Parliament of Sarenium

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Parliament of the United Republic of Sarenium
159th Parliament of Sarenium

Seal of Parliament
Type
Type Bicameral
Houses

Senate

House of Commons
Leadership
President Peter Cosgrin, Independent
Since 3 July 2021
President of the Senate Delores Vaughn, Independent
Since 17 September 2022
Principal of the Senate William Spades, Independent
Since 10 February 2022
Speaker of the House Attious Fitch, National Progressives
Since 21 November 2018
Structure
Seats

1134 (Voting Members) Composed of
390 Senate seats
and

744 House Seats
Senate political groups
  •      Elected
  •      Appointed
House of Commons political groups

Government

Opposition

Crossbench

Elections
Senate voting system Preferential Voting System
House of Commons voting system Preferential Voting System
Senate last election 17 August 2024
House of Commons last election 17 August 2024
Senate next election Next
House of Commons next election Next
Meeting place


The Parliament of the United Republic of Sarenium, variously referred to as the Saren Parliament, or the Federal Parliament, is the legislative branch of the government of Sarenium. It consists of three elements: the President, the Senate and the House of Commons. The combination of two elected houses, in which the members of the Senate represent the nineteen States while the members of the House represent electoral divisions according to population, is unique in that the President is charged with the appointment of 228 of the 494 seats in the Senate and the remaining 210 are elected by their constituents. Those remaining 266 are elected every six years, with half in each of the three years.

The Senate, consists of 494 members: 26 for each state. The House of Commons, currently consists of 999 members, each elected from single member constituencies, known as electoral divisions (commonly referred to as "electorates" or "seats") using compulsory preferential voting.

The two Houses meet in separate chambers of Parliament Island (except in the rare occurrence of a joint sitting), on Constitution Island, Sydney.

History

1st Prime Minister Edmund Barton

The current Parliament came into effect from the reformation effects of 2009's constitutional reform. Members and conventions have remained consistent and maintained to the same standard and style as 1607. Initially housed in the Alhambra outside of Gibraltar before moving Parliament to Adelaide's Old Parliament House and the Presidency to Neuschwanstein Castle. Its current location in Sydney was solidified in 1742 alongside the relocation of the powers of the Presidency. Parliament Island opened to the public in 1956 and was closed in the 1992 until 2003 for major renovations and upgrades. Currently, Parliament consists of 630 members of the House which was changed in 1990 from the 540 seats. Initially the House consisted of only 150 members whilst the Senate had no more 45 members. The changes were made in regards to increased representation and political balancing for the populations.

Prime Minister Edmund Barton served as Prime Minister for a total of nearly six years, the longest serving Prime Minister was Prime Minister George Menzies who served as the fifteenth Prime Minister from 1840 to 1855, resigning after losing his party's support. The current Prime Minister is Jacob Kilkenny who was appointed first by President Perales, then President Gaines and reappointed on 1 September 2019 by President Angela Hoffman.

Composition

Main Article: Senate of Sarenium
Main Article: House of Commons of Sarenium

The Senate holds a total of 105 seats and 60 of those seats are elected every six years. Thirty are elected each 3 years and overlap with the elections for the House. The two houses meet in separate chambers on Parliament Island and both bodies may produce legislation. The only restriction is that any appropriation or financial bills must originate in the House of Commons and the Senate can only delay passage (of all bills). If the House passes legislation with the requisite 316 votes then 53 Senators must also vote in favor for passage and any less will result in the legislation being delayed by 1 session (complete electoral cycle) of Parliament. However, if the House acquires the required 378 (3/5 majority) votes, it will only be delayed for 3 terms of Parliament (16-20 months), before which the President can allow the House to pass legislation without the Senate (constitutional Presidential assent is transferred into a vote from the President to fail or refuse the legislation on any grounds.). The House also has the means to pass legislation without the Senate if 420 votes in the House approve and the Senate still refuses (under 53 votes) given that 35 of the 105 Senators vote in favor.

Elected and unelected Senators have distinct differences, elected Senators do not have limits on the number of six-year terms they can serve while appointed Senators are appointed every twelve years for single-term service. The President is charged with that appointment and it has become common tradition for fifteen Senators to be appointed each four-years. Unlike the House, Senators receive more benefits and can still be overlooked.

Should legislation be delayed, the President can allow the House to pass legislation without the Senate's permission, this would only occur when the President is content with providing Presidential Assent (which can be withheld only when the legislation is unconstitutional) or a delayed legislation passes the House and the President exercises the right of personal dis-contention and withholds assent. If the House is to pass legislation without the Senate, the Presidential Assent can be refuted on any grounds.

Unlike the Prime Minister, the President is not elected through Parliament, the President is elected by the Magistrate in Sarenium every five years. General elections are called either one year before or delayed slightly to avoid coinciding with Presidential Elections.

Procedure

Parliament uses roll call for initiation of every reading or day in Parliament and roll call is used to announce absence or presence for MPs and Senators. This procedure is continued for final votes if dividing the houses yields different numbers from the tellers on the third reattempt.

Votes are tallied by the clerk who is also responsible for announcing guests of Parliament to the chamber (if a joint session).

Privilege

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