Parliament of Cavia
Parliament of Cavia Cannilhoda a Cavia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | |
| Type | Bicameralism |
| Houses | |
| History | |
| Founded | 6 March 1442 |
| Leadership | |
His Majesty King Oscar I since 28 March 1980 | |
Mochi Williams since 3 December 2013 | |
Alex Whitfield since 3 December 2017 | |
| Structure | |
| Seats |
|
| File:CaviaSenate.svg | |
Senate political groups | Majority
Opposition |
| File:CaviaNationalAssembly.svg | |
National Assembly political groups | Majority
Official Opposition
Other Opposition |
| Elections | |
| Indirect election | |
| Mixed-member proportional representation (MMP) | |
Senate last election | 10 December 2013 |
National Assembly last election | 12 December 2013 |
Senate next election | 14 December 2021 |
National Assembly next election | 14 December 2021 |
| Meeting place | |
| File:ParliamentCaviaPic.jpg | |
| 1 Authority Way, Westforth Borough, Oscar City | |
| Website | |
| www.parliament.gov.cv | |
The Parliament of Cavia (Cavian: Cannilhoda a Cavia), is the highest legislative body of parliamentary democracy of Cavia. The Cavian Constitutional Reforms of 1442 define that Parliament holds the power to make legislation that must be obeyed by the entire nation, or parliamentary sovereignty over the Cavian nation. The nation's sovereign(currently Oscar I of Cavia) has the power to open, close, and disband Parliament, as well as sign or veto laws, however this is purely ceremonial. The Parliament convenes at 1 Authority Way in Oscar City.
As Cavian Parliament is bicameral to establish checks and balances between population and constituency power, the upper house of Cavia is the Senate, with 40 members(representing the 40 broad Cavian provinces) and the lower house, which is the National Assembly. There are 349 seats in the National Assembly for a grand total of 389 in Parliament.
Due to the Cavian Civil War which ended in 1442, reforms were made to the Cavian Constitution. Many of its guidelines were kept intact, however, many rights were stripped from the oppressive monarchy, such as the full right to disband the Cavian Congress, and the right for the sovereign to retain voting rights within the Congress. The legislature was reformed, and 369 seats were opened to winners of the 20 provincial elections and 349 constituency elections, which was later increased to 389 due to the redrawing of provincial boundaries in 1830, which added 20 new seats. The 1830 reforms also saw the split of the 389-seat Parliament into an upper and lower house, with provincial election winners gaining seats in the upper house(Senate) and constituent winners gaining seats in the lower house(National Assembly).
There is a limit of six political parties being allowed to hold seats in Parliament. Currently the largest is the Cavian Green Party, which frequently battles with the Peace Coalition for the Parliamentary majority. A notable third party is the Citizen's Party, which usually retains the third-largest number of seats in Parliament. The smallest party is the newly-founded United Workers, which currently has a total of three Parliament seats.
History
Predecessor of Parliament
The predecessor of the modern Parliament was the Cavian Congress, which was founded in 1023 due to the official invokation of the Cavian Constitution. The Congress consisted of 99 seats which represented the nation in legislature. Due to political boundaries being hard to enforce because of technological limitations, voting was conducted for the entire nation with the 99 candidates with the most votes taking seats in the Congress. This system was used for more than 400 years, with new, more democratic systems devised. However, due to the continuously reigning Monarchist's League's(the predecessor of the modern Monarchy Party) favor from the election system, any attempts to change voting systems were struck down by the League to retain their majority.
However, in 1442, the oppressive monarchy that had ruled Cavia for three generations was overthrown, with most of the rights they held in government stripped. Due to the sovereign's illegal corroboration with the Monarchists's League, the politicians involved in the scandal(mostly bribing from the royal family) were barred from participating in politics via a referendum. The Constitution's Articles on Government were vigorously re-written, and the Cavian Congress abolished.
The Constitution's reforms dictated that a new, 369-seat Parliament be formed, with two houses comprising of 349 voting districts and 20 broader districts be created. This was passed by the rebel government, and the 1st Cavian Parliament was elected, with its first session on 6 March 1442.
Parliament until the Cricetinian War
Parliament remained relatively stable for almost 400 years, with the earliest Cavian census in history, which contained an approval poll of government, indicated that Parliament was a fluid, representative legislative body. However, in 1877, Jonathan Brighton, leader of the independence movement for the nations of Cattails and the Savannah Republic, fled to northern Cavia after being headhunted by Bearilean forces. Parliament was tasked by the Immigration Department on the decision of granting him political asylum, which Parliament voted to do. This received remarkable backlash from the rest of the government, with the Prime Minister and Cabinet condemning the Parliament vote, with Prime Minister Coltann refusing to sign the law, prompting a Parliament re-vote. Parliament again approved the asylum bid, and Brighton was allowed asylum in the nation. However, this resulted in King Daniel II dissolving Parliament due to public protest, the first time the Cavian sovereign had ever done so for more than 300 years.