Federal Parliament of Tumbra

The Federal Parliament of Tumbra is the federal legislature of the Federal Republic of Tumbra, seated in the Federal Parliament Building in Straton, Tumbra, and is comprised of three parts; the President, the Senate, and the House of Representatives. The House of Representatives is typically the dominant body; constitutionally, the Prime Minister is a member of the House of Representatives, and it is the only body allowed to raise money bills. The Senate may also not block supply, and is only allowed to delay it for a certain period. However, the Senate still possesses certain powers, including the power to confirm political appointees; the Senate is also allowed to raise its own legislation so long as it is not a money bill.

The 200 Senators are elected from each of the 25 states alongside the President; each state elects between six and twelve Senators through closed-list proportional representation. Because of the presence of proportional representation, the ruling party or parties rarely have a majority in this chamber, and usually needs to negotiate with other parties to get legislation passed.

The 650 members of the House of Representatives - called Members of Parliament (MP) - are elected via full-preference instant-runoff voting from single-member constituencies. This has led to the chamber being dominated by one of the two biggest political parties in Tumbra - the centre-left Labour Party and the centre-right Liberal Party, which includes the right-wing agrarian National Party in its ranks. The government of the day must achieve the confidence of this House in order to gain and hold on to power. The House has a maximum term of four years, though it can be dissolved early if the Prime Minister chooses to dissolve the chamber or the House votes to dissolve itself.

With the expansion of democracy throughout the world, Straton has long since been looked upon as a model for elected parliaments, giving rise to the term Straton system to describe the style of governance that emanates from Straton.

Composition and electoral system
The Parliament comprises the Tumbran president and vice-president; an upper house, the Senate and a lower house, the House of Representatives. Each part has its own officers and organisation, and have a distinct role in the legislative process. Only those who serve in the House of Representatives are called Members of Parliament; the term usually does not apply to Senators, even though the Senate is a part of the Federal Parliament. Despite being less powerful, Senators rank above MPs in the order of precedence. No individual may serve in both chambers at the same time.

President
The President of Tumbra does not participate in the legislative process, save for the final approval of any bill passed by both Houses of Parliament; known as the granting of Presidential assent, without which no bills may be signed. Therefore, all bills begin with the enacting phrase: “Be it enacted by the President with the advice and consent of the Federal Parliament of Tumbra, as follows:...”

The President also has the power to veto bills if they deem it unconstitutional; should this occur, the bill will automatically be referred to the Federal Constitutional Court. Any veto apart from this reason may otherwise be overturned by a two-thirds vote of Parliament; to date, no such event of this sort has occurred. The President presides over the first session of a newly convened Parliament, and swears in the Prime Minister and their Cabinet.

Senate
The Senate of Tumbra is the upper house of the bicameral Federal Parliament of Tumbra and is often considered to be the secondary chamber of its body. It meets in the Senate Wing of the Federal Parliament building in Straton, Tumbra.

The Senate, comprised of 200 Senators, is elected via party-list proportional representation. Each state sends between 6 and 12 Senators to the Senate, the exact composition of which is determined by the Federal Elections Composition every twenty years. Elections to the Senate occur every six years, concurrent to those for the Presidency.

The Senate has several functions that are unique to upper houses throughout the region, but with several caveats - it has the same power to raise legislation as the House, with the exception of all money bills. It cannot, however, fully reject bills, but only delay their passage. The Senate, however, has the power to accept or reject political appointments to various statutory boards and other posts as outlined by legislation and other conventions. Such posts include ambassadorships, and the appointment of federal judges to both the Supreme and Federal Constitutional Courts.

As a result of the proportional representation system used, the Senate is more politically fragmented than the House, with no one party having ever achieved a majority of seats in the Senate. As such, the two major parties must negotiate with the smaller parties to get legislation passed.

Some proposals for reform of the Senate have included its abolition, deeming it as unnecessary to the modern legislative process; critics also note that the same appointments process can be handled by the House of Representatives, pointing to the unicameral State Parliaments handling this process by itself. Other proposals include equalising the number of seats each province gets and changing the electoral system to single transferable vote. None of these proposals, however, as of 2020, have garnered widespread support.

Elections for the Senate occur on the same date of the first round of the election for President; as a result, that day is naturally a federal holiday. Typically, parties handle the nomination process for their Senate candidates; the deposit is set at about 1,500 dollars per candidate. Should the party win at least five per cent of the vote, or get one candidate elected, their deposits get refunded. Senators must be at least 25, a citizen and be in good standing, nor must they be a bankrupt. Serving members of the armed forces may not be a candidate.

Should any Senator resign from their seat in writing to the President of the Senate, the incumbent Premier of that state is given the power to appoint a new Senator to the seat. The President then appoints that said person to finish the departed Senator's term. Constitutionally, the Premier appoints someone from the same party as the departing Senator to replace them.

House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Federal Parliament of Tumbra and is the primary chamber of its body. It meets in the House Wing of the Federal Parliament building in Straton, Tumbra.

The House, comprising of 650 members known as Members of Parliament (MPs), is elected via full preferential instant runoff voting. MPs are elected to represent constituencies until Parliament is dissolved, either by reaching the term limit or by Parliament being dissolved earlier. Elections are held every four years, and Members of Parliament are elected by Tumbran citizens over the age of 18.

The House has several functions - it elects the Prime Minister, who has to be a member of the lower house, is responsible for executive oversight, and sets the Federal Budget. It is able to originate legislation in the form of Private Members' Bills, scrutinises legislation brought forth by all three of the executive branch, the Senate and private members by referring matters to Legislative Committees.

The House's presiding officer is the Speaker, who is also fourth in line to succeed the President. The current Speaker is Robert Croft, the MP for Dorival North-East in Iswilyn.

Since the foundation of the Republic, every constituency has been represented by one MP, with each state being entitled to at least one, and the minimum number of MPs being 150. This number has been periodically raised to allow MPs to represent about the same amount of people; as of 2020, the average number of people represented by an MP ranges from 130,726 (Georgia) to 134,084 (Westmond), with the average nationwide being 132,179. An allowance of 10% either way is allowed. Delinations and apportionment are handled by the Federal Elections Commission; boundary reviews are carried out every ten years.

An increase in the number of MPs must be approved by Parliament; the latest increase from 500 MPs to 650 was approved in 1970 in time for the 1973 election.

General elections occur whenever the House is dissolved. Constitutionally, any election day is a federal holiday; by convention, elections are held on Friday, which is then declared a federal holiday. A candidate for a seat must submit nomination papers signed by ten registered voters from that area, and pay 500 dollars, which is refunded if the candidate wins at least five per cent of the vote. MPs must be at least 18, a citizen and be in good standing, nor must they be a bankrupt. Serving members of the armed forces may not be a candidate.

Should any member of Parliament resign by submitting their resignation in writing to the Speaker, the Speaker shall then issue the writs for a by-election to be held in the seat between one and three months of the member's resignation.

Officers
Both chambers are presided over by a Speaker; the Senate's speaker is the Vice President, who, by virtue of their role, serves as the President of the Senate. The Speaker of the House of the Representatives is elected from amongst the chamber's members. Both the President of the Senate and the Speaker have great power and authority, especially regarding moderating debate, making rulings on procedure, announcing the results of votes and other business. The Speaker decides who may speak and has the powers to discipline members who break the procedures of the chamber or house; however, most of the administrative part of the President of the Senate's responsibilities are passed to the President pro tempore of the Senate, who also serves as presiding officer when the Vice President is unavailable.

Legislative Procedure


Constitutionally, quorum for either house is set at a third of the members elected at the previous general election, regardless of vacancies; this means that the current quorum for the House is 215 members and the quorum for the Senate is 66 members. In theory, debate may not proceed if a quorum is not present; in practice, legislators usually agree to not notice that a quorum is not present so that debate may continue even without the presence of other members.

Both Houses may determine motions via voice vote; the presiding officer puts the question, after listening to shouts of "Aye" and "No" from the members, announces the result. The announcement of the presiding officer settles the question, unless at least two members in the Senate or five in the House demand a division, or a recorded vote. In that case the bells are rung throughout the Federal Parliament building summoning Senators or Members to the chamber. During a division, members who favour the motion move to the right side of the chamber (the side to the Speaker's or President's right), and those opposed move to the left. They are then counted by tellers, and the motion is passed or defeated accordingly. In the House of Representatives, the Speaker does not vote, but has a casting vote if there is a tie. In the Senate, if the presiding officer is the Vice President, then they vote accordingly in favour of the status quo; if the presiding officer is the President pro tempore, then they may vote according to their will.

The principle function of both Houses is to pass laws, or legislation. Legislation in its draft form is called a bill; any member of either chamber may introduce a bill. Bills that are introduced by a member of the Government are known as Government bills; otherwise, the bill is called a private member's bill. Typically, every Friday is reserved for debate on such matters. The enacting formula of any law passed by Parliament is: "“Be it enacted by the President with the advice and consent of the Federal Parliament of Tumbra, as follows:”

Non money-related bills may be introduced in either House of Parliament, but they are chiefly introduced in the House of Representatives, and goes through a number of stages to become a law. The first stage is a first reading, where the legislation is introduced to the chamber, then there is a second reading, where a vote is taken on the general outline of the bill. The legislation is then considered by a committee, which examines the bill in detail, and can call in people to testify for and enquire about the Bill's possible effects. The committee then reports back to the respective House, which then is able to amend the bill. This is finally followed by a third reading, where the bill is either passed or rejected by the House. If passed, the legislation is then sent to the Senate, which has a similar structure of debate and passage. Once a bill has been passed by both Houses in the same form, it is then presented to the President for Presidential assent. The President may refer the bill to the Federal Constitutional Court if they deem it unconstitutional; should the Court find the bill constitutional, then it is considered to have been assented to; if it is found unconstitutional, it is thrown out.

Money bills may only be introduced in the House of Representatives; the Senate may not make any amendments to the money bill, and may only delay its passage for up to a month; should a month pass in the Senate without the bill having been debated, the bill is considered to have been passed by the Senate and goes straight to the President.

Other functions
Besides passing legislation, both Houses also have other responsibilities. The outlines of these responsibilities are highlighted below. The Federal Parliament is also the only body that can declare war, but these laws have to be defensive in nature in order to avoid contravening the Neutrality Clause in the Constitution.

House of Representatives
The House has several responsibilities as laid out in the Constitution, including electing the Prime Minister, ratifying treaties, and is the primary forum for dealing with petitions or complaints (clause 88).

Although most legislation is initiated by the executive branch as mentioned above, the House considers the legislative function its most important responsibility, concentrating much of its energy on assessing and amending the government's legislative program. The Committees of the House (as set out in Article XV) play a prominent role in this process. Public viewings of the sessions of the House and its committees are permitted, but they may be excluded pursuant to one-tenth of MPs raising a vote to discuss its matters in private.

To scrutinise the actions of the Government, the House often organises Question Time weekly (typically on Wednesday) where the Prime Minister is questioned by members of the House regarding its policy. While occasionally a forum for political questions to be asked (and Question Time typically generates the highest attendances and attention from both MPs and members of the public), the general consensus is that Question Time has devolved into simple political theatre rather than generating any substantive action from either side of the House, with both the Government and the Opposition seeking to embarrass each other. The Leader of the Opposition is entitled six questions, while the leader of the third largest party is entitled to three.

Most legislative work of the House is done in Parliamentary Standing Committees. These committees mostly mirror the composition of the Federal Ministries, plus a few others relating to House business; as of 2020, there are 19 committees to scrutinise the activities of the Federal Ministries. Each committee elects its own chair, and its composition mostly mirrors the House of Representatives. Following each election, the Leader of the House meets with representatives of the other parties to determine committee allocations. The floor leaders then allow members to select which committees they wish to serve on.

Smaller committees may also be formed in response to certain matters, such as a Select Committee into catastrophes or other events; typically the support of twenty Members is needed to raise the motion, and the committee is formed through a simple majority vote of the House. Other types of committees include domestic committees, which focus more on internal Parliamentary business, such as privileges and ethics committees, and joint committees, which involve members of both the House and Senate.

The House also elects the Prime Minister; typically the second order of business in a new seating of Parliament, after the election of the Speaker. The procedure for the election of a Prime Minister is outlined in Article 189 of the Constitution, where a candidate - which by convention is the leader of the largest party or coalition, unless the Prime Minister is the incumbent and wishes to be re-nominated - is nominated by the most senior member of that member's party, and his name put up to the Speaker. The Speaker then puts the candidate to a vote; should the Prime Ministerial candidate garner a majority of the total votes cast (including abstentions) then that person is said to be elected as Prime Minister and is subsequently sworn in by the President in front of the whole House of Representatives. The House is then adjourned, following some remarks by the Prime Minister.

Should nobody be able to get an absolute majority of votes, following the third election for Prime Minister, the criteria changes to exclude abstentions - meaning the prospective Prime Minister just needs to secure more "yes" votes than "no" votes to take office.

Should the Speaker deem there be no prospect of any Prime Ministerial candidate being selected, the Speaker shall recommend to the Prime Minister (in a caretaker capacity) to seek a dissolution of the House, on the grounds that there "is no possible government formed". To date since the founding of the Republic, no such election has occurred because of this.

This electoral procedure also applies should the House fail to pass any government budget; at which time the office of Prime Minister is immediately declared vacant, with the incumbent serving in a caretaker capacity until they are either re-elected or a new Prime Minister is selected. Should a new Prime Minister be selected, the swearing-in of the new Prime Minister will take place typically the next day, in a ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Straton.

Additionally, should the post of Prime Minister fall vacant due to resignation, death or otherwise, new elections will be held in accordance to this procedure.

Senate
The Senate, while functioning more as a house of review, is also able to scrutinise the actions of the Government - while the Prime Minister is a member of the House of Representatives, they appoint a "Leader of the Government in the Senate" to act on their behalf in the Senate. The Leader of the Government in the Senate is considered a full member of the Cabinet (if not a Minister) and answers questions on the Prime Minister's behalf during Question Time. The Senate's question time is typically held on a Thursday instead of the House's Wednesday, and generally garners less attention than the House's, which lends itself to the Senate's more collegial atmosphere rather than the House's more adversarial one. To reflect this, the Senate's seats are arranged in a hemicycle rather than the two sides facing each other, as the House does.

The other big responsibility of the Senate is to vote on political appointments. The Senate confirms a wide range of political appointees to run various government departments such as the Tumbran Central Bank, or the Federal Anti-Corruption Agency. To question nominees to ascertain their suitability for the job, the Appointments Committee exists; it is the largest Senate committee, comprising 50 Senators, the maximum allowable by the Constitution; nominees must first have their nomination advanced to the Senate floor by a majority vote in the Committee before being confirmed by the Senate.

Other Senate Committees exist; much like House Committees, much of the legislative work of the Senate is done here. Each committee elects its own chair, and its composition mostly mirrors the Senate. Following each election, the Leader of the Government in the Senate meets with representatives of the other parties to determine committee allocations. The floor leaders then allow members to select which committees they wish to serve on.

The Senate has a vested interest in the federal government's relationship with the states; as such, any move made by the federal government with regard to it is typically scrutinised more heavily by the Senate. A special Intergovernmental Affairs committee exists for this reason.

Term
Owing to the differing term limits of the two houses (up to four years for the House and a fixed six-year term for the Senate), it is often difficult to discern between the House term and Senate term. The commonly accepted parlance, due to the shorter nature of the House term, is to use the term of the House; therefore the Parliamentary session that sat from 2017 to 2021 shall be known as the 46th Parliament, and the one that will be elected on 9 April 2021 will be known as the 47th Parliament, despite the intervening Presidential and Senate election to seat the members of the 27th Senate. The Speaker of the House is allowed to remain a member of their political party, but are expected to be impartial in moderating debate.

The House of Representatives, as mentioned above, has a maximum term of four years, after which a federal election is called. The new session of Parliament must then be called less than 30 days after the results of the election are confirmed, during which the first order of business will be to elect a new Speaker; the second being the election of a Prime Minister, if it is the session immediately following a federal election. A session lasts from whenever Parliament sits till it is prorogued. This typically takes place about nine months following the first sitting of that particular session, though there have been years in which Parliament has not been prorogued. There can therefore be multiple sessions of Parliament in a single term; and within the session of Parliament there are multiple sittings. Constitutionally, Parliament has to sit once a year.

Relationship with the executive
Constitutionally, the President appoints the Prime Minister, who has won a vote in the House of Representatives; they will then appoint other relevant Ministers and Ministers of State, as nominated by the Prime Minister. The Ministers, who are obligated to be members of either House of Parliament, then meet in Cabinet, and are answerable to whichever House they come from. Full ministers are typically drawn from the House, while Senators are only given Minister of State roles; a very rare exception was Senator Tim Campbell of Grantfeldt, who served as Minister for Commerce in the Haywood government from 1968 till 1973, when he ran for office in the House of Representatives; he subsequently lost and resigned his cabinet commission.

The lower house may attempt to bring down the government by either rejecting a motion of confidence—generally initiated by a minister to reinforce the Cabinet's support in the House—or by passing a motion of no confidence—introduced by the opposition to display its distrust of the Cabinet. Important bills that form part of the government's agenda will usually be considered matters of confidence; the budget is always a matter of confidence. All motions of no confidence are constructive, and take the form of a Prime Ministerial election - the incumbent is pitted against a MP nominated by the opposition parties. To this date, only one motion of no confidence has been carried; that of Edward North in 2000.

Privileges
All members of Parliament have constitutionally guaranteed Parliamentary privilege; they cannot be sued for anything they say in Parliament about each other or about persons outside the Parliament. This privilege extends to reporting in the media of anything a Senator or Member says in Parliament. The proceedings of parliamentary committees, wherever they meet, are also covered by privilege, and this extends to witnesses before such committees. Members also have legal immunity, unless the said member was caught in flagrante delicto. They may, however, be disciplined for contempt of Parliament; such as giving false statements, or breaching its privileges. Apart from that, Parliament is able to regulate its own parliamentary privileges.

Broadcasting
Since 1959 Parliament has been broadcast on radio; originally on TBC Radio Three, it is now broadcast on TBC Radio Four, which mainly broadcasts current affairs programmes. Since 1997 Parliament activities have been broadcast on TBC Parliament, which covers live sittings of the House and Senate, as well as committee meetings and press conferences. Typically, Question Time is broadcast live on TBC One; other live broadcasts include the opening of a new Parliamentary session, the annual Budget speech and the State of the Republic speech delivered by the Prime Minister and the response a few days later.

The Parliament website also provides livestreams of parliament sessions and committee sessions on the Internet.

Written records of Parliamentary proceedings are kept as well; these transcripts are called Hansard, and are archived in the Library of Parliament.