Federal Parliament of Tumbra
Federal Parliament of Tumbra | |
|---|---|
| 46th Parliament | |
| Type | |
| Type | Bicameral |
| Houses | Senate House of Representatives |
Term limits | Six years for the Senate; up to four years for the House of Representatives |
| Leadership | |
Kelia Campbell since 4 March 2020 | |
James Broadbent since 4 March 2020 | |
Senate president pro tempore | James Powell, Labour 16 May 2017 |
Speaker of the House of Representatives | Robert Croft, Labour since 16 May 2017 |
Kenneth Everett, Labour since 16 May 2017 | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 850 650 Members of Parliament 200 Senators |
 | |
Senate political groups | Government (90) Labour Party (90) Opposition (80) Liberal Party (80) Crossbench (30) Moderate Party (15) Green Party (10) Conservative Party (5) |
 | |
House of Representatives political groups | Government (339) Labour Party (339) Opposition (241) Liberal Party (241) Other Opposition (70) Moderate Party (37) Green Party (18) Conservative Party (12) Social Democratic Party (3) |
| Elections | |
| Closed-list proportional representation | |
| Instant runoff voting | |
Senate last election | 7 February 2020 |
House of Representatives last election | 6 February 2026 |
Senate next election | 16 April 2017 |
House of Representatives next election | 9 April 2021 |
| Redistricting | Federal Elections Commission every ten years |
| Meeting place | |
| Federal Parliament Building Straton Tumbra | |
| Constitution | |
| Constitution 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.
Composition
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.