House of Consuls of the Batavian Empire

The House of Consuls, also referred to as House of Representatives or Chamber of Deputies is the Lower House of the bicameral Batavian Consulate. The House of Consuls is located in the right-wing of the Imperial Palace in Amsterdam.

Formation
Although many people thought Emperor Saviël-Citus I would make the European Parliament as the national legislative body, he had a far more complex plan in mind. Saviël and the then Acting Minister of Domestic Affairs Jonathan Montgomery announced the creation of 500-seat national parliament, elected by proportional representation to make sure the people were well represented. After long preparations the first elections were organised in 2042, and went very well. One day after the parliament was elected a Joint Session was assembled and they voted unanimously in favour of the Act of the Constitution proposed by the Emperor.

Functions
The two main functions of the House of Consuls are legislation and check the Imperial Government.

Legislation
All main bills are discussed in the House of Consuls, every Consul has the right to propose a law. Proposed laws are debated in the House. Laws can pass the House with a simple majority of 251 seats. The coalition parties which supply support for the government usually make the policy, and the other parties oppose this, but not necessarily. Sometimes opposition parties support a law proposed by the government, and sometimes a a coalition party doesn't support a law proposed by another partner. Amendments can pass with a three-fourths majority, so need support from parties which aren't part of the coalition.

Election of the Prime-Minister
After each election the House of Consuls comes together in the new composition and the debates start to form a coalition. The party which gained the most seats may start with the formation process, but other parties can work simultaneously. Unlike many other parliamentary democracies, there is no informative figure trying to lead the formation process, but the Emperor is usually the main figure who is sitting with different parties trying to break deadlocks in the national interest, instead of party interest. If it is clear that with there is no coalition to be formed with the current composition, the Emperor will dissolve the parliament and call for re-elections. This usually happens if leaders of parties have indicated they have no trust in the current composition via the Leader of the House to the Speaker. The Speaker will then ask the Emperor formally for a dissolution. As soon as parties form a coalition and have a mandate of at least 251 seats they choose one person to inform the Emperor in the so-called 'investiture'. Although this person is not necessarily the new Prime-Minister, it is rather normal that he is the one to become the Prime-Minister. The person to inform the Emperor of the coalition is named the informator consulati, but usually called the Prime-Minister-Elect. If the Emperor agrees with the new coalition he appoints the Prime Minister-Elect as Prime-Minister. The Prime-Minister than nominates the other ministers, until the new ministers are appointed, the demissionary ministers stay in charge, this can lead to difficult situations. The nominated ministers are questioned in a hearing-session of the House. The House can vote to accept or reject him, they can also delay the process with more hearing-sessions if they are not convinced. The Emperor can however choose to appoint a rejected minister anyhow.

Minority government
In rare cases the constitution allows a minority government. If the Speaker of the House deems it necessary for the Empire to be ruled by a new and active government he can consult with Speaker Pro Tempore of the Senate (or the Emperor in the case the Speaker is still to be elected). If a majority of the Senate agrees they can start with the formation of a minority government. Only the largest party can form a minority government.

Check the government
Another main task of the House of Consuls is to check the Prime-Minister and his cabinet. The Prime-Minister is responsible to the the parliament. He can however, only come by invitation of the speaker and has no seat in the House himself. All the ministers are accountable and are obliged to anwser an invitation of the speaker. If a minister fails to inform the House or supplies false information, the House of Consuls has the right to ask for his resignation by supporting a motion of no confidence. If the motion receives a majority, the minister practically resigns, though he is not obliged to, since the only one with the right to dismiss ministers is the Emperor.

Speaker of the House
Every first session after the election of the House, the speaker is chosen. Every elected Consul can run for the position of speaker, however it is likely that the speaker will be from one of the largest parties, as they usually have the largest mandate. Every Consul votes for their preferred candidate, it is a closed vote. The vote is organised by the First Deputy Speaker. The candidate needs to win a majority of over 250 seats. Second, or even third or fourth rounds could be common.

The Speaker of the House has to give up his or her rights to vote to become a truly independent speaker. His or her seat will be transferred to the next in line of his or her party. The speaker is the one to call for sessions and assembles the parliament. He or she has a large influence on legislation since the Speaker of the House sets op the agenda and can choose to put certain legislation on the docket. The speaker can also invite guests to the House.

Leader of the House
The Leader of the House of Consuls, abbreviated as ‘Leader of the House’ or simply ‘Leader’ who is also known as the Manager of Coalition Business is effectively the most important consul in the House. After the Speaker of the House is elected, he nominates as one of his first rulings a consul to be the Leader of the House. Although the Speaker is technically able to nominate anyone, the Leader of the House is conventionally the floor leader of the largest governing coalition party, thus practically the leader of the government in the legislature. Since there is usually now complete government at the start of each House session and formation talks are still ongoing, the leader of the largest party within the previous coalition will serve or continue to serve as Leader of the House until the new government has been formed. After the nomination by the Speaker, the consul nominated is invited to accept the chair’s nomination and second it. Afterwards, the House immediately votes on the matter, which is by convention in the affirmative, however electronic votes or divisions can be required if the Speaker of consuls desire so. The Leader of the House is sworn in by the Speaker afterwards. Together with the Speaker of the House, the Leader sets the agenda for the debates and forms the presidium together with the Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition and some other major floor leaders. The Leader of the House is usually present during debates, as his second is in some examples necessary if standing orders are executed.

Leader of the Opposition
The Leader of the Opposition is traditionally the floor leader of the largest opposition party in the House. After the nomination and the election of Leader of the House, the Leader of the Opposition is nominated and affirmed according to the same procedure. The Leader of the Opposition, who is sometimes referred to as the Manager for Opposition Business is responsible for the position of the Opposition in Parliament and can be seen as the unofficial counter Prime-Minister. The Leader of the Opposition has a chance to ask the Prime-Minister more questions than normal consuls during Prime Ministers Questions. Unlike the nomination of Leader of the House, the nomination for the Leader of the Opposition can cause debate sometimes and an electronic vote has been necessary a few times, when two opposition parties had nearly the same number of seats in Parliament and both wanted to supply the Leader of the Opposition.

Elections of the House of Consuls
House-elections are held every five years. After five years all seats are elected again and the composition changes. However, this may occur quicker as a result of a government crisis or dissolution. The elections of the House are held by party-list proportional representation. Every party composes a party-list from which Consuls can be chosen. People vote directly for the person on the party list, but the party list is already determined and nominated Consuls can't be 'upgraded' because of preference-votes.

Exactly five years after the first session of the House, the House of Consuls is dissolved, usually the election has happened before that time, or closely afterwards.

The election symbolically starts in the capital of the department of East-Pacific, Porta Vila, and ends in the capital of West-Pacific, Papeete. The elections take 24 hours and the results are reported the next day. After the elections are ratified by the Joint Election Committee (JEC) which verifies all the votes the election. The JEC is put together by the Senate, to ensure a safe and secure election result.

Proportional Primary
To determine which parties can participate in the elections of the House of Consuls, a proportional primary is held. There can only be voted for a complete party, and not for the person. After all votes are counted the parties which received less than the one-seat-threshold are eliminated and can't participate in the election. The proportional primary is held 6 months before the election, but in case the House is unexpectedly dissolved the time of the primary is determined by the JEC.

Plural Primary
After the proportional primary, a plural primary is held in each department. A party needs to receive at least 5% of the vote in the department. Some parties choose to only participate in certain department, as campaigning costs a lot of money. Parties which passed the proportional primary, but fail to receive a 5% norm in department it wants to participate can't join the election in that department. In the unlikely event a party passes the proportional primary, but fails to win 5% in any department, he is nevertheless eliminated. Parties can also drop out if they haven't won any notable department and are sure they won't win a seat. The plural primary is held a month before the primary, but in case the House is unexpectedly dissolved the time of primary is determined by the JEC.

House Election of 2042
see Batavian Empire general election, 2042 The House elections of 2042 were the first elections ever to be held in the Batavian Empire. All over the world the people watched the Batavian Empire and the elections. There were countries that had never had a fair election before so it took a lot of work but finally the elections were held. The Loyalist Party happened to become the largest party with 221 seats.

House Election of 2047
see Batavian Empire general election, 2047 The second House elections were held five years after the first term started. The Loyalist Party managed to keep their majority with 194 seats.

House Election of 2048
see Batavian Empire general election, 2048 The elections in 2048 needed to be held after the dissolution of the parliament ordered by the Emperor after the coalition was slowly losing their consensus. The Union of Social and Liberal Democrats managed to pass the Loyalist Party by winning 113 seats.

House Election of 2050
see Batavian Empire general election, 2050 On advice of the Prime Minister, a dissolution of parliament was ordered by the Emperor, due to the coalition losing its majority due to renegades from the USLD. The Social-Democratic Party became the largest party with 103 seats, one seat more than the Loyalist Party. The ANF won more than 90 seats and the USLD was decimated.

House Election of 2051
see Batavian Empire general election, 2051 When no coalition was formed after three months after the election of 2050, the Emperor dissolved parliament on advice of the Speaker of the House. The Loyalist Party won the election in a landslide, gaining more than 75 seats and becoming by far the largest party.

Dissolution
After the House of Consuls is dissolved, new elections are organised to fill the House once again with Consuls. If the House of Consuls is dissolved, sessions are forbidden and resolutions or debates are illegal. A Consul breaking that law will be committed for treason against the Empire. There are two different kinds of dissolution.

Regular dissolution
The House of Consuls has a session of maximum five years. Exactly five years after the first session starts the House is dissolved and new elections will be held within a period of three months. This is the most common form of dissolution.

Imperial dissolution
The Emperor has the right to dissolve the House of Consuls. He can use is Imperial Prerogative to dissolve the parliament any time he wishes. He can dissolve it at once, or announce the day of its dissolution. The Emperor can do this if he has a major conflict with the House, the House is indecisive and a shutdown is inevitable or with other reasons. The Emperor can also dissolve the House if the House desires or if the cabinet resigns and asks for new elections. As soon as the Emperor dissolves the House new elections are organised by the Joint Election Committee within a period of three months, and overseen by the Senate.

 

Dissolution and election
After the Emperor has used his royal prerogative to dissolve the House of Consuls, or after the five-year fixed House term has expired and the session automatically dissolves there is usually a dissolution recess period of two weeks before the general election. This recess period can be used to campaign. After the general election of the House of Consuls, the chair of the Joint Election Committee has to confirm the election results in the Senate chamber. The chair was appointed by the Senate on advice of the Home Minister three months before the election. Any irregularities will be reported and evaluated. Any objections to results per department can be made by Senators, by must be sustained by at least 11 other Senators in writing (equivalent to 10% of the Senate). If the objection is sustained, the Senator will get be allotted a free portion of time by the Speaker Pro Tempore to explain his objection. Afterwards, the Senate can decide a recount, or even a re-vote with an absolute (58) majority. As a free portion of time is allotted to the Senator with sustained objection, he can also filibuster to try delay the start of the new session of the House.

When all the results are reported to the Senate and confirmed by the chair of the Joint Election Committee, he proposes a date for the first session of the House, which is then seconded and confirmed by by the Senate. This is afterwards presented to the Chief Clerk of the House of Consuls by the Speaker Pro Tempore. In turn, the Chief Clerk informs the new consuls-elect of the requirement of their attendance on the day set by the Senate.

First day of parliament and election of the Speaker
When the consuls-elect convene on the date set by the Senate, the Chief Clark invites the Father of the House, the longest serving, oldest member, at that time, to take the oath of office. As soon as he has taken the oath of office and is thus officially sworn in as a consul, he takes the chair of the House. He then welcomes any consul to become the Speaker of the House, inviting them to candidate themselves within a period of three days. He then leaves the chair, and all consuls-elect have caucus meeting to endorse candidates as speaker. Three days later, when all candidates have been announced, the Father of the House re-convokes the House and allots the portions of speaking time for each candidate and presides over the rounds of debate. After all candidates have had their say and debates have ended, the election is called by exhaustive ballot. To be elected Speaker, a candidate needs to have at least 251 votes or more. When no candidate receives the number of votes required, the candidate (or candidates) with the least votes will be eliminated and the process will start all over again. It can require as many rounds as necessary before the Speaker is elected. Usually the House manages to elect the Speaker in one day, but sometimes more days are necessary before a candidate finally receives 251 votes.

As soon as one candidate has received 251 votes or more, the candidate is invited to the chair, where he is administered the oath of office of the Speaker of the House. By taking this oath, he agrees to fully abstain from the services of the House and thus to give up his place in the chamber, which will be filled by another consul. The Speaker then gives his victory speech and officially opens the parliamentary session.

Administering the oath
After the session is opened, the Speaker of the House administers the oath of office to all consuls-elect by alphabetical order. The Chief Clerk first reads out the oath of office, and afterwards the Speaker of the House calls all the names of the new consuls, who then either swear or affirm. The swearing in of consuls usually takes about 90 minutes.

Further business
After all members are sworn in, the Speaker of the House nominates the Leader of the House, which is by convention the Floor Leader of the largest (demissionary) government party in the House. Afterwards appointment by the House, he also nominates the Leader of the Opposition, by convention the leader of the largest party in the opposition. After his or her appointment by the House, the Speaker selects his three deputy-speakers.

Prime Ministers Questions
A very important debate takes place every Friday from 13:00 - 14:30, which is Prime Ministers Questions, abbreviated as PMQ's. PMQ's follow the Westminster tradition where all Consuls have the chance to question the Prime Minister on any topic important to them, without giving the Prime Minister a necessary heads up. Consuls can make their desire to ask a question clear to the Speaker before the debate, or they can rise after an answer has finished to indicate this desire. Besides the Prime Minister, all other ministers are usually present as well, but don't speak. When the Prime Minister is not able to attend, the Deputy Prime Minister will take her place to answer question. The format is as follows. The first question is chosen randomly and, according to English tradition, it is phrased as 'question number one, where the Prime Minister can state her ongoing business. Afterwards this Consul is allowed to ask one more question, being the only one able to ask two questions. Afterwards the Leader of the Opposition and the Leader of the House both get to ask three questions, in a cross-examination setting, taking turns while asking questions. Usually the Leader of the House grasps the opportunity to highlight legislative achievements with the Prime-Minister whilst the Leader of the Opposition criticises the current government policy. After this, the questions can be from any member. The Speaker switches between government parties and opposition.