Parliament of Mespalia
Parliament of Mespalia Mechpælæn parlemanni Parlement de Mespalie | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| Houses | Assembly the Estates General Assembly |
| History | |
New session started | 1 September 2015 |
| Leadership | |
President of the Assembly the Estates | |
Speaker of the General Assembly | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 978 628 lords 350 deputies |
 | |
Assembly of the Estates political groups | Nobility (578) Clergy (50) |
 | |
General Assembly political groups | Government Conservative Party (107) People's Party (55) Patriotic League (48) Opposition Social Democratic Workers' Party (83) Party of the Aininian Minority (19) The Greens (18) Liberal Party (12) Socialist Left Party (8) |
| Elections | |
Assembly of the Estates voting system | Not elected |
General Assembly voting system | Open-list proportional representation |
General Assembly last election | 5 April 2015 |
General Assembly next election | 5 April 2019 |
| Meeting place | |
| National Palace Iouzzene | |
The Parliament of Mespalia (Mespalian: Mechpælæn parlemanni, French: Parlement de Mespalie) is the bicameral legislature of Mespalia. It consists of two chambers: the lower house is the 350-member General Assembly whose members are elected using proportional representation, and the upper house is the Assembly of the Estates consisting of 50 bishops of the Church of Mespalia and 578 members of the nobility. The two chambers are presided over by the Speaker of the General Assembly and the President of the Assembly of the Estates, respectively.
The Parliament in its present form has changed little over since its creation following the independence of Mespalia in 1804. Its bicameral system was originally a compromise between republicans and monarchists: the General Assembly with its universal suffrage was revolutionary at the time, but the hereditary element of the Assembly of the Estates acted as a counterweight to the radical democratic elements of the lower house. The few major changes include the electoral reform of the General Assembly in 1914 that changed the electoral system from first-past-the-post to proportional representation in 1914, and a switch from perfect bicameralism to imperfect bicameralism in 1941. The reform or abolition of the Assembly of the Estates is regularly debated, but thus far it has not led to any action.
Both chambers of the Parliament meet in the National Palace in central Iouzzene. Deliberations of the both chambers of Parliament were done solely in French until 1874, when King Francis III made Mespalia an officially billingual state. Today, both Mespalian and French language can be used and simultaneous translation to the other language is available though rarely used, as nearly all Mespalians are billingual.
Assembly of the Estates
The Assembly of the Estates (Mespalian: Etâttiencocouz, French: Assemblée des états) is the upper house of the Parliament. It consists of 50 bishops of the Church of Mespalia who are ex officio members of the Assembly, and 578 nobles, either knights who hold their seat for life, or hereditary nobles whose seat passes to their descendant upon death. The number of seats in the Assembly is not fixed, as both the National Assembly or the King may appoint new nobles.
Despite being the upper chamber, the powers of the Assembly of the Estates are more limited compared to those of the General Assembly. Originally both chambers had equal rights, but the 1941 Mespalian National Assembly restricted the rights of the Assembly of the Estate. The Assembly may not pass votes of no confidence or initiate budget bills. It has a veto right on bills passed by the General Assembly, but it may only veto them once, in which case the General Assembly has to vote on the bill again.
General Assembly
The General Assembly (Mespalian: Ylæiscocouz, French: Assemblée générale) is the lower house of the Parliament. It consists of 350 deputies, who are chosen every year by the adult population over the age of 21 using proportional representation from 42 constituencies.