Folkssenaat

People's Senate Folkssenaat Volkssenat Rahva senat
34th Folkssenaat
History
Founded	October 31, 1919 (1919-10-31)
Preceded by	TBD
Leadership
President of the Folkssenaat	Arved Levandi, NB since 10 May 2017
Vice Presidents of the Folkssenaat	Lourens Nauta, PA 10 May 2014 Yannick Steinhäuser, TFDR 10 May 2020
Structure
Political groups	Government (93)   PA (93)   SDyD (34)   SDA (28)   SP (23)   KR (13) Opposition (138)   NB (74)   SDF (28)   SU (23)   KP (20)   OP (3)   TFDR (45)   SP (27)   Greens (9)   SFP (3)   OVP (3)   R (3)   Left list (5)   ASAY (5)   AP (4)   Orange (4)   Martimaa (1)
Elections
Voting system	Party-list proportional representation (PLPR)
Last election	12 December 2020
Next election	On or before 5 April 2023
Meeting place
Website
folkssenaat.gov.as

The Folkssenaat ("People's senate") is the Alslandic federal parliament. The Folkssenaat sits in the Senaatsgebou in Yndyk. Since 1995 the Folkssenaat has been a Unicameral Legislature of Alsland after the Federal Assembly was merged into the Senate . The Folkssenaat has 231 Senators who are elected via the Party-list proportional representation system.

The Senate is led by a President and 2 Vice-Presidents who usually come from each major bloc. The role of the President rotates between the Vice-Presidents who are replaced as a Vice-President upon their election as President of the Senate. The President serves for a term of 1 year. Vice-Presidents are elected between members of the Senate.

Members and elections

As of December 12 2021 there are 231 Senators. Alsland's 8 provinces each elect their own senators. Prior to the merging of the Federal Assembly and the Senate the Senate had 151 members who were elected via constituencies using the Single transferrable vote system. The Assembly had a further 80 members who were elected using the current Party-list proportional representation system. When the two houses were merged the Senate adopted the Party-list proportional representation system and abolished the previous constituency system.

The table below shows the distribution of Senators between provinces following the 2021 Legislative election.

Dellish provinces		Weranian provinces		Swathish and Estmerish provinces		Martish provinces
Province	Seats	Province	Seats	Province	Seats	Province	Seats
Delland	39	Garz	38	Fawkhamshire	25	Martiland	20
Middewald	20	Zittau	28	Hamptonshire	36
Yndyk	25

Requirements

To be a candidate for the Senate a citizen must be at least 18 years old and a citizen and current resident of Alsland. A citizen must also not hold dual citizenship and must renounce this if they are elected to the Senate.

A Senator can only enter office after taking the oath of office. The oath is as follows: "I swear to uphold the Constitution of the United Provinces of Alsland, to dedicate my efforts to the well-being of the Alslandic people, to promote their welfare and protect them from harm." (Dellish: Ik swar de Grûnwet fan 'e Feriene Provinsjes Aalslân te hanthavenjen, har wolwêzen te befoarderjen, har te beskermjen tsjin skea en myn ynset te wijden oan it wolwêzen fan it Alslandyske folk, Weranian: Ich schwöre, die Verfassung der Vereinigten Provinzen von Aalsland aufrechtzuerhalten, ihr Wohlergehen zu fördern, sie vor Schaden zu schützen und meine Bemühungen dem Wohl der Aalsländer Bevölkerung zu widmen, Kirenian: Vanden toetada Alslandi Ühendatud Provintside põhiseadust, edendada nende heaolu, kaitsta neid kahju eest ja pühendada oma jõupingutused Alslandi inimeste heaolule)

A Senator must also resign other provincial or local offices upon becoming a Senator. The same rule applies vice-versa if a Senator takes up a role in Provincial or Local politics. Senators also may not be serving in the Judiciary or be a current civil-servant. Civil-servants are able to be granted political leave and don't need to resign their position upon being elected as a Senator.

President and Vice-Presidents

The current President of the Folkssenaat is Arved Levandi

Parliamentary groups

Alongside blocs, there have been several Parliamentary Groups within the Folkssenaat, as of 2021 there are 6 Parliamentary groups in total. Parliamentary groups exist alongside blocs but usually contain the same member parties as political blocs. Member parties in Parliamentary groups have similar ideologies and tend to vote together and their Senators usually sit together.

Parliamentary composition in August 2021 Folkssenaat Groups Parties Senators Seats Total Progressive and Socialist Parliamentary group SDyD 34 92 SdA 28 SF 23 KPP 13 National Bloc Parliamentary group SDF 28 74 SU 23 KP 20 OP 3 Together for the Republic Parliamentary group SP 27 45 Green 9 SFP 3 OVP 3 Radical 3 Alslandic Left Parliamentary group ASAY 5 14 Left list 5 AP 4 Orange Parliamentary group Orange 4 4 Federalists and Regionalists Parliamentary group M 1 1 Committees The Folkssenaat has several committees each with a responsibility over different parts of the government. The committees examine legislative proposals. Each committee is divided proportionally between the parties based on their current seat total within the Folkssenaat. The current Senate committees are: • Federal affairs • Justice • Finance • Defence • Foreign Affairs • General affairs and civil service • Environment • Public health • Infrastructure and communication • Immigration and integration • Education • Culture • Science • Transport • Energy • Agriculture • Labour policy • Welfare • Social Affairs Procedure Latest election Current composition The current composition of the Folkssenaat, as of August 2021: Affiliation Scope Senators Progressive Alliance (PA) Federal 93 National Bloc (NB) Federal 74 Together for the Republic (TFDR) Federal 45 Left list (LL) Federal 5 Alslandic section of the Workers International (ASAY) Federal 5 Workers Party (AP) Federal 4 Orange Party (O) Federal 4 Martimaa (M) Martiland 1 Historical compositions