Constitutional Reform to Take Effect at Midnight

Monday, February 29th, 2016

The nation is in an uproar over the imminent entry into force of the 2016 Constitutional Reform, painstakingly crafted by both the current administration and Neo-Meshikans home and abroad, over the course of thirteen months and no less than forty-nine referenda. Much has been speculated about it over the past year, but how will it affect you?

Here are the main things every patriotic Neo-Meshikan should know:

1. Perhaps most notably, our beloved nation will cease to refer to itself as a Sultanate, leaving behind all trace of a monarchist past. “The Most Serene Sultanate of Nuevo Meshiko” will give way to “The Grand Socialist Federation of Nuevo Meshiko” on midnight of March 1st, 2016. A second referendum on the name is already slated for the end of the year, due to the controversy over the second most popular choice “The Serene Socialist Federation of Nuevo Meshiko”, which was beaten by the former by only 2.3%. (More on that here.)

2. The nine wilayat, or provinces, are kept intact, with revisions to their constitutions to ensure they comply with the new Federal Constitution; however, a massive internal reorganization of the provinces will result in 237 baladías (municipalities) in total, compared to over 3,000 municipios before. These baladías will be further subdivided into 5,012 mudirías, or administrative districts (also referred to as directorates).

a. Legislatively, each wilayah will now be headed by a provincial majlis, or assembly, whose members are directly elected by the people. The people’s majlis elects a wali, or governor, to act as a spokesperson for the assembly. The provincial assembly’s legislative powers are expressly defined in the reformed Constitution.

b. In a similar manner, each of the 237 baladías will directly elect a municipal majlis, together with a municipal president. These municipal councils have powers over more specific and/or local aspects of law, provided these do not contradict provincial or federal laws.

c. Lastly, each of the 5,012 mudirías, or districts, will elect a local council, referred to as an ajuntamiento, to oversee local public services offered to the constituent citizens, as well as to organize official polls and referenda. An alcalde, or mayor, will also be elected by the citizens.

3. The Federal District is getting the axe, in the sense that it will not be called the Federal District anymore. In order to increase the autonomy of its citizens regarding local affairs (which have up to now been mostly dictated by the Central Government), the former F.D. territory will be rebranded as the “Autonomous City of Meshik” (CDMƩ) with its own governor and elected local assembly; it will have its own constitution (akin to a wilayah), be granted more budgetary autonomy, among other provisions; it will also be subdivided into “territorial demarcations”, each with its own mayor and council.

a. One of its territorial demarcations will be known as “Capital District,” and will be comprised solely of federal government buildings on Meshik Isle, along with Plaza Coránica and parts of the historical island center. Capital District will remain an integral part of the Autonomous City of Meshik, however.

(For details on the Minister for Culture’s controversial suggestion of renaming the Plaza, click here.)

b. Provisions have been added, in case the federal seats of power are moved from the city, that the area which now comprises the Federal District should become its own wilayah, called “Isthmus of Meshik”, with its capital on Meshik Island. Should the island where the seats of federal power rest be attacked by outside forces, the branches of power are ready to be relocated to an unspecified area as a matter of national security.

If all the above sounds like a lot of voting, it is. According to Luis Ahmed Qamara, current Speaker of the House, “the system is designed with national unity as well as regional autonomy in mind, in the sense that every Neo-Meshikan will be in control of every aspect of his or her life, all while upholding the democratic and socialist principles that this nation was founded on.”

With this tendency toward decentralization, local referendums will most likely be a daily occurrence, while referendums on major provincial and national issues are estimated to occur at least four times a month, under the new system. The Nuevo Meshiko Online Polls and Tallies System has been meticulously designed to handle all this and more, Meshik reports. Good thing, too, as under the reformed Constitution, one-and-a-half million citizens can compel a referendum on any piece of legislation, while 5 million are required to initiate a referendum on a Constitutional issue.

And on that token...

What about Unincorporated Territories?

Good question. As every Neo-Meshikan knows, Nuevo Meshiko currently helps administer three Unincorporated Territories: the Serene Protectorate of Terra-Pacifica, with its own Constitution and governor, the Bubblegum Islands in the South Adraric (managed by the Subsecretariat of Insular Affairs), and the Northern Territories (comprised of much of the former Estinian Southwest).

Not a whole lot changes with the first two. Terra-Pacifica has chosen to remain essentially autonomous, paying federal taxes while Nuevo Meshiko oversees its defense; however, Terra-Pacificans will be granted the right to vote for the Neo-Meshikan executive in the 2019 presidential elections. The Bubblegum Islands will remain an overseas dependency.

The Northern Territories are still a hot topic among politicians, however. A elected territorial governor and council will replace the NM-instated provisional government in the coming months, as the new laws regarding Unorganized Unincorporated Territories define. A referendum is expected to be held some time next year, offering NT the choice to become a full-fledged province. Meshik has not stated whether either independence or free association will also be options.

What happens to our Legislative Branch?

Big news! The Grand Congress of the Sultanate will dissolve to form the Grand Majlis of the Union, a bicameral assembly where both chambers are endowed with equal powers. The upper house will be called the Chamber of Provincial Representatives; its purpose is to help equally distribute representation of the wilayat in Congress regardless of population size, a move intended to help protect minorities against tyranny by majority. Whereas the aforementioned chamber gets ten directly elected members per wilayat (and only five per unincorporated territory), its counterpart, the House of the People’s Representatives, has deputies directly elected by the mudirías, on a ratio of 1 member per 450,000 citizens.

What about the economy?

Much was tried over the past year in repeated attempts to jumpstart the economy, and over the past month or so, the tourism industry is finally seeing shy results. Statements have flown around from other socialist states, their leaders accusing Nuevo Meshiko of leaning “dangerously close to the right”. Well, Meshik, and the citizenry, seem to have heard. The renovated constitution lays the groundwork and defines the stages for the progressive nationalization of the few remaining private industries in Nuevo Meshiko (which are some of the biggest). Many blame these remaining corporations for the failure of our economy to recover appropriately; with most of their executive board under close government watch, a streak of expropriation not seen since the Meshikan Revolution now seems not only inevitable, but imminent.

(For more on the ongoing battle between the Government and the rich, don’t forget to keep up with our special twelve-part series, The Plight of the Bourgeoisie: Government-Sanctioned Crime or Justice at Last? Next week: the Qamara family.)

The Constitution also defines the process with which the citizens of Nuevo Meshiko will gradually take the democratic leadership of these industries, in a broadly similar manner to that which they are being offered minute control of the legislation the government devises. By the end of the year, percentage of private industry should have fallen to near zero, the Minister for the Economy has informed. (More details here.)

Last, but most certainly not least, what about our Sultanate?

Ah, the good old Sultanate, a three-year old institution which has offered Neo-Meshikans old and young alike much needed spiritual guidance during the tumultuous post-revolutionary times. What will become of it?

In a final push for secularization, major references to the Sultanate and to Islam are being removed from the Constitution. Freedom of creed is not only enshrined in it, as before, but it is emphasized, as is multiculturality and tolerance of others. The current government anti-xenophobia campaign can only be expected to proliferate.

Furthermore, many historically relevant religious sites and buildings, including, most controversially, the Palace of One Thousand Nights, of the greatest mosques in the world, are to become property of the state (and thus, we are reminded, of every Neo-Meshikan). Religious institutions with a historical claim to them will be allowed to remain, as long as strict preservation protocols are followed. Large portions of some of them, like the aforementioned Palace, will be converted into national museums with experts in their care.

Where can I find more information on how the Constitutional Reform will affect me?

For further details on the reform’s effects, visit the Federal Government website at www.gov.nm/en, or the Presidence of the Union at www.presidencia.gov.nm/en.