Federal Assembly of Yekateria

Federal Assembly of the Yekaterian Federation Federálne Ľudovéche Yekaterská Federaciá
75th Federal Assembly
Logo of the Federal Assembly
Type
Type	Bicameral
Houses	Federal Senate House of Federals
History
Founded	11 July 2050 (as Verkhovnyy Sovet)
Preceded by	Parliament of Yekateria
New session started	3 January 2391
Leadership
Chairman of the Federal Assembly	Jonas Katterfeld, PS
President of the Federal Senate	Zuzana Novomedská, PS
Speaker of the House of Federals	Sam Odenberg, PS
Senate Majority Leader	Martijn Schrievers, PS
House Majority Leader	Nicolaas Westerman, PS
Structure
Political groups	Federal Senate: Solidarity Federalist Social Democrats The Greens Liberal Forum People's Party
Political groups	House of Federals: Solidarity Federalist Social Democrats The Greens Liberal Forum The Alternative Grand National People's Party Democratic Unity Centre Party Liberal Nationals Socialist Party Ecological Socialists
Federal Assembly Seats	632,420 total legislators
Federal Senate Seats	176,905 senators
House of Federals Seats	427,176 federal deputies
Elections
Voting system	Federal Senate: Direct election
Voting system	House of Federals: Mixed-member proportional voting
Last election	3 November 2390
Next election	May 2393
Meeting place
Palace of the Federation, Xanderholm
Website
ludoveche.yf
Constitution
Federal Constitution of the Yekaterian Federation

 

The Federal Assembly of Yekateria (Yekaterian: Federálne Ľudovéche Yekatersko) is the bicameral legislature of the Yekaterian Federation, consisting of the Federal Senate (Federálny Senát) and the House of Federals (Snemovňa Federali). Both houses conduct legislative sessions in the Palace of the Federation in Xanderholm. Senators are chosen through direct election, whilst federal deputies are chosen through a mixed-member proportional system. Vacancies in the Federal Senate are filled by the presidents of the Federal Republics, whilst House of Federals vacancies are filled through by-elections.

According to Article I of the Yekaterian Federal Constitution, Senators are required to be at least 25 years old, whilst Federal Deputies are required to be at least 20 years old. The two houses of the Federal Assembly have their own sets of rules and procedures - the Federal Senate is generally more relaxed, while the House of Federals has stricter rules and procedures governing it. The Federal Assembly consists of 427,176 legislators, with 176,905 Senators and 250,271 Federal Deputies. Each constituent republic is accorded 4,395 Senators and a number of Federal Deputies proportional to the republic's population with the exception of Yekateria which holds 4,875 Senators. The Federal Cities are also afforded 500 Senators and 500 Federal Deputies each.

Whilst each Federal Assembly term is 2.5 years, the term of each legislator is 5 years (House) and 7.5 years (Senate), although 1/3rd of the Federal Senate and 1/2 of the House of Federals is up for election every 2.5 years. Apportionment of House of Federals seats takes place every decade, with Yekaterian censuses playing a key role in determining the number of seats for each constituent republic.

Overview

Article II of the Federal Constitution of Yekateria states, "The Federal Assembly shall be the authoritative body for the creation of legislation affecting all aspects of laws in the entire Federation. The Assembly shall consist of the Federal Senate and the House of Federals." The Federal Senate and House of Federals play an important role in the legislative process and co-operate equally; legislation cannot be enacted without the approval of both chambers. Historically, the Federal Senate and House of Federals have been granted unique powers by the preceding 17 constitutions of the Federation: for instance, the Senate has always been responsible for the ratification of affairs related to the republics and foreign affairs, whilst the House of Federals has always been responsible for revenue-raising bills.

Similar to other nations, the House of Federals initiates impeachment cases, while the Federal Senate decides impeachment cases. A two-thirds vote of the Senate is required before an impeached person can be removed from office.

The assembly's native name, the Federálne Ľudovéche, translates directly to "Federal People's Veche", named after the popular assemblies located in the medieval Slavic nations of Europe, named the veche. The term Federálne Ľudovéche can also refer to a particular meeting of the legislature. A Ľudovéche covers two-and-a-half years; the current session, the 75th Federal Assembly began on 3 January 2381. Ever since the promulgation of the 18th Federal Constitution of the Yekaterian Federation and the 637th Amendment to the Federal Constitution, the Assembly has begun and ended at noon on the third day of January and of July every year ending with 1,3,6, and 8.

Members of the Senate are referred to as Senators (or Člen senátu, CS in Yekaterian); members of the House of Federals are referred to as Federal Deputies (or Federálny deputat, FD in Yekaterian). As a whole, the legislators of the Assembly are referred to as Assemblypersons, or Ľudovéchniks in Yekaterian.

The nature of the Federal Assembly is constantly changing; historically, it was seen as a rubber-stamp to the Federal Council, where the incumbent leader would have the ability to strongarm proposals and policies through the Assembly without much opposition. However, this quickly changed in the Era of Troubles, where a sharply divided Assembly resulted in more frequent conflicts between the legislative and executive branches, ultimately resulting in the high turnover of presidents characteristic of the era.

Following the reforms undertaken by Philip-Alexander de Rynsburger, the Federal Assembly gained more power and significance, becoming the new center of Yekaterian democracy. The Assembly covers two purposes which overlap: the local representation to the federal government through the seats by federal deputies, and a republic's at-large representation to the federal government by senators.

History

Following the Great July Revolution, the Communist Party of Yekateria emerged victorious and immediately set about dismantling the old Parliament of Yekateria, which had been subjected to increasing encroachment on its powers by the newly deposed Kremlyna monarchy. Given a free hand by the people's support of the nascent revolutionary state, the Supreme Council of Yekateria (Verkhovnyy Sovet' Yekateriya) was formed as the new legislative body, consisting of two houses: the Council of Nationalities (Sovet Natsional'nostey, upper house), and the Council of the Republic (Soviet Respubliki, lower house).

The two houses were intended to represent both the nationalities living within Yekateria and the people directly, with the upper house representing the Yekaterian, Kalysian, Malensian, Carsiphian, Kynavian, and Yuzhne ethnicities. The Council of Nationalities held between 200 and 440 seats from 2050 to 2080, while the Council of the Republic held between 800 and 2310 seats in the same time period.

As a result of the Assembly's constantly changing nature, Yekaterian political scholars have generally agreed on six eras on the evolution of the Assembly, with considerable overlap – the formative era (2050s–2080s), the first multipartisan era (2080s–2100s), the rubber stamp era (2100s–2280s), the second multipartisan era (2280s–2310s), the Era of Troubles (2310s), and the second multipartisan era (since 2310s).

See also

• Federal Council of the Yekaterian Federation
• Federal Government of the Yekaterian Federation