Sementian Constitutional Convention
MicroParliament
Fall of Cyberland - A Commentary by David Oatney (of Sementia)

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Sementian Constitutional Convention

Sementia is off to a good start with a Constitutional Convention established to write a Constitution. The problem there is that the two competing parties, the PFP and Liberty Party, are fighting viciously over the Bill of Rights. Both sides accuse the other of not compromising and threatened to leave the country. To make matters worse, the Liberty Party has threatened the Convention President, Ken Thacker, of abusing his power.

This has gotten out of hand, but we will keep you up to date as to the activities of the SCC.

MicroParliament is off to a slow start. Low turnout made debates few in number and not very substantiated. In fact, the committee chairmen in many of the committees had to draft the resolution to stir activity. We'll notify you of the results of the MicroParliament.

This past week, I joined a small Sementian foreign delegation on a tour of the misnamed "Layne," National District of Cyberland to find out just what was left, if anything, of Cyberlandian constitutional government. That nation is dead, physically dead. Its government is inactive, it's institutions no longer are functioning.

What made me even sadder was when I parted from the group to walk about the capital alone for awhile. I walked into the Houses of Parliament, a beautiful old-style building modeled after Britain's Parliament. I walked into the Commons chambers, where I had served as Deputy Prime Minister, to see the ornate green leather benches empty, to see Mr. Ceres' old Speaker's chair without it's wig-and-cloaked occupant, and his dispatch box without a page. The government benches were quiet, the opposition benches were desolate. I walked by the Prime Minister's residence at No. 10 Jefferson Street to see one guard at the door, but the flag down, indicating that the residence that I should lawfully occupy, but which is taken by the dictator Layne, was unnoccupied, and the "Prime Minister" was not in the city or in his house. The same was true with the Presidential Palace.

Then I walked into my old Deputy Prime Minister's residence at No. 14 Goldwater Street. As I looked around, I could see my old desk and office were there, even an old easy chair, as I had left the country in a hurry due to the Layne purges. Memories came to me like a whirlwind of the many times that I had used the second highest cabinet position, which I obtained as a result of a scandal which ousted the former Deputy, to trump Layne and his cronies and beat down his dictatorial tendencies. When I and my followers threatened Layne's power, he decided he would rather let the nation die than lose his control over it.

As I sat down in my old office, I ask myself what the real reason was for the failure of Cyberland, and I quickly realized the answer...In Cyberland, the battle for control was between two factions of the same political movement. Cyberland was a one-party state that gave only the appearance of a dual party system. We had no ideological opponents, and this led to fragmenting within the government itself, and ultimately to the nation's collapse. IN the past week, I have been criticized by certain members of the opposition for being too much in favour of Liberty. President Kerns of Cyberia thinks I am an anarchist, another certain member of the convention has called me "a fool." I need remind my friends that my experiences in Cyberland taught me the lessons all over again about putting too much power in the hands of government, and I will do everything I can to see that it doesn't happen again. We are witnessing in this nation currently a deeply divided and often heated Constitutional Convention. Believe it or not, I am very pleased to see that. It means that our nation will survive, because which ever party controls its first government will be united against a common foe in a clear opposition party, and the same will be true with each succeeding government to control the nation..the house will never have to worry about being divided against itself.

Rumors yet abound of a resurrection of a Laynist-dominated Cyberland in the capital. In talking to ordinary citizens there, they are frightened that if Layne and his cronies return their civil liberties will be in danger. One thing is certain..a Laynist Cyberland is not a friend to Sementia, it may very well constitute a threat to us and an oppresive regime to it's own people, and we should be on the alert and monitor events in Cyberland over the next few months.

As I made my way toward my car after visiting my old residence, an older man came up to me with a tear in his eyes and a frightened look on his face. He begged me to stay and conduct a coup d'etat while Layne was away...I responded kindly that I would give anything to reverse the situation in my native micronation, but even I could not govern without a functioning cabinet or judicial system, and I reminded him that there was always a place for him to come in Sementia to get away from Layne's terror. "Goodbye Prime Minister," he softly said in a melancholic voice, "God bless you."