Parliament (Caropsyne Pontanore)
Parliament of the Caropsyne Pontanore | |
|---|---|
| Bicameral | |
| Type | |
| Houses | Pontiana Fostana |
Term limits | 5 years (Pontiana) Lifetime (Fostana) |
| Leadership | |
Speaker of the Pontiana | Elias Galpha |
Opposition Leader | |
Chair of the Fostana | Dr. Haldric Jarvalde |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 900 |
 | |
Pontiana political groups |
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Fostana political groups |
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| Elections | |
Pontiana voting system | First-past-the-post voting |
Fostana voting system | By Appointment |
Pontiana last election | 2 March 2020 |
Pontiana next election | 1 March 2025 |
| Meeting place | |
 | |
| Pontiana Palace | |
 | |
| Fostana Building | |
| Website | |
| parliamenta.po | |
The Parliament of the Caropsyne Pontanore consists of an upper, appointed house, the Fostana, and a lower elected house, the Pontiana. Both bodies sit in the capital of Fornænda in the district of Terese Polminese.
The Pontiana
The Pontiana is the elected lower house of Parliament and has always been the chamber of precedence since 1843 (including over the Cadriana when it existed). The only exception was during a sixty-year period between May 1933 and March 1993 when the Fostana overthrew the elected Premier, shuttered the Pontiana, and siezed complete control over the Pontanore by declaring a National Emergency. The Pontiana is the second-largest legislative body in the world with a total of 840 members drawn from single-member constituencies.
Members are elected by receiving a pluarity of all votes cast at an election. Each Pontanore State is allocated a certain number of seats based on its total population and constituencies are drawn to be roughly equal in size relative to the respective state. Both seat allocation at the state level and constituency boundaries are reevaluated every five years.
Elections occur every five years or sooner if so ordered. Several political parties are represented in the chamber. By law, the Premier is the leader of the single largest political party in the Pontiana. This position is currently held by Ilmer Yutrias since 3 March 2020. Olimand Kossroth, leader of the the Moderate Party, has been Leader of the Opposition for nearly two decades.
Day-to-day administrative matters of the chamber are handled by the Pontiana Executive Committee. This includes determining rules and procedure for legislation, whether to take disciplinary action upon members, overseeing member privileges, recommending the appointment of members to parliamentary committees, and setting dates for elections. The Chair of the Executive Committee serves as Speaker.
Bills passed by the Pontiana cannot be vetoed by the upper chamber but they can be delayed or sent back with amendments.
The Fostana
The Fostana is the unelected upper chamber of the Caropsyne Parliament. It is made up 60 appointed Pantolaré (singular Pantolaro/a). The passage of the Fostana Reform Act 2020 in the early days of the Yutrias Government has replaced the previous medieval domination of historic landowners and religious officials with noted individuals from the political, bureaucratic, and academic spheres of Pontanore society. The chamber is led by a Chair, Dr. Haldric Jarvalde. Other officers of the chamber include Dr. Baras Alpa (Secretary), Dr. Gethman Tormian (Treasurer), and Dr. Olimand Harriman (Master of Ceremonies).
The Fostana scrutinises, and in some cases amends, bills that have been approved by the Pontiana. Although they cannot prevent bills from passing into law, except in certain limited circumstances, they can delay bills and force the lower house to reconsider their decisions. In this capacity, the Fostana acts as a check that is independent of the electoral process. Besides its legislative duties, the Fostana has limited executive functions, fulfills prescribed ceremonial roles as dictated by historical precedent, and by law, serves as the Pontanore's highest judicial court. Members of the Fostana are immune from prosecution unless the rest of the body votes to remove it from the respective individual.