Kryfonsparliszaiye

From the Other Universe
Jump to navigationJump to search
Kryfonsparliszaiye
Gryphon's Parliament
48th Assembly of the Parliszaiye
Kryfonsparliszaiye seal.png
Type
Unicameral
History
Founded
October 1st, 1729
Leadership
Speaker e HK Adniă Laszarak, ZK
Gov't Leader Darenaz Tezec, UKP
Opposition Leader Zatilya Scowszos, KLS
Secessionist Leader Zabaň Kalra, PT
Structure
81 MPs
Kryfona parlszaiye 2014.png
Party seats
United Kryfona Party
25 / 81
Kryfona Royalist Party
17 / 81
Kryfona Loyalist Party
13 / 81
Pažem Tuszkeya
12 / 81
Yaraan Kryfon's Movement
12 / 81
Aryela Party
2 / 81
Elections
Last election 1 October, 2011
Next election 1 October, 2017
Meeting place
Unknown.png Palace of the Kryfona Complex Wing-A, Nylzsryf, Kryfona Kingdom

The Kryfonsparliszaiye (For. Kryf. /ˈkrɪˌfns.pɑ.lɪ.z.j/, lit. Gryphon's Parliament),[note 1] is the legislative branch of the Kryfona government and one of the three branches of the Kryfona government, the others being the monarchic and judicial branches. Like the other two branches, the Kryfonsparliszaiye currently meets in Nylzsryf, the capital of the Kryfona Kingdom. The Kryfonsparliszaiye Chamber, in which all debates and voting take place, is located in Wing A of the Palace of the Kryfona Complex, while individual MP offices are located in Wing B.

The Kryfonsparliszaiye is the oldest of the Old World parliaments, having been established in 1729 as an extension of the Suffrage Decree of 1728 by figurehead-king Yerubanjeh Przeoniwatizeqi. The first "election" of the Kryfonsparliszaiye and thus the first assembly was held on 1 October, 1729, although only one party, the Kryfona Royalist Party stood (and thus gained seats). The first contested election was the 2nd Assembly in 1735, with the introduction of the Kryfona Loyalist Party. It has always consisted of 81 seats, all of which are filled by first-past-the-post elections. Since the 30th Assembly, in 1903, the Kryfonsparliszaiye has also been directed by a non-partisan, government-appointed Speaker (known as a Zselexe). These 81 seats plus a speaker make the Kryfonsparliszaiye the largest of the Old World parliaments.

The Kryfonsparliszaiye is elected in its entirety every six years, with each six year term of the parliament being known as a xiszuiera (literally "six-year"). By-elections or midterm elections as such are typically known as xiszuierasi elections. In order to (effectively) control the Kryfonsparliszaiye, a party or a coalition must hold at least 41 of its 81 seats. Parties may do this by either making agreements traditionally, or by forming an unusual type of coalition only found in the Kryfonsparliszaiye called the patkoaliza. In some circumstances, parties may also opt to or need to form an agreement with another party known as a split-government in which both parties take turns holding effective control. A split-government has occurred only one time, in 1999.

The last round of elections for the Kryfonsparliszaiye were held on 1 October, 2011, and saw the reelection and expansion of the United Kryfona Party's majority. The next set of elections is due to be held on 1 October, 2017.

Role of the Kryfonsparliszaiye

Legislation

For more information on Acts, see: Kryfonsparliszaiye Act

The Kryfonsparliszaiye serves several major functions in the government of the Kryfona Kingdom. Most importantly of all, the Kryfonsparliszaiye serves as the Kryfona Kingdom's legislative branch, and is thus responsible for the creation, approval, and repeal of all federal laws except in circumstances where such laws are struck down as unlawful, which is the duty of the judicial branch in the form of the High Court of the Kryfona Kingdom. On paper, the Kryfonsparliszaiye is only in some respects the legislative branch, in that the King of the Kryfona Kingdom still retains the power to create his own law. However, in practice the Kryfonsparliszaiye serves as the single source of legislature in the Kingdom, and all federal laws created since 3 October, 1729 are the work of the Kryfonsparliszaiye.

Federal law in the Kryfona Kingdom is broken into two major categories by the Kryfonsparliszaiye: simple-majority law and super-majority law. Simple-majority law consists of the overwhelming majority of the legislation the Kryfonsparliszaiye passes, and requires only a simple majority of 41 MPs to pass as the name suggests. Super-majority law is a much smaller category, and consists of either highly complicated legislature or highly controversial legislature that requires a super-majority of 54 MPs or more to pass. The distinction was first made in 1945 by the 37th Assembly, and since 1946 the Kryfonsparliszaiye has maintained a list of topics that automatically get the super-majority label when they are the focus of a law. The list is updated at the beginning of every year by the Kryfonsparliszaiye, and typically includes subjects such as political bans, assisted suicide, euthanasia, and other hot-button contemporary topics. Other historical super-majority law topics included those of civil rights, gay marriage, tax reform, socialization, and military expansion.

Because of its nature, super-majority law is only very occasionally debated on by the Kryfonsparliszaiye unless the need to debate and vote on such legislation is urgent. It is not unusual for parties to almost completely avoid super-majority laws where possible due to their almost regular tendency to cause controversy and hurt the incumbent party's polling numbers. Between 1999 and 2005, only 13 such laws were debated on the floor of the Kryfonsparliszaiye.

Both simple-majority law and super-majority law are introduced and enacted or rejected through the same process. When in any of the stages before being voted on, a prospective law is called a prospective law (PL) and given a numerical designation. Each prospective law is typically first written by one or more members of the Kryfonsparliszaiye, introduced for a primary reading, debated on, and then voted upon. Between any of these steps, the prospective law may be withdrawn, rewritten, or negotiated upon. If a prospective law is rejected, it becomes a failed law and if reintroduced must go through all of the steps again. If a prospective law is approved, it becomes a part of federal law, and is designated as an Act. For singular Acts, the nomenclature is typically "[Act Name] of (Year)" or "[Act Name] (Year)." When multiple acts with the same name are passed, the nomenclature is [Act Name], Year. The three Tuszkean Acts, for example, are designated officially as the Tuszkean Act, 1927, the Tuszkean Act, 1930, and the Tuszkean Act, 1942, whereas the single Abolition of Impurism Act is designated officially as the Abolition of Impurism Act of 1976.

Amendment of the Constitution

In addition to legislation, the Kryfonsparliszaiye has the sole ability to amend the Constitution of the Kryfona Kingdom, having been granted this ability by the ratification of the COR Amendment in 1874. There are several restrictions in place on this ability, however, and the Kryfonsparliszaiye is checked by both the Kryfona King himself and the High Court during the process of constitutional amendment. In order for an amendment to be passed, a super majority of 54 or more MPs must agree to and vote in favor of the amendment in question in the Kryfonsparliszaiye. Subsequently, the amendment must be checked for legality by the High Court, and either approved or rejected by it. If rejected, the amendment automatically fails and must either be rewritten or scrapped altogether. If approved, the amendment must then go back to the Kryfonsparliszaiye to be ratified, which requires a simple majority of 41 votes. From here, the amendment must be sent to the King and approved by him. If rejected, the amendment fails unless overridden by another super majority; if approved, the amendment becomes a part of the Constitution. Because of the lengthy process that the Kryfonsparliszaiye must undertake to pass an amendment, the introduction of one is rare and typically only occurs once or twice per Assembly.

Treaty ratification

With the passing of the Treaty Ratification Process Act of 1951, the Kryfonsparliszaiye was effectively given the ability to ratify or oppose all future treaties to which the Kryfona Kingdom is a signatory to. Although upon signing any treaty, the Kryfona Kingdom by its own laws must adhere to the treaty, there is a secondary process to the ratification of every treaty which begins with the Kryfonsparliszaiye. Should the Kryfonsparliszaiye ratify a treaty itself, the treaty then goes to the High Court of the Kryfona Kingdom, which interprets the treaty within the bounds of Kryfona law and adds caveats and amendments to the Kryfona ratification of it. Once this process is finished, they send both the modified treaty and a report on their modifications to the King, who then signs off on both of them. If he does not sign them, the process must repeat until either the treaty is repealed or the King signs off on the modifications.

Conversely, if the Kryfonsparliszaiye does not ratify a treaty, it is considered to be ratified by the Kingdom, but not followed, and none of the steps listed above can or do occur until either the treaty undergoes a revote and is approved by the Kryfonsparliszaiye, or the treaty is unratified. The Kryfonsparliszaiye also to an extent controls the process of deratification in that it can vote on the matter, but ultimately the King has final say on the matter of treaties and as such any Kryfonsparliszaiye vote to deratify a treaty is a mere recommendation.

The ability of the Kryfonsparliszaiye to control the process of treaty ratification has drawn many criticisms from all parts of the political spectrum. Since the Loyalist-YKM alliance passed it with a narrow majority in 1951, the Act has been one of the most frequently debated Acts in the history of the Kryfonsparliszaiye. No less than 8 repeal attempts and 26 legal challenges have been levied at the Act since 1952, virtually all of which have been unsuccessful in every way. The majority of the criticism and legal debate is focused on the fact that, in effect, this ability allows the Kryfonsparliszaiye to stonewall any treaties which the majority party or majority alliance does not approve of. Although this is true of laws as well, with treaties it is particularly pronounced because on paper, the King has final say, but in practice, the Kryfonsparliszaiye can essentially kill a treaty simply by refusing to ratify it. Three treaties between the Kryfona Kingdom and the neighboring Arieles Kingdom have been killed in this manner, all of which were controversial.

History

The Kryfonsparliszaiye was founded on the 1st of October, 1729, during the reign of the ill-fated Y. Prze.

Members and Elections

The Kryfonsparliszaiye unlike virtually every other parliament in the Old World, has never increased or decreased in number of seats. Since its founding in 1729, the Kryfonsparliszaiye has consisted of exactly 81 constituencies–never more and never less–each bound to a single seat. Redistricting has taken place multiple times, however, and last occurred in 1904 when four seats were taken from various provinces and given to the newly-incorporated Yerljasqar. All redistricting is done by the Commission for Federal Elections with the assistance of the Kryfona Geological and Topographic Commission (KGTC). All constituencies in the Kryfonsparliszaiye use the first-past-the-post system, and have done so since the Kryfonsparliszaiye was founded. While historically, FPTP voting has worked in the Kryfona Kingdom due to a lack of parties, in more recent history with the beginning of the four-, five-, and eventually six-party system of the Kryfona Kingdom, it has been argued that FPTP voting has created a situation in which majority governments can only be formed by coalitions. For example, the last majority government to be formed by any party at the federal level was formed in 1933 by the Kryfona Royalist Party, who won the absolute minimum number of seats needed to control a majority. In more recent history, the fragmentation of the Kryfonsparliszaiye is clear: in 2011 the United Kryfona Party became the first party to win 25 or more seats in an election since 1981.

Parliamentary elections occur every six years, although theoretically it is possible for elections to happen earlier or later should circumstance dictate this to be necessary, and likewise it is possible for a parliamentary election to not be held at all if it is believed to be in the interest of national security. While the King does have the authority to take such action, no action of this sort has ever been taken and all elections have occurred as scheduled. Elections have been held at six year intervals since the passing of the Fixed Term Act of 1733.

Parliamentary elections always take place on 1 October, regardless of what day of the week 1 October is. The day before, 30 September, is when voting officially begins, however. When 30 September or 1 October fall on a weekend, when virtually all workers are off, a holiday is not declared. When both of them do not, holidays are declared for both to facilitate the needs of working Kryfona. This rule was instituted with the passing of the Electoral Reform Act, 1903, and revised to include 30 September with the passing of the Electoral Reform Act, 1922. Early voting begins for Kryfona citizens living abroad on 1 September, and early voting in the Kryfona Kingdom begins on 15 September. Both periods end on 25 September. Early voting was not implemented until the Electoral Reform Act, 1922, and was revised with the Electoral Reform Act, 1940.

To stand for election, a candidate must meet all of the requirements of a Kryfonsparliszaiye MP (see Qualifications below) and deposit 45 Daeszrsi if they are an Independent or 65 Daeszrsi if they are affiliated with a party. Generally, parties foot the bill for these deposits, although some prospective MPs choose to pay the deposit out of pocket. Candidates who have already been elected to their seat and are standing for reelection typically have this deposit waived. Candidates for seats are also, with the exception of by-elections, typically determined ahead of the elections. Because of the relatively short campaign season, primaries are simply not practical in most districts. As such, they are virtually unheard of and typically parties will have determined who will stand in what constituency and then publish their candidate list. In 2011, a rare contemporary example took place when Visin Marö of the Pažem Tuszkeya took the unusual step of attempting to primary prospective MP Arija Dažin before the campaign season began for the 2nd Keszanetaa constituency. Marö gathered some small support from the party, but ultimately failed in his effort to push Dažin out of the seat and backed down.

Voters in the Kryfona Kingdom must be at least 16 years old, hold citizenship or be in the process of obtaining citizenship, and not be currently incarcerated as a felon to be able to vote. These standards were first established by the passing of the Expansion of Democracy Acts of 1950, and later became codified into the Constitution after being affirmed in 1970. A candidate must receive the most votes from eligible citizens in their constituency to represent that constituency.

MPs to the Kryfonsparliszaiye generally hold office until the end of their terms, although several external factors can prevent this and in some cases necessitate them to immediately vacate their seat. Death is the major way historically that seats have been vacated, with two particularly prominent examples being the deaths of Ozijma Diž and Výka Soreiheňa in the Telk Avenue shooting, but it is certainly not the only way. If, for example, an MP commits a felony offense during their term, they must immediately vacate their seat unless found not guilty or otherwise pardoned. In such circumstances a special election would be used to appoint their successor. Another way an MP can be prevented from finishing their term is if they turn 70 during the term, at which point they have an option to resign and appoint a successor to finish out their term, or finish out their term and immediately resign when it finishes. This is extremely uncommon, as most MPs retire or are voted out well before reaching 70 years of age.

Officially, all MPs in the Kryfonsparliszaiye hold the title of membierasi za parliszaiye. No MP goes by the full title, however–all current and living former MPs use the initials MP as their title instead. MPs in the Kryfonsparliszaiye are not given a constant salary. The minimum salary for new MPs is 65,000 Daeszrsi, with the minimum increasing in increments of 5,000 Daeszri for every two years of experience in the Kryfonsparliszaiye. Party leaders and other significant MPs are typically given a fixed bonus of 10,000 Daeszrsi to their salary. Travel is partially subsidized for MPs: they pay roughly 25% of the total cost of their travel, while the government covers the rest.

Qualifications

There are several significant qualifications for holding a seat in the Kryfonsparliszaiye. The most significant regulations on holding a seat are in regards to age: the Kryfonsparliszaiye is the only legislative body with both a minimum and maximum age of MPs. An MP must be at least 17 years old if they are a ranking member of a federal party, and 19 years old if they are not a ranking member of a federal party to hold a seat in the Kryfonsparliszaiye. These standards were most recently established by the Parliamentary Reform Act, 2007–prior to 2007, the minimum age was 20 for both. MPs must also be no older than 69 years old when they first take office, and if they turn 70 during their term they have the option of either finishing out their term and then retiring, or retiring and appointing a successor to finish out their term. This standard was established by the Parliamentary Reform Act, 1845.

A prospective MP not born in the Kryfona Kingdom must have held Kryfona citizenship for at least four years (eight in the case of dual citizens) in order to be eligible to stand for and hold a seat. Traditionally however, this rule is waived for Kryfona living in the Kryfona Territory of the Arieles Kingdom who move to the Kryfona Kingdom. If an MP will not be a Kryfona citizen by the time they would take office (2 October) if they won, they are not eligible to run for a seat. This restriction has, surprisingly enough, never occurred to a ranking MP.

An MP to the Kryfonsparliszaiye must have either no criminal record or a record with no felonies on it. The latter half of the rule was implemented with the Criminal Resolutions Act of 1822, and has not been changed since. Those with a felony on their record are not eligible to run for office or hold a seat. In circumstances where a member of the Kryfonsparliszaiye is convicted of a felony during their term, they must immediately vacate their seat unless pardoned by a court, governor, or the King himself. In such circumstances a by-election would take place to replace the offending MP, unless in an election year, at which point they would simply be a part of the election. Such an instance has only happened one time in the history of the Kryfonsparliszaiye, when it was found during the Purge scandal that several YKM MPs had engaged in terrorist acts. MPs Zyŏn Mekar and Ryfald Mirŏ were charged with felonies and were immediately suspended from their seats and convicted–these vacancies were replaced in the 1963 election later that year.

Among other regulations, an MP cannot hold office if they are charged with treason of any variety, nor can they hold office if they are convicted of electoral or voter fraud of any kind under the Disqualification Act of 1942. An MP of the Kryfonsparliszaiye also cannot have previously been a member to a foreign parliament such as the Edazoran Palidaja or Adborthos Palidaija, per the Foreign Parliaments Act of 1906. Technically, those with mental and physical disability are not eligible to hold office per the Restrictions Act, 1734, but the law has never been used and for all practical purposes is not in effect. Were it to be applied in modern day, it would almost certainly be struck down under the anti-discrimination statutes of the Kryfona Kingdom.

Notes

  1. Although today this is the official translation (as established by the Government Standards Act of 1952), historically the translations Gryphon Parliament and Gryphon's Parliament were interchangeable.

References