Thursday, 4 November 1999
Our Constitutional - CRISIS IN WAITING
The following analysis will show that the operation of Section 62
(Removal of President) and Section 63 (Acting President and
Deputies) of the republician constitution allow a �rogue� Prime
Minister to hold the nation to ransom with no legal address.
Together these sections are a recipe for a constitutional crisis in
waiting.
When an Acting President is dismissed by the Prime Minister a
�presidential vacuum� is created with no manner of constitutional
resolution possible. Situations, not unreasonable, exist where with
no President in office there is no manner for the people or the
Parliament to install a caretaker President.
Simply stated the republican democratic engine does not come
with a starter motor! At the extreme the proposed changes can be
said to allow (if they exist through inadvertence) or create (if the
exist through conspiracy) a constitutional dictatorship.
That such consequential crises are unlikely is not an answer.
Constitutions must exist over decades cannot do!
The kindest thought and perspective that can be placed on all this
is to say that the structure of o those who have presented us with
this debacle when we could end up with a Parliament where there
============================================
This is the final message in The National Watchman�s republic
series. I sincerely hope they have be
As always a Acrobat file (CON-WAIT.PDF) accompanies this file.
Below you will find an unformatted, crobat reader. Viewing notes
are at the end of this Email.
Kerry Spencer-Salt B.E., LL.B (Hons)
National Co-ordinator, Australian Community Organisation
P.O. Box 136, Surry Hills NSW 2010 Phone : (02) 9360 0610
E-Mail : [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Website : www.rockroll.com.au/watchman
====== BEGINNING OF EDITED ADOBE ACROBAT FILE ====
OUR CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS IN WAITING
Introduction
============
Traditionally constitutional crises occur upon the dismissal of Head
of States; not on their selectation of the Presidency. However of
equal importance is Section 63 (Acting President and Deputies) r.
Analysis will show that these two sections allow a �rogue� Prime
Minister to hold the nation to ranmmediate and consequential
dangers.
Acting Presidents and the �Presidential Vacuum�
==================================
One consequential danger will occur when an Acting President is
dismissed by the Prime Minister. He
This situation is referred to as the �presidential vacuum�. Here all
parties must await the instalee Act. These processes can only
start with the approval, consent and written notice of the Prime
The extreme danger is that, when the Parliament has been
dissolved and the Acting President dismissional dictatorship.
That such consequential crises are unlikely is not an answer.
Constitutions must exist over decades cannot do!
Section 63 - Operational Aspects
================================
When a President is sacked Section 63 provides that "the longest
serving State Governor available s
In regards to the Acting President all the "provisions of this
Constitution relating to the Preside
Thus, the Acting President may be sacked using the power of
Section 62 in the same manner as the or
That this is an unlikely case does not mean it is an impossible
scenario. The important element is judgment and balances; it is
not a question of law.
The Constitutional Crisis in Waiting
====================================
A constitution is not like normal government legislation that is
designed to handle to immediate co extreme. So let us ask one
simple question.
WHAT HAPPENS IF THE PRIME MINISTER DISMISSES THE
STATE GOVERNOR WHO IS ACTING AS THE PRESIDENT?
Here Section 63 provides that a "State Governor is NOT available if
the Governor has been removed (xt obviously needed question.
WHO BECOMES THE �ACTING PRESIDENT� WHEN THE
ACTING PRESIDENT IS DISMISSED?
The Presidential Vacuum.
=======================
The answer is one word : No- One can. There a �presidential
vacuum� in the Constitution. Section 6
"A State Governor is NOT available if the Governor has been
removed (as acting President) by the current Prime Minister under
section 62."
But, at the same time, the republican Constitution makes a State
Governor the only constitutional entity who can be Acting
President. After this the only thing that can be done is the
selection and empowerment of a new President under Section 60.
HOWEVER the installation of a President in this manner is AFTER
the report of the Presidential Selection Committee and AFTER the
Prime Minster has instituted the Committee!! This, even normally,
is of necessity a difficult and lengthy process. However the
Presidential Nominations Committee Act 1999 Section 8 states,
"A Presidential Nomination Committee has 32 members appointed
by the Prime Minster by giving written notice to the appointee."
Thus this process is one that MUST BE INSTIGATED BY THE
PRIME MINISTER.
Existing Protection and Safety Lost
===================================
The �presidential vacuum� would, in the interests of a stable
democracy, call for more immediate action. However the only
method to restart democracy is premised on the rogue Prime
Minister, who has just sacked the President and Acting President,
appointing the necessary Presidential Nominations Committee.
Under our present constitutional arrangement this possible
cascading of tenure of the Head of State would be handled by the
English Monarch. They would provide an independent, politically
neutral, dignified operation to our constitutional woes.
We can expect that the Monarch would not to allow the second
sacking or, if they did, they would still retain the power to reinstate
an appropriate person, say an ex-High Court judge, whose sole role
would be to restore the functioning of a stable democracy.
And if there is no representatives ?
So, if we accept a republic, we trade the a secure, tested and
stable system of a Constitutional Monarchy for the potential of a
�presidential vacuum�. And it is even worse than the consequential
effects, presented above, might suggest for our whole system of
responsible government could be well destroyed in the process.
Let us image that the Prime Minster dismisses the President after
the Parliament has been dissolved by the President. (The
republicans cannot claim that his is unlikely for it is the scenario
that is expressly provided for in Section 62.)
What happens if a second sacking occurs in this situation? Of
course there is the ire and wrath of the citizens who may believe
that responsible government is under threat. But the answer to the
conceptual destruction of responsible government will not be in a
philosophical determination of the citizens of Australia but rather it
will be STRUCTURALLY, CONSTITUTIONALLY and
PERMANENTLY bound in Australia�s supreme law.
No, No, NO NEVER - NO MORE
============================
Simply there is no way provided, in the presidential vacuum, with
the Parliament dissolved to start up the Parliamentary engine, our
guarantee of democracy, ever again - EXCEPT WITH THE
PERMISSION AND ASSISTANCE OF THE ROGUE PRIME
MINISTER.
The proroguing of Parliament, i.e. the bringing of all the elected
members together can only be done under the power of the
President. (Section 5 - Australian Constitution) But,
THERE IS NO PRESIDENT
=====================
A. There is no power in the Constitution, after the second sacking,
to put in place an Acting President.
B. The Rouge Prime Minster may not install a Presidential
Nominations Committee. In this event there will never be a
President again.
AND THUS THERE CAN NEVER BE A PARLIAMENT EVER
AGAIN. There is not President to prorogue it into being!
History Repeats Itself
=======================
So even if, by dubious political processes, an election is called
and the representatives selected they can never be placed into the
Parliament. Such power exists only in the President who no longer
exists.
It is a situation very reminiscent of the constitutional hurdles in
England in 1688. Here James II continuing legal ownership of the
throne provided a constitutional dilemma. Firstly there could be no
Parliament without the King�s command and his presence but the
King had departed the country. Secondly the King had to be
removed from the throne in law; but how?
Prime Minister for President
=============================
Can the rouge Prime Minister make himself President ? or Acting
President ? Strictly speaking the answer is NO.
BUT the necessity of the situation will mean that the question will
probably be answered politically and not legally. A government is
required to run the country; note the looseness of the words in
Section 60 (Selection of President) which provides for the selection
process of the President. "The actions of a person otherwise duly
chosen as President under this section are not invalidated only
because the person was not qualified to be chosen as President."
WHO DESIGNED THIS MONSTER AND WHY ???
Words Worth Repeating
=======================
(AT THIS STAGE WORDS ARE REPEATED FROM A PREVIOUS
NATIONAL WATCHMAN CONSTITUTIONAL UPDATE. Here it was
said that,
"THE HIDDEN reality of Section 70 A, Section 62 and Section 59
was the creation of a new Constitution. The end result is that there
is a new sovereign power to replace the Monarchy. THE NEW
SOVEREIGN POWER IS THE PARLIAMENT.
It will take time for this change to develop but what is important is
that there is no constitutional safeguard to stop this fundamental
transfer of sovereignty. There is rather a constitutional crisis in
waiting.
The danger is that, when the full potentiality of change is
completed, the sovereign power of the nation and the law making
machine will reside in one constitutional entity, i.e. the Parliament.
AT IT EXTREME IT WILL REST IN A SINGLE PERSON, I.E. THE
PRIME MINISTER.
The Word Game
==============
With this understanding one might say that the President is only
the President for the time being. There will come a time when the
true sovereign, as created by the republic�s Constitution, will
announce themselves. Constitutions are only words. There is no
word that is not important. The worst possible analysis that can be
put on the scenarios provided is that there are who understand the
true meaning, nature and intent of the words that they have
inserted in the proposed Constitution. They have planned the
constitutional takeover of Australia and seek its ratification by the
Australian people.
Interestingly, there is a hint of such a possible agenda in the
republic�s Constitution in the definition for President (Section 127).
As with all important changes it came at the last minutes when the
Bill went to the Senate. This was on the last possible day; the Bill
came back with the following important addition. "The President
means the President for the time being". The reading of this
change was endorsed by all major parties. The total debate on
these words of warning are footnoted below.
The Republic�s Law made Simple
==============================
Remember the words introducing Section 70 A, "Until the
Parliament otherwise provides". These allow the Parliament to vary
the Prerogatives at its discretion, at any time it wishes. Add to this
that Section 59 that the President must act on the advise of the
Prime Minister and all independence of the position of Head of
State is no more than an illusion. And Section 62 says that the
Prime Minister can dismiss the President at any time !! The
republic�s law is simply the following,
"Ensure that the President�s decisions are controlled by his
Ministers, let a the Prime Minister sack the President on the spot
but specify that he does not have to be replaced and allow the
Parliament to remove all of the powers of the President".
The Watchman�s Final Comment
============================
That such consequential crises are unlikely is not an answer.
Constitutions must exist over decades, generations and centuries.
They must be able to constrain power at the limits of abuse. This
the republican constitution cannot do!
When an Acting President is dismissed by the Prime Minister a
�presidential vacuum� is created with no manner of constitutional
resolution possible. Situations, not unreasonable, exist where with
no President in office there is no manner for the people or the
Parliament to reinstate a caretaker President.
Simply stated, in these situations, the republican democratic
engine does not come with a starter motor! At the extreme the
proposed changes can be said to allow (if they exist through
inadvertence) or create (if the exist through conspiracy) a
constitutional dictatorship.
The kindest thought and perspective that can be placed on all this
is to say that the structure of the constitution, its power flows,
checks and balances do not seem well thought out. Should we
adopt a generous attitude to those who have presented us with this
debacle when we could end up with a Parliament where there is no
House of Representative, no Senate, no President and only a
Prime Minister is left?
Notes on Viewing Files
======================
Files are attached in Acrobat format and you must have an Acrobat viewer to see
what is attached.
As you may only be beginning on the Internet you may not have Acrobat. However
it is a very common method of distributing information on the net. For
instance, it is the format that the Australian Parliament uses to send Bills
and Acts electronically. Their web site
(http://www.aph.gov.au/hansard/pdfinfo.htm) explains how it works and allows
you to download it.
If you do not have it already you will need it shortly. Adobe Acrobat
is free if you do not have it. I recommend that you take an
opportunity now and download it from either from the Parliamentary
site above or go direct to the maker of the software (Adobe) and
their download page.
http://www.adobe.com/prodindex/acrobat/readstep.html
This latter site has more versions that can be downloaded. Should
you need a Macintosh version you will have to go direct to Adobe.
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---- File information -----------
File: con-wait.pdf
Date: 4 Nov 1999, 16:26
Size: 211737 bytes.
Type: Acrobat
con-wait.pdf
