Chapter 336: The General Assembly with New Rules

To prevent anyone from using filibustering tactics to delay a vote on a motion, the rules stipulated that each person could speak on a motion no more than twice. For more contentious and complex issues, the number of times could be temporarily adjusted, but no more than three times. Once the meeting had made a decision on a motion, it was not allowed to be proposed again during this meeting, including similar proposals of the same nature.

The Transmigration Group had over five hundred people. For more popular topics, there would inevitably be many people who wanted to speak. Even if the speaking time and number of times were limited, the entire meeting would be dragged out for a long time. To overcome this, Ma Jia decided to temporarily adopt a method of proportionally regulating the number of speakers based on the number of seconders. That is, the number of speakers for a motion would be determined by the number of seconders when it entered the discussion, with more seconders allowing for more speakers, with half on each side.

When speaking, the speaker must first state their position as “for” or “against,” and then explain their reasons. Vague, two-faced statements or words that hinted at one’s position were not allowed. Such speeches would be considered invalid and immediately stopped by the meeting moderator. Those who intended to abstain from the motion were not allowed to speak, to avoid wasting time.

When speaking, the speaker must only address the meeting moderator. Those with different opinions should avoid direct face-to-face speeches to prevent verbal conflict. Personal attacks were absolutely forbidden during the speech—personal attackers would be expelled from the venue. It was also not allowed to attack the logical loopholes and errors in others’ speeches. All speeches must revolve around the motion itself. This point was specifically stated by Ma Jia in the meeting rules, to ensure that at all times, only the matter at hand would be discussed, to avoid being swayed by emotions.

When a speaker was speaking, those in their seats were not allowed to interject, nor were they allowed to interrupt the speaker’s speech at will—to prevent anyone from using verbal violence to disrupt the venue. To this end, Ma Jia formulated strict venue discipline: anyone who casually interjected from their seat or made loud comments that affected the order of the meeting would be warned once, expelled for one day for the second time, and have their representative qualification for this general assembly revoked for the third cumulative offense.

Since the meeting moderator had the power to guide the progress of the meeting, in Robert’s Rules of Order, the moderator does not express personal opinions and, if it does not affect the outcome, does not even participate in the vote. Ma Jia did the same, clearly stipulating in the rules: the meeting moderator shall not express their own opinions during the presiding period, nor shall they summarize others’ speeches. Whenever possible, the meeting moderator shall not participate in the vote on a motion. If they must participate, they must be the last to state their position.

As for not making a summary speech, this was a correction by Ma Jia to the Chinese habit of holding meetings. Whenever Chinese people hold meetings, it is customary for the leader to preside over the meeting and finally make a summary speech. This summary seems to be a summary of everyone’s opinions, but in essence, it is a “qualitative” conclusion. Therefore, in many meetings, the participants’ speeches are all ambiguous, and the reason for this is that no matter how much you say, you can’t beat the final qualitative conclusion.

Once the summary is made, it is equivalent to a disguised designation of the participants’ votes. The participants will consciously or unconsciously vote according to the qualitative result, which will eventually form a one-sided “unanimous approval” situation. Therefore, Ma Jia’s rules of order specifically stated: the meeting moderator shall not make a summary, and the participants—whoever they are—shall not make a so-called “summary.”

To fully reflect the neutrality of the meeting moderator, the speakers from both sides must be as balanced as possible. Therefore, the moderator must try to give the two sides with opposing opinions a chance to speak in turn to maintain balance. Of course, this required certain details to support it in actual implementation. The method Ma Jia planned to adopt was to have the applicants for speaking submit a note before the discussion began. The note would only have the seat number and the attitude towards the motion: for or against. Then, based on the importance of the motion and the time of the meeting, an equal number of speakers from both sides would be arranged to speak alternately.

Only the moderator could call for a vote, and the vote could only be called after the number of speaking turns had been exhausted or no one wanted to speak anymore. If the meeting moderator had the right to vote, they must be the last to vote in a public vote, so as not to influence other attendees. This restriction did not apply to a secret ballot. In a public vote, the “for” side would raise their hands first, followed by the “against” side. The abstaining side did not need to raise their hands.

Finally, in response to the chaotic and non-standardized state of proposals during the entire meeting preparation period, Ma Jia formulated a standardized proposal model according to Robert’s Rules of Order.

In Robert’s Rules of Order, there is the term “motion,” which means that a proposed topic must include six elements: time, place, people, method, effect, and source of funds, rather than a vague, broad topic.

First, the proposal must be targeted. For example, the issue of women, which everyone was most concerned about, could not be simply proposed as: “The masses lack sexual life, are very frustrated, and have low morale. We hope this can be resolved.” Such a motion is too vague and only asks a question without providing an answer. A motion must explain how to solve the problem. Ma Jia believed that the transmigrators had not yet realized this. There were many people who raised opinions, talked, made strange remarks, and complained, but few who actually thought about how to solve the problem. He hoped to change this situation through this proposal model.

Second, the proposal must be constructive: to prevent similar proposals from appearing repeatedly, wasting time and energy. After a topic has been voted on, it is not allowed to be proposed again for a period of time. For example, the issue of maids, once the solution proposed by the caretaker cabinet is passed, no similar proposals will be accepted for one year.

After being reviewed by the preparatory committee, this set of rules was submitted to the caretaker cabinet for review. The cabinet members had no objection, only the interim prime minister Xiao Zishan raised questions about some parts:

“Will everyone abide by these mandatory regulations?” Xiao Zishan thought, what would be used to enforce this set of rules? The transmigrators came to the new time and space with the concept that all transmigrators are equal. To enforce certain things, there must be sufficient reasons and means.

“Of course, it depends on everyone’s awareness of being their own masters,” Ma Jia said. “If the masses are willing to effectively safeguard their own interests, they will not fail to comply. Not only will they comply themselves, but they will also force the few who try not to comply to comply. If someone deliberately violates the rules, and everyone either fears getting into trouble or turns a blind eye out of face, then this group will soon be finished.”

“Then we need a group of special personnel to maintain the rules.” Xiao Zishan thought, why not let the Special Reconnaissance Team do it? Speaking of which, the Special Reconnaissance Team had a bit of a “Praetorian Guard” flavor in the armed forces sequence of the Transmigration Group, and their performance in the Dugu Qiuhun incident also fully demonstrated that they were a reliable and disciplined force.

The men of the Special Reconnaissance Team were both reliable and intimidating, and their status was relatively transcendent. The Special Reconnaissance Team was under the establishment of the Army, but in reality, it had always been under the direct leadership of the Executive Committee. The Army had little influence on the Special Reconnaissance Team, and this team was the armed force with the highest proportion of transmigrators at this stage.

Ma Jia seemed to have guessed his thoughts: “Absolutely no allowing the coercive apparatus to interfere,” Ma Jia warned. “Once this precedent is set, the consequences will be endless. This matter should be handled by our Law Club.” Ma Jia took the initiative to volunteer. “The law exists to maintain order. For this, we can sacrifice our own voting rights to fully demonstrate our neutrality.”

“Isn’t that inappropriate?” Xiao Zishan knew that this was the most important political right of the transmigrators.

“It’s fine. To establish a stable system of order, this sacrifice is completely worthwhile,” Ma Jia said with great nobility, his face full of radiance that made Xiao Zishan feel a sense of awe.

Ma Jia proposed to select four people from the members of the Law Club who participated in the preparatory committee work, and then to select four more from the ordinary transmigrators in advance through voluntary registration and public voting. Together with him as the meeting moderator, a total of nine people would serve as the meeting’s supervisory committee. These nine people, except for secret ballots, would not vote in public votes.

The task of the supervisory committee was to supervise the order of the meeting at any time during the general assembly, to correct any behavior that violated the meeting rules, and their term of office would end at the end of the meeting.

To let everyone fully understand the spirit of the rules of order, Xiao Zishan instructed Zhou Dongtian to print 500 copies of the rules of order, so that everyone had a copy. The “Rules of Order” were also published in the Lingao Times, posted on the internal BBS, and even posted in places where the transmigrators frequently appeared, including dormitories and public entertainment rooms, so that everyone had time to fully understand what it was all about. With the support of the caretaker cabinet, Ma Jia also specially organized a few people from the Law Club to give lectures and use simulated meetings to provide intuitive explanations.

At this time, most of the transmigrators entering the venue were holding this freshly printed “Rules of Order,” and there were occasional discussions.

The members of the caretaker cabinet all sat inconspicuously in scattered seats, except for Xiao Zishan. As the prime minister of the caretaker cabinet, he sat with the people from the preparatory committee. He had a smile on his face, as if this were a pleasant and grand event. Ma Jia, as the chairman of the preparatory committee, naturally became the meeting moderator. To prepare for this glorious and arduous task, An Xi personally went to the county town and got a few prescriptions of Chinese medicine for soothing the lungs and throat from the Runshitang. He personally brewed them and brought them to the venue in a thermos, ready to soothe Ma Jia’s throat.

The general assembly was held very smoothly. The first topic of the general assembly was the confirmation of the rules of order formulated by Ma Jia. The proposal was easily passed. Except for a few questions about details, which Ma Jia answered in detail, it was passed by vote. As for the rules of order, Ma Jia’s version seemed reasonable and easy to understand, and besides, no one could propose a better set of rules.