First Session of the Balian Senate, 19-26 B.A.

[EmiliainWonderland 1526]

First Session of the Balian Senate, 19-26 B.A.

 

---

 

 

Having been appointed by His Imperial Highness to preside over the first meeting of the 1st Balian Senate until the Minister of Balian was elected, Lord Lucius Galbraith arrived at his desk to begin the ceremony of inaugurating the new session of the Senate. He then began to address the chamber after calling it to order: 

 

“Honorable colleagues of the First Session of the Balian Senate, 

 

Today, my dear Senators, we begin anew. A new Session of this new Institution shall be inaugurated, and we shall start the work that we have been elected to do. We must continue to look forward. We have campaigned hard and now we must work diligently to create a bright future for our descendants. 

 

Congratulations to all my colleagues, who like myself, have been elected for this First Session. The people have shown their faith in us and we must not disappoint them. We must continue to be the best representatives that we could possibly be, for else we have failed in our goal; our duty.”

 

Upon the conclusion of his remarks, the presiding officer of the chamber instructed the Clerk of the Roll to begin calling the roster of the current members to inaugurate the First Session of the Senate. 

 

“The Rt. Hon. Senator, Orelia Darkwood”

 

“The Rt. Hon. Senator, Lucius Galbraith”

 

“The Rt. Hon. Senator, Giselle de Rosius”

 

“The Rt. Hon. Senator, Ardad Rashul”

 

“The Rt. Hon. Senator, Emir of Endor”

 

“The Rt. Hon Senator, Adam Wallas”

 

“The Rt. Hon. Senator, Apollyon Marshal”

 

The presiding officer then stood up from his seat, and while raising his right hand and placing his left hand on a copy of the Holy Scrolls, he recited the ancient Nauzican Oath of Allegiance to the Crown versioned for the Grand Duchy of Balian, and all the other Senators of Balian repeated along:

 

"I swear to be true to the Grand Duke and the realm and not to maintain silence about any evil that I may know which is being contemplated against them. I swear to work tirelessly to the betterment of Balian and the people that comprise it. I swear also not to eat or drink with traitors and not to have anything in common with them, and always to defend the honor of the gentlemen I serve. This I swear by the Holy Scrolls."

 

Afterwards, the Chair gave every single present Senator the chance of introducing themselves and stating their nomination for the Office of the Minister of Balian:

 

Senator de Rosius: “Thank you, I'd like to nominate myself, Mister President. I believe I can give us a fair and equal space in the Senate as I have no real bias' towards anyone or anything here and it will allow for the rest of the Senators to propose bills and discuss them without having to worry about being a completely neutral party.” 

Senator of Endor: “I'm Emir of Endor, formerly, or well somehow still known as Emir de Rosius. I used to be a Baliani Citizen since I was 16. For the votes, I suggest we have a Minister and Vice-Minister. The Minister is Noble and the Vice-Minister is the Commoners. I nominate the highest voters for each side. In conclusion, I nominate Senator Darkwood and Senator Wallas for the positions. My reasoning? We are deciding on behalf of the Citizens, not us. If the majority decided for these two, then we shall decide on their behalf too.”

 

Senator Wallas: “Aye, I second the nomination of Senator de Rosius.”

 

Senator Marshall: “I second the Nomination of Senator Darkwood due to her family's continued loyalty to their rightful rulers, and their dedication to the people of Balian above all else, I believe they will be an unbiased and good  leader of this body.”

 

Senator Galbraith: “Galbraith seconds Senator de Rosius’ nomination for Minister.”

 

Upon the conclusion of all present senators’ turns, the Chair informed the chamber that Senator Darkwood had informed the Chair of her nomination of herself to the Office of Minister and that Senator Rashul had informed the Chair of his nomination of Senator de Rosius for the Office of Minister. In the same sense, the Chair informed the chamber that they had also informed the Chair of their votes for the election of the Minister of Balian.

 

Afterwards, the Chair then instructed the Clerk to call the roll in order to vote for the first nomination that arose from the chamber, i.e., the nomination of Senator de Rosius for the Office of Minister of Balian:

 

Senator de Rosius: “De Rosius votes AYE!.” 

 

Senator of Endor: “Senator Emir of Endor votes AYE! .”

 

Senator Wallas: “Aye!.”

 

Senator Marshall: “No.”

 

Senator Galbraith: “Galbraith votes AYE!”

 

 

---

 

 

 ELECTION OF GISELLE DE ROSIUS AS THE MINISTER OF BALIAN

 

AYES

DE ROSIUS 

OF ENDOR

 WALLAS 

GALBRAITH 

 

ABSTAIN

 

NOES

MARSHALL

DARKWOOD

 

The Clerk then delivered the result of the vote to the Chair who certified the results: “The Ayes have it. Senator de Rosius, by the authority vested in me as initial presiding officer of the Senate, I hereby proclaim you as the new Minister of Balian!”

 

---

 

 

The Minister of Balian, Lady de Rosius, then arrived at her desk after being congratulated by Senator Galbraith and shaking his hand. Upon assuming the position of the Chair, she addressed her fellow colleagues:

 

“I imagine this will be new for most of us, but I am excited to see what is in store for the senate and will be contacting you about times you are all free for meetings in the future. I implore you in the meantime to find bills you'd like to present to the Senate.”

 

The Chair then allowed anyone willing to bring any topic of discussion to speak after raising their hand and seeking the Chair’s permission for doing such:

 

Senator Galbraith: “Thank you, Mister President.” He said to Senator de Rosius “First of all, I would like to congratulate you again for your recent election as Minister and hence as President of the Senate. I am sure that you shall do a fantastic job in this new Great Office of State that you now hold and that you shall be your voice before the Ducal Chamber of Balian. At the same time, I would like to announce that in the next few months I'll talk with other Senators to start drafting bills and other legislation to introduce in the next sitting of the Balian Senate. Including, but not limited, to Standing Orders of the Senate, which I think it should be our priority right now.”

 

Emir of Endor raised his hand to comment.

 

President de Rosius: “As I said, Senator. I intend to ensure we all find a time to meet again to propose said bills. The chair recognizes Senator de Endor. You have the floor.”

 

Senator Galbraith: “Excuse me, Mister President, but I haven’t finished.”

 

President de Rosius: “Apologies Senator Galbraith. You took quite a deep breath”

 

Senator Galbraith: As I was saying – After all, it is essential that we are able to establish some internal rules on decorum and proceedings, including a Tribune or Majority-Minority Leader internal positions within the Senate that could be established. I believe that the term Tribune, for each Faction --Noble and Commoner-- would probably be a good addition, although, as I've said, we certainly shall discuss it in the next sitting of the Senate once we bring such drafts and bills. And last, but not the least, I would like to use the last minute of my turn to publicly congratulate Senator Darkwood for her wonderful campaign. I hope that the new Minister of Balian counts on her for any projects that we do.”

 

President de Rosius: “I intend to involve everyone, Senator Galbraith. The Chair recognizes Senator of Endor”

 

Senator of Endor: “I believe in the next meeting, in order we make the place more organized and less stressful, everyone here should be in charge of a sector, lets take for example I in the educational and health sector. We will be incharge of these laws, however there will be a vote and a final call from the Minister herself to see if this law fits or would harm.”

 

President de Rosius: “I have to disagree personally with that notion, Senator. Personally I think though it seems it may actually organize things, it limits what each Senator can do.”

 

Senator Galbraith raised his hand.

 

President de Rosius: “Yes, Senator Galbraith?”

 

Senator Galbraith: “Yes, Mr. President, simply to add that The Right Honorable Senator of Endor is welcome to work with me and the rest of the chamber to bring a bill of Standing Orders to be passed in the next sitting. The idea is that the Standing Orders are the internal rules of the Senate, for organizational purposes included, after all”

 

The chamber’s session was then interrupted by an intruder who entered the senate’s floor without a proper authorization. After some time, the intruder left and the session was resumed.

 

Senator Galbraith: “Mister President, if there are no other matters to discuss today, I move to adjourn this meeting.”

 

Senator of Endor: “I second the motion, Mister President.”

 

President de Rosius: “This meeting is now adjourned. You may go in separate directions, except me to contact you all regarding another meeting date”

 

((This a forum-roleplay oriented thread. Only the people whose characters are Senators of Balian as listed above may post in this thread. Big thanks to @sergisalafor keeping the minutes of the meeting and translating into post))

[Seva 264]

Orelia plops down onto one of the soft couches decorating her Library in the lands of Acre. She peels her leathers from herself, taking a long breath after her foray in the woods. It was only a matter of time. She took a moment to relax, before turning to read the missives received while she had been on her trek through the domain of the Demon. Her head bobbed as she scanned over the recounting of the meeting.

"Ah, so Chloe was made Minister. A surprising yet joyous turn of events. I'll have to return soon." She mused idly to herself, taking a nearby rag to wipe sweat and grime from her brow.

[Based1Salmon 263]

The Right Honorable Senator Sir Apollyon 'Kingslayer' Jaime Marshall, Steward of Balian, Corporal in the Brotherhood of Balian, First Knight in the Order of Saint Lothar, and Patriarch of House Marshall makes note of his factual comments being stricken from the records