Parliament of the United States of Mars

The Parliament of the United States of Mars is the supreme legislative institution in the United States of Mars.It is bicameral, including an Upper Chamber, called the Chamber of the People, and a Lower Chamber, called the Chamber of Representatives. The Chamber of the People is made of randomly selected members of the public who are forced to sit in the chamber, much like jury duty. The Chamber of Representatives, on the other hand, is a democratically elected chamber. The Chamber of the People and the Chamber of Representatives meet in separate chambers in Parliament City, in the USM Campital, Kantar.

Composition

The Chamber of Representatives consists of 913 members, known as Constituancy Representatives. Representatives are directly elected by single-member constituencies throughout the nation. All constituancies have approximatly an equal population with them being larger in rural areas and smaller in urban areas. Constituancy Representatives are elected at General Elections which must take place at a maximum of ever 5 years.

The Chamber of the People also consists of 913 members, again representing each constituancy. Members, who are selected randomly, serve for approximatly three weeks however this varies.

A third part of the Parliament are several unelected committies which are made up of experts on certain fields. They look through bills passed by the Chamber of Representatives and try and find flaws or errors in them. They then present them to the Chamber of the People.

The First Secretary is head the Chamber of Representatives whilst the Vice-President serves the same role in the Chamber of the People.

Procedure

The two Chambers of Parliament are each headed by a Speaker. Each speaker is a Constituancy Representatived elected to the position by the members of each house respectively. While the position of speaker is vacant, the president chooses a temporary Speaker.

In the Chamber of Representatives, Constituancy Representatives address the entire house (using "my Representatives"). Members in the Chamber of the People also address the house (using "my Members").

In each chamber, members vote during questions with the consoles in front of their seats. They must also vote by shouting "For" or "Against" before casting their vote so their chamber can instantly see how they have voted. The Speaker of each chamber cannot vote as they are supposed to remain neutral. The computers in each chamber are some of the most technically sophisticated in the world to stop anyone interfering in the democratic process.

Term

Following a general election, the President asks the speaker of the Chamber of Representatives to swear in all the elected Constituancy Representatives. If the speaker has not been re-elected or has stood down then the president chooses a temporary speaker until another can be elected. When all Constituancy Representatives have been sworn in, Parliament is offically opened by the President. After this, the Chamber of Representatives sits and begins it's business while the first members of the Chamber of People sit in their chamber.

Parliament sits everyday apart from a one-month break each year which is decided by the First Secretary and Vice-President who are heads of the Chamber of Representatives and the Chamber of the People respectively. Each chamber does not sit on all national holidays and can ajourn for up to three days without the consent of the other chamber.

Parliament sits for a maximum of five years before a general election must be called by the President. Most sessions only sit for four years as this is when most Presidents call an election. Ten days after an election has been called Parliament is dissolved and the election takes place a further twenty days later.