Girbetese Constitution of 1976

Second Constitution of the Tichvaist Union of Girbeta of 1976
Chief Deputy Irek Bassem (left) shakes hands with Principal Elder Sabrican Labadi (right) at the signing of the 1976 Constitution on 8 July of that year.
Jurisdiction	Girbeta
Created	1 May - 3 July 1976
Presented	July 3, 1976 (1976-07-03)
Ratified	July 8, 1976 (1976-07-08)
Date effective	December 22, 1976 (1976-12-22)
System	Federal multi-party ecclesiocratic-republican semi-presidential republic
Branches	Three
Chambers	Bicameral (National Consultative Assembly); divided into two houses: the Chamber of Elders (Upper House), and Chamber of Deputies (Lower House)
Executive	Executive Secretariat led by a Executive Secretary
Judiciary	National Arbitration Judicial Commission
Federalism	Federal
Entrenchments	Three
Amendments	Seven
Last amended	August 9, 2002 (2002-08-09) (7th)
Location	National Archives, Saybäketle National Municipal Region, Girbeta
Author(s)	Special Committee for Constitutional Reform (CERC) Special Committee for Democracy in the Union (CEDU)
Signatories	All members of the CERC, CEDU, and the 39 members of the Chamber of Elders
Supersedes	Constitution of the Tichvaist Union of Girbeta of 1957

The 1976 Girbetese Constitution is the basis for all laws in the Tichvaist Union of Girbeta. Developed in the aftermath of the Vanugalu Conflict and the Kučkullanu, as well as a wave of general civil disobedience and labor upheavals from the late 1960s on, The Constitution was developed in recognition of the failings of the original 1957 Constitution, as cited by the Special Committee for Democracy in the Union from their investigations into the causes of the conflicts.

The Committee stated the Constitution's shortcomings included failures to protect vulnerable and historically-disadvantaged populations, increasing isolation of communities, and an executive branch that, while ideally intended to ensure popular control of the government, effectively was a weak rubber stamp position subservient to the Principal Elder. Upon their report to the National Consultative Assembly in February of 1976, a vote of both houses of the Assembly authorized the establishment of the Special Committee for Constitutional Reform, a panel of respected Girbetese statesmen and political theorists from around the world which was placed in charge of developing a new constitution which "married the spirit and ideals of 1956 with the practical needs of a modern developing society".

The resulting document dramatically reformed the government of the Federation, most strikingly by establishing the National Secretariat of Girbeta as a separate entity from the Legislature, as well as implementing a number of measures to develop its modern form of semi-direct democracy. It additionally affirmed an emphasis on local government and greater municipal autonomy, while also creating the current framework of national government which works to balance both the secular and religious elements of the nation. Accompanying these political reforms were broad protections for minorities in the country, a "workers' bill of rights", and guarantees for other human rights not originally included in the First Constitution.

Contents

Preamble and Assertion of Sovereignty

The peoples of the Girbetese nation have maintained a distinct identity and continuity of statehood throughout the course of their collective history, from the Babaran exodus to modern times. This fact is asserted and made manifest by:

• The formation of the Point Faial Concord between the Babarans and Loaloa upon the arrival of the former in 1402;
• The establishment of Great Saybäketle in 1430;
• The connection of the disparate Loaloa tribes with Babaro-Girbetese settlers in the Achvitic Missions of Conversion, resulting in the development of the Tichva Confederacy;
• The formation of a joint Girbetese identity, its earliest records evident in the writings of the Revered Achvit Inaz Nakebak and his contemporaries in the 16th Century;
• Resilience of the Girbetese peoples and their identity in the face of the Miricio-Girbetese War;
• The heroic Defense of the Fortress of the Deliverance in 1601 and the assertion of a unified identity of the Girbetese peoples;
• The maintenance of the Girbetese and Loaloa languages, Girbetese custom, and Tichva throughout the Mirician Imperial Occupation;
• The assertion of our nation's natural right to self-determination made evident in the establishment of the Kingdom of Girbeta in 1866 and the subsequent reestablishment of an independent Girbetese state in 1951;
• The assertion of a uniquely Girbetese form of government rooted in popular sovereignty and Tichvaist customs in the Girbetese Revolution (1955), the establishment of our first Constitution and the first set of national elections (1957), the defeat of the Monarchists (1955-1961), the victory over ethnic separatism in the Vanugalu Conflict (1968-1970), and our endurance of the Kučkullanu (1969-1976) and its subsequent victory against foreign influence in the Union;
• The spirit of reform which followed the Kučkullanu, resulting in the Constitutional Sessions of 1976 which sought to reform and assure the continuity of a free and democratic Tichvaist Union and to marry the spirit of 1956 with the practical needs of a modern developing society and its peoples.

Considering these presented historical facts, as well as the universal and undeniable principles of the modern world, affirm the right of the Girbetese peoples to indivisible, irrevocable, non-exhaustible and non-transferable right to self-rule, state sovereignty, including its fully-maintained right to secession and association. Thusly, as basic provisions to the maintenance of domestic peace, democracy, and the maintenance of a free international order of equals, this constitution establishes the Tichvaist Union of Girbeta as the nation-state of the Girbetese peoples: those of Babaran, Loaloa, Majulan, and Mirician ancestries, as well as the autochthonous national minorities which enrich our society: all peoples of the South Sea Islands, Frigidarites, [PATAGONIANS], Alydio-Miricians, and all others who are citizens, who are guaranteed all the full rights and protections inherent to all peoples of the Girbetese nation in accordance with the norms of democracy, human rights, individual freedoms, and all other protections affirmed through the Congress of Nations and the countries of the free world. Respecting the will of the Girbetese nation and all citizens, resolutely expressed in the free elections, the Tichvaist Union of Girbeta is hereby founded and shall develop as a sovereign and democratic state in which equality, freedoms and human and workers' rights are guaranteed and ensured, and their economic and cultural progress and social welfare promoted, and the reasonable application of humanistic Tichvaist thought applied for the welfare of the peoples of the Union.

Article I: Organization of the Tichvaist Union

Section 1: Form of government

This Section affirms the form of government utilized in Girbeta as a Tichvaist Union, maintained and reformed from its original form developed in the First Constitution of 1957. This form of government is rooted in the popular will of the Girbetese peoples, as made clear by its acceptance via national referendum in which the maintenance and reform of our mode of government was accepted by 88% of all eligible voters in the Union on 22 October, 1976.

Section 2: Founding Principles of the Union

This section defines a Tichvaist Union as based on the principles of:

1. The eternal concord between all peoples and Machakla, who is all and all is;
2. Acceptance of the great mystery of life and the unanswerable questions of mortality and the hereafter;
3. The wisdom of Machakla passed to mankind through the Fareštas, as disseminated by the Silis;
4. The immutable truth of the Fareštas' revelations to the Izgesigezts of Vraj, as shared to all mankind through the Kithlat;
5. The need for whole community participation in worldly affairs, including governance and legislation, guided by the Achvit;
6. The universality of Machakla's wisdom, love, and justice, even among non-believers;
7. The essential value, dignity, and freedom of each individual human being;
8. The individual's lifetime responsibility to engage in the Great Works of harmony, wisdom, and righteousness with, of, and in the self, the community, and world;
9. The duty of government to carry out its operations in order to facilitate and not inhibit these truths in the conduct of its constituent citizens;
10. The duty of government to conduct itself in a manner that respects and enshrines the Nine Sacred Precepts of Tichva;
11. The encouragement of the arts and sciences, and their enshrinement as the greatest expressions of the human experience;
12. The negation of all forms of oppression, both in infliction and submission, and the promotion and protection of each individual and community's political, social, and economic right to self-determination.

Section 3: State Goals of the Union

This article affirms that all conduct engaged by the government of the Tichvaist Union of Girbeta shall be done in order to better achieve these aims:

1. The promotion and protection of a society based on equality, good morals, community, and faith;
2. The combating of all forms of vice, nepotism, and corruption;
3. The development of an activist and aware population through the use of mass media in conjunction with the free and independent press;
4. The inherent right to free education and knowledge, and freedom from ignorance;
5. The inherent right to free medical treatment, and freedom from illness;
6. Freedom from all forms, modes, and methods of persecution and subjugation, and freedom from fear;
7. The elimination of poverty and extreme economic inequality, and freedom from hunger;
8. The inherent right to housing and dignity of the home;
9. The elimination of unwanted foreign influence from the public discourse;
10. The elimination of imperialism and neocolonial subjugation;
11. Promotion of the Girbetese arts and sciences, and defense of the public from falsehood;
12. The defense of the essential political, economic, social, and cultural autonomy of the individual and community;
13. The defense of the Girbetese way of life and government rooted in the principles and goals outlined in this Constitution.

Article VII: Religion

Section 1: Establishment of the State Religion and Rationale

This article defines Tichva as integral to the Girbetese national and cultural identity, and therefore, must be maintained and sanctioned as the sole national religion of the Union. This is affirmed through:

• The presence of the Chamber of Elders within the National Consultative Assembly as seen in Article II, Section 2;
• The presence of an officially-mandated Executive Achvit present within the Executive Secretariat, as seen in Article III, Section 3;
• The undeniable influence of Tichva on our cultural and therefore legal traditions, as made evident through the development of New Tichvaist Law as seen in Article IV;
• The organization of the Regional and Gubernatorial Assemblies as equal parts clerical and civil in nature, as seen in Article V, .

Article XII: Mandate for permanent national, regional, and local public services and agencies

This article defines the compartments of the national, regional, and local governments and the services they are required to provide, as well as the process for organizing and overseeing these compartments.

Article XIII: Symbols of the Tichvaist Union

Further Information: National symbols of Girbeta

This article defines:

• The National flag;
• The Coat of Arms;
• The National anthem;
• The registry of national monuments which preserve the memory of the Revolution of 1955-56, the cultural legacy of the Girbetese peoples, and the achievements of the Tichvaist Union, and provisions for their maintenance;
• Sites of ecological importance to Girbetese culture and the unique biology of the Union's territories, and provisions for their maintenance

Article XIV: Amendments to the Constitution

Amendments to the Constitution of the United Revolutionary Federation may be proposed by:

• A motion to amend by the Regional Assembly of at least 1/4 of all Governorates and National; Cities in the nation, accompanied by at least 250,000 valid signatures from among the electorate within 18 months of of its presentation to the National Consultative Assembly.;
• A motion to amend by members of the Chamber of Deputies which achieves a simple majority and subsequent majority vote by the Chamber of Elders within 18 months of its presentation;
• A motion to amend via popular initiative, if it obtains valid signatures from at least 15% of the national electorate within 18 months of its presentation.

If one of these conditions are reached, a Constitutional Session of the Combined Assemblies is called, in which both houses of the National Consultative Assembly is required to achieve a supermajority during the session to immediately pass. If this does not occur, the proposed amendment may be put to a national popular vote during the next cycle of general elections, to which it only requires a simple majority to pass. If the proposed amendment is achieved by process of popular initiative, no vote is required during the Constitutional Session, but instead may immediately go to ballot following deliberations in the Combined Assemblies to refine and revise the proposal.