The Constitution of the Northwest American Republic
DRAFT - October 2006
[Note: In the interest of historical accuracy, the draft Constitution of the Northwest American Republic was the work not just of Mr. Covington, but of a Constitutional Committee numbering around 30 men and women. The names of most of these people would mean nothing to most readers, and in some cases mentioning their names in public could cause them difficulties. In any case, no list has been retained and the bulk of the documentation and correspondence destroyed, for reasons which should be obvious. This material should rightly have been preserved for history, but the immediate physical safety from persecution of the people involved was of greater contemporary concern.
Nonetheless, for the record, in addition to a number of people not named, the Constitutional draft presented here contains input, ideas, suggestions, inspiration, and in some cases written passages from the following individuals: Louis Beam, James Butler, Richard Butler, Rick Cooper, Harold A. Covington, Frederick Crandall, Byron de la Beckwith, Chester Doles, Scotty Earbend, Dr. Edward R. Fields, Joseph Paul Franklin, April Gaede, Carl Geharis, J. D. Grier, Michael Hoffman II, Richard Kelly Hoskins, Richard Kemp, David Lane, Kirk Lyons, Robert Mathews, David McCalden, Robert Miles, Edward Peacock, Bruce Pierce, Richard Scutari, Edgar J. Steele, David Tate, Eric Thomson, Bill White, Ernst Zündel, and many others. Thank you all. – HAC]
Preamble
In the name of the Divine Creator of all things we, the Aryan peoples of the earth, do hereby set forth this Constitution of the Northwest American Republic, in order that we may secure the existence of our people and a future for White children.
Section One - Nationhood and Citizenship
Article I. The Northwest American Republic shall be a Homeland solely for the use and habitation of White people of all nationalities, cultures and creeds worldwide, in order that Western civilization may be preserved and White children may be raised to responsible adulthood in safety, prosperity and tranquility. We must secure the existence of our people and a future for White children. Such is the overriding principle of this Constitution. Nothing incompatible with this prime directive may be held by any authority to be constitutional.
Article II. All White people of any nationality, ethnicity, or previous citizenship, shall have the right to live permanently in the Northwest American Republic as legal residents.
Article III. Citizenship in the Republic, as opposed to legal residence and domicile, to include exercise of the franchise and participation in government and the political process, shall not be automatically conferred at birth, or through racial identity alone. Citizenship is to be earned through responsibility fulfilled.
Article IV. Residence and citizenship in the Northwest Republic shall be restricted, absolutely and for all time, to those persons of unmixed Caucasian racial descent from any one of the historic family of European nations, who shall have no known or identifiable non-White ancestry, and no visibly non-White element in their genetic makeup.
Article V. The race commonly known as Jews are in culture and historic tradition an Asiatic people, and shall not be considered White or accorded White racial status under law. No Jew shall be allowed to enter or to reside in the Northwest American Republic under any circumstances. Article VI. Citizenship in the Republic and the right to exercise the electoral franchise shall be divided into three classes, with each class of citizenship holding one, two, and three individual votes respectively. Those who demonstrate superior civic and political responsibility, and who display the greatest dedication to state service, and who thereby achieve a higher class of citizenship, shall thereby have the greatest say in the political process.
Article VII. Citizenship in the Northwest American Republic may be legally reduced or revoked by a court of law, by the Bureau of Race and Resettlement or other competent governmental authority, by act of the National Convention, or by decree of the State President, which bodies and authorities may also grant or restore citizenship. Grounds for revocation or reduction of citizenship shall be:
1. Conviction of a felony.
2. Medically certified mental defect or insanity.
3. Proven non-White racial descent to include Jewish ancestry.
4. Willful miscegenation with persons of non-White race.
5. Factual proof of the commission of acts of homosexuality.
Article VIII. Standards of race and citizenship shall be established by a Bureau of Race and Resettlement, which shall set all racial parameters and codes, establish scientific and cultural standards of racial identity, and which shall make determination in individual cases where applicable.
Article IX. Whereas the basis of all human civilization has been, and shall remain, the traditional nuclear family based on the institution of marriage, with the wife and mother as the heart and the gainfully employed father as the head, the Northwest American Republic herewith acknowledges this traditional family unit and the values historically attached to it as the foundation of the state, and declares that the protection of the family shall be and shall remain a primary goal and supporting pillar of the Republic, its laws and institutions.
Section Two - Government and Administration
Article I. The Northwest American Republic shall be a unitary or single-party state, with the Northwest Front serving as the official party of government.
Article II. The government of the Republic shall consist of two branches, executive and legislative;
1. All state and local governments, offices and agencies thereof that existed under the previous rule of the United States of America are herewith abolished.
2. Preexisting counties and cities within the Northwest American Republic shall create such local governments within the parameters of this Constitution as appear to be necessary for the maintenance of health, order, and prosperity, but all ordinances, laws, and functions of said local governments shall be subordinate to the central government and laws of the Republic, and the authority of the National Convention and the State President.
Article III. This Constitution shall be enforced and interpreted by a standing Constitutional Committee of the National Convention, to whom constitutional issues may be referred for determination by the Convention as a whole, by the executive branch, by state agencies, and by the courts.
Article IV. The basis of the body politic of the Northwest American Republic shall be the roster of all persons holding citizenship in the Republic, which citizenship roll shall function as the lowest level of government and the foundation of the state. The citizenship roll shall function in this capacity through general elections to the National Convention, and also through the institution of the national referendum.
Article V. National referendums shall take place as needed in conjunction with general elections to the National Convention.
1. National referendums on specific issues of immediate urgency or interest may also be called by the Convention as needed through special resolution, with such referendums to take place within not less than thirty (30) days and not more than sixty (60) days from the adoption of said resolution.
2. No national referendum or any other act of government may alter or amend this Constitution, in whole or in part.
Article VI. The historic role of the Northwest Front in implementing the Revolution and securing the independence of the Republic is officially acknowledged. The primacy of the Party in governing the Republic is formally acknowledged and enshrined in this Constitution.
Article VII. The chief executive of the Northwest American Republic shall be the State President, who shall be a first-class citizen and Party member not less than thirty-five years of age, and who shall be a military veteran.
Article VIII. The State President shall serve as head of the executive branch of government, as commander in chief of the armed forces and the Civil Guard, [national police force] and commander of the Bureau of State Security.
Article IX. The State President shall have the right to appoint a Council of Ministers of his own choosing, and to create or dissolve ministerial portfolios as he deems necessary, with the following exceptions: he may not dissolve or allow to fall into abeyance the Ministries of Defense, Interior, Finance, or Race and Resettlement;
1. The State President shall have the authority to assume one (1) ministerial portfolio himself for all or part of his term.
2. The State President shall serve as chief magistrate of the Republic and shall exercise full and final recourse over all actions and decisions of the judicial system and the National Honor Court, specifically including the power of full or partial pardon or commutation of any civil or military sentence of death, confinement, corporal punishment, loss of citizenship, amercement, or exile, with the following exception: the State President may not overrule or set aside any jury or other court verdict of not guilty, not proven, or other acquittal.
Article X. The State President shall be elected by direct popular vote of all citizens, through a primary election wherein all candidates for the office shall fulfill the basic requirements of eligibility, and who will furthermore be members of the National Convention;
Article XI. Subsequent to the primary election, should any candidate fail to gain more than 50 per cent of the vote, a run-off or general election between the two front runners shall take place. The candidate receiving a simple majority of votes shall become State President. Article XII. The State President shall serve a single term of six years in office, and may not be re-elected to the office of President for two consecutive terms;
1. In the event of his or her death, illness, or other incapacity, the State President shall be succeeded in office by the Speaker of the National Convention. In the event of the death or incapacitation of both the State President and the Speaker of the National Convention, executive power shall be collectively assumed by the properly constituted ruling body of the Northwest Front for a period of no longer than thirty (30) days, who shall during that time appoint a caretaker President who shall hold office for a maximum of one (1) year, until a special presidential election can be held.
2. The State President may be impeached and removed from office on foot of a national referendum of recall. Any national referendum on the impeachment and removal of a State President may be passed by the National Convention without the signature of the sitting State President, nor shall he or she have any power of veto thereon.
Article XIII. The legislative branch of government shall consist of the National Convention, which shall be elected by popular vote of all citizens every two years. The National Convention shall be presided over by a Speaker who shall be elected in caucus by the government members of each incoming convention, and who shall serve at the pleasure of the government parliamentary party.
Article XIV. The National Convention shall be unicameral.
Article XV. The National Convention shall consist of four elements: government, opposition, deputies from the armed forces and Civil Guard, and non-voting ministers of state.
1. Civilian deputies of the National Convention shall be elected by popular vote of the citizenship roll on the basis of two government members and one opposition member per county.
2. One (1) serving senior officer and one (1) serving senior non-commissioned officer from each branch of the military shall be appointed as deputies to the National Convention by a duly constituted body of senior officers of their service. Further, two (2) senior members of the Civil Guard shall be appointed as deputies by the State President. 3. Ministers of state [Cabinet members] shall have the right to attend all sessions and participate in the debate and work of the National Convention, but shall have no vote on legislation or resolutions.
Article XVI. The National Convention shall remain in constant session during the two (2) years of its term and may recess only twice per year, for a cumulative period of not more than sixty (60) days per year.
1. Neither the State President nor any other body may prorogue, dismiss, or dissolve the National Convention, except for the Speaker of the Convention immediately prior to and as part of a nationwide general election.
2. No deputy or other functionary of the National Convention may receive or accept any salary, commission, fees, royalties, or other income, benefits, perks, or any other thing of value from any source other than such salary, emolument, or benefits decreed to such deputies and functionaries by a national referendum and thus enacted into law.
3. All deputies and functionaries of the National Convention and all Ministers of State, specifically including the State President and Vice President, must file an annual full and complete financial disclosure statement with the office of the Speaker detailing their current net worth, financial status, all property held, etc. Disclosure statements shall be matters of public record and available for inspection to any citizen or resident of the Republic.
4. The State President may in time of national emergency or legislative recess rule by special executive order solely in order to preserve life, property, and the existence of the Republic. All such special executive orders are non-renewable and must be confirmed or rejected within sixty (60) days by the National Convention in full session.
5. The Convention shall function not only as a legislative body, but as a reserve of administrative manpower for the government and as an arm of the civil service. The Convention as a body and the State President shall assign to deputies of the Convention such additional governmental, legal, and social duties within the administration of government as they shall think fit, in order to gain optimal benefit for society as a whole.
Article XVII. The government parliamentary party and the Speaker of the Convention shall set aside a regular day of full session no less often than once per calendar month, for public questioning of government members and all ministers of state, including the State President, by opposition members on specific policies and issues facing the nation;
1. Said Ministers of State shall make themselves available and render public responses to such questions, except on such infrequent occasions when genuinely sensitive matters of national security are involved, in which case the State President or government minister concerned shall have the right to respond to such questioning to a select committee in closed session, under all applicable laws and regulations of official and military secrecy.
2. Opposition members and the Speaker of the Convention may require the presence of any government minister, military officer, or other functionary or person to respond to such questioning. Opposition members and the Speaker of the Convention shall have legally enforceable subpoena power to compel the appearance of any person for the purpose of public examination with the exception of agents of the Bureau of State Security (BOSS). The State President shall have the power to interdict the appearance of any member or operative of BOSS when, in his determination, it is in the overriding national interest that he do so.
Article XVIII. All members of the National Convention shall enjoy full parliamentary privilege and immunity from any arrest, prosecution, or investigation in connection with their official duties as members of the Convention or in connection with any written or oral communication, public or private, in connection with their official duties as legislators or members of government.
1. The Speaker shall as necessary convene a special investigatory committee of deputies, including both government and opposition members, who shall act as a tribunal to resolve questions of immunity, ethics, and specific allegations of unethical or criminal conduct against deputies.
2. No deputy to the National Convention may be stripped of his parliamentary immunity or expelled from the Convention except on the recommendation of the investigatory committee aforesaid, that recommendation must be confirmed by a vote of the Convention in full session.
Article XIX. Laws of the Northwest American Republic shall be enacted upon introduction of a bill by any deputy or group of deputies, or by the State President, into the National Convention;
1. Such bills shall become law by majority vote of the Convention only after two (2) readings separated by a time period of not less than seven (7) and not more than thirty (30) days, and only after two (2) public debates by the Convention on each individual bill. Such bills must then be presented to the State President for signature within seven (7) days.
2. The State President may veto all or part of any bill presented to him by the National Convention for signature.
3. A Presidential veto of all or part of any bill may be overridden and shall become law on a majority vote of the National Convention in full session.
Article XX. The National Convention shall have the sole power to levy all excise and customs duties, taxes, and other imposts, including any and all fees charged by the government for any goods or services whatsoever. All monies due to the state or any agency thereof shall be paid directly into the State Treasury and shall be apportioned according an annual budget laid out by the Finance Minister and approved by the National Convention as a whole.
Article XXI. The Finance Ministry shall have operational authority over all coinage and issuance of money or other legal tender within the Republic, but ultimate power over all such coinage and issuance of money shall reside in the National Convention, which shall have the power to amend or rescind any act of the Finance Ministry with relation to monetary affairs by resolution carried on a majority vote.
Article XXII. Neither the state nor any local government or authority shall levy any tax or impost upon individual income or on real property in the form of land, family housing, or homestead, nor upon any family-owned farm. Income taxes may be leveled upon corporations or organizations of any commercial, social, or religious character deemed necessary. Property taxes may be levied upon any land, buildings, structures, manufactories, or facilities used for commercial purposes, corporate agribusiness, or for religious purposes.
Article XXIII. The power to declare a state of war between the NAR and any foreign power or powers is reserved to the National Convention in full session.