An Imperial Edict was passed on Friday 15th May in which Emperor Jonathan I formally proposed various amendments to the Constitution, to be voted on at the end of June.
This follows on from a broadcast by Prince Dionisiy in February, shortly after his election as Prime Minister, in which he proposed various changes to Austenasian government.
Work is currently underway on a system of “e-Government”, which will once completed provide an online system for the Austenasian electorate to easily vote on various legislative matters directly.
The constitutional amendments to be voted on at the end of June, however, primarily concern the other major change proposed by Prince Dionisiy, which is to replace the Prime Minister as head of government with the Consuls.
Currently, two consuls are annually appointed by the Prime Minister for a year-long term, and are in charge of judicial sentencing.
Under the proposed constitutional amendment, the consuls would instead be elected by the House of Representatives at the nomination of the Monarch, or by the public themselves should a third or more of the Representatives present alternative candidates.
Prince Dionisiy was elected on a platform part of which was to strengthen the Roman culture of Austenasia. Establishing the consulate as the head of executive government would be a further step towards consolidating the Empire’s Roman heritage.
Other more minor changes in the proposed amendments include removing the requirement for the Empire’s Archdukes (that of the Archduchesses was not required; a typo with discriminatory consequences) to give consent for the Monarch to bestow the titles of Augusta and Caesar outside of the Imperial Family, and to allow an abdicated Monarch or a clergyman to officiate in a coronation if the head of government is unavailable.
The amendments would also make the rules governing the institution of the Senate more flexible, giving Parliament more say over its composition and permitting the Princeps Senatus (its chair) to resign that post without leaving the Senate itself.
Should the proposed amendments be approved in referendum on 30 June, they will still require the support of over 80% of the House of Representatives, as well as Imperial Consent. They would comprise the Third Amendment, with the Constitution also having been amended in 2015 and 2018.
Should the Third Amendment pass, the changes – including the dissolution of the office of Prime Minister – would come into effect at midnight on the morning of 1 January 2021, although the process for electing the new system’s Consuls for that year would begin in December.
