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The Parliament and the Senate of Wombelland
Parlament
(The parliament)
Logo of the Parliament of Wombelland
The “Parlament” (parliament) is a constitutional and legislative body at the federal level in Wombelland. For its similar function, it is often described as a lower house of parliament along the lines of the US House of Representatives and the Canadian or the British House of Commons. The Wombelian constitution, however, does not define the Parliament and the Senate as the lower and upper houses of a bicameral legislature.
The Parlament was established – after the revolution - by the Constitution of Wombelland in 1904.
Since 1909 it meets in the Parlamentsgebäude (Houses of Parliament)in Wombeldon.
Katja Steiger of the "Die Grünen" is the current President of the parliament.
Members (Abgeordnete) of the parliament are usually elected every four years by all adult Wombelian citizens in a system of list voting.
The Building
According to its designer, Rolf Gerber the inspiration for the cupola came from the Panthéon in Paris. The building was after the revolution of 1904 and finished in 1909.
The cupola, which is stone clad around a steel frame which was constructed in the United States and imported to Wombelland, is set forward on the building to allow for some large rooms at the rear, including what is now the National Library.
At almost 92 m (302 ft) high, the dome was the highest point in the city of Wombeldon until the 1950s. It was the third highest cupola in the world at the time of its construction.
Around the building are gardens laid out by French landscape architect and designer Jean-Claude Nicolas Forestier at the time of the original construction. Based on the designs of some of the beautiful simple European gardens they consist of areas of lawn bordered by paths and highlighted by palms. Four groups of Royal Palms accent the design.
The 55 steps leading to the main entrance are flanked on either side by 6.5 m (21 ft) statues by the Italian artist Angelo Zanelli. The steps lead up to the central portico, which is 36 m (118 ft) wide and more than 16 m (52 1⁄2 ft) tall. There are 12 granite Roman style columns arranged in two rows and each over 14 m (46 ft) tall. Beyond the portico, three large bronze doors with bas-reliefs by Zanelli allow access to the main hall.
The inside of the main hall under the cupola is dominated by the huge Statue of the Revolution (Revolutionsstatue). The statue, also by Zanelli, was cast in bronze in Rome in three pieces and assembled inside the building after its arrival in Wombeldon. It is covered with 22 carat (92%) gold leaf and weighs 49 tons. At 15 m (49 1⁄4 ft) tall, it was the second highest statue under cover in the world at the time, with only the Great Buddha of Nara being taller. The statue stands on a plinth 2.5 m (8 1⁄4 ft) high bringing the total height to 17.54 m (57 1⁄2 ft).
Embedded in the floor in the center of the main hall is a replica 25 carat (5 g) diamond, which marks Kilometer Zero for Wombelland. The original diamond, said to have belonged to Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and have been gift to the King of Wombelland.
In the center of the building are two patios which provide light and ventilation for the offices of first (ground), third and fourth floors. The north patio features another statue The Rebellious Angel (Der Engel der Rebelion) which was donated to the building after the inauguration. There is a small fifth floor, and a sixth floor which gives access only to part of the cupola.
Parlamentspräsidentin
Speaker of parliament
Katja Steiger (Die Grünen) • Born: 18 July 1961
• Occupation: author of children´s book
• Member of parliament since: 1996
• Speaker of parliament since: 2020
History
After the Revolution of November 1904 and the establishment of the Constitution the parliament was established.
Also women were given the right to vote for (and serve in) the parliament, and the parliament could use the no-confidence vote to force the chancellor or any cabinet member to resign.
In 1904 works began to build a parliament building. There finished in 1909.
Tasks
Together with the Senate, the parliament is the legislative branch of the Wombelian political system.
Although most legislation is initiated by the executive branch, the parliament considers the legislative function its most important responsibility, concentrating much of its energy on assessing and amending the government's legislative program. The committees play a prominent role in this process. Plenary sessions provide a forum for members to engage in public debate on legislative issues before them, but they tend to be well attended only when significant legislation is being considered.
The parliament in turn elects the Chancellor and, in addition, exercises oversight of the executive branch on issues of both substantive policy and routine administration. This check on executive power can be employed through binding legislation, public debates on government policy, investigations, and direct questioning of the chancellor or cabinet officials. For example, the parliament can conduct a question hour (Fragestunde), in which a government representative responds to a previously submitted written question from a member. Members can ask related questions during the question hour. The questions can concern anything from a major policy issue to a specific constituent's problem. Use of the question hour has increased markedly over the past forty years. Understandably, the opposition parties are active in exercising the parliamentary right to scrutinize government actions.
Constituent service does also take place in the form of the Petition Committee. In 2004, the Petition Committee received over 8,000 complaints from citizens and was able to negotiate a mutually satisfactory solution to more than half of them. In 2005, as a pilot of the potential of internet petitions, a version of e-Petitioner was produced for the parliament. This was a collaborative project involving The Scottish Parliament, International Teledemocracy Centre and the Wombelian parliament Online Services Department. The system was formally launched on 1 September 2005, and in 2008 the parliament moved to a new system based on its evaluation.
Election
Members serve four-year terms, with elections held every four years, or earlier in the relatively rare case that the parliament is dissolved prematurely by the King.
All candidates must be at least eighteen years old; there are no term limits. The election uses the MMP electoral system. In addition, the parliament has a minimum threshold of either 5% of the national party vote through the system of proportional representation.
The most recent election, the Wombelian federal election, 2016, was held on 6 February 2016.
Election of the Parliament:
295 Seats
Party | Electioral votes | Votes (per Percent) | Seats |
Die Grünen (Grüne) | 1.811.111 | 31,21 % (+13,22 %) | 101 (+48) |
Christlich Konservative Partei von Wombelland (CKP) | 865.427 | 14,91 % (- 2,70 %) | 48 (- 4) |
Sozialdemokratische Partei in Wombelland (SPW) | 853.160 | 14,70 % (- 2,22 %) | 48 (- 2) |
Freie Wähler (FW) | 375.724 | 6,47 % (- 4,12 %) | 21 (-10) |
Neoliberale Partei (neos) | 587.308 | 10,12 % (+ 1,79 %) | 21 (+ 8) |
Nationale Volkspartei aller Wombelländer (NVW) | 244.859 | 4,22 % % (- 3,98 %) | - (+24) |
Partei für Freiheit und Fortschritt (PFF) | 406.714 | 7,01 % (- 0,86 % | 23 ( 0) |
Kommunistische Partei in Wombelland (KPW) | 374.708 | 6,46 % (- 0,68 %) | 21 ( 0) |
Partei des Fürstentums Leymoor (PFL) | 284.532 | 4,90 % (- 0,42 %) | - (-16) |
As is the case with some other parliaments, the parliament is subject to the principle of discontinuation, meaning that a newly elect parliament is legally regarded to be a body and entity completely different from the previous parliament. This leads to the result, that any motion, application or action submitted to the previous parliament, e.g. a bill referred to the parliament by the Federal Government, is regarded as completed by non-decision (Wombelian terminology: "Die Sache fällt der Diskontinuität anheim"). Thus any bill that has not been decided upon by the beginning of the new electoral period must be brought up by the government again, if it aims to uphold the motion, this procedure in effect delaying the passage of the bill. Furthermore, any newly elected parliament will have to freshly decide on the rules of procedure (Geschäftsordnung), which is done by a formal decision of taking over such rules from the preceding parliament by reference.
Any parliament is considered dissolved only once a newly elected parliament has actually gathered in order to constitute itself, which has to happen within 30 days of its election. Thus, it may happen (and has happened) that the old parliament gathers and makes decisions even after the election of a new parliament that has not gathered in order to constitute itself.
Organization
Parliamentary groups
The most important organizational structures within the parliament are parliamentary groups (Fraktionen; sing. Fraktion), which are formed by political parties represented in the chamber which incorporate more than 5% of the parliament. The size of a party's Fraktion determines the extent of its representation on legislative committees, the time slots allotted for speaking, the number of committee chairs it can hold, and its representation in executive bodies of the parliament. The Fraktionen, not the members, receive the bulk of government funding for legislative and administrative activities.
The leadership of each Fraktion consists of a parliamentary party leader, several deputy leaders, and an executive committee. The leadership's major responsibilities are to represent the Fraktion, enforce party discipline, and orchestrate the party's parliamentary activities. The members of each Fraktion are distributed among working groups focused on specific policy-related topics such as social policy, economics, and foreign policy. The Fraktion meets every Tuesday afternoon in the weeks in which the parliament is in session to consider legislation before the parliament and formulate the party's position on it.
Executive bodies
The parliament's executive bodies include the Council of Elders and the Presidium.
The council consists of the parliament leadership, together with the most senior representatives of each fraction, with the number of these representatives tied to the strength of the Parliamentary groups in the chamber. The council is the coordination hub, determining the daily legislative agenda and assigning committee chairpersons based on Parliamentary group representation. The council also serves as an important forum for interparty negotiations on specific legislation and procedural issues. The Presidium is responsible for the routine administration of the parliament, including its clerical and research activities. It consists of the chamber's president (usually elected from the largest fraktion) and vice presidents (one from each fraktion).
Committees
Most of the legislative work in the parliament is the product of standing committees, which exist largely unchanged throughout one legislative period. The number of committees approximates the number of federal ministries, and the titles of each are roughly similar (e.g., defense, agriculture, and labor).
The distribution of committee chairs and the membership of each committee reflect the relative strength of the various Parliamentary groups in the chamber.. Members of the opposition party can chair a significant number of standing committees (e.g. The finance committee is always chaired by the biggest opposition party). These committees have either a small staff or no staff at all.
Principle of discontinuation
As is the case with some other parliaments, the parliament is subject to the principle of discontinuation, meaning that a newly elect parliament is legally regarded to be a body and entity completely different from the previous parliament. This leads to the result, that any motion, application or action submitted to the previous parliament, e.g. a bill referred to the parliament by the Federal Government, is regarded as completed by non-decision (Wombelian terminology: "Die Sache fällt der Diskontinuität anheim"). Thus any bill that has not been decided upon by the beginning of the new electoral period must be brought up by the government again, if it aims to uphold the motion, this procedure in effect delaying the passage of the bill. Furthermore, any newly elected parliament will have to freshly decide on the rules of procedure (Geschäftsordnung), which is done by a formal decision of taking over such rules from the preceding parliament by reference.
Any parliament is considered dissolved only once a newly elected parliament has actually gathered in order to constitute itself, which has to happen within 30 days of its election. Thus, it may happen (and has happened) that the old parliament gathers and makes decisions even after the election of a new parliament that has not gathered in order to constitute itself.
Senat
(The senate)
The “Senat” (senate) is a legislative body that represents the seven "Regionen" (Provinces / federated states) of Wombelland at the national level.
The senate participates in legislation, alongside the parliament, the directly elected representation of the people of Wombelland, with laws affecting state competences and all constitutional changes requiring the consent of the body. For its similar function, it is sometimes described as an upper house of parliament along the lines of the United States Senate, the Canadian Senate or the British House of Lords.
The political makeup of the senate is affected by changes in power in the provinces of Wombelland, and thus by elections in each state. One vote of each province is reserved for the prime minister of the province. The second vote of each province is elected directly. This election ist on the same day as the election of the parliament.
Beside the 14 senators from the provinces, there is a fifteenth senator. This fifteenth senator ist the "Senatspräsident" (president of senate), who is named by the king.
Michael Dietrich is the current President of the senate.
In contrast to the parliament, the senate is subject to the principle of continuation.
Any parliament is considered dissolved only once a newly elected parliament has actually gathered in order to constitute itself, which has to happen within 30 days of its election. Thus, it may happen (and has happened) that the old parliament gathers and makes decisions even after the election of a new parliament that has not gathered in order to constitute itself.
Sitzverteilung Senat:
Senatspräsident:
Michael Dietrich
Land der himmlischen Reiter:
Dominik Mairhofer (SPW)
Jessica Dresner (Grüne)
Hamer Land
Lara Kohmann (Grüne)
Herbert Pansi (SPW)
Fürstentum Leymoor
Erik Stark (PFL)
Crispus Sander (PFL)
Hinteres Land
Franziska Jung (CKP)
Tom Wexler (Grüne)
Land von Gawold
Hans Zeisig (SPW)
Franziska Mautner (Grüne)
Altes Land
Stefan Ogger (CKP)
Dominik Freitag (Grüne)
Region Wombeldon
Georg Diener (Grüne)
Nicole Kraft (Grüne)
Allocation of seat: Die Grünen = 7 seats
SPW = 3 seats
CKP = 2 seats
PFL = 2 seat
The senate was established – after the revolution - by the Constitution of Wombelland in 1904. Also before 1904 there was a similar legislative body called "Der Kronrat" (crown council). The crown council was established in 1826 to deliberate on matter of the provinces and advise the king. You can see the tradition of the crowne council in the logo of the senate. It's still the logo of the crowne council from 1826.
Since 1909 it meets in the Parlamentsgebäude (Houses of Parliament) in Wombeldon.
