During a recent session of the General Assembly held from June 6 to June 7, Anthony I’s proposal to revisit the MA Charter was discussed in light of the current state of these reforms being reviewed. The Charter Committee, which was established during Anthony I’s previous term as Chair, has since been renewed. Anthony I of Saspearian will be serving as the Chair of the committee. Six other member states have also joined the committee, namely, Aarsiisii, Imruland, Kofiscea, Yotamistan, Fressnia, and the Pearson Republic.
The revisiting of the Charter comes as talks of reforming it have largely stagnated in recent months, following a standoff in January that saw heated debates over the Charter’s direction. Reforming the Charter is among the priorities under the Chairship of King Txec.
Initial Disputes
In November 2025, Anthony I, who was serving as the Chair at the time, announced the establishment of the Charter Committee along with a plan to reform the Charter by the end of the term. The proposed Charter, which was then known as the “Charter of the Micronational Assembly (2026 Edition)”, received opposition a few weeks prior to its completion in January. Then Chief Justice Jebediah Powell and delegate Niall MacDavid primarily criticized the change from using an ordinal naming system to a different naming convention. Jebediah Powell asserted that the proposed Charter needed to be referred to as the “5th Charter”, but otherwise held no objections towards its substance and the modifications made. Despite the long-standing ordinal naming system, the first and second Charters did not include an official name when they were passed into law in 2018 and 2020, respectively. Before the ratification of the 3rd Charter in 2021, they were referred to as the “Charter of the Micronational Assembly” or “MA Charter”.
In response to the delegates’ objections to the naming, Anthony I proposed a resolution for the Charter naming format. The proposition saw varied results, with some members voting in favor of using the ordinal naming system, while others supported the proposal of changing the naming system for practicality. Subsequently, Anthony I opted to use the name “Charter of the Micronational Assembly (2026 Edition) as the placeholder name of the proposed Charter, and shelved the naming to be addressed at a later stage. Powell continued to assert that the Charter needed to be referred to as the 5th Charter.
On January 25, the Charter draft was proposed to the General Assembly. The proposal received broad consensus in support in the final vote on January 28, with 10 delegates supporting the draft and only 4 delegates in opposition. Thereby surpassing the threshold of a two-thirds majority in support.
Escalation
Despite the proposed Charter receiving a broad consensus, the disagreements suddenly escalated into a political dispute between Anthony I and Jebediah Powell. Hours before the proposed Charter was set to pass on January 28, Jebediah Powell issued a court order declaring the blocking of its ratification, arguing that it was incomplete and that using a placeholder name was illegal under Article XIII of the 4th Charter. He also argued that the exclusion of a name was “Chairman Anthony forcing through his own agenda” and was an ‘inability to follow’ the long-standing traditions of the MA.
Anthony I responded by disagreeing with the scope of the statement and counter-argued by stating that the Charter was to be addressed by the political determination of the Assembly. Following the issuance of the Court order, Powell announced the revocation of certain delegations, which was also a subject of dispute, though not as heated. Anthony I concurred with certain removals but disagreed with the enforcement of inactivity rules at that time, and opposed the removal of the delegations of Lumitheia, Uhopia, and Agatonia due to their votes on the Charter draft. At the time, Agatonia was also serving as an Associate Justice.
Then, on January 29, Anthony I announced that the Charter had passed into law by a broad consensus and called for an emergency session to be held that same day to schedule the upcoming general election. Additionally, he declared amnesty to the delegates who were removed from their delegacy and officer roles by Powell. Heated exchanges followed in the announcement channel of the MA server, publicizing the tensions further. Anthony I insisted that the Charter had been passed, while Powell claimed that it went against the separation of powers.
The emergency session was held amidst concerns regarding the recent turn of events. King Txec of Talossa and Onyx Adrienne of Nenggog expressed concerns over the standoff surrounding the Charter. Anthony I proposed that the election be held from February 6 to February 8. Due to the standoff, the session progressed without much further discussion until February 1.
On the morning of January 30, the dispute began to escalate further, with Powell declaring a court order to remove Anthony I as the Chair, claiming that the Charter was unfinished, illegitimate, and that he illegally overruled the court’s actions. This court order underwent a vote that saw 10 delegates voting in favor and 4 delegates in opposition. A few delegates, namely Amir Yusuf and Jonathan Gundy, were pardoned by Jebediah Powell and allowed to rejoin the MA. Although several delegates approved of Anthony I being removed as the Chair, the vote was never finalized due to the proximity of the general election, and as a result, certain delegates who voted in favor did not completely approve of taking such a measure in the heat of the dispute.
“As Chief Justice of the Court of the Micronational Assembly, I feel it has come to this point. I am issuing an official Court Order to remove Chairman Anthony as Chair and councilman due to his gross disregard of separation of powers, an illegal ratification of an unfinished Charter, illegal overruling of official court actions, ignoring the necessary procedures to implement new propositions, ignoring the necessary procedures to overturn court vetoes on propositions, gross disregard for long established naming-conventions, ultimately no plan for a transitional period in the Assembly during his illegal charter implementation, a sharp decline in activity in the Assembly under his administration, illegal delay of general elections in order to push his illegitimate charter ratification, and a sense of general incompetence. All of this illegal and extralegal actions taken by the Chair fall under executive orders, and I am vested in my right under the 4th Charter of the Micronational Assembly to issue an official court order. I am seeking the approval of the General Assembly in order to fully enforce this official court order and will provide a reaction poll to vote on.”
Jebediah Powell
January 30, 2026
Later that same day, mediation efforts were made. Anthony I consulted Associate Justice Yifei Wang of the UWA in an attempt to reach a compromise through a peace plan. The conditions included that the general election would immediately begin, the 4th Charter would remain in place, and delegate restorations would be made to the affected delegations. However, this plan was ultimately rejected by Jebediah Powell.
De-escalation
Then, on January 31, tensions eased as Anthony I decided to shelve the proposed charter. In a statement, Anthony I announced that the 4th Charter was still applicable and the election was to be organized immediately. He also criticized the actions taken by the Chief Justice, stating that initiating a removal of the Chair was a “conflict of interest” and created an imbalance in the separation of powers, citing Article IV of the Charter, which mentions that the Court is expected to provide impartiality and objectivity on legal matters. In addition, he expressed his view that reinstating some of the delegations would be fair to certain delegates. The emergency session resumed following this announcement, and the election was organized over the following weeks.
“I would like to address the legal and political matters that our organization is facing at this moment. I recognize that there is a dispute surrounding the Charter, and over the past several hours, I have been thinking carefully about how we should respond to the dispute at hand. The Charter that I had proposed will be shelved for the time being, as I now believe we are not yet ready to make major changes at the MA’s current state. There will need to be more work done to ensure that it reaches a broader consensus under the next term.
This will mean that the 4th Charter will be applied as best as possible. This decision has been made to ensure that we focus on organizing elections soon and ensure that it does not instill conflict. However, I want to emphasize that this does not validate the unilateral actions taken by the Court, such as by initiating for a removal of myself as Chairman by a court order. Actions like this one would be a conflict of interest and set a inbalance in the separation of powers, as Article IV of the 4th Charter states “As the Court of the Micronational Assembly, the court is expected to provide impartiality and objectiveness on legal matters.” For now, I would suggest refraining from sensitive matters as much as possible as to avoid bringing attention to the public eye. That being said, I will be fully restoring the Chief Justice’s permissions. To be clear, a vote of no confidence is still allowed, just not as a court order.
Another important matter I wanted to discuss is regarding the delegacy removals and the re-granting of delegacy. I understand that this has been a point of contention, but I think that reinstating delegacy would be fair for a few of the delegates, including Lumitheia, Uhopia, and Agatonia, as they participated in the vote to ratify the proposed Charter. I also want to clarify that Silklandia would retain delegacy, as they have also been active, although they did not participate in that particular vote, and the Charter does permit their removal from the Council by the Chief Justice. In addition, Agatonia is still an Associate Justice, and as there is no mechanism for removing Associate Justices, I will leave that to the discretion of the General Assembly.Regarding the delegates who were also removed from their roles, which I had mentioned a few days ago, they may reapply for delegacy. As for the delegates who were given the delegacy role in the past couple of days, they will be removed from their delegacy role in compliance with the Charter. They may reapply for membership if they wish.”
Anthony I
January 31, 2026
On February 6, Powell issued a court order removing Agatonia as an Associate Justice and delegate due to the nation having plush toys as citizens, which was prohibited under Article II of the 4th Charter.
Although tensions were still present, they eased significantly after the election was organized, and the election proceeded largely without any difficulties. On February 9, shortly before the Council election concluded, Anthony I issued a statement reflecting on his leadership and his decision not to run for Chair in the following term.
“Fellow members of the Micronational Assembly and observers, as my term draws near to a close, I wanted to take a moment to reflect, not only on my leadership but on this organization and how far we have come.
The Micronational Assembly has been around for about a decade now, and over time, we have faced many challenges, times in which it seemed we were on the brink of dissolution, and times of tranquility. We have seen leaders come and go, and remarkably, this organization has survived thanks to the passion of our member states and our shared resilience.
While it might not be perfect and there is still more work to be done, I am proud of the work that we have accomplished over my term as Chairman. Together, we have helped build a vision of what the MA could be as an organization. We have brought discussions towards important issues such as our climate, diplomacy, co-operation, and advancing the development of our member states. I have made some very difficult decisions in the past week, and I have decided not to run for re-election as Chairman for the upcoming term, as I felt it would be in the best interests of myself and the MA. While it was not what I hoped for, I find comfort in knowing that I will soon be passing down the torch to a new leader.”
Anthony I
February 9, 2026
The results of the election saw King Txec of Talossa, Luciferio Mikhailovich of Astenia, Niall MacDavid of Duchasia, and Jonathan Gundy of Vandelland winning. Due to a tie for the final Council seat, Anthony I and Amir Yusuf advanced to a run-off election. The run-off began immediately following the general elections and saw Amir Yusuf winning by 8 votes.
The Chair election was held from February 17 to February 19, between Jonathan Gundy and King Txec. Shortly after being elected as Chair, Jonathan Gundy issued a statement, promising to commit retaliatory actions against Anthony I, accusing him of holding quasi-dictatorial powers and violating the Charter.
“Many THANKS to all delegates that have elected me as Chairman, and many MORE thanks to the Sasperiard Cartel that has been running the assembly into the ground with quasi-dictatorial powers and blatant violations of the charter.
Under my administration, we will rectify the GRAVE mistakes committed in the coup that occurred last year. That will be all for now as we prepare our course of action for the immediate future.”
Jonathan Gundy
February 19, 2026
Aftermath of Charter Dispute
In recent months, the dispute has largely dissipated as the leadership and membership of the MA have experienced crucial changes. Despite the promise of retaliatory actions against Anthony I, Jonathan Gundy’s term as Chair was relatively quiet, without many developments. Key members suddenly departed the organization amidst a gradual increase in inactivity, marking a stark turn in events. In early March, Niall MacDavid, who was recently elected to the Council in February, left the MA server without any reason specified. Then, on March 17, Chief Justice Jebediah Powell unexpectedly withdrew from the MA, without any notice provided. Consequently, Powell’s withdrawal left the Chief Justice position vacant.
Following Powell’s withdrawal, Anthony I of Saspearian opted to be nominated as the Chief Justice. Anthony I had previously expressed interest in becoming an Associate Justice following the election cycle, but was ultimately not nominated. Anthony I nominated himself as Chief Justice on March 19, after receiving approval from most member states he contacted, and was confirmed as the Chief Justice on March 22.
In early April, the MA server was moved to a new server following an incident in which Amir Yusuf reportedly nuked the server. This incident notably led to security actions being taken more seriously than they had been in the past, and Anthony I, along with Council Member King Txec, expressed support for proper safeguards to be put in place. Between April 17 and April 19, there was a Council Election held to fill the seat that was formerly held by Niall MacDavid of Duchasia. Archie W. of Fressnia was elected in the election. Following that election, Jonathan Gundy was impeached as the Chair by a 10-0 vote in the General Assembly.
Subsequently, another Council Election and a Chair election were held, with the former occurring later in April and the latter being held in May. Luciferio M. of Astenia, another Council Member who was elected in the February election, withdrew from the MA on April 24. As a result, there were two seats up for election in the following special council election. Noah F. of Tama was elected. Due to a tie, a runoff election was held between King Yotam I of Yotamistan and Chase of Aarsiisii. Yotamistan won the election by a coin flip.
King Txec of Talossa became the Chair after being elected in the May 2026 Special Chair Election, and there has since been a revival in activity.
Future of the Charter
Currently, the overall environment in the MA appears to largely support the idea of reforming the Charter. Anthony I has indicated that he is mostly optimistic about the progress of the reforms, given that various other delegates are also supportive of reforming. The overall culture has shifted more in favor of reforming the organization as opposed to maintaining limited institutional changes.
The Charter draft, which was first proposed in January, is expected to be revised and completed by June 21. A few changes are expected to be made in the revision, including the addition of a provision requiring any revision or amendment to the Charter to be passed into law at least two weeks before the start of a General Election, and one that addresses the Council. Thus far, dissolving the Council or making the Council a Security Council have been proposed.
Whether the revised Charter will have a long-term impact on the future governance and direction of the MA remains to be seen.