Difference between revisions of "Pantocratorian Imperial Parliament"
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The Lord Speaker is a Judge of the [[Pantocratoria#Legal_System|Star Court]] who has been elected by the Imperial Parliament to be the [[wikipedia:Speaker (politics)|Speaker]] of the House, an official charged with enforcing procedural rules. The Lord Speaker decides who may speak and has the powers to discipline members who break the procedures of the house. Theoretically, the speaker is politically neutral and is not concerned with substantive issues. While in many parliaments, the Speaker is an elected [[Member of Parliament]], typically biased in favour of the Government, the Lord Speaker is generally genuinely impartial in his rulings, a benefit of selecting the speaker not from the members of the house, but from the judiciary. | The Lord Speaker is a Judge of the [[Pantocratoria#Legal_System|Star Court]] who has been elected by the Imperial Parliament to be the [[wikipedia:Speaker (politics)|Speaker]] of the House, an official charged with enforcing procedural rules. The Lord Speaker decides who may speak and has the powers to discipline members who break the procedures of the house. Theoretically, the speaker is politically neutral and is not concerned with substantive issues. While in many parliaments, the Speaker is an elected [[Member of Parliament]], typically biased in favour of the Government, the Lord Speaker is generally genuinely impartial in his rulings, a benefit of selecting the speaker not from the members of the house, but from the judiciary. | ||
| − | The Lord Speaker is properly addressed as "My Lord Speaker" (Monseigneur l'Orateur in [[French]]). A new Lord Speaker is always elected in the first sitting of a new parliament, and upon the death, impeachment, or resignation of the existing Lord Speaker. The Lord Speaker can only be impeached by the Emperor, who typically acts on the advice of the Imperial Chancellor on such matters. | + | The Lord Speaker is properly addressed as "My Lord Speaker" ("Monseigneur l'Orateur" in [[French]]). A new Lord Speaker is always elected in the first sitting of a new parliament, and upon the death, impeachment, or resignation of the existing Lord Speaker. The Lord Speaker can only be impeached by the Emperor, who typically acts on the advice of the Imperial Chancellor on such matters. |
| + | == Language of the Parliament == | ||
| + | Pantocratoria has two national languages, but because having two languages spoken in the Imperial Parliament would complicate and slow-down proceedings, the Parliament has an official language of its own in which all the Parliament's proceedings take place. Acts of Parliament are subsequently translated into both languages, as is the Parliamentary record itself. When the Drapeur Government re-instated [[Greek]] as an official language, it included a provision allowing the language of the Imperial Parliament to change depending on its composition. The official language of the Imperial Parliament is the national language which is the native language of the majority of members. The official language of the present Imperial Parliament is, therefore, [[French]], but conceivably future parliaments might have [[Greek]] as their official language. | ||
== The One Hundred and Seventh Imperial Parliament == | == The One Hundred and Seventh Imperial Parliament == | ||
The One Hundred and Seventh Imperial Parliament was elected on the memorial of Saint Clement I in 2004. (23 November 2004) | The One Hundred and Seventh Imperial Parliament was elected on the memorial of Saint Clement I in 2004. (23 November 2004) | ||
Revision as of 13:26, 1 June 2006
The Pantocratorian Imperial Parliament, which meets in the Palais du Parlement in New Rome, was founded by the Emperor Demetrius VIII in 1672. The Pantocratorian Imperial Government is typically formed by the political party or coalition of political parties with a majority in the 540 seat single chamber Parliament.
Since Pantocratoria has no constitution which limits the powers of the Emperor or establishes the powers of the Parliament, the Imperial Parliament's legal authority is derived only from the imperial will - the Emperor wills it to rule for him in most matters, but may overrule it as he sees fit. The current Emperor, Emperor Andreus, has controlled the Imperial Parliament so that its policies and his own are in-line for most of his reign, although this policy has ended with the most recent election; Pantocratoria is now more or less jointly ruled by the Emperor and his Parliament. The previous Emperor, Emperor Isaac V, demonstrated far less autocratic resolve in his relationship with the Imperial Parliament, which he allowed to rule Pantocratoria with little or no intervention. Most emperors have moved between these two extremes, but when the two have clashed in the past, it is the emperor who usually comes out on top - providing he has the nerve for the fight.
The Imperial Parliament has no fixed terms. It is dissolved by the Emperor at the imperial pleasure, at which time fresh elections are held. It is summoned by the Emperor at the imperial pleasure to debate and enact legislation. When a member dies, his or her seat is inherited by his or her legal heir; in this way the chamber remains at its full strength until the next election.
Each seat in the Imperial Parliament corresponds to a geographical area in which approximately 6 million voters reside (this means that seats with dense populations tend to be geographically small, and seats with more spread out populations tend to be geographically very large). Seats are redistributed every three years by the Imperial Electoral Authority, which also oversees elections. Until late 2005, seats were decided by the Pantocratorian Congregation for the Protection of the Creed, and corresponded to levels of Church hierarchy (usually a large parish, bishopric, metropolitanate, or abbey), using a somewhat less precise system of ensuring that the population of each seat was more or less the same. Many seats retain their old names under the new system, but are no longer bound to the Church in any fashion.
Contents
The Lord Speaker
The Lord Speaker is a Judge of the Star Court who has been elected by the Imperial Parliament to be the Speaker of the House, an official charged with enforcing procedural rules. The Lord Speaker decides who may speak and has the powers to discipline members who break the procedures of the house. Theoretically, the speaker is politically neutral and is not concerned with substantive issues. While in many parliaments, the Speaker is an elected Member of Parliament, typically biased in favour of the Government, the Lord Speaker is generally genuinely impartial in his rulings, a benefit of selecting the speaker not from the members of the house, but from the judiciary.
The Lord Speaker is properly addressed as "My Lord Speaker" ("Monseigneur l'Orateur" in French). A new Lord Speaker is always elected in the first sitting of a new parliament, and upon the death, impeachment, or resignation of the existing Lord Speaker. The Lord Speaker can only be impeached by the Emperor, who typically acts on the advice of the Imperial Chancellor on such matters.
Language of the Parliament
Pantocratoria has two national languages, but because having two languages spoken in the Imperial Parliament would complicate and slow-down proceedings, the Parliament has an official language of its own in which all the Parliament's proceedings take place. Acts of Parliament are subsequently translated into both languages, as is the Parliamentary record itself. When the Drapeur Government re-instated Greek as an official language, it included a provision allowing the language of the Imperial Parliament to change depending on its composition. The official language of the Imperial Parliament is the national language which is the native language of the majority of members. The official language of the present Imperial Parliament is, therefore, French, but conceivably future parliaments might have Greek as their official language.
The One Hundred and Seventh Imperial Parliament
The One Hundred and Seventh Imperial Parliament was elected on the memorial of Saint Clement I in 2004. (23 November 2004)
Composition of the current Imperial Parliament
The make-up of the One Hundred and Seventh Imperial Parliament is as follows:
- Pantocratorian Socialist Alliance with 269 seats (governing party)
- Constantinople Party with 94 seats (governing party)
- United Christian Front with 177 seats (opposition party)
The Lord Speaker
Monseigneur de la Justice, The Right Honourable Louis-Manuel Cataphracti of the Star Court
The Imperial Government
(See main article: Pantocratorian Imperial Government)
On all motions of confidence, the Imperial Government has enjoyed the confidence of the house with 363 votes.
- Imperial Chancellor: The Right Honourable Doctor Thibault Drapeur, Member of Parliament for St Jean
- Deputy Chancellor: The Honourable Spiro Bolkus, Member of Parliament for the See of Drakopolis
- Leader of the House: The Honourable Demetrios Raoul, Member of Parliament for St George
- Deputy Leader of the House: The Honourable Manuel Sebasto, Member of Parliament for the Metropolis of Markosea
The Opposition
- Leader of the Opposition: His Imperial Highness the Right Honourable Prince Basil Capet Porphyrogenitus, Member of Parliament for Christ Pantocrator
- Deputy Leader of the Opposition: The Honourable Isaac Comnenus, Member of Parliament for the Abbey of the Theotokos (New Rome)
- Manager of Opposition Business: The Honourable Frederic d'Alpuget, Member of Parliament for the Deanery of St Constantine (Adrienople)
