Economic Freedom and Trade Act

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 This article is a C-class article. It is written satisfactorily but needs improvement. This article is part of Altverse II.
Economic Freedom and Trade Act
Coat of arms of Sierra
Other short titles Economic Trade Act
Long title An act to condemn the ulawful attack on the Amazonas, a call to ensure the free travel in the Caribbean, and a call to ensure the effectiveness of sanctions against the United Commonwealth and its allies
Acronyms (colloquial) EFTA
Nicknames Amazonas Act
Anti-OMEAD Act
Enacted by the 68th Parliament of Sierra
Codification
S.F.C. sections amended S.F.C. 13: Amended to exempt European OMEAD member states from boycotts and sanctions
Legislative history
Major amendments
  • An amendment to include other countries in the future per the request of the government and the consent of parliament.

The Economic Freedom and Trade Act is an Act of the 68th K.S. Parliament first proposed by Isabelle Huynh that calls for the Kingdom of Sierra to impose international and economic sanctions on both the United Commonwealth and United People's Committees for their role in Amazonas incident along with imposing an economic boycott of all goods from both nations and all other member states of the Organization for Mutual Economic Assistance and Development (OMEAD), the Continental-led intergovernmental economic organization founded after Great War II. According to Huynh, the goal of the act is to both punish the United Commonwealth and Andes for their alleged attack on the Amazonas from Brazil and to ensure that all sanctions against both states are not undermined by OMEAD member states which is why they are also targeted by the bill. The act was proposed on January 16, 2022, by Huynh before the House of Commons to implement what she calls the "right and needed response to Continental state terror".

The bill itself was referred to the House Foreign Relations Committee for consideration and has become a subject of significant internal debate. The act is largely supported by the Official Opposition lead by Kenneth O'Conner of the Royalist Party who announced the party's unanimous endorsement of the act on the same day. On January 17, the Libertarian Party announced their backing of the bill along with the Conservative and Unionist Party of Bajaría. On January 20, the Christian Democratic Party and Bajarían Social Unionists also endorsed the bill as well. The Hawaiian Sovereignty Party itself is yet to state its position on the bill.

Opposition to the bill largely comes from the Social Democrats under Susan Kwon, the Green Party and Progressive Democrats on charges that the bill politicizes the Amazonas incident to justify anti-Continental sentiment and cite how most OMEAD member states had no involvement in the attack and targeting them would make a regional affair an international controversy and crisis. The Democratic-Republican Party is largely opposed to the bill, however many elements of the Progressive coalition in the DRPS and Social Democrats support the act along with the Democratic Party of Bajaría who endorsed the bill on January 21. Prime Minister Kwon announced her formal opposition to bill on January 25. On February 26, a section of the bill was amended to exempt OMEAD member states in the European Community from sanctions and boycotts citing their connections to the West and general lack of involvement in Caribbean affairs and supporting the Continental States. Instead, OMEAD member states in Asia and Africa will be targeted instead.

The bill has become a focal controversy in Sierra as it is viewed as proof that support for peace with the United Commonwealth and solidarity with Brazil as a CAS member state in accordance with American unionism are at odds after being viewed as co-existing viewpoints. This issue has been cited as a reason for some Progressive coalition MPs who have voiced their support for the bill. Amongst the general public, most polls show a majority of Sierrans (55 to 60%) supporting the act and/or similar legislation towards it.

Following the terror attacks in February, the act has been stuck in deadlock as the issue of domestic terrorism became paramount for domestic security, however the opposition has still advocated for the bill inspite of its deadlocked status. Supporters of the bill have accused Kwon and her government of engaging in legislative obstruction in order to prevent the bill from passing despite it passing committee on February 9. Calls have still been made to pass the bill inspite of Kwon's stand-off.

The bill was proposed a second time on December 9, 2022, with a new amendment to narrow the scope to OMEAD members in the Americas and one to allow for the inclusion of other countries in the future should the government request it and gain consent from parliament. The bill passed the House of December 12 (260–66) and late the Senate on December 16 (132–23) before receiving royal assent on December 18 by Queen Elizabeth II of Sierra.

Background

Main articles: Amazonas incident and 2021 Andean constitutional crisis

On December 12, 2021, the Brazilian corvette Amazonas was traveling in the Caribbean Sea on a routine patrol and was traversing in waters close to the United People's Committees and the West Indies, the latter of which the ship stopped at for rest and resupply during its trip a few days prior. According to the Andean government, the Amazonas had entered into its maritime borders and was concerned that it was planning to attack on the country as it was amidst a major constitutional crisis at the time of the incident and requested the Continental Navy to either detain or destroy the ship. The request was granted and the Continental Navy deployed the cruiser CCS Evansville to intercept the ship. On December 12, the two ships met and the Evansville attacked and destroyed the Amazonas killing 92 sailors and capturing the surviving 28 crew members including Captain Raimundo Abril, the commanding officer of the ship, and took them into custody eventually detaining them in Augustinia and taking them to New Orleans to await further trial.

Both the Continental and Andean governments defended their actions, but few nations beyond their historic and ideological allies defended them and most international responses were universally negative and condemned the act as illegal and an act of aggression. The K.S. Foreign Office condemned the attack with Maggie Chan denouncing it as an illegal action that justified sanctions. The Getty House released a statement condemning the attack and stating that sanctions was an option in terms of Sierra's response to the attack. The Royalist Party condemned the act and viewed it as proof that the United Commonwealth was returning to the aggressive foreign policy it had during the Cold War and that Sierra and the wider CAS had to respond and contain their influence.

Legislative history

The Economic Freedom and Trade Act was proposed on January 16, 2022, by Isabelle Huynh, a Royalist Member of Parliament from the Inland Empire, in response to the Amazonas incident. The bill itself began development in December days after the attack as Huynh and other Royalist caucus members began debating on the proper response to the incident. Announced at a press conference, the bill was stated to include provisions that impose harsh sanctions on both the Continental and Adean economy and government, but also expanded to impose such sanctions against member states of OMEAD. The reason for sanctioning OMEAD as the belief that the alliance will be used to undermine any sanctions placed upon the United Commonwealth and the Andes and so Huynh seeks to use the bill to weaken the alliance and ensure the strength of such sanctions.

The Royalist Party and the rest of the official opposition would endorse the bill with all major ideological caucuses and factions with the party from the conservative Royalist Study Committee to the moderate Red Tory Association all declared their support for the act. The Christian Democrats notably endorsed the bill on January 20 along with the Social Unionists. Some within the Progressive Coalition had stated their support or lack of stance as within the following days causing concerns among the Kwon government of the possiblity of the bill passing with Kwon herself stating that she opposes the bill and will do aything to prevent is passing.

On February 2, Kenneth O'Conner met with coalition MPs that were supportive of the bill and confirmed that the intent was to see how Kwon was responding to dissent within her coalition's ranks and later stated that the talks confirmed that Kwon was intentionally obstructing the passage of the act to prevent a final vote from being held and that it was proof of her "cowardice". Kwon denied these allegations, but stated that she was "going to do everything and anything" to prevent it from passing. This caused Huyhn to appear on EBN and stated that Kwon had to make a choice on the matter and that her act is a "do or die" type of bill while also citing public support for the bill and sanctions against OMEAD member states in the wake of the Amazonas incident.

Porciúncula attacks and delay

On February 9, the House Foreign Relations Committee had approved the bill for a vote and passed the committee, heading to a formal vote on the House floor. During the debate session of the vote, a series of bombings broke out across Porciúncula with one of them targeting the Parliament Building while the vote was in-session. Kwon herself was present during the attack, but managed to survive. At least seven members of the House of Commons were killed in the attack including Defense Minister Felix Sypher and Alexander McCarthy, 2020 Royalist deputy leadership candidate and a vocal supporter of the bill. As a result of the attacks, Parliament ended the session and all legislation schedueled for a formal vote was delayed out of respect for the victims of the attack and waiting for both the formal reconstruction of the Parliament Building and an all-clear signal to return to the capital. Huynh herself supported the delayed vote until Parliament was allowed to convene in Porciúncula. The attacks were carried out by the Provisional Sierran Republican Army whose attacks made the issue of domestic terrorism a new top issue.

Kwon's standoff

Following the bombings, Kwon called for the bill's vote to be delayed and for new legislation to address domestic terrorism to be brought up. The opposition agreed and would support the Domestic Security Act of 2022, however controversy over the proposed Styxie Regional Security Act from Kenneth O'Conner would garner controversy over accusations of violating constitutional rights to privacy and freedom of speech due to it calling for greater federal involvement and investigation into the dissident republican movement in the Styxie including acquiring online data from dissident republicans for investigation. On March 2 following the Caribbean Sea incident in which the Continental Navy trailed a convoy of the Caribbean merchant fleet even after they corrected course to avoid running into Continental maritime borders, Kwon refused to vote on the bill and delayed it again, causing backlash from the opposition and their supporters.

Second introduction

The bill was reproposed on December 4, 2022, by Huyhn to the House of Commons after the 2022 Sierran federal election due to the composition of the House being dominated by the Cornflower coalition between the DRPS and Royalists along with their respective allies. The bill was modified to target only the Andes and the United Commonwealth for their role in the Amazonas incident, Egypt and Liyba for their support to the Syrian opposition during the Syrian Civil War, and North Vietnam over suspicion for their possible role in the Valentine Plot in February. The bill passed the House on December 12 260–66 with the government and all but one crossbench MP voting in favor of the bill while the opposition voted against it along with the Hawaiian Sovereignty Party. The bill passed to the Senate where the debate began on December 13.

On December 16, the bill passed by a margin of 132–23 with the vote being mostly partisan with only the Social Democrats, Greens, and Haawaiian Sovereignty Party senators voting against the bill. The act then recieved royal assent on December 18 from Queen Elizabeth II, effectively becoming law and the first major legislative act of the 68th parliament.

Reactions

Support

Proposed by a member of the party, the Economic Freedom and Trade Act is supported and endorse by the Royalist Party, with Leader Kenneth O'Conner believing the bill will show the United Commonwealth "to never mess with friends of Sierra". The act is also supported by the Libertarians, Conservative and Unionist Party of Bajaría, the Christian Democrats, and the Social Unionist Party of Bajaría. The bill is also supported by the People's Party of the Deseret, though its members in Parliament are officially counted as Royalists.

Despite the party not officially taking a position on the bill as of yet, several moderate and socially conservative Democratic-Republicans have publicly supported the bill, with notable Democratic-Republican officials such as MP Cedric Harrison and Governor of Hawaii Duane Lulani supporting the act. Along with Democratic-Republicans, some "old guard" Social Democrats have stated support for the bill.

Opposition

The bill is opposed by the Social Democrats, Progressive Democrats, and the Greens, who claimed the act promoted anti-Continental sentiment and threatened to damage the nation's recovering relationship with the United Commonwealth. Along with that, opponents of the bill have also claimed the Economic Freedom and Trade Act is largely based on speculation, citing the disputed nature of the Amazonas incident.

Prime Minister Susan Kwon would announce her opposition to the bill on January 25, claiming that the act had the potential to "ruin the past two years of progress" between Sierra and the United Commonwealth. She would also claim that the bill was a "extreme reaction" and that massive sanctions "would not solve the problem". Although the Democratic-Republicans have yet to announce an official position, a majority of its delegation in the House of Commons has also stated opposition to the bill.

Foreign

Continental ambassador to Sierra Michael Hogan stated on January 18 that the bill was setting a "dangeorus precedent" for Continental–Sierran relations and stated that if it passed, both nations would be going down a "path towards an unavoidable Second Cold War". He also stated that he would resign as ambassador if the bill was passed and made it into law. Ambassadors and embassies from Brazoria, Egypt and Libya among other OMEAD member states also stated that the bill was dangerous and called on Kwon to defeat it.

Public opinion

According to a poll conducted by YouGov and FiveThirtyEight on January 20, around 58% of Sierrans supported the Economic Freedom and Trade Act. In the same poll, a majority of Sierrans agreed that the sinking of the Amazonas was an act of Continental aggression and that sanctions were a proper course of retribution. Although support was high among Sierra's age groups, the amount of support differed, with the highest support for the bill (85%) originating from older Sierrans (55 and up), while the lowest support for the bill (40%) came from younger Sierrans (18 to 25).

Following the Caribbean Sea incident on March 2, support for the act increased to 63% with a majority of Sierrans, 70% specifically, condemning the United Commonwealth's actions and viewed them in the wrong for tracing the Caribbean merchant fleet convoy inspite of them correcting their trajectory away from Continental waters. Similar to previous polls, most support came from Sierrans aged 35 and older.

See also

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