Antillean Recognition Act
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| Other short titles |
Antillean Act of 2022 Antilles Act of 2022 |
|---|---|
| Long title | An act to officially recognize the Antilles (United Commonwealth of America) as a free and sovereign independent state |
| Nicknames |
Antilles Act New America Act |
| Legislative history | |
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The Antillean Recognition Act is a proposed Act of the Parliament of Superior that seeks to formally recognize the Antilles as a sovereign state and to be granted formal diplomatic recognition by the federal government that is handed over to formally recognized independent countries. The act was proposed by Donald Hartford, a United Conservative MP from Arrowhead on February 1, 2022, during a press conference where he declared his intent to push forward legislation to recognize the Antilles as a sovereign state in accordance with the overall foreign policy agenda of the Dillon Administration. The bill was proposed in the House of Delegates and has been referred to the House Foreign Affairs Committee for a debate.
Isaac Dillon has endorsed the bill along with the wider Conservative Coalition who have supported changing the Antilles' status to that of an official independent state of which Superior can conduct formal diplomatic relations with. Presently, the Royal Institute of Superior in Hispaniola has served as the de-facto diplomatic office of Superior in the country. If passed, Superior will be the tenth country in the world to formally recognize the Antilles as a sovereign state with the most recent being the United Kingdom in 2020. Opposition to the bill is from the Progressive Bloc who cite concerns over issues of corruption, human rights and the general state of democracy in the Antilles as their main reason for opposing the bill believing that diplomatic recogniziton should not be unconditional.
On March 4, the bill passed the House of Delegates by a margin of 133–130 in response to the Caribbean Sea incident which many viewed as an unjust action that justified Operation Poseidon's Watch and pushed for recognizing the Antilles to show Superior's gratitude to the island nation. The bill is currently waiting in the High Council where it's expected to face a tougher time getting passed.
Background
Prior to the Continental Revolutionary War, Superior had recognized the United Commonwealth of America as a legitimate sovereign state and vise versa despite the Superian Revolution from the War of Contingency ensuring Superior's existence at the cost of the UCA's northwestern territories. During the war, Superior participated in an foreign intervention in the conflict on the side of the Federalists against the Continental Revolutionary Army who would emerge victorious in the war by 1922. The year before, the surviving elements of the Federalist government along with military personnel, political and diplomatic staff and countless civilians fled the Continental Mainland to the Antilles in what is collectively known as the "Great Retreat". While Superior and its allies supported the retreat, it ultimately recognized the new Continentalist-led government of the United Commonwealth as the new government of the mainland and viewed the Antilles as a government in exile.
During the Great War and the Post-war period, Superior would establish diplomatic ties along with several other Anglo-American nations, however these ties were informal with the establishment of the Antilles Economic and Cultural Representative Office being created as a means of ensuring form of diplomatic contact between the Antilles and other nations with Superior establishing the Royal Institute in Columbia City in 1943. While the Antilles would establish more of these offices in both the Americas and Europe during and after the Cold War, formal diplomatic status was only given to it by a handful of countries.
Provisions
The provisions of the bill lay out the formal recognition of the Antilles and proposed changes to foreign policy in return;
- The Antilles will be recognized as a sovereign and independent state and all Continental claims will be rejected.
- Official documents will refer to the Antilles as the United Commonwealth of America or UCA along with the Antilles as official classifications.
- Superior will open a formal embassy and diplomatic consulates in the Antilles, including in Columbia City.
- The Royal Institute of Superior will be reorganized into a think tank to study Antillean–Superian relations.
Reactions
Support
The Antillean Recognition Act is endorsed by each party member of the Conservative Coalition. Deputy President and leader of the Constitution and Unionist Party Anietta Johnson and leader of the Libertarian Party Thaddeus von Englehardt have openly supported and campaigned for the act. Before President Isaac Dillon officially announced his support, there had been speculation that he would support it as he had been vocally supportive of recognizing the Antilles as a sovereign nation during his time as Leader of the Opposition. Leader of the Christian Democratic Party Charles Griffith has also supported the bill, though has privately expressed doubt over its possibility of enaction according to a number of sources.
Outside of the Conservative Coalition, some members of the Reform Party have expressed their interest in supporting the bill, though party leadership has yet to officially make its decision. Outside of the House of Delegates, the bill has been supported by the Continental Exile Association and the Association of Michigander Exiles, two of the largest anti-Continental and anti-Landonist groups in Superior. President Arian Lawrence of the Antilles, who is very vocal in Anglo-American politics, has endorsed the bill through Bubbler.
Opposition
The Antillean Recognition Act has been officially opposed by each of the three Progressive Bloc members. Leader of the Opposition and leader of the Liberal Democratic Party Quentin Bradshaw has vocally opposed a bill, saying in a press statement that he "recognizes the bills good intentions", but believes that it will "greatly damage relations with the Continentals". Leader of the Farmer Labor Party Atal Bohtar criticized the bill, believing that the Antilles' history of authoritarianism was "contrary to the foundations of Superior".
Outside of the Progressive Bloc, the First Nation Party has announced its opposition to bill. United Conservative High Councilor Mark Braden of Frontier has opposed the bill for recognizing the Antilles as a separate country, which he believes would jeopoardize the nation's claim as the continuation of the United Commonwealth of America. Outside of the House of Delegates, Anglo-American Reconciliation Organization has publicly opposed the bill.
The American Institute for Democracy, a think-tank based in Saint Anthony, voiced its opposition towards the bill highlighting issues of corruption in the Antilles such as contentious election laws, corruption, issues of economic and racial inequality, and corruption as the main reasons to not recognize the Antilles and advocated for applying significant economic and political pressure on the Antilles into addressing some of these concerns, mainly political corruption and voting laws, before they can be recognized as a sovereign state.