Chamber of Deputies of Meronnia
Chamber of Deputies Chambre des Députés | |
|---|---|
| 58th Chamber Term | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| Leadership | |
Presidium Chair | Blaise Asselin, Faction Liberale |
| Structure | |
 | |
Political groups | Government 255
|
| Elections | |
| Proportional Party List | |
The Chamber of Deputies (Soliçian: Chambre des Députés) is the unicameral legislature of the Federal Republic of Meronnia. Its legislators are known as Deputies.
The Chamber of Deputies has 500 seats, all elected in a single national Party Proportional List system. Thus, 251 seats are required for a majority in the chamber. The Chamber is presided over by a Presidium of representatives across the political spectrum, conventionally chaired by the representative of the largest party in the Chamber, currently Blaise Asselin. The term of the Chamber is four years, though Votes of No Confidence in the government may lead to elections between the usual cycle with the assent of the President.
History
The Chamber of Deputies was established in 1799 by the Institutional Act on Representation enacted by the Meronnian Directory which served as the executive at that time. Upon its introduction, the Chamber of Deputies became the lower house in the new Meronnian Parliament, joining the Chamber of Senators which had been established in the constitution. While the Chamber of Senators was made up by representatives selected from the governments of the Communes (the constituent parts of the Meronnian federal structure), the Chamber of Deputies was filled by seats directly elected in single-member constituencies.
For the first twenty years of its existence the Chamber of Deputies was predominantly under the authority of the Chamber of Senators. Internally, it had three "wings" of seats, for members of the Radical, Moderate, or Other affiliations, with members selecting one of these affiliations as the predecessor to following Factional and Party systems.
In 1822 a number of reforms were instituted in the legislative system which also made the Chamber of Deputies much more powerful. These included the establishment of a semi-organized system of political Factions, a number of minor administrative changes, the standard that legislation unrelated to the Constitution must originate in the lower house, and most significantly the formalization of the new role of First Deputy, which was promoted from an informal leader of the chamber to the effective leader of the Executive.
Over the next hundred years the Chamber of Deputies slowly graduated into the most significant organ of the government of Meronnia, eclipsing the upper house and the Directory which retained the Head of State, and by the term of First Deputy Pierre-Marie Jaubert most significant decisions in the nation were made by the executive responsible to that chamber. Jaubert's government dominated the Chamber throughout the period of the Olympic War, primarily due to the electoral alliance of the dominant Liberal and Radical factions in a Grand Coalition during that period.
Having a large majority in the Chamber of Deputies, Jaubert defined the Meron government's actions throughout the decade it was at war and sidelined the Directory. After the war, he proceeded with efforts at broad constitutional reform, stating that "No one should be able do do as I have done again." Jaubert's reforms, from 1919-1922, saw the creation of the position of President as a directly elected Head of State, and introduced the Party Proportional system of elections which formalized the political party system extant in Meronnia today.
The 1977 Constitutional Reforms included the abolition of the Chamber of Senators, making the Meron legislature unicameral and transferring all remaining legislative authorities to the Chamber of Deputies. The Reforms also established 500 as a set size for the Chamber of Deputies, which would not be increased over time as it previously was.
Authority
Since 1822, and particularly since 1977, the Chamber of Deputies has been the most powerful organ of the federal government of Meronnia. The Chamber elects, and may remove, the executive government (that is, the First Deputy and their appointees), so the executive government is necessarily made up from the dominant party or coalition in the chamber.
The Chamber of Deputies is not, however, all powerful, as Meronnia's established constitution does not subscribe to the concept of Parliamentary Supremacy. The Chamber can legislate on all subjects, but on constitutional matters legislation must have the direct assent of the Directory to be enacted.
The Directory has the right to exercise a veto on bills proposed by the Chamber, though this may be overrided by a three-quarters supermajority and it is convention that the Directory does not exercise this authority for political reasons. The President may remove the Chamber of Deputies and begin a new election, though this may only be done if there is evidence to support their lack of support or good governance, generally meaning either a Vote of No Confidence (which has happened several times) or a Decision of the National Court (which has never happened).
Elections
The Chamber of Deputies is elected by Proportional Party List. Political Parties registered with the Meronnian Electoral Commission prepare electoral lists by internal means, generally either by decision of party leaders or voting by party members, which rank Deputy candidates by priority.
On election day, a Federal Holiday in Meronnia, enrolled voters throughout the Federal Republic vote directly for a political party, rather than for candidates. These votes determine the makeup of the Chamber of Deputies, the seats from which are allocated to political parties proportionally depending on vote percentages for each party. The parties then fill seats up to their total from their submitted candidate lists.
Because the Chamber has an established size of 500 Seats, any party that achieves a total of 0.20% of all votes cast will secure a seat in the Chamber. This miniscule threshold has allowed dozens of minor parties to enter the Chamber of Deputies throughout its history. The present Chamber has twenty represented parties.
Elections to the Chamber of Deputies happen on four year cycles. The most recent was in 2019, and the next will be in 2023. Mid-Cycle elections may occur when the Chamber is removed by the President, but these elections do not reset the cycle. For example, if the chamber was removed and replaced in 2021, the next election would still occur in 2023.