Parliament Passes Multiple Laws Despite Disagreements in Government

Parliament has passed a number of important acts, including the Companies Act Amendment Act, introducing a company tax of 500 credits; the Future Housing Act Amendment Act, allowing citizens to connect their rooms to government-owned housing and elevating apartment prices to what the Government called "reasonable" prices; and the Settlements and Local Governance Act Amendment Act, which establishes the city of Lakeville, a move long desired by Leader of the Opposition MikeBodwin.

The Parliament session was highly disorganized and featured what pundits have called "the biggest display of disagreement between Government members since the SDP-Green Party coalition in GeorgeChambers' first term as president, back in 2021". Even members of the Government, such as nilah., the Prime Minister, and Vincent_Wolff, the Minister of Defence and Foreign Affairs, challenged the housing prices and the company tax, respectively, during the debates, although, in the end, the acts passed with zero opposition.

Apropos of the Future Housing Act amendment, the Prime Minister expressed her concern that the proposed price of 50,000 credit was "feasible, yet still way too high" and suggested a "median price [of] 3500 monthly" or finding "a decent price for an annual fee". Penstubal, Speaker of the Parliament and Minister of Development and Finance, defended the proposal, saying that "high-quality rooms take an enormous amount of money to build, and if a person is to occupy them they should have to pay a price that's in accordance with the value of the build".

Penstubal also added that "a lot of effort goes into those rooms" and said the price was "reasonable if the apartment will be fully up to date, modern, good quality, have all the modern amenities that make life better to live".

MikeBodwin's performance in the debate was considered "bizarre" by some observers and involved calling the Minister of Development and Finance a "scam artist" for proposing the price of 50,000 credits, an accusation which he was reprimanded by Deputy Speaker SuperMiron for. MikeBodwin said that the price was so high that "you might as well be stealing from people".

In his responses to MikeBodwin, Penstubal criticized the quality of his rooms while claiming that the government's apartment rooms will, by contrast, be of high quality, thereby justifying the price.

The debate on the Companies Act amendment was even more heated, with the Minister of Defence and Foreign Affairs expressing concern about the proposal.

"The current definition of inactivity is way too strict and fails to consider various circumstances the companies may be in," said Vincent_Wolff. "Declaring a company 'inactive' only based on a missed payment is way too simple and could unfairly penalize businesses that are struggling due to certain setbacks they cannot help. (...) How do you expect a company to catch up on payments, and to recover, if they are declared inactive and stopped from operating?"

MikeBodwin also attacked the proposal and tabled an amendment of his own that would lower the company tax from 500 credits to 250 credits, claiming that the government's proposed price of 500 credits was "exorbitant". The move was a swipe at Penstubal's remarks at the previous session, when he called 500 credits a "modest tax" and 1000 credits "exorbitant", thereby flipping Penstubal's own arguments against him. Like Penstubal, MikeBodwin cited a "change of circumstances" as the reason for his U-turn, without specifying what they were, thereby poking a hole in the Minister's arguments.

Penstubal defended the proposal, claiming that the tax proposal mainly targets companies that hardly contribute to Demarcia anymore and that it would benefit both well-off and fledgling businesses. He also declared that the Social Democratic Party is the "party of business".

During the debate, Vincent_Wolff accused MikeBodwin of "coercion", citing private messages from MikeBodwin telling her to "vote against for shits and gigs XD" and to "do it, then they have to take you seriously". Deputy Speaker SuperMiron subsequently reprimanded Vincent_Wolff, saying that she did not provide any evidence of coercion.

Ultimately, all three acts on the agenda passed. The housing bill passed with three votes for to one against (MikeBodwin), with the entire Social Democratic Party rallying behind it. The company tax, on the other hand, passed with two for votes and two abstentions. Vincent_Wolff joined MikeBodwin in abstaining on the company tax.

The Leader of the Opposition questioned Minister Penstubal after the acts had passed, accusing the SDP of having "fallen into so much chaos where it's inactive, where we haven't heard from the President". He said that "your PM and Minister are disputing your bills because they haven't been communicated about their details" and said that nilah. promised the SDP "wouldn't introduce taxes", accusing her of a flip-flop.

Penstubal, to the opposition leader's and also Deputy Speaker's astonishment, said nilah. announced tax readjustments in a speech "before the election, when she was campaigning for the presidency" and that "it was logical that she was speaking about her policies if she is elected president. She wasn't elected president." He accused MikeBodwin of "making believe that the SDP is a divided political party", citing the passage of the government's bills today as evidence that it isn't. He also acknowledged problems with activity, but said that "we are getting back on track".

This is only the second parliament session of MarcoDeVore's presidency, which began on 13 July 2024. It remains to be seen whether the next parliament sessions will be as heated as today's session, and it remains to be seen whether government divisions will surface in ways worse than they did today.

Tim Bradshaw,

Demarcian Inquirer.