Malkaigan

From NSwiki, the NationStates encyclopedia.
Revision as of 09:11, 28 March 2006 by 129.21.124.58 (Talk)

Jump to: navigation, search
Malkaigan
finland--65.jpg
Flag of Malkaigan
Motto: "Fure lyian!"
No Map Available Yet
Region The Lexicon
Capital Reiko City
Official Language(s) Malkaigan, Malkaigan Sign Language, English
Leader Kari Hazzard
Population 253 million
Currency Euro 
NS Sunset XML

The Federation of Malkaigan (or simply Malkaigan) is a large island country situated in The Lexicon. It is comprised of nearly one hundred islands, though the largest island, Setra, is by far the most populous. It it is a constitutional republic embracing a blend between the Parliamentary system found in the United Kingdom and the Federal system of the United States. Despite its cold and unforgiving landscape, it is the home to over 250 million people, many of which live in its densely populated capitol, Reiko City. The nation has no native population, and as a result the population is typically very tolerant of other races or nationalities as virtually everyone in the nation is an immigrant or a child or grandchild of one.

Government and politics

Malkaigan is considered a constitutional republic, with a detailed separtion of powers between its Legislative, Executive and Judicial Branches. The National Election Day, during which all Parliament seats are elected, is June 3 on every even-numbered year. All citizens aged 16 years or older are elegible to vote. All permanent residents aged 20 years or older who have lived in Malkaigan for at least four years are eligible to vote for Senate elections but not for House elections and are barred from running for public office until they are fully naturalised.

The Parliament

The Parliament is the "elected mandate to preserve justice and establish order and protect the Constitution" according to the Constitution of Malkaigan. The Parliament consists of a Senate (Lower House, Seira) whose 100 members are elected by popular vote in regions based on relative population and the House of Councillors (Upper House, Laira) whose 50 members are elected by popular vote by all residents of the ten Prefectures, each Prefecture being represented by five Councillors.

In 2000, the Liberal Democrats were able to able to court the Communists to form Malkaigan's first true coalition government. In 2004, a crushing blow was dealt to the opposition Conservatives when Councillor Mara Shukudai (F-Dira), the leader of the Freedom Party in the House announced that her party would be breaking away from the opposition coalition to join the majority coalition, thus giving the Liberal Democrats a strong grip on the reigns of both Houses of Parliament.

As of the 2004 Senate election, the partisan breakdown of the Senate is as follows:

Affiliation Members
  Liberal Democratic Party 60
  Freedom Party 8
  Communist Party 2
  Conservative Party 30
 Total
100


As of the 2004 House election, the partisan breakdown of the House is as follows:

Affiliation Members
  Liberal Democratic Party 30
  Freedom Party 3
  Communist Party 2
  Conservative Party 15
 Total
100

The Cabinet

The Cabinet's leader, the Prime Minister, is elected by absolute majority vote of the House of Councillors. All other members of the Cabinet are appointed by the Prime Minister and approved by the House of Councillors. As a result of this, typically the Prime Minister and all other Cabinet members are members of the majority party or majority coalition in the House of Councillors. The Prime Minister is required to be a member of the House, but other Cabinet members need not be.

The current Prime Minister, elected in 2004, is Kari Hazzard (LD-Milane).

The Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of Malkaigan is the sole arbiter for determining the validity, in reference to the Constitution of any Act of Parliament and prefectural laws. It is granted constitutional judicial review to allow it to nullify any laws passed which contradict the Constitution as well as prefectural laws that conflict with federal laws. The current Chief Justice is Sara Iyai, appointed by then-Prime Minister Altair Terai (LD-Amarak) in 1992.