Congress of Kalșeri

 

Congress of Kalșeri Kongressus (kh)
47th Quinquennial Session
Type
Type	Bicameral
Houses	Senate House of Representatives
Leadership
President of the Senate	Filippus Narasi, D Since May 1, 2016
High Summoner	HS Diego Y. Morelos, L Since August 28, 2020
Structure
Seats	256
Senate political groups	Liberal Democrats (21)   National Democrats (9)   CS Conservatives (3)   Social Cooperation (20)   Movement for Action (1)   Libertarians (1)   Puwersas (1)
House of Representatives political groups	Kalșerians for Change (10)   Social Cooperationists (58)   Progressives (3)   Puwersas (3)   Libertarians (15)   Liberal Democrats (68)   Cartierois (2)   Conservatives (1)   Falkorians (2)   National Democrats (34)   Reformers (4)
Length of term	4 years, renewable once (Senate) 5 years, renewable once (House)
Elections
Senate voting system	Contingent vote
House of Representatives voting system	Contingent vote
Senate last election	October 20, 2019
House of Representatives last election	March 20, 2022
Senate next election	October 17, 2021
House of Representatives next election	March 21, 2027
Meeting place
Mecklenburg Palace, Evalria
Website
congress.kl

The Congress of Kalșeri (Kalhan: Kongressus or Rialgeri) is the legislative branch of Kalșeri. Created in 1785, the Congress is composed of two elements: the Senate, the upper house, and the House of Representatives, the lower house.

Established by the Congress Act 1784, the Congress replaced the temporary Constituent Assembly of Kalșeri on March 15, 1785; it was mentioned again in Article 7 of the Carnafarry Statute of 1794, which also gave the names to the two houses. The current powers, duties and electoral base of both houses of Congress were set by Section III of the Charter of Kalșeri, ratified in 1934.

Composition

The Senate, which operates at the East Wing of Mecklenburg Palace, consists of 39 seats, three per canton, two of which elected by the people. The remaining cantonal seat is assigned to a Senator for life by the President, on advice of the House and of the Governor of the Canton. As the name implies, the Senator for life is unaffected by Senate elections. The three-per-canton scheme was inherited from the pre-colonial Council of the Eight Tribes of the Kingdom of Lág. Senators for life are usually renowned people from a canton; the Governor General of Cape Sundervale is also the Senator for life for the canton.

The House, which carries out its duties at the West Wing of Mecklenburg Palace, consists of 200 seats, of which 194 assigned for Kalșeri proper. The number of Representatives per canton is determined by the population of the canton at the last Census divided by 150,000. The remaining six seats are assigned to Representatives of Kalșerians abroad, one for each of these regions: North and Central America, South America, Northern Europe, Southern Europe, Africa, and Asia-Pacific.

Powers

The Congress is the sole organ from which a nationwide proposal for a law, also called a bill or an act, may come from. Usually, a bill may be introduced at either house, with the exception of bills concerning the national economy, which must originate from the Senate. When a bill is submitted in either house, it undergoes approval. If the bill is approved, it is sent to the other chamber for further inspection, as well as to make sure that the bill is compatible with the Charter. If approved, the bill is sent to the President, who will either sign it into law or veto it; Congress may override the presidential veto after three times. Usually, a bill is first brought to the table in the House of Representatives and sent to the Senate, but cases of bills going the other way have been documented.

Voting on a bill must take place no later than seven working days from the introduction of the bill, and a clear outcome must be reached within the next working day. If no outcome is reached, the bill is resubmitted; it is brought to the table a third time if no outcome is reached by the second working week. By that point, should there be no clear outcome of either approval or rejection, the "null" bill is assumed to have undergone a round of voting in which all members of the chamber involved abstained, and is automatically forwarded to the other chamber.

Members of either house who wish to raise objections to the bill must only talk about the bill and make their point clear in no more than thirty minutes, meaning that filibustering is generally not possible. The President of the Senate and the High Summoner have no restrictions on how long they may speak.

The Congress also has the power to incapacitate the President, a member of their Cabinet or a federal judge – judges not in the Supreme Court may be dismissed by the House of Representatives with a simple majority, whereas those in the Supreme Court require a two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress. The President may be incapacitated for a wrongdoing for which legal immunity does not apply. If the motion of incapacitation is approved, the incapacitated office holder must resign as soon as possible. If the incapacitated office holder refuses to resign within 15 days from incapacitation, they will be stripped of their office.

Joint sessions

Each house usually operates on its own, with little interference from the other. However, the Charter lists a number of cases in which both houses sit in the same room:

• incapacitation;
• nomination of a President who has resigned or died before the natural expiration of their term;
• nomination of a Justice of the Supreme Court;
• delivery of the Presidential State of the Country on the third Monday of January;
• a meeting following an extraordinary event.

When a joint session is announced, the Senators usually sit behind the Representatives in the West Wing of Mecklenburg Palace, where the House of Representatives is based.

Election

Since 1996, all nationwide elections, including those of each house of Congress, have employed contingent voting, replacing first-past-the-post voting.

Direct elections for the Senate take place on the third Sunday of October of an odd year, with half the seats up for election depending on the class of a Senator. Elected Senators are sworn in on November 1.

The election of the House of Representatives takes place on the third Sunday of March of a year ending with 2 or 7, unless stated otherwise and ignoring by-elections. Elected Representatives are sworn in on April 1.

With the passage of the Twenty-sixth Amendment to the Charter on February 7, 2021, a two-term limit has been set for Members of Congress. Incumbent members of either house will only be allowed to run for one more term.