The Cadredec Dynasty- Part 2- The Reign of Shalmasere II (Traditions Born)
ii- The Reform Act:
At this point, a significant numbers of contradictory legal fictions and formalities existed within the state. Parliament continued to proclaim itself soveriegn, as did Shalmasere. Parliament, although united against the President, also had internal quasi-factions based on the Three Regions. (Bradios was in theory a federation of three regions but not in practice- there were therefore, in theory, three Parliaments. How this fitted into the new Jasiran was not clear, but the Three Parliaments continued to claim representation based on Bradios regions)
Each of these Parliaments theoretically had a Chief of Parliament (a concession made in early Bradios), who made an oath of allegiance to respect their Parliament's decisions but who also was theoretically soverign of it. The Speaker of Parliament (as a whole) claimed soveriegnity over the Chiefs, but they disagreed. The Speaker, like the President, did not formally exist, but in practice protocal dictated that he adressed as "Mr Speaker".
Finally, thanks to a civil war in Bradios theoretically everybody should have been sentenced to either death or exile- and certainly banned from office. This applied in practice to all office-holders except the President, but was ignored as a matter of course. (Parliament as a whole was, in theory, pure).
Wanting to eliminate the impractical mess, and at the same time extend his influence over Parliament, Shalmasere proposed the Reform Treaty to Parliament- which, as it was laid out like a formal treaty between soveriegn states, created another self-contradictory legal fiction. It was therefore renamed the Reform Act. (the legal status of an Act at this point being unclear)
Under the Reform Act/Treaty, theoretical soveriegnity would reside in Parliament, and the President would have to make an oath of allegiance to them, but the President would, as Chairman of Parliament (an invented role), have right of veto and to govern on Parliament's behalf (giving him all real power)- as well as, crucially, to veto Parliamentary statements. The Three Regions legal fiction would be abolished, as would all the others one. The President (though this title would no longer formally exist) and Chairman of Parliament would lead Parliament as Speaker.
Parliament did not want to accept the treaty, as they were (correctly) sure it was designed to give Shalmasere real power. They also remembered the (broken) promise that more power would reside in Parliament. Their response was to appeal both to the people and to East Jasiran to invade and depose the "rebel" (they refused to call him President, as this would acknowledge his legitimacy).
Whilst the people around the capital did indeed rebel, Shalmasere was able to supress them in two days (he called it the Third Parliamentary Revolt, but a tradition of calling it the Shalmaserite Rebellion continued in the countryside for almost a century). The result was he was able to force the Reform Act on Parliament unaltered- creating a tradition that would last for the rest of Jasiran history.
iii- The Standing Army:
West and East Jasiran (both by now proclaimed rebels by Parliament, which was acting as Shalmasere's puppet on foriegn affairs) had come to establish "natural borders". Both were fully aware that it was hard enough to control such nomadic empires and have real control over them, and were willing to accept each other's existence.
The problem was that they were not willing to accept Shalmasere's. He had repeatedly made references to them not as soveriegn states but as rebels. All three powers did that, but he had refused the prospect of even temporary alliances with either, and had their messangers executed for being rebels. Idle talk of a coalition to "reclaim the North" had been going on for months, but it was beginning to turn into something more serious.
Prior to this period, all three Jasiran states had used a system of levies. The tribal chieftan and/or Governor would call up miltia through whatever instruments of administration were normally used, and selected males would be conscripted into a temporary army. They would then go back to their homes after the war.
Shalmasere did not invent the idea, but heard of the tribe of "Queensland", to the east. The Queenslanders did not disband their miltia in times of peace, but perpetually trained for war. They had to- they were up against a coalition of five tribes in their local area, and were lucky to have survived as long as they did. Two of his advisors, Deuxex and Machinus, advised that he could greatly increase his fighting effectiveness by doing the same.
Shalmasere concluded it was impractical to do such, but liked the idea of some sort of standing army. The result was that Deuxex became Grand General of the first standing army of a Jasiran state- controlled by Shalmasere-appointed bodyguards, to be sure, but still General.
This was not actually needed at the time- West Jasiran had gotten the worse of the fighting, and the ruler of East Jasiran was psycologically burned down. But the permanent Army was not disbanded- and would remain a permanent institution in Jasiran...
. I mean c'mon you got all of India.
