Mironia reminds me of a wilting flower.
The Wild Federation, located a thousand blocks or so from the Quaker Forest airstrip, is beautiful
-but
drooping at the edges. As I draw closer to the coordinates I’ve been given, I take in the quaint, pretty houses, the taller buildings that remain shorter and less stark compared to Revielle’s skyscrapers. The peaceful landscape is soundtracked by the woosh of my elytra; I spot a lone koala (yes, a koala. I didn’t even realize those were in the plugin) on an empty street, and a temple made of brick – with signs above its doors requesting that those who enter remove their boots. Despite the damaged roads that pass beneath, my first impression is of a safe, courteous place.
And yet, Mironia still bears the scars of the senseless griefing attacks on it and its fellow wild nations, perpetrated by ko531.
Landing near the simple concrete building in which the Senate meeting is soon to be held, I catch sight of a few once-great builds, now little more than shapes defined by floating blocks.
These are clearly the victims of the TnT attacks, husks that loom morbidly like cruel sentinels over the cozy, intact houses with welcoming smoke rising from their chimneys.
The meeting starts at 7:15 EST, with each attendee taking a seat in one of the rows of oaken chairs. The President Pro Tempore of the Senate, MJL_, calls it to order from a lectern at the front of the room; everyone will communicate mostly through Discord voice chat.
And so begins the second meeting of the Mironian Senate – but this isn’t just any meeting. In fact, tonight’s proceedings could determine Mironia’s future. In attendance is none other than this wild nation’s President DaanBanaan5673, whose career hangs in the balance as the Senate requests, in no uncertain terms, that he step down from his position and cede his office as President. A writable book is set up, for residents of Mironia to sign if they are convinced that Daan should step down.
The long list of grievances against Daan starts with the Mironian Constitution. MJL holds that the current one, made by Daan himself, is poorly written, full of loopholes and lacking in definition. The President Pro Tempore also claims there has been negligence concerning ko531’s terrorist attacks, stating that Daan
has made apologies and excuses but done nothing.
Quickly, a person is brought up – .MeineSaturn, whom committed controversial actions while Vice President.
MJL clearly blames Daan for this – not only because Daan ran with Saturn as his VP, but also because, with the Mironian Constitution as it is, Saturn could not be legally prosecuted, impeached, or receive any other penalty. MJL views this as an egregious oversight, which many in the room seem to agree with.
Next to speak is evefield, a religious leader and active member of the community in Mironia. She describes a “severe and fundamental lack of communication” from Mironia’s Executive Branch, recounting how multiple queries and issues have been responded to with a vague “we’re working on it”. She voices that openness and honesty with the people are deeply important, and Daan and his administration are not fulfilling that.
She reminds the President that “people are leaving Mironia because of this griefing”.
Eve also seems to agree with MJL_’s assessment of the President’s negligence. “When we’re being attacked, you’re not there helping,” she accuses Daan, “when we’re rebuilding, you’re not there helping.”
She also brings up what will soon be understood as a common grievance; the matter of Mironian citizenship.
Eve mentions a player, Loose_Leaf_, whose citizenship was denied after he declined to sign the contract required for citizenship by the Mironian government. Eve believes the complete inability this creates for Leaf to become a citizen despite being active within the community is unfair; “I don’t think
you’re a good President,” she finishes by telling Daan, before reclaiming her seat.
This sentiment is agreed upon by TbbW8, who tells Daan, “I do not see you as a diplomat”, proceeding to suggest that Daan would be more suited to a role other than President.
Then, Loose_Leaf_ himself pitches in, expressing that he feels excluded and taken for granted. He explains his decision not to sign the citizenship contract, seeming to find the contract controlling and feel that it places too much power in the hands of the Mironian government. He also states that under that
contract, any citizen of Mironia can have said citizenship stripped at any time, for any reason, and questions the legality of this. “I do not feel [the contract] is valid.” he states with conviction. “And I’m
frustrated… I don’t even have the option to be a citizen now without signing something that does not seem even legal.”.
evefield gives her input on this topic, conveying her belief that the citizenship system of Mironia in its entirety, including the way it relates to the voting system, is flawed. She points out that norpie, a legal citizen of Mironia, applied for a voting key (which, presumably, should have been sent by the Mironian Executive Branch) some time before an election and never received it, meaning that he was not able to vote. Eve says that this “just speaks to an inefficiency in this government”.
Hearing this, MJL_ comes forward with a statement they received from norpie, who was not present but spoke to them beforehand, stating; “I was really upset about Daan’s inaction during griefing.”
norpie describes Daan as having stood during the attacks, “diamond sword in his hand and doing nothing”. He also speaks of “poor planning in the way the city was founded”, prompting a discussion about inconsistencies in the way Daan’s administration has utilized and enforced the Mironian plot system.
Doodle_Jed clarifies that he “hold(s) no ill will toward Daan”, but “this whole situation’s been mishandled” and he agrees resignedly that “[Daan has] brought, singlehandedly, a lot of pain to Mironia”, before the discussion returns to the matter of the wild nation’s Constitution.
“I can’t list off the top of my head all the things that are wrong with it,” evefield says of Mironia’s highest law. She expresses that it is essential the Mironian Constitution be rewritten as soon as possible, as it “fails as a Constitution to protect its citizens in the ways that it should.”.
Now, MJL_ takes over once more. They agree with Eve about the Constitution, but remind the assembly that “this isn’t a meeting about attacking Daan”, going on to ask that the President peacefully relinquish power to the People’s Council of Mironia, which would be formed through MJL_ and their colleagues’ newly written draft for the Constitution if it were to pass into law.
Sec. 5. “Legislature”
There exists a legislative body known as the People’s Council of Mironia (“People’s Council”). The People’s Council has the power to enact laws consistent with the Constitution. Membership to the People’s Council is granted for three months and further regulated by the People’s Council. A quorum shall be a simple majority of its members. It shall be led by a presiding officer chosen from among its members.
Sec. 6. “President”
(a) There shall exist an office of the President of Mironia (“President”). This person shall initially be selected by the People’s Council and subsequently elected by the citizens of Mironia.The Provisional Constitution of the Wild Federation of Mironia, proposed by MJL_ to replace the current Constitution, which was written by DaanBanaan5673. Presumably this means that, in the event Daan were to agree to step down, the People’s Council would officially form and choose a new President.
The last to speak before DaanBanaan5673 has a chance to defend himself, Maldue speaks from the heart; “I haven’t been very long on this server, but I have seen that this server’s worth putting time and effort in.” He does not believe Daan and his administration are doing so. MJL_ states that they believe evefield should succeed Daan as president, expressing their admiration for Eve as a leader within the Mironian community and their confidence that she would do a better job than Daan.
Finally, sterfrythereal and NotThatBright represent Daan, who is present but doesn’t speak, and defend him. They present several screenshots of surveilled conversations between the attendees during planning for this meeting. Firstly, they accuse the Senate of staging a coup; evefield is quick to disagree with this description, reminding the President’s representatives that there are no demands or threats being made, only a peaceful request for Daan to step down.
NotThatBright goes on to concur that the Constitution needs revision, but says he does not see why Daan must step down for this to take place. He also states that any changes or amendments made would need congressional support – that is, the Senate alone cannot enact a new Constitution whether the
President remains in office or not, because it’s already codified in Mironian law that changing the Constitution requires a two-thirds majority vote in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. He says, “that is unfair to put that on Daan” of the citizenship difficulties, to which MJL_ argues that it is Daan’s administration.
The stars begin to come out above Mironia, bearing witness through the windows as evefield states that none of the main points against DaanBanaan5673 have been truly addressed, calling Daan’s representatives’ claims “ridiculous”. NotThatBright switches strategies, pointing out that Cassie45806, who is present as a member of the Mironian Senate, is legally an enemy of state. He claims that Cassie, therefore, should not have been involved in the planning of the meeting, nor should she be there.
MJL_ immediately comes to Cassie’s defense; “I will not allow Bright to refer to her as an enemy of state,” they say firmly, and go on to remind the President and his representatives that they are in the domain of the Senate, declaring; “you will play by our rules, because that is how we function.”.
Bright concedes and agrees to refrain from calling Cassie an enemy of state, but he once again makes the point that Daan does not need to leave office in order for the Constitution to be fixed; “I would disagree with the idea that Daan stepping down as president is necessary to amend the Constitution.”
Bright then asks MJL_ to clarify why the citizen contract is wrong or unfair. Cassie45806 answers this, reiterating that the President can remove citizenship from anyone for no reason. She’s very matter-of-fact; “it’s just overbearing and potentially illegal… it just breeds dictatorship.”
evefield addresses NotThatBright’s claim that the Constitution should be amended without Daan’s removal; “Slight issue – has anyone looked at the Mironian Constitution, and what it takes to
amend the Constitution?” she asks. And indeed, according to the current Constitution of Mironia, a vote to amend the document is only valid if there are at least three members of the Senate and three of the House of Representatives. The problem? Right now, there are only two official Senators, meaning it is
functionally impossible to amend the Constitution.
a. For a vote to amend the Constitution to be valid, at least three people must be a member of the House of Representatives and at least three people must be a member of the Senate.
The Constitution of the Wild Federation of Mironia
In a similar vein, Cassie points out that “you legally can’t impeach your President”, as there is no law governing Presidential impeachment currently in effect in Mironia, meaning that this meeting was the only option – other than an actual coup – to remove Daan from office.
NotThatBright now speaks again, responding to Cassie’s earlier point about the citizenship contract by claiming that “stripping citizenship would directly interfere in elections” somehow, which
would be unconstitutional and therefore protect citizenship from being taken without reason.
MJL_ asks for an explanation, if citizenship is in fact protected by the Constitution, for why norpie was not allowed to vote. NotThatBright’s reply to this is “clearly, there were issues”, and
sterfrythereal pitches in to continue. He claims that the Executive Branch was busy rebuilding after the griefing, and preparing for the Yeah_Jaron wave, that there was no time to fulfill norpie’s request for a voting key.
MJL_ doesn’t appear to think this is adequate, reminding sterfry and Daan that “you designed the system”. However, sterfrythereal claims they were busy with other matters again; he says defensively, “I’m sure you are well aware that people need to eat, sleep and have lives.” He says that there was no time to approve norpie’s request with only “two days” before the election, at which point MJL_denies that it was only two days, claiming that access to the exact records of the time between norpie’s request and
the election was barred while they were researching for this meeting. NovaKerbal comments on sterfry’s claim in the Discord call’s chat; “Jaron wave is apparently more important than people voting I guess”.
NotThatBright then returns attention to the screenshots that Daan’s defense submitted earlier. He points at the fact that the word ‘coup’ was directly used when discussing this meeting, to which evefield states that “typically, the use of the word coup was used in a tongue-in-cheek manner”, and that “if we were going to do a coup, it would not look like this”. MJL_ reminds Bright of his and sterfry’s earlier claims that the Executive Branch was busy with other matters – but they apparently had time to surveille
and gather information on MJL_ themself and on the planning for the meeting. Bright defends this by saying that the mentions of a ‘coup’ were “at least enough for us to investigate further”.
MJL_ now pauses the speakers, and requests that all the residents of Mironia in the room stand. They then request that those who are members of Mironia’s government sit back down, and only a few do so. MJL_ asks that they stand back up, and then says; “sit down if you think Daan should stay in
government”.
Only two people sit.
The gravity of this moment weighs heavily on the silence that follows, before Jakkuwu, who has recently joined the meeting, blames the citizens of Mironia for electing Daan. “It’s really the people’s faults,” he says.
MJL_ responds, “[the people] can change their minds.”
evefield speaks up; “We are asking him [Daan], as citizens, to do the right thing and step down – because he is not a good President.” MJL_ wraps up the meeting, allowing a few more people to sign the book. When Cassie requests a formal statement from the President, Daan replies; “We will be issuing a statement later today.”
As of April 19th, DaanBanaan5673 has stepped down as President of Mironia. MJL_ told me this was due to “separate issues”, but it certainly gives the People’s Council a chance to form and enforce their new Constitution. Hopefully, this heralds a new and thriving era for the Wild Federation, one that will bring its citizens together stronger than before.
Jae A. Faewood
