A Crisis Of Decorum

Today’s ICA Ptolemy XIII’s regency proved that a crisis committee can produce both impressive speeches and absolute chaos at the same time. To give credit where it’s due, delegates came prepared with genuinely creative proposals. The debate showed flashes of strategic thinking, proving that the committee certainly wasn’t lacking in ideas.

Unfortunately, the same could not be said for decorum. Cross-talking has become so common that it appears to be the committee’s unofficial second language. While one delegate addressed the room, several others seemed convinced that holding their own private conversations at full volume was equally important. At this point, the distinction between formal debate and a busy market is becoming increasingly difficult to identify. To add on, a surprising number of delegates appeared perfectly comfortable speaking directly to the Chair without the minor inconvenience of raising their placards first. It seems that the RoPs have become more of a suggestion than a rule.

The quote of the session undoubtedly belongs to the delegate of Agrwarluhous Tanvisious VI, who openly admitted: “I really don’t know what to say at this point, but I’m just gonna say something.” Despite the occasional collapse of the RoP’s, the committee continues to demonstrate strong crisis thinking and promising debate. If the delegates can channel the same energy currently being spent on cross-talk into formal discussion, Alexandria may yet survive its constitutional crisis. Hopefully, tomorrow’s agenda includes one additional proposal-raising placard before speaking.

Purvey Parkish

JICA