Parliament (Caropsyne Pontanore)
Parliament of the Caropsyne Pontanore | |
|---|---|
| Bicameral | |
 | |
| Type | |
| Houses | Pontiana Fostana |
Term limits | 5 years (Pontiana) Lifetime (Fostana) |
| Leadership | |
Speaker | Marias Gatto |
Premier | |
Opposition Leader | |
| Structure | |
 | |
Pontiana political groups |
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Fostana political groups |
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| Elections | |
Pontiana voting system | First-past-the-post voting |
Fostana voting system | By Appointment |
Pontiana last election | 3 March 2020 |
Pontiana next election | 2 March 2025 |
| Website | |
| parliamenta.po | |
The Parliament of the Caropsyne Pontanore consists of an upper, appointed house, the Fostana, and a lower elected house, the Pontiana. Both bodies sit in the capital of Fornænda.
The Pontiana
The Pontiana is the elected lower house of Parliament and has always been the chamber of precedence since 1843 (including over the Cadriana when it existed). The only exception was over a sixty-year period between 1933 and 1993 in which the Fostana seized complete control over the Pontanore by declaring a National Emergency and closed the chamber. The Pontiana is the second-largest legislative body in the world with a total of 840 members drawn from single-member constituencies.
Members are elected by receiving a pluarity of all votes cast at an election. Each Pontanore State is allocated a certain number of seats based on its total population and constituencies are designed to be roughly equal in size. Elections occur every five years or sooner if so ordered. Several political parties are represented in the chamber. By law, the Premier is the leader of the single largest political party in the Pontiana. This position is currently held by Ilmer Yutrias.
Day-to-day administrative matters of the chamber are handled by the Pontiana Executive Committee. This includes setting dates for elections, determining rules and procedure for legislation, whether to take disciplinary action upon members, and so forth. The Chair of the Executive Committee serves as Speaker. Bills passed by the Pontiana cannot be stopped by the upper chamber, but can be delayed.
The Fostana
The Fostana is the unelected upper chamber of the Caropsyne Parliament. It holds a important place in Caropsyne history and has been a part of the political fabric of the nation for over seven-hundred and fifty years. During the monarchy, it was often relied upon for both legal guidance and the levying of new taxes. When it was first created over a millenia ago, it was made up of 60 aged aristocratic landowners and religious officials who had the power to elect their own membership by a majority internal vote. The chamber was dramatically reformed in 2020 in the early days of the Yutrias Government to now consist of noted individuals from the political, bureaucratic, and academic spheres of Pontanore society, appointed by the Premier. The size of the chamber has not changed.
The Fostana scrutinises, and in some cases amends, bills that have been approved by the Pontiana. Although they cannot prevent bills from passing into law, except in certain limited circumstances, they can delay bills and force the lower house to reconsider their decisions. In this capacity, the Fostana acts as a check that is independent of the electoral process. Besides its legislative duties, the Fostana has limited executive functions, fulfills prescribed ceremonial roles as dictated by historical precedent, and by law, serves as the Pontanore's highest judicial court. Members of the Fostana are granted immunity from prosecution.
The Fostana is led by a Chair, currently Haldric Jarvalde. The other officers of the chamber are Dr. Baras Alpa (Secretary), Dr. Gethman Tormian (Treasurer), and Dr. Olimand Harriman (Master of Ceremonies).
For a sixty year period between 1933 and 1993, the Fostana ruled the Pontanore alone. This was enabled by the chamber declaring a state of national emergency and proceeded to shutter the elected lower house. The Fostana's rule during this time is regarded in different ways by different people. The majority of Caropsynes today see it as a generally negative period in history but one where Carops was prouder and more assertive than it is today. During this time, the Pontanore was in conflicts with many different powers: Loslakia and its bloc during the Great War and Ardalia in the early eighties. It did successfully keep the Pontanore intact. More recently, in 2000, the Fostana along with several notable members of the Pontiana, joined forces to bring down Haldric Maldian's Government after there were fears that it was actually being led by the Damosca. To force his resignation, the Fostana stormed the lower house and preciptated the Caropsyne Constitutional Crisis.