Politics of the Confederation of Dannistaan

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Dannistrian Politics

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Parliament Type: Bicameral
Lower House: Ti'volas As'embola
Upper House: Ti'volas O'varnos
Head of State: His Excellency the Right Honourable Mol'luu Har'ran
Head of Government: P'aanil F'orrlason-Smith

The politics of Dannistaan are based on the Westminster System of the United Kingdom with some differences. Firstly, it is adapted to cope with the fact that the Confederation of Dannistaan is not a single unitary state but, in theory, a union of five seperate sovereign states. In practice it is run along the lines of a Federal state. Each of the constituent parts of Dannistaan reserve the right, under the 1987 constitution, to secede from the Confederation. This "Escape Clause" was placed in order to prevent a second civil war breaking out (Disputes over secession and state responsibility). The constitution itself is left deliberately vague in many areas as the Westminister system is partly based on unwritten conventions and customs which have been used for many years. It does leave provision for certain areas to be defined by appropriate acts passed by the Central Parliament.

The islands nominal Head of State is the British Monarch, represented by a Governor-General. In practice the Governor-General does not interfere in the day to day running of the nation and the real power lies with the Prime Minister and his Cabinet.

Legislative

The Central Parliament of Dannistaan is the supreme legislative body of the entire Confederation. The Prime Minister and his Cabinet are answerable to it. The Central Parliament itself is answerable to the constituent states of Dannistaan. It is bicameral and consists of the Tribal Assembly (Ti'volas As'embola) and the Tribal Overseers/Senate (Ti'volas O'varnos).

Ti'volas As'embola

This is the lower house of the Central Parliament and currently consists of 300 members. The members are all voted by a form of Proportional Representation (Single Transferable Vote). Because of the voting habits of the electorate, there tends to be one majority party despite the system. However coalitions have been common in the past and any majority turns out to be very small, often a difference of one or two seats. The Ti'volas As'embola is the more powerful of the two houses and most, if not all, legislation originates from this house in the form of bills, either by Government Bills, Private Member's Bills or Public Bills. The backbenchers (MPs not in the Cabinet) have the power to overrule direct orders from the Government, known as Executive Orders, if they feel it will endanger the country and it's people.

Ti'volas O'varnos

This is the upper house of the Central Parliament and consists of 150 members. The members are all voted by the Single-Member District Plurality or "First Past the Post" system. It acts as the house of review and has the power to block legislation if it violates any of the articles of the Constitution. Otherwise it may delay for a maximum of 3 sessions if they do not agree with the legislation being passed. After which the Ti'vola As'embola may force the legislation through using Article 20 of the Constitution.

Executive

The Executive branch of the Government consists of the Dannistrian Cabinet, refered to as the "Dannistrian Government" or "Dannistrian Executive" which is a group of 8 MPs plus the Prime Minister and his Depute. The 8 are usually assigned as heads of the ministries which deal with different areas. Some of the ministries have two or more head ministers due to the large area of responsibility. The current ministries and their heads are:

  • Defence Ministry
    • U'nid Mak'ossui
  • Depute Prime Ministers Office
    • Kol'in Ool'on-McKenzie
  • Economy, Industry and Trade Ministry
    • Yan'id Ol'lu (Head of Economy and Trade)
    • Mas'sakou Hil'on-Fii'si (Head of Industry)
  • Environment and Health Ministry
    • Frederick Ba'seemah (Head of Environment)
    • Johnation Stanton (Head of Health)
  • External Ministry
    • Tr'valis No'oonsoko
  • Internal Ministry
    • Sir Patrick Winslow OBE
  • Prime Ministers Office
    • P'aanil F'orrlason-Smith
  • Transport Ministry
    • Sir Joh'naa Uil'opeia CBE

The Cabinet have a set of wide ranging, but very strictly controlled, emergency powers, most of which take the form of a "Class 8 or 9 Executive Order". These are direct commands from the Cabinet which can request that a legally binding action be carried out, such as imposing martial law or the sealing of an area for quarantine or riot control purposes. However, to actually issue the order the Cabinet must have the approval of the Ti'volas As'embola. This is granted by a vote on the order, which must have at least a 75% majority in favour before the order can be issued and have a legally binding status. The order can only have a maximum duration of one month before it has to be renewed in front of Parliament once again. The Ti'volas As'embola also has the right to rescind any Class 8 or 9 Executive Order in force with a 60% minority. If a large proportion of the Cabinet or Parliament is incapacitated, all Class 8 or 9 Executive Orders are instantly rescinded.

The Cabinet can also issue day to day orders, such as the issuing of a statement or foreign communique. These are lower class orders which do not require Parliamentary approval. The Cabinet are ultimately answerable to the Ti'volas As'embola and any member of the Cabinet, as well as the PM and his/her depute, can be dismissed from office, via the Ti'volas As'embolas Disciplinary Committee.

Judicial

The highest court (court of last resort) in Dannistaan is the Dannistrian High Court (Ann'try-Daah Dannistra). It consists of 9 of the most senior judges in the country and normally sit at the south end of the Ti'volas O'varnos chamber. They alone can give a final interpretation of the law and can rule it unconsitutional, effectively repealing the act of law in question.

The judges of the Dannistrian High Court normally hear appeals in either the chamber of the Ti'volas O'varnos or the Central Dannistaan court houses across the road from Central Parliament Hall. They also are the only court in the country to reserve the power to completely quash sentences (That is, annul rulings made by any of the lower courts). By tradition, the most senior judge of the 9 judges is a woman, as they were considered by Hal'vo to be the most learned of the people on the island. To be able to sit on the panel of senior High Court judges, the prospective judges must be vetted for security and legal abilities. This is normally done by the remaining judges and the Internal Minister.

The other courts are based on the following structure, in order of seniority from lowest to highest:

  • District Court (Minor Civil and Criminal cases)
  • Magistrates Court (Moderate Criminal cases)
  • Court of Appeal and Arbitration (Severe Criminal cases, all Moderate and Severe Civil cases and appeals to both)

The Judicial system, although it is has heavy influences from English Law, has it's basis on traditional tribal law. This means that in all courts, except the High Court in appeals and in certain civil cases, have a jury of 11 who sits with the judge and decides the guilt of the defendant. The trials are held on the basis of "Innocent until proven guilty".