Also, given recent events, I guess at least a couple of (quite Heavy) merit sources have been demoted.
Don't know how far out of the loop I've been, but what events are you referring to, and who are these 'heavy' merit sources that might have been demoted? O_e_l_e_o was one if I'm not mistaken, but he left the forum of his own accord and that wouldn't qualify as a demotion (but it would leave an open slot as far as I'm concerned).
Yeah, I have been referring to o_e_l_e_o. Of course he wasn’t demoted, but practically the effect is the same.
As far as I know after Ratimov also gave up his status, only a small Merit Source has been appointed (or someone had his stash improved by 200 or so)
The situation is the following:
Merit sources
There are 109 merit sources with a total merit generation of up to 33140 sMerit per 30 days