New Britannic Cricketers Come to Alexandria

The Conseil d'Amélioration pour la Culture (CAC), or Council for Cultural Amelioration, has announced the first major sporting event to be hosted in Valenciennes.

It has been agreed with both the Emperor of Alexandria and the King of New Britannia, that there is to be a series of three 40-over One-Day International cricket matches and a Twenty20 cricket match contested between Valenciennes Province and the Britannic Sandwich Islands.

The schedule for the matches is as follows: 

• Weds 18th June - 1st One Day International (ODI) @ Edgardia, Valenciennes.
  
• Friday 20th June - 2nd ODI @ Vranscia, Valenciennes.
  
• Sunday 22nd June - 3rd ODI @ Franciscania, Valenciennes.
  
• Monday 23rd June - Twenty20 International @ Edgardia, Valenciennes.

There is a hope that the event will be well supported, not just within the Province, but also across the Empire and in New Britannia too. We hope that this will be the start of a much warmer relationship, again, not just between our Province and the Britannic Sandwich Islands, but also both Empires.

In the meantime, Valenciennes are constructing a list of names for the teamsheet. Anyone interested in having their name added to list, should visit the thread at http://www.valenciennes.tk.

If you need to know more about cricket, visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cricket.

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Valenciennes Provincial Parliament Round-Up

Over the last two months the Valenciennes Provincial Parliament has been busy working on a few different issues. Firstly the Parliament has been working towards securing the legality of the Provincial Parliament by dealing with constitutional agreements. This has resulted in Geneva's Imperial Parliament and the Emperor clarifying Parliament's right to operate and exist. Furthermore, Parliament has moved to clear up any irregularities between the Imperial and Provincial Constitutions. This was done by passing the Housekeeping Amendment [2007] Act.

Furthermore an amendment to the Provincial Constitution, the Valenciennes Constitutional Amendment [Sept 2007] Act, saw full executive authority vested in the First Minister of the Province. This allows for the First Minister to select and manage a Provincial Executive if they so wish.

This month, I will be looking to finally receive an official budget from the Imperial Finance Ministry so that some real progress can begin to be made in our Province. Valenciennes citizens, your commitment is much appreciated.

Valenciennes Provincial Parliament Round-Up

The Provincial Parliament is back in session following the vote of confidence that allows me to sit as the First Minister.

Our first order of business has been for a constitutional ammendment to be made to allow for the First Minister to gain executive control of the Provincial Parliament, thus negating the need for a separate Governor to be elected. Furthermore the ammendment removes the upper term limit for a First Minister. The result of this is that as long as a First Minister has a public mandate, they may continue in there role. This was passed unanimously.

The second order of business has been for the previous two acts passed by the last administration to be repealed so that a fresh start may be achieved. This was passed with a 75% majority with one voter choosing to abstain.

Later this week I will be looking to make appointments to the Provincial Executive. In addition a budget will be requested from the Imperial Parliament so that the Provincial Executive may announce its spending for the year.

Valenciennes Success Story Irritates the Chief Justice

In this 'column' I have never professed to being anything other than myself and expressing nothing but my own views on Alexandrian and Valenciennes life. It was therefore my great pleasure to find myself finally at the helm of the great institution that I created, the Valenciennes Provincial Parliament, following a vote of confidence by citizens of the province.

The success of the Provincial Parliament is down to nothing but the hard work of all Valenciennes citizens through the ages. The inception of such federalism bears testament to the Provinces ability to work with every law and decree issued from Geneva and the Imperial Parliament.

It was then, to my surprise, that following a good couple of weeks in the Province that the Chief Justice, John Carmichael, decided to question the Province's well-established federalism. He proclaimed:

"Why does Valeciennes seem to have almost complete autonomy from the central Alexandrian state? I can't see a reason why it is allowed such wide ranging powers when we have a Parliament which should do the job"

He went on to say how the activity of Valenciennes' Parliament makes a "mockery" of the Alexandrian Imperial Parliament.

The Provincial Parliament is, of course, acting within the confines of Alexandrian law and under an Imperial Charter issued by the Emperor. Mr Carmichael's outburst calls into question his impartiality as by attacking Valenciennes he is also attacking the Federalist agenda.

Furthermore, can the blame of the Imperial Parliament's inactivity really be laid at the door of the Valenciennes Provincial Parliament? I think not. If nothing else it is testament to the Province's refusal to allow its institutions to stagnate in the same manner that the Imperial Parliament's members have allowed the national instutions to.