Pelasgia
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| CARIA | PELASGIA | WORLD | WEATHER | SPORTS | OPINION | SPECIALSupreme Court strikes down attempt by Polities to enact same-sex marriage, as Nauplia defends its position
Nauplia, 19 April 2022 | Iakovos Kantelides
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The Supreme Court building in downtown Nauplia (PHOTO: Archive)
The constitutional division of the Supreme Court has struck down an attempt by three Carian polities (Nauplia, Thoricus, and Leontis) to enact state laws recognising same-sex marriage, citing their preemption by a recently enacted federal statute including a strict, conservative definition of marriage. The law, which would have granted equal status to same-sex and heterosexual couples before the governments of the three polities was considered to have contravened the federal government's power to enact common standards across Caria in the fields of competency of the polities, including marriage, family, and social services, according to the near-unanimous decision of the five-judge panel. The sole dissenting judge, Madam Justice Alexandra Kontou, criticised the majority's decision as being based on an outdated conception of constitutional protections. It is worth noting that Justice Kontou is the only judge to be appointed to the court by a party other than the currently governing Constitutional Democratic Party (KSD), which has been in power for most of the last fifty years. The other justices, led by Associate Chief Justice Georgios Papatheodorakopoulos, were unanimous in their ruling that the federal law violated no constitutional protections regarding equality and freedom of expression, while also upholding long-established jurisprudence regarding federal paramountcy over state governments.
However, the victory was not necessarily celebrated by incumbent Prime Minister Mr. Anastasios Kalamaras, whose government has tried to walk a fine line between maintaining favour among the middle class of the more liberal conservative coastal urban centres of Caria proper, without openly flaunting the sensitivities of more religious rural inland Carians, as well as the largely unrepresented citizens of the Governorate General of Pelasgia, Caria's massive overseas possession in northern Himyar. Mr. Kalamaras' government has already granted same-sex couples the right to enter into civil unions and the right to receive various services and information just like heterosexual couples in matters of healthcare and government services; it has, not however, granted them formal recognition or the right to marry and adopt, as the three polities' bill would have done. This has left him in a precarious position which has satisfied neither urban progressives nor conservative provincial voters, without openly upsetting them either. It appears that the two opposition-controlled polities and Nauplia, which is administered by a rival KSD faction seeking to challenge Mr. Kalamaras' rule, sought to upset this balance by publicly challenging the status quo, and forcing the government and its largely handpicked Supreme Court to take a side.
The opposition, for its part, has been quick to capitalise on the controversy, with National Democratic Party (EDK) official opposition leader Mr. Porphyrios Germanos proposing the enactment of a piece of legislation that would allow polities to choose their own marriage regime--while exempting the Governorate General of Pelasgia. Evidently, while this would perhaps solve the problem, it constitute political suicide for Mr. Kalamaras, whose party has long promoted federal supremacy, partly due to its reliance on a mixture of both urban and rural votes to stay in power. It would also compromise a long-standing federal government policy of not making legal distinctions between mainland Caria and Pelasgia, to the extent possible. Yet, public sentiment has indeed been animated, with both the National Human Rights Federation and various Church-affiliated groups organising rival marches on the matter. Foreign governments have also weighed in, with firebrand politician Albina Melo i Campos from @Ebria decrying Caria and especially Pelasgia as "turning their backs on their citizens" in light of the passage of a bill legalising same-sex marriage in the neighbouring country. According to polls, public opinion in Caria is highly polarised on the topic, with younger and more urban voters favouring legal recognition of same-sex marriage, in contrast to more rural and older voters (as well as the overall majority of the country). The difference becomes even more apparent when one considers the figures of Caria proper vis-à-vis Pelasgia: mainlanders are evenly split at 50%, while Pelasgians oppose it at 72%.
Other Headlines
- (International) Foreign Minister Grammatikos plans meeting with Ebrian counterpart to improve relations, following successful trade agreement conclusion in Tianlong. Foreign Ministry hopes to use trade as basis for long-term relationship, set precedent for future, higher-level meetings.
- (Business) Automobile giant Pegasus Motors pauses relocation of factory to Pelasgia following protests by mainland workers over loss of jobs. Federal Government intervenes to work out solution between management and workers following month-long strike at on of the company's Thoricus plants.
- (Sports) Asteras Nauplia FC and Panpropontiakos AS FC face off in football championship final, in Propontine team's first mainland league challenge in over twenty years. Panpropontiakos fans still banned from court following clashes, inappropriate behaviour in last month's game with Nike Thoricus FC.
- (Religion) Carian Christians prepare to celebrate Easter one week after most of Europe due to observance of Julian Calendar for the Holiday by Propontine-rite Catholic majority and Orthodox minority alike. Carian Catholic Church refuses to remove dairy from list of foods prohibited during "light" lent, citing fundamental difference with previously removed olive oil due to animal origins.
©2022 The Nauplia Herald Newspaper Co. S.A. / Ἐκδοτικὴ Α.Ε. «Ο Ναυπλιωτικὸς Κήρυξ»
The constitutional division of the Supreme Court has struck down an attempt by three Carian polities (Nauplia, Thoricus, and Leontis) to enact state laws recognising same-sex marriage, citing their preemption by a recently enacted federal statute including a strict, conservative definition of marriage. The law, which would have granted equal status to same-sex and heterosexual couples before the governments of the three polities was considered to have contravened the federal government's power to enact common standards across Caria in the fields of competency of the polities, including marriage, family, and social services, according to the near-unanimous decision of the five-judge panel. The sole dissenting judge, Madam Justice Alexandra Kontou, criticised the majority's decision as being based on an outdated conception of constitutional protections. It is worth noting that Justice Kontou is the only judge to be appointed to the court by a party other than the currently governing Constitutional Democratic Party (KSD), which has been in power for most of the last fifty years. The other justices, led by Associate Chief Justice Georgios Papatheodorakopoulos, were unanimous in their ruling that the federal law violated no constitutional protections regarding equality and freedom of expression, while also upholding long-established jurisprudence regarding federal paramountcy over state governments.
However, the victory was not necessarily celebrated by incumbent Prime Minister Mr. Anastasios Kalamaras, whose government has tried to walk a fine line between maintaining favour among the middle class of the more liberal conservative coastal urban centres of Caria proper, without openly flaunting the sensitivities of more religious rural inland Carians, as well as the largely unrepresented citizens of the Governorate General of Pelasgia, Caria's massive overseas possession in northern Himyar. Mr. Kalamaras' government has already granted same-sex couples the right to enter into civil unions and the right to receive various services and information just like heterosexual couples in matters of healthcare and government services; it has, not however, granted them formal recognition or the right to marry and adopt, as the three polities' bill would have done. This has left him in a precarious position which has satisfied neither urban progressives nor conservative provincial voters, without openly upsetting them either. It appears that the two opposition-controlled polities and Nauplia, which is administered by a rival KSD faction seeking to challenge Mr. Kalamaras' rule, sought to upset this balance by publicly challenging the status quo, and forcing the government and its largely handpicked Supreme Court to take a side.
The opposition, for its part, has been quick to capitalise on the controversy, with National Democratic Party (EDK) official opposition leader Mr. Porphyrios Germanos proposing the enactment of a piece of legislation that would allow polities to choose their own marriage regime--while exempting the Governorate General of Pelasgia. Evidently, while this would perhaps solve the problem, it constitute political suicide for Mr. Kalamaras, whose party has long promoted federal supremacy, partly due to its reliance on a mixture of both urban and rural votes to stay in power. It would also compromise a long-standing federal government policy of not making legal distinctions between mainland Caria and Pelasgia, to the extent possible. Yet, public sentiment has indeed been animated, with both the National Human Rights Federation and various Church-affiliated groups organising rival marches on the matter. Foreign governments have also weighed in, with firebrand politician Albina Melo i Campos from @Ebria decrying Caria and especially Pelasgia as "turning their backs on their citizens" in light of the passage of a bill legalising same-sex marriage in the neighbouring country. According to polls, public opinion in Caria is highly polarised on the topic, with younger and more urban voters favouring legal recognition of same-sex marriage, in contrast to more rural and older voters (as well as the overall majority of the country). The difference becomes even more apparent when one considers the figures of Caria proper vis-à-vis Pelasgia: mainlanders are evenly split at 50%, while Pelasgians oppose it at 72%.
Other Headlines
- (International) Foreign Minister Grammatikos plans meeting with Ebrian counterpart to improve relations, following successful trade agreement conclusion in Tianlong. Foreign Ministry hopes to use trade as basis for long-term relationship, set precedent for future, higher-level meetings.
- (Business) Automobile giant Pegasus Motors pauses relocation of factory to Pelasgia following protests by mainland workers over loss of jobs. Federal Government intervenes to work out solution between management and workers following month-long strike at on of the company's Thoricus plants.
- (Sports) Asteras Nauplia FC and Panpropontiakos AS FC face off in football championship final, in Propontine team's first mainland league challenge in over twenty years. Panpropontiakos fans still banned from court following clashes, inappropriate behaviour in last month's game with Nike Thoricus FC.
- (Religion) Carian Christians prepare to celebrate Easter one week after most of Europe due to observance of Julian Calendar for the Holiday by Propontine-rite Catholic majority and Orthodox minority alike. Carian Catholic Church refuses to remove dairy from list of foods prohibited during "light" lent, citing fundamental difference with previously removed olive oil due to animal origins.
©2022 The Nauplia Herald Newspaper Co. S.A. / Ἐκδοτικὴ Α.Ε. «Ο Ναυπλιωτικὸς Κήρυξ»
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