The Council of the State of Sandus has voted unanimously to apply to rejoin the Grand Unified Micronational as a full member. The Sôgmô crafted a motion for a poll to see if Sandus should rejoin the organisation, with choices in the poll for: yes with full membership, yes with observership, or not at all. The motion unanimously passed with all citizens voting that Sandus should rejoin the organisation as a full member.
Though by convention he does not vote in the Council’s motions except under extraordinary or purely administrative circumstances, the Sôgmô welcomed the result as a symbol of Sandus’s diplomatic endurance and resilience, despite his private reservations about rejoining the organisation. Having examined the text of the new GUM Charter, the Sôgmô stated that he would be willing to ratify the charter, stating that it was in-line with his vision of Sandum foreign policy. The decision comes ahead of the Sôgmô’s expected publication of the Philia Plan for the Major Societal Shift, however. The text of the Plan concerns the relaxing of the Sôgmô’s governmental and administrative obligations, so this decision by the Council will have to be reconciled on some level with the Plan.
It is unclear to what extent the decision to apply to rejoin the organisation will have on Sandus’s internal politics, which appear superficially to contradict the Plan to relax central governmental responsibilities.
Sandus has a long history with the GUM. The country first joined the organisation in June 2009, a month after Sandum independence, under the Chairmanship of Robert Lethler. After the organisation disbanded in August 2010 as a result of Lethler’s departure, it was not until 2011 when the organisation was refounded under the “troika” of Austenasia, Renasia, and Sandus. In late 2012, Sandus reduced its commitment to the organisation and, in January 2013, Sandus and Juclandia were conspired against and removed from the organisation by Yaroslav Mar, Bradley of Dullahan, and Charlotte Lindström, an event which precipitated a leadership scandal in the GUM. Some months later, Sandus rejoined and was active in the organisation until February 2014, when Sandus refused to ratify the new GUM Charter due to a widening gap in Sandum interest in the organisation.
The Sôgmô has served six times in an executive capacity in the Grand Unified Micronational, as Chair, Vice-Chair, and Acting Chair.
sandus.org 