments are premised on the philosophy of “pay now and verify later.” In regard to a number of financial initiatives, the earlier need for medical reports to substantiate entitlement to these programs has been waived by the Government, given the impracticality of accessing any input from the medical profession in Canada at this troubled time.
It is to be noted that the initial reaction of the department to this proposed form of fast-tracking and or automatic entitlement was that this approach could be implemented for benefits that are paid on a monthly basis; however, given the fact in relation to disability awards that the majority of veterans are still opting for lump sums, this would represent a concern for the department.
In addressing this concern, it is our recommendation that, as an interim step in granting this form of automatic entitlement, the disability award could be paid as a monthly allowance with a preliminary assessment in the first instance. Ultimately, the department would have the ability to fully assess the extent of the veteran’s disability in order to determine the veteran’s final assessment, at which point the veteran could choose to convert his or her monthly allowance to a lump sum award with the appropriate financial adjustment to consider the monthly amounts already paid. 
The great advantage in this recommendation is that the veteran’s entitlement would be established early on and the veteran’s concerns surrounding financial security and access to health care and treatment benefits would be addressed in this manner.
The old adage that “desperate times call for bold and creative measures” is particularly apt in this situation 
The department issued a policy statement in June 2020 in response to this serious concern entitled “Timely disability benefits decisions: Strategic direction for improving wait times” (https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/about-vac/addressing-wait-times/wait-time-strategic-direction). This communication piece has been a significant priority for some time, not only for NCVA but also for the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs and many other stakeholder groups.
In our considered opinion, this policy document is a statement of good intentions for the mid- to long-term objectives cited in the material, but fails to effectively remedy the present backlog crisis which has only been intensified by the COVID-19 challenge.
Although it is somewhat encouraging that the VAC policy statement has adopted a number of our proposals including the prospective employment of automatic entitlement for common disabilities, the utilization of presumptions for certain consequential disabilities, and the lessening of the requirement for medical referrals in specific cases, the department’s report unfortunately concludes that this will take considerable time to implement.
Furthermore, the departmental policy statement places significant weight on the announcement that an approximate $90 million has been approved by the Government for VAC in a supplementary budget estimate to retain new employees to deal with the ongoing backlog. However, this newly acquired departmental staff will face a steep learning curve and will not be operational until January 2021 at the earliest.
It is also noteworthy that the Parliamentary Budget Office recently completed an evaluation of the VAC backlog through a financial analysis report issued on September 21, 2020 titled “Disability Benefit Processing at Veterans Affairs Canada” (https://www.pbo-dpb.gc.ca/web/default/files/Documents/Reports/RP-2021-023-M/RP-2021-023-M_en.pdf). The PBO concluded that, without further significant increases in government funding to augment VAC staffing resources, the department would not substantially impact turnaround times for veterans’ claims for years into the future, given the current pace of adjudication.
The department presented a formal briefing of its policy position on June 30, 2020 to various Ministerial Advisory Groups. As part of the ongoing dialogue surrounding this presentation, NCVA took the strong position that the department needs to accelerate its plan of action through an adoption of the above-cited fast-tracking protocols/automatic entitlement approach for all outstanding veterans’ applications.
Given the unattainability of medical reports from various health care providers, the following fundamental question requires an immediate answer: what level of evidence is the department prepared to accept to approve current claims in the backlog?
Clearly, individual veterans and/or their advocates who are preparing disability applications must be cognizant of the department’s position in relation to this important subject as to the sufficiency of evidence required for VAC approval.
In our judgment, the “approve and verify” philosophy we have espoused for many months is a crucial ingredient to the solution in this context. 
Rather surprisingly, as part and parcel of our discussions, VAC has indicated through the briefing process that, ostensibly, “higher government authority” is required to implement this form of creative initiative.
With all due respect, we are somewhat mystified by this prerequisite for government authority, as it has been readily apparent that VAC has determined the overall question of sufficiency of evidence for many decades in adjudicating veterans’ applications. In this context, the impact of the benefit of the doubt/presumptive provisions of veterans’ legislation has been in place for many years. In our experience, this unique set of adjudicative principles gives the department great latitude to reach a constructive resolution in relation to policy amendments to address the present conundrum regarding wait times.
In summary, the VAC policy statement contains a number of positive steps to alleviate the backlog and the unacceptable wait-times relevant to veterans’ disability claims. However, the scope and pace of these initiatives require a higher priority from the Government in order to establish a more immediate resolution for veterans and their families who are often facing severe financial insecurity during this COVID-19 crisis.
1 note · View note
ryanroger312 · 4 years
Text
James Gardner Hopkins isn’t your regular lawyer.
He has in fact been concentrating on Resource Administration, Placing, Planning, and also Normal Resources Guideline for 17 years. He is an uncommon strategy when using tips and also making a lawsuit strategy for getting the outcomes needed by his clients and also he goes for practical techniques. He does not see them as basic circumstances to be fixed. To James, they are individuals which’s why he strives to construct long-term collaborations with them. It’s perhaps not unexpected that he has, in fact, become a relied on expert for a lot of his clients. James Gardner Hopkins was born in New Zealand and also grew in Britain. He finished his BSc in Normal Sciences and also Bachelor of Legislations at Auckland University. He worked as a summer season worker for Russell McVeagh in 1999 and after that returned to the company the record below year as a casual clerk. He became full-time there in 2001, at some point coming to be somebody in 2009.
James has in fact been provided many recognitions and also honors for his task. He was honored with the “Exceptional Person” honor by Straterra, the group that presents the mining market, in 2012. He has in fact additionally been a part of the National Council and also Principal Page of the New Zealand Institute of Design considered that 2014. Plenty of the moment he practices in the primary centers like Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch but he also practices in areas that consist of Tauranga, Queenstown, the Hawkes Bay, and the Marlborough Sounds. His previous clients consist of Aquaculture New Zealand, the Board of Airline Business, Air New Zealand, Auckland Global Airport Terminal, and Balance. He focuses on domestic and business centers and industrial developments. The adhering to are a few of the fields covered by James Gardner Hopkins Strategy: Resource Administration Among the primary areas of knowledge of John’s Strategy is resource management. The Resource Control Act is substantial guidelines in New Zealand. The legislation promotes the sustainable usage of normal deposits.
The Resource Administration Act is substantive due to the reality that it places sustainable management as an essential primary framework. James may direct someone to make sure that you will certainly stay certified with the stipulations of the legislation. Taking treatment of the placing is an essential primary Resource Administration Act and is an extremely essential trend today. The business has to be conscious of the result that their actions bring to the setting. James may help you make sure that you are certified with ecological laws. He has helped various clients prior to which were using attention to ecological scenarios. Planning and also Organic Methods Legislation James was the peak of Russell McVeagh’s Placing, Planning, and also Organic Methods group for just two decades prior to he began his very possessive method. Neighborhood Have you been planning on getting property inside a neighborhood? Have you been developing a home and also might need neighborhood options? James Gardner Hopkins has extensive knowledge when it concerns taking treatment of property or business properties and that might consist of class.
Mining Market As a result of James Extensive knowledge in managing circumstances taking treatment of regulations regarding the placing and also options, he is additionally rather experienced when it concerns circumstances that stress over the mining sector. He was prepared to get essential lawsuits knowledge during the so-called “Supermarket Wars’’. All through these hard-fought circumstances, he gained an understanding of the regulations related to retail companies. Fuel &rev; The petroleum field is an extremely economically gratifying field that might create lots of income for every person required. With the current increase in ecological activism, petroleum firms may deal with some obstacles. As well as his knowledge in managing circumstances that deal with the Resource Control Behave, James Gardner Hopkins is noticeably well-positioned to assist you with circumstances that are related to the mining sector. Handle: PO Field 25160 Wellington, 6011, New Zealand Telephone: 021 277 1425 Water Since water is among the absolute most important options, it’s perhaps maybe not shocking that James has handled circumstances which are often taking treatment of water options countless times.
Transportation Market The transport field may certainly involve some influence on the placing and also sources. If you need a legal representative who recognizes the regulations worrying about the transport field, then you should get in touch with James Gardner Hopkins now. Coastal areas represent locations of diversity that need to be protected. James additionally has got the competence to deal with circumstances regarding seaside areas. Along with managing circumstances that handled the Resource Management Behave and also the placing, James Gardner Hopkins was additionally lucky adequate to deal with major Maori legal lawyers James Majurey and also Christian What J. He has additionally dealt with jobs that required Tangata Whenua from the days he was personnel at Russell McVeagh.
Therefore, if you are searching for a legal representative who’ll certainly fight fearlessly for you when required and also who may create a lasting relationship with you as a specialist, contact James Gardner Hopkins now. Go to for more details about James Gardner Hopkins.
I have actually specialized for 17 decades in Resource Management, Environment, Planning, and Organic Sources Law. I was initially based in Auckland, but now service the whole of New Zealand from Wellington. I’ve substantial knowledge in advising on source authorization purposes, plan modifications, designations, hazardous substances, and different ecological approvals, with a focus on business, property, facilities, and industrial developments. I behave in purposes for judicial evaluation (both for candidates for evaluation, and respondents), especially in regard to non-notified authorization concerns, but also in regard to different local authority and Ministerial decisions. I also advise on Maori legal issues, from best practice consultation and involvement, right through to security of sites of national significance and waahi tapu. I’m the writer of the “Lexis Nexis Sensible Assistance to Resource Management” and the Harmful Ingredients section of the NZ book “Environmental and Resource Management Law “.
I’m enthusiastic about constructing a significantly better New Zealand and helping my clients contribute to that result. I was born in Auckland, to an English school teacher and a Niuean manufacturer employee. I grew up mostly in London, but returned home to New Zealand to complete my knowledge and be closer to my family here. I summer clerked at Russell McVeagh in 1999, returning as a casual worker in 2000 and beginning complete time in March 2001. I was offered to Elderly Lawyer in 2005, Elderly Partner in 2007, and became a Partner in 2009. In my own last two decades prior to retiring from collaboration and moving to the independent club, I led the company’s nationwide Environment, Planning, and Organic Sources group, in addition to the company’s Maori Legal Group.
For more information, visit https://www.bestlawyers.com/current-edition/new-zealand
1 note · View note
divyansh215 · 4 years
Text
Dr. Pranab Mukherjee
Namashkar. You are listening to a Divyansh Garg podcast. You can now listen to my podcasts on Youtube and Spotify and get them in a blog format on tumblr. Use headphones for a better experience. On 31st August 2020 the Bharat Ratna awardee passed away. The 13th President of Independent India, one of the oldest congress leaders, he was Dr. Pranab Mukherjee. So let’s have a detailed look on his journey.
But before that, it often comes in our mind that why am I talking about this person? Aisa kya contribute kiya hai unhone hmari country ke liye? Why is he so important? The answer to this question is very simple. He was among the last of the Congress leaders to have worked closely with Indira Gandhi. Mukherjee’s death marks the end of an era in the Congress. He has severed our country as foreign, defense, commerce and finance minister. He was also a Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission. Nevertheless Mukherjee served the country as its 13th President for five years from 2012 to 2017.
So let’s begin with his journey. Pranab da was born into a Bengali family at Mirati, a village in the Bengal Presidency of British India. Unke pitaji, Kamada Kinkar Mukherjee was active in the Indian independence movement and was a member of West Bengal Legislative Council as a representative of the Indian National Congress. Unki ma thi Rajlakshmi Mukherjee. Unke do siblings bhi the: older sister Annapurna and younger brother Piyush.
On growing up he earned an MA degree in Political Science & History and an LL.B. degree; both from University of Calcutta. Unki shadi Suvra Mukherjee se hui. In 1963, he became a lecturer of Political Science at Vidyasagar College and he also worked as a Journalist before entering politics. Being a lecturer and a journalist, unhe koi idea nhi tha ki vo kabhi politics me bhi apne kadam rakhenge. But destiny wanted something else.
Pranab da’s political journey started in West Bengal when he was the election agent for VK Krishna Menon, who won the election as an independent candidate. Later, He became a member of Rajya Sabha in July 1969 on a Bangla Congress ticket. And then there was no turning back. The Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi, had recognised Mukherjee's talents and recruited him to her party, the Indian National Congress. It was her who brought in the ‘little master’ to the Rajya Sabha as a member of the Bangla Congress. Mukherjee also became a Gandhi loyalist aur unhe Indira Gandhi ji ka "man for all seasons” bhi kaha jane laga.
Mukherjee received his first ministerial assignment with Indira Gandhi in 1973, first as junior minister of industrial development. Within two years, he was elevated as a deputy minister with independent charge of revenue and banking departments. Bombay smuggling underworld don Haji Mastan ke upar kai crackdowns lagwane ki wajah se ve boht hi jald surkhiyo me aane lage the.  
Mukherjee was active in the Indian cabinet during the controversial Internal Emergency of 1975–77. Ruling Congress politicians of the day including Mukherjee ko aksar accuse bhi kiya jata h for using extra-constitutional powers to "wreck established norms and rules of governance." In 1982, shortly after Gandhi returned to power from the post-Emergency oblivion, she appointed Mukherjee as India’s finance minister, replacing R Venkataraman.
As finance minister, Mukherjee had fiery innings. International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan ke $1.1 billion ki instalment vapis pahuchne ke sath hi unhone puri duniya ko surprise kr diya tha. A cautious reformer, he was nevertheless the first to stoke up expenditure without letting inflation get out of hand. He also opened the NRI investment window, which pioneered sweeping changes in India’s image as a destination of foreign funds.
Lekin Indira Gandhi ke assassination ke bad Mukherjee ko congress se side kr diya gya tha. Although Mukherjee was much more experienced in politics than Indira's son, Rajiv Gandhi, it was Rajiv who gained control. Mukherjee lost his position in the cabinet and was sent to manage the regional West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee. He was considered to be Indira's likely successor and, siding with those within his party who aligned themselves against Rajiv Gandhi, Mukherjee was sidelined and eventually expelled from the mainstream.
Mukherjee's political career revived following Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 when P. V. Narasimha Rao chose to appoint him as deputy chairman of the Indian Planning Commission and subsequently as a union cabinet minister. Mukherjee served as External Affairs Minister for the first time from 1995 to 1996 in Rao's cabinet. Mukherjee also played a pivotal role in helping the India-US civil nuclear agreement sail through despite threat of the government being toppled.
Mukherjee became Leader of the House in the Lok Sabha in 2004. Jab 2004 me Sonia Gandhi ne pm bnne se mana kr diya to ye assume kiya gya ki ab Mukherjee hi pm ki kudsi smbhalenge. However, Manmohan Singh was chosen. Though he played many important roles in Manmohan Singh’s government. He served five times as a member of Rajya Sabha and twice as a member of the Lok Sabha. He was conferred Padma Vibhusan, India’s second-highest civilian award, in 2008.
Known for his sharp memory, clarity of thought and grasp over issues, Mukherjee has the rare distinction of serving as foreign, defence, commerce and finance minister. He was also a Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission. And finally, Mukherjee served the country as its 13th President for five years from 2012 to 2017.
Apne presidential career me unka kabhi kisi bhi political party se clash nhi hua. Such a living legend he was. His story tells us about the true meaning of struggle. Kitni bar unpr saval uthaye gaye aur na jane kitni bar unhe neeche girane ki koshish ki gayi. But his calm and focused attitude was above the world’s obligations. Itna bada life lesson hme vo aaj  deke gaye hai. And 2012 me, he got what he actually deserved. May his soul rest in peace. Dhanyavad.
Namashkar. You are listening to a Divyansh Garg podcast. You can now listen to my podcasts on Youtube and Spotify and get them in a blog format on tumblr. Use headphones for a better experience. On 31st August 2020 the Bharat Ratna awardee passed away. The 13th President of Independent India, one of the oldest congress leaders, he was Dr. Pranab Mukherjee. So let’s have a detailed look on his journey.
But before that, it often comes in our mind that why am I talking about this person? Aisa kya contribute kiya hai unhone hmari country ke liye? Why is he so important? The answer to this question is very simple. He was among the last of the Congress leaders to have worked closely with Indira Gandhi. Mukherjee’s death marks the end of an era in the Congress. He has severed our country as foreign, defense, commerce and finance minister. He was also a Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission. Nevertheless Mukherjee served the country as its 13th President for five years from 2012 to 2017.
So let’s begin with his journey. Pranab da was born into a Bengali family at Mirati, a village in the Bengal Presidency of British India. Unke pitaji, Kamada Kinkar Mukherjee was active in the Indian independence movement and was a member of West Bengal Legislative Council as a representative of the Indian National Congress. Unki ma thi Rajlakshmi Mukherjee. Unke do siblings bhi the: older sister Annapurna and younger brother Piyush.
On growing up he earned an MA degree in Political Science & History and an LL.B. degree; both from University of Calcutta. Unki shadi Suvra Mukherjee se hui. In 1963, he became a lecturer of Political Science at Vidyasagar College and he also worked as a Journalist before entering politics. Being a lecturer and a journalist, unhe koi idea nhi tha ki vo kabhi politics me bhi apne kadam rakhenge. But destiny wanted something else.
Pranab da’s political journey started in West Bengal when he was the election agent for VK Krishna Menon, who won the election as an independent candidate. Later, He became a member of Rajya Sabha in July 1969 on a Bangla Congress ticket. And then there was no turning back. The Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi, had recognised Mukherjee's talents and recruited him to her party, the Indian National Congress. It was her who brought in the ‘little master’ to the Rajya Sabha as a member of the Bangla Congress. Mukherjee also became a Gandhi loyalist aur unhe Indira Gandhi ji ka "man for all seasons” bhi kaha jane laga.
Mukherjee received his first ministerial assignment with Indira Gandhi in 1973, first as junior minister of industrial development. Within two years, he was elevated as a deputy minister with independent charge of revenue and banking departments. Bombay smuggling underworld don Haji Mastan ke upar kai crackdowns lagwane ki wajah se ve boht hi jald surkhiyo me aane lage the.  
Mukherjee was active in the Indian cabinet during the controversial Internal Emergency of 1975–77. Ruling Congress politicians of the day including Mukherjee ko aksar accuse bhi kiya jata h for using extra-constitutional powers to "wreck established norms and rules of governance." In 1982, shortly after Gandhi returned to power from the post-Emergency oblivion, she appointed Mukherjee as India’s finance minister, replacing R Venkataraman.
As finance minister, Mukherjee had fiery innings. International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan ke $1.1 billion ki instalment vapis pahuchne ke sath hi unhone puri duniya ko surprise kr diya tha. A cautious reformer, he was nevertheless the first to stoke up expenditure without letting inflation get out of hand. He also opened the NRI investment window, which pioneered sweeping changes in India’s image as a destination of foreign funds.
Lekin Indira Gandhi ke assassination ke bad Mukherjee ko congress se side kr diya gya tha. Although Mukherjee was much more experienced in politics than Indira's son, Rajiv Gandhi, it was Rajiv who gained control. Mukherjee lost his position in the cabinet and was sent to manage the regional West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee. He was considered to be Indira's likely successor and, siding with those within his party who aligned themselves against Rajiv Gandhi, Mukherjee was sidelined and eventually expelled from the mainstream.
Mukherjee's political career revived following Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 when P. V. Narasimha Rao chose to appoint him as deputy chairman of the Indian Planning Commission and subsequently as a union cabinet minister. Mukherjee served as External Affairs Minister for the first time from 1995 to 1996 in Rao's cabinet. Mukherjee also played a pivotal role in helping the India-US civil nuclear agreement sail through despite threat of the government being toppled.
Mukherjee became Leader of the House in the Lok Sabha in 2004. Jab 2004 me Sonia Gandhi ne pm bnne se mana kr diya to ye assume kiya gya ki ab Mukherjee hi pm ki kudsi smbhalenge. However, Manmohan Singh was chosen. Though he played many important roles in Manmohan Singh’s government. He served five times as a member of Rajya Sabha and twice as a member of the Lok Sabha. He was conferred Padma Vibhusan, India’s second-highest civilian award, in 2008.
Known for his sharp memory, clarity of thought and grasp over issues, Mukherjee has the rare distinction of serving as foreign, defence, commerce and finance minister. He was also a Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission. And finally, Mukherjee served the country as its 13th President for five years from 2012 to 2017.
Apne presidential career me unka kabhi kisi bhi political party se clash nhi hua. Such a living legend he was. His story tells us about the true meaning of struggle. Kitni bar unpr saval uthaye gaye aur na jane kitni bar unhe neeche girane ki koshish ki gayi. But his calm and focused attitude was above the world’s obligations. Itna bada life lesson hme vo aaj  deke gaye hai. And 2012 me, he got what he actually deserved. May his soul rest in peace. Dhanyavad.
1 note · View note
careerfinders · 6 years
Text
pain and the European Union were told unequivocally yesterday that Gibraltar’s British sovereignty will never be bartered against the wishes of its people and that the Rock must be included in any future relationship agreed by the UK and the EU after Brexit.
Tumblr media
The message was delivered almost simultaneously by Chief Minister Fabian Picardo in the Gibraltar Parliament and Prime Minister Theresa May in the House of Commons.
It came as negotiators in Brussels agreed a text for the proposed political declaration that accompanies the Withdrawal Agreement and sets out a framework for talks on future EU/UK relations.
European Council president Donald Tusk announced that the text had been agreed in draft form by EU and UK negotiators and “agreed in principle at political level”.
A leaked copy of the draft text made no mention of Gibraltar, despite threats from Spain that it would vote against the Withdrawal Agreement and the declaration unless they specified that Gibraltar’s inclusion in any future arrangements between the UK and the EU must first be decided directly by officials in Madrid and London.
London and Brussels are loathe to reopen the draft agreement and or the declaration to entertain last-minute objections raised by individual EU member states.
Although they do not state so openly, some officials believe the Spanish position is driven more by party political concerns ahead of regional elections in Andalucia on December 2, rather than genuine concern about the future negotiation.
Gibraltar’s absence from the leaked copy of the political declaration was taken as by Spanish opposition parties as a snub by Brussels to the Socialist government of Pedro Sanchez.
In London, Mrs May told the Commons that she had spoken to Mr Sanchez and made the UK’s position clear.
“We have been working constructively with the governments of Spain and Gibraltar in the negotiations on the withdrawal agreement and we want this work to continue in the future relationship,” Mrs May said.
“But I was absolutely clear that Gibraltar’s British sovereignty will be protected and that the future relationship we agree must work for the whole UK family.”
In Gibraltar, the Chief Minister reinforced that message for the avoidance of any doubt.
“Brexit is a bad thing for the whole of Europe,” Mr Picardo said.
“Brexit without an agreement for orderly agreed withdrawal would be even worse for the whole of Europe.”
“And for us, Brexit is as bad an idea today in reality as when it was in theory at the time of the Referendum.”
“But so for us, it is always best that we stick with Britain despite Brexit.”
“We have stuck with Britain in the past. And we will stick with Britain in the future.”
There was support too from the Opposition bench in the Gibraltar Parliament, where the Leader of the Opposition, GSD MP Elliott Phillips, said expressed concern about speculation that Spain might raise joint sovereignty during negotiations for the future relationship.
“From these benches, that is entirely unacceptable to Her Majesty’s Opposition, and to the people of Gibraltar,” he said.
“The position of the Spanish Government raises further concerns as to [its] commitment to adhere to any agreement over Gibraltar.”
“For now we reserve our assessment until such time as the position becomes clearer but continue to express our misgivings.”
“I am sure that we share the dismay of the whole House that Spain should be seeking to exclude Gibraltar from the negotiations on the future relationship with the EU until it gains a political advantage.”
“The [Gibraltar] Government will need to remain vigilant that nothing is changed in the current text of the Withdrawal Agreement to further undermine Gibraltar’s position.”
PARALLEL AGREEMENTS
The controversy over Madrid’s objections to the Withdrawal Agreement came as Gibraltar, the UK and Spain finalised parallel work on agreements that will provide a framework for cooperation between Gibraltar and Spain after Brexit.
Mr Picardo briefed the Cabinet and the Brexit Select Committee on that package of measures, which he and his team had finalised with the UK and Spain in Madrid this week.
The package includes four memorandums of understanding on citizens’ rights, tobacco market access, cooperation on environmental issues and cooperation on police and customs matters.
There is also a tax treaty that sets out provisions on fiscal transparency and tax residency rules of the type found in a double taxation or information exchange agreement.
Gibraltar has such agreements with many other countries and has long sought one with Spain, Mr Picardo said.
All of those agreements are now “virtually complete, subject to a common final political agreement” Mr Picardo told Parliament.
The Chief Minister expects to make a ministerial statement on the nature and effect of those measures next week, once the European Council has reached final agreement on the Withdrawal Agreement and political declaration on the future relationship.
“Nothing in these documents compromises any of our red lines,” Mr Picardo said.
“Nothing in them alters in any way whatsoever our Constitution and constitutional competences.”
“There are and there will be no concessions on matters of sovereignty, jurisdiction or control.”
“In fact, they are expressly arrangements entered into without prejudice to all sovereignty positions.”
“Neither do these documents require us to do things that we have any problem in doing.”
All of the MoUs – except for the tax treaty and the agreement on citizens’ rights – create obligations only until the end of December 2020, or the end of the 21-month transition period. “Unless we agree otherwise, they drop dead then,” Mr Picardo said.
The Chief Minister told Parliament that “nothing has been imposed” on Gibraltar and that everything agreed would be implemented in line with the Gibraltar Constitution.
“All the commitments entered into, whether under the Protocol or the MoUs concerning Gibraltar, have been negotiated by Gibraltar and the United Kingdom together,” he said.
“They are commitments entered into only as a result of the consent of the Cabinet of Her Majesty’s Government of Gibraltar having been expressly given.”
“The Government is the guardian of the Constitution as much as this legislature or the judiciary may be.”
“We would not have countenanced agreeing to anything which might have resulted in our constitutional order somehow being compromised.”
SPANISH VIEWPOINT
Tumblr media
Unsurprisingly perhaps, there was a different interpretation of the agreements in the Spanish Congress in Madrid, where Spain’s state secretary for European affairs, Marco Aguiriano, briefed Spanish MPs on the latest Brexit developments, including the agreements with Gibraltar.
Mr Aguiriano left no doubt that Spain believes the Gibraltar Protocol in the Withdrawal Agreement gives Spain a role in how certain EU laws are applied to Gibraltar.
“It is the first time that any primary EU legislation will recognise Spain’s involvement, and its right to be consulted, on certain aspects of the application of EU law on the Rock,” he said.
He also sketched out the content of the various agreements that stemmed from the protocol.
He said the tax treaty would tackle “tax fraud” and “unfair competition”, while the agreement on citizens’ rights would protect the interests of cross-border workers who, he said, would benefit from the same rights as Gibraltarian workers.
He spoke too of tobacco, letting slip that the memorandum including a commitment that the differential between prices in Gibraltar and Spain would be “no more than 32%” by June 2020.
On the environment, he said the agreement would establish a technical committee for cooperation and enable Spanish artisanal fishermen to fish with “absolute normality”, as well as implement a moratorium on reclamation through to the end of the transition period.
The last memorandum on police and customs cooperation sought to coordinate efforts to tackle organised crime in the area of the Strait of Gibraltar, a shared goal of all three governments.
Last night, the Gibraltar Government was closely monitoring the statements made in the Spanish Congress by Mr Aguiriano, who was still speaking as this edition went to press.
However, questioned by the Chronicle, a spokesman for No.6 Convent Place said Mr Aguiriano was giving the agreements a spin that was not based on fact.
“The statements from Sr Aguiriano are not based on any possible proper interpretation of the texts,” the spokesman said.
“The publication of the MoUs will demonstrate this.”
“There is nothing in any of them or the Protocol which will allows Spain to be consulted in any way about the implementation of EU law in Gibraltar.”
“His description of the content of the various agreements on tax, citizens’ rights, environment and tobacco is also off the mark, not least because much of what he describes is already in place under EU laws.”
DIALOGUE
Despite the different messaging in Gibraltar and Madrid, Mr Picardo said Gibraltar remained committed dialogue and cooperation that respected red lines on sovereignty and jurisdiction.
The Chief Minister told Parliament that without Gibraltar’s inclusion in the Withdrawal Agreement, the Rock would not be covered by the transitional arrangements designed to cushion the blow of exit from the bloc.
Mr Picardo added too that it was time to consider what type of future relationship Gibraltar wanted with Spain, “our geographic gateway to Europe”.
Gibraltar, he said, had more reasons for cooperation or discussion with Spain than with any other remaining EU nations.
“So we wish to continue, in our discussions about the future, to engage directly with Spain also in the spirit of cooperation and positive engagement we have enjoyed in this withdrawal phase of the negotiations,” Mr Picardo said.
“No one should think that we read any part of the Withdrawal Agreement in any way that would persuade us to avoid that genuine, human and political reality.”
“Nobody needs a veto to bring us to the table.”
“At this critical time in Europe’s history, Gibraltar can be the strongest foundation stone for a future relationship between the UK and the EU, not a rock on the road to agreement.”
“That is our firm commitment and resolve.”
1 note · View note
thechasefiles · 6 years
Photo
Tumblr media
Mia Amor Mottley, QC, MP (born 1 October 1965) is a Barbadian politician and the Prime Minister-designate of Barbados. Mottley, who leads the Barbados Labour Party (BLP), was previously Leader of the Opposition from 2008 to 2010. She is a Member of Parliament for the constituency of Saint Michael-North East. From 1994 to 2008, she held a succession of ministerial portfolios. She is also a member of the Inter-American Dialogue.
Mottley has been much influenced by her family. She is the granddaughter of Ernest Deighton Mottley (1907–1973), a real estate broker and successful politician particularly at the parish level. He was the first Mayor of Bridgetown (1959), representing Bridgetown in the House of Assembly from 1946, who belonged to the conservative party and helped the poor. He was granted the Ordinary Commander of the Civil Division for public services in Barbados in June 1962 and assisted Wynter Algernon Crawford (1910–1993), Barbados's Trade Minister, at the Independent Conference in London during June and July 1966.
Mottley's uncle, also named Ernest Deighton Mottley (1931–2008), a refuse disposal officer who lived in Great Britain for 18 years, became the political leader of the short-lived Christian Social Democratic Party (CSD) created in March 1975.Mia's father Elliott Deighton Mottley (born 26 Nov 1939), was also a barrister who sat in the House of Assembly, albeit for a relatively short time before vacating the seat to become consul-general in New York. He was educated at Eagle Hall School, Harrison College (Barbados) and Middle Temple (London) once served as Bermuda's attorney-general and sits on Belize's Court of Appeal. He married Mia's mother Santa Amor Tappin in December 1964, just three years after being called to the Bar and was elected to represent Bridgetown (Barbados) in May 1969. It has been suggested that the Prime Minister of the time, Errol Barrow, used his parliamentary majority to abolish local government altogether and therefore undermine Elliott Mottley's strength in the political arena.
Mia Mottley was educated at Merrivale Preparatory School (Barbados; closed summer 2010),[4] the United Nations International School (New York City), and Queen's College (Barbados).
By 1986, Mottley finalized her training as attorney and received a law degree from the London School of Economics (Houghton Street, London, England) Mottley has grown to be among a handful of elected Barbadian officials with a family background in Barbados's parliamentary history, and her colleagues at the Bar describe her as aggressive and knowledgeable about the law, giving her gusto in the political arena.
Mottley first entered Barbadian politics in 1991, when she lost an election race in St. Michael North East against Leroy Brathwaite (a defeat of less than 200 votes). Between 1991 and 1994 she was one of two Opposition Senators in the Upper House, where she was Shadow Minister of Culture and Community Development. During that time, she also served on numerous Parliamentary Joint Select Committees on areas ranging from Praedial Larceny and Domestic Violence.
Following the BLP's victory in the 1994 general election, Mottley was appointed to the Ministry of Education, Youth Affairs and Culture in September 1994, under Prime Minister Owen Arthur; at the age of 29, she became one of the youngest Barbadians ever to be assigned a ministerial portfolio. During her tenure she co-authored the White Paper on Education entitled Each Child Matters, which draws the link between better education and job fulfillment.
She was elected General Secretary of the Barbados Labour Party in 1996. In that same year and again in 1997, she served as Chairman of the Caricom Standing Committee of Ministers of Education.
Mottley was appointed Attorney-General and Minister of Home Affairs in August 2001 and is the first female (in Barbados) to hold this position. She is also the youngest ever Queen's Counsel in Barbados. In addition to being a Member of the Privy Council of Barbados, she was Leader of the House and a member of the National Security Council and the Barbados Defence Board. She is also credited with being the visionary behind the Education Sector Enhancement Programme, popularly known as "Edutech", which aims to increase the number of young people contributing to the island’s sustainable social and economic development. This revolutionary programme involves the widespread use of information and communication technologies to assist in improving the quality of the teaching/learning process.
In Youth Affairs, Mottley directed the establishment of the Youth Entrepreneurship Scheme and a National Youth Development Programme.
Two years later Mottley was to serve as Barbados's second female Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Social Council of Barbados and the Deputy Chairman of Barbados' Economic Council, a position she held until 2008 that allowed her extended responsibilities, including the chairmanship of a number of key Cabinet sub-committees, notably Telecommunications Reform and one oversight of the administrative and legislative initiatives to prepare Barbados for the advent of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy.
In a government reshuffle in February 2006, Mottley was appointed as Minister of Economic Affairs and Development, a post she also held until 2008, where her responsibilities put her in charge of key economic agencies.
Following the BLP's defeat in the election held on 15 January 2008 and Owen Arthur's resignation as party leader, Mia Mottley was chosen as BLP party leader on 19 January 2008. She is the first woman to lead the party, as well as the country's first female Opposition Leader.Mottley was sworn in as Opposition Leader on 7 February 2008. She promised the people that the Barbados Labour Party would be a strong and unified Opposition that would fight for the rights of all citizens in the country.
On 18 October 2010, Mottley's appointment as Leader of the Opposition was revoked following a vote of no-confidence by five of her parliamentary colleagues. The five MPs placed their support behind former Prime Minister Owen Arthur, who assumed the leadership position that same day.
In the February 2013 general election, the BLP was narrowly defeated, obtaining 14 seats against 16 for the Democratic Labour Party (DLP). A few days after the election, on 26 February 2013, the BLP parliamentary group elected Mottley as Leader of the Opposition, replacing Arthur.
In the May 2018 general election, the BLP recorded a historic landslide victory, winning all 30 seats in parliament and over 70% of the popular vote, making Mottley the first woman to be elected to the post of prime minister in Barbados.
7 notes · View notes
yngwrthr · 6 years
Link
“II.
[...]
In programmatic terms our point of view has nothing In common with anarchism and syndicalism. We favor the strong and centralized Marxist political party that Lenin speaks of. Indeed we are the most fervent supporters of this idea in the maximalist camp. We are not In favor of boycotting economic trade unions but of communists taking them over, and our position corresponds to that expressed by comrade Zinoviev in his report to the Congress of the Russian Communist Party, published by Avanti! on 1 January.
As for the workers' councils, these exist in only a few places in Italy and then they are exclusively factory councils, made up of workshop delegates who are concerned with questions internal to the factory. Our proposal, on the other hand, is to take the initiative in setting up rural and municipal Soviets, elected directly by the masses assembled in the factories or villages; for we believe that in preparing for the revolution, the struggle should have a predominantly political character. We are in favor of participating in elections to any representative body of the working class when the electorate consists exclusively of workers. On the other hand, we are against the participation of communists in elections for parliaments, or bourgeois municipal and provincial councils, or constituent assemblies, because we are of the opinion that it is not possible to carry out revolutionary work in such bodies; we believe that electoral work is an obstacle in the path of the Working masses, forming a communist consciousness and laying the preparations for the proletarian dictatorship as the antithesis of bourgeois democracy.
To participate in such bodies and expect to emerge unscathed by social-democratic and collaborationist deviations is a vain hope in the current historical period, as is shown by the present Italian parliamentary session. These conclusions are reinforced by the experience of the struggle waged by the left wing in our Party from 1910-11 to the present day against all the manoeuvrings of parliamentarism, in a country which has supported a bourgeois democratic regime for a long time: the campaign against ministerialism; against forming electoral political and administrative alliance with democratic parties; against freemasonry and bourgeois anti-clericalism, etc. From this experience we drew the conclusion that the gravest danger for the socialist revolution lies in collaborating with bourgeois democracy on the terrain of social reformism. This experience was subsequently generalized in the course of the war and the revolutionary events in Russia, Germany, Hungary, etc.
Parliamentary intransigence was a practical proposition, despite continual clashes and difficulties, in a non-revolutionary period, when the conquest of power on the part of the working class did not seem very likely. In addition, the more the regime and the composition of parliament itself have a traditional democratic character, the greater become the difficulties of parliamentary action. It is with these points in mind that we would judge the comparisons with the Bolsheviks' participation in elections to the Duma after 1905. The tactic employed by the Russian comrades, of participating in elections to the Constituent Assembly and then dissolving it by force, despite the fact that it did not prove to be the undoing of the revolution, would be a dangerous tactic to use in countries where the parliamentary system, far from being a recent phenomenon, is an institution of long standing and one that is rooted firmly in the consciousness and customs of the proletariat itself.
The work required to gain the support of the masses for the abolition of the system of democratic representation would appear to be -- and is in fact -- a much greater task for us in Italy than in, say, Russia or even Germany. The need to give the greatest force to this propaganda aimed at devaluing the parliamentary institution and eliminating its sinister counter-revolutionary influence has led us to the tactic of abstentionism. To electoral activity we counterpose the violent conquest of political power on the part of the proletariat and the formation of the Council State: hence our abstentionism in no way diminishes our insistence on the need for a centralized revolutionary government. Indeed, we are against collaborating with anarchists and syndicalists within the revolutionary movement, for they do not accept such criteria of propaganda and action.
The general election of 16 November, despite the fact that it was fought by the PSI on a maximalist platform, has proved once again that electoral activity excludes and pushes into the background every other form of activity, above all illegal activity. In Italy the problem is not one of uniting legal and illegal activity, as Lenin advises the German comrades, but of beginning to reduce legal activity in order to make a start on its illegal counterpart, which does not exist at all. The new parliamentary group has devoted itself to social-democratic and minimalist work, tabling questions, drafting legislation, etc.
We conclude our exposition by letting you know that in all likelihood, although we have maintained discipline within the PSI and upheld its tactics until now, before long and perhaps prior to the municipal elections, which are due in July, our fraction will break away from the party that seems set on retaining many anti-communists in its ranks, to form the Italian Communist Party, whose first act will be to affiliate to the Communist International.
Revolutionary greetings.”
5 notes · View notes
dunilefra · 3 years
Text
Constitution of Bahrain
Article 7 (Part of it)
a. The State sponsors the sciences, humanities and the arts, and encourages scientific research. The State also guarantees educational and cultural services to its citizens. Education is compulsory and free in the early stages as specified and provided by law. The necessary plan to combat illiteracy is laid down by law.
c. Individuals and bodies may establish private schools and universities under the supervision of the state and in accordance with the law.
Article 8
a. Every citizen is entitled to health care. The State cares for public health and the State ensures the means of prevention and treatment by establishing a variety of hospitals and health care institutions.
b. Individuals and bodies may establish private hospitals, clinics or treatment centers under the supervision of the State in accordance with the law.
Article 9 (Part of it)
e. The relationship between the owners of land and real estate and their tenants shall be regulated by law on economic principles while observing social justice.
f. The State shall endeavor to provide housing for citizens with limited income.
h. The State shall take the necessary measures for the protection of the environment and the conversation of wildlife.
Article 11
All natural wealth and resources are State property. The State shall safeguard them and exploit them properly, while observing the requirements of the security of the State and of the national economy.
Article 13
a. Work is the duty of every citizen, is required by personal dignity and is dictated by the public good. Every citizen has the right to work and to choose the type of work within the bounds of public order and decency.
b. The State guarantees the provision of job opportunities for its citizens and the fairness of work conditions.
c. Compulsory work cannot be imposed on any person except in the cases specified by law for national exigency and for a fair consideration, or pursuant to a judicial ruling.
d. The law regulates the relationship between employees and employers on economic basis while observing social justice.
Article 15
a. Taxes and public costs are based on social justice, and their payment is a duty under the law.
b. The law regulates exemption of low incomes from taxes in order to ensure that a minimum standard of living is safeguarded.
Article 18
People are equal in human dignity, and citizens are equal before the law in public rights and duties. There shall be no discrimination among them on the basis of sex, origin, language, religion or creed.
Article 19
a. Personal freedom is guaranteed under the law.
b. A person cannot be arrested, detained, imprisoned or searched, or his place of residence specified or his freedom of residence or movement restricted, except under the provisions of the law and under judicial supervision.
c. A person cannot be detained or imprisoned in locations other than those designated in the prison regulations covered by health and social care and subject to control by the judicial authority.
d. No person shall be subjected to physical or mental torture, or inducement, or undignified treatment, and the penalty for so doing shall be specified by law. Any statement or confession proved to have been made under torture, inducement, or such treatment, or the threat thereof, shall be null and void.
Article 20
a. There shall be no crime and no punishment except under a law, and punishment only for acts committed subsequent to the effective date of the law providing for the same.
b. Punishment is personal.
c. An accused person is innocent until proved guilty in a legal trial in which he is assured of the necessary guarantees to exercise the right of defence at all stages of the investigation and trial in accordance with the law.
d. It is forbidden to harm an accused person physically or mentally.
e. Every person accused of an offense must have lawyer to defend him with his consent.
f. The right to litigate is guaranteed under the law.
Article 25
Dwellings are inviolate. They cannot be entered or searched without the permission of their occupants exception in cases of maximum necessity as laid down and in the manner provided by law.
Article 26
The freedom of postal, telegraphic, telephonic and electronic communication is safeguarded and its confidentiality is guaranteed. Communications shall not be censored or their confidentiality breached except in exigencies specified by law and in accordance with procedures and under guarantees prescribed by law.
Article 28
a. Individuals are entitled to assemble privately without a need for permission or prior notice, and no member of the security forces may attend their private meetings.
b. Public meetings, parades and assemblies are permitted under the rules and conditions laid down by law, but the purposes and means of the meeting must be peaceful and must not be prejudicial to public decency.
Article 32 (Part of it)
a. The system of government rests on a separation of the legislative, executive and judicial authorities while maintaining cooperation between them in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution. None of the three authorities may assign all or part of its powers stated in this Constitution. However, limited legislative delegation for a particular period and specific subject(s) is permissible, whereupon the powers shall be exercised in accordance with the provisions of the Delegation Law.
Article 48 (Part of it)
b. While in charge of his Ministry, a Minister may not assume any other public office, nor may he even indirectly practice a profession or conduct industrial, commercial or financial business, nor may he participate in contracts concluded by the Government or public institutions, or combine his ministerial position with the membership of the board of directors of any company except as a non-remunerated Government representative. Also during this period the Minister may not purchase or rent a State asset even by way of public auction, nor may he lease, sell, or barter any of his assets to the State.
Article 59
Should a seat in the Chamber of Deputies become vacant prior to the end of its term, for any reason, a replacement shall be elected within two months of the Chamber's announcement of the vacancy, and the new member's term shall last for the remaining term of his predecessor.
If the vacancy was caused by the resignation of the member, that member may not nominate himself for the membership in the Chamber during the legislative term in which he tendered his resignation.
If the vacancy occurs within the final six months of the term of the Chamber, a replacement shall not be elected.
Article 85
Should the two Chambers disagree over a bill twice, the National Assembly, presided over by the President of the Chamber of Deputies, shall convene for deliberation on the disputed clauses, and the bill shall require the approval of the majority of the members of the National Assembly present. If the bill is rejected in this manner, it may not be submitted to the National Assembly again during the same legislative session.
Article 109
a. The financial year shall be prescribed by law.
b. The Government prepares the draft budget, including the state revenues and expenses, and presents it to the Chamber of Deputies and the Consultative Council at least two months prior to the end of the fiscal year. Following the submission of the draft budget, the financial committees of either Chamber shall meet in a joint session to discuss the draft budget with the Government, following which each committee submits a separate report to its Chamber. The draft budget is presented to the Chamber of Deputies for discussion and then submitted to the Consultative Council for review in accordance with the constitution, and amendments to the draft budget are possible in agreement with the Government.
c. Discussion of the draft budget is on the basis of the itemization contained therein. A budget may be prepared for two years at the most, and none of the public revenues may be assigned to an expense without a law.
d. The State general budget shall be promulgated by law.
e. If the Budget Law is not promulgated before the beginning of the financial year, the previous budget shall be adheres to until the law’s promulgation, and revenue shall be collected and expenditure disbursed in accordance with the laws in force at the end of that year.
f. Under no circumstances may the maximum estimates of expenditure stated in the Budget Law and laws in amendment thereof be exceeded.
Article 118
The law shall regulate cash and the banks, and shall regulate weight, measures and standards.
a project by Dunilefra, working for Fundamental Rights
0 notes
Text
Devolution and the Governance of England
‘England is the only part of the union whose people have not been consulted or offered a referendum on how they wish to be governed in the past twenty years.’
Evidence to the Constitutional Affairs and Public Affairs Select Committee. I am currently scheduled to give oral evidence on Tuesday 2nd February 2021. John Denham.
I am the Director of the Centre for English Identity and Politics at the University of Southampton. I was MP for Southampton Itchen from 1992-2015 and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government from 2009-2010. (In that capacity I approved the formation of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, the first of combined authority). My published work includes a study of Labour’s approach to the governance of England (in Governing England, British Academy, 2018). I am also a Founder and Director of the Southern Policy Centre.
The focus of the Centre for English Identity and Politics is on the relationship between national identity and political choices, and on the governance of England and the union. In the past twenty years English, British and combined identities have taken on a political salience with, for example ‘English not British’ voters voting heavily Leave and ‘British not English’ voters tending to vote Remain. National identity is also a good predictor of attitudes towards English governance and the union.
The Southern Policy Centre is an independent think tank for central southern England. The SPC has delivered research, reports and events on devolution and regional policy since 2014 and has argued that any local devolution proposals should reflect a coherent regional strategy.
1. England’s national governance
Discussion of devolution within England must start with the unsatisfactory nature of England’s national governance. A key reason why English devolution has been challenging is that the national government and state from which powers might be devolved is ill-defined and lacks coherence. The key features are
*  England is governed by the union government and state
*  Although EVEL provides English MPs with a veto power on legislation, England does not have its own legislative programme, nor has EVEL provided the parliamentary ‘voice’ for the people of England that was initially promised.
*  There is no clear machinery for English government at ministerial or official level. This mitigates against a coherent and joined up national policy for England. It has led to inconsistency between departments and ministers in their approach to devolution.
*  There are very uneven mechanisms of accountability for minister or officials with responsibilities for the delivery of policy in England
*  England’s position within the union is made difficult by the ambiguous role of many ministers in representing both union and English interests.
*  England’s government is characterised by a high degree of centralisation that reflects the long-standing centralist traditions of the union state
England is the most centralised nation in Europe as measured by the local control of resources and in the over-dependence on Whitehall decision-making and the under- development of the capacity of local government to exercise autonomy and initiative. In turn this weakens the capacity of local government to work in concert with other institutions (including universities, health services and business organisations) to shape local and regional policy.
While English devolution would be enhanced by a more coherent system of English national government, its absence should not be used as reason not to move ahead with devolution as swiftly as possible.
A more distinct machinery of English government and ministerial accountability would also improve intra-governmental relationships with the union. Parliamentary reform could provide the much-needed national forum in which England’s future and interest can be discussed.
2. English devolution – devolutionary government
The purpose of English devolution should be to develop a better functioning state that delivers public policy more effectively, engages with the public more fully, and better reflects the different needs and interests of different parts of England.
The devolution debate is too often characterised in terms of the centre ‘letting go’ of powers and resources currently held by central government. While there are indeed many areas of public service and welfare delivery where better outcomes would be achieved by the devolution of power and responsibility to local and combined authorities there are also challenges where the role of the central state will be key.
The economic transformation required to meet zero carbon goals, for example, will require a strong and concerted drive from central government, including resources, regulation, public procurement and legislation. At the same time, the transformation will depend on elected local bodies with the resources, powers and autonomy to form effective networks and partnerships with small and large business, universities and other public bodies. The overall policy challenge with need synergy between local priorities and initiatives, regional issues including transport and energy, and national policy.
Managing this devolved state will require a new form of statecraft. This will be a more subtle culture of statecraft offering effective leadership of relatively autonomous institutions rather than seeking to mandate their behaviour. In devolutionary government the central state would no longer hold the default assumption that local action should be determined by or subject to the approval of the centre.
3. The principles of devolution
English consent
It should be noted that England is the only part of the union whose people have not been consulted or offered a referendum on how they wish to be governed in the past twenty years. The first principle of English devolution is that the people of England should have the right to decide on how they wish to be governed.
English aspirations have too often been subordinated to other considerations. The claim that England is too big to enjoy national political institutions has largely gone unchallenged for over 150 years. Technocratic preference for imposed regional structures or ‘functional market areas’ have taken little account of local views and identities.
Since UK devolution English domestic policy has been largely distinct from that of the rest of the union. The experience of English Votes on English Laws has shown that identifying English only legislation is far easier than had been assumed. As yet, neither development has triggered a rethink of how England is governed.
Public debate about England’s governance is under-developed. Although the government can move ahead with many devolutionary measures it should also initiate a rich consultative process, involving deliberative citizens assemblies and other means, to recommend the principles of English devolution, including its national institutions and the approach to local devolution. After Parliamentary consideration, proposals should be put to English voters in a referendum.
Finance
Devolution should ensure the fair distribution of resources across England. The Barnett formula gives relative protection for the devolved administration against changes in union spending in England, but England’s regions have no such protection. In recent years, austerity has fallen disproportionately on the poorest regions.
‘Fair spending’ is a contested concept. Different measures such as spending per head, deprivation, capacity to raise local income, and potential to generate economic growth all produce different outcomes. Government should establish an independent commission, ideally with cross-party support, to develop a fair funding formula with a view to embedding it as deeply into England’s system of government as Barnett is to the union. It should be based on granular local data, such as LSOAs, and with the results aggregated to form the budget of local and combined authorities.
4. Equivalence with the devolved nations
As a matter of principle only Parliamentarians elected by English voters should be able to make legislation, vote on policy and hold ministers to account on issues that are currently devolved. While the extent of devolved powers is not consistent across the devolved nations, there are no issues that are devolved to any other nation that should not be subject to such English decision-making.
UK devolution has created national democratic institutions and the political communities of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have all developed in depth and character since the creation of Parliaments and Assemblies. English reform also needs to create an equivalent national forum.
As in the devolved nations, England’s own devolution should be decided by England.
The disparity of size between England and the devolved nations does mean that English decisions may have more impact on the smaller nations than vice versa. This highlights the need to improve the machinery of intra-governmental consultation.
5. Consistency in devolved and local government
The most important consistency is that residents in each part of England should feel that the appropriate powers and resources have been devolved to the organisations accountable for their area. This is far more important that whether devolution looks ‘neat’ or consistent from Whitehall.
In parts of England where counties retain a strong sense of identity, the unit of devolved government might be the county councils. Where these are too small to tackle strategic transport, energy and other infrastructure issues and government policy would need to incentivise cooperation between councils in order to gain collective control over devolved policies. In other areas, such large combined authorities and London, there may be a single tier to which a wider range of functions can be devolved. Although an imposed regional structure should be avoided, there may be parts of England where a regional or sub-regional approach would best reflect public preferences and identities.
This flexible approach would produce a system of ‘messy devolution’ but it should be part of the statecraft of central government to manage relationships varying structures across the nation. If the centre insists on uniform structures these are unlikely to work well anywhere.
6. Devolution deals
The characteristic of devolution deals is ‘elite co-option’ in which central government engages local leaders and stakeholders to achieve the delivery of central government priorities. This has been a consistent feature of both current devolution policy and the regional administration of the 1997-2010 Labour government.
In limited terms the approach works. Local and central priorities often coincide to some extent and a pound spent locally will usually be more productive than one mandated centrally. However, the process does exclude many other potential priorities and areas of service delivery. It has tended to reward city centre regeneration, based on property and higher education, at the expense of more peripheral towns. It does not build up the capacity for autonomous innovation and initiative that is required.
Localities do not have any right to access devolved resources and powers. The ‘deal-making’ approach has led to inconsistent and arbitrary decisions and government has not taken a consistent approach to devolution deals. Proposals agreed by local authorities in, for example, southern Hampshire have been rejected apparently for reasons of national partisan politics.
7. Taking decisions on English devolution
It is time to move beyond the deal-making approach to create a consistent palette of devolved powers that local authorities and combined authorities can draw down. There will obviously need to be some criteria, ideally agreed with the Local Government Association, to ensure that the powers devolved are appropriate to the size and capacity of the devolved authority.
It would make sense to require some evidence of local support, whether through consultation or referendum, before powers are drawn down. To underline the shift from national to local accountability, this process should include public education about the powers and the responsibilities that the devolved authority is taking on.
8. Representation of England’s localities
Representation within England
The key challenge is to establish a coherent machinery of English government with clear ministerial accountability.
This machinery would then be able to engage with local and combined authorities (or regional bodies where these are appropriate) through both formal and informal structures.
A Senate, established for the UK and including local representation, could also provide a structure for formal consultation between ministers responsible for English policy and representatives of English localities.
Intra-governmental representation
Assuming for now that the union retains its current basic structure, England should be separately represented in the intra-governmental machinery. Intra-government cooperation should include representatives from Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England and the UK government. (There are wider questions on constitutional reform of the union that are beyond the scope of this paper.)
There is no merit in suggestions that would bring together representatives of the three devolved administrations with the UK government and only allowing with some form of consultative status for English local authorities. Aside from the difficulty of deciding who should represent England, such a structure would merely confirm England’s marginal constitutional role within the union.
There is a strong case for a broader union forum or Senate, that brings together local government representatives from every part of the union together with national and union representatives. The current system of devolution tends to work against the sharing of common interests and good practice, and a broadly representative Senate would help to strengthen links and practical cooperation across different parts of the UK.
Such a Senate could also enable formal consultation with England’s localities on English issues.
Parliament
England’s parliamentary representation needs to provide a national forum in which England’s issues and future can be debated, a legislative chamber for English domestic legislation, and a clear structure for Executive accountability. These conditions could be met either within a ‘dual-mandate’ Commons or a free-standing Parliament for England. There is no viable option for delegating either legislative functions to regional assemblies. In any case these could not provide the forum for English interests that is required.
A Senate at union level could also be to give English ministers the opportunity to consult representatives of English localities on a formal basis. However, the successful management of a devolved England will depend more on the development of effective devolved statecraft than on formal consultative mechanisms.
9. Public demand for change
As no major political parties or civic organisations have encouraged a broad-ranging public debate about England’s governance, only limited weight can be placed on current polling to ascertain what might emerge from an informed and engaged debate. It is possible to highlight key elements of current attitudes:
*  There has been majority support for the principle that Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish MPs should be excluded from voting on English only-legislation for most of the past 20 years.
*  Parliament of England receives more support than opposition but, with a high level of ‘don’t knows’ does not achieve majority support. It is perhaps surprising that support for a Parliament remains so high when no major party advocates such a change.
*  Both options, and the maintenance of the status quo, are significantly more popular than elected regional assemblies. This suggests that the public prefer to see England treated as a national unit of government.
*  Evidence on devolution within England is highly sensitive to the questions asked. The public have a broad preference for decisions taken closer to where they live but also want consistent standards of public service in all parts of England. (The two views are not mutually incompatible: it can be argued that the postcode lottery is the result of over-centralisation of service delivery).
*  There is no part of England where regional or local identities are generally more widely or strongly held than English or British national identity. However, in many parts of England the local or regional identity is important to many people.
*  There is significant polarisation by national identity with those who identify as ‘English more than British’ showing the strongest support for a Parliament or EVEL and most opposition to regional structures, whilst the opposite is true amongst the ‘British more than English’.
On the basis of current polling, we might expect a citizen’s constitutional convention to support a dual-mandate Westminster with a full-blooded EVEL, and administrative, financial
and executive devolution within England to recognisable local structures that might be combined authorities, counties or regions/sub-regions in different parts of the nation.
10. Conclusion
A new strategic approach to English devolution, based on principles agreed with the people of England, would enable each locality to draw down powers appropriate to the needs and identity of each area. The current centralist assumption of the union state should be replaced with devolutionary government that would enable central government to engage in a more effective and productive way with empowered local elected government. Further reforms to the organisation of England’s governance and parliamentary representation would improve the government of England, support devolution and improve intra-governmental relationships across the union.
November 2020
0 notes
nuttypoliceheart · 3 years
Text
James Gardner Hopkins is not your routine legal representative
He’s actually been specializing in Source Administration, Placing, Planning, and likewise Organic Resources Policy for 17 years. He’s an uncommon method when using recommendations and likewise providing a lawsuit method for getting the outcomes required by his customers and likewise, he goes for useful approaches. He does not see them as basic instances to be fixed.
To James, they’re individuals which’s why he strives to build long-term collaborations with them. It’s perhaps not surprising he has actually become dependent on specialists for much of his customers. James Gardner Hopkins was born in New Zealand and likewise matured in Britain. He finished his BSc in Organic Sciences and likewise Bachelor of Legislations at Auckland University. He functioned as a summertime clerk for Russell McVeagh in 1999 and following that returned to the firm the list below year as an informal clerk. He ended up being full-time there in 2001, at some point becoming someone in 2009.
James has actually been offered numerous recognitions and likewise honors for his task. He was honored with the “Outstanding Individual’’ honor by Straterra, the group that represents the mining industry, in 2012. He’s actually furthermore been a part of the National Council and likewise, Principal Section of the New Zealand Institute of Design offered that 2014.. A lot of the time he methods in the primary centers like Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch but he likewise methods in locations that consist of Tauranga, Queenstown, the Hawkes Bay, and the Marlborough Sounds. His previous customers consist of Aquaculture New Zealand, the Panel of Airline Company Company, Air New Zealand, Auckland Global Airport, and Ballance. He focuses on domestic and commercial facilities and commercial developments. The adhering to are a few of the fields covered by John Gardner Hopkins Method: Reference Administration Among the primary locations of knowledge of John’s Method is resource management. The Reference Handle Behave is a significant guideline in New Zealand.
The legislation advertises the sustainable usage of organic deposits. The Reference Administration Behave is significant due to the truth so it positions sustainable management as an indispensable primary structure. John might primary one to ensure you will certainly stay compliant with the terms of the legislation. Taking care of the placing is an indispensable primary Reference Administration Behave and is an extremely essential trend today. Service has to know the effect that their actions carry the setting. John might help you ensure that you’re compliant with ecological laws. He has actually helped different customers before which were taking attention to ecological scenarios. Planning and likewise Organic Methods Legislation James was the peak of Russell McVeagh’s Placing, Planning, and likewise Organic Methods group for just two years prior to he began his really own technique. Neighborhood Are you planning on acquiring property inside an area? Are you developing a property and likewise might need community solutions?
James Gardner Hopkins has substantial knowledge when it concerns taking care of the property or commercial homes which might consist of class. As a result of James Substantial knowledge in handling instances taking care of regulations concerning the placing and likewise sources, he’s furthermore relatively proficient when it concerns instances that stress over the mining sector. He was all set to get essential litigation knowledge throughout the alleged “Grocery store Conflicts “.All through those hard-fought instances, he acquired comprehension of the regulations related to retail business.
The petroleum field is an extremely economically gratifying field that could generate lots of incomes for every single person required. With the existing increase in environmental activism, petroleum firms might deal with some challenges. Along with his knowledge in handling instances that handle the Source Handle Behave, James Gardner Hopkins is clearly well-positioned to assist you with instances that belong to the mining sector. Handle: PO Package 25160 Wellington, 6011, New Zealand Telephone: 021 277 1425 Water Due to the actual fact that water is among the absolute most vital sources, it’s perhaps maybe not shocking that James has actually handled instances which are often taking care of water sources numerous times. Transport Market, The transportation field can certainly involve some influence on the placing and likewise sources. In the event that you need a lawyer who is familiar with the regulations worrying about the transportation field, then you definitely should contact James Gardner Hopkins now. Coastal locations represent areas of variables that need to be protected. James furthermore has actually got the competence to handle instances concerning seaside locations.
Together with handling instances that handled the Source Management Behave and likewise the placing, James Gardner Hopkins was furthermore fortunate appropriate to handle major Maori lawful lawyers John Majurey and likewise Religious What J. He has actually furthermore worked on tasks that required Tangata Whenua from the times, he was personnel at Russell McVeagh.
Therefore, if you’re searching for a lawyer who’ll certainly combat fearlessly for you when needed and likewise who might produce a lasting connection with you as an expert, contact James Gardner Hopkins now. Visit https://www.facebook.com/JGHBarrister/ for more information about James Gardner Hopkins. James has specialized for 17 decades in Reference Management, Environment, Planning, and Organic Methods Law. I was initially based in Auckland, and now company the entire of New Zealand from Wellington. I’ve significant experience in recommending reference authorization purposes, strategy modifications, classifications, dangerous compounds, and other ecological approvals, with a focus on commercial, property, infrastructure, and commercial advancements.
I act in purposes for judicial evaluation (both for candidates for evaluation, and participants), especially in regard to non-notified authorization concerns, but likewise in regard of other regional power and Ministerial decisions. I likewise recommend on Maori appropriate issues, from best practice consultation and wedding, right through to defense of sites of cultural significance and waahi tapu. I am McDougal of the “Lexis Nexis Sensible Guidance to Reference Management” and the Dangerous Materials phase of the NZ textbook “Environmental and Reference Management Law “.  
ames Gardner Hopkins, PO Box 25160 Wellington, 6011: map, phone number, website I am passionate about developing a much better New Zealand, and helping my customers add to that result. I was born in Auckland, to a British school instructor and a Niuean manufacturer worker. I matured mostly in London, but delivered house to New Zealand to finish my training and be nearer to my household here.I summer clerked at Russell McVeagh in 1999, returning as an informal clerk in 2000 and beginning full-time in March 2001. I was offered to Senior Solicitor in 2005, Senior Partner in 2007, and ended up being a Spouse in 2009. In my own last 2 decades before retiring from partnership and transferring to the independent club, I led the firm’s national Environment, Planning, and Organic Methods team, as effectively as the firm’s Maori Appropriate Group.
0 notes
expatimes · 3 years
Photo
Tumblr media
Kuwait’s new Cabinet line-up
Click to view larger
Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al- Sabah, HH the Prime Minister He holds a BA in Political Science from Kuwait University in 1977. He joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1978 with the rank of a diplomatic attaché and worked in the Political Department, the Arab Affairs Department from 1978 to 1983, then joined the permanent Kuwaiti delegation to the United Nations in New York between 1983 and 1989 and was appointed as Deputy Director of the Arab World Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1989 and took over the Department of the Undersecretary’s Office Foreign 1992.
He served as Kuwait’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia and the country’s delegate to the Organization of the Islamic Conference from 1995 to 1998, during which he participated in the ministerial council meetings of GCC foreign ministers. In 1998 a decree was issued appointing him as the head of the National Security Agency with the rank of a minister, and he was appointed Minister of Social Affairs and Labor in July 2006 to March 2007 and then Minister of Information in May 2007 and January 2009.
He received the Foreign Ministry portfolio in 2011 and was appointed in February 2012 as Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs, and he was reappointed in December 2012 as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs. In January 2014, an Amiri decree was issued appointing him as First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, and in December 2016 he resumed the same ministerial portfolio, and in December 2017 he was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs.
On November 19, 2019, the late Amir, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad, issued an Amiri order appointing him as Prime Minister and assigning him to nominate members of the new government. In the same year, an Amiri order was issued to address him with the title His Highness. His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled received the King Abdulaziz Medal of the First Class from the late Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd bin Abdulaziz in 1998 and received the Order of the Two Niles of the First Class from Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir in 2012 and received the Order of the Republic with the rank of Senior Officer (The National Lion) from Senegalese President Macky Sall in 2015, and he was also awarded the Grand Star of the Star of Jerusalem Medal from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2018. The new government that Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled was tasked with choosing its members on the eighth of this month is his second after the first government he formed in December 2019.
Sheikh Hamad Jaber Al-Ali Al-Sabah, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense
He holds a BA in Political Science from Kuwait University in 1989. He was the Minister of Information from November 2011 until February 2012 and was previously the Kuwaiti Ambassador to Saudi Arabia from February 2007 to November 2011 and between 2003 and 2006 he held the position of Director of the Office of His Highness the Crown Prince with the rank of Undersecretary. Between 1998 and 2001, he held the position of Assistant Undersecretary for External Equipment Affairs at the Ministry of Defense and Head of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, and also worked in the Kuwaiti Embassy in Italy, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, and a political researcher in the Office of the Minister of Interior.
Anas Khaled Nasser Al-Saleh, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs
He holds a BA in Business Administration from Portland State University, USA, in 1997. He took over the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in February 2012 and was assigned the position of Minister of Housing Affairs in the same year. He held the Ministry of Finance in January 2014 and the position of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance in January 2015 in addition to the Acting Ministry of Oil, and also held the position of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs in December 2017 and was appointed Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Interior, Minister for Cabinet Affairs in December 2019.
Essa Ahmed Muhammad Hassan Al- Kandari, Minister of Social Affairs and Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs
He holds a specialized diploma from a commercial institute, in banking, and was appointed as Minister of Transportation and Minister of State for Municipal Affairs in 2013 and a member of the Board of Directors of the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training. Prior to that, he worked at the Kuwait Airways Corporation as a development and research expert and won membership in the National Assembly in 2013, 2016 and 2020 and held the position of Deputy Chairman of the Council of Nations in 2016. He is a member of the Kuwaiti Journalists Association, the Arab Journalists Association, a member of the Human Rights Association, and a board member of the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Dr Mohammad Al-Fares, Minister of Oil, Electricity and Water
He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Kuwait University in 1987, a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, USA in 1990, and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the same university in 1995. He held the position of Assistant Deputy Director of Kuwait University for Planning in 2002, Director of the Construction Program in the Major Projects Management Authority at Kuwait University in 2007, the position of Secretary General of Kuwait University in 2016, Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education in 2016 and a member of the Board of Directors of the Petroleum Corporation.
Sheikh Dr Basel Hmoud Hamad Al-Sabah, Minister of Health
He holds a medical degree from Kuwait University in 1999 and a doctorate degree (Canadian Board) in the specialty of Otolaryngology in 2006 from McGill University, Canada. He took over the Ministry of Health in the governmental formation in 2017 as well as in 2019, and he also held many positions, including a consultant doctor at Zain Hospital in 2007 and head of the ENT departments in 2012. He also held the position of Director of the (Sheikh Salem Al-Ali Al-Sabah) Center for Hearing and Speech Therapy between 2010 and 2012 and worked as a lecturer at the College of Medicine at Kuwait University.
Dr Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad Al- Sabah, Minister of Foreign Affairs
He holds a BA in International Relations, a Bachelor’s Degree in Foreign Living Languages, and a Masters degree from the University of Strasbourg for Human Sciences in France in 1993 and obtained a Master’s Degree in 1995 in International Relations and Translation from the same university, and in 2000 he obtained a PhD in Political Science from the Sorbonne University in France. He assumed the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs in December 2019 and held several positions before that, including Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Offi ce of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and chairing the Board of Directors of the Kuwait Fund for Development.
Dr Rana Abdullah Abdul Rahman Al- Fares, Minister of Public Works and Minister of State for Municipal Affairs
She holds a Bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Kuwait University in 1996, a Master’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Southern California in 1999, a diploma in geographic information systems in 2001, and a doctorate from the same university in the fi eld of geotechnical engineering in 2004. She held the position of Minister of Public Works and Minister of Housing Affairs in December 2019. She held many positions, including a faculty member in the College of Engineering and Petroleum, director of the construction program at the university from 2009 to 2014, deputy chairman of the Board of Directors of “tenders”, and assistant undersecretary for government follow-up in the government performance monitoring body.
Mubarak Salem Mubarak Al-Harees, Minister of State for National Assembly Affairs
He holds a Bachelor’s degree in law from Kuwait University in 1989 and was a member of Parliament in 2013 and 2016. He held the position of Minister of State for Services Affairs and Minister of State for National Assembly Affairs in the government formation that was announced in December 2019, and before that he worked as a legal researcher in the offi ce of the Central Bank Governor in 1990 and a lawyer in the Fatwa and Legislation Department in 1991, the head of the Legislation Development Committee in the Fatwa Administration, and the Chairman of the Committee for Formulating Takaful Insurance Laws. He worked as a private lawyer in 1996 and a member and treasurer of the Kuwaiti Bar Association 2000.
Thamer Ali Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, Minister of Interior
He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Administrative Leadership from the University of Arkansas, USA, 1999, and a General Management Diploma from the Institute of Business Studies, 1995. On September 11, 2013, he was appointed head of the National Security Agency, with the rank of a minister, and he had held the position of deputy head of the agency, where he worked since 2000 and graduated to become director of the agency’s head offi ce from 2002 to 2006, and acting head of the agency in 2006. He was a member of the NATO Defense College Foundation Advisory Board in 2016 in recognition of his vision and strategic role of Kuwait in regional security.
Khalifa Musa’ad Hamada, Minister of Finance
He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Kuwait University in 1987. He held the position of Undersecretary of the Ministry of Finance from 2007 to 2018 and held the position of Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry of Finance for Public Accounting Affairs in 2005 as he was included in the Ministry from an accountant in the Department of Guidance and Systems in 1987 to Director of the Department in 1996.
Abdulrahman Badah Al-Mutairi, Minister of Information and Minister of State for Youth Affairs
He holds a BA in Psychology from Kuwait University. He held the position of Director General of the Public Authority for Youth in 2016, Assistant Undersecretary for the Youth Development Sector in the Office of the Minister of State for Youth Affairs 2014-2015, Director of the Technical Office Department of the Office of the Minister of Information 2012, Observer of the Office of the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Information 2011, and a Media Attaché in the Kuwaiti Media Office in Rabat 2004-2007.
Dr Abdullah Abdul Samad Marafi , Minister of State for Housing Affairs and Minister of State for Services Affairs
He holds a BA in Statistics from Kuwait University in 1989, a Management Diploma in 2002, a Master of Administration in 2003 and a PhD in Management and Finance Philosophy from the American University in Britain in 2007. Member of the Board of Directors of the Federation of Kuwaiti Shipping Agents Companies, Chairman of the Board of Directors of “Omniyat Holding” 2018, a member of the Board of Directors of Kuwait Airways in 2013, a member of the Board of Directors of Kuwait International Bank 2010, a member of the Board of Directors of the Arab Financial Advisors Company in 1997 and a member of the Board of Directors of Al-Ahli Bank of Kuwait in 1995 and Chairman Board of Directors of Burgan Group Holding Company in 2005.
Dr Ali Fahad Al-Mudhaf, Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education
He holds a Bachelor of Industrial Engineering from the US in 1983, a Master’s in Mechanical Engineering from US in 1988 and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Britain in 2000. Director General of the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training in 2018 and Director General of the Public Authority for Industry in 2006 and worked as an assistant professor at the General Authority for Medical Education and Training and Associate Professor at the Authority and obtained a member of the Higher Committee for the Professional Qualifi cations System, membership of the Executive Council of the Arab Organization for Industrial Development and membership of the Board of Directors of the Gulf Organization for Consulting Industrial and many local authorities.
Faisal Abdul Rahman Al-Medlej, Minister of Trade, Commerce and Industry and Minister of State for Economic Affairs
He holds a BA in Accounting from Kuwait University in 1987. He held the position of President of the Development Authority of the Sabian City of Silk and Boubyan Island and the Chairman of the Executive Committee therein with the rank of Minister from April 2018 until April 2019 and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Tamdeen Real Estate Company (Lebanon) 2001 and Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Chairman of the Internal Audit Committee of the National United Bank in 2002 and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Arch Real Estate Investment 2010 and a member of the executive body for the Reem Real Estate Project (Egypt) 2009, President of the Kuwait Economic Association and a member of the Kuwaiti Association of Accountants and Auditors.
Dr Nawaf Saud Al-Yassin, Minister of Justice
He holds a Doctorate in Law from Britain. He worked as a legal advisor in the Credit Bank, a legal advisor in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, a certifi ed arbitrator in the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and a lawyer before the Constitutional and Cassation Courts.
The post Kuwait’s new Cabinet line-up appeared first on ARAB TIMES - KUWAIT NEWS.
#local Read full article: https://expatimes.com/?p=15658&feed_id=23400
0 notes