Commons Council (Seketan)

Commons Council
66th Hérvynsken
Type
Type	Lower House of the Hérvynsken
History
Founded	1799 (1799)
Preceded by	Council of Locals (Seketan) Wilsk Royal Council (Wilskland)
Leadership
Speaker	Marknuus Jenna, Our Revolution since April 22, 2021
Prime Minister	Simy Brasa, Our Revolution since April 23, 2021
Leader of the Opposition	Sara Nymon, Socialist since May 3, 2021
Structure
Seats	293 MH's
Political groups	Government (146)   Our Revolution (126)   Freedom Alliance (20) Confidence and Supply (27)   National Conservative (27) Opposition (120)   Socialist (59)   Liberal Democrats (20)   Labour (17)   Wilsk National Party (9)   YaS (7)   Green (6)   Fjeska National (1)   Progressives (1)
Elections
Voting system	193 elected through FPTP single member districts 100 seats elected though D'Hondt proportional closed lists
Last election	March 4, 2021
Next election	Before March 4, 2025
Meeting place
Hérvynsken Building Government District, Conelibek, Seketan

The Commons Council is the lower house of the Seketese Hérvynsken. It is the only directly elected body in the Federal Government and is the primary legislative body in the Hérvynsken. It meets at the North end of the Hérvynsken Buildings in the Allis Room. The council's modern authority is established in the Seketese Constitution under Article 3, Section 2 in 1978 after the Seketese Revolution reformed the Hérvynsken's powers. It's the primary house of the Hérvynsken with the power to elect the Prime Minister.

At the beginning of each session, the house elects a Speaker to preside over debates and votes. Currently, the Speaker is Marknuus Jenna of Our Revolution who was first elected to the seat in 2021. The chamber has 293 members elected every 4 years, with 193 elected by FPTP in single-member districts with roughly equal populations and 100 elected proportionally in at-large province-wide constituencies. Members of the Council, or MH's group themselves into political parties, with a minimum requirement of 10 members to form a recognized party. MH's in groupings of less then 10 can form unrecognized parties and sit with other non-affiliated MG's. The Speaker can choose to lower the minimum requirements at any time.

History

The Commons Council has its roots in the early councils of the Kingdom of Seketan, with monarchs assembling ad-hoc advisory bodies or "Hérvynsken" of nobels and local leaders from time to time, primarily during wartime. These King's Councils were non-permanent and would often be dissolved as soon as their usage had expired and had no real political power to compel the monarch to take action.

In 1537 several mayors and regional leaders decided to withhold taxes from King Fejer IV, demanding reform to the Seketese government system with a permanent body for them to advise the monarch, starting the Nobel Revolt. King Fejer IV gave into their demands and convened the first Hérvynsken in 1540 in Conelibek with the power to grant tax money to the King, raise additional armies and appoint a Speaker to convey the council's wishes to the monarch, modelled after the Speaker in England. The council was not initially elected, with towns choosing to send representatives chosen by their local mayor. This sometimes led to confusion as there were no rules governing who has the authority to send these delegates, and often competing delegates were sent from the same area leading to fights.

After the personal union with Alquiya was established in 1789, more reforms were brought to the council. First, rules were established regarding membership to the council. Any town with over 5,000 people was granted the right to send a representative or Member of Hérvynsken (MH) through whatever means the town chose. Some towns chose to elect their MH's while others were appointed by the mayor or local town boards. Secondly, the chamber was granted additional legislative powers such as the right to create a national budget and raise new forms of taxation. The chamber could also appoint so-called "Royal Representatives" to advise the Seketese Monarch on the wishes of the council on specific issues, such as finances, foreign affairs and housing. These Royal Representatives would eventually be reformed into the Seketese Cabinet.

After the dissolution of the Nelbec empire in 1918 and subsequent civil war, the city of Conelibek, the seat of the council, was under the rule of Free Conelibek and the Société Conelibek, who ran their affairs from the Conelibek City Call. The Hérvynsken Building was previously a fortress on Lake Seketan mainly used as munitions storage. After the war, the Kjedorates established a republic with the capital being again in Conelibek and the Commons Council was established as the lower house of the new and modern Hérvynsken. The lower house was established as an elected chamber with universal male suffrage (women would be given the right to vote in 1933) and was given full legislative powers under the new Seketese Consitution of 1923, with the ability to appoint the Prime Minister and their cabinet. The President of the new Republic of Seketan was still the Head of State and Government and had the power to nominate a Prime Minister and neither house of the Hérvynsken could remove a Prime Minister without a 2/3's majority vote of non-confidence.

The Commons Council would continue to be the legislative wing of the Seketese Government during the early and mid-1900s. Over time, due to the consolidation of power by the Kjedorate Party, the Hérvynsken became a rubber stamp to any legislation the President proposed as the Kjedorates routinely had a supermajority in both houses. After the Seketese Revolution in 1978, the government was reformed into a parliamentary republic with much of the legislative powers of the President stripped away and given to the Commons Council. The Council was now responsible for nominating, electing and supplying confidence in the Prime Minister and would be the primary seat of government. The latest reform occurred in 1992 when the electoral system was changed, adding 100 new seats to the Council to be elected using proportional representation.

Proceedure

Legislation

Legislation in the Commons Council must be introduced by an MH at the beginning of the Monday session, during the "Tabling of Bills" portion. Bills can be in either of three forms, Government Bills that are introduced by a Minister, Opposition Bills that are introduced by a member of the Shadow Cabinet and Member Bills which are introduced by individual MH's and are not sponsored by any party. The Speaker gets to choose when bills get formally presented to the Council through Government bills are usually given priority, followed by Opposition Bills and any remaining time is given to Member Bills which are usually picked at random.

After being scheduled by the Speaker, a bill is read in its entirety in the House by the bill's sponsor and referred to a committee by the Commons Council's Clerk. In the committee, the bill is analyzed by select MH's and witnesses are brought in to give expert opinions on bills. At this stage, amendments can be introduced by members of the committee. Upon completing their study and amendment, the committee votes to send the bill back to the Council for a final debate and vote. In this final reading, all MH's can debate the bill for final scrutiny. The bill's sponsor is usually expected to make the first speech and be present to answer questions posed by MH's. After debate, a final vote is held and if it passes the bill is sent to the State Council for this process to be repeated.

Government Question Period

Every Wednesday at noon is Government Question Period. During this time MH's who are not in the Cabinet can pose questions to Ministers on any issue they want, though the Speaker can choose to reject a question if it is deemed unparliamentary. MH's can also ask up to 2 supplementary questions so long as they are not repeated questions and are on the same topic. Typically the Leader of the Opposition gets to ask the first 3 questions, with the leaders of the other recognized parties getting guaranteed 2 questions each. MH's go on asking questions until there is no time left in the Question Period, which is usually 45 minutes.

Vote of Confidence

After an election and selection of a Speaker, the President invites the Speaker to the State House to consult them on who should be nominated as Prime Minister. Usually, this is the person who indicated that they have the best ability to pass a vote of confidence. After an MH is nominated as Prime Minister, they must create an "Government Confidence Case" in the form of a Speech to Parliament. This speech lays out the government's plan for the term and states their case to parliament on why they should approve them as Prime Minister. After this speech, the Council votes on whether they have the confidence or not in the nominated Prime Minister. If it passes, then the new Prime Minister and their cabinet are sworn into office. If it fails then the Speaker will meet again with the President to nominate another MH to be Prime Minister.

At any time during the term, any leader of one of the recognized parties can introduce a Motion of Non-Confidence in the government. If accepted by the Speaker, the Prime Minister will make a speech stating why they should stay as Prime ministers, followed by each of the party leaders as to their party's position on the matter. Afterwards a vote is held and if succsesful, the Speaker will meet with the President to nominate a new Prime Minister.

Elections

Elections must happen on the last Monday of March, 4 years after the last election.

Composition

Party		Leader	Ideolagy	Postion	Seats	Status
	Our Revolution	Simy Brasa	Populism	Big Tent	126	Government
	Socialist	Sara Nymon	Social Democracy	Centre-Left	59	Oppostion
	National Conservative	Cjetor Tamš	Conservatism	Centre-Right to Right Wing	27	Confidence and Supply
	Freedom Alliance	Thom Markse	Libertarianism	Right Wing	20	Government
	Liberal Democrats	Kati Jolas	Liberalism	Centre	20	Oppostion
	Labour	Julya Ešeca	Democratic Socialism	Left Wing to Far Left	17	Oppostion
	Wilsk National Party	William Happer	Wilsk Nationalism	Centre-Left to Centre-Right	9	Oppostion
	Party of Seketan	Fjedor Impousek	Nationalism	Right Wing to Far Right	7	Oppostion
	Green	Haijlee Wersk	Enviormentalism	Centre-Left	6	Oppostion
	Fjeska National	Jayime Martjnson	Fjeska Nationalism	Centre to Right Wing	1	Oppostion
	Progressive Party	Jayime Martjnson	Democratic Socialism	Left Wing	1	Oppostion