Meronnian Directory

The Meronnian Directory La Directoire Mèronais
Leadership
General Director	Cédric Figuier
Elections
Voting system	Eliminatory STV

The Meronnian Directory (Soliçian: Directoire Mèronais) is an executive council of the Federal Republic of Meronnia which formerly served as the collective Head of State between 1774 and 1922, and has since existed in a reduced state as an organ for oversight of the Meronnian federal government. Members of the Directory are referred to as directors.

The Directory, uniquely, has variable size. Starting from nine members, annually one member - the chairing member referred to as the General Director - is ejected from the Directory, and after three years an election process adds three new members, meaning depending on the year the Directory has anywhere between six and nine members.

History

The Directory was established to be the collective head of state of the government formed by the Communard (or black) faction of the Second Revolution. During the 1774 Congress of Communes, the Directory replaced the prior Committee of General Defense which was largely answerable to the Senone Commune Council, and the initial nine members were elected from the representatives of that Congress. This was part of the enshrining of the new Federal Constitution which also established the existence of a permanent Chamber of Senators to serve as a legislative chamber.

In 1799 the Directory passed an Institutional Act to establish the Chamber of Deputies as a lower house of the legislature and following the Great Continental War in 1822 this chamber was significantly empowered, with its consent necessary to declare war, and with the establishment of the role of First Deputy who served as the most senior government minister and would have responsibility for appointing State Secretary positions previously decided by the Directory directly.

The next century would see the gradual undermining of the Directory as a legitimate source of authority as more decision-making was made in the legislative branch and the Council of Government chaired by the First Deputy. The constitutional reforms spearheaded by First Deputy Pierre-Marie Jaubert in the early 1920s culminated in the establishment of the position of the President. While this change was initially blocked by the Directory, this was dropped following threats of an organization of a Congress of Communes to force through further constitutional changes. In 1922, the office of the President was established, assuming the role of Head of State and taking a number of the Directory's remaining responsibilities, particularly in the scope of foreign affairs.

The Directory was not abolished by the Constitutional reforms, instead remaining as a mostly ceremonial body with some emergency and oversight responsibilities, including the theoretical right to veto bills passed by the Chamber of Deputies, though this right has only been exercised very infrequently.

Membership

The Directory varies between nine and six members, which each have a vote on the decisions collectively made by the body. The Directory is chaired by the General Director, elected from within the body at the start of each year, who sets the procedure of the body and is counted as two votes for the sake of breaking ties. The General Director is ejected from the Directory after their year chairing the body. Because the position is elected and not rotational, some directors can serve on the body for very long times by avoiding being elected to the chair.

Despite common assumptions otherwise, the membership of the Directory is unlike the position of the President, in that there is no requirement that members of the Directory remain politically neutral and do not hold party affiliation. However, the body is not organized on partisan lines, and while general leanings are often clear it is traditional for directors to not confirm their membership in any specific party.

Responsibilities

While most original responsibilities of the Directory have since been released to the President, First Deputy, and Chamber of Deputies, the executive council still retains a number of ceremonial and emergency powers.

The Directory may vote to veto bills passed by the Chamber of Deputies (while there is a common misconception that this must be on grounds of unconstitutionality, there is no such restriction), though vetos issued by the Directory may be overturned by a three-quarters majority vote. Unlike other legislation which only requires the lack of objection, amendments to the Constitution or Institutional Acts must be explicitly assented to by the Directory to go into effect.

The Directory is legally empowered to remove a President who is found to pose a threat to the maintenance of the constitution, though this has yet to happen the hundred years of the existence of that office. Their removal would lead to an immediate new election.

The Directory still appoints the Officers of State, a set of historic positions with now mostly ceremonial value. The Keeper of the Seals holds the Great Seal of Meronnia (which stamps the Constitution and its amendments) in their office and is responsible for countersigning some significant executive documents, but no longer has the legal authority to refuse to do so. The National Almoner is responsible for oversight of several charitable organizations. The National Seneschal is responsible for organizing the celebration of regular ceremonies and festivals. The Grand Panetier (or Bread Master) and the Grand Bouteiller have oversight of the bread and wine used in official circumstances, respectively.

One Office of State which retains some measurable authority is that of the Marshal of Meronnia, a military rank senior to General which is only appointed in exceptional circumstances. The last time the role was filled was during the Olympic War when a Marshal was appointed to oversee the multiple field armies raised during that conflict.

Election

Elections to the Directory occur every three years, after three successive General Directors have been ejected from the body.

The process of the election starts with the remaining six members of the directory drafting a list of six additional candidates. Generally this means each director presenting one candidate, though infrequent exceptions have occurred where directors present a full list that others accept. There are no legal requirements on proposed candidates other than they be Meronnian citizens above voting age, though generally candidacy is offered to those with significant experience in political fields or with otherwise exceptional achievements.

After the list of six is accepted by the remaining directors, it is presented to the public for voting. The electorate uses Single Transferable Vote to vote for candidates, but unlike in most electoral systems the voters are selecting the candidates that they do not want to serve on the Directory. That is to say, the three candidates with the highest number of votes are eliminated, and the remaining three join the Directory bringing the total members back to nine.

The system of "Eliminatory STV" has generally served to keep out any controversial or extremist candidates, and ensured that most directors who earn a seat on the council are compromise candidates who are acceptable to a broad portion of the voting population.