SANCTARIA OFFICIALLY LEAVES UDL
by BRIAN DeNOBLE, Defence & Security Correspondent
Sanctus - Less than a year after formally joining the organisation, and months after its departure, the Divine Republic of Sanctaria officially rescinded its membership in the international defence organisation, the United Defenders League, quoting irreconcilable differences with the organisation's leadership. Legislation confirming the departure was passed by both Houses of Parliament late last night before being signed into law by President Marian Woodstrom this morning.
Sanctarian involvement in the organisation ceased earlier this year when the nation's usually friendly diplomatic relationship with Unibot, the state currently in charge of the UDL, became strained. In a statement earlier this year, Secretary for Defence, Deputy Eric Doyle, confirmed that it was this difficult relationship that the Government took into consideration when evaluating its membership. Doyle was quoted at the time as saying that the "organisation is heading in a direction we had hoped to avoid" and that its leadership and organisation structure "has deep flaws that are incompatible with Sanctarian expectations". When questioned about this statement yesterday, Doyle confirmed that the Government still held this view of the UDL and its hierarchy.
During the period of membership, questions were raised about the legality of Sanctarian participation in the organisation. Although the Government insisted that the advice of the Attorney General was that it didn't violate the neutrality clause of the Constitution, both the Green Party and the Christian Union Party expressed their concerns and indicated that legal action to determine the validity of the membership may be warranted. On this point, Secretary Doyle yesterday confirmed that, despite the advice of the Attorney General, the Government felt that too much ambiguity existed and this also factored into its decision to cancel its membership.
Though the legislation concerned with the departure was merely procedural, Defence Spokesman for the Democratic Left Party, Emmet Coughlan, did criticise the Government for taking so long to bring the matter to vote, saying "we haven't been a member for months, Secretary, what took so long?" Doyle, speaking for the Government, claimed that it "takes months, not minutes, to both join and leave an international organisation".