From the notes of Citizen Emilia, Voice of the People

When I saw Robert the next morning, he looked visibly upset. I asked if he was concerned about debating the reopened issues, but that wasn’t it. News had reached the capital about a worsening situation in the north. Although the main Valsian army was committed to protecting a royalist remnant in Rubidia, Valsian irregulars constantly crossed the border into Valoria to skirmish with our militias. Houses and farms were burned down on both sides of the border as the violence intensified. 

Robert said one person more or less won't make a difference up there, but his comrades wanted him to win a fair deal in the constitution, so that's what he’s going to do. I gave him whatever comfort I could, but I knew the threat to his home would be hard to ignore. Martin also expressed sympathy for those who had lost their homes and families, something he understood well, having lost his own home and family recently. I don't think Robert was expecting to be comforted by the son of the executed monarch, but it did seem to improve his mood slightly.

Our first topic of the day was reopening debate on the elitist qualifications to hold office in the Directorate or the Upper House. Unlike yesterday, where the new civilian members had cooperated with us to restrict military influence, particularly on the amendment procedure, today the wealthy elites and the military members were united upholding the office qualifications. Robert and Tessa joined me in demanding a removal of these qualifications. Even Crysta was unusually vocal, insisting that the votes would be rendered meaningless by another round of protests, and urged us all to come up with a compromise.

Elias suggested that instead of removing qualifications entirely, we might expand them to allow more members. Mira and Silas, concerned about the economic toll of more protests, decided to back this idea, and Dauphin soon joined in as well. I decided to hear out his proposal. He suggested that anyone who had served at least 4 years in an elected office would be eligible to serve in the Directorate or the Upper House. He suggested the Lower House, Regional Governments, and even pre-revolutionary councils and parliaments would be valid entry points that would allow someone to move on to the more prestigious Directorate or Upper House positions.

I still had concerns, but most of the room still wanted some kind of qualification for these offices, and it was hard to imagine a less elitist mechanism of qualification that I could suggest as a compromise. Pepe also had an issue with this proposal. While he was content for the Directorate to be filled with experienced politicians, he insisted the the Upper House was meant to be a review board of educated experts. He proposed that the Directorate qualifications be previous elected office or retired military officers, but a different qualification for the upper house to be a university degree.

Many of Pepe’s new buddies liked the sound of that plan, but Aguilo was now furious. Pepe had cut out the military qualification from the Upper House. Of course he defended the change on the basis that the military doesn’t have the right experience to serve the purpose of the Upper House, but military experience would be relevant to the national defense duties of the Directorate. 

Seeing some small erosion of military influence, I decided to accept this deal. If I didn't, Aguilo and Oliphaunt might negotiate a stronger one. I wasn’t completely happy, but the new arrangement did provide a path for common folks to eventually run for the Directorate, if they held another office first. I was also happy to see the military qualification removed from the Upper House. A very small gain, but it was something. Tessa still voted against it, and warned that there could be more protests if later compromises aren’t more reasonable.

Statement from General Aguilo, Revolutionary Commander - Western Front

The debate over office qualifications didn’t concern me too much. Pepe had made new allies, but they were generally content to keep things as they were. Even expanding the qualifications didn’t bother me too much. But then Pepe decided to stab me in the back. He actually proposed getting rid of the military qualifications for the Upper House. 

I told him this was outrageous, but he didn’t seem to care at all. Content with the new civilian majority to push his agenda, he was happy to cut us loose. Even Silas, who had always backed our army monetarily, was fine cutting us out of the decision making. It seems our purpose is to be the foot soldiers, while he gets to call the shots.

And the agitator had a sudden change of heart, deciding to back an “elitist” proposal so long as the big bad military takes a black eye in the process. I understand the concerns that Crysta was raising, some compromise had to be made to alleviate the concerns of the protesters, it's just a shame that the army had to take the fall instead of the bureaucrats. I disagree with this decision, but I will tolerate it. For better or worse, the civilians will call the shots.

Excerpt from Crafting the Constitution, by Professor Elias

I was most excited to participate in a discussion on qualifications for holding office. I had missed out on this discussion earlier, because I was not present during the first week, but reexamining the old compromise was fascinating.

There was a fundamental difference between pure democracy, that would allow any citizen to hold office, and technocratic qualifications to promote expertise in decision making. Both visions had merit. The democratic ethos was already embodied in the Lower House, so it seemed reasonable to add some qualifications to other offices. We have very few contemporary models to draw on for democratic institutions, but I looked to the ancients. The Latian Republic had a system whereby citizens who were elected to lower offices became eligible to hold higher offices. It seemed like a system we could employ. Those who had already proven themselves in some governing role, could leverage their experience in more important roles.

Pepe argued, quite rightly, that the roles of the Directorate and the Upper House were different, so different qualifications were needed. We eventually settled on previous military or political experience as a qualification for the Directorate. University degree as a qualification for the Upper House, to make it an educated chamber of review.

From the Office of Chancellor Pepe, Acting Head of Civil Service

Day 8 - Morning - Qualifications

I knew this was coming, I was warned. The protesters had a problem with elitist qualifications. It must be so terrible to make sure our leaders are actually qualified to do their jobs. Fortunately many of the new members were very reasonable. Silas and Mira were quite happy with qualifications, but the radical democratic bloc wanted to do away with them.

Elias again came through for us, he had a proposal inspired by history, that would give experienced politicians eligibility to hold higher offices. I suggested it should be limited to the Directorate, a more political institution, and the Upper House should be an apolitical body of expertise. I also took this opportunity to get rid of the military qualifications for the Upper House, something I had only agreed to out of necessity in the first week of debates, and it never quite sat right with me.

Aguilo and Oliphaunt raised a fuss, but their bargaining power was quite diminished. Dauphin wanted the military qualifications to remain for the Directorate, and I agreed. Retired military officers would have some insight into defense matters, so their presence in the Directorate is reasonable, but my Upper House was now closer to my initial vision.

Emilia, to her credit, was relatively reasonable, and accepted this new compromise, but her minion Tessa is beyond her control now, and voted against it as still ebing too elitist, and tried to intimidate us with the threat of more protests. Aguilo and Oliphaunt also were against the changes, but for different reasons. They would not tolerate any diminishment of military influence.

Result - Consensus not reached, new qualifications passed by a vote of 9-3. Aguilo, Oliphaunt and Tessa opposed. Everyone else supported it.

Qualifications for Directorate: Retired military officers or 4 years of some elected office(Lower House, Regional Governments, or pre-revolutionary elected offices).

Qualifications for Upper House: University Degree.