Chapter 253: A new Constitution

Within two days, things in Odaria had undergone profound changes. The first, of course, had been the disappearance of the old ruling class. The complete eradication of the families had left a great void in Odaria's economic system, but the government was quick to seize property and land and thus prevented millions of people from falling into poverty due to unemployment. On the contrary, all wages had been raised by at least 5%, an act that had gained even more support from the people. The second change was health care, finally available to everyone and not just to those who were willing to pay. During the first days because of this, the hospitals were literally overrun with patients, as there were many people who, having not received medical treatment for years, were very ill. Fortunately, the doctors had managed to contain the tide of needy: they had first treated those in danger of life and now, slowly, they were taking care of all the others. It would take weeks before the crowd of patients began to thin out a bit, but at least many people would have their lives saved. The third change was the NMWA's policy. After learning of Odaria's choice and recovering from the shock, they began making demands in an attempt to get the country to change its stance on the matter. For the moment they were still trying the diplomatic route, but it was clear that within a couple of weeks at the most they would reach sanctions and perhaps an embargo. Many foreign companies had already stopped trading with Odaria in protest. However, this did not bother Jocelyne. For a whole year she had been preparing for the nation to achieve total independence from foreign states. Although the mega energy plant and the recycling plant were not yet finished, they were still sufficient to provide enough energy, plastics, paper and other products to satisfy every single citizen of the country and all neighboring nations. Also, thanks to her move a year earlier, the heads of households had used their resources to convert any use of oil, coal and natural gas into clean energy. Most of Odaria's cars were now electric and all household services, from light to heating, were powered by the mega-system. As a result, Odaria could easily meet all of her major needs. The only things the country lacked were food, not having large arable land, and resources to produce scientific and health instruments... but Jocelyne had already thought of those, and would soon show the NMWA that Odaria was already completely independent from abroad. However, first he had another thing to do: unify all the nations of Maakanar. For the time being, the leaders of the other nations of the continent had followed Odaria's line of action, as they depended on it in all respects. But it was only a matter of time before the NMWA, seeing that it could not convince Odaria, aimed at these smaller countries, perhaps promising them resources and aid or some other type of compensation. Jocelyne couldn't allow it. If that had happened, then the NMWA troops would have landed in one of these nations and war would literally be at its door. Neither she nor her people would have ever wanted such a scenario: if humans and dinosaurs were going to fight, then they would have fought away from them. For this to happen, however, she could not keep the five Maakanar nations separate. If this had happened sooner or later one of them would have chosen to side with the NMWA. All five nations, Odaria, Sibula, Tearmoon, Cambion and Belos, were to become one, with a single government supporting the nation's peace and independence from the NMWA. It wouldn't have been difficult. Everyone knew that Odaria ruled over everything and everyone. Almost all the population of the neighboring nations already thought of themselves as a citizen of Odaria, except in the name. There were very few who had love for their homeland. After all, in third world countries, the people don't care who is in charge: it is always something too far beyond their means, so they generally ignore it, provided of course it does not worsen their financial situation. The peoples of Sibula, Tearmoon, Cambion and Belos would not have cared much that their nations would merge with Odaria; indeed, given the reforms that this would bring, they would probably have welcomed the news with happiness. All Jocelyne had to do was persuade the political class to give in. Nothing easier. Those people, like Odaria's politicians, were opportunistic cowards. Before, they obeyed the heads of families, who were their sources of financial support; now they would obey her. The meeting was held about three days after the president's announcement. The heads of state of all five nations had gathered in Chatilion, a small town on the border between Odaria and Tearmoon. Of course, Jocelyne had come too. Initially the various heads of state had looked casually at the girl, thinking that she was only there as a spectator, but after seeing the referential way in which the president of Odaria spoke to her they immediately understood how things really were. The heads of state of other nations weren't stupid: they knew that the government would never dare to move against the heads of families. There had to be someone else, a puppeteer behind the scenes who had orchestrated everything. Initially they had thought of Markus Jersey, the only head of the family left, but after seeing in what tone the president was addressing the girl, they realized that in reality the mastermind behind it was Jocelyne Jersey. This would have been enough to make them lower the crest: none of them would have ever dared to take sides against someone who had killed the most powerful people on the entire Maakanar continent. But Jocelyne, to make it even clearer that she was in charge, also ordered Jafar to reveal himself. At that point it was clear to everyone that Jocelyne, in addition to being powerful, rich and ruthless, was also an ally of the dinosaurs. Striking her, in practice, meant declaring war on creatures much stronger and with much more powerful weapons than theirs, not to mention that the armies of these nations did not even number ten thousand soldiers. Seeing that none of them spoke, Jocelyne thought they understood the hint well. So he sat down in the place where Odaria's president normally should have been, in clear manifestation of superiority, and said, "Gentlemen, I'll make it short. The division we are in now is only hurting us. My will, as well as the will of all my... allies..." and winked at the snake on his shoulder, "... is that the five nations of Maakanar come together as one. Only in this way can we truly keep the war away from our borders. So here's what I offer you: as I have already told your colleagues in Odaria, if you do as I tell you, in a few months you will be on a beach in some seaside resort enjoying the sun and the company of beautiful girls. If you refuse... well, I'll discuss the problem with your successors" Jafar blew heavily and the leaders of other nations instinctively recoiled. None of them tried to say anything to the contrary. "Very good. So, what I want is that in the following days a plebiscite will be held in all five nations for the creation of the Great Republic of Beleriard". Beleriard was the name that humans gave to the region of the continent that stretched from the ocean to the mountain range that bordered the forest; that was where all the human nations of Maakanar were located. In order not to harm anyone, Jocelyne had chosen to call the new nation by the geographical name of the territory. "You will have to make sure that as many people as possible go to vote and are inclined to unification. If the NMWA tries to protest, remind them of the principle of self-determination of peoples on which it is based. This I have here is the new Constitution of the country, which will obviously have to be disseminated with the plebiscite" Jocelyne took a large sheet of paper from her bag and placed it on the table so that everyone could read it. She had carefully prepared the new Constitution over the past year, following both Sobek's teachings and her own principles, and after much effort she had achieved a result that not only satisfied her, but was also sure it would be approved by the whole. population, making it even easier for plebiscites to succeed. CONSTITUTION OF THE GREAT REPUBLIC OF BELERIARD Following the total unification of the five nations, the provisional leaders of Odaria, Tearmoon, Subila, Belos and Cambion promulgated, with the approval of the political class and the entire population, the following Constitution of the Great Republic of Beleriard in the following text: ART. I: The Great Republic of Beleriard is a semi-presidential republic founded on the welfare of all its citizens. Sovereignty belongs to the people, who exercise it in the forms and within the limits provided for by the Constitution. ART. II: The Great Republic of Beleriard recognizes and guarantees the inviolable rights of people, both as individuals and in the social formations they exercise. Health and education are free, in accordance with the right to health and the right to know. ART. III: The Great Republic of Beleriard favors justice. All citizens have equal dignity before the law, regardless of their civil, social, economic and political status. Every citizen subjected to trial will be judged impartially and according to the principle of "innocent until proven guilty". Furthermore, every citizen has the right of active and passive electorate. ART. IV: The Great Republic of Beleriard strongly opposes poverty. Consequently, to eliminate this obstacle, the State undertakes to provide every citizen of the nation with a minimum food to survive (from 2000 to 2500 calories per day) and accommodation that can guarantee basic needs (generally, a studio apartment sufficient to sleep. ). Any other good, including more food or larger housing, must be earned by the individual citizen according to the sacred principle of work. ART. V: The Great Republic of Beleriard opposes the war and repudiates its use except as a means of defense for itself and its allies. It also undertakes never to support any foreign conflict, but rather to use its influence as a nation to stop the war, using the tool of diplomacy. ART. VI: The Great Republic of Beleriard opposes social inequalities. Consequently, the state undertakes to provide any citizen wishing to engage in political propaganda with a minimum income to support his projects. In fact, every citizen possesses the right to electorate both active and passive, and must therefore be provided with the necessary tools to exercise this right. ART. VII: The Great Republic of Beleriard opposes discrimination. Any citizen, regardless of his religion, marital status, opinion, political alignment, skin color, sexual orientation or gender is protected under the fundamental principles of the Constitution, and it is illegal to do otherwise. ART. VIII: In the Great Republic of Beleriard, power is tripartite, therefore the legislative, executive and judicial powers are divided between the three special bodies: the Parliament holds the legislative power, the Government the executive and the Judiciary the judicial one. ART. IX: The Parliament of the Great Republic of Beleriard meets in the Senate; its members must be directly elected by the people through elections to be held every five years. The number of parliamentarians will be equal to ten for each province of the nation. Once elected, the members of Parliament will in turn elect a Chancellor, who will choose which topics to legislate on and which issues to address immediately and which ones to postpone. For a law to be approved, it must have the support of at least 3⁄4 of the Parliament. To be elected as a member of Parliament it will be necessary to be at least fifteen years old, while to be elected Chancellor it will take at least thirty years. ART. X: The Government of the Great Republic of Beleriard is made up of a president, who must be actively elected by the people and, subsequently, receive the confidence of Parliament. To be elected, the president must be over fifteen years of age. Following his election and obtaining the confidence of Parliament, the president will appoint the members of the new government. The president will remain in office for three years and can only be re-elected two more times in his life. The president may also lose his office if he meets a motion of no confidence by the Parliament, if the Chancellor agrees that his actions violate the laws imposed by the Constitution and his words will be confirmed by the judiciary. ART. XI: The Judiciary of the Great Republic of Beleriard is completely independent from the Parliament and the Government. To become a member, you must be over forty years old and undergo an intense test that will assess the individual's legal abilities. It is made up of fifteen judges, among which one of them is elected Supreme Judge. The Supreme Judge has the task of choosing the topics to be discussed, coordinating the debates and giving the casting vote in the event of a tie. The Judiciary has the task of dealing with any matter having as its object the law, be it criminal, civil, military or administrative, and also has the task of supervising the dictates of the Constitution and ensuring that the new laws do not conflict with those of the Constitution. The judiciary also has the power to remove the president before the expiration of his mandate, with or without the approval of the Chancellor, if his actions openly conflict with the Constitution. ART. XII: The first twelve articles of the Constitution of the Great Republic of Beleriard must never be changed, regardless of any political ideology or future situation. As regards the articles that will be added later, in order to be modified or added they must be subjected to the following process: 1) a motion must be launched by the Parliament or the Government; 2) the Senate will meet, and the motion will be approved if it obtains the consent of 3⁄4 of the Parliament; 3) the Judiciary will check the proposal, and verify that it is not in conflict with the first twelve articles of the Constitution; 4) after being approved by both Parliament and the judiciary, the proposal must be put to the judgment of the people through a referendum; 5) if it obtains a number of votes of approval equal to 3⁄4 of the nation's population, the law is approved and promulgated by the Chancellor, and from that moment it enters into force. If within a year there are no problems that obviously damage the population, then the law becomes in effect part of the constitutional order. Jocelyne patiently waited for everyone to finish reading, preparing to respond to the criticisms that would obviously come. In fact, they were not long in coming. "These are all very generous terms, my lady" began the president of Subila, "but how should we meet the terms prescribed by article 4? I can understand providing accommodation, but also giving food to the entire population is a practically impossible undertaking" "Not to mention that nobody would need to work this way. Why should people keep doing it, then?" the president of Belos pointed out. "I understand your doubts, but I can assure you that there will be no problems" Jocelyne replied. "I did not write this Constitution in one night. I have been preparing for this moment for a long time. I can assure you that I already have a sufficient food source to satisfy a much larger number of people than our population" "Yes, but the problem of work still remains..." "What problem? The Constitution only requires the state to provide the individual citizen with a roof over their heads and enough food not to die of hunger. All the rest the people will have to earn. Televisions, cutlery, kitchens, toilet paper, books, video games, jewelry, trinkets, refrigerators, or even other food in order to indulge in other recipes... all this they will have to procure themselves. And who would like to live without television or toilet paper?" Jocelyne laughed. "I can assure you that people will continue to work, they will simply no longer run the risk of starving. On the contrary, this will incite new talents to show themselves, because no one will be afraid of losing their jobs, trying new paths, launching themselves into businesses. After all, if they are good for them, if they do not succeed... patience, in any case they will not risk ending up in the middle of the road. We human beings are by nature hardworking creatures, we need to have something to do, even if we already have everything we need to survive" Now the presidents of the five nations seemed calmer. "But are you really sure that we can provide food for everyone?" the president of Tearmoon asked again. At which Jocelyne took on a frowning expression: "I told you I know what I do, and that's it. How, it doesn't concern you" she replied sourly, and the snake on her shoulder blew. Nobody dared to say another word on the subject. "But how are we going to guarantee enough money to the citizens for their propaganda? And education? And health?" the president of Cambion asked again. "Thanks to the purge of the big families, all their possessions are now the property of Odaria. Consequently, what will become the Great Republic of Beleriard now already has all the money necessary to guarantee citizens the right to propaganda and education for at least the next ten or twelve years. As for health, well, I took care of that. All these resources will give us enough time to establish taxes that will allow us to continue to guarantee these rights in the future" Jocelyne explained calmly. "Other questions?" "Personally, I think it would be useless to do more. It is evident that you have thought of everything" Morgan Medlay intervened, who, like a good dog he was, had begun to flatter his mistress. Faced with that scene, the presidents of other nations also quickly accepted the new Constitution. "Splendid!" Jocelyne exclaimed with a smile. "You can start drawing up the unification papers then. Here's what you will declare to the people..."