Politics of Meridon

Meridon is a federal semi-parliamentary constitutional Republic, whose legislature, the Federal Council, contains the unicameral Meridonian Senate. The senate consists of 364 seats, with seats allocated both for the territories at large and by population counts.

As a semi-parliamentary system, the executive branches are not directly elected by the legislature, but are held accountable to it via votes of no confidence, which can recall any executive officer including the President with a 2/3 majority. The Senate is required by law to meet at least three times in a year, and typically meets for 3-month sessions that last from January-March, May-July, and September-November, though it regularly meets outside of these as needed.

Executive and the Presidency

Main article: Executive branch of Meridon

The executive branch of the federal government is organized around the office of the President, who exercises his executive power primarily through the Federal Executive Departments. The President is empowered and charged with conducting foreign diplomacy, signing bills passed by the Senate into law or vetoing them, serving as Commander in Chief of the Meridon Defense Forces, naming the heads of the Federal Executive Departments with Senatorial advice and assent, and offer pardons to criminals. The President is elected to a five-year term by popular vote.

Unlike most modern nations, in Aquitayne, the Prime Minister is not the Head of State. Rather, the Prime Minister is considered the Head of Government, whilst the Crown is considered the Head of State. This is because the constitution strictly prohibits the legislature from engaging in diplomatic talks with foreign nations, and cannot authorize the deployment of soldiers overseas or domestically. Strictly speaking, the Magnus Magnatus only has the power to pass or repeal laws, otherwise it has no function. Therefore, all government agencies fall under the Magnus Magnatus rather than an executive branch - or the King - and it is the legislative branch's responsibility, albeit not the legislature itself, to enforce the laws it passes.

The Crown, however, is the formal representation of foreign policy (when approved by the legislature) and commander-in-chief of the nation's armed forces. The Crown has some limits to its power that the legislature checks. For example, if the King wants to initiate new domestic reforms to the way agriculture receives tax benefits, he must work with the legislature and appropriate committees to see that the legislation is drafted and passed. As dictated in the constitution, the Crown has no law-making power.

Legislature

Seats in the Magnus Magnatus:
  Royalist Party: 84 (Commons); 42 (Lords)
 People's Party:52 (Commons); 37 (Lords)
 Isolationists: 14 (Commons); 5 (Lords)
 Environmentalists: 10 (Lords)
 Republicans: 6 (Lords)

The Magnus Magnatus (National Assembly) is the bicameral legislature for the Government of Aquitayne. It has 250 seats. 150 are allocated to the House of Commons, and 100 seats are allocated to the House of Lords. It is directly elected once every four years through proportional representation via a single transferable vote (STV). The Magnus Magnatus has existed since 1734, when the Royalist Party conducted the Meeting of the Cadavers, which laid the foundation for the separation of Aquitayne from the Empire of Exponent. The legislature is subject to various constitutional limits and powers, and is, in most circumstance, only capable of passing or revoking legislation. The Magnus Magnatus meets in the Camara Populi in Telora 7 months out of the year.The majority and minority coalitions are represented by the Majority and Minorities Whip.

Senators and Prime Ministers currently have no limit on terms served. A constitutional limit on term length was proposed in 1943, but failed to pass a national referendum. There have been weak attempts since then to pass such restrictions.

The current Prime Minister is Richard Larrow, of the Royalist Party, and the current Minority Leader is Nikolas Renaldt, of the People's Party.

Judiciary

For more, see Legal System in Meridon

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Political parties

Main article: List of Political Parties in Meridon

There are currently five political parties in the Magnus Magnatus. In the past, as many as eight parties have had seats in the assembly during a term, but over the past 30 years, it has remained relatively constant at five to seven parties. This is because both the Royalist Party and the People's Party have expanded their platforms to reach a wider electorate and appeal to a larger audience. While the two parties have been the only major contenders in Aquitaynian politics for the last 60 years, it wasn't until the election in 2006 election that the assembly became so polarized to either side.

	Party Name	Coalition	Party Leader	Seats in theSenate	Ideology	Political Position
	Royalists Ruyelzeist	in coalition	Richard Larrow (Prime Minister)	126 / 250	fiscal conservatism, agrarianism, nationalism, statism, social democracy, environmentalism	Centre-right
	People's Party Kaer'yus Perti	in opposition	Nikolas Renaldt (Opposition Leader)	89 / 250	lassaiz-faire, urbanism, unionism, libertarianism	Right
	Isolationists Insulat Perti us Aqvitanye	in opposition	Claire Lubeck	19 / 250	liberal conservatism, pro-choice, free market, pacifism	Right
	Republicans Republicas Perti	in opposition	Charlotte Pharoway	10 / 250	republic, national conservatism, fiscal conservatism, nationalism, free market	Centre-right
	Environmentalists Terra Koelyeta	in coalition	Amy Haroldsson	6 / 100	green politics, social liberalism	Left

Foreign relations

Main article: Foreign policy of Meridon