House of Representatives of the Roman State in the East (Byzatium)

House of Representatives of the Roman State in the East
Type
Type	Lower house of the parliament of the Byzantine Empire
Term limits	None
History
New session started	June 4, 2023 (2023-06-04)
Leadership
Speaker	Sophocles Boulellis
Structure
Seats	468
Political groups	League of Communists: 18 seats   Party of Environmentalists - Greens: 23 seats   Armenian Socialist League: 3 seats   All-Roman Socialist and Labour Party: 115 seats   Union of Black Sea: 12 seats   Hellenic Solution: 3 seats   Justice and Development Alliance: 40 seats   Patriotic Union: 4 seats   Republican Progressive Party: 212 seats   Democratic Party of Moesia: 20 seats   Pirate Party: 1 seat   Liberal Democratic Party: 17 seats

The House of Representatives of the Roman State in the East is the lower chamber of the parliament of the Byzantine Empire, with the Roman Senate being the upper chamber. Together, they comprise the national bicameral legislature of the Byzantine Empire. The fixed-term for House members is five years.

The House is composed of representatives who sit in single member congressional districts allocated to each Province on the basis of population as measured by the most recent census, with each district having one representative, provided that each Province is entitled to at least one. Since its inception in 1889, all Representatives have been directly elected, although suffrage was initially limited and gradually widened. Since 1913, the number of voting representatives has been at 468 members.

The House is charged with the passage of legislation, known as bills; those that are also passed by the Senate are sent to the Emperor for consideration. The House also has exclusive powers: it initiates all revenue bills.

The House meets in the Lakes Palace. The presiding officer is the Speaker of the House, who is elected by the members thereof. Currently, the Speaker of the House is Sophocles Boulellis.

Functions and powers

The approval of the Senate and the House of Representatives is required for a bill to become law. Both Houses must pass the same version of the bill; if there are differences, they may be resolved by a conference committee, which includes members of both bodies.

Some bills may be introduced in either House of parliament. All Bills for raising revenue must originate in the House of Representatives. Furthermore, congressional tradition holds that the House of Representatives originates appropriation bills. Although it cannot originate revenue bills, the Senate retains the power to amend or reject them.

The Emperor may veto a bill passed by the House and Senate. If they do, the bill does not become law unless each House, by a two-thirds vote, votes to override the veto.

The Constitution empowers the House of Representatives to impeach officials for treason and other high Crimes and empowers the Senate to try such impeachments. A convicted official is automatically removed from office and may be disqualified from holding future office.

Membership

Apportionments

Under the Constitution of the Byzantine Empire, seats in the House of Representatives are apportioned among the Provinces by population, as determined by the census conducted every ten years. Each Province is entitled to at least one representative, however small its population.

Redistricting

Provinces entitled to more than one representative are divided into single-member districts.

Provinces typically redraw district boundaries after each census, though they may do so at other times, such as the 2003 Western Armenia redistricting. Each Province determines its own district boundaries. Districts must be approximately equal in population. Imperial courts and legislation do not prohibit to engage in gerrymandering to benefit political parties or incumbents, while prohibiting redistricting insulating ethnic minorities.

Qualifications

Each representative must:

• Be at least twenty-five years old;
• Have been a Roman citizen for the past ten years;
• Be an inhabitant of the Province they represent.

Disqualification

An official who takes the requisite oath to be faithful to the Empire, but later engages in rebellion or aids the enemies of the Empire, is disqualified from becoming a representative. However, disqualified individuals may serve if they gain the official pardon from the Emperor.

Election

Elections for representatives are held every five years, on Election Day the first Sunday in April, provided it is not Easter. Representatives must be elected from single-member districts. After a census is taken (in a year ending in 1), the year ending in 3 is the first year in which elections for House districts are based on that census. Elected representatives serve a five-year term, with no term limit.

Party candidates for each district are nominated in partisan conventions or congresses, typically held in previous late summer or autumn.

Seats vacated during a term are filled through special elections, unless the vacancy occurs closer to the next general election date than a pre-established deadline. The term of a member chosen in a special election usually begins the next day, or as soon as the results are certified.

Terms

Representatives serve for five-year terms. A term starts on the Monday after the Pentecost, following election in April. TVacancies in the House are filled with a special election. The term of the replacement member expires on the date that the original member's would have expired.

Officers

Member officials

The party or the coalition with a majority of seats in the House is known as the majority party or coalition. The speaker, committee chairs, and some other officials are generally from the majority party or coalition; they have counterparts (for instance, the "ranking members" of committees) in the minority party or coalition.

The Constitution of the Empire assigns to the House the task of choosing its own speaker among its members. Duties and powers of the speaker are regulated by the rules and customs of the House. Speakers have a role as a leader of the House but not of the parliamentary delegation of their party or coalition.

The speaker is the presiding officer of the House but does not preside over every debate. Instead, they delegate the responsibility of presiding to other members in most cases. The presiding officer sits in a chair in the front of the House chamber. The powers of the presiding officer are extensive; one important power is that of controlling the order in which members of the House speak. No member may make a speech or a motion unless they have first been recognized by the presiding officer. Moreover, the presiding officer may rule on a "point of order" (a member's objection that a rule has been breached); the decision is subject to appeal to the whole House.

The speaker chooses the chairs of standing committees and determines which committees consider bills. The Speaker of the House must not hold a pratisan standing.

Each party elects a floor leader, who is known as the Party's Parliamentary Group Leader. Party leaders decide what legislation members of their party should either support or oppose. Each party group also elects its own parliamentary organization: the Party Voting Delegate and two Deputy Voting Delegates (comparable to U.S. Whips and Deputy Whips), whose members work to ensure that the party's members vote as the party leadership desires.

All these party parliamentary leaders are usually granted a State honour or a sinecure, with the rank of honours and sinecures depending on the size of the relevant political party.

Below the Voting Delegates, each party may be organised in a different way, with the relevant incumbents not being granted any honour ex officio.

Non-member officials

The House is also served by several officials who are not members. The House's chief such officer is the Protonotary of the House (Πρωτονόταρος της Βουλής των Αντιπροσώπων Protonótaros tis Voulís ton Antiprosópon), who maintains public records, prepares documents, and oversees junior officials, including pages. The Protonotary of the House also presides over the House at the beginning of each new House term pending the election of a speaker. Another officer is the Chief Administrative Notary, responsible for the day-to-day administrative support to the House of Representatives. This includes everything from payroll to foodservice.

The Chaplain leads the House in prayer at the opening of the day. The Quaestor of the House is the House's chief law enforcement officer and maintains order and security on House premises. Finally, routine police work is handled by the Imperial Gendarmerie.